Yeah! An article!

Oh wow, this is so awesome! Jacqueline has an article in a great needlework/artwork  magazine. How incredible is that. 

It was somewhere in February, I came up with the idea to write at some magazines. It was my thought, because Jacqueline’s company BeColourful has her 10 year anniversary. And so I did. And there was this one magazine that was interested, Handwerken zonder Grenzen, a needlework magazine.

A few months later Monique Bons came to Jacqueline for an interview. And what a lovely lady she was. Monique was so interested in BeColourful and Jacqueline. The interview was great, and the article ended up in 5 pages.

Of course the article has to be enlighten with a few pictures, and that’s my part :) You maybe know I love photography. I’m the photographer of all the pictures you see at our Facebook page, at Instagram or Tumblr and of course at our website. Anyway, taking care of some photo’s is not a problem at all for me. I’ve chosen quite a nice collection of pictures where they can make a selection of. And it was great to see my pictures in a magazine. :)

The article was great, Jacqueline was so very proud to see her work on paper. And at the cover a beautiful detail of one of her new designs.

Love, Bridget

Fun at Pinterest

It has been a while since we have launched our new website and we want to tell you how happy we are with the response from all over the world.

It was a lot of work for Bridget, Harm and Johan, they have put a lot of effort to make it as colorful and clear for you as we could.

 And as we read all the sweet compliments, we think we succeed!! Thank you so much for all the lovely words! 

Since a year and a half we are also very active at other social media like Pinterest, Instagram and Youtube. When Bridget started this, I had no idea how important social media is for a company like BeColourful. I’m so blessed that Bridget is my sister and that she put so much time and effort in BeColourful. She is always looking for nice things and items related with colors or BeColourful to share them with you. I think is it is very time consuming for her, however she is a social media addict ;-)

One of the social media pages that we have is our Pinterest page…We have a lot of very nice mood boards….. I love it! A lot of our thoughts, ideas and inspirations comes from these mood boards.

At our Pinterest page you will find about 24 mood boards such as Dreamy fabrics, Sewing room inspiration, Beautiful quilting, Quilt labels, Inspiring colors.......

And also my favorite mood board: Quilts and Pets. It is so nice to click onto the pictures and see all kind of quilt related items and….so many more… see for yourself.

Love, Jacqueline

How to make a website

Okay, time for a little update from the BeColourful team. As you may have noticed, we finally have a brand new  website. The old one was very dated, and it was time to make a fresh new one. And I can tell you that was a lot of work. A whole lot of work.

I was the one who was making this website. Our webmaster made the frame, and when finished, it was my turn. I had never done something like this before, and I can tell you it’s quite difficult.

I love to work with all kind of things, Instagram for instance, I like to do that and Tumblr is also one of the social media sites where I like to post some pics now and then. Pinterest is also one of my very favorite sites to visit to search for great ideas. Facebook, well, you all know that Facebook BeColourful is like my baby, how I love to be there, and keep you updated with all kind of posts. And I love YouTube, I would like to do more with that stream, but you know, there’s only so much hours in a day..

Okay, back to the website. Did I mention how difficult it was? I think so.. At first, I had to think about how to get every photo and picture on the right spot. And where. Sometimes that was a hard decision. And can you imagine how frustrated I was when I was working on this site, and the photo’s didn’t do what I expected them to do? As in stay where they are? Once I added a photo, great, but after I had find the right spot for this photo, it kept hanging at my mouse. It followed me everywhere on the page. I wanted to scream, not that was of any help and it didn't work either.. I tried everything to get rid of the picture, but it keeps on following me. It was not funny anymore..

Oh, and at one time, I had the whole page scrolling without my permission. It scrolled up and down time after time. I didn't know what I’d done, but finally it stopped. Until now, I have no clue what I did to make it stop. Anyway, I think it looks good, and I’m quite happy the way it turned out. It’s a bright and colorful website, just as bright and colorful as Jacqueline’s designs.

As you explore our website, you may notice some poor English sentences.. Feel free to e-mail me and correct me. I don’t mind. You know, English is not my first language, and although I do my very best (with a little help of Google Translate now and then ;) ) there’s no doubt I make mistakes.. So please, don't hesitate to mail me.

Love, Bridget

How a girls dream turned into a nightmare..

When I was a little girl I had a dream… I want a horse, I want to ride on a horse, I want some lessons on a horse riding school etc. etc. I think every girl has a dream like that… Unfortunately there was no money for things like that. Mom and dad decided music and swimming lessons are more important than riding a horse.  And it became a desire, a dream that I want to try it…….

Last Saturday it was girls day out, and the girls and me go for a beginners ride. OMG, I really had the feeling that the BIG day finally was there. My pink-girly-day-dream came true. I’m riding on a real horse!!! I have never been that close to a horse than seen one on a picture in a magazine….o yes.

That morning my sister-in-law Victoria and I drove by car to the riding school in Schoorl, a one hour drive, of course we were there the first. We parked the car and we went in to the riding school. The horses…. well they look really big. But we saw many young girls, riding full of self-confidence, on the back of those big horses. Well if they can do it, we can do this… right, we can do this, we can do this, we can…

Finally all the girls arrived and we tried on some riding caps and boots and off we go. We were able to ask for a special horse. Mariska asked for a “sweet one” and she got a sweet one, Fiory asked for a smaller one… and she got a small horse. Everybody had a special request… and me, well I’m not the skinny type I’m afraid, I love to have a horse that can carry my weight. And then there was my horse….. My God, it was the biggest horse I have ever seen! I was not able to look over his or her back.

She was enormous! I had no idea how to get on her back, I’m not an athlete you know. And to swing my right leg in one movement over her back… well “in your dreams fluffy”. I definitely need a ladder or stairs to get on that horse ;) Well, I won’t tell you how I finally got on top of the horse back, but after a while I was on top of my BIG horse, with the name Whisper. What I didn’t know, someone whispered in his or her ears that she can eat whenever she wants and wherever she wants. And that means she stops at every bush and tree. She don’t wants to listen to me, she only wants her bushes and trees.

After 30 minutes I was done with horses, horse riding, horse poo, bushes and trees, I really want to go back. But unfortunately we booked this beginner class for 90 minutes….. Yes, 90 minutes! The last 30 minutes I was worried how to get of this BIG horse. I was so cold and stiff and because it rained the entire ride, there was not a dry piece of cloth on my body. Finally there was the riding school. They showed us how to get off in a very relaxed manner. But because I was so cold and stiff, and my horse was so BIG and the ground was so far, far away from my feet….. Well, I was able to get off. And no, I won’t tell you how inelegant I finally get of Whisper. Use your imagination ;-)) I was so happy with both my feet on the ground, I almost could kiss the ground, almost. And I know that there will be a day that I can walk again without the intense myalgia. Horses and me…. I don’t think it is the right combination…. I’ll better keep on quilting..

How a girls dream turned into a nightmare……..

Love Jacqueline

Social Media and a sneek peek.. :)

Okay! It’s been a while since the last time you were here. Well, there’s a reason for that. While Jacqueline was in America, teaching you all, and showing off at the Quilt Show in Padukah with Harm, I was the only one left behind at home. Poor little me..

However there was a little bright side to it. Because with Harm and Jacqueline both at the other side of the ocean, I had time to do my thing with BeColourful. No one to disturb me with endless phone calls, no one to hunt me down with emails, only some text messages which I could ignore… No, just kidding, it was really too quiet and boring and I didn’t like it at all, them not being here.. I missed them a lot, because we’re very close with each other. We speak to each other on a daily bases, so you can imagine what it has to be for me, when they’re not here.. Yes, poor little me..

And you know, I’m doing my share with BeColourful. Keeping every stream updated! Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and of course Facebook. 

We also have our own You Tube channel, and with only 5 videos so far, that needs a little attention of me too. But you know, with my daily job, the necessary housekeeping and all the BeColourful work, there’s not much time left. And above that, for new videos I’ve to see Jacqueline who’s living more than 2 hours away from me, and shoot some new videos to add to it. And there’s so little time for it…

But I’ve have great news for you all. And that’s why I thought to make this time the blog myself. We’re working on a brand-new website!

How great is that! The old one is very dated, I can’t even look at it L But this new website is so great! Our web designer chooses the format, and I’m doing most of the “filling” (I’m sure there’s a better/other word for that, but I think you know what I mean) We all have our ideas what has to be added, and how we want it to look like, to make it just as sparkling and colorful as Jacqueline’s quilts. And I think it will work. I added some “making of” videos, make a page for classes and shows, a page with all the beautiful BeColourful quilts you all made, 

and so much more! I think this website is going to be great. Hopefully this month it will be released, and I can’t wait for you all to see this beautiful website!

Hope to speak to you soon, when we’re online!

Love, Bridget

Picture perfect ;)

I have to make a confession……

Last Wednesday evening I have had my presentation to the Boise Basin Quilters (the BBQ) in Idaho. And I cannot explain how terrified I was for that evening….

But you have to do what you have to do. I took all my nineteen quilts with me in the hope that all the ladies would pay attention to the quilts and not looking at me. Believe me this is not something I really like to do. I consider myself as a shy person and to do something like this, is a real nightmare for me.

But we have set the appointment and of we go. We drove to the church were the BBQ held there monthly meeting….. And Laura introduced me to the president of the guild. We brought the babies inside and put them in the back of the church. Yes, I know my quilters….. they want to touch the babies and put their nails under the crystals to see if they are really set on the quilts… I’ve seen that happening before in Rijswijk at my show in the Netherlands ;-0

They told me that after the break it was my turn…. What do you mean after the break? Let’s do it now. I’m too nervous to wait after the break. But I have to say everything goes pretty fast and all the ladies have their break with coffee, chocolate and cookies. Too fast, actually..

And then it was my turn.. No escape, no little prayers, no excuses anymore, the time was there.  OMG what should I do!!! I took a deep breath, try to look like a professional quilter and designer, walk to the front of the podium and start.

Bridget and I had made a photo presentation from the last 10 years, and that helps a lot. I started with introducing myself and my beautiful city of Delft, my parents, Mr. Pooky: my extremely spoiled Siamese cat, and my wonderful and beautiful new Greyhound Amy.

And you know, while I was telling my story about them, and how important they are in my life, it turned out very well. I was able to tell some funny and of course, silly stories about BeColourful moments over the past 10 years. I had the possibility to show the quilts and to tell something about it and before I know it, it was a quarter to ten and only 2 people had left the room. Yeahhhh.

They even gave me a standing ovation. Yes, it was such a nice evening that I almost wish to do it over again. Almost…

Love, Jacqueline

Bye Kansas, I'm sorry to leave you...

I have packed my suitcase because Kansas is over. Tonight I fly to Boise, Idaho. What a wonderful week I have had. I loved the space where the classes were held. Mark and Mary were wonderful, Connie, my host was extremely friendly and my students were so very nice.

Yes I hate to leave Kansas. Except for the weather. OMG… how can you live in a country like this…. I would say…. Lets move…yeah.

We have had a very warm sunny day..mmmm, you can walk outside without a jacket and you must put your sunglasses on the top of your nose. It was a wonderful day.

The next day it was a little bit cooler, but they told me there is a storm coming! What do you mean there is a storm coming. Yes and they are right. At the end of the day you feel that the temperature drops many degrees and we were shivering. The weather radio was on to tell people to take care of stock and houses and that the storm could hurt you very dangerously if you were going outside. Well I can tell you, I was not very comfortable that night. But… well hey, I’m Dutch and we are use to pretty bad weather sometimes. It is just a storm…. But I thought I put my passport next to me…. Just in case… ;-0

But the storm went thru and the next day it was freezing cold! And we have snow… hmm, yes… real snow. Where are the sunny sunflower fields Kansas, the beautiful blue skies and the nice little markets that you see on the pictures in the magazines.

 But besides the weather it was so wonderful to be here.

I loved everything you have shared with me: your hospitality, your friendship and your kindness. I hate to leave but I will be back next year and I hope to see you all again.

Love, Jacqueline

PS: Idaho here I come….