White

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no matter how much I love Christmas, I am always very happy to see the decorations leave the house again. more space, ready for a good clean up, clearing closets, reorganizing, making lists, planning days, weeks months and a year ahead. hmmmm, my favorite thing to do.

white always helps me in this clearing process. at the moment in my world white is mainly outside, aka snow. I cannot get enough of it, love it so much. it even reflects in every corner of our home, perfect. white homes {5, 6}, craft spaces {7}, flowers {3, 4} and craft projects {1,2} are my inspiration this week.

and if you can keep a secret... there will be more white here next week. keep an eye on my blog and you'll find out what I am whispering about.

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just in case you are looking for some crochet inspiration, have a look here to find a super cute and pretty cushion made by Leanne, connect with the Creative Crochet Crew, and keep an eye on Mollie Makes new sister magazine Simply Crochet that is to be introduced very soon.

Gift Wrapping Without Paper

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it is the week before Christmas, or actually it is even less than a week now... but at least there is still time to get creative with gift wrapping. and by creative, today I mean using other materials than the regular rolls of wrapping paper. all pictures are from Pinterest with their links shown above and in the text.

why would you not wrap with regular wrapping paper? well, there are several reasons. one could be, that you prefer to wrap gifts in items that can be reused for wrapping or other purposes afterwards, like the bags (5), the boxes (7), both with tutorials, and the tins (6) which I tried myself and will show you tomorrow.

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or because you think it is a waist of money to see your beautifully wrapped gifts being ripped open in a second, and the pretty paper tossed out shortly after that. there are pretty ways to use (old) newspapers for wrapping as shown (2) with a link to a picture tutorial and (4) from a beautiful Scandinavian blog. I have tried this too and will show you some pictures tomorrow of how that turned out.

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left over pieces or 'little ends of the paper roll' can be used for wrapping too. have a look at the pretty blog Happy Like Yellow by paper artist Kim and get inspired to reuse left over gift wrapping paper pieces (8). you can also think of using little pieces of fabric or lace (1) or old sweaters (3). I know I used the sweater before in one of my Pinterest collages but I think it is so well done, I wanted to remind you.

tomorrow, when there is natural light again, I will take some pictures and show you how my alternative wrapping with newspaper and tins worked out. oh and gift tags. yes, simple to make and pretty looking gift tags too.

Embroidery @ Pinterest

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sharing some of my most recent pins with you this week from Pinterest.

I just can't get over the pretty embroidery projects from Tatiana. look at those different and all very pretty hearts she made. cross stitch, embroidery and sewing, Tatiana does it all. and to my eyes each and every thing she makes is looking absolutely perfect. hop over to her beautiful blog to find more of her makes.

the top left image is from Belle & Boo, called 'Elle & The Snow Dove', so delicate and pretty. 

and the lovely knitted Christmas ornaments are by the Scandinavian duo Arne & Carlos and the patterns can be found in their book, that is still on my bucket list. they also have a facebook page.

happy linking, pinning and stitching!

Christmas @Pinterest

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sharing my favorite color schemes for Christmas

pictures found on Pinterest, and available through my Everything Christmas pin board

what is your favorite color scheme for Christmas?

and do you switch every year, or stick to the same scheme?

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.

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

Blue @Pinterest

1. table 2. flower 3. spools 4. barn 5. berries 6. cutlery 7. quilt

blue. my absolute favorite color of all times. from a light baby blue via almost teal up to a dark marine or midnight blue, I love them all. at my Pinterest account I don't have color organized boards ~ except for blue. I might add more colors in the future when I feel like it, but for now it is only blue.

now that we are heading into Winter, it get's harder to take pictures with good daylight. but the good news is that the light itself has a blue filter almost. and that I absolutely love. add some snow and we have a perfect reflexion. hopefully soon!

when I have time, I love being on Pinterest and click beyond the pretty images and find out what site they are from, who took them etc. etc. it is addictive, I can easily loose hours of my day when I am on such a clicking-adventure. today, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my pick for the collage above, the adorable dotted cutlery set, brought me to one of my all time favorite blogs Julia's Vita Drömmar from Sweden. The light, the natural colors, and of course her super sweet and beautiful kids... I found her years ago through a Swedish magazine, she has an online shop and if you love the light, Scandinavian style this is a must-see.

the picture of the spools in the collage took me to the USA, to a company called Brooklyn Tweed. have you heard of them before? well I hadn't and I am so happy I did today, because their yarns look delicious. I love it when a product is locally made with so much attention to the production process, you can read a little about it here and have a look at their blog. their story reminds me a lot of the yarn mills on PEI we visited last Summer. I am definitely getting in touch with them to see if I can get some of those yummy yarns...

and last but not least, two of the pictures found their origin in Canada. what a coincidence. the barn happens to be within an hour drive from where we live. and the quilt was found on the site from Marion Melbourne, which happens to be a Toronto based design team.

don't you love it when you find local interesting places through the world wide web?

happy day

Recently @ Pinterest

1. ribbons 2. mugs 3. cookie 4. pillows 5. knitting

this week I found a new favorite at Pinterest. look at these pretty pastel images... if you take a look at the boards from Wendy Jansen you will find much more of these calming, cozy pictures. her boards have names like cookies, ribbon and pillows that speak to my imagination. very well done Wendy, I love coming over to your boards and get cozy!

1. phone cozy 2. potholder 3. tablet cozy 4. star 5. mug cozy

and I thought I should add some inspiration for handmade Christmas gifts, and even some that might appeal to men; the star for example. no I am kidding, I mean the gadget cozy's. all of them are to be found on my crochet goodness board on Pinterest and have a link to the pattern.

click here for the potholder pattern. both the potholder and the phone cozy are in Danish, but the pictures and google translater should help you out. the star pattern is available to the above mentioned link on Ravelry.  

enjoy clicking and crocheting!

Recently @ Pinterest

1. diy clothes hanger into tree 2. diy yarn ornaments 3. crochet garland 4. crochet mug cozy 5. diy snow flakes 

last night our door bell rang several times, and about 40 kids said 'trick or treeaat'. they were all dressed up, I was impressed. popular costumes this year were Spiderman and a mermaid, and as usual the little ones were so cute
I am not a big fan of Halloween, partly because I did not grew up with it, partly because I am too weak for anything that includes ghosts, zombies, horror or thriller. yup, I am the ultimate happy ending, romantic story, comedy, chick flick kind of movie lover. which means now that Halloween is over for this year, I can indulge in the Christmas departments in the shops, start thinking about our own tree this year, and watch The Holiday, Love Actually, Sleepless in Seattle and many more Christmas related movies yay!

today, in order to get you in the winter and Christmas mood, I am sharing two Pinterest accounts that I found

the first is by Dutch designer Nelleke Langius, she shares her beautiful pins here and this is her website/blog. all the above collected images were found on her pin boards, so if you love the clear and warm Dutch/Scandinavian designs, please make sure to visit her site and follow her boards on Pinterest.

by the way, isn't that crochet star garland adorable? it's from the Etsy shop namolio - many more pretty garlands to find over there!

1. winter owl 2. snow deck 3. jingle bells 4. sleigh ride 5. twigs and boots

the second Pinterest account is by Caitlin from the home and food blog Roost. on her board Glad Tidings I found these beautiful images that get me totally in the mood for anything Winter and Christmas! They make me long for Sweden too, especially with the red barns in the snow...

you can find all these pins and more on my board Everything Christmas

I hope you enjoy clicking these images and links, getting inspired for some diy the coming weeks, and connecting with inspirational people online

oh and please don't forget to pop in here tomorrow, to find out more about the give away I am hosting and the new addition to my shop: themed sets of postcards!

Recently @ Pinterest

our favorite cupcake place redecorated their store, and look at the mixer lamps they made! 

on the right the perfect print for me, designed by Cathy Thorne Everyday People ~ I smile every time I see it. 

thank you to those who commented on my post yesterday about blogging and blogger. one of the issues that came up in the comments is the annoying word verification. the reason I installed it, were the 4 daily spam comments that I got since a few months. however, even with the verification I still get at least 2 anonymous spam comments a day. for your convenience I took the verification off again, and now the comment section will open in a new window. I hope this helps me to get rid of the spam and receive more lovely thoughts from you!


image sources 1. byfryd 2. flickr 3. creaturecomfortsblog 4. boxwoodclippings 5. pin

but. Pinterest. I got inspired to be active on Pinterest again. For example, I am preparing a gift wrapping presentation in November for the Newcomers' Club that I am joining here in Canada. Yes, quite Christmas oriented already! Pinterest is a great place to get your creative mind going. I can absolutely loose track of time while I am clicking and linking to blogs, pages and photo streams.

I love how natural elements like pine branches, leafs and lavender spark up gifts, as well as re-used materials like in image 3 and 4. the link in image 3 is actually also a how-to for the gingerbread cookie detail.
simple and consistent = effective. for more pictures, this is the link to my gift wrapping pin board. also, I would love to see your ideas! you can add a link to your pin board in a comment.

news I found on Pinterest:

lovely Heather Spriggs from Gatherings Magazines made a Gatherings Board, so you now have the opportunity to get an idea of all magazines and their eye candy content in one view

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while clicking, I came across Jordan's boards, all very color organized and pretty, and got in touch with her. what a coincidence she recently moved to Canada too! check out her lovely blog too

wishing you a happy day