Magazine Love

did I ever tell you

I have a magazine-fetish?

the more and the prettier the pictures

the better

Country Homes & Interiors for example

shows to my surpirse a how-to in their June issue

one of the most beautiful crochet blankets I know

I first saw it at Coco Rose Diaries

also in the June issue

some pictures that tell the story of my weekend

and seem to match a few items that I see around here

are you ready for some picture-story-mixing fun?

I have some festive crochet to do

wish I could lay down there with a book

and ripple some more ripples along the blanket I am working on

I had a great tea and make-up session with my friends

the fiance and I had fun with divine twine

and the dress-shopping with the girls was great and succesful

~  smile about my magazine~life story ~

wishing you a colorful new week!

New WIP

if there is anything I am not looking for these weeks

it is more things to do, make or think about

I am also way behind when it comes to reading your blogs

and leaving comments on all the beauties you are posting

but my hands were unstoppable

I just had to start a little ripple blanket

in these dreamy raspberry red and mint green colors

following a colorpattern ~ which I normally never do

but working my way around the ripples is very relaxing to me

and that is just what I am looking for these days

~ wishing you a calm and relaxing weekend ~

I am off to the girls, see if we can find some pretty weddingdresses and get ourselves a matching make-up

~ excitement ~

Divine Twine

look what came by mail

a bunch of these brown things

do you wonder what is inside?

take a peek

ok let's unwrap them all...

... and look what colorsplash comes out!

my new love

my new toys

aren't they the sweetest?

like pencils in a box?

like candy on a stick?

The Sweet Dozen

by Divine Twine

ordered from Lisa The Country Chicken at her great Etsy shop

and yes, one or may be two of them, will play a role in the wedding...

~ wishing you a divine, colorful Thursday ~

Circle in Square #2

to my eyes

number two

is in the wedding-mood



but that could be just my eyes

~ smile ~

the happiest of Tuesdays to you my friends

Wedding update

hello sweeties

how is your Sunday so far?

I have to be honest

I never planned to really do the wedding-stuff here at creJJtion

but since so many of you would love to know how everything is going...

a little wedding update

first of all

yes, he did go and picked that gorgeous engagementring all by himself

and we went back to Tiffany together, and found matching weddingbands

the wedding is planned in about one and a half month from now

it will be a city wedding here in Amsterdam

all loactions are set, reservations made

yes, we did have a lot of fun sorting it all out and yes, it is a lot of work

there will be about 70 guests, therefore we hope it will be a small and intimate wedding

I will be wearing something like a dress, but not exactly, in quite a traditional color

as of this weekend, both moms have their outfits too

the bridesmaids are next

and the groom will go and find himself and outfit with his parents this week

on  the decorational level

you guessed it right

the little hearts will play a role

the invitations, thank-you gifts and table place cards are all in the same style

and I love to coordinate that stuff

but hey, that should not surprise you, right?

I know some of the wedding guests are sweet frequent readers of creJJtion

so this is it for now, I might leave no surprise if I tell you more...

~ have a lovely Sunday ~

Vintage couples

for the love of vintage cards

doesn't this duo on the left make you smile?

for the love of happy couples

and vintage zippers

for the love of candy

my and the fiance's favorite: Les Anis de Flavigny

~ I love the little tin boxes and the candy, he just the candy, haha ~

wishing you

a big smile

happy couple love

vintage flowers

and some anis in your purse

this weekend

~ love ~

Circle in Square #1

after taking pictures of the artichokes last weekend

I looked at my photo's and thought:

hmmmm... I think I have taken pictures of circle-shaped items before...

so I went through all the pictures I took since I started blogging

and laughed out loud

I do it all the time! taking pictures of circles-in-squares

so therefore I decided to have some picture-fun

and start a little serie ~ of five to be precise

and  this is number one: blue-gray shades

for those who read creJJtion for a little while now

you will recognize some items ~ all have been shown on creJJtion before

~ happy round Wednesday ~

First time

there is a first time for everything

I had three firsts this weekend

my first ~and delicious~ cheesecake

for the first time using the Greengate piedish

a birthdaypresent I got from my brother and his girlfriend

and I made my first mini crochet~hearts~garland

among all the things that have to be done

on all the to do lists I am keeping at the moment

there is nowhere a garland to find

but yet I enjoyed it a lot to create and finish this little beauty

~ wishing you a fruitful new week ~

PinkFlower

last Queensday

I found this little Rosenthal Bavaria piece

I love the flowerpattern

to my eyes

it matches perfectly with peonies

and the ever-lovely ranunculus 



really

although I love bright colors very much

I cannot resist these light white, creme and pink shades...

wishing you a light and flowerful Thursday

Busy

times are busy here

one of the main themes: preparing for our wedding

in busy times you have to watch yourself

spend time with wonderful friends

eat good and delicious food

~ celebrate life ~

writing the wedding invitations

and finishing off some ends to clear my mind

~  weekend love ~

wishing you a quiet Sunday, may be with some good friends ~ smile ~

LavenderLove

lavender is one of my favorites

the flower, the color, the scent... I love it all

last year I made these little lavender bags by hand

this weekend I was looking for something in our closet

and look what I found...

...lavender bag number three!

I made it a few years ago and totally forgot about it

it is made of the reserve button part of fiance's waisted shirt, boyfriend back then

this cute, little, not so perfect hand-stitched-thing made me smile

it turns out long before I discovered the sewing machine

I have been sewing lavender bags made of old shirts

what's new?! some things never change

and I like that

what old habit have you picked up lately?

~ love ~

Mothersday

to my lovely mom



~ a colorful and happy Mothersday ~

Crochet hexagon tutorial

the crochet hexagon tutorial

this hexagon consists of 6 rounds

of course you can stop at practically any round

if the hexagon has reached the size you had in mind

this hexagon is based on Bunny Mummy Jacquie's mini hexagon pattern

she is the sweetest lady to give me permission to show you the pattern described below

that is based on her great tutorial

~ thank you so much again Jacquie ~

1. ROUND 1: make a loop on the hook

2. chain 4

3. close loop of chainstitches by instering hook in fist stitch, yarn over, pull through

4. round 1 finished

5. ROUND 2: chain 2

6. yarn over, insert hook in chain, yarn over, pull yarn through all 3 loops on hook

7. stitch 1 (of 6 in this round) is finished

8. chain 2

9. stitch of round 2: yarn over, insert hook in ring of round 1, yarn over, pull yarn through 2 loops on hook

10. yarn over, insert hook in ring, yarn over, pull yarn through all 4 loops on hook

11. chain 2

12. repeat stitch (combination of image 9 and 10) 4 times to make a total of 6 in this round, close round by slip stitch into second stitch of image 5

13. round 2 is finished

14. ROUND 3: single crochet into closest gap between the stitches of round 2

15. ready to start round 3

16. round 3 consists of stitches made the following way: yarn over, insert hook in gap between stitches of round 2, yarn over, pull yarn through all 3 loops on hook

17. repeat stitch as described image 16

18. chain 2 (this is your first hexagon-corner)

19. two times stitch as in 16, in the same gap as the stitches in 17. So, in this 3rd round, in every gap, you make 2 stitches as in 16, chain 2, 2 stitches as in 16

20. close round 3 with slip stitch in first stitch as made in 15

21. round 3 is finished ~ pattern by Jacquie stops here

22. ROUND 4: chain 2

23. round 4 consists of double crochet stitches in the gaps between the stitches of round 3

24. double crochet: yarn over, insert hook in gap between the stitches, yarn over, pull yarn through 2 loops on hook, yarn over, pull yarn through 2 loops left on hook

25. corners: double crochet, chain 2, double crochet in same corner

26. this is what the corner will look like

27. on every side of the hexagon, you will create 5 double crochet

28. close round 4 with slip stitch in second chain stitch as in image 22. If the current size of the hexagon is what you were looking for, finish now.

29. ROUND 5: chain 2

30. work your double crochet around all 6 sides as in round 4, but now with 6 double crochet instead of 5

31. finish round 5 with slip stitch in second stitch of image 29. If the current size of the hexagon is what you were looking for, finish now.

32. ROUND 6: the final round, consists of the same stitches as in round 3: yarn over, insert hook in gap between stitches of round 2, yarn over, pull yarn through all 3 loops on hook

33. one stitch is made

34. in the corners, use 3 chain stitches

35. you will have 7 stitches on every side of the hexagon

36. close round 6 with slip stitch in first stitch of this round as in image 33

37. Tadaa! Your hexagon is finished



again, I would love to know if the pattern works for you

all comments to improve it are more than welcome

~ happy hexagon crochet ~

in a few posts from now I will show you one way to join them, like I did in this blanket

Have a lovely day!


if you appreciate this tutorial and like to see more in the future, you are welcome to

Thank you again

thank you's again

from me to you

who give me advice on how to plan a wedding

how to stay calm and enjoy

and how to save your marriage before it even existed

in Holland we say: go camping with your lover

in a tent

without navigation system in the car

and find out how you will manage together

if your relationship survives that holiday, it will probably survive more

now I can say

~ with a big smile on my face ~

try to organize a wedding in 3 months

if you manage together...

~ laugh out loud ~

oh, and for those of you who cannot wait any longer: hexagon crochet pattern is on it's way

just a few more days...

Crochet heart tutorial

thank you so much readers

for all your sweet, lovely, enthusiastic comments on our engagement!

we could not have wished for any more than that, Huge Thank You's

he, former boyfriend, now fiance, proposed on April 1st

and yes, we are busy planning the wedding, since The Big Day is this summer

without further detail, everything is going great and we are both loving it, although it is a lot of work

last Friday the fiance and I were celebrating our 12 year anniversary

and I went wedding-dress-shopping with both mothers ~ we had the most perfect day

that scale you see in the pictures is the one we found on our engagement-day

well let's get back to blogging business

~ smile ~

you all requested for the pattern of the cute little hearts my friend Wija made in this post

the pattern is from Little Birdie Secrets and you can find it here

but, as I am all in the hearts-and-love-mood now

I designed a little heart myself too

and there it is: my very first photo-tutorial

How To Crochet a Heart

note: I am left-handed. You, right-handed, might make the turn of the heart the other way around

 1. start a loop
2. round 1: chain 4
3. close loop by pulling yarn through the first chain
4. round 2: all worked in chain-circle. first stitch: yarn over- pull yarn though loop - 3 loops on hook now - pull yarn through all 3 loops in once

 5. it will look like this now
6. double crochet: yarn over before you insert hook in the chain - pull though- yarn over - pull through 2 loops on hook - yarn over - pull through 2 (all) loops left on hook
7. triple crochet: yarn over 2 times- pull hook through loop- yarn over- pull yarn through 2 loops - yarn over - pull yarn through 2 loops - yarn over- pull yarn through 2 (all) loops left on hook
8. it should look like this now

 9. double crochet
10. two times single crochet
11. double crochet
12. triple crochet (like in number 7) round 2 is now half-way

 13. now repeat number 4 to 12 in reverse: double crochet - 2 times single crochet - double crochet - triple crochet - double crochet - stitch as in number 4
14. insert hook in middle of the heart
15. yarn over and pull loop through
note: if this little heart is the perfect size for you, finish it off with 7 chain stitches, as done in step 24
16. round 3. this round consists of single crochet worked into the stitches of the first round. start with instering hook in first stitch, yarn over, pull through, yarn over, pull through

 17. in the first stitch, one single crochet. in the following 3 stitches, 2 times single crochet, to be able to make that circle of the heart stay round
18. it should look like this now
19. in the following stitches, until the treble crochet, use one single crochet in every stitch
20. before going back on the other side of the heart, in the triple crochet below, make two chainstitches, followed by one single crochet, to make the angle stand out

 21. it should look like this now
22. again use single crochet in the following 3 stitches
23. make 2 single crochet in the following 3 stitches to create a smooth bow, single crochet in the last stitch
24. to finish off nicely, insert hook in middle of the heart, yarn over, pull through loop on hook, chain 7

25. Tadaa! your crochet heart

now this is my very first tutorial ever

I hope some of you would like to give it a try

and tell me if anything is unclear or wrong, or if you see options for improvement...

~ happy heartful day to you ~




if you appreciate this tutorial and like to see more in the future, you are welcome to