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...

Weekend: Snow, Yarn and Magazines

as you can see, we got a pretty new load of snow today ~ apart from the shoveling it is lots of fun and absolutely beautiful, magical. I was happy to receive more pretty tapes from Nelleke's shop simpel&leuk, both my magazine subscriptions arrived and the new baby blanket is coming along nicely. it is so nice to knit row by row, see how the blanket comes along naturally with the double strands in different colors. I love how the second row get's so much dept from the two tones of blue. thank you Sandra for sharing your experience with crocheting with double strands, I must try it now! by the way: if you love knitting, crochet, quilting and a beautiful blog, and don't know Sandra from Cherry Heart yet, you absolutely have to take a look here and admire her gorgeous latest pattern...

last but not least, today the 2013 Catania color card arrived, and I ordered all five new colors. can't wait to see them, show them to you, and work with them!

for now, have a lovely weekend, and stay warm. or cool, wherever you are.

Notebook Inspiration

the most delightful notebooks, I ordered from my Instagram friend Tomy K who lives and works in Greece. 

their beautiful patterns and bright colors set me off for some color matching with fabric and yarn. 

oh the joy of matching!

I think the main theme here is adding black to the color scheme. something I have never done with my designs before, but these notebooks may give me just that little push I needed. when used in the right amounts, in combination with the right colors, they give a very bright and modern feel, almost fresh like Spring. thank you very much Tomy for these beautiful notebooks and inspiration!

click here to treat yourself or a friend to a set or two of these notebooks, available in two more designs.

decisions decisions...

Gift from a Friend

pictures of the lovely wrapped and beautiful handmade dummy by Jenn from the lovely crochet blog Color 'n Cream. so nice how she picked the fabrics, and a little red-blue-white ribbon that looks the same as the Dutch flag. on the inside of both covers an envelope to keep little treasures. all for me!

and as you can see I started right away, filling it with joyful things like bits and pieces of Jenn's wrapping, and a lovely quote by Shannon Fricke that I wish not to forget. thank you very much Jenn for this lovely and unexpected gift! I will treasure it and use it for collages and creative ideas that are always spinning around in my mind.

if you'd like to make one of these beautiful books yourself, take a look here as Jenn wrote a tutorial for us!

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 !

Mail from France

I assume I am not the only one who greatly appreciates real mail

and parcels even more...

so you guess my excitement when the mail lady brought this package to my door

all the way from France from lovely Kirsty

a big thank you package for the baby blanket I made last summer for her newborn boy

she did the embroidery and I love it ~ so pretty and even the back is beautiful

it is hanging right above the piano now, so I can see and enjoy it every day

the Paris teatowel is for my husband ~ to be able to do the dishes in style, of course

the wonderful French fabric looks like a beautiful scarf to me

and the delicious cookies from the Provence, named calissons

there was yummy chocolate too, but that was gone before the pictures were taken

~

Kirsty, thank you again for this beautiful and delicious parcel

~ love ~