cactus

visited the other side of holland to spend a day with family. We did a dwarf walk in the forest with our two dwarfs. also visited a cactus museum (never knew there are so many cactus types, fascinating)

queensday

yesterday we celebrated queensday. In the rain we started our day, selling a lot of stuff from our attic (but of course the boys bought a lot of treasures, so our attic will be as full as before). in the afternoon the sun came out, so we enjoyed a visit to the parks near our house. in one park there is little Japanese garden, but it's only open a few weeks a year, it's so beautiful (the boys enjoyed the small bridges the most) and finally we (traditionally)walked by the queens palace (very nice to have her as our neighbor)

owls

I experimented a little bit more with the leftovers from the embroideries and made these soft toys. I like the green/brown one most. I don't know what's wrong with the blue one, but I think I will have to figure that out.

buttons

I asked my parents to search for buttons in france, they took that task very serious and spoiled me with a beautiful collection of vintage buttons....the washing and sorting took more time than expected, but the result was very satisfying and I found a few very nice ones.

little bear

this is a story about a teddy bear and me being a terrible mom. I needed filling for some felt toys so I decided to use a very large teddy bear the boys haven't played with in years. But as soon as I took the bear and put it in my studio, they started playing with it. When they both were away (this is the most terrible part of this little story!) I cut the bear open and used the filling. the leftover was lying on the ground and the big teddybear eyes were starring at me and I started to feel very guilty...

Then the idea came up to make a playing head out of the bear, the boys loved it. Even Roel was enthusiastic about it. the guilt became a little less, but then jilles started to ask me where he could find the teddy bear...oops. Think I will not do this again.

shirt transformation

Roel has a lot of shirts he doesn't wear anymore. A lot of these shirts I like too much to give them away. I saw this tutorial a long time ago and decided to give it a go. The weatherman promised a lot of sun this weekend so I hope I can try my new shirt...

experimenting three

I think spring wakes me up for experimenting. In this piece I combined felt with a picture I found in an article about outsiders art. I just love what these artists make, it's so pure. I'm considering attaching the two with some stiches...I'm not sure yet...so I just keep on experimenting..

brooch

made this little fellow with a piece of left over from an embroidery. I love how the colors change by using just a little piece of it...

stockholm has to wait

we planned a weekend stockholm with just the two of us, but because of the eruption in iceland no plane could take us there. because I already took the boys to opa and oma (before the planes stopped flying) we still enjoyed a few days together. sunday we spent with the boys and felt spring everywhere!

our weekend is now planned in may, any tips for stockholm?

huis van groen

yesterday was the first workshop at "huis van groen" Sandra and I did together. It was fun, good results and a lot of tea...

experimenting two

it's not new, but it is for me. I felted a bottle for the first time. It feels a bit like sculpting with felt...nice.

experimenting

Sometimes I have a total lack of creativity. I hate it when that happens, especially when I have time (which doesn't happen that much). This week I had such a day and I was totally blocked, after some repair work (a lot of damaged trousers of the boys), I decided to make something out of the leftovers of the embroideries I work with. Unfortunately I didn't have much time left. I'm not satisfied with this piece, but I like the idea and I see possibilities for other soft toys.

mickey

a friend asked me to make something for her newborn niece in singapore to decorate the wall. I had never made something like this, it was a lot of work but I'm happy with the result.

holy bag

liset found me this beautiful maria embroidery. I combined it with some birds and made this bag out of it. Since I sold the last embroidery item instantly from my blog, without even showing it in my webshop, I decided to put this one right away in the shop ;-)

celebrating spring

this weekend I spend with Jilles, just the two of us, we did a mini break. We slept in an old dutch farm and visited the "zaanse schans". we had a lot of fun. I have never seen so much wooden shoes, windmills and cheeses in one weekend.

fine flowers

among my collection of vintage embroideries I also had this very fine embroidery, it looks like it's made of silk threat. I like the thought that someone put a lot of effort and love in making this small piece of embroidery. It's strange to make something with someone I don't know.

looking for the right pattern

on our last trip I bought these fabrics to make jilles a bag for his judo classes, but I can't find a good pattern for a boys bag. any tips for me?

mountain people

very small mountain people have moved in jilles his room.

date pie

hmmmm...I just love dates, a good recipe on the bagels and beans site for this pie. It tastes so good that it was almost finished before I could take a picture ;-))

circles

I ordered some chiffon scarfs for felting at wollknoll (which is a very good store in germany). unfortunately one color turned out to be more yellow than the beige I thought I ordered. A good friend came to the rescue and together we made this scarf out of it. we covered it with a different kind of yellow. It's nice to do such a project together....and I forgot to mention it, but I'm preparing some felt workshops with her, there are still some possibilities to join us at 11 april, see my website.

painting

I'm probable one of the few people who hates painting and prefers wood sanding in stead. but for a good cause, a "new" bed for stije, I put on my painting clothes again.

vroem vroem and more

made some new products for my shop, no earth shocking news, but little things can make me happy....

tea for the teachers

today we celebrate the birthdays of all theachers at school...so a lot of nice games, songs, cake and of course gifts. I asked all the children to paint or decorate a small piece of paper and I made a jar of teacher tea out of it. I like how it turned out...but the honor goes to all children of course...

the card I attached is made out of fabric left overs sewed on paper...I saw the idea at twirling betty

candystore

visited one of my favorite stores today.

chewing gum

the last bag I made myself was ruined by chewing gum (I put it on the ground for one second at the airport and it got stuck to the ground). I liked the size and the model of the bag, so I decided to make a new one, with a sister and brother embroidery.

almost 3

preparing for his birthdayparty. we made a goodiebag (one you can recycle), I ordered cotton bags at lobbes and decorated them with stamps. Stije wanted a rocket and a moon on it. I figured it would be nice to match the little toy inside with the rocket theme. Stije totally disagreed and chose the bird whistler. hope his new age also changes his stubbornness ;-))...but in the end we both were happy with the result.

snowfun

here not a drop of snow, at opa and oma's a lots of snow..so a lot of snowfun and a lovely sun. very good to enjoy after we heard this week that our house hasn't been sold after all...very disappointing.

first time

Yesterday I gave a workshop for the first time at my place. I was a bit nervous. The ladies were very talented and we had a lovely time. Great to see the result of their hard work.

flamengo for the weekend

someone saw the flamengo bag on my website and asked if I perhaps could make something like it, but with the size of an overnight bag. luckily I had another piece of embroidery with a flamengodancer, which was also much bigger. I love it when things just come together. Hope she likes her new bag.

lex and dex

a good friend just gave birth to a twin. she asked me to make two puppets, colourfull and happy, so we sat together and came up with these two fellows. she called the boys lex and dex before birth. I feel so honored, she used lex and dex for the card! I love how it turned out, she did a great job. Welcome Kasper and Ruben.

house search

It's been quiet, too quiet...that's because we sold our house..which is a good thing, but it also makes me a little nervous because that means we have to find another house real soon. So I spend my days behind the computer searching for houses and driving around for a first look. today I visited 15 houses (no joke), so enough real estate agents for me for this week....I hope we will find our dream house soon.

for pien

a friend asked me to make something for her niece. She is in hospital for a major surgery. Hope she likes her present and she doing well.

girl with the hat bag

before I got ill I made this bag. I still love combining the embroideries, it always surprises me which colors light up.

my three kings

It's been quiet on my blog because I've been ill last week. While I was in bed, Roel went to a special event for kids to celebrate three kings day. The boys looked so cute when they came home, my three (!) kings. Oh yes...and ofcourse I want to wish everybody a healthy and happy 2010!

christmas

we're enjoying the days before christmas. hope everyone is doing the same. happy christmas!

kerst op de kaap

Today I've been selling my products at a market for the first time. Michelle from vriendelijke monsters invited me, so i decided to give it a go. despite the temperature (minus 7 degrees!!) it was a very nice experience. A lovely atmosphere, theatre and a lot of creative people together.

My dad came to help me out, thanks dad! ofcourse my boys came to visit me, but jilles made it clear to me that he had missed me the last few days (I have been very busy preparing)...so it's time for some quality time together..starting tomorrow!

stars

It's a big disappointment for the boys but I've not managed to arrange a christmas tree yet. Luckily I ordered some stars from lisette and they arrived this weekend. She made them for a good cause (aidsfonds). I love how they look on the branches, so three people happy, me, lisette and the aidsfonds....the christmas tree will come, but I've been a little busy with the opening of the shop.

opening!

I've not only been busy with sinterklaas the last few days....but I've also opened a webshop, YES! I love how it turned out, but of course that's not for me to judge....go and see for yourself www.vanflora.nl ...hope you like it too.

and thanks again paul for all your help!

oh yes...and for the first ten orderers I have a little surprise.

sinterklaas

what a busy weekend, I'm still recovering. of course we celebrated sinterklaas, not only on saterday and sunday at home, but also at school. What a joyful happening! I just love the private chat of jilles and zwarte piet!

teus

today I visited teus. He is the newborn boy of a friend of mine. before Teus was born I visited my friend and she showed me the babyroom. She used this fabric from Ikea for decoration. So I decided to make her this tree out of the same fabric. I saw this idea on another blog or on whip up, I can't remember. I made my own figures and made the trunk a little shorter. welcome teus