Woeff, it's been a hectic week....

Had my bloodletting done this past Monday. All is well :-)
Honestly, it is such a relief. I had a very extensive list of questions for the doctor, including the difference in check ups, which freaked me out, and he explained things, why he doesn't do what I was used to in the states, what they are checking etc. He also told me that if things didn't feel right, regardless of the bloodtest results, he would do more extensive checks. All those answers make me more at ease that they won't miss things, although I am acutely aware that there is no guarantees with cancer, no matter what you do. BUT.... Instead of a new chapter, I started a new book! LOL. So, on to life and living it.

This good news also made me tired....... Don't laugh! :-) I had not realized I had slept so little and Monday night, I was OK, but Tuesday is when the fun started. I fell asleep in the middle of the day, and with the kitty snuggled up tight, I slept a good 2 hours. I went to bed around 9ish at  night, and slept till 5 in the morning, Wednesday, same thing. Thursday, I drove up to see my dad, (couple of hours drive, plus the visit) and fell asleep on the way home after Mike got off work (he was driving, by the way LOL), got half way thru my salad and went to bed by 8.15. Actually made it to the chat, (after Mike woke me up, because he couldn't reach the alarm under my pillow, and I didn't hear it go off) but went back to bed at 4 and got up around 8.30, just in time to see Mike off to work 10 minutes later. So here I sit. Still bone tired, but at the same time rearing to go. Make sense?

Now that I've updated you on things that are on my mind, we can move on to important things:-)

Heritage Chat over at Ivyscraps..... we got some awesome information, but I don't remember, so I'm going to have to go to the forum and print it out. LOL There were websites for research that were free to use, and a bit of information I think, if you're having to dig in Texas, you'll want to know..... They are trying to pass a bill that would limit access to birth and death records for respectively 75 and 50 years. Which would effectively eliminate access to 2 generations, since the census is a secret for 70 years also.  So if you have family there, or know somebody who does... get to those archives before they are no longer accessible. Supposedly, they are trying to eliminate identity theft, but with everybody and his uncle having access to socials and maiden names...... It's bulshit! Pardon my french. Most identity thefts occur thru online hacks and credit cards..... going thru birth-/death records would be way too labor intensive!  BUT I digress........ The kit we received for showing up is sooooo nice :-) 
I played with it a bit....

The kit is by WaiteForTheMoment designs, but JAN is  how we know her. LOL
Not sure if the kit will be in the store, never thought to ask, (I will, here in a bit) but even than, go take a look at her store. There's nice things there .......

 I also found out that a bill was sneaked thru congress, allowing government agencies, not only thru subpoena (which would need probably cause and a judge) but ANYTIME they want, access to your accounts and emails. This is scary to me. ANYBODY working for the government can get to it? REALLY!? Whatever happened to the freedom of speech and the right to privacy? Is that just for "other" people and "not so much" for regular people anymore? God forbid a criminal would have his email checked without a court order.... anything found would be dismissed from evidence, but they can check on anybody that's just going about life, with its opinions (like this one) and remarks without a problem. It's already to the point that you have to watch what you say in public in private conversations, because some Nosy Nelly that listens in on the conversation that's not meant for them in the first place, could possibly get offended, and now you have to watch what you write in emails?  I sure hope that they never invent telepathy that can be taught.... everybody would land in jail for what they were thinking at one point or another....... Sorry for the rant, and I  hope it won't come back to bite me somewhere, but it seems that in our race to protect our freedoms, and in search of people who threaten it, we lost it. Not thru terror, but thru rules....... I wonder what's next. Potential employers already have the right to do a credit check. What the ????? Does being short of money make me a worse employee, does it automatically make me a candidate for stealing? What does it matter what I have in the bank or how I have to juggle the bills to get them all paid, eventually..... If I show up for work, and do an honest day work..........Is that not why I get paid? Creditworthyness, or bankaccounts should not be an issue when looking for work. Is the next step that employers can access your email, to see who you write and what you say? I don't think I'm paranoid, and I definitely don't keep secrets, but I like my private life to be just that... PRIVATE!!! Or at least as private as I want it to be :-)
'nuff said.

Ann will have a new kit out shortly, it is called Raindrops  On Roses. IT IS GORGEOUS!!!! As soon as I get the green light, I will post the information, but think dreamy, pinks in all shades and the impression that you can really smell the roses! :-)

Did I show off her kit Teacup Garden yet?  I'm still working on a page, because I couldn't put the kit to bed, but I'm not getting down on the page what I'm visualizing, so that one will show up later.....

ALL THE PARTS

Pictures on both pages were taken at the rosefestival in Lottum, last year. It just seemed to fit the kit.
The cameraman did not do justice to the displays. I'll have to learn. (Not being able to bend down and get back up, may have influenced it a little, but that, also, will be worked on)

The kit is available at her stores:

Booland Designs has been busy, and I got to play with maybe half of what she put out sofar this month. Working on the pages for MAY SYNERGY, but can't show them to you yet. You'll see in a couple of days.... Probably around the 2nd of May or so.... There's also some stuff coming up, but I have no details yet, so as soon as I'm "free to blabber" I will :-)

Meanwhile, go check out the kits, that belong to these pages. 

My Old Jalopy hit the store today. I love the colors in it. And it has car parts! :-)

Old cars found in a parkinglot in Iowa. Wish we could have taken them home......
Telephone pole and tires are part of the kit. 

Statue in front of the Scholte Huis in Pella.

There are new One Page Wonders, (#56 thru 59) but I haven't played with them yet. You can find them in the New Release section of Boolands Store. I DID play with a couple older ones though......

ONE PAGE WONDER #44

ONE PAGE WONDER #45
The armor is not part of the kit, but I extracted it from one of my pictures.

ONE PAGE WONDER #46

ONE PAGE WONDER#47

So, as you can tell, I'm a little behind.......

Combination page of ONE PAGE WONDERS 56 thru 59

Blame it on the blond thing........ I HAVE them, just forgot I did! I am such a ditz sometimes. LOL

I made this page to get a feel for the kits, and completely spaced it after that! I have the PSD's sitting in my TO DO folder, just never went back to them. Some people....... (Insert a deep, deep sigh and a headshake here!)  

JAPANESE WHISPERSI can't find the picture I want to put with this page, so I left it as a QP.

SUMMER DREAMS
My niece is fishing for brine shrimp at the North Sea coast in October to feed her pufferfish.
When asked how she liked it, all she said was "it was COLD!"

THE WALK
Picture was taken by my sister on her trip to Scotland.

THE WALK

So, I think you're caught up again. 

Tomorrow is World Tai Chi day. It's celebrated at the same place it was last year, and I intend to hit the right button this time, and tape the Qi Chung excercises, so I can start practicing them daily. That, together with the good news of the beginning of the week, my upgraded mental wellbeing and the promise to go walking at least every other day..... Should be a good restart :-)

Now if I can only forget where I put the chocolate.......... LOL

That's it for me for today. Don't forget to hug a loved one, and have a great weekend.

Hugs,

Pauli

Catching up, while waiting

for the LifeBook chat over at Victorian Rose Designs. You see, now that I'm actually sleeping most nights, I don't seem to hear the alarm when it goes off at 2AM, so I decided I'm going to try and stay up tonight and see if I can catch the chat!

I've been busy, both scrapping, visiting and spring cleaning. I also set the oven on fire, but I swear, that was not my fault! LOL.

Lets start with the scrapping, shall we?

Ann has a new kit coming out, and I'm very happy with the way the pages came out. The kit is called TeaTime Garden, and it is gorgeous! It will come out on the 18th, so I will post the pages Thursday or Friday.

In the meantime, and just because the kit may show up in the store early..... It's coming to her stores: 

Boo has been busy, as always. I'm slowly coming to the realization that I can not, and will not be able to keep up with her, so I'm starting to actually decline to work some of the kits. Not because I wouldn't want to, but because there is no way I have enough time in a day. LOL

She is making ready to plop pictures in albums, and I absolutely adore them. Sofar, there's  5. Two of them are not just templates, but quickpages. 2 are templates and one is the Synergy 365 album. I'm trying to use at least one double page per kit, but I noticed that I have very few pictures that would do the pages justice. I'll keep trying though :-)

The pages are from Let's make an Album #1, the kit used is the March Synergy kit.
Pictures are taken the first Easter we were back in Holland.

Pages are from Let's make an Album #5, the kit used is the April Synergy Kit.
Pictures are from our visit to the TutAnchAmun exhibit in Amsterdam. I'm not really happy with the page, but I LOVE the colors on the black background. Like I said, I don't have the pictures to do the pages justice.

The kit Japanese Whispers. I tried to take pictures of some of our Singapore pictures, but it didn't work, so I left the picture off. 

IvyScraps ..... The bingo pages are done, as well as one and a half of the pages for the Mini Pixels. Go check out the forum, and participate in some of the challenges.... It's fun! :-)

Now for the oven story.....

I was hungry, we were out of bread (unless you count the fuzzy things I found in the breadbox) so I wanted to make a  couple of bread rolls you finish baking in the oven. I did what I needed to do, and went about my chores, until I smelled something, and it wasn't fresh baked bread! When I walked in the kitchen, I saw a flickering in the over, and knowing it's an electric oven, and I wasn't burning a candle anywhere.... it freaked me out severely. I can't work the fire-extinguisher we have, so I contemplated throwing water on it, baking soda, or just leave the oven door shut, and hope it would die on its own.....

So I left the door closed, and stood, wondering if that was really the best action.  Between the flame and the bread rolls was a layer of silver-foil, and the tray was on the lowest setting, so it didn't have a whole lot of room, or anything left to burn. I have still no idea how a couple of breadcrumbs on the heating-bars would ignite like that, but I won't have to explain that as soon as the oven was cooled down, it received the cleaning of a lifetime!

I'm wussing-out on the chat, and going to bed afterall. I'm so tired. Have been overstretching capabilities this week, and it's catching up with me. Had a headache for the last 2 days, so I'll call it good, and catch you up properly tomorrow, or Thursday on the parts I missed tonight. Mike and kitty left hours ago, and should be well established in dreamland by now so I'm going to see if I can catch up. Seems a shame to give up this close to chat time, but I can hardly keep my eyes open, or concentrate, so........... night all :-)

Hugs,

Pauli

I'm bummed!

I just found out, that a research friend of mine has passed away.
I had been sending emails and never heard back, which was odd for him, but I also know that time has the unhappy habit of slipping by faster and faster, so I didn't put a whole lot of thought into it. Tonight, I had a question, and sent an email, and it came back as non-deliverable. Since he has had the same email for as long as I've known him, I googled him and found 2 sentences under his obituary.
His name, his birthdate and death date.

For a man who has spent his lifetime gathering and sharing information on family, hangers on, in-laws, step- and adoptive branches of his family tree, this just seemed somehow wrong on a level I cannot put to paper.  I checked on Find A Grave, and there is nothing there. I tried the newspaper of the town he lived in... nothing there either. If I didn't know better, I would not know he existed. so.......... with good memories and the sincere hope I may one day have a website even half as awesome as yours.....

Rest in Peace Steve Lawson 

July 2, 1938 - June 29, 2011

God Bless

This is all I wanted to say tonight. Don't forget to hug that loved one!!

Hugs,

Pauli

PHEW!

I'm going to, really fast, post the pages, I'm running behind on... Please forgive me for the quick hit and run. It's Mikes day on the computer, and he left it un-attended, so I jumped on it to fill you in on these. With a little bit of luck, he'll get hungry, and starts lunch, and I'll have a little extra time .....

I absolutely LOVE Boo's One Page Wonders. They are so much fun to play with. I just pull the whole thing onto the page, and start pushing parts around until I like what I see :-) I think she's up to 30 now, with new ones coming up next week. I have NOT played with all of them, but I'm seriously working on it. LOL

I ALSO figured out how to use Styles in Elements, and I am sooooooo happy I can play with them again! As a result, I'm sure, for the next few weeks, I will use as many as I possibly can, without going "goudy"!

One Page Wonder #27
(The style on the Title is an old "rust", but I have no idea who's it is, as it is not included
in the filename, and it was downloaded before I wanted to know :-)  )

One Page Wonder # 26
All the pictures used are scans from the box of slides I borrowed from dad.
The colors had gone a little to the weird, so I tried to fix them in Elements.

One Page Wonder #28
The picture I received from my sister. 

One Page Wonder #30
I took this picture on our trip to Lottum, during the Rose Festival in 2012

One Page Wonder #29
One of my mom and dads wedding pictures I scanned.

Boo also has some mini kits out called In Bloom. I had a chance to play with a couple of those........
I mixed them up, just because we could, but mainly because it's fun to do.

I just love the way the picture matched the kit.
I used two styles on the title. First the glitter from the February Synergy kit, and as a second the Orange from the "Barely There" styles #3. The picture was taken at Keukenhof..... It's so nice to be early enough for the dew to still be on the flowers.
This is made with only 1 kit. In Bloom 4

This page mixed In Bloom kits 1 and 2. The picture is from a painting set I saw in the exhibit hall at the Keukenhof.
I just liked the looks of it sitting propped up against the table, and it was the Holland I had missed. I did not have enough sense to ask the artist for a card, so I could remember who it was, so I hope I'm not getting in trouble for using it.

I used In Bloom kits 3 and 5 for this.

Ok, I'm out of here. Mike is back :-)

Don't forget to hug a loved one!

Pauli

It's been a while.....

not intentionally, just the usual thing. Time got away from me again.

Nothing big happened, We both had some kind of bug and it snowed!!! ACTUAL WHITE STUFF, and it stuck around! Big flakes, 3 days in a row! For a total of probably 5 inches...... Not Iowa snow, but snow none the less. LOL
It's really weird how it works here. You wake up to falling snow, it warms up late afternoon most times and it's all gone. Go to sleep and repeat. I don't care. I love it! Went over to the place I have been trying to get a 4-season picture of the same spot. I have 3 but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get the final season. There are going to rebuild the castle and farm ruins. The crane was sitting on the property right before the last snowfall, as were the containers. As far as I can figure from the website, the castle and farm will be rebuilt with the tools and materials of the original (1752-ish) which I think, is AWESOME! however, it kinda puts a kink in my project :-) According to the plans, they'll start on the bridge to the farm, so maybe I have a chance to take the last picture of the series in the spring... If it gets here :-)

If you have any interest in history, go here. If you want more information, in english, I'll be happy to translate some, or all, of it. Just let me know:-)

The page designs is from Boo's 365 album. I know the page is completely "not done" but you have to start somewhere, right? LOL

Castle ruins SCHAESBERG in Landgraaf. Just a little down the road from us.
I'm sure once the rebuilding starts, there's not a whole lot of peace and quiet to be had out there, but for now......
It's a little bit of heaven for me.

I may have been absent from the blog, but I haven't been sitting on my hands. (unless they were really, really cold)

ANN has 2 new kits out since my last post.

Gilded Theater. ALL ingredients for this page are from the kit

Passionata

Both were very nice to work with. But I'm running out of pictures! That's the main reason there are no pictures on the Gilded Theater page.  Both are for sale here:

Not sure what happened here, but the link is still pointing to E-Scape and Scrap :-)

Ivy has had the March Mini Pixels out for a bit. BUT, they also have a VERY worthwhile charity kit running this month. Proceeds benefit Autism Awareness

I am very happy to say that when I offered to make some quick-pages with the kits, it was accepted. Taking my cue from Boo, I turned the "couple of quick-pages" into an album, complete with front and back page. I hope you will go check out the kit, knowing it is for a great cause. It is absolutely humongous, and very, very, VERY reasonably priced for the size of it. I think it's a little over half a gigabyte on scrapping things!!!

As a tease/incentive (I hope), I'm putting the front and back here.... For the rest, you'll have to go check out the kit :-)

Front

Back

My pages for the Mini-Pixels are: 

Polarbear cubs

Over at my sisters place there's a zoo. They had cubs in November, and first introduced to the public when it snowed. How fitting :-) They were soooo cute! And we were soooooo cold. LOL 

(My camera stopped working because it was too cold.......)

Butterfly by DBA

rose, carnation by JLW

baby's breath and branches by Mariandale

green leaves and green paper by LDD

WordArt by PBS

paperclip by MDS 

frame by AC scroll by MM

 These pictures are from our first Easter back in holland. 

Page is put together with mixed mini's from March over at IvyScraps

The frames are from MM, merged with paper by LDD

Background paer, branches and baby's breath by Marandale

Postage stamp by MM

pink ribben and white flowerb ranch by AC

Violet by RSC

WordArt by Gloria Valverde greenleaves and dangling tags by LDD

Boo has been Boo... I just can't keep up with that girl! LOL

She has 2 albums out, besides the one that covers all the months in beautiful 2 page spreads. And a lot of kits, I haven't even played with. She also has her new series: One Page Wonders. These kits have a more limited amount of "stuff" than the regular kits, but more than enough to make several pages. And at the price, it is VERY doable to get a couple and mix and match! 

As CT's we are encouraged to mix them up a bit, but it's so nice not to keep track of what came out of which kit, that I haven't done that yet. I DO have, however, some pages made. The caption will have which One Page Wonder you're looking at :-)

One Page Wonder #22

One Page Wonder #25 

One Page Wonder #24

I'm still working on a couple, but figured that I've kept you long enough.
Hopefully, I'll be a little bit more "on the ball" and will keep you updated on "Life in Limburg" more often than every 6 weeks. LOL

I TOLD you......

I forgot tons of things! LOL

Boo has a new series of kits out. If you want them all, you'll have a year to collect them :-)

This quote is just perfect. The pictures are the last ones I have of my sisters pup.
I thought the word art fits the early picture, the older picture and the picture of how
the picture came to be. I had found the old picture my sister had sent me and we tried as good
as it would go, to recreate it. The kids are a lot taller, so they didn't quite fit beside the kitchen cabinet anymore, but
on a whole, the picture came out very cool.

Every month, Boo will have a new kit, over at The Studio.(with a challenge attached) At the end of the year, you'll have every month, date, weekday and year to keep you scrapping for years to come, This is great if you make a series of albums, covering several years because they can all have the same base elements, but you can also use the kits to highlight a couple of things per year, in between your regular pictures. However you want to save your memories.... You'll use the kits over and over.

January 2013 kit used for these 2 lay-outs.....

Sweet Caress:

Our old neighbor from Hiawatha just had her babyboy... a month early.
He has a good name. LOL

IvyScraps

I'm now officially the Bingo Page Maker for IvyScraps! WHOOHOO. I absolutely LOVE to make these. Too bad that only one person can use them. And a lot of times, I don't even know who won, because the pages usually don't get posted in the gallery. So I sometimes wonder if the person would have rather gotten something else, but in general... I enjoy thinking how somebody might want to use the page, and it helps me make pages other than "mine". I'm glad I get to do it. 

I haven't seen the February mini pixels yet, so I cannot tell you about them yet. As soon as I know.... you'll see them here. However, I CAN show the pages for january..... if I can find them.

You see..... I tried to clean off the computer, so we could figure out why Mike can't play The Sims anymore, and I got a little carried away. (nothing new there, right? LOL) I was on a roll, and missed a couple of times where I dropped things, so if I need something, it may be easy and right where it should be, or it may turn into a full scale man-hunt. 

On the upside.... The sims is installed and playable without any problem. Mike hadn't been able to play the game since sometime last summer and was displaying serious signs of withdrawel. I kept finding pieces of paper scribbled full of room dimensions, roof pitches, garden designs and complete house-plans everywhere! LOL.

Haven't found the pages yet, but wanted to finish this post. I will look a little better/faster/more organized after I'm done with this.... :-)


ANN has a new store over at CU Digitals. It only houses Commercial Use products, and I'm almost sorry I'm not a web-designer, so I can use some of it! I went and looked at the store and found lots of things I had no idea she had made.... That included Tattered Books. The bookworm that I am just had to let her know how much I liked them, and before I knew what was going on, I found the download links in my mailbox. I was floored. As a CT, you already receive so many gifts, and to just get one sent your way with no other thought than for you to enjoy.... is very special. The books also gave shape to an idea I have been fooling around with for a while. I want to build another Family website. Just not sure how to go about that yet because of the massive amount of information I want to put on it, but I played with Anns kits yesterday, and came up with a pretty neat looking first page.....  (no, I didn't break an arm, patting myself on the back. I just really like the way it came out. LOL)

The header and title of the site. If I can find a way to "slide it over" the body, that would be soooooo cool!

the body

Haven't figured out how to do the other pages yet, but given the amount of information that needs to go on them, they will stay pretty simple. Just couldn't help showing you the initial thought.....  At first I thought about using it as blog-wear, but I haven't found a blogging site that will allow me to put my own things up, hence the family website. The blog will get there, with the same title, to hold my thoughts, such as they are, on the research and finds of information, and hopefully people, just not with this lay-out. As far as the website goes..... The last count, if I put the pages in the site I would really like to put in, was 150. If I condensed them by say families and historical, I came out at 68, but the pages would be so awful long that I don't think anybody would ever make it to more than halfway down........ I think I may just have to start, and see what happens.

Ann also has a new kit out. Passionata. I have it, just haven't played with it yet. As soon as I do, you'll find the results, right here :-)

Wel, Mike will be off tomorrow, and I promised I would have a doable to do list ready, so I better get to "sorting chores" into bite size pieces...... One of them will be to have a sit-down breakfast instead of a hit and run bite, to celebrate our 24th aniversary :-)

Have a great day, and don't forget to hug that loved one :-)

PS: I started this Sunday, and forgot to post it...... You rush, and that's when dumb things happen :-), so we just got done with breakfast, and Mike has been playing The Sims since 5AM............... The boy is bound and determined to catch up on his play time I think.

Hugs,
Pauli