One of a Kind Show

the One of a Kind Show

Toronto, Christmas edition 2011

friends have been talking about it for three months

and they were right, it is a Great Show!

I am sharing with you the booths that I found lovely, sweet, amazing and pretty

focused on yarn, textiles, prints, paperwork and that natural comforting look

and... you don't need to live in Canada to find them because they all have online shops!

is that good news or what?!

now let's get started with this tour...

all pictures taken with my iPhone

~

first is Bookhou, based in Toronto

they do an amazing job with their screen prints on textiles, using natural colors

I was lucky to meet Arounna, the inspiring and creative woman behind this brand

take a look at their website and Etsy Shop to find out yourself!

then we meet Vintage Baby Revival

mainly focused on babies, but who can resist their cute owl designs?

all hand knitted and available in their Etsy Shop

~

Tracey from the pretty blog helana and ali made me check out the Pi'lo booth

I am so glad you did Tracey!

when you visit their website or Etsy shop you instantly get that calm, Nordic feel

well, that same feel was here, with Christmas ornaments out of felt, wood and cotton

not to forget that amazingly sweet hanging bird and the hand sewn notebook gift tags...

I felt at home immediately, also with many thanks to Amanda from the pretty blog MPERFECTION

next are the cute and photogenetic bunnies from Sonja

these sleeping beauties are handsewn from vintage sweaters made of natural (mainly wool) fibers

wouldn't they look cute in their vintage cups in every corner of your house?

the good news is the link to Sonja's Etsy shop

~

on the show were a few card and paper designers

but Flakespaperie was definitely my favorite

the simple and effective screen print designs presented on a mint green wall stole my heart

and of course the postcards with the Amsterdam bike on a canal... how could I resist?

I talked to wonderful Ashley who is the designer, printmaker and boss lady behind Flakespaperie

and not only hosts this Etsy Shop and website, but also this pretty blog!

last but not least in this feature is Heidi van Veen Designs

of course her Dutch last name caught my eye, haha

but I was overwhelmed by her pretty puppets and colorful designs for kids!

mister Fox is my absolute favorite, you can find him and his friends through Heidi's FaceBook page

~

and this is my precious catch of the day

along with the cutest magnets and buttons from babyelephantdesigns ~ a sweet newbie to the show

combined with a delicious coffee, some knitting and my warm feet by the fire place

I hope you enjoyed the tour with me and got inspired by these wonderful ladies!

I didn't get to see all booths, so I am going there again and probably show you more in a few days...

for anyone near Toronto, the show is on untill Dec 4th at the Direct Energy Centre

in the meantime you might like to sign up for the HO - HO - HO Give Away



Give Away #4

so.... you remember the IKEA Christmas fabric

I had great fun with it

while desiging Santa puppets

different Santa's from all over the world

came rolling from underneath my sewing machine

representing traditional Santa on one side, Swedish Santa with Dala horse on the other

with embellished coats, hats and shoes by me

the Scottish Santa got a real pompom on his hat, and so does the Asian Santa on the other side

they are here to say hi to you because...

one of them could end up in your home!

welcome to the HO - HO - HO creJJtion Give Away

to win a Santa, simply enter a sweet comment to this post

it is always nice if you start following creJJtion or put this give away on your blog

~ but you don't have to ~

the give away is open to international readers too

winner will be drawn on Wednesday December 7th

and the winner will get to choose his or her Santa of preference!

~ enjoy ~

Decorated Match Boxes

so, let's share the match box fun!

here is the result of a little fun time with paint, paper and glue

Santa arrived with lots of toys

I painted this box in a light pink before I glued Santa to it

added a few silver stars in the sky and gave him some more snow to walk on

this cute little girl with her baby doll

I framed her in white, light brown and stone red, with a golden background in the middle

her girlfriend here on the left seems pretty jealous...

these are modern prints of vintage Swedish images by the way

but of course any image, scrap from a magazine or picture could work for you

and Santa perfectly matches to the birds I think

~

the good news about match boxes though

is that they have two sides...

so here I went, decorating the other side a little less traditional

by weaving Japanese paper that I had to cut in strips first

and a painted version that goes with it

in a pattern derived from the Japanese paper print

and the result: no more ugly match boxes in our kitchen cupboard

but pretty ones on the side table!

it is a very easy and quick project, providing you with a lot of fun

did I inspire you or your kids to decorate your own match box?

~  I would love to know! ~



Match Boxes

I don't know about your house

but at this time of the year, our home is full with candles, tea ligths and match boxes

the sad thing about the match boxes is that they come in...

let me say 'not so pretty prints'

so the boxes hide in the kitchen cupboard

however, this cute one I found last week is inspired by a beautiful vintage postcard

and is a pretty and cheerful addition to our side table

I am ready for some good fun with paper and glue

to see if I can turn these two boxes on the left

into pretty ones like the sweet winter scene on the right!

what about you?

~ happy paper crafting ~

Knit Scarf Update

hello sweeties!

here is a little visual weekend update

about the silk scarf

and some little treats ~ Japanese paper, English China and vintage wool spools

the scarf is half way finished

as I am knitting with needle size 3.25 mm it grows quite slow

but when I feel the softness of the result... I know it is all worth it

the spools and China are just for fun

this color combination appeals to me

I might use it in a next project

however there is so much 'on the go' in my craft room...

coming up this week at creJJtion:

makes with the cute IKEA Christmas fabric

and...

to celebrate your sweet comments on my posts and the growing number of followers

I think it is about time I host give away #4....!

~ have a colorful new week ~

Cupcake Love

today was a day of celebration

the husband and I passed the Canadian driver's license test

we are now free as birds again

and what goes better with celebrations than cupcakes?

so we drove to Cupid's Cupcakes

I mentioned them before in this post

and treated ourselves with princess, red velvet, carrot cake and chocolate mint

~ mmmm... ~

and I hear you thinking

very nice Maaike, but I don't live within driving distance to Cupid's

so what is in it for me?

I thought about that

and decided to treat you with a cupcake recipe

the easy recipe of the cute and delicious cupcakes I made this weekend, to be seen in this post

you can find it below here

so... let me know what you think!

~ happy cupcake baking ~

Mini Lemon Coconut Cupcakes

(for about 24 mini's)

100 gr butter

1 lemon

2 eggs

120 gr sugar

120 gr flour

50 gr grated unsweetened coconut

2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

for the frosting

150 gr icing sugar

2 table spoons hot water

2-3 table spoons fresh lemon juice

Start with the frosting: mix the icing sugar together with the water and lemon juice for about 10 minutes for a white and shiny finish.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Put the mini cupcake liners in the mold. Melt the butter in the microwave, do it carefully so it does not overheat. Wash the lemon, peel it and press the lemon. Mix the eggs with the sugar until fluffy. Add the flour, melted butter, lemon zest and juice, salt and coconut. At last add the baking powder.

Fill the mini cupcake liners with the mixture and put them in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes, depending on your oven.

When the cakes are ready, take them out of the oven and let them cool for a moment. Add the icing when they are still a little warm.



yummm...!

Orange

orange is not particularly a color I like

but sometimes...

I love it

right now in our home

a little orange and spice

oranges and cloves are a perfect combination

to create that delicious winter feel in your home

take a grater to peel the orange a little bit in a simple design and just pin the cloves in there

place the oranges above the fireplace or heating to spread the scent

how wonderful would it be if computers can transfer scent?

I hope engineers are working on that improvement ~ haha

my sweet rose ~ even more in full bloom

I can not get enough of it

l o v e   i t

and in my craft room today ~ no orange

but fabric IDGRAN TOMTE from IKEA

stay tuned...

~ happy crafting! ~



Weekend

thank you for the sweet comments on the previous posts

you sure know how to brighten my days!

this is a little Dutch hug for you ~ smile

last week we finally got our couch

and it makes me very happy to see my Amsterdam~made cushion cover and crochet blanket on it

I have been busy organizing and decluttering our house

that is how it works for me; 

the more things are organized, the more room there is in my head for creativity

after all the cleaning and organizing we went out for a little walk

it is unusually warm for this time of the year, Canadians tell us

we enjoy it a lot though

I am showing you the poncho my mom and I made together two years ago

she sewed it together, I added the blanket stitch, stars and wooden details

with so many leafs on the ground

we can almost picture what it will look like in a few weeks from now with snow...

back home we enjoy a nice cup of tea and little treats

in our lives full of 'firsts' here in Canada

we had a joyful 'first' last night; Canadian friends came over to our place for dinner

a good reason for me to try out a new recipe and bake mini lemon coconut cakes

such a wonderful evening, such delicious cakes!

and to finish this post

the husband got me this sweet pretty rose

I miss the pretty Dutch flower shops at every street corner

so this rose is a real treat and it is very precious to me

we are ready for a new week!

~ how was your weekend? ~

Magazine Love

for those of you sweeties who don't know yet

I looooove magazines

when we moved from Amsterdam to Toronto this summer

one of many many questions was: which magazines to take with me?

I forced myself to make a small selection ~ it was no fun

but, today there is such a thing as online magazines

great!

this new one for example: Christmas 2011 InspiredIdeas from Amy Powers

stuffed with pretty crafty ideas, so inspirational

and the most amazing thing about this new magazine is

two of my sweet new Canadian friends contributed to it with their beautiful crafts!

Koralee from Bluebird Notes ~ I love her amazing crafts and pictures in blue and pink

she designed a beautiful pompom garland for this Christmas season

and Tracey from Helana and Ali ~ with the best ideas for felt, paper and fabric embellishments

she designed a pretty holiday brooch ~ that you can actually win! check our her give away

now that is Fun

by the way, in the top left picture you see Tracey's businesscard and the cute envelop it comes in

so sweet, I felt like receiving a gift when she gave it to me

I guess it is time to pop over to MOO and see what I can come up with for creJJtion...

and just in case you were wondering what the pictures have to do with the magazine

not so much ~ ha, you guessed that right

I was having fun today with my new thrift store finds

English china, Christmas ornaments and writing paper

in matching colors

I wonder: how do they always end up matching?