Spread the Love

the big news I am announcing today is a partnership between creJJtion and Baby Watoto

I wrote about this wonderful project earlier, after I posted a request for charity projects and Celeste suggested this organization. the project wouldn't leave my mind and I got in touch with their Canadian department. I donated one of my blankets, but wanted to do more to support them. 

now I proudly present to you a page on my own blog, because creJJtion is dedicated to support Baby Watoto. every now and then I get a request from some of you, for suggestions to donate your crochet and knit items. well, now you have the opportunity to donate your handmade baby products too. 

besides blankets and other baby items, there is of course always the need for financial support too. therefore, I am launching the creJJtion Christmas card collection today, and will donate 30% of the profit of these cards to Baby Watoto. yes. it feels good to help with what lies within my reach, especially this time of year. 

I hope this will be something I can do for years and years to come, together with you.

if you'd like to know more or how you can help Baby Watoto, have a look here and check their website.

if you'd like to get a Christmas card set, have a look here.

~

due to the Chrismas fair I am attending tomorrow, most products in my shop will be on site and off the webshop for this weekend. patterns will be still available for you during the weekend.

~

last but not least: creJJtion was mentioned as 'one of the best craft blogs' on the German website Wunderweib. check out this link to find the story on page 12 and a free pattern for you on page 13: my first make that I still use and love every day! it is in German though. if the translator doesn't help you well and you'd like to get it in English or Dutch, send me an e-mail.

sending you lots of love from a very stormy snowy Toronto

White @Pinterest

left ~ middle ~ right

left ~ middle ~ right

what you cannot see, and I am very happy about that, is how unorganized my house looks now. stuff spread out over 4 rooms and 2 floor levels, projects finished and half finished lying everywhere for the fair. me sewing, stitching, running around like a mad woman. making lists and they are ever getting longer, I am crossing not as much off those lists as I would want to. what I need is some calm white space ~ I prefer the blue or grey white light over the creamy white. what about you?

tomorrow I have some news to announce here that you might really like. it includes Christmas and a wonderful dear charity project that I have connected with over the past months. I am so happy to announce it tomorrow... 

stay tuned for some great news!

now. in this house without a single white wall, I will instead sit by the fireplace for a few minutes and drink some tea. 

everything will be alright.

Thrift Shopping in the USA

last in the series from our Summer holidays: a little story about our thrift shopping adventure in the USA. in Maine along the scenic highway 1, to be exact. we expected to drive down this road along the coast, have a coffee here and lunch there, enjoy pretty views and take a right at some point to head back home. that was the plan. haha. what happened was this. 

due to the hour time difference between the Atlantic Coast in Canada and the USA, we found ourselves driving through an 'antique fair on the bridge' before 8 am and pulled over to have a look. we checked out the stalls and their pretty items for good prices. at the end we arrived at a tiny stand with a girl who sold her homemade goodness my mom does the pies, I do all the other sweet stuff, like the whoopie pies you ain't never heard of whoopie piieess?! well, by that time we knew this wasn't going to be 'just another day of driving'. it ended up to be one of the best days of our holiday, going from antique fair to thrift shop, to Treasures and Trash barn. we had so much fun, seeing items we had never seen before and wanting to stop over at every antique sign to make sure we wouldn't miss any treasure. ok, may be that last part was only me, haha.

what we brought? about 1/10 of all that we would have brought if the car was bigger. but oh well...

pretty wooden spools of all sizes and sorts, a darling kids tin with drawings of a carousel on it, and one of the top items if you ask me; the original coca cola tray with 24 bottles with different states of origin on their bottoms. I can see myself clean them, get some of those pretty paper straws with red and white stripes, and enjoy a sip of coke...

well, I hope you enjoyed the Summer series over the past few weeks. there was 

an overview of the trip

Halifax ~ The Loop a yarn store

Yarn Mills and Anne of Green Gables on Prince Edward Island

yarn shopping in Maine, USA

and the Roosevelt Cottage on Campobello Island

next week until Christmas a new weekly series will start: gift wrapping! 

make sure you get all the tips and tricks on time for Christmas, that I have collected and tried out to share with you

Lots in the Making

serious computer issues kept me from blogging today, but fortunately it all worked out well and here I am with an update on what is in the making this week. of course with the fair coming up this Saturday, everything I am doing is in favor of the event. I am finishing up some Santa's like I made last year, do you remember them? one by one the pillows will be done on time I hope, boy are they a lot of work. if they weren't this pretty, I would definitely not be able to keep on hand sewing the crochet tops on.

and something little arrived in the mail today: washi tape with the cutest little birds. it came all the way from the Netherlands, I ordered it from the lovely new webshop from Simpel & Leuk. the shop opened only two weeks ago, is owned by Nelleke from Languis Design and already a succes. definitely worth a visit if you like simple, yet stylish and useful items like a knit cowl, plaid, wooden toy and many more. wishing you lots of shop luck Nelleke!

Winter and Yarn Art

with the first mini snow flakes in the air and Christmas decorations slowly coming out, we are sure approaching Winter now. probably my favorite season. 

last week was when I finished the first blanket in the Holland series; Delft Blue and a matching rattle. so much joy to see a happy baby with the blanket, thank you for all your lovely comments. and the pram is so much fun, great to read some of you were in there as a baby!

this is the the week of the Christmas fair, I am getting excited and ready. working on the last pieces and thinking about the presentation of it all. if you are in the neighborhood  please come and see the fair this Saturday! Details to be found on my events page.

today's teaser is a short video of artist Agata Olek, who took on the idea of Christmas wrapping in a completely different way than you would expect ~ look at the perfect thought through pattern in the pieces and how they blend into what at first glance seems to be a random use of yarn. incredible piece of art. click here to watch the video and read a feature of it here.

have a happy Monday

Crochet Blanket and Rattle

quite proudly I present to you my latest design and the first edition in the Holland Series: Delft Blue

named after and inspired by the world famous dishware from Delft, the Netherlands. all the lovely little squares, the ombre edging and rattle... I love the relatively plain design of this set. after finishing the Miami series, I really enjoy making a series of blankets and baby items that are themed according to my home country.

and of course I am very happy to have found the cutest little baby model, who was very willing to show you how comfortable this blanket is. also new in the pictures is my vintage pram of the British make Silver Cross, from 1980 and in such a perfect condition. both the pictures with the baby and the pram aim to give you a better perspective of the size of the blanket, and provide you with suggestions of how to use it.

this complete blanket and rattle set will be for sale at the Tradition of Christmas Fair next Saturday

the pattern for the set is available here

and the complete crochet kit of pattern and yarn is available here

all my patterns are available in both English and Dutch, but I am working on making my complete Etsy shop bilingual too. both listings I uploaded today and a few more items are already available in Dutch, just click 'see this listing in Dutch' in the top right corner

a very happy weekend to you!

Recently @ Pinterest : Cozy Crafts

1. pinecone elves 2. deer 3. mini bows 4. penguins 5. tags

totally in a cozy winter mood, I am sharing these cute crafts with you. the pinecone elves are found on Martha Stewart's site, there is a tutorial for pinecone penguins too. I am thinking this is a great thing to make with kids. the stylish stitched dear is actually available in a DIY kit, so could be a great Christmas gift for that crafty person in your life. the felt bows can be made in any size, and could be a perfect alternative bow on your wrapped gifts this year. if you click the link you will see the full picture which is a tutorial. you could pair them together with the reindeer gift tags, made from mini scraps of fabric. and the felt penguins are so adorable... I have never felted myself, but these cute little guys might actually get me into it. 

how are you liking these Pinterest series? 

I would love to read your thoughts and may be you have a great suggestion for a theme you'd like to see here...

hopefully the sky is as sunny and blue where you are, as it is here today

Roosevelt Cottage

in the series of photo's from our Summer holiday along the Canadian and US East Coast, today the Roosevelt Cottage on Campobello Island. very pretty with it's plain decor and so lovely situated by the water. 

the main reason I am sharing this with you is because of the personal touch of Eleanor Roosevelt I found in this cottage. she was a remarkable, inspiring lady to say the least. and through a peak in her cottage, I found out she was very creative with yarn too. her personal knitting basket by the fire, some pink knitting in the making in the bedroom window sill, patchwork potholders in the kitchen. and lovely handmade rugs throughout the house, which she had bought from local artists. her down to earth style, love for handmade and creative eye is what I find very inspiring, especially how she maintained them with her role as First Lady.

today you'll still find quotes from Eleanor everywhere, if you're interested have look here to find most of them.

next week and last in this series: thrift shopping USA

In the Making

 

slowly but surely, I'll get there

the crochet flower cover is coming along nicely onto the pillow

I hope the pictures are clear enough for those who asked for a tutorial

Monday Inspiration

how was your weekend? ours was full of parties with friends and beautiful weather. like a weekend should be. 

when you look at last week's pictures, you can definitely say 'it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas'. probably the most exciting thing last week was the gift wrapping demo that I showed to the ladies of our local Newcomers' Club. we shared ideas about the basics of gift wrapping, adding decorative items and making bows: a word I happened to spell wrong, so it meant a greeting bow. as a result I got confused and decided to go with the Dutch word, strikken. haha an evening with lots of inspiration and happiness, that's for sure.

the Monday teaser this week is about my close friend Andrea and her darling new blog and Etsy shop. we met about a year ago for the first time. you cannot believe how happy I was to find a new friend within walking distance in this large country where we had just arrived. since that day we enjoyed many latte's, good laughs, ups and downs in our lives and... blog and shop experiences.

what you should know about Andrea, is that she has the best taste and collection of vintage baby and kids items. her eye is made for it. from clothing to toys and books; she matches them all. I am in awe when I see her do it. I am trying to learn, but I can't keep up. therefore, it is such great news that she decided to open her shop with these items! she even has an exciting offer for us this week... learn more about that on hi, small {blog} or go directly to the shop hi, small {vintage}and if you are on Instagram, find @andreamful to follow the daily adventures of Andrea and her family

oh and last but not least: the beautiful design of her blog and shop are done by her sister Maria from Fox and Arrow. the good eye definitely runs in the family!

wishing you both success with these new adventures in your life Andrea and Maria

happy Monday to all of you