Hanging out with the bunnies

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!

Small projects

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.

Crafting with Amber

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.

Pompon fun

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 :))

Superfast craft fun

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 ;)

Peace bringing angels

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!

Quite pleased...

...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!

One week later...

... 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

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!

5 years old

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!

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!

Long time no talk

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!