creJJtion Styling in a Magazine

I kept a secret for you for weeks

but ...

I am beyond thrilled and honored

that today is the day to reveal that my styling, pictures and story

are part of the beautiful Spring Issue of Gatherings Magazine !

The wonderful Heather Spriggs is the talented lady behind Gatherings Magazine

she did an amazing job putting this Spring magazine together

as she has done with previous issues as well

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in this issue I share with you our complete emigration story ' From Amsterdam to Toronto with Love '

I explain how we selected and styled our new Canadian house to make it our home

and there are many of my pictures to make our story come to live

~

in this issue you will also find beautiful Easter styling tips for your home from lovely Iris from Irideeën

and a sweet Spring craft project by my dear friend Tracey from helana and ali

on top of that, there is a delicious Spring recipe, inspiring shop owner stories 

and many more lovely stories to read, craft projects to make and beautiful pictures to look at

so subscribe here to view this wonderful magazine yourself !

~

a perfect start to a great weekend

wishing you a happy weekend !

Patterns : Coasters and their Basket

thank you for all the enthusiastic replies to the first viewing of the new coasters and their basket !

very encouraging

so here they are, the patterns ~ I hope you enjoy making this cute set as much as I did !

might be a perfect make for this weekend, right in time for Easter ?

the patterns should be doable for the experienced as well as beginners among you

~

please let me know if you have any questions or if you find mistakes in the pattern

it would benefit us all

yarn

the yarn I used for this set is 3 balls of Martha Stewart's cotton hemp yarn : 65% cotton, 35% hemp that gives it the nice matte finish and little rough look - to me a perfect combination with the girly style of this this design. 

I used hook size 5mm (8 US) for this yarn and it is washable on 40C, not unimportant for coasters I figure. If you are looking for a similar yarn to work with, know that these balls are 50gr each and 60 m long. For this specific yarn, follow this link.

The colors I got from Molly are blue icing, sour cherry and picnic green, but there are many more combinations of three colors possible.

stitches used

the stitches you have to know in order to make this set are the following

chain - yarn over and pull through loop on hook

slip stitch - insert hook in stitch, yarn over and pull yarn through stitch and loop on hook

single crochet - insert hook in stitch, yarn over, pull yarn through stitch, yarn over and pull yarn through 2 loops on hook

double crochet - yarn over, insert hook in stitch, yarn over, pull yarn through stitch - you have 3 loops on hook now- , yarn over and pull yarn through 2 loops - leave 1 loop, yarn over, pull yarn through 2 loops

decrease stitch - for basket only, a stitch to make two stitches into one - pull hook through first stitch, yarn over and pull through stitch, insert hook in second stitch, yarn over and pull yarn through

pattern coasters

round 1 - chain 3, close to make a circle with slip stitch in first stitch

round 2 - chain 1 to acquire height for this round, 8 single crochet in circle, close with slip stitch in first stitch, the circle consists of 8 stitches now

round 3 - chain 1 for height, 2 single crochet in each stitch, close with slip stitch in first stitch, round 3 has 16 stitches 

round 4 -  chain 1 for height, * single crochet in first stitch, 2 single crochet in second stitch * repeat between *, close with slip stitch in first stitch, round 4 has 24 stitches

round 5 -  chain 1 for height, * single crochet in first and second stitch, 2 single crochet in third stitch * repeat between * , close with slip stitch in first stitch, round 5 has 32 stitches 

round 6 -  chain 1 for height, * single crochet in first three stitches, 2 single crochet in fourth stitch * repeat between * , close with slip stitch in first stitch, round 6 has 39 stitches 

round 7 - change color! chain 1 for height, single crochet in every stitch, close with slip stitch in first stitch, you still have 39 stitches 

round 8 -  chain 1 for height, * slip stitch in first two stitches, 3 double crochet in third stitch * repeat, close with slip stitch in first stitch, this should make 13 petals

weave in the ends and you have made yourself a coaster!

regarding the color lay out of the coasters: I choose to make them each different and unique, which with 3 colors comes down to 6 coasters. I used the yarn that was left to make the basket, but another suggestion would be to make more coasters in the same color combinations. The coasters are all shown in the pictures, but for those who prefer to read the lay out, here it is

          1 blue circle red petals          

    2 blue circle green petals

3 red circle blue petals

  4 red circle green petals

  5 green circle red petals

   6 green circle blue petals

pattern basket

round 1-6 - exactly as in pattern coasters

round 7 -  chain 1 for height, * single crochet in first four stitches, 2 single crochet in fifth stitch * repeat between * , close with slip stitch in first stitch, round 7 has 46 stitches 

round 8 -  chain 1 for height, * single crochet in first five stitches, 2 single crochet in sixth stitch * repeat between * , close with slip stitch in first stitch, round 8 has 53 stitches
round 9 -  chain 1 for height, * single crochet in first six stitches, 2 single crochet in seventh stitch * repeat between * , close with slip stitch in first stitch, round 9 has 60 stitches
round 10 -  chain 1 for height, * single crochet in first seven stitches, 2 single crochet in eighth stitch * repeat between * , close with slip stitch in first stitch, round 10 has 67 stitches
round 11 - read through thee whole text before you start this round - chain 1 for height, * single crochet in outside part of every stitch, decrease stitch 8 and 9 into one * , repeat between * , close with slip stitch in first stitch, round 11 has 60 stitches
NOTE this is the round where you want to make the basket go 'up'. In order to do so, you make a single crochet in every stitch, BUT you pick up only the outside loop of every stitch. If you have never done this before; when you look at your stitches from the top they look like the letter V. Normally you go with your hook through both 'legs' of the V, but this round you take your hook only through the outside 'leg'of the V.  ALSO when I designed the basket I found that due to the weight of the yarn, the basket went up later than needed for the size of the coasters. Therefore I redid the first row of going up, by decreasing every 8th and 9th stitch into one. The decrease stitch is outlined above, under 'stitches used'
round 12 -  chain 1 for height, single crochet in every stitch, round 12 has 60 stitches
round 13 -  chain 1 for height, single crochet in every stitch, round 13 has 60 stitches
round 14-19 - change color! six rows of - chain 1 for height, single crochet in every stitch, close with slip stitch in first stitch, round 14-19 all have 60 stitches
round 20-21 - change color! two rows of -  chain 1 for height, single crochet in every stitch, close with slip stitch in first stitch, round 20-21 all have 60 stitches
round 22 - the round where you start to make the handles -  chain 1 for height, single crochet in the first 10 stitches, for the first handle slip stitch 10 without attatching them to the basket, like you did at the start, skip 10 stitches, single crochet in the next 20 stitches, for the second handle slip stitch 10 without attaching them to the basket, skip 10 stitches, single crochet in the last 10 stitches, close with slip stitch in first stitch, round 22 still has 60 stitches
round 23-24 - chain 1 for height, single crochet in every stitch, close with slip stitch in first stitch, round 23-24 both have 60 stitches
now weave in the ends, and your basket is finished and ready to use!

to add a little touch I embroidered a little red flower on the front of the basket, using the lazy-daisy stitch. If you are not familiar with it and like to add one or more to your basket, there are many many examples on the web, for example this clear youtube clip.

again, if you have any questions or if you find mistakes in the pattern, please let me know by leaving a comment below or sending me an e-mail at crejjtion@gmail.com

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

Strawberries and Coasters

on the facebook page I gave a preview yesterday of strawberries and coasters

a new adventure

may be you remember I got this pretty yarn from my sweet friend Molly a few weeks ago

well, I got out a crochet hook and this is what happened....

I wanted to use the three balls of yarn for one project

and they became coasters!

three different colors allow for six unique color combinations

with hook size five it did not take me too long ~ which I always love of course, easy and fast

so a new set was born

and the good news is : I wrote out the pattern and will post that here soon so you can all enjoy

making a quick and lovely set yourself !

~

but ... it is getting even better ...

after making six coasters, there was more yarn left

and I made a matching basket for them

and yes, I also wrote out a pattern for the basket

yay !

thank you again very much Molly for the beautiful yarn in these great colors

I had so much fun making this little Spring set and as you can see, it made perfect use of the yarn

~

I hope you get as much in Spring mood as I did after looking at all these images

Mail from France

I assume I am not the only one who greatly appreciates real mail

and parcels even more...

so you guess my excitement when the mail lady brought this package to my door

all the way from France from lovely Kirsty

a big thank you package for the baby blanket I made last summer for her newborn boy

she did the embroidery and I love it ~ so pretty and even the back is beautiful

it is hanging right above the piano now, so I can see and enjoy it every day

the Paris teatowel is for my husband ~ to be able to do the dishes in style, of course

the wonderful French fabric looks like a beautiful scarf to me

and the delicious cookies from the Provence, named calissons

there was yummy chocolate too, but that was gone before the pictures were taken

~

Kirsty, thank you again for this beautiful and delicious parcel

~ love ~

Monday Mood Board ~ 1

this Monday

after a warm and sunny weekend

totally in Spring mood

inspired by a picture from the Dutch magazine Seasons my mom sent me

I love the natural colors 

light green tones

whites ~ pure white next to off white and a creamy white

a little hint of soft peachy pink, as well as a little deep dark purple to add some contrast to the palette

I enjoyed painting the little bouquet of roses

and can see a perfect colored set of yarn for a Spring baby blanket

wishing you a perfect new week

~

I  hope to start an inspirational Monday Moord Board series as of today

Craft Group

thank you all very much for responding so nicely to the new design

and the new creJJtion Facebook account

your support makes me happy and smile for days

~

sharing inspiration and ideas on the web is great and I would not know how to live without it any more

but ~ nothing compares to the real thing

being able to enjoy and touch each others makes, see them with your own eyes

therefore I started a craft group with a bunch of creative and wonderful ladies

and yesterday was our first get together !

to celebrate the start of this craft group I made little treats for the ladies

a little piece of Spring looking fabric, some ribbon or lace and a washi tape decorated clothes pin

we enjoyed each others makes, drank tea, ate cake and chatted ~ of course

to sum it up, it was great fun

and the ladies came with great on-the-go-projects from quilts to a paper collage and a fabric art piece

as for me

I enjoyed every minute of it

and fell in love with the Cath Kidston case, the amazing embroidery thread color ranges and little Noah

thank you ladies for this wonderful afternoon, I am looking forward to seeing you again in two weeks

~

wishing you all an inspiring weekend !

Facebook and a New Design

what started with a regular change of the creJJtion header

and the launch of creJJtion on facebook

turned into a complete Spring clean up

I am sorry I haven't announced it ~ but I did'nt see it coming

however the new lay out makes me happy

let me give you a quick tour through the changes

basically all information that was in the side bar, moved to the bottom of the page

except for the list of your dear and pretty blogs, they upgraded to their own page friends and favorites

in alphabetical order and organized in three categories

~

the buttons in the sidebar are new

I thought it was about time I permanently gave you the possibility to link with creJJtion

on Instagram, my new addiction on the iPhone

on Pinterest, I have been around there for a while

and on Facebook, new since today, where I will post Instagram pictures and creJJtion behind the scenes

~

well...

let me know what you think !

Wrapping Up

wrapping up a baby blanket as a gift

is so much joy

I love doing it and finding matching materials

this blanket is on it's way to a darling girl

as you can see

I am trying out a new format for my pictures

and I will do so for a little while longer I assume

feel free to let me know what you think !

New Start

a new start

of a new blanket

Miami City is in the making

as the Canadians say: weather is crazy these weeks

we are experiencing a quick shift to amazing Spring weather ~ and I am not complaining

instead I take my yarn and design paper outside

and enjoy the sun

the new pattern I am working on includes a whole strip of ripples

and I am enjoying it so far

it is a lot of work though ~ preparing the new creJJtion web shop

I envy all of you who host a shop and manage it so well

I try to keep calm and relaxed

drinking my tea and enjoying the sun regularly

but in the meantime all your advise on the topic  'web shop'  is more than welcome !

you can find my e-mail address on the right

~

I hope the sun is out where you are too