Hello stampers and happy Monday to you. Today is the last blog post about the Happy Mail in Holland contest cards and it features Boho Indigo and Ornate Layers. I love the Boho Indigo Product Medley as well as the Ornate Layers dies so we are in for a treat today. Many thanks to Jo Foster and Carole Thomas for these great cards.
Boho Indigo
Jo Foster made a great fancy fold square card using the Boho Indigo product medley. You can find this great set of products on page nine of the annual catalog. Jo is from Grovedale in the province of Victoria in Australia. Jo has participated in several of my contests and she has also sent happy mail to my parents. I love our across the world friendship!! I hope that someday we can meet in person. To see her Happy Mail for Gerard card, and to read a little bit about Grovedale, check out this blog post.
Doesn’t this look like an interesting fold? The card measures 5 3/4″ across by 5 1/4″ high. The side flaps and top flap are approximately 2 7/8″. I will definitely be recreating this beauty and doing a tutorial with it for you. Would you like to see the inside?
I love how Jo used stamps to create “background paper” for the side flaps. I love this monochromatic card! Jo included a cute little mini card that had all the products listed that she used: very vanilla cardstock, Boho Indigo designer series paper, Tasteful Labels dies, Flowering Blooms and Tasteful Touches stamp sets and Boho Indigo gold ribbon. All the images were stamped in Misty Moonlight.
Ornate Layers by Carol Thomas
Carol is a member of my team from Olds, Alberta. I checked out Olds online and it is a small farming community with a great website that you can see for yourself here. I will share a picture with you too.
Carol’s card is a classic beauty with sahara sand and whisper white cardstock and a gold embossed leaf. The simplicity of her card really lets the ornate layers stand out. Carol also included a note telling me about this card. She cased it from Su Mohr of Aromas & Art. Sue does lovely work that has also inspired me in the past. Carol writes that the largest die is also a perfect fit for the inside of the card. Here you can see it for yourself.
Thanks so much ladies for your beautiful cards and also the sweet sentiments inside, I am feeling the love and so is Gerard!
Happy Mail in Holland Contest Winner
There were 25 entries in my Happy Mail in Holland contest and they were all wonderful. I am so thankful for each one of you that participated. It was a joy and an honour to blog about your cards and also a fun journey to see where you are from. I used a random number generator to select the winner. I am happy to announce that the winner is Bianca Rebel from Dordrecht, the Netherlands. Bianca gets to choose a stamp set of $30 or less and I will send it to her as a thank you for participating in this contest.
Hello stampers and happy Friday to you. Today I am sharing two melon mambo cards, one uses You’re the GOAT and the other one uses A Little Lace. These cards came together in one envelope because they were made by two stamping friends and fellow demonstrators. isn’t that just so nice?
You’re the GOAT by Shawna Allen
I have to admit that I have never heard of this saying before. GOAT refers to Greatest Of All Time. This card was made by Shawna Allen from Calhan, Colorado. This goat really makes me smile and reminds me of the goats that I see in the dunes. Goats definitely have a LOT of personality. Thanks for sending me this fun card Shawna!! What a great idea to stamp together with your team member and send me these cards. I love the letter and the instructions included with your cards. Shawna has a business called Purple Mountain Stampers.
Calhan, Colorado
This small town, located between Denver and Colorado Springs was first started as a water stop for the railway. It is famous for its paint mines. Clay from the mines was used to make clay and paint for ceremonial items and also to make arrowheads. The channels in the mines were used to heard buffalo to make it easier to shoot them with bows and arrows and later with guns.
A Little Lace Split Front Card by Debbie Mussack
The second card in this fun surprise envelope is from Debbie Mussack who has a blog called absolutelypositivelydebbie.com
I know how tricky it is to make these split front cards and I think Debbie did a fantastic job! What a perfect set for this technique. She used an aqua painter and the new in colours to make it pretty and soft. Debbie is also from Colorado, but I have to go and find the envelope to see exactly where! Thanks so much for your beautiful card Debbie. I will edit this post later to include the information about your home town, but for now I have to pack my suitcases! All of sudden it is time and I am feeling a little bit under the gun to get these things done.
Colorado Springs, Colorado
So I found the envelope and now am editing this post to include the information about Debbie’s home town. How blessed you are to live in this stunning city more than a mile above sea level! It was part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and then was settled by pioneers. Colorado Springs is home to almost a half a million people. If you want to read more about it, you can do so here. I couldn’t choose just one photo, so here are three for you to enjoy.
Thank you to both Shawna and Debbie for these great cards, I can picture the two of you at a table together making these cards and having a great “chin wag”. Don’t you just love that Australian phrase for a chat?
Time to Go Home
It is finally time for me to go home again and as usual, it is a mixed bag of emotions. I am very excited to see my kids, grandkids, siblings and parents again and of course all my stamping friends, team members and customers. Unfortunately I first have to strictly quarantine for fourteen days. My throat already has a lump in it at the thought of leaving Gerard behind and going back to phone calls and video chats.
It was fun to share my travels with you and also to share all the Happy Mail in Holland contest cards. I have two more cards to blog about and I will do that on Monday when I am home again. I will also choose a random winner that day for the stamp set of your choice. I love this stamping community and am excited for new adventures with all of you. Thanks for joining me today!
Hello stampers and happy Wednesday to you. Today I am sharing two Happy Mail in Holland cards, one uses Posted for You and the other uses Free as a Bird. Posted for You is on my wish list and Free as a Bird was and still is one of my favourite stamp sets. Let’s take a look!
Posted for You by Jean Saunders
Jean Saunders is one of the most wonderful people I know and is very dear to my heart. She is on my team and would make a fantastic demonstrator but she has a busy enough world as a very active mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Shis has many talents including sewing, knitting, painting, cooking, baking, gardening. If there is a craft then Jean can excel at it. She is also a lot of fun!! Jean lives in Chatham, just five minutes away from me.
Jean stamped this great sentiment, which is also from Posted for You, on the back of the envelope. Feeling the love!! Postage for You has a coordinating
Free as a Bird by Shelley Merkin
I love Shelly’s card, especially the way she stamped on the designer series paper and used a no line stamping technique. In this technique you stamp with a very light colour so that you can barely see the lines. It makes it look like you drew the image yourself!! I love that idea but it is more difficult than you might think. You have to colour very carefully, so I am quite impressed with Shelley’s card. She nailed it!
Shelley was so kind as to include the details about her card. She used the following markers to colour the birds: calypso coral, pear pizzazz, taupe, chocolate chip, dapper denim and pacific point. She added wink of stella to the birds for some subtle bling. The envelope and the inside of the card also had flowers stamped in flirty flamingo. So pretty!! Thank you Shelly for this lovely card. If you want to see more Free as a Bird cards check out this blog post.
Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Shelley’s card is postmarked as Lawrenceburg, Indiana, so let’s take a look at what this place is all about. It is a small town located on the Ohio river and is also known as Whiskey Town since Seagram’s has a distillery there. Sounds like it is also a great place for winter sports with the Perfect North Slopes located there.
Judging by the location on the map, I have driven very close by in the past on my way to Tennessee. Small world indeed!
Some Photos of Holland
These three pictures just summarize a few of my favourite things while I am here. Eating good food. Seeing beautiful art. Enjoying the expansive outdoors.
Tasting platter at my favourite local restaurant, de Jutter in Hoek van Holland.
This painting is from the 1500s. I know that is rather vague, but I don’t know which painting it is! It is a Winter Scene, but I will have to research which one it is, my photos are not clear. See the photo below and you will know it is either one or the other! I love the winter scenes and the age of this masterpiece is just staggering to me.
Ok, I decided not to be lazy and I did my homework. It turns out that the painting is indeed Winter Landscape by Hendrik Avercamp.
This is an Impressionist painting from 1879 by Auguste Renoir called Banks of the Seine at Ruiel.
We walk the beach every day with Bailey the dog and almost every time I feel compelled to take a picture. The beach is usually deserted unless it is above 26C. There are usually some kite surfers, dog walkers and a few fisherman but as you can see it is an expansive beach. This photo makes the dunes look flatter than they are. I will miss this happy place.
Thanks!
Thanks for joining me today, there will be one more blog post on Friday finishing up the Happy Mail in Holland contest as well as my stay here in the Netherlands. I have loved getting your feedback on my travel stories and of course all the cards. If you haven’t left a comment yet, I would love to hear from you! If you live in Canada you can shop with me by simply clicking the pictures of the supplies below. Everyone who places an online order using the host code will get a paper sampler in the mail from me in September.
Hello stampers and happy Tuesday to you. Today I am finally going to share with you some beautiful Centre-Step cards. A special thanks to Caroline Van Roestel-Seward for sending me a beautiful centre-step card for my Happy Mail in Holland contest. Let’s take a look at Caroline’s card.
Caroline’s Centre-Step Card
Caroline used the Tasteful Touches bundle to make this beautiful card. I took pictures from two different angles to capture the essence of this card, but truthfully, photos do not do it justice at all.
Centre-Step Card dimensions
If you would like to recreate this card yourself, I have created a diagram with the measurements and the cut and score lines. Caroline also thoughtfully included a sketch for me with her card!
A Little More about Caroline
I first met Caroline at one of my in person classes. It seems strange that I even need to indicate what type of class it was! It has been so long since we have been able to have such a class and truthfully I rather miss it.
Anyway, I found out that Caroline is a very talented card maker and a natural teacher. This turned out to be quite a natural thing when I found out that Caroline is a retired English teacher. She has also been a hobby demonstrator before, so no wonder we hit it off so well. English was my favourite subject and we both love stamping and teaching. Needless to say, Caroline is now on my team and I am thrilled about that. Caroline lives just down the road from me in Chatham, Ontario.
A Winter Centre-Step Card
Of course I had to have a play with this type of card, and my friend in Holland, another Caroline, gave me some paper from the Holiday catalog to play with.
Video Tutorial
Here is a video tutorial so you can make the card with me step by step. Just pause the video when you need to do your own cutting, scoring or adhering. I love making new cards this way. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel and then you will never miss out when I post a new one. When I get home I plan to buy a new phone that allows me to do my live videos in landscape mode and then i will be sharing even more on YouTube.
A Personal Victory
I shared with you last week how my daily walks on the beach, especially during the heat wave inspired me to be more accepting of my own body. It is refreshing to see women of all ages in the Netherlands being very accepting of their bodies. This was especially noticeable on the beach where I saw women of all ages and shapes in two piece bathing suits. There were no tankinis and very few one pieces. Gradually the thought started seeping into my consciousness that I could also join them. I felt confident that if I tried I would find a two piece suit that would fit me and make me feel comfortable showing a little more skin.
I know that many, many women share my issues with body shame, or put more lightly, body confidence. That is why I decided to share a few pictures with you here on my blog. I didn’t want to share on Facebook as that is a LOT of exposure, but my blog is a little more private, so here goes.
I was thrilled to find a bikini bottom that actually covered my behind! It seems that in Europe they make bathing suits for real women. I almost didn’t share the last picture. The old me would have zoomed in on the flaws right away, but the new me says, look at that happy smile! It really isn’t about how perfect or imperfect my body is. Everyone on the beach is just having fun and enjoying the sun, the sand and the waves. This body has been strong for me during COVID and has allowed to me to taste many amazing things over the past two months. That makes me happy.
What’s the lesson? Every body is a beautiful body. Be kind to yourself. Life is short, don’t get hung up on stuff that doesn’t really matter. Do your best, try to be active and eat healthy most of the time, but above all, enjoy yourself. Take joy in the little things. I am ever so thankful for Gerard who is so kind, encouraging and accepting. He is a big reason for that smile on my face!
Christmas Bingo
I have planned an online Christmas Bingo for the end of September. Right now it is scheduled for the 17th but that might need to be postponed by a bit. Here is the event on my Facebook page. Click on “discussion” if you want to see more there. You will get the Gnome for the Holidays stamp set, three make and takes and a chance to win one of six great prizes. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for joining me today, I hope you have a super day.
Hello stampers and happy Wednesday to you. Today I have two great cards from my Happy Mail in Holland contest that use the Prized Peony Bundle . The Prized Peony bundle is beautiful but can be overwhelming, so if you need inspiration, I have a fantastic tutorial for you! You can find it here.
Thanks to both Luba Balycz and Sharon Meyer for their lovely cards!
Luba’s Card
What makes Luba’s card so beautiful? First of all, she sponged the edges of all of her die cuts to create a great 3D effect. To enhance that look even further, she used mini dimensionals between the layers. I love the unexpected touch of the white branches above the green leaves and the yellow stamens barely popping out of the centre of the peony. Do you see her perfect little bow?! The background whisper white was embossed with the Subtles embossing folder. Peonies are so beautiful!
Rochester, New York
Luba comes from Rochester, New York. It was one of the first boom towns in the United States due to its flour mills. It played a significant role in both the Abolitionist movement and the Women’s Rights Movement.
Sharon Meyer’s Card
Sharon also made a beautiful card using the Prized Peony stamp set. Her card focuses on the stamp set rather than the dies. I love how she contrasted a soft, subtle background with a bold and vibrant peony. I love peonies!! The card base is Soft Sea Foam with a mat of Peony Garden paper. The peony was coloured with Magenta Madness Blends and Shaded Spruce Blends if my guess is accurate. Sharon’s use of stitched dies is also a very nice touch.
Farmington, New York
Isn’t it a coincidence that both of today’s artists come from New York State? If my memory serves me correctly, Sharon has participated in other Happy Mail in Holland contests. If you want to read more about Farmington and also some of Sharon’s other work, check out this blog post.
Some of you have wondered why I spend so much time in Holland. If you don’t know the story of Gerard and I, then you can see it in this post. You can also see another one of Sharon’s cards as well as read a bit more about her hometown.
Hattem, the Netherlands
A little while ago, on our way home from Zwolle, we stopped in Hattem, another Hanzestad. I wanted to go to the Anton Pieck museum as I was familiar with some of his work. He is quite iconic. I did not know that he was such a huge part in the creation of the Efteling theme park for children. I went there with Rachel when she was 8 years old! Another thing I learned there is that Anton was a twin and that both brothers were artists and they both used there skills in the Resistance during World War 2.
Anton and Henri Pieck
In the museum it was said that Anton was born with a pencil in his hand. When he was three his mother found him crying because he could not draw the rain! During World War 2 he used his skills to falsify identity cards and other important documents. His brother worked as a spy for Russia and ended up in a concentration camp for his efforts. Thankfully he survived, but while in Buchenwald he drew what he saw.
Thanks for joining me today! I hope you are enjoying traveling along with me. My blog posts are light on stamping and heavy on travel these days! No worries, by the end of August, the pendulum will once again shift the other way. Have a super day!
