In the jungle...

I have been asked to make two paintings for a baby boys room.

I had an example of the wall border that will be used in the room:

And these are the two paintings I designed.

 I tried to use the images and the colours from the wall border as much as possible. 

And just as a present I made a little door hanger and a handy storage bag that match the colours of the paintings...

Bamboo Ladder

We have this small post/column that divides our living room from the kitchen. It's kind of in the middle of the room so I didn't really know what to do with it. Till I came across this bamboo ladder. It looked nice, but I thought it needed some decorating. 

So I cut two rounds out of plywood. Both with a little rounding. The rounding fits exactly around the pole of the ladder. Then it just needed a tiny nail to attach the 'plateaus' to the rung.

Now I can actualy use it to put down decorations!

Still not entirely happy I sewed a magazine holder that hangs on the ladder and looks pretty as well.

Always something to do!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. I had a really nice day!

One of the great things of living in Melbourne is that there is always something to do! This month it's the 'Food and Wine Festival', the 'Comedy Festival' just started, and the 'International Flower and Garden Show' is on this weekend.

I've visited the show with friends. It was very nice and inspiring (and kind of frustrating if you just have a tiny, little balcony like we do...hehe). Unfortunately my camera run out of batteries so I can't show you a lot.

But here's a small impression! So colorful!

There is just one 'happening' of which I'm really happy that it ends this weekend!

We live opposite of Albert Park and that means we have the "Grand Prix/Formula 1" literally at our doorstep for four long days!

That doesn't just mean the powerful noise of the cars all day (and believe me the noise is maddening) but it also includes a helicopter circulating above our appartment almost 24/7, air shows twice a day and drunk people screaming and celebrating all night....

I guess every upside has its downside!

Nevertheless, living in Melbourne is still great ; )

Oh, and I just discovered something great! I have 100 followers since today! That is amazing! Thank you all for visiting my blog. I think it might be a good reason for a tiny, little give away to celebrate this!

You'll hear from me soon... 

Grey hairs, here I come!

                                                                                                 Here in Australia it is the 27th of March a bit earlier then in most parts of the world. That means that it's my birthday here already! I'm not a big partypooper so I prefer to celebrate it quietly. My boyfriend organized a dinner with a few friends (how sweet is that?!) and I think that's just perfect!

Unfortuanatly my family lives 16,543 kilometres away, so I guess they're not coming over to eat birthday cake with me! But instead I have been picking up parcels from the postoffice all week! They all contained birthday presents! 

It made me realize again how fortunate I am with such great, caring famliy and friends.

Thank you all so much, x

(Here are a few of my birthdag gifts)

And on top of all these presents I received a little suprise from Judith from http://www.madebyjuultje.blogspot.com/ today! She won my giveaway a few weeks ago and as a thank you she send me this lovely postcard and these two Dutch iron-ons!

Thank you Judith, I love them!

Wish you all a great weekend!

It's just perfect!

How beautiful is this?!!

http://home.kpn.nl/rene_yvonne/index.htm

My little secret...

I have a little secret to share with you....

I actually didn't want to tell anyone yet....

But lately I get a lot of questions about it....

For now the answer to those questions is still no....

unfortuanatly not....

But happily that will change soon...

And then I can answer...'YES'!

'YES....I do have my own webshop'!!!!

Not yet....but soon!

Yay...

To be continued...

Today I made some Ipod cases

Easy to make and fun to decorate

The Matroushka doll is cut out of oil cloth (so easy to use!)

The hart is made from Fimo Clay, and I used a stamp to make the birdie relief in the hart.

Then I used a  skewer to turn it into a bead.

Looks nice on this key hanger as well.

And, I almost forgot about it... I'm such a peabrain!

Last week I received a blog award from

http://www.kamielandodille.blogspot.com/

Kamiel&Dodille just started blogging herself and she already received an award!

Make sure you have a look on her lovely blog.

Thank you so much Kamiel&Dodille! 

Make Over!

Going to a bargain shop is dangerous! You'll end up buying things that you don't need but oh, you just have to buy it because it's so cheap!!! 

That's what happened to me when I spotted these plain wooden door hangers. No idea what to do with them but I knew for sure some creative idea would pop up in my mind soon.

But be honest... the plain door hanger doesn't look very inspiring at all, now does it?!

Well no surprise then that it took me more then two months before finally I had the 'aha moment'.

No idea what gave me the inspiration at the end?!

Anyway, I collected the door hangers from where I left them two months ago, got rid of the dust ; )

and here they are... my boring door hangers after the 'make over'...

I painted them and sewed little 'sleeping bags' for them.

Looks cute, doesn't it?!

I can customise them as well. Like these for my little nephew and cousins.

And guess what... I went back to the bargain shop today and bought more....!

These elephants I made from the 'Melly And Me' pattern called 'Phoebe'.

http://mellyandme.typepad.com/

 

The elephant pulls a silly stunt.

It wears a tail both back and front.

The front he uses as a hose.

The back he wiggles, I suppose.

Crown and Crumpet!

This is the second time that I read an article about 'Crown and Crumpet' in a magazine.

Well I wasn't actually reading just drooling over the pictures!

'Crown and Crumpet' is a tearoom in San Fransisco.

It all looks so wonderfull and yummy that I just want to drop everything, jump on a flight and go and see it myself!

So, who is coming.... ?!  ; )

http://www.crownandcrumpet.com/

Sun is on its way!

This 'post' is for everybody in Europe who had enough of the long Winter.

I have a feeling that a lot of you are desperate for warmth and sun.

At least that's what my familiy and friends keep telling me, and I do read about it on all your lovely blogs.

...Hmmm, meanwhile we are experiencing wonderfull days of sun and warmth here in Melbourne.

That seems so unfair.

So I decided to send you all a bit of sun and warmth!

Hang in there, summer is on its way!!!

(all the way from Australia)

Pretty Pegs...

Simple, colorful and easy to make! Painted and decoupaged pegs. They look beautiful as paper clips, and they also come in handy to sort your ribbons. Imagine your notes and postcards hanging on a string with these!

And this is what I bought this weekend. Just wanted to show you the buttons and beads that I bought for just $ 3.- in an op-shop! The fabric and the Melly and Me pattern are from a lovely 'Patchwork Teahouse' we passed on our weekend trip to Warburton. I just couldn't resist....

And last but not least I just have to let you know that my sister (from http://www.uttemetut.blogspot.com/) and I contaminated an Aunty of us with the Blog Virus! And she is very much infected (and so is her household, her work and her family I've heard....haha) If you want to welcome her just have a look on http://www.malosimi.blogspot.com/ . I think she would love a comment :) Thank you!

¡ooƃɐɯ ʇǝǝɯ

,puɐlɹǝpuoʍ uı ǝɔılɐ ɯoɹɟ ǝʇonb,

”˙uʍop ǝpısdn ʞlɐʍ ǝldoǝd ǝɹǝɥʍ 'ǝpıs ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ ʇno ǝɯoɔ puɐ 'ɥo ˙˙˙ɥʇɹɐǝ ǝɥʇ ɟo ɹǝʇuǝɔ ǝɥʇ ɥƃnoɹɥʇ ʇɥƃıɹ llɐɟ plnoɥs ı ɟı ʇɐɥʍ“

This is Magoo! I made him from a pattern from Melly & Me.

www.mellyandme.typepad.com

Just one of those days...

  

The day started pretty good. The sun was shining and I was very productive in the morning. I managed to finish all these cute Babushka mobiles. I was very happy with myself actually.

But then I unpacked the dishwasher. 'Whoops'... I dropped my perfect, little bowl (my favourite colour!) and now it's chipped.... boohoo

Two minutes later I smashed a wineglass and managed to bring the number of wineglasses down from six to three within a month..... whaaaa! (And no, I wasn't drunk in any occasion)

And just when I thought I couldn't get any clumsier, I dropped a whole jar with buttons from the top shelve of my cabinet. Buttons everywhere! I even had to collect them out of my bra.... hihi!

It's supposed to be Friday the 12th and not Friday the 13th!

I go hide in a closet now...

Kimmidolls!

Have you met Kimmidolls before? They are little dolls, all with their own name and their own meaning. Here in Australia they are an enormous trend! Maybe, because the're made in Australia... ;)

But actually they are based on the Japanese Kokeshi dolls.  

"The original Kokeshi dolls are handmade from wood, have a simple trunk and an enlarged head with a few thin, painted lines to define the face. The body has a floral design painted in red, black, and sometimes yellow, and covered with a layer of wax. One characteristic of kokeshi dolls is their lack of arms or legs".

I do not completely understand the whole Kimmidoll hype. But I do think this new 'junior' collection looks very cute. And these will make my nieces very happy I presume!

Meet Mia and Sooki:

Have the Kimmidolls already made it overseas I wonder? Or are these the first two 'immigrants'?

Hollands glorie!

Yet another painting!

More Cherries!

Just two paintings I made today! I didn't paint the dots myself (it's painted on fabric) but I did paint the checked background on the bird canvas! 

And yes, I'm into the cherries again at the moment...hehe.

Thank you all for the nice comments on my tent! Made me feel very happy!  

  

                              

New home...

A few months ago I spotted a 'Table Tent' for kids in some magazine. 

A few weeks later my sister got such a handmade tent for her kids from a friend of hers. 

'That would be a great project to work on' I thought. 

I forgot about the idea again (as there are hundreds of ideas popping in and out of my mind every single day). Until three days ago, when my sister showed me some pictures of a tent made by a cousin of ours. She made a 'Dutch tent' for her daughter and it looked amazing! Unfortunately she's not blogging (yet :)), so I can't show you. But I got very inspired. Had to think about it half the night.

There was no other choice, but to make one myself (own design though).

And here it is......

... Now all I need is children.....hihihi!