Hello!

flower love

our living room in the making and sunny backyard

crafty happiness - envelope making, crocheting, showing my first-ever-crochet-piece and exploring new coffee places

organizing our house, saying hi to the ladies and showing off our new but old front door

Fall is here too ~ and that is a farmers kitchen, not mine

hello my friends! loooong time no see, due to our final move and lack of wifi connection. but, all is well and we are settling into our new home a little more every day. we are starting to love to the charming little village we entered with it's friendly people, lovely old buildings, shops and outdoor life around it. at the same time I find myself wondering about every other day when our flight back home to Canada is scheduled, and then of course I realize there is no more home in Canada. it will take months and months for that feeling to sink in, I am sure. home is where the heart is, and a big piece of my heart is still in Canada that's for sure. I am telling myself every day that it is ok that way. moving is more than just packing your stuff and unpacking it somewhere else. so it is ok, and it needs time. and there might be a flight to Canada in the future, with a seat that has my name on it, who knows.

on a crafty level, a few weeks without wifi has been very productive. I finished a large knitting blanket that was on my WIP-to-finish list for 2013, made some smaller items, a few doilies and such. I made envelopes from scrap pieces of wrapping paper and enjoyed myself so much. whenever I am busy like I am now with moving stuff, I turn to easy and quick crafts and become a production machine, haha. it really helps me get everything sorted out. I got some new yarn which I will post about on Wednesday and start a little new series, it is going to be fun so watch out for that one. I owe you big time with a pattern for the edging of this blanket, and there are many more projects I will update you on.

a few weeks without wifi got me thinking. of course I was mad it had to take weeks before we would be connected. but while I missed reading your blogs and admiring your pictures and work, at the same time I enjoyed being creative without any interruptions. digital interruptions. inspiration can be overwhelming, do you recognize that? besides blogging, it is mainly instagram that takes lots of time every day and even though I love it so much, I also enjoy pure quality time to create new things, just like when I was a little girl. does this make sense to you? it is my new goal to find a time schedule for myself in which I am doing digital stuff, and time when I am not. any ideas? how do you manage this for yourself? I'd love to hear your stories!

Time Away

and just like that, last week a few phone calls were made and now this week happens to be moving week. our final move for now, to our own place. busy times are slowly coming to an end, we are so happy. pictures will follow, but first we have to wait for our wifi connection. apparently it can take up to weeks before that happens. it will be strange to be offline for so long, but good for some quiet time as well. wishing you well and hoping to see you again in a few weeks!

Happy Mail

utterly total case of joy in my mailbox yesterday. this lovely parcel from Haafner. I featured her pretty pretty blog recently. what a generous parcel Haafner! such lovely items and pieces to start crafting with. I love the Asian touch and patterns, and of course the wrapping too. I saved all the paper and will definitely use that in collages. there was absolutely no need to send this, but thank you very much Haafner, you spoiled me and I love it!

by the way, she wrote a blog post about her piles of crochet work. hop over to find some yummy Spring colors and inspiring patterns ~ there is something about the look of them that makes me want to take a bite and indulge in the sweetness, like icing on a delicious cupcake

ok major distraction there, from cupcakes back to mail. what was the last time you sent a parcel to someone you met online? I am putting a little something together for a friend I met through Instagram. it's not about the size, it's about the thoughtful idea and spreading joy around the world in an envelope. if only we could see each others' smiles when we open the mailbox and find the parcel...

Temporary Work Space

from where I blog and work these days, for as long as the studio in the basement is not finished: our kitchen table in the dining room. we love the light white walls. they are plain now, we will add pictures and artwork after we lived here for a while. the light here on a sunny afternoon like today is just lovely. as you can see we haven't had the time yet to hang a lamp above the table, so we eat by a modern version of candle light, haha. 

also on the table when I work: a latte, glass of water, accidental piece of chocolate, inspiring ribbons from my family in Europe,  and iPhone. I hate to say it, but where would I be in this digital world without that little machine?

in the making: a gender-neutral design for the Miami Beach blanket, since I get a decent amount of requests for it. more about that in a few weeks I guess.

hope you enjoyed this little peek into my temporary work space!

New Blog

all pictures by Jenn from Color 'n Cream

I don't know about you, but I am always super happy when one of you approaches me through e-mail to get in touch, and chat a little about blogging or crocheting. it feels like meeting new friends.

it was a few weeks ago when Jenn from the Netherlands sent me an e-mail and we started chatting. we share an international moving experience, both love to crochet and sew, and get carried away with making color combinations. she happens to be way ahead of me when it comes to making crochet cushions with a fabric backing. you find two of them in the pictures above. I am in awe how she adds a beautiful border of crochet at the back, and hope she will learn me how to do this.

aren't the color combinations she picked lovely? and matching yarn with fabric is such a fun thing to do...

all the beautiful work, her pretty craft space and her darling girls can be found at her new blog Color 'n Cream. 

go say hi to Jenn and make sure you become a new follower of her pretty crafts!

also, I am thinking about sharing pretty new blogs on a monthly basis. what do you think? did you recently start blogging, or do you know of someone who did and would like to have a little feature here? please let me know

Recently @ Pinterest

our favorite cupcake place redecorated their store, and look at the mixer lamps they made! 

on the right the perfect print for me, designed by Cathy Thorne Everyday People ~ I smile every time I see it. 

thank you to those who commented on my post yesterday about blogging and blogger. one of the issues that came up in the comments is the annoying word verification. the reason I installed it, were the 4 daily spam comments that I got since a few months. however, even with the verification I still get at least 2 anonymous spam comments a day. for your convenience I took the verification off again, and now the comment section will open in a new window. I hope this helps me to get rid of the spam and receive more lovely thoughts from you!


image sources 1. byfryd 2. flickr 3. creaturecomfortsblog 4. boxwoodclippings 5. pin

but. Pinterest. I got inspired to be active on Pinterest again. For example, I am preparing a gift wrapping presentation in November for the Newcomers' Club that I am joining here in Canada. Yes, quite Christmas oriented already! Pinterest is a great place to get your creative mind going. I can absolutely loose track of time while I am clicking and linking to blogs, pages and photo streams.

I love how natural elements like pine branches, leafs and lavender spark up gifts, as well as re-used materials like in image 3 and 4. the link in image 3 is actually also a how-to for the gingerbread cookie detail.
simple and consistent = effective. for more pictures, this is the link to my gift wrapping pin board. also, I would love to see your ideas! you can add a link to your pin board in a comment.

news I found on Pinterest:

lovely Heather Spriggs from Gatherings Magazines made a Gatherings Board, so you now have the opportunity to get an idea of all magazines and their eye candy content in one view

~

while clicking, I came across Jordan's boards, all very color organized and pretty, and got in touch with her. what a coincidence she recently moved to Canada too! check out her lovely blog too

wishing you a happy day

Lessons Learned

despite the rain, today was a lovely day full of photo shooting for the new header. actually it was a good day until I changed the header on my blog and couldn't get it centered on my page. oh well, that is what comes with a free blog template I guess; you can edit but within certain boundaries. left aligned header it is. now that I am talking about it; do you see borders around the images on my blog or not? I know they don't show on every computer, but they do on my own and I don't like it. has any one of you has this issue and know how to solve it? tips are welcome.

back to what matters: the blogging conference last weekend. I won't bother you with information on using different social media and blog traffic issues. Instead, I would like to share a few ideas on photography. 

Ana and I signed up for a micro session on food photography by Gayla Trail, who among other things, told us that there is a current trend of more loose of photo styling in the food world. I think that Aran from Cannelle et Vanille is a good example of that style. tablecloths don't need to be ironed, food may be touched to make it look more real. makes sense right? I think this trend might be applicable in the craft world too. to make our makes look real, it is ok to show work in progress, it is ok to show failed projects, it is ok to show a messy but lightly color coordinated work space. if not, I might have a problem haha. 

edit: I just found this food blog too - great styling, amazing pictures and getting me very hungry!

another tip we got from Gayla was not to compare our pictures with the ones in magazines. they can inspire us, but we don't have to think we can copy them, since those pictures were made by a complete team of professionals who have all tools available. now there she has a point. although, there are a few tips to help you get closer to the dreamy magazine pictures. you probably know this already, but it can't hurt to repeat them: taking pictures in daylight is key, use white boards to reflect the light and overcome dark shadows (can be easily made from white painted card board), and harsh light can be diffused with a white sheet.

by the way, if you are on Instagram, cannellevanille is a lovely feed to follow

I hope this was helpful

H E L L O

well  hello ~ I'm back from what accidentally became a serious blog break !

if you are interested to know what happened during the break, let me guide you through the past few weeks

the husband and I had a great, social, busy, perfect summer like week in The Netherlands

family and friends almost 24/7, we went from family garden to city terrace and had so much fun

it was good to experience that after such a joyful week, we were both happy to go back home to Canada

we came back happy but tired and arrived in the first heat alert of the season : feeling temp of 38C

~

I took some rest and my mind started to wander about blogging, the web shop and the craft course

how have the past few months been for me, what are my goals for these three subjects?

I decided I like them all too much to stop with either one of them

but something has to change

earlier this year I went from blogging about 3 times a week to all 5 week days

the time I spent on each blog post, the crochet and design work, taking pictures, making lay outs...

it all stayed the same and it is too much for me

I am taking the coming months to find out what works better

it will probably be a combination of less intense or regular posts, and intense or super posts

I will have to see if I get back to posting 5 days a week

whatever makes me feel comfortable, it shall be

and my Instagram pictures, still a daily love of mine, will get to play a part too

I hope you'll bear with me during this try out period

and continue giving supportive feedback ~ it helps me so much

I hope making regular sized posts will leave me more time to be in touch with you through the comments

and together pick up a new adjusted blogging rhythm

I am looking forward to it !

I'd love to hear from you and can't wait to catch up on what you've been doing in the last few weeks

hugs

Big Oops...

a few days without blogging went by, a week without blogging went by...

and here I am, with the husband, enjoying the company of family and friends in the Netherlands for a while

it is great to be back and see and hug all the lovely people again

but... it leaves me very absent here, and I am sure it will last for a little longer

~

so here is a little update of what has been going on

I finished the Miami City Blanket 

and I am working on the pattern for my shop

I also started the girl blanket order in white-grey-pink soft tones

the last craft group for this season was last week and the ladies surprised me with this beautiful cake

and one of them worked on an embroidery project, her box of colorful joy was amazing to my eyes...

I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather and doing great out there !

~

I am off to more family and more friends,

and will see you here in a while again - probably somewhere late next week

hugs

Poncho in Progress

last Friday I wrote a post about the poncho I found

on Saturday I bought wool to make my own version

and on Sunday I couldn't help myself, but had to start on the first squares

it has been a while since I made full size granny's

and I enjoy making them a lot !

extremely colorful, more colorful than I would choose myself

but I still like the combination

and it is a challenge to me to make a poncho that has the same feel, 

but a slightly different lay out than the original

while making these squares I am already sorting out my personal favorites

and of course I had to include the tulips in the pictures

the first ones I found here that were not in full bloom yet

so we can enjoy them to the maximum

~

something else I am enjoying since today

is the hard copy of Gatherings that arrived in my mailbox today

my first publication !

if you haven't seen it yet, you have to take a look at Heather's website soon

unfortunately she faced a bug in the subscription version, and to compensate that

for a limited time she offers the magazine free of charge through this link

so if you are interested in our full emigration story 'From Amsterdam to Toronto with Love'

click the above mentioned link ~ my story starts at page 114 and includes some of my own favorite pictures

grab a cup of your favorite coffee or tea and enjoy !