New Old Sewing Machine

basically every project I am working on, I share with you here on my blog

and that tells you I have not been sewing in a loooong time

months have gone by without

but, I have a feeling that is going to change soon...

~

on a lucky thrift adventure with my friend

I found this beauty of a vintage sewing machine

super heavy, all steel

and isn't this just the perfect color and style

could you imagine my excitement when I saw it, haha

I must admit I have had it for a few weeks now

and still found no time to use it

but I will soon !

how great would it be to sew vintage sheets into beautiful cushion covers on this machine...

I know it still works, I tried that before I bought it

but other than that I have no idea what to expect

may be this weekend I will do some research on the web

and find some tips and tricks for this particular one

let the fun begin !

~

wishing you a lovely weekend too

hugs

Inspiration to Share

wow I am overwhelmed 

by the lovely ideas, links and suggestions you have been giving for the burlap crafts !

next week's craft group will be a lot fun, that's for sure

~

today I would like to share

some inspiration I recently found

you know I love stationary

beautiful cards, cute notebooks, I cannot get enough of them

a new favorite is Anastasia Marie Cards and her absolutely beautiful blog that you have to check out

I look forward to her color palette every week, this golden sunshine one for example...

~

today was a big day for her, as she launched her website and blog in a new design

congratulations Anastasia, I truly love the design !

another one is a modern looking online shop from the UK Present&Correct

the way they present their material is just phenomenal to me

their WRITE section for example but also the GIFT section and crown card

are eye candy to me, and make me smile at the same time

perfect combination and very inspirational

and last but not least

I'd like to share the beautiful version of the coasters and their basket by Ester

on her blog Pierelantijntjes she shows the pictures of the set she made, using my pattern

I love the colors she picked

thank you again for sharing your beautiful set Ester !

Burlap Crafts

the craft group comes together every other week

last week, one of the ladies came across an ad for burlap's

I never heard of that word, in case you haven't too, they are coffee bags

in preparation for next week's craft group, I picked them up yesterday

and I invite you to have a look at these pretties ...

I love their rough look, natural colors and nice prints

they do remind me of the Dutch post bags, but the burlap's are much more open-woven

the question is

what to make with them ?

I actually hope you will come up with some great ideas ...

outdoor cushion covers I heard someone say

bunting for a Summer garden party I thought

but I am sure you have other beautiful and inventive ideas

~

in the mean time they make a perfect subject for my pictures

the camera and I, we love these bags

they are the perfect subject for one of my favorites : contrasts of rough and delicate items, tulips in this case

perfect, right ?!

but I am absolutely serious about the request for craft ideas

if you like the bags, and leave a great idea in a comment to this post between today and the end of April

I might send you a bag

how is that ?

Poncho in Progress

last Friday I wrote a post about the poncho I found

on Saturday I bought wool to make my own version

and on Sunday I couldn't help myself, but had to start on the first squares

it has been a while since I made full size granny's

and I enjoy making them a lot !

extremely colorful, more colorful than I would choose myself

but I still like the combination

and it is a challenge to me to make a poncho that has the same feel, 

but a slightly different lay out than the original

while making these squares I am already sorting out my personal favorites

and of course I had to include the tulips in the pictures

the first ones I found here that were not in full bloom yet

so we can enjoy them to the maximum

~

something else I am enjoying since today

is the hard copy of Gatherings that arrived in my mailbox today

my first publication !

if you haven't seen it yet, you have to take a look at Heather's website soon

unfortunately she faced a bug in the subscription version, and to compensate that

for a limited time she offers the magazine free of charge through this link

so if you are interested in our full emigration story 'From Amsterdam to Toronto with Love'

click the above mentioned link ~ my story starts at page 114 and includes some of my own favorite pictures

grab a cup of your favorite coffee or tea and enjoy !

Monday Mood Board ~ 5

hello to you and a new week !

I figure I overdid the amount of sunshine I sent to you this weekend

since we have snow today... wet snow that does not stick to the ground, but still, it is snow

therefore,

sunshine comes from fabric today ~ smile

to be more specific, it is fabric from the beautiful Pop Garden collection by Heather Bailey

very bold and bright

with a simple but splashy color palette

~

inspired by this fabric I made the felt flower, in order to save the fabric 

for a pillow cover I hope

finding matching yarn was relatively easy

although the yellow seemed not to match quite as exactly

so may be this will be a yarn, fabric and felt project

interesting combination if you ask me ... any one of you experienced in that ?

~

have a lovely new week !

Colorful Poncho

city, suburb, countryside

decisions and choices

but wherever I live, I will find my way to a few nice thrift stores

today I feature what I think is a great catch

a crochet poncho, in between girl's and women's size

why do I consider this a great catch ?

well, for a few reasons

I love it when people use a mix of colors in a not so common selection and still manage to make it look good

the great variety of yarn used in this poncho, suggests it was made from little bits and pieces of left over yarn,

making something beautiful out of left overs is very rewarding to me

the way the individual squares are attached looks like a blanket stitch, very original and perfect for this piece

the edging is simple but yet effective, in that sense that it makes the squares work together on a straight line,

not always an easy goal to accomplish when working with granny squares

also, this particular poncho is really nicely put together, you can see the creator put love and effort into it

~

oh and yes, you may laugh at my half succeeded attempt to take a picture of myself wearing it

I took about 16 pictures and this was the best one, pffff, haha

sooo.... you are thinking 'what is all the fuzz about?'

well, I will tell you

this poncho set me off to a new pattern for the creJJtion shop ~ yay !

I am redesigning the poncho a little bit, to make the design work for a non-left-over project as well

I mean, when you have about 15 colors of the same type of yarn left over, you can copy this poncho

but for a pattern I thought it would be nice to be able to make it from scratch as well

because, let's be honest, this will be the perfect colorful addition to a Spring or Fall wardrobe

to lighten up those grey, chilly days !

~

have a lovely weekend and I will send some warmth of the beautiful 20C we have today to you