Travel

With the end of June fast approaching and the long summer ahead of us, I wanted to bring back my Wanderlust collection at Sweet Shoppe. I am so looking forward to my own vacation - two weeks from now we’ll be on our way to our summer destination in France! We are going to be staying in Chauvirey-le-Vieil, a small village in the Haute-Saône Department (East of France).

Wanderlust is perfect for documenting your travel memories. The muted color scheme of lilacs, greens and neutrals will allow your pictures and stories to shine. The colors will look especially great with pictures of lavender fields, woods and mountains. Old maps, vintage lavender, handdrawn illustrations and damask were used to create the patterns. Wooden embellishments like arrows and word art, vintage ephemera, stamps and transfers, lots of travel themed illustrations, journal cards and a gorgeous set of layered frames are the icing on the cake. Bon voyage!

Wanderlust Bundle

Grabbing the bundle is always a good idea: all Wanderlust packs in one permanently discounted bundle. And, during the new release sale at Sweet Shoppe extra discounted! Included in the bundle are the kit, the artsy papers, the journal cards, the flairs (new!), the transfers and the layered frames.

Available only at Sweet Shoppe.

Wanderlust Kit

This must be the biggest kit I’ve ever made… You will get 18 patterns, 16 solids, 3 alphas and 102 elements, including 3 wooden arrows, 1 wooden bicycle, 1 vintage binoculars (in a plain, sticker and stamp version), 1 wooden bird, 3 brads, 1 paper butterfly, 3 buttons, 1 Eiffel Tower Charm, 3 paper clouds, 3 stitched clouds, 1 clouds doodle, 1 filmstrip frame (+ 4 photo masks), 1 dried flower, 1 wildflower, 1 lavender flower, 2 vintage flowers, 2 vintage flower stamps, 4 fabric flowers, 1 paper flower, 1 slide frame, 1 postage stamp frame, 1 gemstone, 1 vintage globe stamp, 1 journaling lines stamp, 5 paper labels with a heart, a car, a plane, a pedestrian and a bicycle, and 1 blank label, 1 piece of lace, 1 vintage leaf, 1 real leaf, 1 paper leaf, 1 fabric leaf, 1 mixed media branch, 1 square magnet with plane, 1 paint stroke, 5 leather pins, 1 ribbon, 1 wooden road sign, 2 postage stamps, 1 staple (in a shadowed and non-shadowed version), 1 messy stitching, 2 blank tickets, 1 vintage stamp with a tourist couple, 1 twine, 1 vintage boy on a bicycle, 1 vintage girl on a bicycle, 1 vintage French label, 1 vintage Eiffel Tower postcard, 2 vintage postcard stamps, 1 vintage Jules Verne book stamp, 3 vintage dictionary stamps, 1 vintage dictionary cut out, 2 vintage Paris words stamps, 9 pieces of chunky wooden word art, 3 poem stamps.

Available only at Sweet Shoppe.

Alphas, Patterns, Solids and Elements are also separately available (but not at Sweet Shoppe):

Wanderlust Alpha * NEW *

3 alphas, designed to coordinate with the Wanderlust collection, each containing all letters of the alphabet, all numbers and a selection of symbols. Each alpha is made up of 64 PNG files.

Available as a separate pack only in my Etsy shop.

Wanderlust Elements

102 PNG files (see detailed description above) - that is a huge elements pack!

Available as a separate pack only in my Etsy shop.

Wanderlust Patterns

Available here: Etsy | Creative Market

Wanderlust Solids

Available here: Etsy | Creative Market

ADD-ON PACKS

Wanderlust Artsy Papers

This amazing artsy paper pack was designed to coordinate with the ‘Wanderlust’ digital scrapbooking collection. You will love the shabby floral textures, with hints of lavender and clouds. These papers also look fabulous printed and used as backgrounds in your own visual art journals, in paper crafts and gift cards etc, as well as in wall art for your home and gifts, for the creation of ATC cards and tags.

Available here: Etsy | Sweet Shoppe | Creative Market

Wanderlust Journal Cards

2 x 8 journal cards, designed to coordinate with the Wanderlust collection. You will receive 5 journal cards 3 x 4 in, and 3 journal cards 4 x 6 in. Each card is available in both orientations, and I’ve included sheets in JPG and PDF for easy printing.

Available here: Etsy | Sweet Shoppe

Wanderlust Flairs * NEW *

New to the Wanderlust collection are these gorgeous travel flair buttons. Use them for an interesting detail on your pages or to ‘attach’ papers, photos and other elements. You will receive 15 PNG files.

Available here: Etsy | Sweet Shoppe

Wanderlust Transfers

Included in this pack are 10 travel themed digital overlays designed to coordinate with the ‘Wanderlust’ digital scrapbooking collection. You will receive 5 vintage landscape transfers and 5 floral transfers.

Available here: Etsy | Sweet Shoppe | Creative Market

Use these for an artsy touch to your layouts, or use them as masks, to blend pictures and papers, or use them as paint layers (just recolor them). Play with Photoshops Blend Modes and Opacity for surprising results!

Whimsical Frames Vol04 ‘Wanderlust’

This set of Whimsical Frames was designed to coordinate with the Wanderlust Collection. Included are 5 multilayered templates in PNG, PSD and TIF format that will allow you to make your own frames… choose what layers you want to use or keep, mix and match, recolor, use only the clipping mask… Create your own unique frames over and over again!

Available here: Etsy | Sweet Shoppe | Creative Market

And here’s some awesome layout inspiration!

by Carina (also used: Whimsical Templates Vol05)

by Aly

by Sylvia

three pages from Lisa

by Barbara

three pages from Ange

a hybrid project from Theresa

two pages from Jana

by Ona

by Bryony

by Alina

by Diane

and three pages from me

I am taking a little break from designing for the summer. But I’ll be back mid July, so stay tuned!

I’m still just a tiny little bit in vacation mode after our trip to France last week, but I’m getting there. I’m working on a few new commercial use packs for Digital Scrapbooking Studio’s Commercial Use Grab Bag Gala next week (more about that later) and… today is the reveal of Wanderlust, The Studio’s new Coordinated Collection! Have to admit, the colour scheme did not appeal to me at first… not the colours I would have picked. But once I got started, they sort of grew on me and I am very proud at how my part turned out.
Wanderlust will help you document all those wonderful memories and travel stories: the places you’ve seen, the people you’ve met… The muted colour palette of lilacs,greens and neutrals will allow your pictures and stories to shine. The colours will look especially great with pictures of the great outdoors: lavender fields, woods and mountains. Old maps, vintage lavender, handdrawn illustrations and damask were used to create the coordinating patterns. You will absolutely love the amazing set of mixed media papers - these will look fabulous printed and used as backgrounds for art journaling, paper crafting and card making. Wooden embellishments like arrows and word art, vintage ephemera, stamps and transfers, lots of travel themed illustrations, journal cards and a gorgeous set of layered frames are the icing on the cake.

What’s even better is that you can grab each pack for just $1. Yep, just $1, for a limited time only though. This deal ends July 28 and is exclusive to Digital Scrapbooking Studio for that time. After that, I’ll add Wanderlust to my other shops and the price will go back to normal.
Let me show you the previews!

Wanderlust Elements

This elements pack must be the biggest elements pack I’ve ever designed. You will receive 80 PNG files, including: 3 wooden arrows, 5 illustrated badges, 1 blank badge, 1 wooden bicycle, 1 vintage binoculars image, in a plain and a sticker version, 1 vintage binoculars stamp, 1 wooden bird, 3 brads, 1 paper butterfly, 3 buttons, 1 Eiffeltower charm, 1 clouds doodle, 3 paper clouds, 3 stitched clouds, 1 filmstrip frame + 4 masks, 1 dried flower, 1 wildflower, 2 vintage flower images, 2 fabric flowers, 1 paper flower, 2 flower stamps, 1 mixed media branch, 1 vintage foliage image, 1 leaf, 1 slide frame, 1 frame with stamp edging, 1 gemstone, 1 vintage globe stamp, 1 journaling lines stamp, 1 piece of lace, 1 magnet with a vintage airplane image, 1 large paint stroke, 1 vintage postcard ‘Paris’, 5 leather pins, 2 ribbons, 1 wooden road sign, 2 vintage stamps, 1 staple (in a shadowed and non-shadowed version), 1 stitching, 2 blank tickets, 1 vintage tourists stamp, 1 vintage suitcase blend, 1 vintage suitcase stamp, 2 vintage images of a girl and a boy on a bike, 1 vintage label, 1 vintage dictionary cut out, 8 vintage stamps with words, postcard stamps and a Jules Verne book title.

BUY THIS ELEMENTS PACK FOR JUST $1 AT

Wanderlust Solid Papers

16 textured solids, in every colour of the Wanderlust colour scheme. To mix and match with all the other parts of the Wanderlust Coordinated Collection.

BUY THIS PAPERPACK FOR JUST $1 AT

Wanderlust Patterns

BUY THIS PAPERPACK FOR JUST $1 AT

Wanderlust Mixed Media Papers

How I loved making these papers! You will receive 9 artsy mixed media papers, each paper saved as a hi res 12×12 inch JPG file.

BUY THIS PAPERPACK FOR JUST $1 AT

Wanderlust Journal Cards

BUY THESE JOURNAL CARDS FOR JUST $1 AT

Wanderlust Transfers

Hi everyone! Wherever you are, I hope you are having a wonderful time and maybe enjoying some time off. I have been away for a week, to a gorgeous little village in France, with limited access to my e-mails and it was really healing to get away from technology. No Facebook, no Instagram, no Pinterest… I did check my e-mails on my phone, but only twice because the wifi in the house that we rented was very weak.

I have to admit, I’m still adjusting to normal life and it’s not so easy to get back to designing. But I’ve been scrapping, editing my pictures, and I’ve done some necessary administrative work. I do have a large collection coming up later this week, here’s the sneak peek I shared about two weeks ago:

This collection is my contribution to The Studio’s new Coordinated Collection and it’s all about travelling, exploring the world… Well I’m still in travel mode, let me show you some pictures from the very beautiful Burgundy region in France that we visited last week:

Flavigny-sur-Ozerain

This is one of France’s most beautiful villages. Flavigny is the sole producer of the anise-flavored candy Anise de Flavigny, which was first manufactured by the monks. We visited the lovely museum.

Lots and lots of different anis-flavored candies, in so many different combinations… all for us to taste.

I’m loving these vintage ads on the wall!

Too funny (my daughter and my husband making fun)

I love the messages on the window of this very charming house.

We hardly see any blue cornflowers in Belgium anymore. But in Burgundy (and in Flavigny) there are so many!

My daughter - watch the gorgeous scenery behind her.

L’Abbaye de Fontenay

The Abbey of Fontenay was founded by Saint Bernard in 1118. It is one of the oldest Cistercian abbeys which branched out from the original monastery of the order, Citeaux, itself founded in 1098. Today the Abbey of Fontenay, which still belongs to the Aynard family, is classed as a world heritage site by Unesco.

The abbey church - looking towards the door.

The cloisters are the very heart of the monestary. This is where the monks would have read and carried out their practical tasks. The four galleries which enclose the interior courtyard make up a rectangle of 36 by 38 metres.

This large building (53 by 13,5 metres) was built by the monks towards the end of the 12th century. The ironmonger monks of Fontenay developed industrial plants, which produced tools, that were very well-known and were served at the table of the Dukes of Burgundy.

Driving back to the gîte, we just had to stop and take some pictures in this field with blue cornflowers.

Following the Owl’s Trail in Dijon

In Dijon we followed the Owl’s Trail, a 22-stage trail, designed not only to give you a taste of Dijon’s charm, but also to take you back in time and show you the history of the town. This walk through the city was accompanied by a very helpful booklet - almost as good as having our personal guide!

Over the centuries this owl has become a good luck charm for passers-by. You have to rub it with the left hand (the hand close to the heart) and make a wish (yes, I made a wish!).

This place was used as decor for ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’, a movie with Gérard Depardieu.

Gorgeous mosaic tiling on the roofs - witnesses of Dijon’s wealthy history.

‘Place de la Libération’ - a semicircular square designed in 1685 - in front of the palace of the dukes of Burgundy (that is now the Fine Arts Museum of Dijon). One of the most beautiful royal squares in France

Beaune and pizza’s

Beaune is one of the most beautiful towns in France. Unfortunately we left too late to really walk through it, but we managed to visit the Hospices de Beaune, founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of Burgundy, as a hospital for the poor. The original hospital building, the Hôtel-Dieu, one of the finest examples of French fifteenth-century architecture, is now a museum. After our visit, we are having pizza!

In front of the museum, ready to start our visit.

The museum owns a remarkable artwork: The Last Judgement Polyptych . It was painted by the Flemish artist Rogier van der Weyden in the 15th century.

Dinner! This pizzeria was advised to us by our hostess and yes, the pizza’s are soooooooooooo yummy. It does look weird, doesn’t it? It’s a tiny take-away pizzeria but you can eat there, either in a room where the ceiling is so low that even I could touch it, or in the picnic area outside. We preferred the picnic area 😀

Marché Nocturne in Semur-en-Auxois

It’s our last day in France. We are packing and relaxing the rest of the day and in the evening we drive to Semur-en-Auxois, a painterly village, with a gorgeous medieval core, built on a pink granite rock. There is a ‘Marché Nocturne’, a nocturnal market with music, entertainment, and lots of local dealers offering their merchandise.

Driving back to the gîte - Burgundy in the light of the evening sun…

Anja

Last week we spent our yearly vacation in the UK. We rented a cottage in Hunton, Maidstone. First time ever we’ve rented a house in the UK by the way! 16 years ago we saw London, but that was just three days in a hotel. Hotels however are not really my thing, they make me feel somewhat claustrophobic 🙂

It wasn’t easy to find a holiday home in the UK… at least not as easy as it is to find a gîte in France. But I did manage to find a cottage that fitted within our budget. Our trip didn’t go smoothly though. Our ferry was delayed with two hours, on Sunday I was sick from a cold that I had caught on the ferry and on Tuesday we had a car accident.

The Silver Cottage in Hunton was a lovely retreat. Very quiet, at the end of a no way through street, with a gorgeous view on the meadows. The house itself was not big, but big enough for the three of us. We didn’t really sleep very well though… we slept under the roof and there was a window right above us. The curtain didn’t make the room dark enough and so we were always woken up by the (early) sunlight. I mentioned this to the house owners, and they said they would see if they could change that.

Driving left was quite a challenge as well. On Tuesday we were driving on a road with many cars and traffic lights and it was so confusing. One moment I saw red lights, so I told my husband to stop, which he did, immediately… the following moment we were hit by the car behind us - because the lights were not red for us, but green (so we heard after the accident). The fourth car behind us (a lorry) couldn’t stop, so he hit the van, and the van hit the red car behind us, and the red car hit us… It all happened so fast… The man in the van had a head wound and was bleeding (but otherwise he was fine), and the man in the red car behind us was in shock… His car looked awful. I think we got off quite good. There is damage to the trunk, but it still closes and our car is still driving and the lights are okay.

Having an accident is always awful, but having it abroad is even more unsettling. The police came to the scene and they were very friendly, but it was a hell of a job to get hold of all the information we needed for the insurance.

That was the bad news 🙂 The good news is that the trip to Kent was really nice. We enjoyed the lush green landscapes of ‘The Gardens of Kent’ and we have seen some beautiful places.

Leeds Castle (Monday 13th July)

Leeds Castle is 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Maidstone (where we stayed). It was once owned by the legendary King Henry VIII. The last owner was Olive Paget, the daughter of Almeric Paget, later Lord Queenborough, and his wealthy American wife Pauline Whitney. In 1931 Olive became Lady Baillie, through her third marriage to Sir Adrian Baillie. She transformed Leeds Castle into a luxury retreat, with no expense spared. The couple divorced in 1944. Olive died in 1974 and she wanted the castle to be open for the public after her death. Leeds Castle now belongs to the Leeds Castle Foundation. It’s a 15 minutes walk through the park before you get to the castle, but there is so much to see on The Woodland Walk. Some pictures:

The Queen’s Bathroom - how romantic is this!
The Maze - a difficult one! We couldn’t find the entrance to the center and the mysterious grotto, so we cheated and went in through another passage, but sshhtt don’t tell anyone 🙂
The lovely flower garden

A view of the castle on our way back to the entrance.

Hever Castle (Wednesday 15th July)

Ah … Hever Castle … Definitely my favourite of the whole week! Anna Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, grew up here. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside. But you can see pictures on their website. The castle was impressive, but the gardens were even more impressive! We simply didn’t want to leave… Let me show you why!

The entrance to the castle

The entrance to the Italian Garden - my absolute favourite! It was created between 1904 and 1908 by Joseph Cheal & Son, turning marshland into this spectacular garden. It was designed to display William Waldorf Astor’s collection of sculpture and statuary.

See-through ‘windows’ to other parts of the garden.

The walk through the Italian Garden leads to the lake where you can take a boat.

Tangerines!

Flowers everywhere

The romantic stairs that lead to the Anna Boleyn Walk around the park.

My daughter taking a selfie…

Whitstable (Thursday 16th July)

On Thursday we went to Whitstable, a charming town by the sea. We loved walking through it’s streets full of independent craft and gift shops, galleries, delicatessens and fashion shops. Some pictures!

We parked our car at about 20 minutes from the center but we enjoyed the walk along the the “Tankerton Slopes”. First thing we saw were these colourful beach houses.

The center has some really cute shops… Like this charming bookstore, with three storages of cards and books. I came home with lots of inspiration!

Quite expensive, but totally irresistible: The Clothes Horse. In addition to Noa Noa, the shop sells clothing brands such as Sandwich, Bohemia,Darling, and the Scandinavian clothing brand Cream as well as many jewellery lines and homeware. I was tempted, but didn’t buy anything by the way.

The Tankerton Slopes - the rough ground between Marine Parade and the sea. It is home to one of Britain’s rarest plants, Hog’s Fennel.

The water was quite cold and there was a strong wind, but she insisted on bathing her feet 🙂

Canterbury (Friday 17th July)

We finished our week with a visit to Canterbury. We were impressed by the cathedral, had fun at Canterbury Tales and we ate Fish & Chips on the Butter Market.

The very impressive ceiling of the cathedral

The stairs are leading to the Trinity Chapel

The Cloister connected the different parts of the monastery when the Cathedral was home to a community of monks.

The Canterbury Pilgrim’s Hospital of Saint-Thomas dates from the 12th century

Impressive, this shop of vintage clothes!

Canterbury Tales - A visitor attraction that brings Chaucer’s famous tales of medieval misadventures to life through sound, smell and sight. This was great and we even had a Dutch audio guide.

Ending our day at The Old Butter Market with Fish & Chips 🙂

Despite the difficulties we had, I feel refreshed and I’ve found so much inspiration in the things we’ve seen. I have some great ideas for my Etsy store, so stay tuned!

I’m feeling very inspired lately 🙂 and that has resulted in more things for my future Etsy store. Are you ready for some sneak peeks?? I’m ESPECIALLY happy with how the Vintage Tropical Papers turned out! Usually I’m not a big fan of hot temperatures (and it’s really hot in Belgium today). But today, the weather ànd some good music inspired me to make a tropical themed paperpack. I’m thinking of making some coordinating things. What do you think?

Enjoy your evening!