Sparky's Scratches Real friends don't care if you're a little different…

Still working on it. It’s timeconsuming finding the exact books, but I thought it was a nice project for “a rainy day”.

The problem is, I own thousands of books. Most of them in Dutch, some in English. The Dutch books, and the oldies, can’t be found at Amazon (the virtual library uses Amazon images) so I can’t list them. Besides, a free LibraryThing account only allows you to catalog up to 200 books. So I added some of my favourites, just because I love books, I’m a list freak and a sucker for thumbnails 🙂

*Does happy dance* I can’t believe it’s July already. HARRY POTTER MONTH! First the movie – Order of the Phoenix will be released at July 11th in The Netherlands. Later this month the fans are eagerly awaiting the 7th (and final *sigh*) book of the series: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”.

Like I did with the last books, I’ll go offline until I’ve finished it. I don’t want to stumble upon spoilers, that would definitely ruin it for me. I’m not sure how I will feel after I’ve finished the last book. Harry has been an important part of my life for so many years now.

When I first got Internet, May 2001 I think, I immediately searched for information about Harry. One of the first sites I found was an online Harry Potter Community and I decided to join. Mind you, this was quite an adventure for me. I never used the Internet before, let alone joined a forum, and I still remember how exciting everything was.

New students had to be sorted and when I got the results, telling me I was sorted into Hufflepuff, I was so disappointed at first. I wanted to be in Gryffindor, like Harry! But I went along and logged in to the Hufflepuff Common Room (a separate, password protected forum, only available to Huff students). The first person I met there was Holly Lawrence (aka Eeyore, real name Pat) and not long after that Amie (real name Amy :p). After all those years, they still are two of my dearest online friends.
I can’t describe what a wonderful time we had. It’s a matter of “you should have been there to understand”.

We organized PJ parties, sneaked into the boys dorms, had food fights in the kitchen, wrote stories, poems, opened shops selling magical stuff, took classes, made tests, exchanged recipes, wrote new Hufflepuff lyrics to Christmas carols and had a Christmas sing-along, worked on projects to gain points and win the House Cup, had pillow fights, worked on the Hufflepuff newspaper, attended Quidditch matches, enjoyed elaborate meals and much much more. All of this combined with never-ending discussions about our favorite books, the characters, the plots and the theories.

So yes, Harry has been an important part of my life and he brought many people together who would never have met without him.
More of that another time, as this post is already far too long!

If you’d like to read more about my Hufflepuff friends, please visit my Tribute pages 🙂

“It is our choices Harry, that show what we truly are,
far more than our abilities.”

~ Dumbledore

…but I did it! I played around with my PSP settings and I’m FINALLY able to save graphics as 200 dpi. Man, that took me quite some time and how hard can it be? (or how blonde can you be?)

To celebrate the above I decided to scrap a new picture my SIL sent me. It’s the latest edition to our family, my nephew Floris (born Febr. 26th). He is SUCH a cutie! Smiling all day – whether you’re a stranger or not, he gives you his ear-to-ear grin and makes me melt 🙂

I never thought of adding pixel graphics to my DS layouts, but for this layout I just had to use my “plushies” (lineart by My Pretty Pixels, colored by me). Suddenly the possibilities of new sets are endless. I have created hundreds and hundreds of pixel graphics. Many of them I can adjust and use them in DS kits, yay!

I thought I’d lost my muse. I used to pixel almost 24/7, but for months and months I sat here, opened PSP and closed it again. I just couldn’t get motivated. Things changed when I discovered DS. I don’t know if that’s because I grew tired of pixeling and DS showed me a new way of creating graphics or for another reason, fact is that my mind is bubbling again.

So many ideas, and so little time – lol. I’m working on 6 DS kits at the same time. Trust me to NOT be organized!

I don’t care, I feel creative again and that’s enough to keep me smiling 😀

Appetizer
How many pieces of jewelry do you wear most days?
* Just 1 ring. When I go out I usually wear earrings and a watch, but not when I’m at home.

Soup
What is your favorite instrumental song?
* Oh there are so many songs I love, the first one that comes to mind is ‘Adagio’ from the Clarinet Concerto In A Major, K622 by Mozart – ‘Morning Mood’ from Peer Guint Suite by Grieg is another one… the list is endless!

Salad
Who has a last name that you like?
* Clooney

Main Course
Name a popular movie you’ve never seen.
* Loads! For the last 5 years I only went to the cinema to see the Harry Potter movies, so I missed all the other popular ones 🙂
I’ve bought many of my favs on DVD, but I still have to find the time to watch them.

Dessert
Fill in the blank: Nothing makes me ___________ like ____________.
* happy and alive …. going out for a walk when it snows

Have a great weekend all!

Appetizer
Name a funny habit you have.
* I tend to make piles of things on my desk… creating the illusion of tidyness I guess :p

Soup
If you could instantly know how to play a musical instrument, which one would you pick?
* Piano – without a doubt

Salad
How long is your hair?
* Spikey

Main Course
When was the last time you forgave someone, and who was it?
* This evening, my daughter (12 year old, going on 25) yelled at me. After she calmed down, she apologized.

Dessert
What is your favorite kitchen appliance?
* The words ‘favorite kitchen appliance’ and I don’t go well together. If I have to pick something… microwave