~Romantic & Nostalgic~

I am most inspired by the things around me. whenever i'm in town, i'd always look at the shop windows and how they'd arrange their products. most tiny boutiques here have lovely paper bags, they'd wrap the stuff in lovely tissues and bows... and now that it's spring, flowers! i love fabrics, i love ribbons and laces, i love buttons and i love love love pearls! i bet you can tell those by now!

My collection of boxes are ever increasing! and so are my collection of buttons and laces. i have a lot of things in my room, and i get inspired by them most of the time - let it be shapes or colours.


These are just some of the things lying on my table today. soft colours makes me feel romantic! now, something nostalgic.

I created this board a couple of weeks back. i use a lot of post-it-notes. you know.. those yellow ones... it works for me! i'm sure most of you would agree that some craft papers are just way too nice to be cut and sliced. what do you do with them? well, back when i was in school, i use to wrap shoe boxes with them, but most of the times, i'd put them up piece by piece on my bedroom wall! almost like my very own wall paper! you can also make a post-it-note board like i did!

The best thing about those yellow notes is you wont spoil your lovely beautiful papers! you can stick them up or peel them off without having to worry if they'd tear! i used the crochets i bought at one of the markets last year and turned it into a flower. added stings and strings of laces and ribbons and attached them at a corner.

I love it! feeling very romantic and nostalgic right now *awwww*....

Hope the sun's shining where you are cause it certainly is over here! finally spring is here! will write again soon..

love always!

The Sweetest Thing

We're back from our early spring break. River Mosel was brilliant! view was spactacular! definitely one of the places to visit for those wine drinkers. for non wine drinkers (like us), well, you'll be in with a huge treat as well! you'll be amazed to see long, very long stretches of vineyards along the entire stretch of river and you'll enjoy the charms of little German villages! and if you're into roman history, well, make sure you go for the tours! lovely!

We went from Trier to Koblenz! wonderful experience!!

Anyway, Aidan's not well since monday. i have only a few mins to spare today before i nurse him. here are a few cards i made just before i left for your German trip.

Made this card for Shannen. a friend of mine who lives up north in den haag. i met her once at a friend's place in Eindhoven. this was made for her mum in law. i am so pleased and happy she and Arthur liked the card! i knew i had to use mild pastel colours and i wanted to add the lace i bought at Czech Repupblic. nice contrast. i hope our birthday girl will like it too!

This second card i made out of scraps. i have pilles and pilles of scrap papers and it will be such a waste to throw them all. you can make a lot out of them. i hardly throw anything! and before you know it, you'll ended up having boxes and boxes of left over papers and ribbons!!

But i can assure you that they will come handy one day!



Last but not least, one special card i made last week for a dear dear friend of mine. a very special person in my life, my very best friend Yoyo. it was her birthday last monday. we were still in Germany at that time, and as soon as Aidan woke up, the first thing he mentioned was "tante yoyo"!

We rushed for my phone and quickly called her. we sang her a couple of birthday songs (one's in dutch and one's in english!) and it was just joyful!

I can never stop telling people about this one special person in my life. she's trully a remarkable person. we share a lot of things together, we've been through quite a life, a journey together, she listens to me whining (she's a really patient!), hardy, well maybe never complaints... she's so encouraging and supportive. we had lots of fun together, we share some common dreams and i will always, always be thankful and remember what she did for me. she stood by me and was really strong for me through the years. all those words on the card meant so so much to me.

She's ever so sweet and a lovely person and i cant wait for us to catch up and meet again. i miss her and i think of her always!

Happy Birthday Yo!

You know what i wish for you... always the best, the very best cause you trully deserve each and every bit of it! love you loads!

Ok girls, i should be off now. most unpacking are almost done, a few laundry to do and a few projects to finish. thanks ever so much for hopping by. thanks for all those lovely comments as always, you brighten out my day! till next time....

{Happy Birthday Dad}

It was my dad's birthday yesterday. there's so much to write about my dad. so many lovely childhood memories and stories to share. but for now, i shall leave them all for me, myself and my son one day. but one thing that i can share with you is, he is really wonderful, trully remarkable, amazingly wonderful! he's one cool dad, like no other. (most of us would feel that way, huh?!)



Photography's been always been dad's interest since i can even remember (together with music). and eversince both my sister and i moved to this part of the world, we've been taking him places and he's been snapping some pretty amazing shots! its a shame not to print out those photos, and so i made him a photo album. a gift for dad on his 62nd birthday.



Touching phrases and words in subtle colours. i just love the simplicity of the idea and how it turned out. inside are pictures of him during his stay with us and with my sister. we printed pictures of us, the 4 of us (dad, mum, fi and me) before we got married and with us now, the 8 of us now that each have our own families. we printed photos of my dad with both his grandsons.. just wonderful photos that will always remind him of the good fun times we had here!



We've captured so many memories everytime when my parents come for a visit. tonnes of pictures and videos of my parents and my son. i love this one the most. it was just pure love and joy everytime i see my parents with Aidan. a picture of happiness.


I made this for dad to hang in their house back in JB. the colour suited their interior, hope they'll find a spot in the house suitable for it.

We're off for a short early spring break today. we're going to Mossel, Germany later this afternoon. we're going to make sure dad will fill up that album with amazing shots of the place. (yep, hij is hier! hoera!). That's if from me this time, will come back next week and share more. have a lovely weekend you all.. sending you lots of sunshine from holland (yeay! spring is here!)

Happy Birthday Dad!! Here's to you, and to many many many more wonderful, beautiful, successful, fun and joyful years to come! Thank you, thank you for all the love and life you have given us. We love you with all our hearts and wish nothing but the best for you. May all your vision, thoughts, wishes, dreams come true. Now, let's live it and have a wonderful time!

xxx Adek xxx

Happy Spring!

My favourite season is definitely spring! the past one week's been absolutely gorgeous! the sun is out now and we get more daylight, temp was above 8c most of the days.... you see birds and people all cheerful and colourful! it's just exciting!

I'll be going to Keukenhof again this year and that's something i'm really looking forward to. i love hyacints and hope to see fields and fields of them there. this is definitely the time to fly to amsterdam, and if your flight is in the morning, you might be able to see colourful patches from the aeroplane, i bet it'll be spactacular!

I adore flowers. let them be real, pastic, papers, fabric, ribbon flowers. anything!

I am working on my bird house but somehow so far, i'm stuck. there are so many things i'd like to do and finish up this month! dad's birthday is coming up, and also my bestest friend's at the end of the month. i WILL start soon and finish all the orders on time.. i will i will i will!!! (trying to pump up some good energy in me! hehe).

A couple of candles in cute little pail buckets just to brighten out my space.. i'm doing a few to add to my collection of pail buckets. i have too many of these from the tiniest one to the largest! i am utterly mad to be collecting them!

Anyway, i have to rush.. but i shall leave you with a few more pictures of them and a card i made last week.

I did this card a week ago. used some vellums and some blossoms, and the simplicity says it all - true happiness.

Cotton*Candy blog us up and running (you can click here if you're into cupcakes, and here if you want to see how my kelder basement looks like!) and to those who have joined me in facebook, thank you!

Happiness! i am filled with true happiness! and i hope you are too! thank you to you sweet bunch for all those lovely comments! have a lovely weekend everyone.. lets celebrate and enjoy the sun!

Love,