Bron’s 60th Birthday Blog Hop # 6

Beaches, Palm Trees, Fresh Juice and Cocktails, Sun, Sand and Relaxation……….sounds like a dream aye?

Today we celebrate our friend Bronwyn Eastley’s 60th Birthday. Happy Birthday Bron!

If you have been following my blog, you will know that I have been participating in Bron’s 60th Birthday Hops for the past 6 months. Bron’s original 60th Birthday celebrations did not go to plan so she came up with the fabulous idea of running a series of blog hops to celebrate. This is the last in the series.

Our final theme is Tropical Holiday!

Here is my Tropical Holiday card.

I’m sure Bron is doing something like this right now……Cocktails in the sun – enjoying beautiful scenery and family times.

Next up in the Blog Hop is the lovely Jan Clothier – follow this link to Jan’s Blog or click the next button below.

Just Add Ink Challenge # 553 – Sketch Challenge

Well I have had a whirlwind couple of weeks – there has been alot happening – so this is a longish post.

First up, after almost 11 years I decided it was time for me to move on from Computershare. So I made the big move and handed in my notice. I finished my time off with a large meeting that I had been working on for several months.

As I was working my final week at Computershare, a travel bubble was announced between Australia and NZ…..just in the nick of time for me….. as my Dad’s 80th Birthday party was coming up!!

I flew off to NZ for 10 days – surprising Dad and my friends too!

Nadine and I did some lovely walks and spent a small amount of time crafting – including making a card for this weeks Just Add Ink Challenge. If you look closely in the pics below, you will see my card in progress.

Our brother Lloyd arrived from Sydney and then it was time to head to Dad’s and surprise him. The next few days were busy with party organisation while Dad and Lloyd made some gates for Dad’s back yard.

Then party day arrived and we had a great time. It was great to catch up with family, Aunties, Uncles, Cousins and Friends. There was live music, a bowling competition (which we won!!) and lots of really great food.

In a cheeky moment I said to Sarah……do you know that I have an Aunty that looks like the Queen! Can you see her??

After a delayed flight Sarah and I returned to Perth safely (no quarantine required) which was very lucky and….just in the nick of time as I started a new job the following day.

First day on the new job I was issued with PPE including my new Boots. Cute aye?

And finally…here’s my card. I used a Sale-a-bration Stamp Set call A touch of Ink (now retired) with accents of Gold.

Follow this link to Just Add Ink to see the rest of the Design Team cards for this Sketch Challenge.

I made 2 versions – here is the other and also Dad’s Birthday card too.

Social Stamping – Travel

Guess where I am?

I’m at home actually……but these pics were taken on at the beginning of June last year.   We were on the most wonderful European trip.  We had the best time ever – and have reflected on it a lot during the past few months.

Even though we travelled all over Europe, I used our time in Paris as inspiration for my Social Stamping Travel based card today.

Social Stamping is organised by Kelly Kent.   Kelly organised a Blog Host each week, to keep her Stamping and Papercraft friends connected and crafting during Covid-19 and lock down. I have been participating in Social Stamping with Kelly, since she started it in March.

The theme changes each week and Travel is the Theme this week.  I’m sure many of us have had our travel affected by Covid-19 over the past few months – whether that be in your local area, state or territory, nationally or even internationally.

For my card this week I used the Parisian dies, Forever Blossoms Stamp Set and a DSP from a few years ago.

To discover other Travel themed projects, you can click on the button below.  That will take you to Sheila Pybuses blog and you can see what Sheila has created.

Alternatively, you can follow this link to the complete Social Stamping – Travel listing.

 

 

 

Just Add Ink Challenge # 467

In April, I contacted, met and then crafted with Lotte Noordzij-Walther of A-Lotte-Stamping-Fun.   The card I made for this weeks Just Add Ink Challenge was one that I made when I was Stamping with Lotte.

The Just Add Ink Challenge this week is a Sketch Challenge.

Here is my card……I used the Butterfly Gala stamp set (which is one I had not used before).  It has lots of lovely Butterflies that can be coloured so many different ways.  I also used some vellum to make some delicate leaves.

How do you like the grass in the background??  It’s actually our back lawn which is so lush and long and green at the moment.   Being Winter here in WA everything is green rather than the usual sunburnt brown.

Lucky for me, Lotte also had the matching Butterfly punch for these images which saved me from fussy cutting.

Join this Just Add Ink Challenge here and also check out other cards and projects made by the Design Team for this Challenge.

Let me show you the lovely Birthday card that Lotte gave me.  The pic does not show it well, because you can’t see the glitter on the #50.  As you can see this card not only celebrated my Birthday but also my time in Rotterdam and the Netherlands.  I frequently went Windmill hunting and adored Tulip Hunting too.   It also reminds me of the wonder time I spent crafting with Lotte and makes me wish we lived closer to each other so we could craft together again.

Meanwhile in the Craft Room…..(and other things)….

While I was away I celebrated a Big Birthday.   We had arranged it so that Neil and Sarah arrived a couple of days earlier so we were all in Rotterdam together.

In the morning we visited the Cube houses that are in the heart of Rotterdam.  They were built in 1982-1984, there are 38 in all and most of them are lived in.  They are also known as pole-houses or tree-houses.

We then walked across the road to (my fav place) the Markethal – where we had some Dragons Breath.  It’s kinda like sweet cereal balls that are bathed in liquid nitrogen – so when you eat them they make it look like you are breathing fire……a bit of fun.

After lunch we got on the Water bus and went to Kinderdijk.  I really loved it here – it was my 2nd visit.

We were very lucky with the Waterbus – being a week day, it was not very busy.  The Waterbus man (Conductor) took Neil up to the front of the boat and showed him around while Sarah and I enjoyed the view and wind in our hair.   The Waterbus man then went round and offered to take photos of all the tourist (us) on the boat.   It was fun……even more of a bonus was that he only charged us for a one-way trip.

In the Evening we went to Vessel 11 for Dinner.  It’s a big old tug boat that was situated on the canal between Work and my Apartment (so about a 2 minute walk).  

I received lots of lovely Birthday cards (thank you to everyone for them) and I will share them over the next wee while.   But today I want to show you one that Kelly posted to my apartment in Rotterdam.   I was wrapped to receive it.

I thought this was a great fancy fold – so decided to have a go at it myself.  I put together a little thank you card and gift for the young lady who  did a marvelous job at looking after our house and pets. 

Trip to Onstage Telford

In April, Stampin Up’s OnStage Live event was held in NZ and smaller OnStage events were held in many other places around the world.   Knowing that I would be on Secondment in the Netherlands I decided to join one of the smaller events nearby.

There were several that I could have gone to (with a little bit of travel). I decided to travel to Telford in the UK for the Event.

These Events give Stampin up Demonstrators an opportunity to get together, share ideas, cards (swaps) and to see and hear about new (and exciting) products that are coming soon.   At this time of the year we also get to see, feel and smell the New Catalogue!!

On the Friday night after work – I hightailed it to Schiphol Airport and got on a flight to Birmingham. There I found a train to Telford where I was staying. So that was the first part of the adventure.

Prior to going to Europe, I had contacted a fellow Demonstrator in the UK, Joanne James, aka The Craft Owl, to see if she was attending OnStage. I explained that I was coming to the Event and perhaps could connect with her?

Joanne and her Team were very Welcoming. It was lovely getting to know them and spending the time with them.   Joanne had even made me a Crafty Owl Badge to wear.   Cute huh??

Here I am with the Crafty Owls Team!

Left to Right:  Lorraine Streeter, Me, Helen Jennings, Maggie Brinklow and Joanne “Crafty Owl” James.

When I was planning my trip, I knew that I would get a copy of the New Catalogue. I knew that it would be a UK one and therefore be in £. But I thought that would be OK.   However, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Stampin Up had a AU/NZ Catalogue there for me!   Whoo hoo, awesome, Thanks SU!

I also met another Team of ladies, the Stamping Stars (headed by Stacey March), who looked after me when I first arrived. I also joined them for Dinner after the OnStage Event.

On the Sunday, bright and early, I made my way back to Birmingham and onto Schipol and then Rotterdam.   It was a whirlwind weekend – but I loved every minute of it!

Just Add Ink #453…”Choose Two”

The new Just Add Ink Challenge this week is Easter themed and perfect for some long weekend crafting.   Jan has provided us with a “Choose Two” Challenge.  You can choose out of Bunnies, Flowers or Crosses.

Although I am not participating in this Challenge – because I am away from my craft room, you can check out all the Design Team projects at Just Add Ink.    And you can play along with the Challenge too – enjoy!

So what have I been up to this week???  I’ve had a super week – work, sight-seeing and some Crafting…….

Amersfoort
One day during the week I worked in a place called Amersfoort.  Amersfoort is a city in the province of Utrecht about an hour or so by train from Rotterdam.  I finished work a little earlier than expected so I decided to check out the sites.

And WOW – what a beautiful place……..The city grew around what is now known as the central square, the Hof and parts of city/area date back to 1000 BC.  The city had a defensive brick wall that needed enlarging, so a new wall was built (around 1380-1450).  The second wall, included a combined land and water gate called the Koppelpoort (pic below)

The Onze-Lieve-Vrouwentoren (Tower of Our Lady) is one of the tallest medieval church towers in the Netherlands at 98 metres (322 ft). When it was built, it was the middle point of The Netherlands. The nickname of the tower is Lange Jan (‘Long John’).The construction of the tower and church was started in 1444. But the church was destroyed by an explosion in 1787.   The tower survived the explosion which is strange because when you walk up to it, it’s a huge tower standing all by itself.

Kinderdijk
Kinderdijk  is about 15 km east of Rotterdam.  I got there via Water Bus – which was fun.  Kinderdijk was built around 1740 and is a systems of 19 windmills that were built to drain water from the land.  This group of mills is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands.

And here is this funniest thing I saw all week……while I was on the Water bus, I saw this man who took his Cat to Kinderdijk in a bag around his neck!   Once we got off the boat, I caught up with him to see if I could take a pic.  His cat seemed quite happy.

I also got to do a bit of Crafting too……. Here I am with Lotte Noordzij-Walther.
Lotte invited me over for Coffee and we ended up Crafting all afternoon.  We each made a few things (that I will share soon).

Lotte gave me this sweet Easter Card that she had made me.  When I opened it, the Bunny spun around in the centre of the Oval.