24.12.11

Spool-knitted scarf no. 2

My parents and I always celebrate Christmas together on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day. And last Tuesday I was suddenly struck with the notion that that was only a few days away! And I still had to make my mother's scarf! AAAH! (erm, yes, you could say I panicked slightly...)

Good thing this knitting nancy I got works miracles. I did take some short cuts compared to last time, and knitted one long string of which I cut off pieces. Saved me the trouble of starting over every time, with yarn breaking etc etc...

Anyways, it took me a few hours (and a sore wrist...), but tadááá, here it is:


My mom was very pleased with it too, fortunately! Phew...

BTW: Merry Christmas everybody!

19.12.11

Christmas card

For the 2nd year in a row, I decided to have my own Christmas cards printed.

Can I just say that I absolutely love Photoshop actions??? They make me look really good with just a few mouse clicks!

Here's the SOOC*:


And here is the end result:



Some actions that I turn to time and again for photo-editing are those of the Pioneer Woman.
And the best part? Not only are they completely awesome, they are free too! Woohoo!
You can get both sets here.


* SOOC = straight out of camera

17.12.11

Busy Bee

Christmas is upon us and so I've been busy with lots of stuff - just haven't been able to post!

- I made my own photo Christmas cards this year.
- decorated the tree - of course.
- started my Zpagetti crocheted throw.
- started on crocheted fingerless gloves.
- worked on my December Daily (bit behind on posting that as well).
- worked on Project Life.
- did some baking for work and get-togethers.
- and every once in a while I also need to go to WORK, go grocery and/or Christmas shopping, visit family & friends, keep up with laundry & other chores etc etc...

In short: updates to come soon!

11.12.11

December Daily - Day 10

This weekend, I visited some friends that I hadn't seen in over 2 years. We kept in touch over the phone but due to personal circumstances it was difficult to meet in person all this time, so our visit was my topic for today's page.

10.12.11

December Daily - Day 9

Since I made the suggestion a few months ago to go to the States next year, my mom has been in planning mode. I managed to rein her in for a while, arguing that I wanted to focus on this year's vacation first. However, when next year's holiday brochures became available this week, there was no escaping my mom's enthusiasm anymore. We spent from approx. 7.30 p.m. until 12.30 a.m. (!) Friday night making plans and looking up info online...

9.12.11

December Daily - Day 8

Not much happened today, so I made a page about my traineeship at work (that takes up 1 day per week).

8.12.11

December Daily - Day 7

My cousin and I went to the theater last night and saw a well-known Dutch comedian, so of course I had to document it... The page on the left is a flyer from the show.

7.12.11

December Daily - Day 6

I brought all the treats I made this weekend to work, and especially the cheesecake and yoghurt cake were a big hit!
My mom called me in the afternoon, asking whether my colleagues had enjoyed the cakes and pie. She let it slip that my dad had been sorely disappointed the night before when he came home to a delicious smelling house, but found nothing to satisfy his sweet tooth. He settled for a couple of fried eggs instead ;-)
There was some banana cake left over, so I brought it over after work. That got me back in his good graces, hahaha!

6.12.11

December Daily - Day 5

While most people in Holland were celebrating St Nicholas's birthday yesterday, my mom was determined to set up her traditional Christmas village...
While she was busy doing that, I made 2 more treats for work: cheesecake (a new recipe - I wonder how it turned out!) and one of my favourites, rhubarb pie.


{BTW, both recipes can be found on my recipe blog!)

5.12.11

December Daily - Day 4

I spent the greater part of the weekend baking birthday treats for work. Naturally that had to be a topic for my DD album.


The best part of baking? Eating the left-over batter from the bowl afterwards ;-)

{BTW, the recipes for both the banana loaf and the lemon yoghurt cake are posted on my recipe blog}

4.12.11

December Daily - Day 3

Since we didn't go out to eat on my birthday (I wasn't feeling up to it after walking around the Zoo all afternoon), we postponed it a day.


I just noticed that I haven't used a lot of my gathered supplies so far ;-)
That always seems to happen - I select a bunch of embellishments and still end up keeping it 'clean & simple'. Oh well...

3.12.11

December Daily - Day 2

My birthday!

A strange day, since it's the first without my grandfather, who I share my birthday with (he died last April and would have been 86 today).

After visiting the cemetary, my parents and decided to do something fun for the rest of the afternoon and went to the Zoo.

2.12.11

Project Life 2011 - November update

Another month's gone by and here's my PL update for November:




What happened in November:
- my dad turned 60
- annual maintenance for my heater
- breakthrough in local missing person's case
- 2 of my pets died
- Breaking Dawn Part I in theaters {WOOT!}
- wedding announcement of my cousin
- visit to (another) Craft Fair
- parking licence woes
And I started Everyday Creative of course!

1.12.11

December Daily - Day 1

First day of December Daily!

Since it is World AIDS Day, I decided to document an annual tradition of mine: the purchase of the Stop AIDS Now Art Bag.
For the past few years, 3 well-known designers each design a special Art Bag. The proceeds of the sales go to AIDS charity. I think I've bought an Art Bag every year since it first started.

Here's today's spread: