A Kusz-tomized Life...

A Pebble for my Baby

2012-02-14T22:57:00.000+01:00

I am the Queen of UFOs. I start a gazillion projects and finish nearly one. I love sewing and knitting, but the projects involve so much more time then a beadingproject takes. When beading was my single crafty hobby, I finished nearly everything I started...
Or is it? Come to think of it, a Beady-UFO is far more easier to stash away (or hide) then half knit sweaters and half finished dresses are.
But then there was a baby... and a sewing or knittingproject is as tiny as a large beaded necklace....
Last week I decided it was time to finish SOMETHING. And so, instead of doing something a normal person would do - pick up an UFO and finish it - I decided to start something new. For Isalena. In comes Pebble.
I have seen this lovely pattern a lot in the Blogosphere. I loved both Amanda's and Heather's version. Off to Ravelry I went, browsed through all the lovely finished Pebbles and decided I could do it! And I did! I casted on on Friday Night, and finished it on Monday Morning. Buttons attached and all ends finished, I even made a project sheet on Ravelry

And here is my little miss, showing off Mama's Fruit of the Labor (please correct me if I said this wrong...)
I am so proud of myself....

Getting restarted

2012-01-28T15:25:00.000+01:00

I have been writing lots of blogposts in the last couple of months, but none of them suited my needs on telling you guys about my life. I became a Mama on August 25, 2011, and I have been loving every second of my life, since. I wanted to tell you guys everything, give you updates on the ups and downs, tell my birthstory, and show all the lovely things I made for the nursery and my precious little girl.
But I just didn't know where to start, and the longer I waited, the harder it got. So I decided that I should get the weight of my shoulders and just write a post as if I had written one yesterday. I can always show snippets of my life from the blogging-gap, right?
So that's just what I will do. Tomorrow....
First, I'll show you some of my BabyBliss.

1 week old

sigh....

8 weeks old

5 months allready!

Nursery D.I.Y. part 2

2011-08-18T00:56:00.000+02:00

No baby yet, she apparently decided that she likes here hide-away, and I don't feel like she's planning on showing herself soon...
So lets get on with the nursery projects.
The crocheted t-shirt yarn rug was merely the beginning of the DIY's for the nursery. The next thing I made, or actually restyled, was the main light for the room. We bought this old thing a couple of years ago through Marktplaats (which is the Dutch version of Craigslist) for 20 euro's.

It was a complete light, but in a terrible style. We had it in our bedroom for several months, but eventually we took it down, because it was just tooooooooo wrong... It went into storage until I decided I could give it a new life with some spraypaint, some shades and a little love. I went to the market on a Tuesday afternoon and bought some fabric and trimmings.

I used primer basecoat spraypaint to give the entire thing a matte white finish, and glued fabric and trimmings on the shades. This is the result:

I really adore how it turned out. The first shade was a pain in the >uhm< rear to do, but after 4 you get a routine, and by the time I finished all 8 I considered myself a pro. (sidenote: I notice some of the ribbon let loose, and the fixture is a bit off.... But I fixed it.)

No Longer a WIP!

2011-08-09T17:49:00.000+02:00

Yay! I managed to transform a WIP from being a WIP to a FFI! (Fabulous Finished Item! don't know if it's an existing term, but I like it!)

Ive blogged about this rug a couple of months ago', when it was still a WIP. I was struggeling with the edges of the rug, they were curling up like a mad man! I finally sat down, ripped the last 4 rows and decided that the curling was probably caused by the thicker (or broader) yarn. I fixed this by cutting it in half lengthwise (yes, it was a lot of work) and using the thinner yarn for the new rows. It worked like a charm, the rug stays perfectly flat on the floor.

I added some more rows, because there were some more shirts discarded for recycling in our home, and because Bigger is always Better.

I finished the rug with a cotton thread scalloped edge, which gives the rug a nice and smoother finish. I absolutely adore this thing! The best features? It's Major Recycling, it's sort of a keepsake, because there are shirts from a couple of family members in it and it's the very first thing I finished for the baby...

The last days with the baby-bump

2011-08-07T22:40:00.000+02:00

The last couple of months have flown by... Just one more week before my due date! We are anxiously waiting for this little one to arrive. I guess she will probably be late, because her Papa & Mama never seem to manage to arrive somewhere on time too.
We have done so much to get the nursery ready, I have made a lot of things myself. I'm looking forward to show you guys around, and maybe tell a little about the projects.

A little bit absent

2011-03-03T12:38:00.002+01:00

Hi all,

Just a little update to tell you all that I’ve been a little absent from my blog. Because I am tired, but mainly because my camera is Kaput and I haven’t had the time to take it back to the store to get it fixed. About the tired thing: yeah well; doing your household chores, decorating a nursery and working fulltime isn’t done easily, I find myself sleeping often in the car (not whilst driving it myself, mind you), and wanting to crawl under the blankets of our very big bed at 9… BUT all is well and I guess that after a Saturday filled with a little celebrating – Mr Dull turned 32 on March 1st – and a Sunday spent relaxing, taking a short hike and some DVD-time I know I’ll be feeling fine again on Monday.

Now to find the time to go to the store…

maternity clothes shopping.

2011-02-21T10:08:00.000+01:00

I went out and bought me some maternity pants last weekend. My regular jeans just didn’t fit anymore, and I figured I might as well take the jump and get on the preggotrain. I am wearing one now (a maternity jeans, that is) and I can tell you all, it feels soooooooo much better than the stressed seams on my favourite regular jeans. I had been planning on making my own maternity jeans with some tutorials I found online and some thrifted pants, but I just haven’t had the time to thrift (the openinghours are pretty tight) yet! But I got the jeans and tops on sale, a good sale! 2 pairs of jeans, a pair of corduroypants, a skirt, and 3 tops for EURO 63,- I was thrilled, not only because I went to a store earlier that week and found out that the cheapest jeans were 50. I don’t even pay that amount of money on regular jeans, let alone a pair I only get to wear 6 months!

I went online to search for some basic patterns/tutorials on maternity clothes, but pickings are slim! Pretty strange, because I would love to make my own (stunning, ahem) maternity dresses, instead of paying 100 for a silly polyester black thing that’s called a dress. I mean, you can get lovely cotton(blend)s for a mere 5 euros per metre/yard. You can make the most fabulous things for around 20. But the big patterndesigners just don’t seem to get this. Burda, Simplicity, Mcall. They all have about 2 or 3 designs in their collection and they are not the most fashionable ones. Can’t pregnant girls look pretty? Are we destined to walk around in tents and dresses from mum? Look at the big undies that we have to wear, we want something cute to cover those up! Oh, no wait, you CAN look cute, but it’ll cost you! Big time!

Someday. I am going to be an amazing patterndesigner, and design some fabulous maternityclothes! It'll take some time though, I have only sewn 3 dresses...
In the meantime I will be lounging on the couch in Mr. Dulls tracksuits, eating my daily doses of Ben & Jerry’s, not wearing any make-up, grey uncombed hairs and a hormone rage!

Please note; Me and the Shrimp are doing fine, all is well. I am just on quite some hormone-waves lately. Ask Mr. Dull, he will be happy to share some amazing stories.

Fabulously Finished Friday!

2011-02-18T12:05:00.000+01:00

Don’t you love these kind of theme-weekdays? I think I love it… And I am sure going to try to use these themes to make my postings here more regular.
So, after the WipWednesday, I’ll give you the Fabulously Finished Friday! This will be the day to show you what I’ve made during the week. It can be something from the Wipbasket, a quick little project, or something I have been working on for a little longer.

I am going to warn you, though: this post will be about babies. Or better said, the little shrimp that’s growing inside of me… I don’t know why we start calling it The Shrimp, it doesn’t sound that cute, but somehow it feels fitting.
But, back to the Fabulous Finished Item of today: The Elf Hat. (I can't seem to find the Ravelrylink at the moment).
Now I am not a fabulous great knitter, I know how to do cables, I can do a little lace, and I think I know the words for every technique better in English than my own language, but hey, that’s the side effect of using the WWW to get into - or reacquainted to - a new craft. My tension usually varies during my projects, creating a not so uniform end result. I like to use mohair, angora, or any other fluffy yarn to disguise the slight difference in stitches. That usually works pretty well.

This hat was knitted in the round on dpns. The only sufficient dpns I had were 25cms steel needles. The overall tension I work with is pretty tight, so when I have 20 stitches per needle, everything is okay. But then the decreases start; fewer stitches on the needles and the stitches were a bit stretched due to the weight of the needles. As soon as I finished off I scooted over to Ebay and ordered a large set of bamboo dpns. I think that will make knitting these more easy. Because I would love to make some more babyhats. Maybe not newborn, since the shrimp is due in August, but there are a lot of patterns for 3mo old as well. Don’t you just love Ravelry?? I know I do..

I used a mohair yarn in bright turquoise. I think this colour could go well for both sexes, once we know the sex I can make it more girly by adding some crocheted flowers, or more boyish by adding a little patch of a boyish something (I absolutely have no idea what I mean with that). I love the way this yarn looks, however, I might line it with a soft cotton knit, cause mohair tends to be a bit itchy sometimes.

This is the very first item I finished up for The Shrimp, I have so many other things I want to make, but I guess it’s best to wait a while so we know if it will be a He or a SheShrimp!

WIP-Wednesday ~ Will it be a pillow, or a ball, or a tablerunner-fine hexagon crochetwork

2011-02-16T23:49:00.000+01:00

I started this thing a couple of months ago. I used the African flower hexagon pattern.Truthfully, I really don’t know why I didn’t finish it. It has so much potential, and all my favourite colours. It can be so many things, I can make it round, stuff it with a soft filling and make it a ball. I could make it a pillowcase, and I can crochet on and make it a tablerunner. But just like the finishing of the bedspread has it’s problems due to a large bed, the tablerunner will probably not happen, because our table is 2.20 meter. And since I am working this thing with a 2mm hook, I really don’t see that happen. But it would suite the table, because the chairs around the table are red, purple and orange, so that would look fabulous! Hmmm.

First I am going to finish the t-shirt-yarn rug (yes, yes, I really am!) and I think I’ll pick this baby up after that. And maybe just go for the table dress up…

No WIP, this week.

2011-02-11T20:44:00.001+01:00

Hi! Just dropping in to tell that I didn't get to posting this weeks WIP... Lighting has been pretty grey this week, and my camera seems to have issues. But I'll be back next week!

WIP-Wednesday – The slice your old shirts and crochet it – Rug

2011-02-02T19:45:00.000+01:00

I am a big fan of recycling. We have a compost box in the backyard, we separate glass and paper from our regular waste and if the plastic-recycling-containers weren’t further away than a 5 mile drive, I would separate those as well.
Besides recycling, I am a big fan of clothing, as is Mr. Dull. Our closets are stuffed with it. But because we don’t like to throw out stuff that isn’t damaged or permanently stained, there are quite some piles of clothes that don’t fit anymore (these are the “I will start going to the gym next month, so I will lose some weight” labelled items) or just aren’t ~~fashionable anymore~~ suited for going outside. But hey, sometimes a girl needs a little space in her closet for some new finds, which means shifting through your stuff and throw out the “I am absolutely not going to wear this anymore” items. With Mr Dull, this resulted in a very big pile of t-shirts. I cut one up for polishing cloths, but since we don’t have a silverware tea-set in our house, nor a big pile of shoes that needs polishing, I needed to find a different destination for the other 15 shirts. Hurray for the WWW and good ol’ Google, who told me to go and make some T-shirt yarn!!! Now I don’t know about the rest of the world, but here in Holland “Hoooked Zpagetti” yarn is basically the same thing; a “yarn” made out of a cotton knit fabric. You can buy these yarns in lots of colours, in patternkits, or just on cones. They sell these online for about €1,- per 100 grams of yarn, which is quite do-able. But I just love the recycling-thing, so I started to make my own. The first problem I encountered is that Dutch shirts are almost never knitted-in the-round, but made from a front and a back piece, sewn together, which results in two seams on the sides (or maybe this is because we only buy cheap shirts?). These seams make lumps in the yarn. But since I was going to make a rug, I decided it didn’t matter, I could place these little lumps on the backside, so you wouldn’t notice them. I cut 5 shirts and started hooking with a 10mm bamboo hook – which is absolute bliss – I wanted it to be a round rug.

I hooked, and I hooked, and I hooked, cut some more shirts, hooked and hooked, ran out of shirts and decided I could search Mr. Dulls closet for some other shirts he didn’t wear anymore, cut them up and hooked, and hooked, had a little argument about one of the shirts that ended up in the rug and hooked and hooked, asked some relatives if they had any old shirts, cut them up and hooked, hooked, hooked….

In October I went to the “Handwerkbeurs” with Mom. This is a fair for all kinds of needlework, weaving, feltmaking and so on and so forth. There was a large stand from Zpagetti and they had big tubs filled with left over balls of yarn, at great prices. I loved some of the colours, so I bought them and used them for the rug. Which resulted in the second problem, the Zpagetti yarn is a bit wider than the strips I cut from the shirts, resulting in bulkier stitches, which caused the last rows of the rug to curl up. I can stretch it out, but it remains a bit ‘bubbly’. Then I tossed the entire thing in a large bin and put it on top of the closet. This was in November last year.

I actually forgot about it – a bit. Last week, while we were shopping and getting inspired for the nursery Mr. Dull said it would be cool if we could incorporate the rug in the room for the wee one. Because it contains shirts of us, and the grandparents, it would be a really nice extra. I loved him a little bit more.

So I took the bin off the closet yesterday and put the rug on the floor. If I stretch out the points (the larger it got, the more hexagon-y it became) the curling is gone, I am thinking about maybe making it more star shaped, by skipping the middle stitch in the straight lines, and maybe start hdc on the points, later on dc’s. But I don’t know if it will work out. Or I could rip the last couple of rows until I get to the bought yarn and take it out. But I hate ripping hours of work.

Any ideas? Because I would love to finish this thing up before Mr. Dulls Birthday on March 1st…. Or at least get started on it again!

Babystories

2011-02-01T21:06:00.001+01:00

-(Non)Parental Warning- This is a very “seventh heaven-we-are-getting-a-baby” themed post, if your not up for that, please come back on Wednesday for the WIP!

Yesterevening we went to the midwife for our twelve week check-up. Both of us were very, very, very nervous. We had to wait 15 minutes before we could go in, but then she really took the time for us. We had the whole how-are-you-feeling-are-there-any-diseases-in-your-family-and-do-you-take-your-vitamins-regularly talk during which we couldn’t sit still. Then she checked my bloodpressure and took some blood.

Then it was finally time for measuring and listening, the thing we were a bit nervous about. She checked the size of my uterus, which was right ‘on schedule.’ Then she took out the listeningthingy. While she warmed it up a little she said it could take a little searching to hear the heartbeat. I held my breath when she put the thing on my belly (Mr Dull was doing the same thing, holding his breath that is, not putting the thing on my belly) and straight away we heard a firm and regular beat. So all is fine, all is well and we are very happy!

We bought all of the furniture for the nursery last weekend. We got a good deal on a lovely teak crib. Almost all of our furniture are made of teak, so we were very thrilled with this find. But there was only one left, so we had to buy it, because you never know you can find the same great thing in 3 months. Of course there was a lovely dresser that matched up and 2 days later I found a great wardrobe-cabinet through a secondhand site. I just love those finds.

So now the decluttering starts. We need to get rid of so much stuff. It’s amazing how much 2 people can hoard in a couple of years.
I have so many ideas for decorating the nursery… I could fill up 5 nurseries with all these plans!

So there you have it, please be back tomorrow for this weeks WIP!

WIP-Wednesday: The In-Way-Over-My-Head-Bedspread

2011-01-26T21:06:00.000+01:00

Instead of bothering you with all the raging hormones and the fluffy babyworld I am starting to explore, I thought it would be a good idea to use this place to show you my W.I.P.s. (W.I.P. is short for Work In Progress). Maybe even ask you guys if you know ways to get each of those little buggers out of the WIPbasket and into the “Ooooooh-look-what-I’ve-made-I-am-so-proud-file.” Don’t you just love that moment…?

Due to a short attentionspan and a very large interest in hobbies and crafts whatsoever my WIPbasket is very, very, stuffed. In fact, I am talking about a basket, but I am really not that organised to keep all the stuff in a neat basket, if there even are baskets that large! They are all over the place. In the attic, in the closet, stuffed in bags under my bed, and so on and so forth. Though I am not one for New Year’s resolutions, I decided it would be a good thing to start on working away those wips, or even declare some as UFOs (UnFinished Objects) and take them apart (or throw them out).

I am starting today with my Way over your head-Crochet Beginnings Bedcover.

Why did I start this: Better yet, what was I thinking…. Well I blame it all on Lucy of Attic24. This avid little crochetfairy changed my life when I started reading her blog. I used to think about crochet as the handywork little old grey ladies were doing in the elderlyhomes. Creating lovely (but not my style) doilies and such. In comes Lucy, with her large, bold, bright coloured hookywork! I fell in love instantly and decided: I want to make me a lovely blanket for our bed. Where most people start of with a scrubbypad, a potholder or even a pillowcase, I wanted to make a total bedcover out of grannysquares in all kinds of designs and colours. Did I mention our bed is 180x200 cms (70 x 80 inch)…?

The kick off: I ordered some yarn through Ebay (fabulous bamboulene 50% bamboo, 50% wool), got overly excited when the box got delivered and started hooking. Night after night, the squares kept piling up! After each square was finished off I squeaked at Mr. Dull, so he would come look and admire my progress. I joined the squares while hooking the last row of the square and finished the ends by putting them into the next row. This way finishing off would take less time.

Progress: I have made two large blocks which both consists of 9 smaller squares, both edged with a single colour. Each block measures 55 x 55 cms.

Why did this end up in the WIPbasket?: Uuuhm, I still love this project, but I feel a bit overwhelmed with all the work that it still needs (not mentioning the costs). I am not absolutely sure about the colours, I am wondering if I should blend in some hot pink, steel blue, black and white (cream). And maybe I’ll have to rip the red and orange borders and give it a black or darkbrown or white border, to balance it out. But, I dunno…

Costs: The box of yarn cost me € 50, but I haven’t used it all for this blanket. I think I’ll have to order another € 100 worth of yarn. But € 150 is not that much for a bedspread that large.

How am I going to get this out of the Wipbasket?: First, I could just order the yarn and finish it up the way it was intended. But I think I need some directions on colours and ideas, some fresh inspiration. Second: I could make a large pillowcase with the finished blocks, maybe line it with a red cotton and put it on our bed. Third: I could frog it, but I would end up with short pieces of yarn, so that’s not an economical decision ! So tell me, do you guys have any suggestions?

The Return....

2011-01-21T14:48:00.000+01:00

After a long, long, loooooooooooong period of absence I decided to take another go at this little blog of mine. This little-big-blogbreak of mine took almost 5 months. So much has happened and I have a lot to share.

Let me start by telling you the real reason for my blogbreak… Me and Mister Dull have been trying to get pregnant for a very long time. I am not going to bother you with all the details, but it has been a period of many hospitalvisits, and emotional rollercoasters. We decided not to tell anyone about our babyplans. I did tell my sister and best friend, but it was all hush-hush.

In the beginning of our BabyAdventure we thought: well, a couple of hospitalvisits and we will get pregnant and happy. I didn’t gave it much thought and had a lot of other things going on. Things I liked to chitter-chatter on and on about on this little nook of mine in Blogland. However, as time progressed, without a growing belly, I noticed a change in the way I blogged. My head kept wandering around everything babyrelated and I found myself pressing the Backspace key on my keyboard whenever I finished up a new message for the blog. When I read the words I typed, I noticed they were drenched in all kinds of emotions I picked up on the rollercoaster-ride of getting pregnant. And since my Mum reads the words I sent off to the WWW, I decided I had to rewrite the post and try to do so without thinking about babies and such. That worked for about 15 posts or so. Then it started to feel like work, it took a lot of energy to block out the thoughts, wonderings and anxieties and I just didn’t want to do that anymore. So I bought my self a paper diary and shut the blog down. It was a hard decision, I really loved my little space, but I just had to do it. Hope you all understand, and I certainly hope that the sweet souls that were reading my words will start doing so again.

But please keep in mind, this blog is going to change… Instead of beads (I haven’t touched them since a year ago..) I finally will be talking about babies… Because in the end it all worked out and we finally got a growing belly!

So happy to be back!

-xo- Mrs. Dull

I know, I know, (but I have a new Nephew!!!)

2010-10-10T19:10:00.000+02:00

I said I would quit this blog. But I felt a little anxious about leaving the blogosphere to become a Lurker. Maybe I will start posting again... (Ah, the luxury of being a doubtful girl).
For now, I have a great great great new little love!! And his name is Dylan...

I love him! And my SuperSister who had to have a c-section to bring this little 8 pound handsome boy into the world, she did sooooo great!!

I'm quitting this blog...

2010-08-22T12:18:00.000+02:00

just because I am lacking the eagerness to post my feelings here. My life and interests have shifted and changed in the last couple of months/years. I want to thank the handfull of followers who have been checking up on me regularly, and all the 'anonymous' readers as well.
Maybe I'll start a new blog in the future, but for now, a little-big-blogstop is what I need.
-XO-
Kimmie

Slow... and stressfull!

2010-08-02T13:12:00.000+02:00

Life is swinging by in full speed. August is going to be an extremely busy month, all work stuff and the wedding of my best friend. This results in a very, very slow pace on this little blog of mine. I have a lot to tell, a lot to show, but I just can't seem to find the time to do so. The beads are still waiting in the attic, I have been knitting and crochetting and sewing lately. Love it! But no pics to show. I can't even remember when I took my last picture with my big camera. But I don't regret it, life is fun at the moment, and I don't want to loose a second by sitting at the computer...
However, I do have some ideas to blow some new life into these pages. Hmmm, we'll see.
See you in September, I guess

Back in Everyday Life...

2010-06-24T09:38:00.001+02:00

We came home on Wednesday last week and boy were we JetLagged! We didn't get any sleep on our flight, so when we got home (around lunch) we were awake for 24 hours... We meant to stay awake till evening, so we could get in the right rhythm straight away, but we didn't manage it. Around 4 we took a 3 hour nap on the couch and it really helped. At 8 my Mom, Dad and Sister came by to watch the photos we took (all 1700 of them).
It has been an amazing trip, exhausting but fabulous! And now everyday, real life is in full swing.
I'll post some pictures when I get home tonight!

Traveling the States

2010-06-07T06:49:00.000+02:00

I forgot to tell you guys we're on vacation (or is it called holiday? Or is that only meant for festive days?)... We are making a 3 week roadtrip around the Westcoast of the States and loving all the fabulous parks and cities. So far we've visited San Francisco and Las Vegas for the city-part and Yosemite, Sequoia, Kolob, Zion and Bryce Canyon for the parks-part. Our days are packed with activities and after traveling for 10 days, we already tend to forget the things we did the first days of our trip. And the things we do are so different from day to day! We go from biking the Golden Gate Bridge to hiking a dusty trail in Zion and from photographing the neons on the Strip to stargazing through a telescope at Bryce. We're amazed at the friendliness of the Americans, something the Europeans can take a lesson from.

But what I love the most about the families we meet, is the fact that there are a lot of people out there, teaching and educating their kids. Instead of putting their kids in front of the television with a large bag of chips, people really are out there, to learn about stars, waterworks, sealife and everything else our beautiful world has to offer. And that's a sight we don't see everyday. Nowadays, when you watch the commercials, everything seems to revolve around videogames, movies, sugarpacked snacks and never-get-off-your-ass-recliners (sorry for the bad language). Just yet I saw a commercial for a minivan; it showed a wanna-be-hot-momma that showed her new car - ok, so far I can relate - but when the camera shows the backseat, you see 2 toddlers gazing at the optional dvd-screens with headphones on their heads.... Isn't that something....? Now, we don't have kids, but I can guess that driving a long drive with kids can be a pain sometimes. But what happened to the cargames we used to do 20 years ago? What happened to watching (and appreciating) your environment and surroundings? It's like we're getting sooooooooo afraid of 'getting bored' that we need to be stimulated every single minute of the day...
Well, I'm rambling. Sorry 'bout that. I wanted to say that I love that there are still a lot of people who care, and I am happy to notice.

Wishing you all a lovely week,
-xo-

Kimmie

New phone

2010-05-15T14:16:00.000+02:00

Hi all! I am playing around with my new phone. It's a HTC Legend and I am really happy with it. It's been my new baby for the past 4 weeks and we're really getting to know each other. But I have to confess that this is my second one. The first got smashed on the floor during a nice family weekend in the ardennes. I only had the thing for 3days... But luckily, insurance covered it and I could buy a new one. After I got home from the store I got my crochethook out and started on a nice sleeve, to prevent any damage to the new one. I winged it, but I think it turned out pretty nice!

One month

2010-05-07T15:54:00.000+02:00

I have been quiet for a month now.. There wasn't anything I felt the need sharing here. Not that there haven't been happening good things, it's just that I didn't felt the need to get behind the computer and typ them all down. Don't get me wrong, I love blogging! There are so many wonderful blogs out there which I read every single day. But with 8 hour office-work-days, keeping the house clean & pristine (ahum), longer sunlight and everything else I felt more like creating than computering/blogging.
I still haven't touched my beads... But I have been knitting and crocheting my pants off! So I have lots of finished stuff to show. Maybe I'll just have to get back blogging.
Yeah, I'll do that.

The Flowing of the Seasons

2010-04-07T13:27:00.002+02:00

Life is flowing by… I am so so so delighted that Winter has ended. The pale sunlight makes my skin feel revived and I just want to take a deep breath every time I step outside. We are working in our garden, we sowed some seeds and fertilized our soils, hoping to harvest some homegrown vegetables in the Summer and Fall. But for now, I am soaking in Spring, hoping it will release me from the Wintery-Blues and to make my days brighter then before.

I have dropped all things crafty for now, I haven’t found any energy anywhere and am hoping that it’ll get back to me one way or another. And when all goes well again, I will get my act together and make something. But for now, staring at my beads makes me feel miserable, and that’s not something I want….

BlogBreak

2010-03-11T14:13:00.000+01:00

I am having a Big Blog Break, and it's not on purpose.. Things are extremely busy these days, and I am so very excited it's finally going in the right direction again. I am not going to think about the first 2 months of 2010, but I'm going to look forward to all the fabulous things that will take place in the rest of 2010. For the next 2 months I won't be having any free weekends and I am glad about it. Just love that my time is filled with good stuff.
The beads haven't spoken to me in a while, but my time is filled with yarn now. I am crocheting my behind off, and I even picked up some knitting. I took pictures, but they're still on my camera...

Squared

2010-02-27T10:19:00.000+01:00

I am still working on the squares. And I am having soooo much fun making them.

Down and Out

2010-02-21T11:14:00.001+01:00

I guess you guys noticed I have been absent for quite some time now. The last couple of weeks have been, well uuhm, not quite happy. In January Dull's grandma passed away - after a decade of Alzheimer's, followed by a friends mom one week later. And after that, we tried to exhale, take a deep breath and go on. Everything went fine, until a week ago. Dull's other Grandmother went into the hospital, and after a dreadfull week of examinations and such, she passed on this Friday, at the age of 94. Alltough she was Dull's Nana, and not mine, I find myself missing her dearly. My own grandparents have been gone for almost a decade now, and I was so happy that Dull still had his grandmothers. There is something so comforting in visiting these old ladies, hearing there stories about the yesterdays (over and over again...). I am so, so glad she attended our wedding in 2008 and I really regret she didn't get to see any of our children. She already had quite a couple of great-grand-children, but not ours. She often asked my mother in law 'if there was already going on something over there'... I am glad we went to see her on Wednesday, we had a chance to talk, kiss, and hug a little. This Wednesday will be her funeral.
I am really done with all of this. 2010 is starting to be a very terrible year, and I am having a hard time keeping my head up and go on. I have to tell myself this can not get any worse, that both the nana's got to a very respectfull age, and that their lives have been beautifull. They wouldn't want me to be sad.
But I am.

Sorry.

Earrings, earrings, earrings....

2010-02-04T13:52:00.000+01:00

There are quite some swaps going on at Beading Daily. One of my favorites is the SSE Swap. SSE stands for Secret Santas Ear, and it's all about swapping earrings... Inca, hosts the swap, and she does a great job, every time again. Round 8 & 9, meant for December and January where put together, so we all had two partners. I had two totally different marks, Cat liked her earring small, and not too dangly, and Andrea loves it when her earrings "aren't subtle." I had an absolute blast in creating something for both of these girls. I really think crafting is more fun when you have someone in mind.
So these are Cat's earrings:

And these are Andrea's earrings:

Oh, and have I showed the pair from the previous round?

All of these where my own design.

weeeeeee flowers...

2010-02-01T21:07:00.000+01:00

I am doing so many things at the same time, it sometimes is hard to decide which project gets my attention first. This usually results in:
1. lots of WIPs, with a high risk of them evolving to UFOs..
2. late nights up and awake trying to finish something I want to wear the next day..
3. evenings spend at my laptop, ending in feeling guilty, because it makes point 1. more likely to happen..

Now, I tend to shift between these 3 points of risks. I have 3 boxes full of stuff (we'll call them exhibit A) to proove point 1. And every time I sit down to tear them up I get distracted by something else. I guess I will let them be, and only take them apart when I need something from it. It doesn't hurt the beads, and it gives me a little peace of mind, because it's something I can erase from my to-do-list!

About point 2... I went to bed last night at 1 am, because I had. to. finish. this choker:

I crocheted the flowers with a 1.2mm hook, they are under an inch in diameter... I had to start over several times, and didn't allow myself to give up. The flowers are stitched to some lovely pink lace, to make a choker. And I did wear it to work today!

And here we are at point 3. Again another night at the laptop...
Oh well, I am having fun, that's what counts, right?

Progress on the grannies.

2010-01-27T20:19:00.001+01:00

Okay, I have made progress on the square grannies! And I promised pictures, so here they are...

:: So far I've got 9 patches done!

:: I used different patterns

:: Lots of colours

:: Some really need some blocking

:: I even made a "advanced pattern" granny square!

And that will be all for the colourful happiness for today! I used the "standard" granny square pattern. (at least, I think it's pretty standard, since this is the pattern that pops up first and many times when you google "granny square pattern." The large flower is a pattern I found cruising on the www, and can't seem to find anymore... so I guess it will be a single in my large throw.

And I used Lucy's Summer Garden Granny Square Pattern. I love a little diversity while crocheting, and these different patterns really fit the bill. I am really enjoying all this crocheting!

But I have been eading as well! Pictures of those will follow when everyone received their stuff ('cause it's all swap-stuff)

Jippy!

2010-01-26T12:32:00.000+01:00

Hmm, I guess the creative juices are starting to flow again.. I have picked up some beads, and the crocheting also continues. All WIP’s though.. And lighting is so poor now that I can’t seem to manage to take a sharp picture of the things I am creating. And the shaking hands of excitement are not helping much either. – I know, it sounds like I am making lame-ass apologies, but they are all true  - But okay, I will try again tonight… Or tomorrow, cause I have to go to school tonight.

I am glad Januari will be over soon. It hasn’t been a very easy month. I hope Short Februari will bring in some fresh excitement, creativity and joy! Yes, we need some Joy! And a wee bit warmer weather would be nice too. If it wasn’t for Sabon’s handcream and body lotion, I would look like the Desert Woman! I adore this cream, bit pricey, but a little goes a long way! And the smell. Ah the smell.. You don’t need any perfume anymore I’ll tell you. But pricey indeed. I am already down to the 4th tube. And although it makes a nice birthday/Christmas/Valentine present, there has got to be a cheaper way to get my hydrationkick.

And then I read Heather’s post on Shivayanaturals. I have got to try this!!! I am going to put it on the TTD list, and hoping to make some time to do this, ‘cause it sounds like an excellent idea!

Shift in Craftiness!

2010-01-15T10:57:00.000+01:00

Lately, I’ve been noticing a little shift in my craft-time-devotion. I have been crocheting more and more, and the beads just lay around on the attic. I have some obligations for swaps on Beading Daily and I am having a real hard time in cranking the jewelry out. The beads don’t flow with me, but they go everywhere I don’t want them to go. Temporarily strung beads decide they don’t want to be strung anymore, and bounce on the floor, beadboxes that really like gravity, needles breaking with the slightest bend, threads gets knotted in places I don’t want it to knot, beadholes shrink on me, not making it able to pass ‘just one more time,’ and everytime I want to start a new colourcombo, the colours I need just ran out. (or ran on the floor as you wish). Being in my attic-beadstudio is starting to feel like a visit to the dentist, and lets be fair; that’s not something you like for a hobby.

So, I decided to let it go. Just for now. However, I do need to make a couple of pairs of earrings, before I take a leave of absence from my beads… I hope I can manage to do this.

Maybe a little time off will revive my creativity-bubble. The beads won’t turn bad (at least not worse then they are behaving now), and the studio will remain bead related, I’ll do my crochet on the couch in the livingroom.

This box came in 2 weeks ago. It’s filled with Bamboulene, which is a blend of 50% wool and 50% Bamboo. It’s soft, and the colours are bright! And I am crocheting it into Granny squares, hoping to make a large throw for the bed. But I am telling myself a pillowcase can be nice as well, because a throw might be a little bit too large for a first time crochetproject!

I am starting off with a basic square, maybe I’ll blend in some squares with a more intricate design, but first I’ll have to get some routine!

A little block each day… don’t think I can manage to finish this project before Dull’s birthday (which is March 1st). That would have been awesome!

Tea cosy

2010-01-07T22:25:00.001+01:00

Tea cosy
Originally uploaded by Chrystallinya

I found this tea cosy at a thriftstore, last weekend. I fell in love with it, the moment I laid my eyes on it.
When I was little, we always spent our summers at my grandfather's. He lived near the sea, so our vacations there were always a big blast! One of the things I cherish most about these vacations were the family breakfasts we had. We would walk into town early in the morning, to get croissants and rolls. Back at the house we would squeeze some fresh orangejuice, deck the table, and put the kettle on. The 2 things that never failed to be on the table were the newspaper (with the puzzle in progress) and the tea cosy.
I have been searching for a teacosy that would give me the same homy feel as the one at my grandfather's house.
And I believe I did....

2010!!!

2010-01-02T22:01:00.002+01:00

Another year went POOFFFF!!!! Isn't it amazing, how time flies by?

December was a cosy month, but I am very happy the New Year has arrived. Out With The Three, the Clutter and al the ChitChat and let's talk spring! But first we'll have to wish everybody Happy New Year's at work, and the fact that there has been snow falling down last night doesn't help much for the arrival of spring as well....
I hope you all had a lovely old-to-new-night, and I am wishing you the very best for the coming 365 days (or better said, 363, since it's allready the 2nd....)
-xo-

Angina...

2009-12-30T17:17:00.003+01:00

I went to the doctor's today. After the big "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh" with the popsiclestick in my mouth she stated I had irritated toncils. No surprise, I haven't been able to speak nor swallow for the last couple of days. Fever comes and goes and everything is juk! I am living on apples, icewater, biscuits sogged in yoghurt (or cookies in yoghurt) and chickensoup. and I gotta say: enough with the chickensoup!

Christmas was very cosy, not the big dinnerparty we had the last 4 years, but 2 smaller ones. It was different, and I needed to adjust. But it was al good.

I am wishing you all a lovely New Year's Eve, and that 2010 may give you everything you wish for!

Ill, again...

2009-12-29T11:59:00.003+01:00

Bleeech, I have a flu. Again... I am feverish and my throat feels very ouch. Eating and swallowing is a pain and I am not happy!!!
Dull is being very sweet for me, he really is taking care of me, which gives me a great feeling. And last night Mom came over to make me some chickensoup. I love her for that...
I'll leave my post like this, don't feel like telling anymore about how I feel...

Christmas is nearly here.

2009-12-23T13:32:00.001+01:00

christmas arrangement
Originally uploaded by Chrystallinya

Brrrrr,
It's cold, our city has been covered in snow for the entire week and I've been busy. I finally finished all the jewelry for the party. I did get a new order when I delivered it at the host of the party, but I decided that I couldn't get it done before Christmas.
This month (and year!) has flewn by, I haven't had the time to sit down and enjoy our decorated livingroom, and now I am going to have to take it down in 3 days...
I haven't even decided yet what I am going to make for dinner!
But well, all is well!
Just one more week before the year is over...

Christmas

2009-12-18T16:24:00.002+01:00

Christmas arrangement
Originally uploaded by Chrystallinya

For me, Christmas is all about the reds.... (and purple and orange, but these are the colours of our livingroom).
Because I work 40 hours a week (and these weeks maybe even a bit more) I really don't feel like dragging all the christmas stuff out. I am toooo busy to sit down and enjoy them and the work it takes to put everything out is better spent at doing some ironing and vacuuming...
However, you can't let christmas go by without some ornaments around the house.... This is one of the corners, looks quite cosy, doesn't it? I wonder how much time people spent at getting all the decorations up and out...? Do you spent an entire day at turning your livingroom to a winterwonderland, or do you rather spent a little time decorating each day?
Oh, and I told you guys about the crocheted stars and snowflakes right? Here is the result:

I am quite proud of these, it's the first handmade Christmas ornament from my hands, and I am planning on making much more in the folowing years!

bracelets with silver leather & a little anxious

2009-12-17T13:31:00.002+01:00

Okay,
First let me start by telling you that getting the tripod out of the closet was a great thing for this blog. I have so much to tell, and it is so much more fun when I have pictures to show what I am talking about.
Second: I have been stalking "the beaders muse blog" all day, because today is the reveal of the muse and the announcement of the winners. Really, I don't think I won, but I am so anxious to see what everybody has made with the muse.
To keep us all posted, Scarlett asked some questions for us to think over. She wanted to know how expressing your creativity through beading has enriched our lives and what our goals are for 2010, beadingwise.
Now, making up goals for the new year is easy! There are so many things I would love to do, dreams to fullfill and plans to make. I want to restrusture, organise and clean up the studio/attic, start a bridalcollection, participate in more challenges and competitions and so on. These goals come up every year, and every year I say to myself: this year it'll really happen...
But the expressing-my-creativity-through-beading-and-how-it-enriches-my-life question was a bit harder to answer... I have been beading for a decade now, and it's so much a part of my life, that I can't imagine myself without my beads. And altough I picked up some knitting and crocheting this year, I will never leave my beads.
And maybe that's just my answer to this question: I can't think of a life without my beads. They make me: ME! So there you go....

And finally, a pic of the leather bracelets. I had a piece of silver leather laying around the attic for quite some time. The night before the jewelryparty I came up with a simple design; I cut the leather in strips and made a wavy band with beads between the waves. I made the purple/black version for the party and the black version is one of the orders. I really like it when something simple takes the spotlight, don't you?

bracelets with silver leather
Originally uploaded by Chrystallinya

our garden, covered in snow

2009-12-17T09:46:00.001+01:00

our garden, covered in snow
Originally uploaded by Chrystallinya

I know, I know I said my next post would be about the leather bracelets. But we woke up this morning to this wintery wonderland, and I just had to show how our garden looked like this morning.
We don't get much snow around here, and when we do it will only last a couple of hours. Our country is so crowded that there aren't much places the snow gets untouched.
I really love how the world looks like, covered in snow. So soft and lovely!

tripod in the winter = pics to post! Pt 1!

2009-12-16T17:33:00.003+01:00

I pulled out my tripod and took some pictures... Not of everything I've been promising over the last weeks, but just some pics to keep you informed about everything.

Now, I don't want to overflow you with my pics, so I'll post one at a time:

This is the first:

It's blurry and shaken, but I like the feel you get from this pic. It's an up close pic of our tree...

Tomorrow I'll make you guys happy with the pic of the leather bracelets that were a hit at the jewelry party...!

I know you can't wait!

Pic-less Posts

2009-12-15T10:29:00.002+01:00

Well hello! I think we can finally draw the conclusion that I am not much of a social person during winterseason… In person I am – or at least I hope so -, but this little blog of mine have been neglected quite a bit. This is mainly due to the fact that it’s dark when I get home. I love blogging, but I really feel that a blog needs pics to be interesting enough to make people read it, let alone come back for it. And taking pics of my jewelry in artificial lighting is really hard!
I know I promised to show some pics of my work, but I’m honest to say I haven’t had the lighting, nor the time. So I apologise.
Did manage to make a lot of new stuff! I even had a jewelryparty 2 weeks ago, I didn’t sell as much as last year, but everything that gets sold is worth a happydance, right?!
The biggest hit at the party were leather bracelets, 4 people ordered one! I also made some necklaces… But no pics yet. (again, I apologise…)
So, now I am still working on some orders from the party, one bracelet in particular has been eating my time. The girl who ordered it saw a black/pink version on the party and decided she wanted it in black/ruby. So I happily wrote down the order, searched around for the right sized and coloured beads, started the thing and after 3 minutes I remembered what a lot of work it takes… But I can do it in front of the tv, so that makes up for it, and I am happy that the colours work up great.
In addition, the Christmas tree is UP! It’s feathery, purple and twinkly and it makes the livingroom cosy! (again, maybe I’ll manage to take some pics). I did get crafty on Christmas as well, I stumbled upon Lucy’s blog recently and fell in love with her blogposts about stars and snowflakes. So I made a couple and added them up to a lovely string of red and white wintery goodness. (again, I will take pics Ah, you get the idea, right?) I really love to make my own Christmasdecorations, there is so much junk being sold, it’s good to make your own quality-stuff!
Oh, and do you remember the Muse? The winners will be announced in 2 days, so that’s pretty exciting! Can’t wait to see what everybody dreamed up about the Muse, and also, I can finally show you guys what I’ve made with it. I bet you’re all very eager to see, right?
I reaaaaaally loved participating in this event. It triggered all my creative juices and gave me a chance to try some new stuff. Usually, when I get an idea I start out with one thing and it evolves to something completely different, usually with totally different materials then I pulled out in the first place. For this event, I wanted to stick to the kit and see if I could guide my creative juices between these borders. I think it worked out, and although I added some extra materials, I also used the entire kit. Please keep posted, because after the Big Reveal, I’ll put some pictures here.

Yeah! You finished this post, even without pics! It does work! Woohoo!

I am still here!

2009-12-01T10:35:00.001+01:00

Nonono worries, I didn't disappear or anything.. It's just that I had a jewelry party last night.
My mom was stalking her neighbors to get them into action and book a party with me. So, one finally collapsed 2 weeks ago and said she would like to have it on the 30th of November. Mom called me to tell me the 'good' news and I just dropped everything and ended up in a blurry wirl of beads, necklaces, making booklets, earrings and such... I completely panicked. I always tend to do that, and I am sooooo glad that Dull knows this. I am very happy that he can cope with the wild stare in my eyes, the beads scattered all over the house, daylightbulbs on all evening and me wanting nothing else to do then bead.
"Honey, let's go to the movie tonight," "Uuuhm, sorry babe, but I really need to finish this piece." This went on for the entire 2 weeks.
And then, finally, it was the 30th of November. I put all the jewelry in a bag, got giftwrapping, change and a happy face (and lots of concealer on it to hide the dark circles under my eyes) and I went for it.
In the end, I worried for nothing. It wasn't a very very good party, but I did make some sales, got a few orders and some e-mailadresses and phonenumbers from girls who are interested in giving a party. So all in all, it has been a good night.
I love to do these kind of parties, it usually is a very good way to make some sales and have a nice night. But I really don't like the bewildered type of girl I get during the preparations of these events. I know it gets better when you do more of them, but I just don't seem to be able to persuade people to organise a party. Yesterday was not different. It feels a bit like begging to me. "Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaaase will you book a party with me, because I neeeeeeeed the money" That's how it sounds in my head when I start promoting myself, another thing I have to get past, I guess.
So it has been a very educational 2 weeks. The lessons I learned are:

1. Try to get more parties to get used to the preparation-part
2. Keep it together during the preparations
3. In the end, it will all come together.
Now I am off, to take some pictures of the work I didn't sell and to buy Dull a new PS game to thank him for his patience with me during the past two weeks (or 5 years).

Craft-fair part 2 and a move.

2009-11-14T22:41:00.003+01:00

Pheeeeeew! Man, am I busy!
We've been moving office this week; nothing but boxes, boxes and boxes... Putting stuff in them and getting out of them at the new place. Pretty heavy work! Monday we'll be starting at the new place and give everything the right spot and such. It's a nice office, but it's a little bit sad, because we moved further from the rest of the offices, so we're all feeling a little bit banished. But we will grow out of it, eventually.
On Thursday (I was a very lucky girl to get the day off, whilst moving), I went to the Kreadoe with Irma. The Kreadoe is a craftfair, with all sorts of crafts. And a lot of beads! I scored a lot of goodies, but I am waiting for some proper (sun)light, so you can all see all the lovely luster and sheen on these babies.
It was a great day! Irma and I talked about making at a yearly event for us to go to. It's good to make plans, right?
I am a bit in a seasonal rut. The falling of the leaves can be pretty nice, but it also gives me a gloomy felling, and I am constantly tired. Bleeeeeech. But it will pass. Come December!

And the earrings keep on swapping...

2009-11-04T10:23:00.002+01:00

I am getting on a serious roll with all the earring-swapping… And having serious fun with it as well! The latest swap I am participating is on Swap-Bot (Yes, I know I said I would quit Swap-Bot, but this swap had good guidelines, so I guess I will receive something nice this time). My Swappartner mentioned she’s a redhead, and I just absolute adore olive green and burgundyred on redheads… So I made two pairs, one copper wireworked pair with olive green Czech glass and one woven piece with purple and red firepolished Czech glass. I really hope she will love them…

Fall colored bead-challenge on Beading Daily

2009-11-01T12:24:00.004+01:00

Besides the earrings and bracelet swaps, there also is a bead-challenge swap on Beading Daily. For this swap you'll have to make each participant a baggie of beads that suits the theme. Put these baggies in a envelope and ship it to the swapcoordinator, and she makes from all those baggies a challenge package for every participant. Since the gal who hosted this swap lives in Italy, I was the first to receive the package...

I think the mailman hurt his back on this one, 'cause this package was filled with lots of beady-goodiness! Lots of large glass beads, seed beads, semiprecious rounds, copper wire, some findings, ribbon, paper beads, wooden beads, pearls, some focals, and pendants. And the colors! Ah the colors, so lush and well ehm, autumn-y....

I have lots of ideas dancing around in my head... But no designs yet

Swap earrings received!

2009-11-01T12:08:00.002+01:00

Joining swaps is so much fun! Not only because you get to make something for someone based on their profile, but also because you get to receive something that is made especially for you....

When I checked my mail a couple of days ago I found a rather large envelope, filled with some lovely gifts! I didn't receive 1 pair, nor 2, no; I received 3 pairs of earrings, a phone/pursedangle, 5 fun beads and some small extra's in one package! It felt like Christmas!

These are copper, swarovski and blue frog beads

The package came from Gipsy Mary, and she did an amazing job on these gorgeous pairs!

These cowgirls are stitched in very very small 15/0 beads, the detail is amazing!

These are stitched with 11/0 beads, red & white

These froggies also came from her, aren't they the cutest?

Amazing eeh!

The creativity continues

2009-10-28T13:06:00.002+01:00

Past weekend was a busy one. My best friend and a cousin celebrated both their birthdays on Friday. I made something for both of them. I bought a sterling silver bracelet link bracelet for Irma and added some Swarovski and silver beads as charms. I used Jet, Golden Shadow and Clear 10mm rounds. It's a very bold design, but I really love how it turned out!

For Wes I made a travelpillow, because he's going to Thailand in January. I'll post pictures later on.

I also made a bracelet for a swap on Beading Daily, for Kia.

It's a wirewrapped flower made with Celestial Crystals... the findings are silverplated copper.
She wrote on her profile page she love girly, glitters and glamour and I thought this design would be just her thing. Thankfully she was really happy with it!

Another pair of earrings for a swap...

2009-10-25T22:07:00.003+01:00

I have been crafting my ass off this weekend... (sorry for my language, but it just feels like that...) I finished the knitted scarf for Dull, I will take pictures when the sun is out. It actually is the very first piece I finished knitting. I felt very proud. I also started to crochet a hat, but again, no pictures yet.

But I do have some pics to show: a pair of earrings I made for another swap on Beading Daily.

These are quite small, but I like how they turned out, I used brickstitch and herringbone stitch, and used 11/0 and 15/0 beads. I made up the design myself.

Inca was very happy with these, I hope she'll wear them often!

Choker

2009-10-21T20:08:00.002+02:00

Being sick at home gives you time. I am sneezing my butt off, but still, I hate sitting on the couch doing nothing. I've tried reading, but the letters keep dancing, and I've seen some movies. Yesterday I watched "The Duchess" with Keira Kneightly. She wears the most beautifull jewelry in this movie, which inspired me to create this:

It's funny, but beading really calms me down. And the herringbone stitch I used for this choker is easy to me, I can do it with my eyes closed. I used Chinese seed beads, which are the most irregular seed beads in the world, but I just love the effect they give the piece. Regularity is sooooo overrated. I gave it a leather strap which closes with snap closures, it gives it a really goth appearance. I think this will be my new fave...

Now I guess I'll continue my knitting... or not.

Flu-ish

2009-10-19T17:59:00.002+02:00

I have the flu... I don't get the flu very often, but when I do, I seriously do. I am sniffing, sneezing, coughing, blowing my nose and all those other stuff that comes with the flu (I will spare you the yukkie details). I went to work today, did all the important stuff and left at noon. Dull was leaving for work when I got home, so I was lucky enough to get a hug (YAY).

Now, about the weekend. Altough I felt crappy already on Saturday, mom and I still went to the craft-fair. It has been a long time since I've been at one. We arrived at the start of the thing, and there were lots of elderly women, even my mom lowered the average age there... But later on the crowd got a bit younger (they probably were a little late because of all the party-ing they did on Friday). It was a good fair. Only 3 booths with beads, but I knew that. There were lots of quilting boots, which really isn't my cup of tea. I mean, quilting in the Netherlands is a bit muffy, lots of dark colors and depressing prints used. I only saw 2 or 3 boots that had quilts in lovely young colors.

Altough there weren't much bead-booths I managed to score a bag full of crafting goodies!

The score: 2 big balls of yarn to knit a vest (already casted on, and knitted 20 needles), two cones of yarn for a scarf for Dull (allready started and 2/3 done), and when it's finished I am planning on knitting a hat for myself, 2 crochethooks - 0,6mm (for beading) and 12mm (for rugknitting), a big bag and 2 smaller bags of wool and needles for needlefelting, 6 cards of ribbon/lace/ricrac and 5 baggies with beads.... I never did any needle felting, but it looks like fun. I gathered some info and stuff and I am going to give it a go this week. The knitting is going well. I started with an easy-peasy 'pattern': knit 2-purl 2. So you really can't call it a pattern, but it's a good excercise in repairing lost stitches and faulty stitches. And I am having fun, that's what counts right?

Well, I have to get back to my pot of tea and the blanket on the couch. Take care!

Non crafty period closed

2009-10-16T10:05:00.001+02:00

Boy, have I been busy the last couple of weeks. And I am very sorry to say that it hasn’t anything to do with beading…. Nor knitting, crocheting or anything else that involves crafty skills. School, household chores, running errands, bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech. But things are about to change...
This weekend I am going to a craft-fair in our city, together with Mom. I am looking forward to it! Not for beads, because I’ve got plenty, but because I am looking for different things to do. There are so many crafts I would like to give a go, and a fair always give you good ideas on how to get started. Kumihimo, needle felting, plush felt toys making, freehand embroidery… It all looks so interesting. I hope to get some good info on these things. And maybe I will pick up some beads as well. And ribbon, chain, yarn, fabric and such. I guess it’s a good thing they don’t accept credit cards at these events. I would be maxed out in an hour.
I am planning on bringing my camera…

The Ardennes

2009-10-06T22:04:00.002+02:00

This weekend we had a familyweekend in the Ardennes in Belgium. We've organised the entire event, because it was such a succes last year. We had a nice time, but it wasn't as nice as last year. But well, those things happen, right? The weather wasn't working along, but on Saturday we went to La Roche en Ardennes. It's a small village that's really turistic, but it really is a sweet village... There's a castle which we've visited.

Very rough, but I love it. I really like ruins and remains of buildings that used to be huge and proud.

In the Beans

2009-09-28T20:45:00.002+02:00

Last week was a very dreadfull week, nothing went as I wanted it to go. My feet moved as if they were in a big box of cement and I had a terrible temper... I wrote 3 posts, but dismissed them all, because they were angry, sad or somewhat depressing.

I have these kind of moodswings on a regular basis, and I really don't like them. Actually, I don't like myself when I am in such a downside of a moodswing. But I just don't seem to get out of it at that moment... It'll pass, it always will, but sometimes it takes a liiiiiiiiiittle too long. Sometimes it helps to get a hubbiehug, or to wallow with a very sad movie (because that makes your own life sunnier), or to eat a big can of icecream. But usually it just takes time. Time to gather my toughts, to go through the darkest sides of my inner being, and to collect myself. I sometimes think that people with creative interests have larger moodswings than people that don't care to sit down and create something altogether. When I go through a swing, I get very creative, I need to do stuff to get through it, my hands need repetitive work to give my mind a chance to straighten my thoughts.

So, last weekend, I gave a wall in our bedroom and our hallway a new wallpaper. I also cleaned up the attic.

And now, I am a happy girl again, with a lovely new papered hallway and bedroom...

Earrings for a swap

2009-09-20T11:41:00.002+02:00

I have joined the swaps on Beading Daily a while ago. The first one I've joined is the Secret Santa's V Earringswap. (cool name, eeh?!). My swappartner was Rachael who is fond of the beach. So I sat down, thought about the beaches I've seen and what colours in my stash would reflect those beaches. This is what I've come up with.
This first pair was made in less than a minute, these are silverplated stampings, with Swarovski channels. I've had these little thingies forever, and I thought about them when I was reading Rachael's Bio. Now this second pair was different, I used Pacific Opal and Golden Shadow Swarovski's and seafoam colored 11/0's and ivory 15/0's. I've made up the design myself, and I've had so much fun making them! I hope Rachael will wear them!

Playing with 15/0's

2009-09-17T20:56:00.002+02:00

Don't worry, I am talking beads here.... To all the non-beading-enthusiastics: 15/0's are the smallest seedbeads known to mankind. I have putting off working with them as long as I could. The 11/0's were satisfying enough. But now things have changed. I have been beading for a long time and my techniques have shifted quite a lot. Where I started with stringing large beads, I now find myself stitching beaded beads. I use a lot of techniques, and now, with the 15/0's these techniques will evolve more. Especially combined with larger seed beads (11/0 of even 8/0's), you can get intricate designs... But for now I am just playing around, and having a fabulous time!

I'm going to Use the Muse!

2009-09-15T22:20:00.002+02:00

Oh dear....
I did it, after a month of thinking, weighing and wondering if I could do it, I finally purchased a Use the Muse III kit. Now the idea of this kit is that you create a piece of jewelry with it, you can use extra beads from your own stash, and you do not have to incorporate every single bead that's in the kit. There is a secret muse in the kit, you only get to see it when you order the kit. You HAVE to use the muse! And that's it. You can do whatever technique you like, and make whatever kind of beaded jewelry you like. Off course you can win prizes... but I am not really up for the prizes, I just want to join such a wonderfull group of artistic beaders. Last 2 competitions had such amazing entries, that it scares me a bit. I hope I will fit in...
It's going to be a challenge, and I am up for it!
Now off to bed, I just came home from school... (Funny thing to say when your 28 years old....)

Our first...

2009-09-13T21:52:00.004+02:00

This weekend was our anniversary... Our FIRST anniversary. To celebrate we went to Trier, Germany for 4 days.

We had a lovely time, the weather was working with us and the hotel was nice. The weekend contained everything, we did a little shopping (I guess I'm one of the happy few with a husband who likes shopping, as long as the store has a malecollection..), a little sightseeing the Porta Negra and

the amfitheater,

a little (or a lot) schnitzel and bratwurst eating and of course we celebrated our marriage. When we got married the wheater wasn't that great. But we didn't had any problems with it. The day went by really fast, but not in a blur. We had such a fun day! And now, one year later, we have our pictures to look back at this fabulous day!

Have a nice week everybody!

Fabulous days

2009-09-07T08:20:00.002+02:00

Weekend has flewn by again! The weather is cooling down so quickly, I've allready changed the duvet on our bed, since I've woken up cold twice last week. I really like the warmth in bed when it's getting colder. Weatherforecast is telling us temperatures will rise by the end of the week, so I guess we won't be happy with the thick bedcovers by then, but we'll see.
This weekend was really laid back, we did a little shopping, went to the market on Saturday and cleaned the house a bit. Yesterday the family came over for a familydinner and we had a nice time. It was quite a challenge to cook 10 kilos of mussels all in one time, but with the big pans of both moms, I managed it. I've cooked 4 kilos in water (and veggies), 3 kilos in dark beer and 3 kilos in white wine. I've baked 10 baquettes and 2 kilos of fries. We had applepie with vanilla icecream for dessert and lots of wine before, during and after dinner. And now I'm at work, with a light buzz in my head... But who cares, after a nice weekend?
I finished some necklaces for the co-worker, I'll try to post some pictures this evening. I am also working on earrings for a swap on beadingdaily. But I can't post pictures of them before the swap-date.... I hope (and I know this hope is not futile) that the stuff I'll receive in Beading Daily swaps will be of better quality then the ones from swaps on Swapbot. I have received some real bad things there. And when I say bad, I really mean bad. I usually spent a lot of time on my swaps, I've send some lovely beadwoven pieces, with crystals and such, to receive some simple strung plastic-elastic pieces in return. (not plastic-fantastic...) I have been disappointed too much, so I quit Swapbot. Hope Beading Daily Swaps will turn out better!!!

Fall's creatures

2009-09-05T22:23:00.004+02:00

This weekend Fall really kicked in, I've woken up early because I was cold, and the wind was blowing around our house.... I haven't smelled it yet, but I'm positive it's just around the corner. The grapes in our yard are almost ready to be eaten, and the roses are being eaten...
Now I haven't got a macrolens for my camera, but I managed to take a picture of these little basterds, eating all of the leaves of our roses. It's been a hard year for the roses, they have been sick, and I had to trim them very short, in order to get them healthy again. They managed to grow some new leaves and flowers, and now they're being eaten. Sad...
I also took a picture of a spider, but it isn't a very good picture... I am one of those girls that isn't afraid of spiders. I really like watching them weaving their webs and catching their preys. Amazing how they manage to survive on those very thin threads, with winds blowing around. And the early morningdew on those webs is stunning!

We bought some new pillow cases for our livingroom, I really love them, the colors are very Autumn and I love the print. The red one shows the colors of our livingroom; red, orange and purple.

Tomorrow the family is coming over for dinner. I'm cooking mussels for 10, hope I'll manage. Looking forward to it, I love it when everybody gets together!

Have a good weekend, all!

AutumnGirl

2009-08-31T08:35:00.001+02:00

August has come to an end…. And days are shortening really fast. I came to realise this weekend, that I am more of a Autumngirl than a Summer-type. Don’t get me wrong, I love the long days, the Sun, and the mood Summer seems to bring people in. But I don’t like the high temperatures and the fact that friends leave the country for a couple of weeks, for their vacation. My birthday is on the 4th of July; when I was younger this sometimes meant that my familymembers were on holiday, and my birthday wouldn’t be as big of a party as I hoped for. My 16th birthday was great, everybody was there because the summer holiday was late that year. But my 17th, everybody was away, and I spent my birthday (which actually was on Saturday) going out alone….. I felt so sorry for myself…. My 18th birthday made up for it though, so all was well again. But to get back to my point: I am an AutumnGirl. I don’t know many people who like the fact that Summer is over, but I am one of them. I love a lot about Autumn;
1. You can finally wear the clothes you bought in August,
2. You can pull your boots out of the closet,
3. Cosy nights indoors with candles,
4. The food,
5. The approaching of the holidays,
6. Planning a nice weekend in the country
7. And since this year; our anniversary…
We got married on 12 September 2008, so this year will be our first. We haven’t planned anything yet, but we’re both taking the week before it off, to do some things in the house. Maybe we’ll go away for the weekend, we’ll see...

I need a little headrest!

2009-08-27T22:46:00.004+02:00

I am in a weird state of mind, it truly is going crazy (my mind, that is). I can't get my attention to focus on anything longer then 10 minutes. I've got a beading table full of WIP's to show for it. And if this state of mind lingers on me a little longer, I swear, all this WIP's will become UFO's, and who likes UFO's on their attic? I'm sure I don't. I've tried a lot to get my mind tuned down, listening to all kinds of music; from Linkin Park to K's Choice to Norah Jones, Joss Stone, Nickelback and so on. Nothing helped. My mind just bounced along with the uptempo (it didn't get tired, whatsoever), and wandered along the downtempo music...

My beading table, just the way it is....

I've pulled out the Wii Fit, off course I didn't recognise it at first because of all the dust on it. I had to search for the Wii remote, had to change the batteries in both the remote and the board. Then I had to search for the cd, because it wasn't in it's tray. Had to search for the nicest training pants and finally, after 35 minutes of setting up I managed to do an hour of Wii-fittingthingies. I even broke a little sweat. After that I hopped into the shower, to relax and unwind. Put on my pj's and went to the attic for another go. Results: 3 more WIP's. I've given up.

Some firepolished glass beadies

Maybe I'll just have to let the beads be for a while..... But I'll miss them..

Some of my crystal beads....

August endings...

2009-08-23T21:34:00.003+02:00

Time just flies by! Again a fabulous weekend. Yesterday we went to Antwerpen in Belgium. We did a little shopping and a little sightseeing. There is a store that sells more than 7000 magazines, from all over the world. I allready got subscriptions to both Bead & Button and Beadwork. In the past I had subscriptions to Step by Step beads and Beadstyle, but ended them because they weren't interesting enough to me... But when I stepped into this store I saw so much more magazines. I picked up Beads (a UK magazine), Bead Unique and Handcrafted Jewelry (special issue). I couldn't wait to get home to dive into them! Beads is a totally different magazine than the ones I've read so regularly. Really refreshing. I also like that, when there are announcements for shows and such it doesn't require a worldtravel to go to them. (Not that I think it's likely for me to take the boat to go to a beadshow in the UK, but it is easier to accomplish than a trip to the States!) Bead Unique is also different than the mags I have, and they had some lovely interviews and projects in it. I would actually consider to subscribe... The Handcrafted Jewelry is more focussed on making your own pendants, with stamping, claywork, resin, fabric and metalwork. I really like the projects in it, but it requires a lot of new tools and stuff to try them out. I'll keep them for later....

Dull bought new inlineskates. I really love to skate, but he had never done this and was a little scared to try it. But he did want to try, so that's why we bought them...

When we drove home, we stopped by my sister in law, and watched their holidayhomemovie. We had a nice time, but I was really tired, so we went home at a reasonable hour.

Today I've worked on my kit. I am nearly finished and planning on making it in Dutch for a local store, and jewelryparties, and I'll make an English version to sell trough Etsy/Artfire. I love doing this, this first kit will be a beginner-kit, but I guess I can try to make some advanced kits later on.... Also, Dull tried out his skates today, I had a bit of a laugh, but he looked adorable with his arms all around and the unbalanced positions he got himself into. But he's getting there...

I harvested some tomatoes today! They taste just like the sun... Lovely! Next year we will try and grow some more vegetables in our backyard.

Well, this is another collection of loose messages, but it gives you an idea about my weekend, I hope yours was as wonderful as mine!

Hot! And awaitment rewarded...

2009-08-19T22:02:00.002+02:00

Finally, my beads arrived yesterday! The shipment was checked and billed by customs, so I had to pay extra. Not fun! But the beads are fun! I didn't take a picture of them, because they are seedbeads, so nothing much to see there.

As always, new things make me want to clean up the old ones, so the attic is one explosion of beads. I decided to switch the tubes that hold the beads, making one giant shuffle-hassle-fuss, and making me wonder why I started doing it in the first place. So I decided I could continue tomorrow and left the attic as I created it: One giant beadsoup!

Wheater is extremely hot, so I took the afternoon off to enjoy it. When I sat in the garden I wondered why I did take the afternoon off, because we got airco at the office and our backyard is south-oriented, so extremely hot! And I am not really a sunbathing-type of gal... Oh well. It was a good afternoon, and I got the chance to read some backissues of beadmagazines, so I am up to date again.

I got some orders from a co-worker who is going on a cruise in 3 weeks. She wanted some basic designed chokertype necklaces in summery colors. I love getting orders with a bit of freehand. I find it easier to design something with the person who's going to wear it in mind, than designing from scratch. I've started a couple of things, but haven't finished anything yet. And with the beadsoup-explosion-attic warmed up by the sun, I guess it will take a couple of days for me to finish them up.

Last night I went to the gym with my sis for a Zumba-lesson. It's a fun lesson, with a lot of bootyshaking. And that booty has a lot to shake nowadays.... Don't know yet if we're going to make it a weekly thing though... I am going to take a course in Bookkeeping in September, and I don't like to have my week entirely filled up with things-to-do.

Well, nothing more to tell here, I am off to bed.

Okay, this pic has nothing to do with my post, but I love looking at it when wheater is this hot...

Planning on making a kit...

2009-08-14T22:12:00.004+02:00

A lot of people around me are starting with or picking up all sorts of crafts. I don't know if it's got to do with the ending of summer, the financial situation in the world or just because they feel like it. Now, I love my crafts! I have been beading for ten years, almost non stop, and in addition I have put some attempts at sewing, knitting and crocheting (all with and without beads). I find I can empty my mind while beading a repetitive structure, or while sorting my beads, it gives me the chance to order my thoughts. Because of the effect it has on me I have tried to put other people to the crafttable, sometimes with lovely results.

My sister however, hates beading. I have tried to put the beadingvirus on her, and sometimes I got her to sit down with some beads and wire. She has made a charmnecklace once, but all other attempts results in a lot of sighing and in the end she would go watch TV. My mom does love beading, so I can sit down with her and bead, but I am really disappointed that my sis won't bead with us.

Now, about spreading the beadingbliss... I have found that a lot of people don't know where to start, there are so many beads, so many stitches, so many supplies and so many styles. Well, you've got to ask yourself: Am I a teeny-tiny seedbead person, or the chunkybead kinda gal? I have given some workshops and found out that working with seedbeads scares the most of people. So I have written instructions for a pretty basic bracelet and am planning on selling it as a kit. I think that a kit makes it easy for people to try a new craft without buying a lot of stuff to find out that it's not for them...

The bracelet didn't do well on the pics, because I used a white background... But you'll get the idea.

So what do you think? Is this a good idea? I am making the kit in different colorcombo's, with the needle and conditioned thread in the package. So when you get the kit you can start straight away.

Waiting and anticipating

2009-08-10T21:29:00.002+02:00

I am waiting.... waiting for the mailman to bring me some goodies! But he isn't running fast this time. I am waiting for some beads and a book. The beadorder is a result of a previous bookorder; I received 'Shaped Beadwork' a couple of weeks ago, and it's packed with things I want to try, but I figured I needed some delica's. So I ordered them a little bit over a week ago. And now I'll have to wait. And wait. And. Wait.....
I am not very good at waiting, can you tell? But do you know what the thing is about waiting? While you wait for your stuff, you make up in your head how it's going to be. F.I., when you are little and know that your birthday is coming up, you just can't wait. I literally counted the days until it was The Day. The Day always was a great day. However, when I got older it shifted. The waiting was sometimes better then the fulfullment of the anticipation. I have ordered books, waited and waited, dreaming about all the things I could learn. And then the doorbell rang... And the books were a disappointment... But I like the dreaming, and okay, the waiting as well. A wee little bit that is....

A winner!

2009-08-09T22:38:00.003+02:00

Allright everybody, 10 people participated in my give-away.... My First Give-Away! Not bad... not bad at all, I think. I thank you all for the great replies. The winner is:

annaelizc said...
I love that turquoise/purple combo!A personal fave combo of mine is lime green and chocolate (!) think it must come from the sweets! LOL!I have linked you on my blog roll :)Anna

So Anna, please mail me your adress and I will send you the pendant!!!

For the ones who didn't win, please keep folowing me, because I am planning to do another give-away in two weeks or so! And now I am off to see if I can make anything in limegreen and chocolate. Beaded, that is... However, I would love a piece of chocolate...

Augustweekend

2009-08-08T10:04:00.003+02:00

Welllllll, I just came out of the shower, realising our house needs a big clean-up. But I really don't feel like scrubbing, vacuming and mopping.... I think I'll go blowdry my hair, put on a nice outfit and go to the market with mom. Cleaning up can wait, right? RIGHT! Well, it's not that bad anyways.

Dull is working today and I really need some new ribbons and buttons.... Don't know for what, but I do need them, I sometimes wake up with such a feeling: I need it. And as long as it doesn't involve Manolo's or Porsche's I guess it's okay to give in. Ribbons and buttons are cheap, so a few bucks to make me feel happy are well spent bucks, right? RIGHT!

Weekend will be laid back, since soccer has started again and the first game was not a bad one, guess we will stay home to watch the second game on the television. Nice and quiet, NOT!

I got inspired by the banglebracelet I made, and took the design to make a choker with it. I like how it turned out, don't think I am a warm-metal kind of gal (copper, gold and brass). I like the cold metals better (silver, steel). But maybe it's just a getting-used-to kind of thing....

Have a good weekend and get back tomorrow for the drawing for the Give-Away!!

Another weekend...

2009-08-02T22:37:00.003+02:00

has passed. Boy, time goes fast! As I said: I had dinner with my best friend on Friday, we went for Tapas. We had reservations at eight, but we decided to go a wee bit earlier, because we were really hungry. It was a fabulous night. The tapas tasted great, and I guess we ate enough garlic for the rest of August... We didn't make it late, I was in bed by eleven. Which was nice, because I haven't been sleeping well recently.

On Saturday we continued our search for good thriftshops. It seems like we found one! It's a real big one, and it doesn't has that paticular smell you seem to find in a lot of thriftshops here. We bought some stuff of course... A black chair for the bedroom, some books and this little thing:

It wasn't cheap, almost 10 euro's, but since we both liked it really much we decided to take it with us. Guess it will end up in the bedroom as well. On the top of the coffeepot there's this bangle I made this weekend:

I made it with copper wire, which has been lying around for ages. And since copper seems to be the new hype (I know, it's around for some time now, but when it comes to trends, I am a tad slow...) I thought I would give this a go. I used some fallcolored jeweltoned firepolished glass and I really like the way it turned out!

Talking about turning out nicely; this is something I really don't know what to do with:

These flowers are made with glass dagger beads and copperwire. I started to make a wirewrapped link chain with it, but it really doesn't work out well, the flowers keep turning the wrong way, and I guess the 4 wired links won't feel nice on one's skin, so this one will end up in the do-over box. (Which is totally cleaned out by mom, so she would have some beads to play with.)

And then there was Sunday. The soccerseason has started again, which means that Dull will be at De Kuip every other Sunday. Usually I will do something with friends, or my sister. Yesterday I stayed at home. Doing a little household chores, laundry and off course I listened to the game on the radio. Bailey was laying around on our bed all day long and everytime I entered the room she would strike a different pose. She was really being a Mata Hari! Even when I got the camera she was still rolling around. Silly little thing!

We bought the bedspread in Thailand, maybe there's something in it that makes here feel all cosy and comfy?!

Getting ready for weekend!

2009-07-31T13:04:00.003+02:00

Only 3 more hours of work, before weekend's here... I have been working my butt off at work, so I am really looking forward to these 2 free days.

Tonight I am going to eat tapas with my best friend, can't wait for the gambas and tortillas! It has been a while since the last time we went out, so we're going to make it a fab-night, with some sangria.

Dull is working late again this week, so tomorrow will be the first time I will see him awake for the last five days.... I would really enjoy to work 1 or 2 days less, so I can see him more often in the weeks he has to work late. But it doesn't seems like it's going to happen soon, so we'll just have to keep on going like this, and spent a little extra quality time with each other in the weekends. Which means we'll have to do all the housekeepingthingies during the workweek, which is eeeehm, boring.

Anyways, I don't have much more to tell you, other then that I am looking forward to the weekend!!!! So bring it on!

And don't forget the give-away! Only one more week to enter!

Weekend ~ fun!

2009-07-27T21:19:00.003+02:00

Well, it's tuesday allready, but I didn't had the time to post about my weekend yesterday, so I voted and decided it's fine to talk about your weekend on tuesday.

Dull had to work Fridaynight, so it was just me, heading to my sisters' Housewarmingparty. Of course I didn't bring my camera, but the room was too stuffed with people anyways. My inlaws went as well (I really adore how close we all are...!) They did a lovely job on their new home.

Dull got home at 6 in the morning... So that didn't leave much room to do something nice on Saturday. We went to a thriftstore, where I bought 3 books on Photography and 1 on all sorts of crafts. I always regret that the thriftshops in the Netherlands aren't that booming. Or maybe I just don't know where to go...

Sunday was a wonderful day. We took our bikes and rode through the city and the nearby parks. We were playing tourists, taking pictures of everything that looks good. Rotterdam is known for the Cubehouses, bridges and such. In the park we've plucked some blackberries and three hours later we got home with sore bottoms...

Oh, and don't forget to participate in my give-away!!!

Don't know what I am going to do with the blackberries, but the plucking itself gave me such a good feeling, like I was a young girl all over again.

49th post: First Give-Away!!!

2009-07-26T14:04:00.007+02:00

Hello All!!!

I have been blogging for a while now, and I've got to say, I really enjoy it! Blogging about and taking pictures of my everyday life really gives it a different perspective. It has helped me to get out of my inspiration-black-out as well, so it's fabulous. To celebrate my blogging, the fact that it does look like I am being read, and just because I would like to give something back: This will be my first give-away!

So what will be the Grand Prize?! I thought it would be nice to ship this baby off to the lucky winner:

It's a long dangly pendant in turquoise and purple colors, very bold colorcombination, which turned out better than I dreamed of. I have made this big beaded bead before, and I really enjoyed how it turned out, so I guessed it would be okay to make another.
So here are the rules for this give-away:

1. Post a respond to this post and state your personal favorite color combo, this way you can inspire people in stepping out of the monochromatic palletes.
2. Spread the word on your own blog, site, friends and family and tell me when you linked.
3. Sit back and get back to me in 2 weeks.

You get one chance for the respond and one chance for the linking. So, two chances! I will put all the entries in a big bowl and draw the winner on Sunday 9th of August. Please check back then, to see if you're the lucky one! And I hope I will be inspired by the posted colorcombo's and make some lovely new things, maybe even for future give-aways!

I hope you like this Give-Away! Good luck to you all!

Granddad remembered and a purple necklace...

2009-07-20T20:22:00.003+02:00

I come from a family in which creativity has always been around, especially from my dad's side. My grandmother sewed her own clothes. She would go window shopping, buy some yards of fabric and sew it herself. There wouldn't be a day passed by without her being complimented on her outfit... Her husband, my granddad, made clocks, painted, sculpted, metal-smithed and made jewelry for my grandmother. He died when I was eleven, and I really regret I didn't had more time with him. I would have loved to learn to solder from him... when I was doing the silver-ring-workshop I almost constantly thought about him, wondering if he would be proud that I am interested in the same things he did.

My dad is really great at painting, drawing and airbrushing. I remember being 10 years old and going to the artfair in our town. Every year my dad rented a booth and just airbrushed away. He sold quite some artwork and there were always lots of people looking at him working. I really loved going to those artfairs, it made me really proud about my dad-the-artist. (Getting my face painted at the artfair was a great plus too).
It has been 15 years since my dad made his last piece of art (airbrushed that is). I have been nagging about it for two years; "Dad, you should really get more creative again. Computers are fun, but it's so much nicer to get your hands dirty," and when I look at his hands: "well, dirty from spraypaint or pencils I mean, not from the refills of your printers." I am so so so glad to hear that he has started again! I haven't seen anything yet (I never show my jewelry to anyone until it's finished as well...) but I know it will be fabulous! He doesn't want to draw anymore, which is a shame I think, but maybe that will kick in once he himself is a granddad.

This is a drawing of me, when I was 3 years old. My dad made it and it hang in my grandmother's bedroom. When she passed away I 'inherited' it.

I got an old photoalbum with pictures of myself, and it's amazing how much art from my grandpa was in our house: On this first picture you can see the sculpture in the back, the frame of something on the wall and the top of a little copper chocolatebin. This is me, painting with my granddad. Looking at this picture I remembered this post from Soulemama. My grandpa always wore a vest... (very often knitted by grandma)

Off course, when you are painting with your grandpa, your grandma cannot stay behind...

And here I am, eating my grandma's soup. The little statue at the back, the tin cat, the copper chocolat bin and the red ashtray (allowed in the eighties) were all made by my granddad...

Allthough my grandparents are long gone, I still miss them very much and looking at these pictures won't happen with dry eyes. But it's okay.

I started using one of my grandpa's creations to photograph my jewelry. I have had this copper dish a while. Í used it on my bedstand, to put my jewelry and little tidbits in. For the pictures I polished it a bit, to get the sheen out. Not to much, because I like the dull sheen of the old copper too.

The necklace is my latest creation. It's for sale in my Artfire Shop.

Did you notice purple is my favorite color?

It has been a while...

2009-07-13T20:29:00.002+02:00

Since I posted here. I have been incredible busy. I have done a few swaps on swap-bot and had some lovely ratings. It's fun to get your stuff around the globe and get feedback from across the oceans. I really love it! This one is my latest creation, it's going to the USA.

Further on; we went to the North Sea Jazz festival on friday. We went to see BB King and Duffy. BB King was phenomenal, it made Duffy a little bit mellow. We had a very great time. I was a little bit bummed out for not bringing my camera, but I didn't let it ruin my night.

On Saturday the whole family dropped by to celebrate my birthday. So I spent the half day in the kitchen, making cakes, sate and little meatballs. Just my type of a great day! The night was fabulous and very cosy.

And last but not least, I am reviewing my stash, because I have to go to a shop on saturday. They want to sell my jewelry, so I have to make it look really good!

Well that's it for now....

28!

2009-07-05T10:45:00.003+02:00

Yesterday was my birthday... I turned 28. Because I wasn't feeling that well I decided to celebrate it next weekend with the family. I went to the casino with Dull instead. We had a lovely night, but got home at 3.15 a.m. Not so very clever, because I am still not feeling that great, but we had a great time. (No jackpots won, though). On the occasion I've painted my toenails red...

Sleepless in Rotterdam

2009-07-03T03:31:00.002+02:00

What does one do when lying awake?

1. Drink hot milk

2. Read

3. Bead

Since I really don't like hot milk, especially when it's still ridiculously warm, and I can't read in bed because it will wake Dull, I started beading at 1 AM. And here I am at 3.41 AM, posting pictures of another created necklace. I allready started on the beaded beads earlier this week, but I made the entire necklace and pendant in the last 2,5 hour. And I am still not tired yet....

This one has a large focal beaded bead and two smaller ones on the dangles. I wanted to make earrings as well, but I figured it's allready quite a piece, I don't think it needs earrings.I crocheted the midsection of the necklace and the pendant can be removed from the necklace, so it's a bit more tuned down.
This one is for a swap on swap-bot as well.

New necklace on a headache day

2009-07-02T23:40:00.002+02:00

Today I stayed home with a headache. Guess the sauna really wasn't my thing.

Whenever I have a headache I can't stand to watch tv or listen to the radio. And since it was a really hot day today (86 degrees) staying in bed wasn't a very good idea either. So I started on a necklace. The repetetive stitching sometimes helps to get my mind of the headache... It helped a little today, but at least I finally finished a necklace again. This one is for a swapbot swap. I really like how it turned out!

I used firepolished and smooth glass beads and sea beeds. I would love to get feedback from you!

Overwhelmed

2009-07-01T11:13:00.003+02:00

These days, I find myself overwhelmed with everything on my to-do-lists. We're back home for a little over 1 week now, and it seems like the tasks have been piling up while we were gone.
I have spent several hours cleaning the house, doing laundry and vacuming, and still I can't seem to manage to get it all clean and fresh. I love the sun, but sometimes it seems like it's just pointing out everything that needs to be done in our home. And all the cleaning time is consuming my creativity time. Everytime I get at the attic, to do some beading, I realise I have to clean up there as well, in order to get the creativity going. But then again; if I am going to clean up, there are so many things in the house that needs to be done first...... It's a vicious circle I tell you!
I have to get 4 jewelry items done this week for Swap-bot, so I have got to break it! (the circle I mean, not the jewelry....)
I have to make the photoalbums from our vacation.
I have to start up an Etsy-store
I have to sort out my jewelry for a store that wants to sell them
I have to take pictures of my newest items.

Tonight I am going to spent some time in the sauna, and get a massage and a facial. Perhaps that'll help to get a little bit more grounded.....

New Beads!

2009-06-24T22:13:00.003+02:00

So, as I promised earlier, here are the beads I bought in Thailand:

Glass - stone - crystal - pearls - I love them all...

And now I just have to figure out what to make with them...

Back home

2009-06-24T10:26:00.003+02:00

Koh Racha Island

I am back! Did anybody miss me?
We had an absolute amazing time! We have been on some amazing beaches, lagoons, islands and waterfalls. We did some touristic things, you can hardly go to Thailand without visiting the River Kwai and the bridge. It really was touristic, but I didn’t want to miss it. We took tons of pictures, we got massages and a haircut, we shopped, snorkelled, hiked and took trains, buses and planes. It was a very busy holiday but it was the best one ever!

Now about that shopping: I had to leave some things in Bangkok to get everything home (didn’t had the chance to mail some things home). So I had to leave my stinky sandals there, in order to get my beads home. What is it you say; Beads? Yes beads!
I really wanted to shop for some while we were in Bangkok, but there are quite some jewellery and gem scams over there, so I didn’t want to ask around (I am a bit of a woos sometimes). On one of the last days we were in a large shopping mall and on the very top floor there was a tiny store with some seed beads. I bought 2 bags and asked her if I could buy some more somewhere else. She said we had to go to China Town. And so we did.
For the rest of the day, Dull only saw my back and the only thing I could say is: woohoo!
I’ve never seen so many beads on one location. Booths filled with pearls, glass beads, crystals, sequins, buttons and everything else that’s bead related. In total I bought 4 kilos of beads…. Pics will follow soon….
There were a lot of fabric booths as well, but I figured that shopping for beads was all Dull would manage to handle, so I didn’t take a look at them. It would have been impossible to take fabrics home as well. But I am definitely going back some time to shop the right way. (I’ll probably take an empty suitcase with me).

I am starting some new projects this weekend, I have lots of ideas, but have to do some laundry and cleaning up before I can get started….

Raft Houses

Eastern Promises

2009-06-17T08:02:00.000+02:00

We are still in Thailand, only 4 days left, before we're going home.... We are having a great time! Only one day of rain and bouncing coconuts, and the rest is sun,sun,sun!
I am getting a little bit homesick now, though.... I know it's crazy, because it has been such an amazing holiday, but I miss my parents, inlaws, my sis and of course I miss our two cats as well. Tonight we'll fly from Phuket to Bangkok and saturday we're going home. We are going to do some serious shopping in Bangkok,clothes and souvenirs for all our relatives and friends and the last day we're going to spend lounging by the pool for the last bits of total relaxation and a little bit of suntanning.
I will post some pictures when we are back at home, we shot some lovely ones....
Take care!

Vacation!

2009-05-31T09:48:00.001+02:00

Suitcases are packed and we are ready to go! Thailand: here we come!
Maybe I get to blog while I am there, if not, you will read me in 3 weeks!

Headache Night & Garden Delight

2009-05-29T09:08:00.004+02:00

Wednesdaynight was a terrible night. I felt drouzy & lousy all day and I was very happy I could go home after work. At home it got worse and worse and even a little couchpotato-ing didn't make it better. My head was aching in the worst way. So I went to bed early and was relieved to notice that it was all gone in the morning. I really hate these headaches, it makes me grumpy and whiney and I don't like the person I am with a headache.

I took this picture of my feet when I was couchpotato-ing, I love the vibe of our livingroom on this picture. And Yes, there are still Easter chocolate-eggs on the table, there are hairs from the carpet on my sock and I am wearing a terrible trainingpants. But I did feel comfy and happy with my man, that's all that counts, right?

I woke up the next morning relieved to notice that the headache had left the building (or just my head for that matter). So I took some vitamins and got to work. When I got home in the afternoon it was time for a 'walk' around the garden. There is a nest of bumblebees in the neighbors backyard, I think they are a bit scary, but they did excellent work for our plants!

It seems like our olivetree is going to give some olives this year! That's a first I tell you!

Our Grapevine is also producing some grapes this year, when we come back from our holiday I'll have to start plucking the smaller ones in order to get some lovely large grapes! This is also the first year we will be getting grapes from this bushes. We've got a red and a white one.

The blackberry has really gone wild this year. I don't know how happy I am with this thing, because it seems to pop up everywhere and the thorns on this baby are massive! I really like blackberries though. When I was a little girl we spend our holidays at my grandfather. We always went on blackberry hunt and made jam and sauce of them. After my grandfather picked out the worms that floated up when you cook them, yuk.....

And last, but certainly not least, the tomatoes, chillies and peppers. I got these just from scraping a fresh pepper and a tomato. I dried the seeds on a bit of kitchenpaper and just put them in the soil with some foil over the top of the pot. For the peppers I dried two whole red chillies until the seeds were loose in them, I then cut the chillie, take out the seeds and put these in the soil as well. I sliced the dries chillies and put them in an airtight container, I use them in curries and such.

The herbs have gone wild as well, I got bushes of them now.. I might have to start drying en deepfreezing them when I get back from my holiday...

Swapping...

2009-05-27T11:22:00.002+02:00

Some blogger I am!
I have started swapping at swap-bot.com and mailed my very first package last weekend. When I left the postoffice I realised I forgot to take pictures of my creations.... So I can only hope that my swappingpartner likes it and will make a picture for me...
It's not the first time I make a new piece, (wear it,) sell it and then come to realise that I haven't taken a picture of it. I always regret this, but I can't seem to get myself to take the picture as soon as I finished the thing. There's always a 'good' reason: it's dark outside, it's cloudy so I can't get the proper lighting. The batteries ran low on the camera, the memory card is still in the laptop, and so on. The thing is; I really love to read blogs of artists who post (lots of) pictures of their creations, and this was one of the main reasons for me to start blogging: to show off the things I make and do, so if people ask if they can see my work I can point them to my blog.
Now I have posted 37 blogentries, and only 3 of them contains pictures of my creations: the Travel pillows, the Bubbly Necklace (sorry, I haven't told you yet that this will be it's name...) and the Silver Ring.
So this will be my Half-New-Years-Resolution: I will take more pictures of the things I create!
Please point out to me when I have posted, say, 3 blogentries without any creativity pictures!
And now, back to work....

An afternoon in the Zoo.

2009-05-25T21:25:00.003+02:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day, so we stepped on our bikes and made a trip to the zoo. It's a 13 km ride, which is a lovely one when the sun is out. We crossed through the city and the parks and I find it amazing how much people get out and about when the wheater is so invigorating. We went for a stroll around the zoo, and payed a visit to the Butterflyhall. Amazing as well....

Maybe Life Just Is Amazing!!!!

Back from France!

2009-05-23T23:14:00.002+02:00

Wellllllll, we're back!

We had an excellent time! Left at 5:30 AM and arrived at the campsite at lunch. Dull's parents were very happy to see us and so were we to see them.... We unpacked our bags and put the kettle on for some coffee. My brother in law was eyebolling the water as soon as we got there and it only took 15 minutes after arrival before the first man of the family showed up in wadingsuit for some fly-fishing.

Dull had his first go at flyfishing this holiday. He said he liked it, but I guess he liked the relaxing at the watersite more than the fishing itself... To me it's all the same, as long as he has a good time, right? We all had a laugh though, when all the 'boys' were standing in front of the 'girls', waiting anxiously to get permission to go fishing... Of course they only wanted permission for the first go, the rest of the time they just went. There weren't many fish caught this week, guess they were a little too noisy. (the guys, not the fish).

Besides the fishing there was a little shopping, we went to 2 brocante-markets. I was the one to do all the haggling, because I am the only one who can manage with the French language. It was hard, because numbers in French are so much different from the Dutch, but it all worked out. My sis bought a 'new' lamp for her new house, and my Mother in law bought a cheese bell jar. The lamp cost 8 euros and the bell jar 3,5 so I guess I did fine with the bargaining.

We also went to some malls and outletstores. I bought 2 dresses, 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of pants, 1 skirt and 3 shirts. Dull bought 1 pair of jeans, 2 pairs of pants, 5 shirts, a sweater and a cap... I really like that he loves shopping as much as I do, but it also results in lots of spended money.

But now we are back home, and that feels so good... Even though I have piles of laundry and lots of vacuming and cleaning to do, and I have lots of blogreading to do as well. Good to be back!

Packing our bags.

2009-05-14T13:19:00.003+02:00

Only a few hours to go at work, I really am counting down. Woke up this morning with a headache and an aching jaw. So I called the dentist for an appointment.... Juk!

Bags are nearly packed, I do have some ironing to do, but I am saving it for Friday. Tonight my best friend is coming over for diner, she is going to show her BrandnewBoyfriend. I am very, very eager to meet him, always nice to see what's causing all the hapiness I can see in her eyes!

We are leaving early on saturday morning. I love to leave early, you can see the whole world waking up and since it's a 6 hour drive we will arrive around lunchtime, so we have a lovely first day as well. Since this is our RelaxationVacation we are bringing our Nintendo DS (almost every woman in our family got one), books, couple of decks of cards and I am going to bring some beads and my camera, I've got good hope I get time with both.
Dull will be having his first attempt at flyfishing, together with my sisters boyfriend. Dull's father and brother in law (from hís sister) are very passionate about flyfishing, and they have been trying to get him to tag along for ages. So they decided this holiday was going to be perfect for the first time. Since my sister and her boyfriend are coming as well this week, all of the boys will go together. I have no doubt that this will be an excellent opportunity to try my new Kimmiecamera....

Just one more day!

It's not easy being green

2009-05-13T08:10:00.002+02:00

I have been reading lots of blogs, just browsing on the WWW. The main issue you come accross these days seems to be all about our environment and the wellbeing of the world. Handmade re-usable totes, recycling crafting ideas, and these 50 ways to help the planet, are all posts about being more conscious about our surroundings. I have been trying to be green for some time now: We recycle glass and paper, we've got energysaverbulbs, I use the clothesdryer less in the summer, always wash at 40degrees Celsius and I have 2 foldable totes in my purse for shopping and groceries.
However, I do notice you can get limited in your effort of being green. For instance: I drive a 16 year old car... but don't have the money to buy a younger one.
If I want to buy (english) books, I find they are much cheaper at Amazon.com than at the local bookstores or Dutch online stores. Even with customduties and shippingcosts. So I fly these books in (sorry, sorry, sorry!). This goes for my beads as well... They are a lot more expensive here, so I order them in the States, or Asia. And as for organic foods, they cost up to 30% more then 'regular' food.
And then for the easygoing benefits: I can get to work on my bike, but find myself getting in my car every morning, towels still go in the dryer, because it keeps them soft and we have never used the train to get anywhere.
Though I know these limitations are based on money and lack of effort, I know I am not the only one who has noticed these limitations. Our government has created a system in which you get 1000 euros if you buy a younger car (built after 2001) in exchange of your old car (which is built between 1990 en 1995). I think this is a good example of getting people going in being green. Saving money is still a bigger issue for humankind then saving nature. So sad, but so true...

Kimmie-Camera!

2009-05-11T11:56:00.000+02:00

It was an amazing weekend! Lots of sunshine, Mothersday and off course: The New Kimmie-Camera! I am absolutely thrilled with my new ‘toy.’ I bought the kit and an extra, larger lens. When we got home with all the stuff, I charged the batteries and put everything in our (also new) camera bag. We got our bikes and cycled to a lovely green park at the river. I wanted to make some pictures, but I was a little clumsy-nervous. So I dropped the brand new large lens on the trail. The sunhood and the lenscap were scratched, but the lens was ok. I started crying because of my stupidity and Dull laughed at me. He checked the lens, gave it back to me, called me a little clumsy-cat and cuddled my stressy-worries away… He is so incredible down to earth, it amazes me every time. I get all panicked:
“OMG, I am such a @$#@$#@#$, now it’s damaged, what should I do to fix it, am I insured for this? Can I get it back to the store? And, and, and! Whaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!”
and he’s like:
“Oh well, nothing wrong with it, it’s a shame it got scratched, but it still does what it has to do, so everything is OK! Just be a little more careful next time.” I am glad he can get me down to earth as well like this, it spares me a lot of sleepless nights…

I did take some pictures with my new jewel, but they are not much worth showing here, because it’s mainly cats, hubby and flowers, and I haven’t found out yet how I can work with it the way I want it to work… Next week I will have plenty of time to learn, when we go to France for a total relaxation-vacation before we go to Thailand in June… Last year we didn’t had a vacation at all, because of our marriage, but this year we are setting it al straight! I hope we will have one more vacation in September, but we’ll see… We have a family-weekend in the Ardennes in October, also very nice!

Mothersday was an excellent day. Dull en BIL went to see Feyenoord and Sis and I already went to our parents house. We spent all afternoon in the sun in the backyard, walked all three dogs in the park, when the guys arrived we had a lovely dinner, a game of Scrabble and then we went home. It was a very relaxed day, but we went to sleep far too late, so now I am a bit tired. But maybe I’m just ready for France….

Take a picture...

2009-05-08T15:24:00.002+02:00

This last week has been all about comparison. I have been surfing on the net in search of the best Kimmie-camera…. I have read dozens of reviews, learned about lenses, zoom, bokuh (what?) and lots of other stuff.. I went to a store last Saturday to feel some cameras. I weighed them, fit my hand around it, and I even checked myself in the mirror with it…. You have to know how it looks on you, right?
Thursday I figured it all out, it had to be a Sony A300. So I went online (again) to check availability and prices in the nearby area. It was sold out almost everywhere, and I really want to get it this weekend. You know how it goes, once you figured out what you want, you want it NOW, or at least ASAP. I told Dull that it was going to be hard to find a store in our neighbourhood where they would have it for a reasonable price. So, he went online and within 3 minutes he found a store that had the camera on stock, for a low price and at a very reasonable distance from our place…. So tomorrow we are going to buy it. I am not ‘allowed’ to buy it tonight, because he has to work and he wants to do it together… Very sweet but I hope I can sleep tonight, I! Am! That! Excited!

This weekend will also be used for some last vacation-shopping and I wanted to make some skirts and dresses, but still haven’t found the time to start, let alone finish. Perhaps I should have read a little less about Bokeh… and spent some more time at my sewingmachine.

I re-did a silver bangle bracelet for my sister this week, but forgot to take a picture. I also made a sterling bracelet for myself -pics will follow - and I’ll have to make something for mom as well, since it’s Mothersday this Sunday. Mother-in-law is on holiday, so it’s just my mom this weekend. Last year we had a barbeque at my parents, don’t know if the weather is going to allow it this weekend. It’s not cold, but the sun isn’t showing.
That’s it for now! I hope my next post will be filled with some lovely new pics, and I wish you all a lovely weekend!

Weekend Bliss

2009-05-03T19:50:00.002+02:00

Weekend is almost over, it was a nice one! Haven't done much creating, but there are many ideas.... I did start off with a dress, but it was a disaster, so I tossed it in the corner. Maybe I will look at it again in a week or so.... I probably have to keep it with pillowcases for now, in canvas or linen. Everything else usually results in ripping (stitches) and pulling (my hair).
I have signed up for my first swap at Swap-bot! It's a created-jewelry swap and the partners will be assigned tomorrow. I find this a bit exciting. Never created anything for someone particular, without talking to the person face to face. We'll just have to see how it goes.

We went shopping for a new camera. I have an Exilim compact camera, which works fine for everyday life. But it's a bit slow and hard to do special photo's. So we're shopping for a DSLR-camera. I am just a beginner when it comes to photography, so the camera has to be suitable for my beginners-eye. We haven't bought anything yet, just listened to some seller-stories and looked on the internet for reviews... When we started off I thought I wanted a Canon 450, but at the end of the day I was most excited about the Sony A300. We're going to give it a good thought and will decide at the end of the week which camera is going home with us....

I am off to do a little laundry, have a lovely last bit of weekend everyone!

TravelPillows & a Necklace for Mom

2009-04-30T11:27:00.006+02:00

Another post from me... Guess the feeling just lingered on a little bit more. I've finished the travelpillows I wanted to make:

The one with orange-red-brown large cirkels is for Dull, the other one, which is pink-beige-brown striped is mine.

The inner pillow is made of a large pillowcase, I just sewed it through the middle twice and cut between the 2 sewing lines, turned it rightside out and stuffed it with filling (and mine's with a little bit of lavender, which makes me sleep better). Then I sewed the little baggie-thingy, sewed them together and now they are happily waiting to go on holiday with us....

I also finally made the necklace for mom, I promised to make her a couple of months(!) ago. It's actually a redo of a necklace I gave her 2 years ago which broke when the dog was happy to see her. That necklace was a single strand necklace, this one has a splitted two strand shape.It's all the way crystal-clear coloured, which makes it a bit hard to photograph. I used Preciosa & Swarovski crystals, some sterling chain for the drops and little glass seed beads between the larger beads.

I am quite happy with the result and hope mom will be as well....

Well I am off to celebrate Queensday! The weather is absolutely delightfull!

Results from "a feeling"

2009-04-29T17:48:00.005+02:00

Last week I blogged about my feeling.... And it stayed all weekend! I finally 'created' a necklace again and it's one that makes my heart beats faster. It has been ages since I made something with beads and I have felt miserable about it. Perhaps my creativityblock has finally passed on? Well, with no further a do (or how do you say that..?) prrrrrrrrr. (This is supposed to be a drumroll):

And one more in the lavender bush....Isn't it a beauty? I know it sounds a bit cocky, but I am really proud about it..... I've made it with Swarovski & Preciosa crystals and czech seed beads. I started it fridaynight and finished it yesterday, an estimated 6 hours work. The closure is not finished yet, I just wipped up a simple hook and two loops, so I could wear it to work today.... Let me know what you guys think!

Simmering feelings

2009-04-24T15:39:00.003+02:00

I have a feeling. Don't know what it is quite yet, but it's there. Simmering in the depths of my gut (that sounds a little bit dark, but it's not, I promise). So it simmers. Usually when I have this kind of vibe it results in a massive creativity-frenzy, but I don't know what it will bring this time.... I've got a attic full of creativity stuff, but the sun is going to shine this weekend. And I am a Sucker for SunShine.
So, what will be my weekend? A weekend filled with beads, fabrics, magazines and lovely projects, spent in the attic, or some minor beading in the backyard? Don't know yet, but I hope it will be a lovely one for each and everyone!

Creativity-buzz

2009-04-20T21:33:00.003+02:00

So, a busy weekend, again. But I am a sucker for busy weekends, it gets all my energy's flowing. Including the creativity-buzz.... Finally! I have been stuck for some time and haven't created anything. But things are about to change; Hurrah!

But I hear you think: what has she been doing this weekend to get those buzz' flowing? Well nothing special, but I noticed the change when I got home from work Friday. It was my father-in-law's birthday and we didn't know what to get him... He is a very material-satisfied-being. But he did make some requests for a gold necklace made by me! Off course he was only kidding, but it was an excellent idea for a present. I had a clear idea in my mind when I got home, so Dull didn't even receive a kiss when I stepped into the livingroom. I went straight up the stairs to the attic. I got my pliers, some goldplated chain and some euros, and I created this:

It's not my best work, but since I had only 25 minutes to make it I think I did a nice job. I wrapped some 2 and 1 euro's in wire, attached them to the chain and made a pendant of the 10 euro bill. My FIL loved it, he was very amused about finally receiving his golden necklace....

On Saturday I was on my own, Dull had to work and I didn't feel like I wanted company, so I went to the city. I went to the market and bought some lovely fabrics, those added to the ones I bought at the fabricmarket last monday makes it a total of 13 fabrics.... Don't know what I am going to do with them. I am planning on making some travelpillows. I guess that will be my first project. I want to make some skirts and dresses for the vacation, but I think it's better to start easy....

I have worked in the garden as well this weekend. The herbs are growing like mad! I love it! So I got to enjoy my very first cup of mint-tea of the season. I really enjoy this tea, and it's nothing more then some mintleaves, boiling water and honey.....

Easter!!!

2009-04-15T21:36:00.004+02:00

We had such, such, such a lovely Easter-weekend! The sun was shining, the family got together and we had an excellent time!

The garden is all tidied up, we just need a new fence and door. Those are my last wishes for the garden.

I made a picture with my phone from the frontyard. It's a bit blurry (the picture, not the frontyard), but you can see how it looks like now.

I am almost sorry I didn't do a "before" shot....

The tubs with the plants are half winebarrels. They are huge! The little trees in them look very petite like this. But they will grow and get a better fit through the years.

We had a big brunch on sunday. All the familymembers came over for some lovely food. I made so many things too much that we had luxury lunches after sunday, but we had an excellent time.
I hid some eggs for my youngest cousin. I counted them when I hid them and I swear there were ten. Jim got started searching, with a little help from his big brother. They found 9 of them within 10 minutes. All of the family searched for egg number ten, but it was nowhere to be found. Since the garden is only 45 sqm I guess I miscounted them while I was hiding them....

I hope everyone had a lovely time, and please enjoy the Spring in the air!

Picturetaking troubles

2009-04-06T13:45:00.000+02:00

It’s been a while since my last post.
I find myself a little blocked. Haven’t created anything creative in the last months, nor haven’t I got anything that’s worth showing here. It makes me wonder; does that say I have a boring and non-flashy-life, or is it just me….? I read lots of other peoples blogs and love their bits and pieces on their everyday life. They post pictures of their children, their homes, of blooming flowers, sunrises, sundowns and the light of the new tablelamp on their desk.
I love these pictures, it shows just the simplicity of life and the beauty you can find in the small things. So, a few weeks ago I thought: “I can do that too!” I picked up my camera and went into my backyard. I found a single purple crocus, between some old leaves from last year, just screaming: “here comes Spring!”
So I stood beside the flower, bent my head and took a picture: Too far off, there was just a little fleck of purple in a puddle of brown. So, I zoomed in and took another picture: Too much movement: there was a swoosh of purple in a puddle of brown. So I squatted down, took yet another picture: Wrong focus. I adjusted the camera, snapped a new picture: there was dirt on the crocus. So I swept the flower clean, decided I might as well just sit down. So I sat down, took one last close look at the flower to see if it was as perfect as I wanted, picked up my camera. I looked at the screen of my camera, held my breath, ready to take this picture…. And just when I was ready to take it, I heard the bounce of the neighbors’ backdoor followed by “Eey, whatchadoingoverthere, areyouallright?”
I let my breath escape through the small room between my teeth, I felt the redness coming up on my cheeks. I made a polite smile, nodded my head and escaped back to my safe living room…. Wondering what my neighbor would think of me….
So, I am sorry to tell you that the picture didn’t work out and the crocus has past… I will try again in July, when I find the First Sunflower screaming “here comes Summer!,” and my neighbors are on holiday.

Heavy Day

2009-03-27T21:55:00.001+01:00

Today was the day, the day we had to bring Bailey to the doctor. We finally made an appointment to get her sterilised. And so I went off this morning, with a scared little bundle of grey kitty in the box. She was sooooooo scared. We had a little drive to the, because I don't like the petdoctors in our direct surroundings. I allways feel like they are more in it for the money than for the wellbeing of pets.

So anyways, we were driving. I was listening to the radio and Bailey cried. She moaned: "haven't I been good? Did I scratch you? Where are we going?" And everytime I tried to calm her down with some sweet words. And every word got answered with more moaning. So I decided to keep quiet and so did Bailey.

Fortunately there wasn't any traffic, so we were early. The assistent was such a sweet girl, very interested and very nice. Everything you wish for, for someone who is going to take care of your sweet little kitty all day long.

So I left Bailey at the doctor and I went shopping. First to a outletcentre and after that I went to Bergen op Zoom. I bought some stuff and new sneakers for Dull.

Then finally it was time to get Bailey!!! Well, it wasn't Bailey, it was a very very very petite pile of grey fur with very big watery eyes... My heart sunk into my shoes. I felt like the world's worst petowner. The drive home I chewed my lips and Bailey didn't moan, she miauwed, very quietly.

When we finally got home I carried her in and her brother made a big tail and jumped behind the couch. He hasn't showed himself yet.

Now Bailey has eaten, and waggles groggy trough the house. Every other minute she comes for a cuddle. Her eyes are still watery from the operation, and so are mine.

Bailey is checking out her hood and cream for post-op care. She doesn't know yet that it has to go around her neck. I guess that's a good job for Dull, I have been Bitchy enough for her today.

Workshop Silver ring

2009-03-22T13:56:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I went to Schoonhoven for a workshop. We were going to learn to make a silver ring from a strip of silver. The workshop was a Christmaspresent from Dull. He gave it to me because I bought a solderburner 3 years ago but haven't dared to use it yet, because I didn't know were to start.

In the workshop we sawed, filed, soldered, sanded and polished the silver. I had a marvelous time and am considering tot take a course.

I made a pinkyring, because I wanted some curls, and the strip wasn't long enough to make a larger ring, because then there wouldn't be enough to curl.

The instructor said it was a challenge to make this design in the 4 hours the workshop took. But I wanted to try and I think I did a pretty good job! I am definetely going to wear this one with pride!

Sunshine!

2009-03-18T13:06:00.003+01:00

It has been excellent wheater all week long! I even spent some time in the garden last weekend. While all my neighbours were busy sweeping, gardening and cleaning their patio's, I just sat in the sun with some beads. It was delightfull to soak in some sun and dream about the summer to come. It's amazing how it revives your spirit!

half year

2009-03-13T13:08:00.002+01:00

Yesterday was our half year anniversary. (Getting married makes you like a four-year-old: I am 4 1/2 years old!!). But Dull has late night shifts all week long, so I haven't seen him all week. Alltough he works accross the street from my work...
So yesterday, when I was done working I walked to my car. And when I arrived, there was a bunch of red roses on my seat and the loveliest card on my dashboard. Hubby isn't romantic in general, but when he has the right mood he really pulls it off.
So I drove home with tears of happiness in my eyes....

Lovely weekend, again!

2009-03-07T18:18:00.003+01:00

So it's weekend again! It's amazing how fast the hours in a day fly by. Today I've cleaned my entire home and washed my windows. I love to clean my windows, because the world (or my backyard) looks so much better through clean glass...
I also found the very first crocus in my backyard. It's all alone, but it's soooooo nice, it's screaming: spring spring spring!!!!
My sister in law dropped by today with her family. We had a lovely afternoon. Don't know what I am going to do tomorrow, but I guess it won't be much. I am not feeling that great.