Sparky's Scratches Real friends don't care if you're a little different…

Giving up doesn’t always mean that you’re weak. Sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go…

These last five months were hard. Very hard for him and the ones he left behind. But also precious as we’ve talked about anything and everything. He arranged his memorial service from start to finish, which guests to invite, music, coffin. No flowers but everyone present was invited to place a pebble on the coffin (Jewish tradition). It was a sad but meaningful service, knowing he put his heart and soul into it. “You are allowed to cry”, he said, “but don’t mourn for too long. I’ve lived my life to the fullest, highs and lows, no regrets”.
We miss you Dad, you have no idea how much. . .

I guess there aren’t many people – if any – who haven’t heard of Jacquie Lawson. The gorgeous e-cards are a joy to receive (and send!). As always I bought their Advent Calendar and I can’t say enough how much joy it’s giving me each year. I love decorating trees, creating snowflakes and solving puzzles, but the best of all is the complete picture, which synchronizes to your computer clock, so when it’s night in your timezone, it’s night on the calendar’s main page as well. Each day images are added to that main page and by the end of the month there’s so much to see, it’s worth a picture 🙂

Here’s the one I made yesterday. And I’ll include the tree and ornaments I decorated (the ornaments are displayed on the bottom left of the calendar’s main page!)

This is the tree I decorated, it’s on display in the Family Room

And yesterday I decorated five ornaments, here are two of them

I am in no way affiliated with Jacquie Lawson’s website, but I can highly recommend it! There’s still time, head over and invest just a few bucks for a month of joy 🙂

Happy Holidays!

It’s that time of year again, 24 sleeps until Christmas 🙂

I wasn’t sure if this year’s edition would go live, but we managed. 26 Designers offered their time and talent to create freebies for you. Go check out the list: Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebies

And here’s my contribution. Enjoy!

Click to download (12.5 MB)

Let me start by saying that I’m not a craftsperson at all. Not. at. all.
Glue and me don’t go well together, when using scissors the image ends up crooked, I can’t tie tiny knots or bows – my fingers just refuse to do what they should do.. in short: I’m NOT a crafter.
But… when I see all the gorgeous creations and projects at Pinterest, I’m swept away and start pinning like crazy. “Must save”, “will do this one day”, “ohh nice for this coming holiday” and the sad thing is, I truly believe that what I will create (if I ever get to do that) is as beautiful or even better than the original…

You can all stop laughing now, I am dead serious :p

In the past months I actually did some craft projects and I am happy with the results. Maybe that made me overconfident, I don’t know, but I’ve discovered several projects on Pinterest that made me think: Hmm… I can do that.. and I truly believe I can, cross-my-heart-honest!

So to keep track of them I’ve put them together. As a reminder to myself and maybe a guideline for all of you who think: I will never get that done. Stop thinking like that, if *I* can do it, you can do it to!

1) Gorgeous wreath made of 3D paper stars, designed by Little Birdie Secrets. With the very clear step by step photo tutorial, we will succeed!

2) Not too long ago I bought a bunch of spools, so when I saw the Spool Tree designed by Julie Bonner and featured at s·e·i LIFESTYLE I thought: I can do that. No tutorial but it’s a matter of glue and paper (uh-oh dangerous :D), I can do that!

3) These gorgeous cones come from a Hungarian Blog. I don’t know about you, but my Hungarian is a bit rusty. Seriously though, the pics speak for themselves. Brilliant idea, thanks Lavender Girl at Kifli és levendula.

4) This beautiful Christmas Sampler comes from Lynette at My Creative Affair. The fun thing is that I can look at this for inspiration, but all the images will be different. Finally a way of using all those bought-because-there-will-come-an-occasion-to-use-it scrap supplies.

5) There was a time – BC (before computer) – when I used to cross-stitch a lot. This one combines my love for cross-stitching and Christmas. I can cross-stitch, so that’s not the problem, now to find time! Great free pattern by Kissy at Kissy Cross.

6) What can I say, I love wreaths! This one from Kristin’s Kraft Korner is so festive. Looks like a lot of work – and I mean A LOT – but even if mine will look half as great as this one, it’ll be worth it.

7) I’m adding this one because we’ve actually made some of these already 🙂 Hubby had to cut some branches from a tree in our front garden and we claimed the branches, let them dry and then hubby cut them up in slices. We did the decorating with sharpies and paint. Hope to share some photos before it’s 2015. Head over to Amy Christie’s Blog ‘This heart of mine‘.

8) Great project for leftover scrapbook paper and embellishments. These initials come in all shapes and sizes, so there’s something for everyone. Use different papers for different occasions. Project by Amy at Mod Podge Rocks.

9) Another clever project for those leftover scrap-thingies. Good argument to use: No honey, I’m not buying more craftsupplies, I can use what I already have 🙂 Vicky at Blush Crafts created these paper baubles. Timeconsuming? Possibly, but look at the results!!

10) These mini wreaths are soooo cute! Could be done by kids too, I’m sure. So that’s a family project for the upcoming cold Winter nights! With a Blog titled: Smile Like You Mean It (each and every day) you can’t go wrong! Thanks Katie.

11) Ahhhh, The Golden Snitch! I fell in love, the second I saw it. Being a HUGE Harry Potter fan I had to include this one. Getting cold feet about my ability to recreate this but I MUST give it a try. Visit Gabriella at Tiny Apartment Crafts for a photo tutorial.

12) Melissa at Honeybee Vintage hits the nail on the head with this cuter than cute Minnie Mouse ornament. Who doesn’t love Disney? We actually bought all the materials already… (Apologies to the hubby, I HAD to buy these :D)

13) Beautiful Christmas Box by Beth Quinn Designs. I’m using this as inspiration, have to search my supplies to see what I can use.

Phew, long Blogpost, but that’s to make up for the time I am MIA.

For more crafting inspiration, check out my Pinterest Boards.

Happy Crafting!

It started with a single flower in front of Departure 3 at Schiphol, but it’s a sea of flowers, cards, stuffed toys, pictures and letters now and it keeps growing and growing every day. We stopped by when we picked up Sabine from the airport and – while it’s impressive to see on TV or a picture – the real thing takes your breath away. It’s massive and the sweet scents of the flowers are a strong contradiction to the atmosphere of sadness. In the middle of the hustle and bustle that goes on at a busy airport, it’s a quiet place where people come to pay their respect. Wasn’t a happy moment, but I’m glad I decided to go.

Ever since the crash I’ve felt so much pain inside, I guess the whole country did. The crowd was up to 7 rows deep when the funeral cars travelled from the airport to Hilversum, where a team of experts will try to identify each victim.
Just a few hours ago there was a newsreport that the first person was identified. It’s a male, Dutch, and his family and mayor of his hometown have been notified. One… so many more to go. It might take months before everyone is identified and maybe not every coffin will get a name attached to it, as some bodies were destroyed due to the explosion. So much pain and sadness, so many families mourning, so many futures forced to a halt and because of what? Senseless!!

Today was the memorial service for Inge en Gijs, the couple from our village. They were a happy, funloving couple and had many friends. In fact, someone said: it was impossible not to like them, they were the life of every party and managed to attract people to them, charismatic, open, social, loving life.

May they rest in peace and may their family and friends find a way to cope with this huge loss.