In between packing..

Ow...can't stop crafting!

In between packing for our trip I had to bring these

Babushka dolls to life...

Before

Before before.

I'll be back in two weeks!

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Help, hilfe, ayuda, hjalp!

I need help!!!! A few weeks ago I mentioned that I'm thinking of buying a new sewing machine..... I'm still thinking....whaaaa!

I'm tending towards the Janome Memory Craft sewing machine. Reading different blogs and reviews I think this might not be a bad choice. A bit above the budget I had in mind but nevertheless a good investment. What is your opinion/experience?

It looks like I already made up my mind....but.... I have seen something that I thought seems very interesting as well. I'm

completely clueless on this one. And I think this is where I maybe need my German blog readers. Hilfe!!!

I understand you can order 'stickdateien' (stick files) online. The pictures here show some examples. My question is... how does it work and what machine do you need for it? And is it something German our can you get it world wide?

I would be very grateful if somebody could tell me a little bit more about this subject. Und ich verstehe auch Deutsch!

Meanwhile Sander and I are going on our summer holiday this weekend. We are going to drive around Tasmania. Back to nature, as we prefer it. Can't wait.

Unfortunately that means I will not be able to blog for a while. Such a pity as I was enjoying it so much lately!

Bibs!

A had to search on google what the English word for 'slabbetje' is. I found out it's a 'bib'!

So I guess a few 'slabbetjes' are called 'bibs'?!

Well, we dutchies leave it up to you to figure out what 'bibs' means in our language!

Hihi!

Anyway, here's a few 'bibs' I made.

Fruens Syslerier...

I just found a beautiful blog! She has a gorgeous style and the colour combinations just made me very happy. Have a look on www.fruenssyslerier.blogspot.com It's a Danish site and she is having a 'blog give away' at the moment!

Enjoy!

Froy & Dind

These postcards and tin I got from my sister (www.uttemetut.blogspot.com) for Christmas. I love them. They are made by an Belgium company called Froy & Dind. Have a look on www.kersopdekaart.be

Komt een vrouw bij de dokter

At the moment I'm reading a Dutch book called 'komt een vrouw bij de dokter'. It's a bestseller and they recently made a (Dutch) movie about the book. The book is about an energetic and successful man enjoying his non-faithful lifestyle. Suddenly his wife is diagnosed with terminal cancer and he is trying to cope with this difficult situation. Obviously a very sad and confronting story. But also very funny by the way it is written.

The movie brought breast cancer back in the picture in The Netherlands. Lately I received some emails from friends asking me to sign a petition for 'testing breast cancer earlier'. At the moment the age you are given a test(by mammogram) is 50 years. But we all know it can reveal much earlier. The goal of the petition is to bring the age for breast cancer tests down to 30 years (same as you get your first cervical smear in the Netherlands).

I signed the petition. And as I think it's good to bring some awareness I'm spreading the worth on my blog.

If you have the Dutch nationality you can sign the petition here http://borstkankeronderzoek.petities.nl/

Allright, just to finish my post with something more 'airy' he're some more

sunny and funny baggies!

Stippeltjes!

In Dutch we call dots 'stippen or stippeltjes'. and I love everything 'stippelig'

I made myself this 'stippeltjes' bag from two 'gestippelde' tea towels!

Japanese Design

Lately I have been hearing so much about Japanese craft and design. Not something I was very aware of in Europe. Is this because I have not been paying attention or is it really not that much of a 'trend' on the other side of the planet yet?

Anyway, I'm starting to fall in love with some of those beautiful Japanese designs. As in Scandinavian design I think Japanese are also very good in creating very simple but lovely products!

Here's two beautiful rice bowls I got for Christmas from a dear friend. (Thanks again...love them!). Amazingly even boyf seems to like them. Very rare as he's a typical bloke that buys things just because they're functional and he really needs it, not because they are sooooo pretty and you just need to have them!

I bought the little wallet as a present for myself. It is made by a Melbourne based Company called Only Midge.

I just loved the (apparently Japanese) fabric!

Recently my friend spotted the fabric in a shop and she bought some as a present for me. I got it today. I love it so much...

To purchase yourself:

Wallet: http://www.onlymidge.com.au/

Ceramics: http://www.mij.com.au/

Mommy and baby Roo!

Two weeks ago when we were camping I got up at 5.00 am one morning. We were at a beautiful spot in the forest that looked out on the ocean just some 50 metres away. Absolutely magical. I couldn't stay in bed any longer and decided to get out and make pictures of the sunrise. And although the sunrise was not very special it was just very peaceful. I watched the ducks taking a morning bath in a puddle, and the kangaroos grazing and enjoying their early breakfast. The day before the kangaroos seemed shy as always. Although they must be used to people, as they seemed to 'life' on the campsite permanently. And as always they just hopped off if you came to near. But this morning they were so relaxed and I could come really close to take pictures. At some point I spotted a Mummy Roo with a very cute Baby Roo in her pouch. I sat down next to them and watched them for a while. Taking some pictures and videos. Below here you can watch one of the video's. At some point Mummy came that close that she pushed her nose at my camera to have a little sniff at it. At that point I'd already stopped filming, but is was very special. Little Roo looked so cute!

A little birdie told me...

Fifty-five degrees is the difference between the temperatures here in Melbourne where I life and The Netherlands where my family lives.

Whilst my sister and her kids are sliding down hills (never knew we had any in the Netherlands?!) on a sleight, I'm out Jet skiing and looking for refreshment in the water.

Yesterday I locked myself up in the house. Doors closed, windows closed and the fan on full power because it was 41 degrees outside. As if a giant Hair blower is right above your head all the time.

Amazing, Dutch people are not used to that! But don't get me wrong. I love warm weather and there is not a single bit of me longing for the -15 degrees that they have in The Netherlands at the moment!!!

Spending the whole day at home means that I had lots of time to craft. My sewing machine is enjoying a well deserved break because I'm completely into painting on wood again at the moment.

This is the result.......It's a little pencil box!

And don't forget to have a look at my sisters blog!

http://www.uttemetut.blogspot.com/

Three silly chickens

Three silly chickens

Kick up a din!

Tonight we went for a stroll to the beach. We life in St Kilda and walking to the beach takes just five minutes.

Well in the winter it's a five minute walk but in summer it takes at least 15 more minutes to skirt around the hurdle of tourists that visit Melbourne's popular 'beach town' during 'high season'.

But going to the beach during the evening at this time a year is very special. If you walk to the end of the Pier you'll be amazed!

The Breakwater which protects the harbour of St Kilda, is home to a colony of Little Penguins.

And at this time a year they have little babies. It's just so cute to see the parents coming home to their hungry, little ones. They have a very loud voice and since they recognize themselves only through voice, you can imagine both parents and baby can kick up a din!

When you think of penguins they just seem so clumsy with their funny walk. But if you see them 'jumping' out of the ocean and climbing onto the rocks you'll be astonished! Not that clumsy after all.

You are not allowed to take pictures with flashlight but here's a picture I downloaded from the local website. Cute!

Lost in crafts!

And before you know it tit's 2010! And I'm just a bit lost at the moment...

So many plans but I just can't get organised. I want to go a step further with the whole crafty business but also just don't know where to start.

Meanwhile I'm so focused on all my ideas and inspirations that craft wise I just feel numb. I go to my craft room with all these ideas in my head. I start going trough all my fabrics, buttons, paints, etc. An hour later I find myself sitting in the middle of a huge pile of craft stuff and nothing came out of my hands yet!

Whaaa.....it makes me go nuts!

Well, Then I just decided to make something easy. Something that can't go wrong so I definitely feel happy with the result.

In the book 'sew darn cute' I noticed some nice fabric coasters.

As red and white dot's always look nice no matter what you make I kept playing on save. And here's the result:

And now I'm going to go for a run around the park. It's nice and sunny so I shouldn't be inside all day anyway!(I think this was my inner-me telling me that I have to start working on my 'getting fit in 2010' plan). Running shoes here I come....... (oh dear).

Tilba Tilba

On our way from Sydney to Melbourne we visited a tiny village called Tilba Tilba. Between the hilly grass-, and woodland we found a little piece of Paradise.

"The Foxglove Spires Open Garden surrounds a 100 year old farm cottage and excite its visitors to wander along its many fragrant paths, leading them under romantic rose covered arbors and into secluded flower-filled areas. The woodlands create a shady haven to rest in, while the pond at the bottom of the garden adds to the peace and tranquility felt by all in this harmonious, spellbinding garden. Each season brings transformation and different highlights in the garden".

"After a stroll through the gardens 'Love at First Bite cafe' right at hand to enjoy a meal or coffee, while 'Forget Me Not Gifts' and 'Gramophones 'N' Old Stuff' will satisfy anyone looking for that certain gift. There is also 'The Spires Nursery' which features many of the unusual and hard-to-find plants featured in the gardens".

I could have spend hours strolling around. But unfortunately we didn't have the time.

Here's a little impression:

Crazy, lazy days!

I'm back! Sydney was great as always.

But most of all we enjoyed our little camping trip! Australia is such a beautiful country.

So much to see.... the ocean, mountains, the bush, water falls, funny (and scary) animals, etc.

Some days the weather was absolutely crazy....

One day we experienced sun, 36 degrees, thunder, rain and hail all within half an hour!!!

Happy Holidays!

My holiday has begun...Yay!

We will be on our way to Sydney tomorrow and spend a few days in this beautifull city.

Then we will slowly make our way back to Melbourne.

But we will go back to basics first and enjoy some (hopefully) magnificent camping along the coast.

I wish you all Happy Holidays and a sparkling New Year!

I will be back in January....

Finished!

This is the last Christmas present that I finished this week.

It's a little crochet cosy for a friend.

...and another one!

I finished another bag tonight! I probably will be making more as last minute Christmas presents this week...

Sunday Sewing!

I wanted to sew something easy today. I found the pattern for these

little bags in one of the Tilda books.

So simple and easy. Great for your make up or as a travel sewing kit.
And as they say here in Australia:

'They make great pressies for Chrissie!'

Uttemetut

Yahoo... my sister started her own blog as well!

Have a look on http://uttemetut.blogspot.com/!
She already has her first follower...Me! Or should I say stalker (I might be a bit over-enthusiastic!)

Good luck Sis!

Work in progress: finished!!!

I finished the name plaques that I was working on!

I love to make a customized product. The theme for these name plaques was 'Australia'. And this is what I came up with!

One of the name plaques is going to the UK and the other one to Hong Kong. How exciting!

Mon Cherry is going International...hehe!

Have a great weekend!

Ten things about me...

I received an 'honest blog award' from Sue from I Purr-Furr to Craft. I'm very honored.
Now that means that I have to tell you 10 random things about myself. Oh dear.... here we go:

1. I am addicted to Nivea hand creme.


2. I love Sushi and that's probably one of the main reasons that I love living in Melbourne so much. It's Sushi paradise!


3. I have a Dutch mom and a German dad (I miss you both)


4. Okay...this is probably the most embarrassing one..... I'm afraid of thunder!!! If I'm home alone I actually hide myself under a blanket with my Ipod till it's over....hehehe.


5. My plan for next year is to do more sports. Not difficult as I'm not doing anything at the moment.


6. I actually studied Social Work but I have not been working in that field for several years now.


7. Me and my sister (and occasionally some girlfriends) have watched 'Dirty Dancing' more then 40 times together.


8. I'm going to buy myself a new sewing machine soon and any advice on what brand and type of machine is welcome!


9. Like most women I have a shoe addiction. But the funny thing is that I never wore high heels until I was 28!


10. And number 10 brings me back to this award that I received. I'm supposed to forward it to ten other bloggers that I think deserve this award. And if I'm completely honest I don't like doing this. Not that I can't think of any honest bloggers. There are so many lovely blogs out there. This whole award thing is just not my cup of tea. Nice comments or a new follower make me just as happy! And that's enough for me.

And therefor I want to thank two ladies especially. And that would be Sue from I Purr-Furr to Craft who send me this award and Anna from http://annarosadesigns.blogspot.com/ who became my first follower. Both very creative ladies themselves! Just wanted to thank you for receiving all those nice comments from both of you since I started a few months ago. Thank you so much!

Work in progress part 2

I'm still working on the name plaques. I finished the borring part (sawing).

Now let the decorating begin! Yay!

Frog on my blog!

After a weekend full of parties (a High Tea Party and a Venetian Ball! How Cinderella-ish is that!)

it's now back to reality. Tomorrow family from the Netherlands arrives...yay!

We are looking forward to that but unfortunately it means that you will not find me at my blog a lot in the next few days. So sorry for that! For now I will leave you with two of my frogy paintings.

For some strange reason I love painting frogs?!?!

I'll be back in a few days!

Work in progress

I don't like to show crafty things that I'm working on. What I mean by that is that I don't want others to see my ideas until I'm finished with them. Even when I was a little girl I hated it when teachers or family looked over my shoulder and tried to catch a glimpse of my creative activities.

I think it must definitely have something to do with me being a perfectionist. Good is never good enough for me when it comes to crafting.

Does this sound recognisable or is it just me being silly?

Anyway.... I decided to give you a little sneak preview this time. It's just two sketches for two customized name plaques. The theme is Australia as you can see...

I'll keep you updated on my progress.