Hello stampers and happy Friday to you. Today I am going to be talking about Peaceful Moments, the stamp set, and peaceful moments with my Tante Nel. How fitting is that? In face, I am thrilled that the poppy suite is in the mini catalog because poppies are the flower that Canadians use to commemorate the supreme sacrifice of life of our soldiers. This year is the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Holland by Canadian soldiers from World War 2 and there will be epic celebrations all over Holland in May and I hope to be here again. Let’s take a look at the sets.

Peaceful Moments and Painted Poppies stamp sets

Painted Poppies Card

It really is just so lovely the way the paper, the stamps and the dies coordinate. I added some vellum to soften the patterned paper under my sentiment. I had these silver sequins laying around, I think they were from a Paper Pumpkin kit. Do you see the leaves? They are also cut from the Painted Poppies designer series paper.

I was curious to see what the card would look like with a black sentiment instead of highland heather. I also knew that you would want to see a card with a different sentiment. There are lots of great sentiments in the Peaceful Moments stamp set.

What is your preference? Do you see that I also added a stamped and coloured poppy to the sentiment? I like that extra pop of red.

Peaceful Moments Story Time

I haven’t forgotten my promise to tell you the story about my high tea with Tante Nel. Let me introduce Tante Nel to you. You see, my mother came from a family of fourteen children. Yes, fourteen!! All from one mother and one father. Tante Nel is my mom’s younger sister by thirteen years. She is also the aunt that first hosted me when I came to Holland as a fourteen year old teenager. I thought she was super cool, after all, she listened to and sang along with ABBA!! She wore makeup and high heels. Jeans!! Totally different than my mom. Without Tante Nel, I would never have met Gerard. He came to her house when it was my cousin Corrina’s 17th  birthday. Gerard has always maintained his friendship with Tante Nel and her family.

Since Tante Nel had hosted me so many times over the years, I thought it was time that I hosted her for something. Therefore, I invited her to high tea at De Bosrand. I knew that this was a lovely little restaurant in a peaceful little corner of the world on the edge of the Staelduinse Bos. What a lovely time we had catching up on everything that was going on in our lives. Here is a picture of us and of some of the delicious treats we enjoyed.

I am sure that “high tea” is something different depending on where you go. I would consider this a “low” high tea in the sense that it is rustic and relaxed and utterly unpretentious. There is of course a tea pot with numerous choices of tea. There is a tiered tray with all little savoury sandwiches on the bottom and sweet treats on the top. In between all of this the waitress brought little cups of coup, a chicken satay, some sort of battered shrimp in a delicious sauce and who knows what else.

The best part of course was the company and the conversation. This is just another huge blessing of being in Holland, the possibility of seeing my Dutch relatives. It was wonderful to enjoy peaceful moments with Tante Nel over high tea.

Rustic Retreat

There is still room for you to be pampered by The Pampered Stamper. You can join me for a three day, three night retreat in Muskoka. Imagine  staying in a lovely cottage and having someone cook and bake for you. Then imagine that you will also be stamping and creating without having to think of your own ideas and being able to take home all your extra supplies and a pdf tutorial for more creativity? There will also be little excursions into nearby Huntsville to check out the shops and bakeries. You could choose to go to Arrowhead Provincial Park and skate on their beautiful groomed skating trail through the woods. All this for only $400. Save your spot for a $100 deposit.

Sweet Suite Saturday Free Class

Did you know that on Saturday February 29 at 1pm you can come to a free class if you purchase either of these bundles? It is time to continue with the Sweet Suite Saturday classes. You can also make four cards for $25 if you do not wish to purchase a suite or bundle. This card will be the first one we will make but there will be more coming up which I am also planning to make a tutorial of to help you create more beautiful things with these amazing products.

Thanks!

Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. If there is happy mail tomorrow, there will be a blog post. If not, you will hear from me again on Monday. I am hosting some cousins from Zeeland tomorrow afternoon. Happy stamping and remember, the best way to get these products at an amazing price is to put them into your starter kit. Here is the link to help make that happen really fast.

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