A box of Flower Bulbs for my mum

Hi everybody

Today I'd like to show you a little project that I made for my mum. It's a sort of a milk carton with a holder filled with flower bulbs. When my mum came to visit us in the spring she noticed these gorgeous bluebells hyacinth flowers that I had in my garden and she said she loved them and asked me what they were. When I ordered plants for my garden the other day I decided to order her a bunch of the flower bulbs for these hyacinths so she could plant them in her own garden to enjoy next year.

One of the first design teams that I was on a looooooong time ago was Pink Cat Studio by Melissa Rodger. Though I haven't used her images for a while I still adore them and I knew right away that I wanted to use Pink Cat Studio's Lady Gnome for this project. What better image to decorate a box of flower bulbs then a cute little gnome right?

A close up of the adorable little Lady Gnome colored with Copic Markers and 3D paper pieced.

Here you can see the milk carton separate from the holder. I used a purchased template to create this set, the Well Contained template from My Time Made Easy (LOVE this template). As you can see I attached some of the gorgeous Wild Orchid Crafts flowers to the holder and some to the carton.

When the carton is put back in the holder they form a gorgeous flower corner together.

And the little pieces the Lady Gnome was made with.

Hope you like my little milk carton filled with flower bulbs. Can't wait to give it to my mum! Have a fabulous day everybody!!!

Hugs,

Materials used:
Image: Lady Gnome by Pink Cat Studio
Papers: Kraft and green cardstock and Carta Bella Antique Tile Paper design paper
Template: Well Contained by My Time Made Easy
Other: Clear Crystal Zva Small Flourishes (one of them cut into pieces) and Heart Shaped Sparkly Button both from The Ribbon Girl.
Wild Orchid Crafts products used:
Vintage Seam Binding Ribbon Moss Green
Mixed Green Open Roses 25mm
Mixed Green Open Roses 15mm
Purple/White Cosmos Daisy Flowers
Mixed Purple/Lilac & White Sweetheart Blossoms
Lilac Open Roses 20mm
Raspberry Divine Bakers Twine

Card on Copic Marker Europe blog, upcoming new release and published

Hi everybody,

I know I've been quiet for to long here. I am working on things but everything is for next week. I do however have a card to show you that was on the Copic Marker Europe blog last Monday.

I made this card using the pretty Chloe by Elisabeth Bell for Whimsy Stamp's Little Cottage Cuties. The pretty paper is from a digital set by Michele Roos also available at Whimsy Stamps and this set is called Basic Vintage Papers. The stamp-sentiments are from the Everyday mini Postage stamps set by Raindrop Echo Design (also available at Whimsy Stamps) and were cut out using the matching die. And finally the corner is the same corner I have used several times now since it's been released and that corner is from THIS set. Now that's a lot of shopping at Whimsy Stamps :). The pretty flowers are all Wild Orchid Crafts and the ribbon I bought at the Knotsgekke kaartendagen (a dutch fair) and I have no idea what brand it is or what the shop was that I bought it from. Distressing has been done with Frayed Burlap distress ink and platinum stickles around the edges. Here is a close up of the image:

For the Copic marker colors used I'd like to point you to THIS post on the Copic Marker Europe blog where they are all listed. You'll also find a picture of the little pieces used to create the 3D image there.

Now next week I'll have a card to show you to celebrate a new release over at Pink Cat Studio's. My friend Melissa has asked me to be a guest designer and naturally I told her yes :). But you can already get a peak of the new release AND get a chance to win the images being released if you go to the Pink Cat Studio blog NOW and play this fabulous game Melissa created. Yes that's right, SHE created this game, she is SO clever and it's such a cute game. You'll love it so if you want to give it a try, go to the Pink Cat Studio blog HERE and read all the details.

Oh but wait, I also wanted to tell you I got published, my friend Julia Saddi asked me if I wanted to do a 3D tutorial for a Brazilian Magazine called Guia do Scrapbooking & Cia and how could I say anything else but yes. The magazine is both a printed magazine and an online one but to view the magazine up close you need to subscribe to the online magazine. The far away look is already amazing though, what a gorgeous magazine and I'm so proud to be in it. You can find the issue I am in HERE and my little piece is on page 86 and on.

So that's it for me for today but I'll be back on April 3rd for the Pink Cat Studio release. Have fun playing the game in the meantime!!

Hugs,
Mariska

PCS digi contest at the Dutch Club of Tiets

Hi girls,
Today I have a box to show you that I made for the Dutch Club of Tiets. A couple of times a year we have a digi contest where one generous company gives us a totally new digi to work with. Members (who have been so for at least three weeks) of the club can get the digi and in return they make an entry for the competition. I asked my friend Melissa from Pink Cat Studio if she'd like to provide us with a digi and, as sweet as she is, she said yes and also gave us a price to give to the lucky winner. The team of the Club always make samples and since I'm on the team... here is mine:

Isn't that the perfect digi for this time of the year. If you really like it and are not a member of the Club of Tiets, don't worry, it'll be in the Pink Cat Studio digi store after the 15th of December. The sentiment reads "zaaaalige kerstdagen" which means both blessed Christmas Days (we celebrate Christmas on two days instead of one) and delicious Christmas Days, zalig has both meanings in Dutch. Here is a close up of cute Betty, colored with Copics and 3D paperpieced:

The furry parts are again Fun Flock. Here is a sideview of the clear box that I bought at a Dutch store named Blokker:

And finally a picture of the inside of the box, it's a hot chocolate package filled with cocoa, sugarbags, whipped cream (lasting), marshmallows and a little bottle of rum.

Hope you like my project!! Thank you again for all the lovely comments you always give me!!

Big hug,

I've created my own Pink Cat Studio image... and you can too!!

Hi girls,

Back already!! First I wanted to thank everybody for the huge number on comments on my Wee Suzi bottle hanger in yesterday's post! Reading all those comments really made my day!

Today I have another Christmas card to show you with an image by Pink Cat Studio. You will not be able to find this image in the PCS store though... I made it myself!! Melissa, the owner and designer of Pink Cat Studio, who also is a fabulous friend and a lovely person (*waving*), created this program, the Digi Stamp designer. She asked me if I wanted to try it out last week and of course I had to give it a go. It's super easy, anyone can do it if they know how a mouse works. You can choose a PCS character, give him or her clothes, accessories, hair, you name it. It's so easy to use that Melissa even invited an eight year old little girl as a guest designer for this release and this girl, Shiloh Bruckler, daughter of MacKenzie Bruckler, did a fabulous job at it!!

Anyway... you should really go and check it out, you'll have a ball, but first here is my card with my Digi Stamp Designer image:

 Isn't he cute? It's my favorite PCS character, the cute little bunny from the Fairy Friends set. I made him into a Christmas fairy with all this cute little stars... I love it! Here is a close up of MY little Christmas bunny :):

 Isn't he cute? Colored with Copics of course and 3D paperpieced with stickles on the stars and Cotton Ball White Fun Flock by Stampendous on the white of his hat. I also did a quick decoration of the inside:

 Very simple, the sentiment is also by Pink Cat Studio and you can download that for free on the PCS digital website. Papers used are all cardstock and Basic Grey. The gold ribbon and the little bells are by Wild Orchid Crafts. Love the fact that this card makes a sound when you touch it :). Melissa is also releasing some cute new digi's by the way:

You'll find these cuties HERE!! But of course first try the new Digi Stamp Designer!!

Have fun!!
xxx
Mariska

Pink Cat Studio Ninbert Gnome for FIL

Hi girls and my first male follower I noticed the other day!!
I know it's been a while since my last post. I did make a box for my parents but I can't show you that one yet. I do have a card to show you I made for my father in law though.

My friend Melissa from Pink Cat Studio send me these cute gnomes ages ago and asked me if I wanted to make a card with one or more of them. I'm sorry to say I didn't get around to using one of them sooner. Since in honor of his birthday tomorrow we are taking my Father in Law (together with my MIL of course) for a nice morning in the woods and after that a nice brunch I figured a gnome would work very well for this card. Besides, my FIL, who is a very nice FIL to have and an incredible grandfather, is a real garden gnome himself with his front and backgarden and his vegetable garden where he enjoys spending a lot of time. So without further ado, here is my card with Ninbert the Gnome by Pink Cat Studio:

Isn't he cute! The papers are craft and red cardstock and very old ones by Chatter Box (using up my old stash :) ). The ribbon is from Wild Orchid Crafs, the button twine is from Whiff of Joy and the button stars are from Buttons Galore and More. The sentiment reads hartelijk gefeliciteerd (Happy Birthday) and is from THIS set by my friend Nicole Verkooijen. Naturally I used some Stickles and a white gell pen. Here is a close up of Ninbert, colored with my Copics and 3D paperpieced:

I'll give you the Copics I used at the end of this post (zo goed Diaantje ;) ). Here is a view from the top with the Tegoedbon (gift certificate) inside:

And a last picture of the complete card with the gift certificate. Dames, als iemand het word bestande van de tegoedbon wil mag je mij altijd mailen. Hij is heel simpel hoor maar toch :).

That's it! Hope you like my card! I'll leave you with the Copics used:

Skin: E11, E01, E00, E000 and E0000

Facial hair: C1, C00, colorless blender

Gnome hat: R59, R29, R27, R24, R22

Coat: B99, B97, B95, B93 and B91

Belt: E29, E27, E25, E23

Belt buckle and lantern: YR24, YR23, YR21, YR20 and diamand stickles

Trousers: E27, E25, E23

Shoes: C7, C4, C3, C1

Shading around the gnome: W5, W3, W1, W00, colorless blender

Big hug!

Mariska



Xmas card with PCS frog Fairy Friend

Hi girls,

I liked the Christmas card with the Fairy Friend bunny I showed you in the previous post so much that I decided I wanted to do another small card with another Fairy Friend. Because the frog already had a star wand and because I like the fact that the frog as an animal is so unlikely for a Christmas Card I decided to go for the little froggy:

Perhaps you can see that all of the edges of the paper have been done with gold embossing powder. The paper is last years and the snowflake is a punch by Martha Stewart with a Making Memories brad. The colors on these pictures are horrible, sorry for that! I made the card to be an easel card:
I bought these little calenders especially for this purpose, I thought they'd be perfect for a Christmas Card that somebody would maybe want to keep for a bit longer then just Christmas. Here is a close up of the frog:

I have taken down the colors I've used but I've misplaced them. If anybody wants to know them please let me know in my comments and I'll try to see where they are and adjust my post.

Well, hope you like this little (again 10x10 cm.) card. Have a great evening, morning or afternoon everybody :).

xxx
Mariska

PCS Bunny Fairy XMas card

Hi girls,

I can tell you one thing... my inspiration is back :). I have the crafting tingles again and I couldn't be happier. Now just a bit more time and I'm back in business :). But with the kids at their grandparents I did get to finish this little card:And I say little because it is. It is only 10x10 cm. but I think it is so cute. This little bunny fairy from the Pink Cat Studio Fairy Friends Plate (which you can find HERE) has been one of my favorites ever since Melissa showed it to me. I figured she'd be great on a Xmas card as well and with her flower magic wand transformed into a snowflake one I think she is just perfect. Design paper used is last years BoBunny's Tis the Season. The embossingfolder I used is Cuttlebug Ice Crystals. The magic wand was created using a Martha Stewart edge punch (I used the "waste") and the large ice crystal is a Martha Stewart punch out with on top a Karen Foster Sparkle Burst Brad. The ribbon and red and white cardstock are from stash and the Stickles used are Xmas Red, Stardust and Waterfall. Here is a close up of the bunny:
There is a little touch of Paper Glaze on her nose. Here is a close up where you can see the layers and the sparkle better I think:
And the inside of the card with the Lily of the Valley sentiment I used yesterday:
Copics used:

bunny: E39 - E37 - E35 - E33 - E31 - E21 - E00 - E0000
wings/ wand/ flowers: B16 - B12 - B00 - B0000
nose/ flower centers: R27 - R24 - R22 - R20
shading: C4 - C3 - C1 - C00 - blender pen

Please let me know what you think!

xxx
Mariska

First card in AGES

Hi everybody,

So sorry for staying away for so long. Life is just getting in the way. Three kids is so much more work then two, I hadn't realized how much more. And there have been so many personal events that took a lot of my time, most of them very good not to worry but still.... not much time for crafts. I did do birthday invitations and treats for Dyanne's birthday a week ago but that's about it. Today I do finally have something to show you though. I just wish it was for a different cause. Dyanne's teacher Jenneke fell down a flight of stairs the other day during a school excursion. Fortunately she didn't break anything but she did bruise her ankle and three ribs pretty bad so she'll be replaced at school for the next two weeks.

I figured it would be a kind gesture to send her some goodies from the kids in her class who were all pretty impressed by the whole event. I asked their other teacher if she could make some artwork with them and she did a fantastic job by letting them color really cute hearts and writing their own personal message and their names on them. You know how little kids can be just adorable in their personal messages so I'm sure teacher Jenneke will have a good read when I deliver them to her tomorrow. Furthermore I asked the parents of the kids in Dyanne's class to chip in (is that the right way to spell that?) to buy her a gift card for the bookstore, I figured she could use a good read the next weeks. Anyway, I made a card to go around the gift card and that's what I have to show you today.
The sentiment reads "Een dikke knuffel van ons" which means "A big hug from us". Inside is a card with the names of all the kids and the gift card of course. The image I used is of course by Pink Cat Studio and she is called Lily hugging flowers and is both for sale as a digi and as part of a rubber stamp set. Here is a close up of her:
Mmmmmmm, don't like how the colors look on this picture, she looks way better irl. Anyway, I colored her during our holiday about two months ago and finally made her into a project :). I also did some decorating on the corner of the envelop:
And that's it I guess. I hope to find some time to do some serious crafting again real soon. In the meantime, thank you so much for your patience and take care sweet people!!

xxx
Mariska

Pink Cat Studio digi release with sample and sad news :S

Hi everybody!

Today there is a fabulous new release over at Pink Cat Studio. Don't you just love these sweet images:
The little baby in the flower pot was already released in a rubber set HERE but the PCS kitty and Strawberry Lily are completely new and I think Melissa should definitely turn these into rubber, especially Strawberry Lily, she's so cute! And as you can see above, today you receive sweet pea in the flower pot completely for free with your purchase!

I couldn't resist using Strawberry Lily, she's so adorable and sweet. As I told you in my post below, I did two baskets for Dyanne's two teachers and the second one was created with Strawberry Lily. I am very sad to inform you that this is for now going to be my last sample as a Pink Cat Studio design team member. As you probably have noticed I don't have a whole lot of time to create things now and that doesn't combine well with a job in a design team. This has been a very tough decision for me because I absolutely LOVE being on the PCS design team, Melissa has turned out to be a very good friend and she is the best "boss" lady ever and there isn't a design team in the world I'd rather be in. Thank you so much for the wonderful time I had on the team sweetie!! Don't you guys worry though, there are still plenty of PCS cards and projects going to be published here, just not as a DT member :(. So here goes my last project:
Isn't Strawberry Lily adorable! The papers I used are craft cardstock, Basic Grey Marrakesh and Doodlebug Ladybug and Limeade Daydream spot glitter cardstock. I don't know what the thin green dotted paper is called in English, in Dutch it is vloeipapier. The butterfly has been done with my Sizzix. Here is the back of the basket:
And here is a close up of cute Strawberry Lily, completely colored with my Copics and 3D paperpieced for dimension:
A side view:
And a picture of the two baskets together with the content of one of the baskets in front of them:
Don't forget to check out the PCS blog and the blogs of the other Design Team girls for more inspiration! You can find the new digi's HERE.

Take care!

xxx
Mariska

PCS digi release and present for juf Marian

Hello girls!!

I don't know what the weather is like in your part of the world but over here in The Netherlands it is VERY hot... I wouldn't mind a bit of rain to cool things down :S. To make things worse, Amy has been ill for the past week. I had to take her to the hospital last week because she had difficulty breathing and it turned out the be laryngitis subglottica, pseudo kroep in Dutch. The breathing got way better during the next few days but she still has a fever, she is tired a lot, eats very bad, isn't her usual happy self and now complains about pain in one leg. I just got the results from her blood test but fortunately they were good so it's probably still the kroep virus. Lets just hope it'll get out of her little body soon.

Anyway... I completely forgot to warn you about yesterdays Pink Cat Studio Digi release:As you can see you got a free American Football Billy with your purchase yesterday. Now if you've missed this offer because I was to late in mentioning the release and would have liked to make use of it please contact me TODAY ONLY and I'll see what I can arrange with Melissa. I'm not promising anything but I'll try my hardest for you... but like I said, I'll try that today only. Check out all the new digi images HERE.

Now these soccer images are perfect of course with the soccer (voetbal in Dutch) WC (WK in Dutch) going on. Today at four o clock our time The Dutch team is playing the Brazilians, it's going to be an enormous challenge but I so hope they'll make it. Hup Holland Hup!!! :). Soccer Billy was already released on a rubber Billy stamp set you can find HERE. I created a sample when that set was released so I'll show you that card today:
For more details and pictures on this slider card please look HERE.

Now today is also Dyanne's last day in school, she'll be home for the next few weeks. I made both of her teachers a gift. The gift Dyanne decided was for "juf Margreeth" I can't show you yet because I used a PCS digi that won't be released until next Thursday on that one but here is the present Dyanne gave "juf Marian":
Don't you love it? It's a soapbasket that was in the Cards Only of July/August (the last issue) and it was done by Marjan and Elly Schippers (I don't know if they have a blog, if they do could somebody send me the link so I can add it?). I had to give it a try, with different papers and images of course. This stamp is a Swiss Pixie by All That Scraps, you can find her HERE. She was colored using my Copics and I did a bit 0f 3D paperpiecing on her. Here is a close up:
The papers are old ones by Doodlebug, still think they are SO gorgeous :). Here is the back of the basket:
The butterfly is by Sizzix, the stamp is also in a set by All That Scraps, not sure which one now but if anyone really wants to know, ask and I'll look it up. A few gems for perfection. A last view:
In the basket are two satchels of hazelnut coffee, a Verkade fairtrade bar of hazelnut chocolate and a bar of Cappuccino chocolate. Really hope the teachers are into chocolate and hazelnuts :).

Well that's it for now. I'll show you the second basket next Thursday when I get to show you next Thursday and believe me... you'll love the Lily I'll have for you (oops... did I already say to much... :S).

Take care!!

xxx
Mariska

Release day for Lily at the Beach, last sneak peek and wedding anniversary!!

Hello everybody!!

This is the day most of you will have been waiting for... you can now get a set of Lily's at the Beach to play with yourselves. For me this is a special day because we are celebrating our fifth year wedding anniversary today! My husband still hasn't told me where we are going this weekend. I know we are going to bring the children to my parents in law tomorrow afternoon and that he is going to activate my navigationsystem in my car and I'm going to drive us to wherever we are going... but he refuses to tell me where that is!! Whatever it is... I totally appreciate the thought and his time and energy for arranging it. I'll let you know where we went on Tuesday. My post for sketch Saturday will go live on Saturday morning though :).

But you don't want to know all this... you want to finally see the new set! And here it is!! Don't you love it? As you can probably see there is one stamp we haven't sneak peeked before. We've kept that last stamp for today. Here is my card with the last little cutie:

Again the shells and the ribbon, the sea and the sand :). Papers today are an old line by Chatterbox. I think the paisley paper is so pretty that I never wanted to touch it but I thought it was perfect for this Lily set so I finally cut of a piece (I know, I'm stupid). Here is a close up of Lily:

The glass of her snorkel glass has been touched up with Paper Glaze but I don't think the picture shows. The flowers and all the other papers are also from stash. As you can now see, the sentiment is in the set.

Well that's it for me for this release. I hope you have liked my sneak peeks, I've putten a lot of work in my cards and I hope it shows :). I want to thank everybody for leaving me such lovely comments up until now, they made me feel like a million bucks :).

Please don't forget to check out the blogs of my Design Team buddies and our Guest Designer for this release Tori Wild. Tori thank you for joining us this release. I have absolutely LOVED your cards up until now and I'm sure I'll love the card you're going to show us today too. Great work sweetie!!

I'm signing of here :). I'm going to finish up my post for this weeks Sketch Saturday and after that I guess I'll speak to you on Tuesday! Have a great day and weekend everybody!!

xxx

Mariska

Second day of Lily at the Beach Sneak Peeks

Good morning everybody!!

I hope you enjoyed your blog hop yesterday, I sure did!! I loved seeing what my extremely talented fellow (Guest) Design Team members did with their stamps. Today is the second day of the sneak peeks and I'm sure we'll all be in for a treat again! Today we are all featuring one stamp. The set actually contains four images but the sneak peeks for the last set will be shown tomorrow at the day of the actual release. Here is my sneak peek for today: Now isn't Lily absolutly stunning as a mermaid!! I have coloured her to look a little bit like Disney's The Little Mermaid. In Holland Disney calls her Ariel but I'm not sure if that is the international name for her. But however she is called in your country, that Disney Classic is my absolute favourite and so this cutie had to have her gorgeous red hair. Here is a close up:

Her tail has been stickled up with a colour that's named 'Mermaid' now... couldn't go wrong there :). Again a lot of 3D on this picture. The frame she is in and the sentiment (same one as I used yesterday also in the set) are cut with another one of my new nesties "Large Deckled Rectangles". I used a lot of the materials I used for the card with Lily swimming with the tube yesterday. Same cardstock, DT paper, ribbon, shells, embroidery silk and adhesive stones though another colour. The pearls are beads but I thought they would look good on my card. I tried to give the card a distressed look because I think that fits the mermaid :). I'm not a very good distresser though but I like how this card turned out... hope you do too :).

Be sure to check out the blogs of my fellow DT members and our Guest Designer for this Release Tori Wild. Tomorrow is the actual release and I'll post another sneak peek card with the last image stamp then.

Have a great day everybody and thank you for stopping by and letting me know what you think!!

xxx

Mariska

Sneak Peek day 1 for Lily at the Beach Stamps

Good morning everybody!!

Today is the first day of the sneak peeks of the new Lily at the Beach stamps that will be released next Thursday the 23rd at Pink Cat Studio. I know it is still spring but the weather here has been lovely for the most part the last weeks so I have been really in the mood for these lovely stamps. It was a pleasure to work with them and I really like them, I'm sure you will do too. So let's get started with the sneak peeks!!

My first card uses a stamp with Lily riding this cute little turtle. I was in love with this stamp the second I saw Melissa's sketch of this one and it was the first one I inked up when the stamps arrived. Here is the result:

Now isn't she adorable!!! The lovely sentiment is also included in the set. Here is a close up of the image:

I used a lot of 3D on this one again. The sand and water paper I have had for ages and I finally got a chance to use them. The water paper is Sandylion's and the sand paper is from Carol Wilson but both papers are at least four years old. The shape around the image was made using my new Label One nesties and the green cardstock, blue Bo Bunny DP paper and some of the embellies are from the last Card-Art kit, the other embellies are from stash and the pink paper is Doodlebug Velvet. The stitching has been done with metallic embroidery silk.

On to my second card for this sneak peek day:

Isn't she cute again!! Again the sentiment is included in the set. A close up of this little cutie:

Now this Lily is actually standing holding the tube on the stamp as you will probably see on the cards of the other DT members but I wanted to put her into the water so I have added some water with foamcubes on her legs and under the tube to actually splash around :). Again lots of 3D on this one but I'm not sure if the picture shows this. Both of the nestie shapes have been mounted with 3D cubes too. The cardstock is from stash and the cream cardstock has been embossed with my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. The strip of DT paper is from Daisy bucket. The ribbon is from a Card-Art kit and I think that suits the beachy look very well. The shells were found by my daughter Dyanne :). The adhesive stones are from Make Me and I've embroidered with some ecru embroidery silk.

That's it for me today!! I sure hope you like my cards but if you don't... don't forget there are nine more Design Team members who I'm sure will blow you away with their sneak peeks, you can find their links on the right side. And if that is not enough.. this month we are being joined by our Guest Designer Tori Wild and I have just been over to Tori's blog and she has some absolutely stunning creations there so I can't wait to see what she has done with these two cuties. Have a lovely blog hop everybody! I'll be back tomorrow with another sneak peek.

Have a great day!!

xxx

Mariska