♥ My Loving Mode ♥

 

So......let's talk about love !

 Everywhere you look at the moment there are ♥ hearts and cards and red and pink and loving things.

♥

We're getting into the ♥ Loving ♥ Mode of the year: 

♥ Valentine's Day ♥

When I grew up in Holland they did not celebrate it much, of course now they do, sell more red roses, chocolates and many other 'loving' ♥ things. Strange, in my opinion we should show our love ALL YEAR long, not just on one day of the year where all prices for all things red and hearts and lovely get hugely inflated, just because..

♥ 
so I have decided that this Valentine's Day I will have a Give away......YAY !!
I won't say yet what you'll be able to win, that is going to be a SURPRISE......but if you want to be in to win, leave me a comment, post on your Facebook for an extra chance, Twitter or Blog for another, you get my drift. Just let me know here in the comments where you have spread DA LUV ! ♥♥♥♥♥

 ♥ Funny day (happens to my Birthday too) ♥

♥ Lucky Frog Lover ♥

Yeah yeah, I know, it's Tuesday the 10th here already, that's me though, working late again...I'm a little Morepork (this is a New Zealand native nightowl, hehe, but I'm "imported" actually, that would make me a what-ya-me-call-it....exotic, haha !) well all this midnight mumbling aside....
The surprise Giveaway is to be revealed...tatatadum...drumroll here...it's a handmade (yes by me !!) journal - I called it "Frog Lover" and it has an assortment of papers inside. There is quick sketch paper, canvas textured paper, black pastel paper and watercolour paper. All for you to enjoy and fill with your thougts. Of course also the two folded cards :) and who knows what I still might stuff in the envelope.....here are some pics ♥

I wrote all the names on pieces of paper, folded them all twice, mixed them around and pulled one out, unfolded this and ..... the lucky winner is .....

 

 can you read it ? 
♥ Flowermouse Design ♥


so send me an email with your address ! 
To all the others, don't despair, I decided to have more giveaways this year, so keep your eyes open for my posts :) Thanks for playing !

just a Kiss for Santa

Merry Christmas to all my Blog followers. 

I would like to let you know that I appreciate the tremendous support, encouragement, cheerleading, curiosity, whatever brings you here everytime.....

Being in New Zealand means it's gonna be Christmas here first :) So I thought I'll stand ready and waiting under my tree to give Santa a kiss (or two, haha) I really have been good this year.....and I have NO idea what to wish for. I am currently re-designing my life, so I have been too busy to think to wish for something specific. Of course I wish for peace on Earth and no more earthquakes for the city I left (allthough they got their fair share yet again starting on Friday, how cruel) I wish that everybody would get along and everybody being just happy. Most of all I wish for a nice day tomorrow with the kids, we're going to have "our" tarditional breakfast with yummie stuff that we've all been baking today and then we will go for a walk and bring more yummie stuff along to have for lunch at the beach and then we will prepare our dinner together and have that and after that we will sing carols and open our presents. That's us here far away from our family, we made our own Christmas tradition, we are cool with that and even politely declined a Christmas lunch invitation for this. We'll visit with those friends on Boxing Day instead. I hope you all get the day you wish for too. Will post after Xmas, 'cause then I can begin to reveal a lot that I have been keeping from you all.

 ♥

Tea Party for a Friend

Last night a couple of my friends and I organised a Mad Hatters Tea Party for a dear friend of ours.
I did this card to go with the Fairy cakes I made and the Tea mug I got her
~*~

Felt Aid - donation

I have donated this set of two (2) folded cards with envelopes in mainly gray tones to Felt Aid. The insides are blank. FeltAid is an initiative by "Felt"- a place where New Zealand Indie designers sell online. They are trying to raise a bit more $$ for the rebuilding of our devastated city. The cards are printed wit archival inks on the highest quality Strathmore heavy canvas cards One of each taken from Mixed Media works by me, they are "Shattered" and "Pensive" Two paintings close to my heart and that embody the feelings stirring in me from the recent Earthquake

Merry Christmas ~ a Red Robin

Well I've had 5 afternoons of Art Workshops

with a group of kids.

Pre Christmas Workshop.It was FUN !

But now I am ready for Christmas, to put my feet up and have a bit of quiet Art time for myself....hopefully......

Counting down to Christmas

This year it has taken me some time
to get that Christmas feeling....
It's been such a weird year here
Well anyway, last Friday we had rain (Yeah !)
and it was chilly and I had the lights on in the tree
and Xmas songs playing all day
The kids were already home -school broke up on Thursday-
and finally.....
there was that Christmas feeling I was longing for......
So now, I'll be counting down...
...6 more sleeps...
and here are some Xmassy things I have been making lately

some cards I made for a group of crafty friends....

A try out of some sort, that I want to use for cards still

and some fabric balls I made today with the kids.
from an idea by my Brazilian/Swiss friend S☼l Santiago
(meet her here at Borealis Shine)

Tangled Maids

These are Chunkies, the challenge was Black and White

I thought this was a nice opportunity to do some

Zentangle practice

for a swap at atcsforall.com

School of Mermaids

Step-by-step to the School of Mermaids

~and me trying to get the hang of editing~

Frida Kahlo meets Coraline

ATCs I made for a swap with my friend Malin.

I know she likes Frida Kahlo

and maybe because Halloween is slowly creeping onto us

or maybe my mind started wandering for a change...

...so Frida met Coraline...

Eskimo Blues

"Snow falls thick and cold

the Eskimo takes a deep breath

and pulls up his hood"

~

Haiku by Joyce van de Lely 2010 ©

~

I really like making these little Haiku or Poems with my work now, every time I draw something I find my mind wondering to find words that would go with it.

So this is another combination of ATCs I made for a swap and a little poem to go with them.

Antler Maiden

"Deep in the Forest

I found two peaceful Doe

and captured them with paint"

~

Haiku by Joyce van der Lely © 2010

~

I have been a bit disturbed by the Earthquake we had Saturday

and we still have aftershocks regularly throughout the day and night.

I try to get some peace and quiet by making my Art

but I am not always succesful with this

it's a creepy experience

I hope a -once in a lifetime thing- only...

Fur Babies !

Two of my friends just got FUR BABIES !!

They each have an 11 week old Miniature Schnauzer (they are sisters...the doggies, not the friends...) and tonight we had an impromptu Puppy Shower for them.

It was so much FUN ! We had shortbread biscuits in the shape of doggie bones and other yummie stuff too and of course the two little ones were there as well, receiving their presents.I got them a bag of puppie bones to chew on and some beef jerky treats and I made them a card. Just simple pencil drawings - monochromatic with a little pink on creamy cardstock