checking in

it's been a few days, i've been busy, i've been lazy too! i had another Rangerized workshop and it went well, some total beginners who had never even used embossing powders before, this is fun really! they are amazed when i show them the difference between clear embossing, frosted crystal and distress embossing powders for example! it's like magic to them. i like beginners, gives me so much pleasure educating and helping them. they all went home with a finished portfolio of 13 techniques using distress inks, powders and perfect pearls. i was totally proud of them all! yes you too Anna!

today i had a day of rest, had a wonderful long msn chat with my friend j who is miles away again for the next few months. i'm going to try and squeeze in a visit combined with a trip to Milton Keynes to go to Linda Brown's store to get myself some kabukas and big daddy moulds and some beautiful ten seconds studio metal and tools to play with, i could get everthing sent to me but i love to feel and touch what i buy and it'll be a great roadtrip for me to do on my own, just getting a hold on things and thoughts, feeling a bit stronger, feeling British soil under my feet, doing something for myself and meeting up with j for dinner, walks and talks, i'll book a little bed and breakfast and come home the next day,sounds like a good plan! don't you think?

it is great to talk to that someone who really gets my Soul, my thoughts, my not so hidden fears and things i won't even admit ot myself at times. it is nice to have that listening ear and a voice that is not scared to disagree with you and tell you so! true friends are irreplacable.

but first i will be off to Spain for a few days of girly fun with my great lovely friend Sue, we met at Ranger U six months ago and got on straight away, from the very first second we spoke! it doesn't happen often that i make friends so easily, i'm an outgoing person at first sight but i never really let people get too close, with Sue i feel totally comfortable and i am soooooooooo looking forward to my visit. i hope we are lucky enough to have some sunshine it'll go well with the cocktails we are planning hihi! and the trip to the antique market.

my friend Micheal posted on his blog (see jack & cat) and i was happy to read his update, i've been missing the news from Arizona. Micheal was one of the Ranger U attendees last October, now nearly six months ago, looking back on it i still think it was a great experience! i met great people and i still have contact with most of them. I still have contact with Tim and Suze and Claudine at times and the wonderful other Ranger girls like Patti, Michele, Jackie!!!, Debby, Bonnie,... and i've been lucky to have been able to do quite some Ranger educating since i got my certificate. i love doing it, i love educating all things Ranger.

well, i have a pretty normal week this week, some things to do, workshop as usual and seeing a new specialist about my ankle on Thursday, hopefully i'll get some anwsers and a solution for my pain and constant swollen ankle, i wouls so love to be fully back on track again and go maybe dancing!? i so miss being able to move around freely without pain.

art: not much art done, i did draw a few dolls and did some face shading and some painting, i'm still progressing on this and i love it.

i got myself all the colours of Claudine Hellmuth's studio paint! i'm in love with this paint, i've said it before i know. but it is great paint. i gor some more of her brushes too, they are brilliant and i love the sticky back canvas and got some more of thet too. it was a treat!

i really have to clear my studio! i've been on the move so much, alot of my things are spread all over in boxes and bags, so i'm hoping to get everything back nice and neat some time this week so i can work and play a bit easier and more organized. it is a mega mess believe me!

well, off to do some preps for tomorrow, a day of photographing step by step storyboards and some filming of techniques, it'll be fun!

talk to you all soon! have a great week! remember that every moment is filled with love and joy! try not to forget even if you are having a tough time or an off-day or whatever!

xox

another day in Paris

again some quick pics from the trade show, it has been a long busy day, can't complain , i did lots of make & takes and their was a lot of buzz and sparkle (i'm working with glitter!) flying around.

i do have the worst cold ever! i suppose because of the air-co at the show so today i had a bit of a heavy head on me and i found the french language just a bit more non-understandable then yesterday hihi but out of it all i did well, pleased with my own efforts really! :-)

i took my 45 min break and went straight to Tim, Suze, Mario and Leandra a mais oui!

Tim made me the most beautiful flower brooch using Grungepaper! it is ab fab!!! after he made it he even kept looking at it and i told him he was not getting it back hihi! Suze was coughing up ideas about making a hairpin out of it but it is going on my leather jacket and i can't wait to make some myself and do this in a workshop! when i get my hands on the Grungepaper that is!

anyway! here are the pics! Jan just gave me whisky to tackle my cold and to have a good night's sleep! the Ranger crew are not at the show tomorrow and i'll be leaving early myself so probably no pics tomorrow or maybe some of me working!? ah, could do that.... prove that i don't just wander around bugging Ranger :-), i can't help myself, i want to know everything! as a Ranger Educator i want to stay tuned and totally up to date! ( good excuse, you think?)

okay, we are pulling daft faces and that is all Mario's fault! he was being funny! we are not to blame for this! you reading this mario!!!?

after spraying, drying and stapming some die-cut Grungepaper flowers Tim painted and distress-stickled some die-cut andCuttelbugged Grungeboard and then put together to make a geat brooch! for me!!!
Mario then said! go on! we need antoher picture , now with the brooch! so again tim and i broke out the smiles and after a couple of really sillp ics this one turned out pretty much usable hihi!

those guys crack me up!

this is the finished brooch in all it's glory on the bedside table in my hotel room! is it not fab??? i love it! i am blessed to a have recieved some beautiful art from now Suze and Tim! and again some brilliant ideas to work with!

Suze was over the moon with a ring she made at the stand i was working! she made it with Inez, lovely girl! Suze was still showing it off hours later, believe me! hilarious she is sometimes! you gotta love her!! i'm sure she will blog all about it soon so go check her out.

okay! off to bed with cuppa and the rest of the film i didn't finish yesterday!

tomorrow i'll be back home and not sad for that either! not that i will be sitting on my backside! workshops to be done and another Be Rangerized the coming weekend! looking forward to that!Anything for Ranger! you know that!

xox night night

i've been tagged

i few days ago my Arizona Sheri, http://littleblackscrapcat.blogspot.com/ tagged me, so here i am to share 5 of my addictions and tag 5 other lucky people hihi!

i had a think about my addictions! i have a few, nothing bad but addictions they are


here goes

# 1 i'm pretty addicted to Ranger! not suprised? ohhhh! can't imagine why not! Ranger just seems to do it for me, it's the whole deal ,the products, the range, the colours the packaging, the designers, the people there, it is just up my alley! i love their concept of colour ranges, i love that their products leave so much space for own inventions and purpose.
so i'm addicted to Ranger!


#2 i'm addicted to notebooks, blank notebooks with pretty or not so pretty covers, i don't care, i keep the pretty, i alter the not so pretty! but i need to have a stack of blank books so that i feel i can start a new story whenever a feel like it! i don't collect them , i actually use them, i love blank books. something about starting a fresh one, all possibilities lying open for me to choose.


#3 i'm addicted to CADBURY'S for you who do not know what i am on about, it is English chocolate, the most beautiful chocolate in the universe! i know many will totally disagree and that is okay ( i know better!) i live in Belgium, known for it's chocolate but no!!! i love my English Cadbury's, milk chocolate, fruit & nuts, crunchie, flakes! OMG... hang on! i'm off to get some from the cupboard




#4 Grey"'s anatomy! i'm addicted to that! i loooooooooooooove Grey's anatomy, it makes me cry more often than not but ohhhh i love it! totaaly addicted, i will never miss an episode and i watch again and again on dvd, oh and the music is simply brilliant!

# City of Angels! the film with Nicholase Cage , hummmmmmm........ Nicholase Cage, ..... ohhhhh dear! oh and Meg Ryan. i adore this film! really truly adore this film it makes me cry everytime, every 600 and something times :-) i love watching Nicholas Cage! i think he is wonderful and handsome and yet again, i know many will disagree and go fot Brad Pitt or Goerge Clooney! not me! it me and Nic, his voice! his moves ohhhhhh i'm melting.... sorry! and yet again! the soundtrack is brilliant! one of my fav cd's, even 11 years later!!



so there you have s few of my addictions, now i'm just wondering if my Nic should be at #1?????ohhhh i'll just leave it , you all get the message!


now for the second part, i'm going to tag 5 of my friends to have a think about their "addictions"

Suzi, Sue, Aimee, Michelle and Patty, have fun girls!!!!



oh and i am happy to say that when dear Tim, king of inks is coming to the netherlands, i'm so lucky to de doing a workshop with him the day after the event at Kars! am i lucky or what? anyone just a touch jealous? no? :-)


i'm off to have a quiet weekend, the little ones are at their dad's for the weekend so that means i get to sleep in! yeah sure! i'll be up at 8 anyway!


have a great weekend!

xox tanya

angel in disguise

remember this painting? yesterday they were ordinary sisters! at least in my fantasy that's what they were! then i realized that big sis is an angel in disguise, i wish i had a big sis to share my sorrows and my happiness with

you can see the sis just coming through, underneath her angelic appearance she is still just a normal girl being there for her little sis in times of need and times of joy.

I do like how my painting has changed, i love her angelic hair, the glitter (Ranger GLITZ Stickles rubbed out with my finger) i punched little metal foil flowers, i added Ranger Glitz stickles to the irises, very sparkly but i like it alot, it love shining in their eyes! how's that for an explanation hihi! i'm still looking for the right text to put on my painting but it hasn't come to me yet, yes it must come to my to be right.

what else do i want to tell... oh yes! i bought the latest CD of KEANE , Perfect Symmetry! it is brilliant let me tell you! i needed to get into it at first but after listening a few times, i'm in love with it! it is superb! really, trust me on this!

oh yes, KKD, i will be demoing Ranger for Kars at KKD, The Netherlands in February 2009

and i'll be demoing Peel-off at SMAC Paris in March as i did last year! so shop owners out this in your agenda and pay me a visit! and SUZE we are doing some beading for sure :-)

ohhhh and this!!!!! my dear dear friend and fellow Ranger Educator Sue Clifford sent me a parcel!!!! with goodies, presents and cards and a challenge! so today i liked the postman, usually he brings me bills and then i don't find him so nice, sorry, i can't help it hihi! but today he got a smile out of me (he does other days too, i'm just kidding!)

i will photograph everything tomorrow and post! the challenge! we send eachother strange or found objects and challenge the other to do something artsy with them! it's fun! it's connecting!

strange how some people are friends from the start! thanks SUE xxx

okay! past midnight here in little old Belgium, i must get some kind of beauty sleep, i'm starting to stay up way too late, i become active in the evening, artsy actieve, not witchy active, i do live in HEKS! that is the Dutch/Flemish word for WITCH! how's that for a name?

Sleep tight! listen to your angels as you sleep, i wish you all a beautiful Xmas or Happy whatever you are celebrating

i have so much to be thankful for! i will come back on that before the New Year! i think it is important to express gratitude, so i will....

29 days of giving!

oh dear i accidentally deleted my whole post when it was nearly finished, bummer!

okay so again....

hi everyone!

fisrt i would just like to tell you about http://www.29gifts.org/, it's a 29 day giving challenge i joined, i came across it while blog hopping and signed up straight away! i like to think i give every day anyway, as a mother we do give every day but that doesn't really count, it does, but you know what i mean. it's not all about money, giving is also letting someone come on to the road in front of you, letting someone pass you in the line at the supermarket, making someone a cup of tea, holding doors open, picking up a lost glove, going out of the way of a mum with a stoller, .... little things that might just makes someone's day! and be honest, it does feel good to give doesn't it! well i joined this challenge just to be a bit more aware, it is important to give, that is my belief anyway.

I still feel the flu in my body, my head still aches, my throat still hurts, my joints ache and my ear is still thumping but okay i suppose it will pass and i'm hoping it was a good flu aznd will be so kind as not to come back all this Winter!!! i 'm hoping!!!

i haven't been very busy, i've actually done a bit of reading, watched some tv, that doesn't happen very often!

but i did make this layout with the December sketch for Hobbyfarm where i'm a designteam member

i finished all my Xmas cards for my list, it was a long list so i made lots of similar cards yet not one the same! and i'll be sending them all out this week, well nearly all of them, i still need a few addresses. i'll be putting all the names in a hat this week and letting my youngest draw a name for the Xmas present, who knows? it might just be your name! i don't know if i will announce it on my blog or let the lucky person just be suprised, hummmm what shall i do?

i also made this single ATC, not much of a job hihi! but a hint of my Xmas cards!!!!

i'm working on something with Claudine Hellmuth's sticky-back canvas! it's cool but i'm not showing until it's finished and i'll be giving it in workshop soon!

ah before i forget, i have a few dates for my workshops at Hobbyfarm!!! the first will be on 21st of February 2009 we will be doing this decorated teabox, covering 8 great techniques on Adirondack Alcoholinks, Dye inks, brayering, metal embossing,... really worth joining! it's a brilliant workshop even if i say so myself hihi! if you would like to join don't wait too long, some places are already taken and i know that my workshops fill really fast once the word is out at Hobbyfarm, so you are warned, sign up now if you want your chance to join me on this "Be Rangerized" journey!!!

also 21 of March i'll be doing a Clearbook filled with techniques on Alcoholinks, blending, mixing, details, different methodes of applying and loads of ideas for layout, embellishments and so much more, too much to mention and too much to miss so sign up as soon as you get the chance!

2 more dates are set for my workshop at Hobbyfarm: 18 April and 13 June, i don't exactly know what we will be doing then but probably a beeswax collage and altered art, i will work out more details and come back on it.

so!!! i'm off to do some TIM tags!!! you know what TIM tags are? if not!!! ooooh dear!!! go check out his blog befoer you do anything else!!!!! and see the most beautiful techniques on Xmas tags ever! he is genius!!! he really is! i still feel so honoured and blessed to have spent two full days of learning from him at Ranger U, and from Claudine and Suze!!!!

it's been a good year!!!!

ps if you see typos!! !well it's because my hands are kind of letting me down, they are aching and i can tell when i'm typing that my fingers react later than they should ans letters get switched or i even hit the wrong key with funny word as a result, please read through them :-) i try to fix them when i notice but sometimes they slip my sight...

have the most wonderful day!!!!

my first real petite doll

I think i'll call her ruby
maybe you like her maybe you don't! probably all a matter of taste. and that's fine.


i kind of love my little doll! my first attemp to draw on wood, i couldn't find the wood i wanted so i went with what i could get, it wasn't easy getting the face shading right! i did it a million times up to a point i had to stop so not to ruin her little face all together! i haven't got a blending pencil yet so it's a bit difficult, but one is on it's way!!!
i was getting all anal about it and then decided, hey! it's my first, it's not perfect! and that's okay! we are happy with that, tim would say! embrace the imperfections, tim would also say! get over yourself, mario would say! (tim's wonderful, beautiful assistant!) so i did !!!
i got over myself and feel happy with my petite doll!!

you can tell i've been to ranger!!! i used claudine's paints! they are soooo wonderful mixed with glaze!!! they keep their colour! don't go all light and pastel on you! they become translucent and wonderful! i like i like!!! t hey are not just another paint!!! they are beautiful!! and i'm not just saying that! i was sceptical about them at first i really admit!!
but believe me they are worth trying in mixed media!!!
i also used ranger inks of course, when do i not use ranger inks??? anyone who knows me i use ranger inks!!,perfect pearls to mix and i used them on their own, so much detail they gave to my piece!!, stamps, dabbers, i used suze's bedazzles!!! love the tiny little sprinkly thingys

the hearts om my art are with gold dabber, i simply dabbed them through a stencil, pretty thick dabbing and dried with my heattool to keep them all bubbled and textured, as tim taught us to!!!
i think they are really neat (awesome for the US readers!)

oh and i used the great ranger white pen to do the sparkle in the eye! is great for that! i'm so pleased with it!!!
you really should go check out all the ranger stuff, link in my list on the left<<<>

ohh my first little doll, i'm so happy!

never thought i could draw something and be happy about it!

life has so many suprises!

big hug!! tanya

Ranger U adventure

okay, here goes, i'm back from Ranger, my head totally filled with ideas and techniques, my book filled with comments, my address book filled with new friends, great people i met at Ranger U let me tell you!

Suze and Sue from Art y Fact, spain

Suze and Micheal from Jack & Cat, arizona!!
you must check out jack & cat's blog!!! beeswax art to die for!

i had a wonderful time learning all Suze Weinberg had to show on Utee! i just love ther melting pot!!! i'll be playing with that!

Claudine Hellmuth has the most wonderful paint! i was happy to play with this and i'm going to mix and make glazes for my canvas art! nothing stopping my playtime now!

and Tim, oh Tim! he is such a great educater, they all are, don't get me wrong! but Tim is really something! the way he went on for two full days! honestly, he's good! i learned a lot! i knew alot but i learned alot, i'm more than happy!!!

Tim and me! okay i am tired and it shows!!

we all went home with a beautiful frame filled with Utee examples, a box full of Claudine techniques and 51 tags with Tim's techniques! yes! 51!!! we were all so exhausted after three days! however, we could have happliy went on going, it was fun and we were a big happy family!

i was really lucky, everyone was so helful, getting me my supplies, cups of coffee, bottles of water, sweet(s when needed! i never had to walk around! i had my leg up all day and Jeanne even kept reminding me to take my painkillers :-)

we had a tour of the factory! it was fun seeing how it is all made! respect to the workers there! they are pricless!

we got to meet all the owners and got some of the Ranger history, we even got a look at the very first inkpad made by Ranger back in 1929!!

you know, it is all too much to post in one go so i'll probably come back and tell more when i get the urge

big hug! tanya