guitarman

today was a busy day, we not only visited our niece but also went to visit maksim, welcome little boy...rock the rattle!

brithday girl

our niece is turning three! besides beautiful (???!!) glitter slippers we bought her in little india (in singapore) I made her a felt necklace. Hope she likes it...

mills and wooden shoes

a good friend of mine from Delft is moving to Dubai. made her this holland bag from one of the embroideries. Hope she doesn't get homesick.

can't stop

I feel so stupid because I can't stop making xmas ornaments.....and Sinterklaas hasn't even reached holland yet. they just seem to pop up in my sewing machine....

embroidery bag

This time my parents also bought very small embroideries, very cute ones. I made these small pen cases with zipper.

leftovers

I don't like to throw materials away. especially felt...so I tried something new with the remains of my felt collection. I liked the result, but unfortunately it turned out to short, because the wax cord I used wasn't long enough...I'm already working on a new one.

icecream

welcome Jasmijn...maybe it's because I only have boys but when I can make something for a girl it turns out very sweet (this time literally with the icecreams)

asian fabrics

almost forgot...but I've managed to score some very nice fabrics in KL. By coincidence I ran into a lovely fabric store in the middle of hectic Kuala Lumpur.

washing

Of course we had a lot of laundry after our four week holiday, but my parents made this pile even bigger because they bought more and more embroideries in France (I think they made a hobby out of it, scouting all the markets). It was so much work, but in the end I just loved how they looked hanging to dry.

transformed

last week I did a workshop at zijdelings with Anne, we had a great time, but I'm not sure if it suits me. we worked with synthetic fabrics and dye. Afterwards we visited a very nice exhibition in Eindhoven, meesterlijk. I loved the lamps they are from wonderable.

moonfestival

during our trip the chinese celebrated the moonfestival (also called the mid-autumn festival). Michael and Christina, the chinese couple were we stayed at that time in Kuala Lumpur were so hospitable to invite us to celebrate this festival with them...the icing on the cake in our holiday! Michael and Christina, thanks for this lovely experience!

islamic art

in our holiday I made one special trip with Jilles in Kuala Lumpur. Because Stije was a little bit ill Roel stayed with him in the guesthouse. we visited the islamic art museum, just the two of us. It was a beautiful museum and we had a great time.

back on track

I didn't tell you but we were away for almost four weeks...we have been discovering singapore and malaysia with the four of use. We had a great time and it gave me a lot of inspiration...so the sewing and felting can start ;-)))

white

felt and silk..combining these two and as special effect, the holes..

coaster to lunchbag

Because I only had one of these (oil cloth) coasters. I decided to give it a make over...it became a lunchbag!

little experiment

I was curious how it turned out if I made a garland from felt, the same way they make paper garlands...I really love the result, but it's so much work and I don't know what to do with the result...maybe nice to attach some bells and decorate a pram??

early

I decided this year to start early with the christmas decorations....so I will have enough time to make more than one ;-))

autumn

little signs of autumn are showing...it inspired me to make this felt bag with leaves. It only needs one finishing touch, the attaching of the handles, but I don't have an industrial sewing machine...will have to find one nearby.

a lot of work...

....not for me but for my parents. They are doing a lot of work in france, making tomatojuice, picking grapes and making wine, jams etc....so I made them some stickers with a stamp. I also made Thijs a stamp, he is a friend of Jilles and turned 5!

textile inspiration

Sunday I went to the last day of the "textiel bienale" in Rijswijk. I was very surprised, it was inspiring. Especially the use of materials and the combinations. silicones and textile, wool and cardboard etc..

butterfly

Jilles created his first piece of art with felt. I was doing a pilot for a workshop for a little girl's birthdayparty. Jilles decided he wanted to join us and made this butterfly, with a little help of course...

more combinations

I just love combining the embroideries! And I'm a very lucky girl, because my parents just showed me at the webcam their new purchases in France...so I can continue mixing...

lavender

although we live in the city, there's enough space for green. My neighbor gave me this lovely lavender. It was in front of her house and every time I walked by the lovely smell surprised me.

little fish

Made a new design for a baby rattle, mother and little fish. I think and hope the size is just right for baby hands. Maybe I will ask my nephew Willem to do a little test.

surprise

friday I found this lovely surprise on our doormat. Because I gave Sonja from studio pardoes a pattern. Thank you, I love the fabrics.

light

tadaa...this is the result of my 3D felting course. I still have to figure out a good construction for the light, but most of the work is done.

felting by the pool

very relaxing and rewarding, felting by the pool...next step is to make something out of it...any ideas? besides a necklace?

holes

and some more experimenting.... I made this piece of felt with holes in it, I absolutely don't know what to do with it. While I was sewing, Stije saw the piece of felt and used it as a saddle for his wooden horse. Thank goodness he found a destination for it!

experiment

the week in France I tried do experiment a little (my intention was to do more, but whit 38 degrees the pool was more attractive). I made these big felt beads, but what to do with them. I attached a pin et voila!

curious

for my curious dad....hope you like your (late) birthday present.

inspiration

the cote d' azure not only gave me a lot of time to rest and enjoy, but also gave me new inspiration. Of course I took stuff with me to do some crafting, in my next posts I will show some of the results.

au revoir

tomorrow I'm leaving for a week at the french coast with friends. A week without my boys...i will definitely miss them, but will also enjoy the quietness, good weather, reading books without interruption and the pool by our house. see you in a week!

ps. added a picture of a lovely book I received as a gift from friends who bought it in New York, because the couldn't visit the guggenheim, it's closed on thursday...can you believe that, they visited the design museum with an exhibition on felt! the yellow-grey felt thing matches the book perfectly, I made it as an experiment, but without a purpose.

moving

a very good friend bought a lovely house, made her this apple keychain.

little gift

my mom gave me this cute set of cards with embroider patterns. very usefull!

twin girls

today I was finally allowed to visit the twin girls from my neighbor (they spend a lot of time in hospital and are now home for a few weeks). They were so lovely, so small and so perfect. If anyone should have trouble to keep them apart, I made them there own badge.

washing

my of theme of last week definitely was washing. Not only because our new washing machine arrived and we had a big pile of dirty clothing, but I also washed all (that also was a big pile!) the embroidery my parents brought me from France (by hand!). It was al lot of work, but now I can sewing!

tissue box holder

at every floor of our house we have several tissue boxes, just because I think it's handy to have them around, but I don't like the look of these boxes. So again I used the plastic balcony-wind stopper-material left-over (don't know how to call it, so I added a picture hopefully that explains ;-) to make a simple box holder. measure, fold the corners, stich and cut of the edges, stich an elastic cord on the bottom and cut out an oval hole in the upper side....et voila!

felt dots

a lot of dots a lot of work...but finally it's done and for sale in Zoetermeer ;-).

sea

last year good friends of our got married by the sea. I made them this litho for their first anniversary. I added a poem from Hans and Monique Hagen from " ik zie lichtjes in je ogen". I love their poems, they mostly write for children. We celebrated their first anniversary in the park, with lovely music, champagne and of course the top of their wedding cake, it was a lovely day.

This is the poem I choose (sorry it's in dutch):

Zoute Zee

de wind

waait wappers in mijn haren

de wind

waait golven in de zee

ik ga in een bootje varen

en de wallevis gaat mee

de wind

de wallevis en ik

wij gaan op vakantie

en jij mag met ons mee

als ik je op het strand zie

daar bij de zoute zee

kom niet te laat

de wind

die kan niet wachten

kom voordat je slapen gaat

en neem je zwmband mee

dan gaan we zeven nachten

zwerven over zee

Hans & Monique Hagen

assignment

A good friend of mine gave me a first real assignment. She needed a few gifts and asked me to make them! I felt very honored. pink owl and guitarman rattle are two of the lucky ones. And last but not least I started selling my products in a lovely store in Zoetermeer, called "in en om". She sells beautiful products, I especially like the brand ferm. This month 101 woonideeen will do an article on her shop. I'm also thinking of starting a little shop on my blog soon....