Just a little peek into something I've been working on but isn't finished yet. White and fluffy just like that fluffy bunny. Soon I'll have more to show...
Thursday, April 19, 2012 - 14:59
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 - 18:55
And then there were small left overs of plain white drawing paper. And a need for some new bookmarks to take to school. No more needed to be said. Here you go.
We opened up Photoshop and created black frames, bookmark size, in which we typed 'Shhtt, be quiet. X (name of child) is reading a book.' We left enough room to make a drawing and printed that out on the left over paper.
Then it was time to get the favorite book out. One about a clever dog and his illiterate nephew the wolf.
We searched for our favorite illustrations and set to draw them ourselves on the empty space on the bookmark. Some aquarel, for mum, and some felt tip coloring pencils, for the girl, later we decided to back them with a lovely patterned paper before finally laminating them. Personalized bookmarks really are the best!
How cool are these? Marije Tolman did the original illustrations and these are our personal interpretations. They look really similar I think!
And does anybody else agree with me that these drawings made by my 6 year old are really fab? Cause I think so. But then according to me I have the best kids in the world. Apparently that's being bias. Pfff...
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 - 14:44
This past Easter holiday the weather has been stormy as my daughters put it. The weatherman prefers boisterous, it being spring and all. Anyhow, pouring showers, hail, thunder, blustering wind and cold temperatures kept us mainly indoors. And there I began the great task of sorting through my stuff and chucking lots of it out. You can't be too careful in trying not to fall into the pitfalls of hoarding.
So when my eye spotted a big pile of crafty magazines, beautiful magazines but all read and just sitting there, I called upon my girls and we tore the lot to pieces. Fun pages and pictures were put in a box for future projects, the remains went to the recycling bins.
And this is what one can do with pretty pages.....
The start of a collection of wonderful handmade envelopes!
And all those cardboard monochrome pages that were scattered throughout the magazines? They became ,with the help of a punch and a blistered and battered thumb, little jars filled with paper confetti...
So not only did I get rid of this big pile of untouched magazines, I also gained, neatly in a box and some jars, ready to use stationary and craft supplies. How often does that happen?
Sunday, April 15, 2012 - 18:37
So then I made another one. As planned. A circus act. For my personal 4 year old circus act. A perfect choice as she exclaimed instantly "oh this is my favorite pillow case ever...he does tricks!" An instant connection they shared, the smiling bunny and my smiling daughter. Entire conversations she holds with him at night when she's supposed to go to sleep. Getting the bunny of her bed and destined for the washing machine is something else all together but let me just say that as soon as he's back on there, the order in her universe seems to be restored.
He's made following the trusty recipe. One takes a vintage transfer embroidery and one embroiders that with red floss onto a piece of white cotton. Then one adds bits of colorful fabric above, under and to the side of the embroidery as if to make a frame. Then one adds a fanciful piece of ribbon -a bunting in this case- to the lot and one incorporates this patch onto a pillow case. As a finishing touch one crochets a neat border and stitches onto the open side of the pillow case. One cannot fail. Yay!
Thursday, April 12, 2012 - 19:40
All this cutting left me with two blisters on my fingers but they are neat and tidy and ready to be sewn up...
Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - 21:37
Making quilts makes sense right now. After a premature spot of summer, day and nights have turned chilly again. Although... chilly... good heavens, we're in for frosty mornings again around the weekend.
Anyhow, with two ladies to entertain during the holidays I wasn't really in any position to make a full blown adult sized quilt. But a doll quilt... now that is manageable. And let's be frank, if it's chilly for us then it's chilly for our doll posse. And an extra blanket never hurt anyone.
So here it is. Little leftover patches of pale pink from an actual adult sized and finished quilt and some colorful squares from my 1930's fabric stash. Simple little thing. But so cheerful...
Yes, and now you wonder... who is it for?
Well, meet 'Katie'. Wait for it.... 'Katie Canon ball'. Seriously. Canon ball. And be warned, if you start to laugh at this point -as I did when my youngest introduced her- a severe reprimanding awaits you. I speak from experience.
Katie Canon ball is a member of a royal family, being a baby princess, and one can't mock royals. I have been told!
At least she wears home made clothes. And sleeps in a glorified Ikea doll bed... with cool bedding.
So for the last few days 'Canon ball' by the Breeders has been the background music in my mind... constantly. Katie Canon ball, really...
Wednesday, April 4, 2012 - 07:55
Last week I was asked by my offspring if they could put on their sleeveless cardigans. It was a little cool that morning but they added some strong arguments to their case 'It's so nice to wear a beautiful cardigan that you made mum!'
Defense lawyers to be, surely.
Anyhow. It sparked the idea to make them both a second cardigan. It's such a practical model for those spring days when the mornings are still quite chilly but the daytime sun gives of quite some warmth.
In my stash I found enough Kaleïdo yarn, a mix of linen and bamboo, to make one for the oldest. This yarn is super soft and flows beautifully. It gives warmth yet feels cool to the touch. Ideal for summer knits really.
The model is from Citronille and as their sizes are quite big I decided to make the 4 year old size for my 6,5 year old. And tadaah, a perfect fit. For my 4 year old I'll go for the 2 year old model knitted in a 4mm needle instead of 3,5 mm.
The light blue color tends to change quite a bit depending on the light. It goes from light blue to grayish and pearl. There's a light shine on this yarn as well so that the light seems to bounce right of it. The color suits my fair girl to the bone.
And in my button drawer I found a set of old flower buttons in just the right color.
It's a joy to knit this little cardigan. It is worked top down without seams on straight needles and it advances pretty well once you're past the yoke. I think that for the little sister version I might go for Cascade cotton. But which color to choose? Oh well, I guess I'll have a good think about that whilst finishing of a cowl I'm knitting for myself...
Monday, April 2, 2012 - 10:38
Spring holidays have started. And with it, spring more or less disappeared. Hmmm. Where last week we were enjoying total sun bliss and temperatures over 20°C, that's now been halved. Morning frost returned and so did the clouds.
So to give spring a little boost not to linger any longer, I set to work on a spring crown.
Seriously though, this year we are celebrating that spring has arrived in the life of my oldest daughter. For those who are religious this is celebrated in a church celebration. Others hold a spring celebration. For all it is a special moment marking little children growing up... too fast and too furious but still.... growing up.
And for the official pictures that will be taken to mark the occasion, we needed a spring prop. Hence this delicate spring crown. It will sit on the precious head of my precious girl turning her into a genuine spring fairy for a day.
A small bunch of fake flowers, including orchids, tulips, roses and unidentified blossoms, some eggs and a delicate bird and most of all a hot glue gun to glue it all onto a wire frame that was first covered in ribbon. A bow at the back to finish it off and hey presto, spring has arrived!
A delicate little crown with a phenomenal impact!
