create 'n date Amsterdam June 2nd: the pictures

all pictures by our wonderful photographer Yasmijn Tan

finally I found time to make these collages. a colorful mix of yarn, ladies and name badges on a bright sunny Sunday earlier this month: create 'n date in Amsterdam. the pictures pretty much speak for themselves, we all enjoyed this morning as you can see. meeting each other, enjoying coffee and cake, laughing and working on the crochet workshops prepared by Claire, Saskia and Annemarie. enjoying lunch in the sun, and some more crochet of course. it was so great to meet ladies I've known online through their blogs for years, to be able to see them in real life and chat with them. oh what joy.

for more pictures and stories, have a look over at the blogs by
Annemarie, Liz, Maartje, Annette, Bregje, Ilona, Patricia, Madelief, Marlies, Martina
let me know in a comment if you'd like to have your blog~post link here, I will gladly add it for you

 thank you so much again Saskia, Claire and Annemarie for all your efforts to make this create 'n date so wonderful. many thanks to all the pretty ladies who joined in with their enthusiasm, you are such a warm and loving group of women! I could not have done this without you all. it is a tough task to try and organize something similar in the future...

Pre-Fun

in Dutch we have a word called 'voorpret' and I am not aware of a direct translation for it in English. too bad, because it is one of my favorites. I will try to explain it. voorpret is about enjoying an event, day or moment long before it is happening. it is about creating those stomach butterflies and a smile on your face when you think of that particular day, event or moment. the literal translation would be 'pre-fun'. you typically experience it before weddings, parties, holidays... do you get the idea?

since I enjoy voorpret a lot myself, I wanted to do something in advance of create 'n date to get my guests in the mood and enjoy the voorpret with me. but how? 

while I was busy organizing the event I thought it would be nice if everyone was recognizable through name or blog name tags. and of course for a creative event like this, the badges had to be good looking, colorful, unique and preferably handmade. 

the idea was to have everyone make their own badges in advance. I put together little packages with the paper invitations I showed you earlier. and I crossed my fingers the guests would love the idea too... 

like I said before, I hardly took any pictures during create 'n date last Sunday. but I promise you, the results were amazing! I am very happy it turned out so well. the ladies really made such a great effort putting their beautiful badges together, got creative with the given material, added their own touches, made small and larger badges... for now I can only show you my own little badge with a crochet edging. but there's more to come. 

Last Week

pretty tired and probably jet lagged, in the middle of laundry and clean up after coming home from Amsterdam, I am going through pictures on my phone and realize I am still buzzing from all that happened last week. we were two very happy guests at the beautiful wedding of a dear friend, spent wonderful times with family and friends over breakfast, latte, lunch, dinner and drinks. we loved the new Rijksmuseum, did some shopping and enjoyed the sunny weather. 

if are living abroad yourself or have been living, you will probably recognize this pattern...

and of course, last Sunday, create 'n date happened in Amsterdam! what a fantastic time we had together. while I am impatiently waiting for the pictures from our photographer, I can share with you the 4 pictures I took that day. clearly I was busy enjoying it all instead of taking pictures, haha. in total about 45 wonderful ladies attended this beautiful Sunday morning to create together and date together. the weather was nice and warm, we stayed outside all along. mostly blogging ladies, all very creative with yarn and more, sat together under the umbrella's like they were sitting there every Sunday for the past 4 years. amazing to see how this world wide web allows us to build a community online, that feels connected instantly as soon as we meet offline. 

when I receive the pictures I will post them and go into more detail about create 'n date. until then I have some prep stories and pictures, as well as a preview of the little project I took with me on the plane.

see you soon

Spring Colors

while the magnolia is quickly losing her pretty flowers, the crab apple has just started to open up her endless little blossoms. oh the joy of Spring when you are surrounded by mature trees...

in the mean time I put together a yarn package for a dear customer who requested the Miami City crochet kit in more girly colors. I think she made an excellent match combining these tones. I love making up a little color story with yarn, pens for the design and tape to wrap the order.

this weekend I will be busy doing prep work for create 'n date on June 2nd in Amsterdam. are you joining us for a creative and inspiring morning and lunch?

happy weekend

Last Tickets!

a little overwhelmed but mostly super excited and happy ~ that's me right now. due to your amazing feedback, sweet personal messages and thoughtful heartfelt e-mails about create 'n date. I have guests coming from the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany, ladies bringing their best friends and sisters, and tickets are almost sold out already. there are literally just a handful left. so here I am, sitting in the lovely Spring sun, writing official invitations to my guests on June 2nd and smiling. you rock my world ladies!

if you plan to come, please send an e-mail to info@createndate.com to get information on how to secure your spot. read more about the details here in Dutch and here in English

yep, I am still smiling

Thank You

just some random feel good pictures, to thank you for your enthusiastic replies to create 'n date. many thanks to you who already signed up for the event, I can't wait to meet you!

to answer a few questions: yes, I will be in Amsterdam myself on June 2nd and can't wait to get inspired by you, chat with you, laugh with you, and share creative adventures with you.

Claire, Sakia and Annemarie are full speed working on their ideas for the event, creative juices are definitely flowing back and forth, haha. I am so lucky to have them as my guests of honor on this special day.

stay tuned for more updates on create 'n date on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter too and use #createndate

Big and Exciting News!

this post is all about what has kept me busy the past few weeks and what will keep me busy for another three weeks. on June 2nd a big dream is coming true for me. I am organizing a blogging/ instagram event for crafty people. create 'n date is all about meeting the wonderful people behind your favorite craft and crochet blogs, being inspired by each other, it is about enjoying good food and laughter, having a great time and feeding your creative minds.

this first event will take place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and I am absolutely honored to be able to offer workshops by Annemarie, Claire and Saskia from the amazing blogs annemarie's haakblog, haken en meer, saar en mien. three ladies I admire for their crochet and craft work, photography, color matching skills and their (upcoming) books. on top of that, they are such lovely women and I am sure I am not the only one who can't wait to meet them and learn from them in real life!

if you're just as excited as I am about this wonderful opportunity for a lovely Sunday morning and a delicious lunch, please send an email to info@createndate.com and you will receive all details you need to know to save your spot. to be able to keep things personal and cozy, space is limited so please be quick and sign up before they are gone.

phew, it feels good and exciting to finally have this news out and about, and be able to share more of it with you. of course I hope to see you and your creative friends on June 2nd in Amsterdam!