KissKus

::200::

2007-07-10T22:02:00.000+02:00

I've just written my 200th post on my new blog. It's also my official housewarming party on Typepad... I do prefer it over there ;)

This blog is from now on closed. Head on over to Typepad if you want to be included in the give-away!

Happy happy joy joy

2007-05-03T15:14:00.000+02:00

Lots of excitement going on in our lives, such as winning cars and stuff...

Read it all here!

I am...

2007-04-15T23:19:00.000+02:00

... still over at Typepad, you know ;)

Please, join me there!

Rounding off

2007-04-02T22:40:00.000+02:00

I'm slowly rounding off this blog here and will continue blogging on Typepad.
Would you all be so kind to update your links & bloglines? Thank you so very much... I wouldn't want to leave anyone behind ;))

I'm thinking of holding a housewarming party at my new place, but first I must go to England and have lots of fun :))

---> I'm happy to be home again!

Invitation

2007-04-01T20:44:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone,

you're all invited to visit me at my new blog space!!

When you're there, you can read all about the skirts I made today.
So please, follow me :)

Need help picking out my birthday present!

2007-03-29T21:21:00.000+02:00

People, I need you for advice!
My lovely hubby (or hush puppy as my colleague said yesterday) wants to give me a Typepad-account for my birthday. I've been wanting to make the switch for quite some time and now he's made the decision for me... isn't he the sweetest?!

So just now I've been checking out the website and what I really want to know is whether Basic will be good enough, or do I really need to get Plus?
What do you have and are you happy with it?
Is Typepad the best choice anyway?

Please, share your experiences with me! I'm so excited at the prospect of switching that I really want to do it NOW!

This photo does it no justice at all, but the sunrise was amazing this morning. A huge bright red ball of fire.

Big girl, small shoes

2007-03-28T22:10:00.000+02:00

Amber has achieved something that took many months (years?), tears and a whole lot of courage.
For that she deserved a reward...

Tiny shoes that are impossible to walk on!
She was like Cinderella's step-sister trying to wriggle into these, but you should see how happy she looks when she has them on :))

Now what was the big project that we finally managed to tackle? She now sleeps without a nappy (diaper for you Americans) and that's a BIG deal!
It's been a long road for her, but apparently the time was right now. It's been more of a mental struggle than a physical one; she was just scared to go to sleep without a nappy.

However, on Monday morning -after another dry night- she earned her final sticker and that was that.

We're so proud of you, little big girl!!

Simon fell out of the tree... does he care? No way!

And how do you like my new sunglasses? These were the only remotely normal ones that I could find!! Michel now calls me Queen Bee Bling Bling. Well, this will be the summer of the bee then :)

Hanging out with the bunnies

2007-03-26T14:43:00.000+02:00

Look at the latest batch of freshly graduated students from Easter Bunny College.
Don't they look eager?! They just can't wait to collect their basket of eggs and start hiding!

Actually, this is only half the group that I'm working on, but I'm taking so long to finish them that I just didn't want to wait any more. Sometimes you just have to be realistic, Easter may be over before I've finished the rest of them (hope not).

Hmmm, I wonder whether I'll be able to change my banner... it will give my blog a nice seasonal touch ;)

I also want to give a big thank you to Kirsten. A couple of days ago a cute little package arrived, in it were this beautiful brooch (currently proudly displayed on my bag):

And this wonderful rocket patch:

It was immediately confiscated by Simon and I think I'm going to use it on a bag for him.
Thanks again, Kirsten!

Mama made a brand new pair of trousers

2007-03-22T14:18:00.000+01:00

I am ashamed to say that in all 2,5 years of Simon's life I've have NEVER made him a piece of clothing... bad, bad Mummy!! Even though my sewing machine has been working overtime, I produced nothing wearable for him (nor for Amber...I can't remember what the last thing was I made for her).
However, the time was right now! Probably spurred on by the first signs of spring, I made a pair of trousers for him of fabric that I bought last year. Of course when they were finished I wanted to see how they fit (and yes, take a photo of it too!). Simon didn't think it was such a good idea.

After lots of begging and pleading he felt it was a very BAD idea...

Eventually this is the best photo I got:

He couldn't wait to take the damn trousers off!

Don't you look so pleased, young man! You ARE going to wear them, even if it means I have to glue them to your bottom!!

(I'm making a skirt for Amber right now... thank heavens for my dear daughter who'll wear anything as long as there is a hint of pink on it)

When little boy's dreams come true

2007-03-19T23:08:00.000+01:00

Simon was in awe!

Egg flowers

2007-03-11T21:21:00.000+01:00

May I present to you... egg flowers!

The other day when I was digging through my scrapbasket, just itching to make more tissueholders, I suddenly had an idea for a new scrappy project. Eggwarmers...hurray! Don't you love it when a new idea just pops into your head?

It all went so smooth too. Sorting fabrics, cutting, sewing and the result was as I had hoped.

I made the coordinating eggholders from wool felt. Later I realised that these can also be used to hold napkins... multi-purpose holders, wow :)

They are super easy to make. All you need is two pieces of fabric and a bit of elastic for the eggwarmers, and a piece of wool felt and fabric for the eggholder. Don't you think they will brighten up the Easter breakfast table?

I just came across this, which is also a wonderful way to use up your scraps.

I can't help myself...

2007-03-09T21:07:00.000+01:00

I felt a bit at a loss a few days back, so I made another batch of tissueholders... they're just too wonderful to make!

I did however started a totally different scrap-project too, more on that soon.

And I'm glad to say that this WIP is finally in its last stages. If that could be finished, photographed and blogged about this weekend, then I would be a very happy girl indeed.

Wishing you all a very relaxing and crafty weekend!

They deserve a frame

2007-03-04T21:08:00.001+01:00

New thrifted frame + favourite trimmings =

Over the years I've built up quite a collection of trimmings. Last week I bought some more and then my mother gave me a few too (yes, I know :))). I just love to look at them. They're so pretty! Then last Thursday I found a very decent frame in the thriftstore (an excellent new one we went to) and after a lick of paint I just knew that my trimmings would look great in it.

So now it's right here next to me in my craftroom and I keep gazing up to it (a lot). Such a source of inspiration... don't you think your trimmings deserve a frame too?!

I heart England!

2007-03-02T15:42:00.001+01:00

And that's why I've just booked our flight to London!

I'm so excited that it's definite now after lots of thinking and planning... and I'm so looking forward to it :))

I don't know what I like best of everything:

spending time with my sister (and my youngest sister might join us too)
going away with Michel
stay out late, go on long walks, do lots of shopping --> do everything you can't do with kids around
embrace EVERYthing English

Oh and do you know what more? I might even meet up with a very lovely fellow blogger! Anyone else wants to meet up somewhere in the vicinity of London/Oxford between 4 and 8 April?! It'll be fun!

These hearts were designed and cut out by Amber. She also did a bit of sewing until she grew tired of it.

Old and expensive

2007-02-27T21:10:00.000+01:00

Bit of a dubious title ;)

Today we went here.
Michel heard about this place that sells old building materials that are saved from demolition.
It was quite a magical place. Old treasures stacked up everywhere. You simply didn't know where to look first. Very expensive stuff though (I held on to Simon tightly!).

Staircases.

Lots of beautiful tiles.

Amazing doors.

The main reason why we went there was to look for a dining table that they make from different kinds of wood. We loved the tables: simple, old, solid. Prices varied from € 700-€1400. Something to think about.

Here I am on the road:

And we haven't booked yet, but we're definitely going to England in April :))

Small projects

2007-02-20T21:29:00.000+01:00

I've been working on lots of small projects lately. Although I have a continuing lack of time for myself, my inspiration and creative urge are still very much present. Hence the small projects!

First my My Little Window project. This was my prototype, I want to work on this more.

Then a birthday present for my youngest sister. A little bag for the bikini we got her.

Look at that bikini!

I wanted to keep it for myself, but I knew it would look (much) better on her!

Then my first attempt at textile stencilling...not perfect yet ;)

And some aprons for the washingup liquid...

Finally, my current -a bit more elaborate- WIP.

A bright day

2007-02-15T21:20:00.000+01:00

This was today:

And this was last week:

Nothing changes like the weather, right?!

When I came home from work, I received this wonderfully sweet present from Amy. Amber complained: 'Oh no, not ANOTHER package for mum!' Such a lovely Valentines gift, thank you so much Amy!! You and your stash are just the best! And I can assure you that the fabric will be put to good use. Like the other fabrics you sent me:

I made this little princess tote for Amber last week.

It really was a bright day today, filled with sunshine and signs of spring approaching. I just had to take some garden photos...what will the garden look like in a couple of months time?!

This tree was filled with ladybirds. A little get-together to discuss their plans for the summer (we did just that today and will hopefully be going to France in August)?!

Things

2007-02-12T20:55:00.000+01:00

First of all my apologies for my long absence!

Let me make it up to you by showing you all the super delicious things Michel and I scored for me this weekend. While I was at the thriftstore, he was at Hema and we both had some great finds.

First up are these two cute boxes that Michel found for just 2 euros each. Look at those polka dots!!

Then these two hobby kits (also 2 euros each) which contain everything you need to make a scarf and a child's cape.

How could I not buy this mug? Especially when it was only 30 cents?! I'm hoping this will mean that Michel and I are really going to England this spring... I would so looooooove to go!

I found the fabric on the left and Michel bought me the fabric on the right. Isn't it funny that the flowers are exactly the same?!

This book is wonderful. Lots of fun crafts.

But these two creatures really made me decide to buy it... I think they're both adorable and I would love to try them out.

Not pictured, but treasured nonetheless: 2 more hobby kits, a tiny bag for my I-pod and a fantastic basket for my sewing things.
I know it's superficial, but sometimes buying lovely things really makes me happy.

Today I've been cleaning and sorting again...when will I ever be finished?! I've been trying to unearth my craftroom. In some areas I've been successful, like sorting out my stash:

I hope to have more pictures very soon!

Book love & wonky sewing

2007-01-31T20:56:00.000+01:00

Michel brought home this book yesterday. I believe it's from Pottery Barn. I don't exactly know what Pottery Barn is...is it sort of the American Ikea?

It's filled with beautiful photos of wonderful kids' rooms.

Lots of inspiration.

I love this.

***

Last week I had a great idea for a flowerlike placemat. I thought it would be so cool. So I drew the shape and cut all the fabrics and sewed them all together...so far so good. But when I added the back-fabric, I suddenly thought it would be nicer to make a cushion out of it. Uh-oh, mistake! This is how it turned out:

I can tell you that it looked very different in my head ;)

Oh and this is what got this weekend to make up for Michel's maggot eating. Oh I didn't tell about the maggot eating yet?! Well, one day Michel made three crackers with cheese for himself. After he had eaten two, he noticed a little wriggly something on his plate. After a closer look it turned out to be a maggot. Michel looked at his remaining cracker and saw a couple of other maggots in there too...did I mention he already ate two at this point? Soooooo grooooooooosssssss!!!!!!!
So I wrote an angry letter and this what we got. Maggots are supposed to be very nutricious by the way ;)

*just 1 kilo this week, so that's 8 in total*

New-new-new

2007-01-28T20:56:00.000+01:00

I made a whole new batch of tissueholders.
I always feel the urge to display them as cakes... don't they look scrumptious together?!

These were inspired by the upcoming Valentinesday, hence the red, pink & hearts.

I've said it before, but I love making these. They're so cute and small and they're a great way to use up my precious scraps. However, I think I must consider another satisfying scrap-project, after all, how many tissueholders do you really need? Any scrappy ideas?!

Something else that's new:

Our stairs are finished!!
These photos are not brilliant, but we're so happy with the result!
This is such a big step in making our house a nicer home... what a relief. Running upstairs to grab something is a real pleasure now :)

I regret not having taken a before photo to show you the difference. Fortunately I am able to show you a before photo of my current project: my craftroom.
Brace yourself!

A bomb explosion, I know.

Will be continued...

Moo's the best!

2007-01-23T17:48:00.000+01:00

Today my mini-cards arrived!!!
They are so cute, I love them :)))

I picked out 12 different photos. Some turned out a little better than others, but I still think they're all wonderful.

I'm already brainstorming of what I can do with them other than using them as a tag on a gift or something.. oh the possibilities!

Other great mail: 50 bundles of bias tape scored on Ebay. I can't help it, but this makes me happy! I'd better think of a good way to use up all that bias tape though ;)

And and and, I made a new bib today. I finally managed to sort out enough space in my craftroom to put the sewing machine back in its place... I'm definitely on right path here!

Oh AND! I've now lost 7 kilos!!

Paint everywhere

2007-01-22T17:30:00.000+01:00

This weekend we've started some serious painting.
I'm ashamed to say it, but after 15 months in this house we still had the ugliest bare stairs. It's funny how you get used to seeing things unfinished. Even so that you hardly see it anymore.
However, we're still in our 'house-improvement mood' and the stairs was our next project.
Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of the before, but this stage is still pretty horrible:

Without consulting me Michel had bought lime-green paint and when I got home he had already put it on. Ouch, it took some getting used to, but at least it's a very fresh colour and it does brighten up the staircase.

While Michel and our friend were attacking the stairs I painted the kitchen, another project that we stopped halfway. I used the same lime-green as well as pink, orange and turquois...I know!!! It's going to look very interesting! I will definitely post photos of the result :)

A day of fun and inspiration

2007-01-18T16:15:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we went to Deventer, a town that we love to visit.
Michel in fact loves it so much that he always shouts that he wants to live there.

We had lunch (a healthy salad!) in a wonderful cafe that serves delicious high teas and real English food like crumpets.

We then went shopping in the little streets off the main shopping area. We came across such delightful shops selling such cute things!

I thought these lights looked wonderful so I took a photo. Later I saw that they were Tord Boontje...check out the website because this Dutch designer makes the most beautiful things.

I bought a couple of metres of oilcloth from Kitsch Kitchen and even managed to find some new shoes (not my favourite thing to do)!

We then had dinner at oma & oma's. They're leaving for Australia today to visit Michel's sister who lives there. I am worried about their flight though, because we're experiencing some very bad wheather here today (storm). Hopefully they won't be delayed too long.

And I've been tagged to share six weird things about myself, but since I think I'm the most normal person in the world, I need tonight to sleep on it ;))

This 'n that

2007-01-16T22:20:00.000+01:00

The past three days have been filled with cleaning, sorting, biking, sewing and not thinking about chocolate. To begin with the last, the diet is going very well... -4,5 kilos already! I'm proud to say that I've been very strict, not even licking my fingers when I made sandwiches for the children.

Ofcourse I've been trying out my bike lots. On Sunday we went for a proper tour. I started out with Simon in front and Amber behind, later Amber switched to Michel's bike. Man, it feels good to be cycling again... I even used it to do the weekend shopping!

And I can't tell you how much fun it is to have Simon so close to me. I never had that with Amber, she was always sitting in the backseat.
The only thing was that when we got home the children were very cold... luckily they defrosted over a cup of hot chocolate. Sorry babes, we'll put on more clothes next time!

The bit of sewing that I did was a new blanket. We needed another one, because Michel and I kept fighting over the one we had.

I haven't been able to take decent photos of it, because there was hardly any light and the blanket was already wrinkled from use. I love the colours though, nice and bright and hardly any orange or yellow in it ;)) I will add it to my collection.
I wished it were this easy to transform my sofa!

And last but not least, have you heard of MOO yet? They make mini-cards that I think are supercute! I just ordered 100 using my Flickr-photos and I can't wait to get them!

New!

2007-01-11T22:49:00.000+01:00

Meet my new bike... it's RED!

In order to take this whole new healthy lifestyle seriously, a good bike for me is a neccessity. And anyway, I really weren't allowed to call myself a proper Dutch mother without a child front and back. I can't wait to try this baby out! A little less rain and wind here, weather gods!!

And here is a photo of the old seventies pouffe that I gave a new pillow-cover. It's made of a thrifted tablecloth. So simple and yet so lovely!

And I made another small cushion just for fun. I love quick projects that look cute too!

Spring cleaning

2007-01-09T20:40:00.000+01:00

In an attempt to make up for all the years before that I had no spring cleaning, I'm starting EARLY this year! Perhaps a bit crazy, but with the temperatures outside not even that strange.

As I said in my post on NewYear's Eve I have two major goals this year: lose weight and organize my home. So far I've been doing really, really well.
The diet is going swell (-2 kilos) and the house is looking better by the hour.
Michel and I have been working superhard at it since last week. We're both hoarders of the most terrible kind. We save everything, because we think we can use it again some day. And we (or should I say I) are sentimental about every scrap of paper, piece of baby-clothing or present we ever received. Add to this our fabric/book-addiction and I think you can imagine what our house looks like.

But we both decided that it was enough. So we've been sorting out, throwing away and cleaning like madpeople this week. The score so far: 20 bags of clothing for goodwill, four big boxes of books for bookcrossing, a full container of rubbish and five boxes of paper for recycling. Pfff... and this only the beginning! We still have to tackle the attic (argh), my sewingroom (argh) and the shed.

However, I'm still super motivated to bring this project to a good end.
The children's rooms as you can see in the photos are finished at least. And I must say that I think that these along with the livingroom (almost done) are the most important spaces to keep organized.

And amidst all the cleaning I also managed to paint three cupboards and a table and I finally made a pillow for Amber's pouffe. I'll show it tomorrow!

On the brink of a new year

2006-12-31T15:14:00.000+01:00

Time to look back and forward at the same time.

Some of the highlights of this year for me (with a very clear emphasis on food and children :))

For me personally 2006 has been a very good year. My challenges are often about daring and I dared a lot this year. I went on holiday by myself. I did a crafts fair. I found a wonderful new job.
All in all it's been a great year on all kinds of levels for me.

In the new year 2007 I'm hoping to continue the way I'm going now. If I achieve that then I would be more than happy.
Of course there a some things that didn't go so well this year and that I'm hoping to improve. My immediate goals are losing the weight at last and cleaning/sorting out our house so that it will be an even more comfortable place for all of us. I'm looking forward to it!

I'm wishing you all a wonderful, happy & healthy new year in which at least one of your dreams may come true!!
Be safe!

Crafting was definitely fun in 2006!

Christmas treats

2006-12-30T22:17:00.000+01:00

This year I made everyone in my family a present for Christmas.
For the adults I made tissueholders like I promised.

I tried to pick out fabrics and ribbons that I thought would match everyone's personalities or taste. Like the one for my mum which is green en flowery because she loves gardening so much.

Don't they look colourful together? I've got a whole collection now :)

For Amber I made a scarf that goes with the beautiful coat my mum made for her. I used fleece and it has appliqued flowers on it. She was happy with it.

For the two little ones in the family, Simon and Sarah (our niece), I made patchwork bibs. It was my first attempt at making bibs (since the others I made were just spiced up by me) and I was pleased with the result.

I used fabric scraps for the front, Amber's old bathrobe for the back and the ties are two small fabric belts that Amber never wore.

Sarah's bib had a handy pocket for her cutlery (there was not enough fabric to leave it out and I thought it was pretty neat).

Their initials were also on there.

Today I've been doing some end-of-the-year things, like cleaning, washing and sorting. I also managed to get FOUR packages to the post office! So relieved.

Well, tomorrow I'll be back with the last post of this year. Goodnight all!

Christmascards with a twist

2006-12-19T22:41:00.000+01:00

I've been getting lots of Christmascards at work lately. I appreciate them all and I love getting them, but I felt a bit reluctant at handing out ordinary shop-bought cards myself. They're just a bit... boring!
So eventhough it might have been wiser if I had spent my time differently, I made some alternative cards today. Well, they're not cards but stars obviously...

They were very easy to make; cutting the fabric shapes took most time probably.
For the photo I attached them to my fridge with poetry magnets... nifty no?!

I then made small tags to write my greetings on. It was the first time I ever sewed on paper and it was so much fun!! I'll be doing that again, I'm sure!

The fabric I used is from Ikea. I love a bit of Ikea-fabric once in a while.
And I love something else I got from Ikea too!

And I didn't even have to pay for it!
Thank you, nice people! I suppose I'll be making an I-pod cover really soon :)

*Ok, I think I need to explain here that this was my Christmaspresent from Ikea, because I work there! Hope you didn't all raid your Ikea looking for a free Ipod :))*

Poppe's double smile

2006-12-15T13:56:00.000+01:00

Last week or so I started a new Poppe using the fabrics I bought in Oxford (yes, those again and I still have plenty more :)).

I loved the colour-combo and it turned out really nice... except for the doll's face. The thing was that I didn't notice the weird face until I put the whole doll together... bummer!

So I left it for a while, like you do, and hoped the face would magically normalise, like you do. However, the face remained unchanged.

So this morning I thought I'd give it another try. I embroidered a new face on a piece of felt (new stock from my parents, thank you Mum and Dad) and sewed the new face on top of the old one. And it worked! I'm finally happy with the way it turned out.

Added bonus: this poppe will always have an extra smile :)

Hope it will make Ava smile too, because this was made for her.

Ready for Christmas

2006-12-13T23:47:00.000+01:00

Our tree was bought and decorated as planned yesterday... Christmas may come now!!
I love how a christmas tree gives your house an instant extra cozy glow.

We put in all decorations that we collected over the years, a wonderful mix of handmade, storebought and given things.

New to our home is this nativity set by Dick Bruna. None of us are religious, but we all (and by that I probably mean everyone in Holland) love the Dick Bruna design, which for us justifies having baby Jesus in the house :)

Here is a photo of Simon reading his book this morning. We had to move the furniture around a bit to make room for the tree, which is why this sofa is now at the other side of the room. I really like it this way; it's nice to have a change now and then!

These are last years' stars that I used in a different way now.
All I have to do now is start making Christmas presents!

Crafting with Amber

2006-12-12T15:07:00.000+01:00

Amber and I have done quite a bit of crafting lately.

Our latest project was this string of lampshades for her room. She got the box with all the material from Sinterklaas, all we had to do was put it all together and embellish it the way we liked.

They're now finished and I think they turned out pretty cute. I would like to put them around her mirror.

Another thing we made the other day was a calendar for December.

Amber loves to countdown the days when there is a special occassion coming up (e.g. her birthday or a holiday). Usually we just use a sheet of paper on which she draws and I write the days in squares, so she can easily cross them off. This December, however, is so packed with special days that we decided to do it a little fancier (just a little!).

Basically I just covered a big piece of cardboard with red fabric while she cut small bits of blue paper on which I wrote the date. We placed these on the board with colourful thumbtacks and after a bit of golden ribbon was added we were finished. So simple, but lots of fun to make. Now Amber enjoys crossing off each day and it's easy for her to see what exciting things are happening in the near future (Sinterklaas, Christmas, staying over at the omas, Laura coming to Holland etc).

Tonight we're going to buy and put up our Christmastree... we're all looking forward to it! Ofcourse, these will also find a pretty spot in the tree.

Sick babies

2006-12-11T17:23:00.000+01:00

Like last year... poor little 'uns.

But we're not the only ones feeling poorly... good luck all you mamas and babies!

Meanwhile, I finally switched to Beta Blogger. What do you think; a bit too bright (you all know I like it colourful :))? It's very user friendly though. I think I'm happy with it; I just need to change the banner a bit.

Ok, caring required... bye everyone!

Successful thrifting

2006-12-07T11:50:00.000+01:00

Yesterday Michel and I had a day off together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, I know, we could hardly believe it ourselves!
Whilst Amber was at school we went to the thriftstore in a town near ours. I think that many people in blogland would have gone wild in there!
We restrained ourselves since we've been on a mission lately of getting LESS junk in the house instead of MORE.
That said, there were some things that were just too good to leave behind.
Such a this gorgeous tin. Michel found it, we both love it.

Look at those leaves.

And what to say of these buttons... they were 1 cent each!! Do you think I was crazy just buying 50?! I'm afraid I was.

I also bought four great purple napkins. I hardly ever use purple in my sewing, but I'm sure I can think of a project for these.

And four Portuguese placemats; I've always loved that rooster. These will be used for sewing too. Perhaps I can use this fabric to make new placemats.

Michel bought some books ofcourse.
Oh, I almost forgot this tablecloth... isn't it pretty with the little acorns on it?!
Simon is here pointing out that there's a road on it that he can use for his cars.

We even managed to have coffee and cake before we had to pick up Amber. It was weird being in a restaurant without her and we definitely missed her. On the other hand it was lovely to spend some alone-time with Simon... he is such a sweet funny little man!

All in all a very good day.

Goodbye Sinterklaas!

2006-12-06T15:53:00.000+01:00

Thank you for all the lovely presents, Sinterklaas! Have a safe trip back to Spain!!

Read more about this traditional Dutch feast here & see some more photos of yesterday's fun here.

*Is there something wrong with Bloglines? I know others had problems before and then I was fine, but now my blog is not showing up?!*

Bloggaversary & bibs

2006-12-04T10:38:00.000+01:00

Today it's exactly one year ago that I wrote my first post on this blog.
I created this blog as an experiment. I wanted to see how it worked, because I wanted to 'give' my sister-in-law a blog before she went back to Australia. She now posts about once month and it's a good way to get an idea of her life down south.
Well anyway, once I had created this blog it turned out that I really enjoyed it myself and I've been writing ever since. Even though I had a bit of a blogbreak this summer, this is my 126th post, which comes to an average of posting every three days... not bad, I think :))
Blogging for me is: fun, creativity, discipline, connection, inspiration... it's been a great enrichment to my life.
To commemorate this milestone I'm going to send some LONG (very long!!!) overdue packages to these three girls. I'm so ashamed, but hopefully they'll arrive in time for Christmas!

So onto the bibs you see above. I bought a package of plain Ikea bibs the other day and spiced them up a bit yesterday... what a lovely way to spend a sunday afternoon!
Eventhough Simon is two he still needs to wear bibs when he eats his porridge and dinner; he even asks for them himself.

Fabric also used here.

Fabric bought in Oxford.

Star made out of a small logcabin.

Amy gave me this fabric. Simon particularly loves this one.

Ikea fabric.

Simon is two! (thrifted fabric)

Have a good day all!

Pompon fun

2006-12-01T15:19:00.000+01:00

I bought a bag of pompons this morning at Hema and put together a Christmas wreath just now. Amber is away playing with a friend... how selfish of me to do this without her!! Well, a good excuse to make another soon :)
This was so much fun and so quick and easy!

First there was the wreath (which I found in the attic, someone gave it to me years ago and I never used it... see, how hoarding can be useful ;))

Then I pinned some pink fabric onto it (one of my old t-shirts ... another bit of proof that you should never throw anything away)

Along came the bag of pompons. Of course, I'd been a better crafty girl if I'd made the pompons
myself, but this is undeniably faster.

I pinned lots of pompons onto the wreath, but kept some small ones to make a pompon-string.

And finished!

Add more stuff if you like. I used the decorations that Amber and I made, but the possibilities are endless :))

Fabric that inspires

2006-11-27T16:14:00.000+01:00

About six months ago a did a swap with Hippyxic.
She was very generous giving me all kinds of lovely goodies and fabric. There was one fabric in particular that I liked and that has since inspired me to make three things with it.

First a holder for Simon's babywipes... it really does make cleaning yukky babybottoms a little less yukky :)

Then I made this bookcover for Michel.

And a couple of days ago I made this cushion. I really like it and it looks very good with the others.

The good thing is that I still have some fabric left!

Getting ready for winter

2006-11-23T21:58:00.000+01:00

Another very wet & windy day and I start to get a strong urge to get the house winter-proof.
Yesterday I was able to cross something off my list, namely a cosy blanket that keeps out the evening chill on the sofa. Here it is:

I used a cheap Ikea-fleece and made a random brick-like patchwork. The back is a lovely flannel that I bought at the market a couple of weeks ago.

Michel and I have tested the blanket last night and yes it is warm and snuggly and, most importantly, big enough for both of us!
Here you see it in action:

If you'd like to see other Blenkies I've made, look here.
I'd better go and get snuggly on the sofa :))

On a dark rainy day...

2006-11-20T20:18:00.000+01:00

... make an apron for your washing-up liquid!
It's bound to bring a smile to anyone's face that walks into the kitchen :))

AND it makes washing up just a little less awful!

Inspired by (stolen from): Samantha and others.

Oh by the way, someone asked for my chocolate mousse recipe... it's really too easy to even be called a recipe!
All you need is 375 ml of cream, which you whip with 2,5 tabelespoons of sugar until it has the right thickness. At the same time you melt 200 gr. of dark chocolate au bain marie. Then you mix it all together and divide into glasses. Leave it in the fridge for at least 2 hours and you have a yummy desert!!

Sewing partner

2006-11-18T15:55:00.000+01:00

I've found myself a crafting companion:

Be still my proud motherheart!
Amber has been showing interest in sewing for quite some time now, but I just never found the time to sit down with her and show her how to do it (yes, terrible, I know). Until we were on holiday in Germany, where we had plenty of quiet moments together.
I was amazed at how quickly she picked up the stitches. She could blanketstitch after just having shown her once! The only problem is that after a little while she gives up and I have to finish the rest. However, for now I'm just happy that she shows any interest at all and that she learns some basics.

We made these decorations yesterday. She cut out all the rounds and she sewed a bit. Right now we are making stars.

My plan is to put together a little sewing basket for her for Christmas. I just wonder what to put in it, because it needs to be safe for a 5-year-old. But e.g. blunt needles don't sew as well as sharp ones... any tips on that?!
Well, better get back to those stars before we start making the dough for the pizza... this a GOOD saturday :))

Just some things I love

2006-11-16T10:35:00.000+01:00

The most beautiful double rainbow that I've ever seen (on our anniversary no less)

My chocolate mousse (and so easy to make)

Amber happily modelling her new dress

Our first piece of real art (but that deserves a post all to itself)

Have a good day all!

Superfast craft fun

2006-11-14T20:37:00.000+01:00

What I crafted today I recommend to anyone who's in need of a quick craft project. You know when you're sometimes really busy and you really have no time or energy to start some serious sewing, but that little nagging voice keeps telling you to be creative.... well, go make a noticeboard (or two)!

I don't really know where I got the idea from. I saw that Samantha had made one, but probably others make them too. It is super easy though. All you need is two cheap canvases, a bit of fabric and some ribbon... it's finished in no time and satisfaction is garanteed.

How do you like my ribbon? Fancy, isn't it? A little Burberry even :)
I'm going to use these boards for Christmascards. I bought mine already at Ikea, I thought they were quite lovely.
Why I don't make my own Christmascards? Because that'll take me a lot longer than whipping up a noticeboard and I don't want to add to the holiday stress ;)

Beauty & the beast

2006-11-13T23:25:00.000+01:00

This horrendous creature is my husband on his 30th birthday (yesterday). Welcome to the club, darling!!
I believe they say that men grow more handsome as they get older... let's hope so!!

Six years

2006-11-09T15:37:00.000+01:00

Today is our sixth wedding anniversary.
Yesterday evening we were thinking back to that beautiful day, and we still agreed that it was perfect. Our wedding was exactly how we wanted it and completely in our style.

After 6 years of marriage (2 children, 2 moves, 1 graduation, 3 new jobs) I feel blessed that I'm sharing my life with a fantastically amazing man who supports me through thick and thin. I hope we'll have many more years together.

Lunch 6 years ago (yum)

Lunch today (yum)

Party pillow

2006-11-01T11:08:00.000+01:00

Today our little cousin/niece Sarah is one year old!
Happy birthday!

Unfortunately I won't be able to attend the party today, because I have to work, but I will add to the heap of presents with this cushion I made.

Green and blue are the colours in her room, so that's what I used.
I bought the fabric from the back for a summerdress for Amber about two years ago. Shame on me for not having made a dress yet... there is enough fabric left for the dress, so next spring I'm definitely going to make one :)

I hope Sarah likes the cushion (doesn't a one-year-old like anything that's wrapped in pretty paper?!) and that she'll have a great birthday today!

Peace bringing angels

2006-10-30T22:47:00.000+01:00

Hello folks, I'm back!

We enjoyed a lovely quiet holiday in Germany.
We did exactly what we wanted to do and so we relaxed like there was no tomorrow. And I'm so happy to say that it all did us worlds of good. Michel and I were both feeling exhausted and unwell when we left and the children both had an awful cough. But after some much needed sleep, our health improved and our heads cleared. I really feel energized enough now to face the busy times that lay ahead of us.

Anyway, I'll write some more about our holiday soon. I just want to show you the crafting that I've been able to do. At the last minute I had packed some felt and embroidery thread not knowing what I was going to do with it. However right on the first day I knew I wanted to make Christmas decorations, so that's what I did.

I made 12 Poppe-angels that will probably go in the Christmas tree when it's time for that (seems such a long time from now!).
They were so much fun to make and I really enjoyed the freestyle- embroidery I did. I really don't know how to embroider at all :)

I want to keep these little dolls as remainders of my peaceful time on holiday. Hopefully I'll be able to recapture that relaxed feeling even when things start to become more stressful around here.
And just to proof they really are angels (or half-angel/half-fairy as Amber states)... they have wings!

Oh to be a Pampers' baby and lie around all day!

2006-10-18T10:22:00.000+02:00

Sorry for the unexpected mini-blog breaks I'm taking lately. I'm not happy about it, but 'normal' life keeps getting in the way of my blogging and crafting.
I'm on my way to work again right now, but in three days time we're going on holiday!!
We all so need this break... we're going to relax as hard as this Pampers' baby!!
I'll try to post before we leave. Hope you're all well!

*edit* I didn't manage a new post. We're off to Germany tomorrow; hope to be back next week, rested and full of new energy!!

Yet another milestone!

2006-10-14T16:03:00.000+02:00

Some weeks we have so many milestones to celebrate that it overwhelms me a bit. The children seem to be particularly clever/witty/grown-up/sweet etc. lately!

This Thursday Amber went to her first swimminglesson, something that she'd been looking forward to very much. This is her and her friend before the lesson with the fish they just picked out (pink naturally). This 'rainbow-fish' will be gradually filled with coloured scales as they'll be preparing themselves for their diplomas.

The lesson started off swimmingly (sorry).

The girls dived right in with the other children, but after about 30 minutes Amber suddenly started to cry saying that she didn't like it and didn't want to do it anymore. Oh dear! I'm still not quite sure what was wrong, but I suspect it's the teacher who has quite a loud voice and an American accent. Even when she's giving out compliments, she sounds as if she's angry. Nevertheless, I managed to calm her down and the rest of the lesson went fine.

Here is Amber showing off the fish with their first well-earned scales while Simon is playing hide-and-seek in the lockers:

It was disgustingly hot inside the pool while we were watching the lesson. Poor Simon had to be still and quiet while we were there. At one point he got so bored that I caught him chewing Amber's fish... he actually took little bites of foam!! We distracted him with a chocolate-drink before he was able to eat the whole fish :))

Time-out

2006-10-10T21:29:00.000+02:00

I can't believe a week has passed without blogging. Life seems to be racing by at the moment and I'm running to keep up. More on that some other time, or not... perhaps if I just ignore it it will go away.
(Nothing serious going on by the way, just T.O.O. much!)

Nevertheless, today was a good, relaxing day. I decided to leave the household-mess for another day and spend some much needed quality-time with the children.
Nothing too exciting, but very valuable: shopping with Simon, some time spent in the garden, and in the afternoon we went mushroom-searching in the forest. I'll show photos of that soon.

Simon had a great time picking all the remaing tomatoes of the plants in our garden (he was allowed :)) and Amber and I arranged them nicely and took photos. The result is lovely, don't you think?

Take care everyone!

PS My first package arrived, yay!

The rounds

2006-10-03T20:16:00.000+02:00

Do you have a strict routine surfing the internet too?!

Bloglines is my starting page and after scanning that quickly I then open my e-mail.
I have three different accounts for different purposes. I *heart* getting mail; unfortunately I've also been receiving lots and lots of spam recently.

Then I go to Flickr. There is always so much to do there!! First I read the new comments. Then I check my views, the new photos of my contacts and my groups.
By the way I just started two new Flickr-groups: Placemats and Tissueholders. Come and have a look and join if you like :)

Whilst checking e-mail and Flickr I'm also reading the new posts of my favourite blogs and leave comments as much as I can.

These are the three most important things I do on the internet. But ofcourse there are many other places that I like to visit, such as here (for the latest news and weather), and here (for the best laughs), and here, and here.

A website that I also really love is Craftygirls. If you're interested in Dutch crafty life then this is the place to be. Here you find crafty projects, links to crafty people/shops and ofcourse there's the forum where I like to hang out :)
There is also a monthly goodiebag for sale with promotional mini-items. The next will be up for sale tomorrow 20.30h and I've donated some goodies too this month!

All this checking on blogs and websites keeps me content and occupied for a long time. Sometimes so long that Michel gets irritated and asks me: What on earth are you doing all the time?! To which I always answer: Oh, just doing the rounds!
So I'm just going to do a quick last round and then I go downstairs to my lovely hubbie who waits for me with tea and chocolate!

Just a photo of some fun we had today. Is Amber wearing her pyjamas in the middle of the day?! Well, yes she is! I tried to have her take a nap, because she's been quite tired these last days, but ofcourse she wouldn't sleep!

Fingerfood

2006-09-27T20:00:00.000+02:00

Last night I finished the last of these six tissue holders.
I love them... they're so quick, easy and fun to make!
And these turned out even better than the ones I made before.

All those happy fabrics and ribbons are really my thing. I really enjoy photographing them too, so I made a new set for them :))

We had a great time at the weekend. We went away with friends to a cottage.
The weather was still beautiful and we did lots of fun things like this:

and this:

Oh, and the lovely Miss Woolly did a little feature on me on her blog... check it out!!

*edit* I just saw this tutorial on Whipup; if you'd like to make your own tissue holders but don't know where to start!

Tidies

2006-09-22T14:25:00.000+02:00

The last couple of days I've been busy working on the presents I promised in my 100th post.
I've finished 4 tidies (wall pockets).
They are made of green Italian placemats and I wished I had another one, because I need one more tidie for one of the girls. I'm just going to have to come up with something else!

I really enjoyed making these... picking out fabrics for patchwork projects is so much fun!!

Hopefully the girls like them (also the 5th one that I' m going to make). This weekend I won't be able to do anything because we're going away for a two day break, but it's my true intention to send out all five tidies by the end of the week. And at the same time I will be sending out some very long overdue packages to these girls! *blush*
Yes, that's my good intention for next week!!

I just saw this on Whip up; apparently other people enjoy making them too :))

Have a good weekend all!

Quite pleased...

2006-09-19T21:47:00.000+02:00

...with my first proper attempt at making a bag:

It's not bad, is it?!

The only baglike thing I've tried before were two big shoppers. One for myself (I use it daily) and one for my sister-in-law. This one:

I made the pattern of this bag up and I'm rather happy with it. For a future bag I would try to do it a little different, but not much :)
While I was sewing I noticed that the fabric was in fact quite beautiful (it was thrifted... ooh I'm proud of myself!).

Amber ordered (demanded) two bags for herself, so I suppose those will be next on my to do-list!

Oh, and I received my order of postcards last week. They were supposed to be "free", but I had to pay almost 25 euros for them. Still, now I have 100!

*Blogger is being a pain, so I'll add the other photos later!*
Edit: Blogger is in a good mood today (almost weekend), so I've added some more photos!

Garden update

2006-09-18T22:51:00.000+02:00

I thought it was time to show you some recent photos of our garden.
We've achieved quite a bit in the past year!

In February we laid the base.
Over the past couple of months we continued the work by removing bushes, weeds, tiles etc.
My mum is in charge of the planting and she's done a great job so far.

Michel and his father have spent quite some days paving the garden. Everything is now finished!!
Our terrace is ready; I'm so happy with this! It is so wonderful to sit outside at any time of the day, but I particularly love having dinner outside; it makes me feel as if I'm on holiday in my own house!
This is what it now looks like at the back (of course it's a bit bare and empty right now, but next year this will all be plants):

As a comparison this is what it looked like when we first moved in last year... quite a difference!

And this is at the front of the house:

I also made a small vegetable garden which consisted of carrots, strawberries, tomatoes and zucchini. The children (and I) have enjoyed watching everything grow. And picking your own tomatoes is a real thrill!!

Before this house we lived in an apartment on the first floor. Having a garden is still such a luxury to us; I want to hold on to that feeling forever! The fact that the children can safely play outside and just walk in and out at any given moment is fantastic... I'm just really happy with our house and garden:)))

Even the weeds are great... look!

Cushion extravaganza

2006-09-13T21:49:00.000+02:00

This weekend I finally finished the three cushions that I started oh so long ago!

I had some doubts about the colour-combos and wasn't sure whether they would turn out to my liking. Suddenly I realised what they needed though... a yellow border.
Now they are as bright and cheerful as I wanted them to be. And they make my shabby sofa not look so shabby anymore :))

For Simon's birthday I just had to make him a cushion as well. Why? Because I made one for Amber's birthday too, of course! Michel was a bit worried that I was going to make a girly cushion for him, but he can relax... this cushion is perfectly suitable for a boy, isn't it?!

I wanted to make an I spy cushion, because Simon is really starting to talk (a lot!) right now. He is literally learning new words and sentences everyday. He is able to identify all the images on the cushion... even if it is just broom-broom and clack-clack sometimes!

By the way, almost all the fabrics I used I received from Amy a couple of months ago, for which again I say thanks!

Until so far this cushion extravaganza, but since I LOVE making cushions, I'm sure there will be new ones in the future!

For other people's cushions see the Flickr-group.

And a good time was had by all

2006-09-11T21:55:00.000+02:00

(I love his little hands on this photo!!)

It was a glorious day yesterday.
The wheather was beautiful and warm.
We had lovely guests, who brought many gifts.

There was robotcake

And frog decoration

And most important of all... the birthday boy had a wonderful day!!

Some more photos here.

Happy birthday, sweet little monkey!!

2006-09-10T12:48:00.000+02:00

Small scale crafting

2006-09-07T23:00:00.000+02:00

The past couple of days I've managed to squeeze in quite a bit of crafting. Not much to show it for since I'm working on several projects at the same time, but it definitely feels good to pick up some of my old routines again.

Anyway, I've finally started making something that the whole crafting world has made months ago: tissue holders. I can't believe how incredibly quick and easy these things are!! Almost instant craft satisfaction. In fact, picking out the fabrics and ribbons is really the most work... but also the most fun :))

The first one I made was a wee bit too small:

The second one a little too large:

And the third one just right:

I love them all. And I love making them. So family and friends be aware... from now on every occasion is a tissue holder occasion!

And just a sneak peek of something I'm making for Simon's birthday.

Sentimental journey

2006-09-04T22:18:00.000+02:00

Everytime we go to Weesp (with almost always a stop at the ice-cream salon) we go on a sentimental journey.
At almost every buiding, shop, bridge etc. we stop and say:"Do you remember when...?" The place turns us into right geriatrics, but we just love it :)

We lived in Weesp from December 1998 to January 2001. It was our first little apartment together. It was tiny and our stuff hardly fitted in there (we've always been hoarders) but we loved it.
The view from our kitchenwindow was delightful: two windmills.

We spent two very happy years there. I studied in Amsterdam, Michel in Utrecht. Michel quit his studies and started a job, I began my dissertation. We got married. Then I was pregnant, and unfortunately that was the end of Weesp. There was NO WAY we could have fitted another human being in that little house, even if it were a baby. Luckily we were able to find a bigger apartment quickly.

Still, that little town along the river will always have a special place in our hearts. I hope we'll keep coming back there for a long time to come! And of course bore the children with all our sentimental talk :))

Click on the photos to see the descriptions and notes!

================

*The result of the big hat drawing... Mijk & LittleSnoring will also receive a surprise from me!*

Grand dessert

2006-09-03T22:59:00.000+02:00

First of all let me say thank you for the warm welcome-back you all gave me! Now I'm really in the mood for blogging again :)))
I'm going to draw the other two names for the presents tomorrow, so if you want to be included in the drawing then tell me!

Today I fancied going to my favourite ice-cream salon. Luckily for me it wasn't difficult to persuade the rest of the family to go.

We all enjoyed our ice-creams and finished every last bit of it!!

Some more photos here.

How long does it take to write your 100th post?!

2006-09-01T13:43:00.000+02:00

Hello friends, remember me?!

Isn't this lovely mild 1st of September a wonderful day to start blogging again?!
First, a thousand apologies for going on a blog-break without saying so!!!

When Amber's summerholiday began and my days at work continued to increase, there simply wasn't time to blog (or sew, or read or do anything that wasn't connected to the children, housekeeping and work). I wanted to let you all know that I wouldn't be around for a while, but at the same time I didn't want to spend my 100th post (this one) writing that!
Especially since I wanted to hand out somes pressies, but knew I didn't have time to make anything.
So that's why it's been so quiet here for the past seven weeks or so... but I can't wait to get started again :)))

So presents!!
I've decided to make something for these lovely girls, since they so very kindly enquired after my well-being and said they missed my blogging... that made me feel so good and it gave me the extra motivation to start blogging again. So Hannah, Krista and Claudia, I will send you an e-mail for your addresses!

Also I'm going to make something for two other people that stop by to say hello. That's going to be a real test; I wonder whether anyone still checks this blog!

Well, it feels good to be back and I 'm really looking forward to catch up on everything thing!

By the way, these were the Poppes I finally managed to send to Seattle for Plush You II (that took me a looooong time too!).

In and around the house

2006-07-10T14:03:00.000+02:00

We've been enjoying the lovely weather here. Did you know we had a heatwave last week?! Pfff, it was hot!! Now it's a little less warm... a lovely summer day.

Friday was Amber's last day at school. She made drawings for both her teachers and she picked sweet peas from our own garden :) Her teachers certainly deserved it since they gave her a very warm welcome and contributed to a wonderful first year at school.

Michel has also been busy in the garden. We now have a fence!!

The garden is slowly starting to look the way we want it to look (still a looooong way to go, but one thing at a time...).
And our two ugly pigeon babies flew the nest...

Then there were some definite milestones concerning the children.
Amber learned how to cycle all by herself! Here she is on her small bike, but her new bigger bike is all ready for her at grandma's.

And Simon first went to the toilet and did something! (a nr. 2, only a mother can say this with pride, I suppose :)))

Yes, big things are happening here!

Me, I've picked up crafting again, although there still isn't a lot of time to do it.
Yesterday I finished a log cabin cushion that I was asked to make to match this kissbee:

I'm happy with the result; I think it looks calm and bright at the same time :)

One week later...

2006-07-04T16:35:00.000+02:00

... and they are finally completely finished!!
Krimpy dinky pins included as well, yay!

I've found out that the krimpy dinky pins need to be baked for just one minute or so; that way they stay nice and white and don't get brownish around the edges.

All three pincushions are the same; I only changed the colours around as you can see here:

Well, I'm glad they're finished and I hope they'll make the three women they're destined for very happy.

Next project, please!!

Double WIP

2006-06-27T17:56:00.000+02:00

Crafting is slow these days.
I don't have a lot of spare time at the moment and when I do I'll sooner find myself on the sofa with a magazine than behind the sewing machine. However, I keep making progress even if it's on a snail's pace, which is why I'm able to show you not one, but two WIPs! Yay!

First up are three (commissioned!) pincushions. They are the same, just different colours. I'm making them for someone who's going to give them as presents to three women in Bosnia. Hooray, my pincushions are going to Bosnia!! (Or was it Serbia?! Well, I don't mind either way, although they might...)

Second are three log cabin cushion I'm working on. They are meant to go on the sofa (there where I like to spend my time these days...), because I'm a little tired of the cushions that I have on there now. Again they are made with fabrics from my stash. I'd like to see what they will look look like when they're finished, because right now I don't think they look as good as the cushion I made for Amber's birthday.

After I've finished these I really have to start working on my three things for Plush You!

Matching cushion

2006-06-18T09:53:00.000+02:00

I realised I hadn't posted photos yet of the cushion I made for Amber's birthday.
I used the same fabrics for the doll and cushion, all from my stash and chosen because they were cute and girly.

Some fabrics are quite special, such as the yellow check which is the fabric I chose before Amber's birth to line the crib and make a baby quilt... ok, I mean: have my mother line the crib and have her make a baby quilt (a beautiful one btw, I'll post photos some day)!

Amber's bedroom still needs quite a bit of decorating and I would like to bring some of the colours of this cushion into the room. All the woodwork is already painted PINK, since that's her favourite colour (along with yellow, purple, lightblue, red etc. she just assured me). It needs some other colours beside pink though and personally I'm really fond of the green.

Right now I'm making two similar cushions for the livingroom. They're such fun to make!!

8 days a week

2006-06-15T22:42:00.000+02:00

Shame on me... 8 days without blogging!!
I'm so behind with everything... reading blogs, commenting, replying to e-mail. But also: housekeeping, paying bills, cooking proper meals, spending time with the children. I suppose this is what it's like when you work full-time :)
I'm not complaining though, I know this is only temporarily and I'm still very happy about the new job.

Anyway, back to bussiness! Let me introduce to you Pandior, the beautiful BT3-softie that came in the mail last week all the way from Australia.

Isn't she gorgeous?! The detail is stunning, which is especially clever when you know that it really is a very small softie. She arrived carrying her own handbag with a tiny bunny in it... so very cute!

There were also lovely presents for me (I believe I'm now the proud owner of three wonderful pieces of Japanese fabric, yay!).

And even some for the kids. This was particularly sweet, since the package arrived on Amber's birthday. Again, look at the detail... it's absolutely stunning!

Thank you so very much for this wonderful package, Amber!! I'm so happy to have had you as my BT-partner :)) And I know you're bit worried about your little Pandior... but I can assure you that she's already feeling quite at home in her new country. Here she is cheering on the Dutch team in the football World Cup!

My own BT-package is still in the mail, but hopefully Jack will arrive very soon at his new home!

5 years old

2006-06-07T18:33:00.000+02:00

Our sweet little daughter is five years old today!!!
Happy happy birthday, Amber!

So far the day's been great. We've been blessed with beautiful wheather, so all the festivities could take place outside.
Some highlights...

The pram for her doll we gave her was a big succes; Simon loved it almost more than she did :)

Of course we had cake.

She's had all her friends round and Michel threw a fantastic Indian party.

There were wigwams...

And they made a totem pole.

Now we're going to eat spinach-lasagne, because that's Amber's favourite!
Happy day, yay :)))

(Almost) party time!

2006-06-05T20:18:00.000+02:00

It's Amber's 5th birthday on Wednesday and party preparations are in full swing here.
I just finished this patchwork doll for her:

I'm sure she will like it, since it's nice and girly and even has a heart-shaped face. Besides, she always LOVES everything I make, so I'm not worried. She will also get a matching pillow, but that's still in the making (in other words, it needs to be finished tonight).

Last week Amber made this wonderful drawing of how she envisioned her birthday...

...which Michel made into invitations to her birthday party. They were a big hit among all the children at school, unfortunately we couldn't invite her whole class... (OMG I don't even want to picture it!) I think the 8 children that will come are more than enough!!

Tomorrow she will give treats at school, because they have the day off on Wednesday. We're making cake-ships which we tried out today. They turned out very nice. Simon was was VERY displeased that he had to wait 30 seconds while I was making a photo before he could have a taste.

I've had my first two days at my new job and it's been really great. A lot of information to soak up, but very interesting and fun. Tomorrow I'm going in again.
Better finish that pillow before it gets really late again!

Presenting... Jack the BT-bunny

2006-05-30T21:16:00.000+02:00

Meet Jack, a Dutch bunny that wants to go on an adventure. In fact, he is about to try his luck in America.

He's looking a little serious, because although he's acting really brave, he's quite anxious of the long flight that's ahead of him.

After the necessary photoshoot this afternoon he went outside and said goodbye to his homeland. This is him overseeing his land (the garden):

Well, I stuck to all the BT-rules: Jack is black & white with yellow as the additional colour, he has 5 buttons and bears the initial of the recipient (Michelle).

I really enjoyed thinking out how to incorporate all the rules into my softie. I liked making it very much. Tomorrow Jack will be on its way to his new home in America, where I'm sure he will receive a warm welcome!

And yes fellow Lost-lovers, when naming him I did have someone in mind... just look at his eyes, the resemblance is uncanny :)))

(Even more photos here)

Long time no talk

2006-05-27T12:53:00.000+02:00

Lots of pictures to show, although unfortunately of poor quality. After the beautiful wheather we had a while back this week it has been like autumn outside. Lots of rain, wind and cold. The heating is on again!
It's been a busy week, but full of nice things.

I started working on my BackTack softie since the package is supposed to be in America before the 10th of June. I hope to be sending it on Monday.
The colour I chose to go with the black and white is yellow and I'm happy with the result so far.

I'm working on a cushion and doll for Amber's birthday, too. Also planning her party, thinking about the dress I want to make and all the other things that need organising for a birthday.

---

I had some lovely mail this week.
My sister- & brother-in-law gave me a year's subscription to a knitting magazine for my birthday and this week the first issue arrived.

It has some wonderful things in it, like this cute doll.

And I love this teacosy:

And would really like to crochet a cushion like this:

First I have to learn how to knit though! But with my Stitch 'n Bitch by my side that shouldn't be a problem...

This morning I had another fantastic package but I think I'll save that for the next post... I don't want to bore you with too many photos!

---

I signed my contract on Tuesday, so it's official now :))
I have an introduction-day on Friday and my first proper day of work is on Saturday. I'm going to be trained in Breda which is in the south of The Netherlands. It's going to be a busy time, but I'm still really happy about everything that's happening.

Amber is staying with oma at the moment, since she is off school (again!). I really think that Simon is missing her, so yesterday they had an essential brother-sister chat. Aaaaawww....

Well, back to the sewing machine before Simon wakes up!

Magazine holder

2006-05-19T20:40:00.000+02:00

Colour is this week's theme for Whiplash.
It is the last week of the competition and it feels a bit funny to post my first entry only now.
This, however, is not because I haven't been interested before, but somehow I haven't managed to finish anything in time (for the chic to classic theme I came close -made embroidered letters and all-, but still was unable to finish it).
Anyway, I made a magazine-holder today where you can tuck away all those magazines that are littering your house (well, my house in any case). Doesn't this look a lot nicer on the coffee-table?!

It is colourful, which is just the way I like it. My house is full of orange, yellow and green. In the upstairs hallway we have six doors which we painted yellow, orange, pink, green and aqua-blue. I'll try to take a photo soon! Colours simply make me happy and personally I think you can never have enough of them :)

The holder is made of a pretty Italian placemat that was given to me a couple of months ago, some ribbon and a piece of Designer's Guild fabric with a cut-out mermaid on it.
This holder will be on its way to a mermaid-lover soon!

PS Thank you all for your kind comments about my new job! Some of you wondered what sort of job it is, which I will gladly tell you per e-mail. I don't know if you think I'm a bit paranoid, but I'd rather not have that kind of information on here :))

HAPPY!

2006-05-18T17:44:00.000+02:00

I got the job!! I'm so happy :))))

I already called my current job to say that I'm leaving; in June I'll be working two jobs, but I don't mind that at all.
I'm going to sign my contract on Tuesday and then the week after that I have two days of courses and the week after as well. I'm so looking forward to it!!!

HAPPY!

What's wrong with you?!

2006-05-17T20:44:00.000+02:00

Look at this creature...

Something is not right!

Eeeeh, it's a bunny without ears!!

And a very strange pointy head too!!

As you can see I made a Wee Bunny. I think this is the pattern I want to use for my BackTack softie (I have to get a move on with that!). It's nice and simple, which I think will go well with the patchwork I want to make.
I didn't forget the ears and they weren't bitten off by a fox or something, but I didn't really like them, so I thought I'd just see how it would look without the ears. A bit bald...
What do you call a bunny that has no ears and therefore isn't really a bunny?!
Another thing I wondered was whether it's head is supposed to look so pointy at the back?!
Here you can see a lot more Wee Bunnies.

About the job interview... it went very well!!
It was a nice and friendly talk in a relaxed atmosphere. We talked much longer than we were supposed to, but we just had so much to talk about.
The only thing that I found difficult was summing up some of my strong and weak points; that's so hard to say about yourself! But all in all a very positive experience and if I don't get the job then it will be because of the flexible hours they want me to work (which is hard for me because of the children) and not because I made a bad impression.
So fingers crossed... I think I'm going to hear something soon. If I get the job then they would like me to start the 1st of June!!

Wish me luck...

2006-05-16T21:10:00.000+02:00

I have a job interview tomorrow!

(I never write about my work and I think that it's best that way. You never know who might be reading this and how things could be interpreted. This said, I'm almost completely sure that none of my collegues will read this. In fact I believe that only one of them owns a computer.)

I'm nervous, but not freaked out (good thing). I really want this job, but my life doesn't depend on it. I do need the change of environment though and I think this would be so much fun. I'm afraid the only thing that might be problematic is the kind of hours they want me to work... I hope we'll be able to find a solution for that.

I have very little experience applying for jobs and usually with these kinds of things the nerves get the better of me and I start to stammer and forget how to act normal. I hope I'm ok tomorrow. The lady on the phone sounded nice and I think the atmosphere will be informal.

Of course I had nothing to wear (I don't allow myself to buy new clothes until I loose weight...), so I had to buy something today. Fortunately the kids were angelic (yes, I had to feed them cookies and ice-cream ;)) and I actually managed to find something that I liked. Here a photo of the blouse:

I know you can't see anything :))))

And two photos of my little angels.
Amber had a playdate with two friends today and couldn't decide whether she was a princess, fairy or angel. Why not all at the same time?!

And Simon enjoying our first ever bbq in our OWN garden this weekend. It was delicious and wonderful!

PS Does your Flickr look funny too? I suppose they've changed it.

Krimpy dinky shrinky winky

2006-05-11T21:22:00.000+02:00

Thanks everyone for all the good advice on my RSI!
I suppose the most sensible thing to do is go to the doctor, so I will do that... soon!

Just a quick post tonight to show you the krimpy dinky (or whatever they are called, I keep forgetting) pins I made yesterday. Michel is waiting impatiently downstairs with a new episode of Lost... we're at a really scary part!

So this is how my pins turned out. It was fun to do, but they aren't perfect. I don't really like the fact that the paper turned white, clear would have been nicer. And the black marker faded into yellow in the oven; I don't know why this happened. Also some of the bits look a bit overcooked :)
I need some markers in other colours too.
But all in all a fun quick thing to do.

Oh, and of course these new pins also needed a new pincushion, which I whipped up from the fabric I bought for BT3. The basis of the pincushion is made of a bottlecap, which seems to be the latest trend in pincushion land (I didn't use a tutorial but I saw a very good one on Flickr)!

Something I really don't want to talk about...

2006-05-10T14:50:00.000+02:00

...but I'm going to admit that I think I'm starting to develop RSI.
I noticed it about two weeks ago. Pain in my wrist and arm and a numb feeling up to my shoulder. Of course I ignored it, what else I'm I supposed to do!
I took it easy on the the computer and then even easier, but the pain didn't go away. Finally I admitted it to Michel who told me to be very careful and not let this get out of hand.
However, what does this mean? Can I not use the computer at all anymore (please not that...) or should I just cut down on computertime? Will this pain (which also bothers me in other activities now) go away again and can I do something about it? Should I go to the doctor?
Even though I'm pretending that nothing's wrong, I am slightly worried...
Can anyone help me with this?

Well, after this bit of depressing talk a nice photo of a lovely package I received last week. It was actually a very special package because I'd won it!! Amy celebrated her 100th post on her blog by giving away a few presents and one of them was mine, yay!

I was so amazed when I saw what she put in it. A whole pile of wonderful fabrics which I'm going to make into concentration cards plus some goodies. Thank you so much for your generosity, Amy!!

And do you know what I'm about to do now? THIS!
I promise I'll show photos no matter how they turn out...

Ok, just one more photo of one of the beautiful things that just grow in our garden... aren't we lucky?!

*going to give my poor arm some rest now*

Horsies

2006-05-08T15:11:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we went to see friends who live quite far from us (in Dutch terms...). They are going to move houses soon and that's why I made them a present. I'm always admiring other people's shadowbox collages and until recently it never occurred to me that I could make something like that myself. However, the other day at Ikea I bought two shadowboxes and decided I would give it a try.
So this is my first attempt at making a paper collage; it represents their old (left) and new home (right).

The photos aren't brilliant, so here's a close-up of both houses.

I'm happy about the way they turned out. I even think that they show my style: happy and colourful. I would like to make some more in the future!

Anyway, we spent a fantastic day together here. Amber had been looking forward to riding a pony since we made this appointment four weeks ago. She was so excited that she could hardly sleep. We had our very own pony for the day which we took everywhere with us, also to the cottage we were allowed to use for the day (our friends arranged all of this).

First Amber and Simon rode the pony a bit and then Mich and I both rode a horse for the very first time in our lives! It felt so much more relaxed and natural than I thought it would be!

In the afternoon there was a dress-up-you-pony-contest, where Amber and her pony came in fourth! She was so proud.

After a bbq and some more playing we went home. Very tired and very dirty, but very happy.

Perfect day

2006-05-04T20:48:00.000+02:00

Tuesday was a great mix of sunshine, shopping, food and just walking around without having to worry about anyone but myself.

The main reason why I wanted to go to Alkmaar was this shop:

Although of course the town itself has a lot more to offer than just Oilily.

Look at this fantastic shop we passed...

But yes, I had a good look around Oilily; both the normal shop and the outlet store. And came away with quite a lot. Of inspiration.... Because there is just no way that I could afford shopping there for the children and quite frankly I think a lot of stuff is overpriced (although the materials used are undoubtedly high quality).

Nevertheless, I did buy something (and it's May, so I'm allowed!!) :))

A shirt for Simon (chosen for the frogs... he LOVES frogs)

And a pair of trousers:

This great fabric:

And this pretty fabric, which will become a birthday dress for Amber.

After all the walking around we had a picnic at the beach. It was a wonderful day.
Yesterday we picked up the kids again and now everything is back to normal. The wheather is spectacular, so we are soaking up every bit of sun we can. We need it so much after this looooong winter!

Childfree

2006-05-01T16:42:00.000+02:00

The children are staying with grandma and Michel took two days of work... bliss!
Today the wheather is bad so we're using this day to sort out all the mess in the attic. Well, all the mess is impossible, but we've already achieved a lot. It might still look as messy as before, but now the piles are actually sorted!
Despite the crappy wheather we're going to get a yummy ice-cream after dinner and then watch Lost, which is our latest addiction.

Tomorrow the wheather is supposed to be very nice and I really would like to go to Alkmaar. It's a lovely town, but the best thing about it is this. I haven't been there for such a long time, so I would love to have a look around, especially at the fabrics.
After that I've planned a nice walk on the beach, but our plans might change completely tomorrow. Which is fine, because we have the whole day to ourselves!

The only not so good thing about today was the fact that our car broke down. It's in the garage right now and it's going to be really expensive to repair. It's money we don't actually have, but I really don't want to be without a car!!

The photos are of a doll I made on Friday. I made the patchwork first and then cut out the pattern for the doll. I'm quite happy with the result. I think I'm definitely going to use patchwork for my BackTack softie.

Oh and my new course started today! At last I'm going to be a good housewife :)))))

Koninginnedag/Queensday

2006-04-29T20:39:00.000+02:00

Today it's Queensday, which means that the whole country is one big orange party.
It's always such a great day, I love it!
What is so great about it is that it's a fun day for everyone. Games for the children, music and alcohol for the adults and freemarket for everyone.
The freemarket is the most wonderful thing. Anyone can sell anything on the street and it's absolutely the best day to go hunting for cheap secondhand stuff.

Unfortunately I had to work today, but I was allowed to start at 11 o'clock which still gave me some time to stroll the freemarket. We had great fun, even though it started to rain after about an hour.

Amber had two little flags painted on her face and was given some money that she could spend.

For Simon we found this big police car. He totally fell in love with it. I swear he growled if anyone came near it!

Also we bought this great big crocodile which came in very handy when it started to rain!

This was my modest find:

A very pretty sewing box stuffed with embroidery floss.
It was a happy day!

Confession

2006-04-27T14:11:00.000+02:00

I have a confession to make.
I think I broke the Use What You Have Rules... I bought some black & white-handkerchiefs yesterday that I want to use for my BackTack softie. I was actually getting a bit nervous about it, since I have NO black & white fabric in my stash whatsoever. So when I saw these lovely perfect hankies yesterday I just bought them... I didn't want to wait until next week. They might be sold out by then!!

So do you think I'm really out? Even if I promise not to use any of it until next week?! I was doing so well...

This pincushion for example is made completely out of materials that I already had.

I made it for one of Michel's sweet collegues who lent me her sewing machine when mine broke down a couple of days before the craft fair.

It was almost impossible to get a good photo of this. I tried different backgrounds, indirect/direct light, different angles, but the right colours just don't show and about 80% of the photos I took were fuzzy. Strange how that happens sometimes.

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I received a wonderful package from Molly yesterday. I swapped another doll with her (so both her girls have one now) and she sent me lovely ribbons that I can use for future dolls!! She also included a couple of her handmade buttons which are beautiful; thank you, Molly!

Edit: Is anyone reading my blog using Bloglines? I'm having trouble with it; I don't think my blog is coming through. Also other blogs that I like to read are not showing up on my bloglines (both blogpot and typepad). Is anyone else having similar problems or does anyone know how to fix this?! Thanks!

Tagged

2006-04-25T20:27:00.000+02:00

Leya (who makes fabulous things & also just celebrated her 30th birthday!) tagged me, so here goes...

Five minutes to yourself: how would you spend them, ideally?
Sitting in our brandnew garden in the sun with a newspaper, cup of tea and a piece of chocolate

Five bucks to spend right now; how would you spend it?
Fabric or ribbons (and I know a shop where I could actually buy quite something for that money!)

Five items in your house you could part with, right now, that you hadn't thought of already?
One of our sofas, the diningtable (+chairs), MANY books, all things old/dirty/broken in the attic that only lay there for sentimental reasons (that's more 500 than 5 items...)

Five items you absolutely, positively could never part with in your house?
Photos, some books, the pearls from my weddingday, the box full of old letters that I keep, my sewingmachine

Five words you love?
I have to think about this one... I'm sure there are words I love more than others, but right now I don't know

I'm tagging anyone who hasn't been but wants to be tagged :)

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Today was the first time in 2,5 weeks that I used my sewingmachine again. Such a long time without sewing!! I think I had to recover from my craft fair sewing overdose. I'm not sure what I'm making yet, it's just a bit of patchwork... I think it's going to be a new doll. I want to try something for my BackTack softie. Thankfully my sewingmachine works perfectly again after it's been to the crafty doctor.
I also made a pincushion today,whilst sitting outside in the sun watching the children get dirtier by the minute, but the photos didn't turn out so good. So I'll just show you a cushion I made a while ago.

Tea for ladies

2006-04-23T20:17:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I had high tea with three of my friends.
Posh tea for ladies... except that it was in the red light district!
But it was lovely...

Yummy cakes

The table looked great

And the entourage... well I suppose shabby chic!

We had lots of girltalk: boyfriends, children, pregnancies and of course laughed a lot.

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Today we've been working very hard in the garden. We're on the road to something wonderful, but right now it's rather messy, since we still have to do a lot of major work like making a terrace and putting up a fence. It's very rewarding work though!

Simon has been our little sh*t-monster for the last couple of days, but thankfully he seems to be getting a bit better now. I hope this really was the last illness for some time now!!

Also I've been tagged twice (different ones), but I will do that tomorrow!

Bird with belly

2006-04-20T21:05:00.000+02:00

This is what the birdie looks like when it does have a belly; much better I think!

Here you can see the difference in size from above:

It's funny that yesterday I was rather pleased with my first bird and now I think that it's looking a bit odd. This often happens with the things I make, but usually over a longer period of time. For example, I was really pleased with this softie that I made a couple of months ago for Amber. When I look at it now I see quite a few things that I would change if I would make a new one. It's an interesting process and I think it's only normal that you continually want to improve the things you do and make.

The postman delivered another package today. I think he is starting to wonder why I'm getting so many packages. He was really chatty in a sort of annoying way. I really wanted him to leave, but of course couldn't be rude to him for fear of not receiving more wonderful packages...
Anyway, this package came from Lu and it was just stuffed with lovely things.

There were ribbons, buttons, beads, fabric and cute handmade goodies.
Also great fabrics!

It was all wonderful, Lu! Thank you so much for a lovely swap!!

I myself sent out F O U R packages today; hopefully they'll all arrive safely.

Two become one

2006-04-18T21:22:00.000+02:00

Do you want to see how?
First you have two birds:

Of course they need wings:

And when you sew them together you have one cute little bird.

With its belly missing... but don't tell it that! I actually forgot to sew the belly-bit, so I'm making another right now, which will have the original belly. I'll show you when it's finished.

************************************************************

Good news... I'm in! Yay!
I'm really looking forward to it. I'm sending my softie to greetingarts and will be receiving one from veryellaberry.com. Very exciting :)
I've pretty much thought out what I want to make. Michel really likes to think along in these cases. In fact he had already made up a design for the softie! He was very disappointed when I told him that we're really supposed to stick to one of the given patterns. So now we've agreed that I will be making two; one completely to my idea and one to his. I think it's great that he's so enthusiastic about it!

Happy Easter!

2006-04-15T20:35:00.000+02:00

This is another one of Amber's pieces of art that she made at school! Isn't it wonderful?! I love all the little details!

Not much exciting happening here at Easter. I'm working sunday and monday (and wednesday and today too....), so not much partying for me.
Amber is still not well. Last night it came from the other side of her in quite an explosive manner, if you know what I mean... You should have seen the mess in her bed, or rather you shouldn't!
So a quiet Easter for Mich and the children, although of course they will be seeking eggs tomorrow!

I had another birthdaypresent in the mail yesterday. It came from my sister in Oxford.
It's a dvd of Brideshead Revisited. She and her friends are watching the complete series together and I saw one episode when I was there. Now that I have my own dvd, I will finally be able to learn all about Charles and Sebastian. Thank you, Laura!

Improvised Easter breakfast

2006-04-13T21:12:00.000+02:00

I woke up in the middle of the night to Amber's shouting. I rushed to her room and asked what was wrong; I stroked her -slightly wet- face. I thought what is that smell?! The poor girl had thrown up all over herself and her bed... So I spent quite some time cleaning up the mess, showering Amber, changing her bed, putting on the washing machine. After she was settled again, I lay in bed, exhausted but unable to sleep. I was so grateful! For one thing, I've never had to do this before. Amber will be 5 in two months time, but this has never happened before! She has been sick once when she was very small, but then she threw up behind the curtain in a little plastic bowl (this sounds a bit strange, and actually it was).
But this was not why I was so grateful. I just realised that although we are having a really crappy winter (and now spring) healthwise, we never have anything really serious. My children are healthy and I could just cry of happiness. It's something you know, but don't always realise. It was a good moment.

Unfortunately, Amber wasn't well enough to go to school, which was really sad because they were having special Easter festivities, starting of with a breakfast at school. So I quickly went to the supermarket and got all the things for our very own Easter breakfast. We all enjoyed it, even though Amber had no appetite. Simon ate everything that she didn’t want.

Traditionally, we always eat matzos at Easter (we’re not Jewish). I wonder whether this is a tradition in other countries, too? I’m always looking forward to them; I particularly like them with butter and sugar. Look what they’ve come up with this year: mini-matzos. In the supermarket I thought they’d be cute, but really they’re quite pathetic, aren’t they?! I prefer the large ones that are too big for your plate and that break when you try to put butter on them!

Oh, and the first photo of the hot air balloon?! That passed over our house yesterday evening. I’m always in awe when I see one; I would love to go in one myself…
By the way, do you know what Michel gave me for my birthday? A flight in a hot air balloon! I’m so excited!!! Yay!

Backtack and swap loveliness

2006-04-11T17:38:00.000+02:00

-The "Australian" tulips are even more spectacular today-

So I stayed up until 1.00 a.m. last night to sign up for Backtack III. Yes, I wanted to participate that bad!
I usually go to bed late, but now it was for a particular purpose which made it sort of special. I had no idea how quickly the 100 places were going to be filled (it turned out 1 hour 9 mins), so I already had written an e-mail with all my details. Aren't I efficient?! I sent it as quickly as I could, only to discover that I had forgotten to say which country I'm in (not so efficient). Hopefully it will all be alright.
I'm really looking forward to participating. I have so many ideas and I'm so curious to see what other people will come up with. Michel is very enthusiastic about it too, so I expect him to get involved in it as well.

Now over to to the lovely things you see in the photo above. I received this swap-package from Samantha; just in time for my birthday! Great timing, Samantha! Apparently it was delivered on Saturday when we were away at the craft fair. The next morning we found it under a bucket in our backgarden... a bit of a strange initiative of the postman, but I was thrilled to find it, ofcourse!

It is an absolutely wonderful package! There was one of Samantha's famous chickens (which is now under the easter-tree), a beautiful picushion (which I'm going to keep for my embroidery needles) and a tissueholder (too pretty to put in my bag, so I'm probably going to put it on my desk). For the rest there were three pieces of lovely fabric and buttons; everything was put together in a cute bag (which I'm thinking of giving to Amber for her gym-clothes).
Thank you so much for this lovely swap, Samantha! I'll be sending your package on Thursday.

Well, it's time to cook dinner now: couscous!

Happy birthday to me!

2006-04-10T12:08:00.000+02:00

I've had, and am still having, a wonderful birthday!
Look why...

Four cakes (all yummy)!

Tulips from Australia!

Cat-decorations!

And lovely presents!

Turning 30 is not bad at all! Actually, it's so good that I think I'll do it again next year...

The Craft Fair

2006-04-09T09:38:00.000+02:00

I had a wonderful day at the craft fair yesterday.
Unfortunately the wheather was bad most of the day, which meant that there were not a lot of people around. First there was a really heavy wind and later it started to pour.
However, it was a good experience for me. I enjoyed seeing other people's stuff and it was lovely to meet Crafty Girls I R L.

Well, today I'm having my birthdayparty (although I won't be THIRTY for a good 13 hours!), so I'd better get a move on... the house is a right mess and I even have to wash the windows (yes I do, because today the sun IS shining)!

Today: Blenkies

2006-04-06T21:30:00.000+02:00

I spent most of the day behind the sewingmachine.
I finished 3 3/4 Blenkies (babyblankets).
This is what they look like:

#2

#3

I really want to finish the last one as well, but I'm sooooooo tired and my back is aching. Better do it tomorrow...

Thanks everyone for sharing your feelings about turning 30!
The overall sentiment seems to be that it's a bit of a difficult moment, but once you're past it you're really happy about it and life just keeps getting better. Well, nothing to worry about then!

Are you going to participate in Backtack III?
I would love to; the whole idea really appeals to me! However, can someone confirm that 9.00 a.m. 4-11 in Australia really is 23.00 p.m. 10-4 in Holland?! It would be awful if I have the wrong time!
I have a feeling there is going to be a bit of a counter-revolution, though...
Nothing wrong with that; even more lovely craftiness!

Keep busy and don't think about b-day

2006-04-04T20:27:00.000+02:00

Yes, I am busy.
I'm going to participate in a crafts fair this saturday and as you can imagine there is still LOTS to be done.
And yes, it is almost my b(irth)day.
You might wonder why I don't want to think about... because I'll be THIRTY!
That's right: 30!
Well, I have mixed feelings about it. As far as I'm concerned it's a birthday like any other, but people sure don't seem to agree with that. And every person who reminds me of my age definitely has an amused sadistic glint in their eyes.
All the past year I told myself I was fine with it, but as my last days as a twenty-something are ticking away, I'm not so sure anymore.
It does feel as a big change.
It feels as if my young days are really over now... (which might seem silly as I've been settled down in an adult life for so many years already)
I'm on the threshold of adulthood... that is a bit scary actually!!
I've heard of people that make lists of the things they want to do before they're 30; what about my list? I don't have one and there is no time make one anyway!

I would love to know how you all felt about turning 30! Or if you're not 3o yet, what are your thoughts on turning it?

Well enough about getting old...
Here are the two pocket-bags I made today.
Don't they have a lovely summery feel to them?!

I'm really behind on my sewing and of course this is the moment that my sewing machine is starting to act funny! It makes horribly ugly stitches and there is no time to have it fixed before the weekend. Luckily I've been able to borrow a sewing machine from one of Michel's collegues, so full speed ahead!

To end this post I'd like to share this photo of Amber.
She wanted to play a game with me this afternoon, but I was too busy sewing (bad mother).
So she played alone.

When I looked what she did, I was so proud...
She had found a photo in the leaflet and had arranged everything exactly as on the photo, which was really quite tricky!
It's lovely to feel so proud over such small things... why should I even care about turning 30?!

More goodness

2006-03-31T21:18:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I received a truly wonderful package from Kristy.
Just look how lovingly wrapped up everything was!

Amber was home from school and we each unpacked one of the
pretty bundles.
Now see what was inside them...

Aren't they just Sweetness itself?!
Thanks again, Kristy! Your bunnies have been lovingly adopted by the whole family...

Just a short post today. It's been a loooong day and I really want to sit down with a cuppa.
I'll leave you with Amber's latest masterpiece that she brought home from school today.

It's called "This is me", since they've been doing a project on the human body.
I especially like the feet :)

Have a good weekend!

Swaps

2006-03-29T20:12:00.000+02:00

Today I've sent out two swap-packages and another one will be in the mail tomorrow.
I love the concept of swapping in crafty land; it is such a wonderful way to receive things that you cannot get in your own country. Even better is getting things that other people made themselves; that is just so special. And I love getting mail!
While I was wrapping up my package for MommyCoddle, hers arrived!
This was what was in it:

She offered a piece of this fabric on her site and I was one of the lucky ones to get it. I believe it's Marimekko even!
I see this becoming a bag actually. I see so many people making fantastic bags here there and everywhere, that I really want to make one for myself now!
There was also a lovely card; thank you so much Molly!

Took some photos of a box full of my kissbees. Don't they look snug together?!
Except for the one at the back... he is not happy being squashed!

Just read this... tears in my eyes (of laughing that is!). That site is hilarious!

Continuing story of the zipperbag & photos of the royal family

2006-03-28T15:55:00.000+02:00

Judith has kindly sent me photos of her mother's zipperbags.
They were made from this book which was published in 1999:

Judith's mother made three bags; the fabric is handwoven. She even used straw for one of them; aren't they great? Thanks for the photos, Judith! Your mother is a real crafty girl!

So do you think that these guys in Camden Town really believed they made something unique?! Oh well, let's give them the benefit of the doubt...
(because I'm still very fond of my new bag :))

Crafting is going well now that I do my sewing downstairs. Here's the pink princess showing my new glitzy kissbee, which is actually hers to keep.

I also want to thank everyone for their well-wishes for Simon!
The poxes are not completely gone yet, but happily he's back to his old funny, cheery self. Look at him go...

...King Simon dressed in his smartest robes (borrowed from the pink princess) :)

Impressions of garden on sunny Sunday

2006-03-26T20:48:00.000+02:00

Since we've only been living here for six months all these crocuses were such a surprise! I really wonder what else is going to emerge from the soil.

Bare wall in bare backgarden.
It will need a lot of work, but it has so much potential!

Michel wants to build a treehouse on top of that treetrunk and then attach the slide to it. The swing is also supposed to go there and of course we'll have playsand. It will be a place where the children will be able to play as much as they like!

This little fellow has found a new home in our garden. Michel made this some ten years ago and since then it always stood in his father's garden. Now that we have our own, the penguin (yes, that's what it is) has come to live with us. It fits in perfectly!

I'll end with a photo of the lovely fabric that my mum gave me yesterday. Check out the shirts and lightbulbs!

A dragon, kissbees and a linguistic problem

2006-03-25T20:59:00.000+01:00

I know everybody else in blogland has already written about it, but I just needed a little more time to decide that I'm also going to commit myself to Use What You Have Month. My mum gave me the last push when she brought a bag full of lovely fabrics today. These fabrics alone are almost enough to entertain me for a month and of course there is my STASH.
Great idea by Simple Sparrow!

I made this on thursday:

It's some sort of a hanging bag with pockets for softies or other stuff... What do you call something like that in English?! Help, native speakers!
I bought the fabric a couple of weeks ago in a thriftstore; it's quite sweet I think. I just want to add a pompon or something on the bottom.

We bought the dragon when we were on honeymoon in Prague; isn't it cute?!

I also made two more kissbees. One of them is not so happy about its life as you can see :(

And oh, apparently the zipperbag idea isn't as innovative as the sellers made me believe. Judith's mum made one ten years ago! Do you have a photo of it, Judith? I would love to see it!!

Productive day

2006-03-23T20:30:00.000+01:00

I'm sure all you mothers out there know how hard it sometimes is to find a little time for yourself when the children are around. For me it's a reoccurring dilemma.
Today I was smart and dragged the sewingmachine and all neccessities downstairs and worked there while the children were playing and napping. I really got quite a lot done, so I think this is something I'll do more often.

I have to admit though that everything was already cut and ready for the doll and these cushions, so today's score is a bit flattered!

Of course it's a bag!

2006-03-23T17:33:00.000+01:00

The riddle wasn't difficult obviously... Kristy got it right straight away!

But isn't it a cool bag?! What a great idea to create a bag out of a zipper!
The man that sold us the bags (in Camden Town) told us they were designed at an artschool in Portugal. I'm curious whether I'll soon be seeing these bags in Holland as well.

I just have a tough decision to make... Only one of these bags will be mine, the other one is a present from my sister to my other sister. I'm just unsure which one I prefer (although technically I paid for the green bag)!