Typical

This law is what we in Europe call a typical example of good old fashioned American overreacting.... pfff...
Please take your time to read the whole article under the provided link.

13 months....

already! Her first birthday was not as much fun as I hoped and I won't discuss details here, but sometimes family can be such a pain the ass!
Luckily for her she too young to realize what a stupid birthday it was and
her first year here on earth will be remembered forever with this dress I made her. I am sure she will treasure it when she's old and grey :-) and I will lie to her about her wonderful 1st birthday party :-).

Saturday evening...

.... the doorbell rings. DH answers the intercom to see who's there; a parcel delivery for miss D. de Jong. Hmm...wonder what that could be, I didn't order anything (not this week). DH goes downstairs to pick up the parcel (the postguy is not allowed to go up, we have to come down).A few minutes later he returns with a HUGE parcel.
Luckily I have a little helper nowadays who is VERY eager to open and close whatever is at hand. I haven't been sooo excited to see the content of a parcel for a long time now, because normally you order something and when it finally comes to your house, you already know what is in it. This parcel however is a complete surprise and so is the content!



DRUMROLL as she opens the big box of goodies:



I could not believe my eyes! Inside these box were like so many different goodies..wow... meant for scrapbooking originally I guess, but I also noticed some items that I can definitely use for sewing as well! The also included art-guerilla book has been on my wish list a long time...
I must honestly say that what looks like a kilo of scrapbooking papers (mostly Rose Moka :-)...) is a bit intimadating now that I hardly do any scrapbooking at the moment, but... I felt the scrapbook itch the minute I looked at them, one by one beautiful papers.
Lots of tags, ephemera and crocheted flowers.... I can't describe all the things that were in the goodie box.

THANK YOU DEAR NAT for remembering my birthday and acting upon it :-)))).
Thank you, everyone else who send me text messages, emails, cards or called me to congratulate me! Love you all!

(BTW...it took me almost 2 hours to make this blogpost...that's the effect having a baby has on time, so now you now why I hardly blog lately).

Okay....

.... not blogging for a month now, I just saw the following on Danielle's blog and I just HAD to do it!

Have you ever:

1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. visited Hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more that you can afford to charity
7. been to Disneyland (once and several times do Paris)
8. held a praying mantis
9. climbed a mountain
10. sang a solo ( Christmas play at school ....don't laugh!!)
11. bungee jumped
12. visited Paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. slept on an overnight train
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or sunset
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise
33. seen Niagara Falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an Amish community
36. taught yourself a new language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen Michelangelo's David
41. sung karaoke
42. seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. visited Africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling (in an underground cave with bats :-) in Yucatan
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theater
55. been in a movie
56. visited the Great Wall of China
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited Russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold Girl Scouts Cookies
62. gone whale watching
63. got flowers for no reason
64. donated blood, platelets of plasma
65. gone sky diving (no sky diving, but I did take a dual leap "parapenting" off a mountain and sailed through the sky. btw: wasn't afraid of heigths then)
66. visited a nazi concentration camp
67. bounced a check
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. eaten caviar, and it's gross!
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in Times Square
74. toured the Everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the Guards in London (a lot)
77. broken a bone
78. been on a speeding motorcycle
79. seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the Vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in Jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper (more than once actually :-)..)
85. read the entire bible (the childrens version....)
86. visited the White House
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone's life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous (Dutch Royals on holiday in Curacao..1993... having a great time)
92. joined a book club
93. lost a loved one
94. had a baby
95. seen the Alamo in person
96. swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cellphone
99. been stung by a bee
100. read an entire book in one day

Just copy and paste this entry and highlight the ones you've done.
Enjoy!!

MASTERPIECE

it took me like 16 hours to make this one....after a Donna Karen Vogue Pattern...





and now I lost some weight (yay!) and it is TOO BIG!!
Anyone interested?

Secret Santa Sneak Peek

This ornament is on its way across the ocean......
Can't wait to see my secret santa ornament.. until today I have not yet received anything.

Do you remember....

.... the comforting sound of a sewing machine from when you were young and your mother sitting behind the machine, doing all these magical things with it?
I can't tell you how happy I am that the sewing machine is no longer a mystery to me, but a great tool that I can use to make the most adorable clothing for my little girl.
Like this (I used THIS tutorial to make it):



and this:



and my masterpiece for her until now... a fantastic 1st birthday dress:



I can tell you... it's ADDICTIVE!

Nothing more boring....

.... than a blog without regular updates :-)...
I actually stopped posting after the weekend Nat was in Amsterdam... a weekend soooo relaxing, that I tried to avoid the computer as much as possible in my free time!
We spend 2 wonderful days shopping, walking, relaxing and we already did some Christmas preparation shopping here and here. Nat got me the text stamp as a present..yay!!



Besides that I have been busy sewing and sewing and sewing. This new hobby of mine needs a lot of practice and consumes most of my free time.. which is fine by me. I always thought sewing was not my thing but I am loving it!!

I am currently working on this pattern with this cool Alexander Henry fabric "Birds of a Feather". Hope to finish it this saturday when I go to the 2nd day of the advanced sewing course (btw...that is my skirt on their homepage).



I am sorry to say that I missed out on a month of Sunday Postcard Art.. they continue to come up with great themes and beautiful cards!

Furthermore I joined the very first swap in my life:
The SECRET SANTA ORNAMENT swap.

ooops...I hear a baby crying... it's mine..gotta go now!
Later!!

HELP! I'm turning into a fabric junkie!

Taking sewing lessons is one thing...but before you know it..you find yourself scanning the web for hours for (free) sewing patterns and, worse, online fabric shops!
I have already ordered a few yard at Buy Fabrics Online, a webshop totally dedicated to the amazing prints of Alexander Henry Fabrics. Fast service and although the cotton is not really high (thick) quality, the cool prints make up for that!

I want to order some fabric at Reprodepot. Take a look and see the cuteness of all those japanese prints! aarrhghghghgh....
My advice for shopping here: don't forget NOT to look at the prices...just order and don't look at your creditcard receipt.

I tell myself everytime that instead of hoarding yards and yards of fabric I MUST actually make stuff with it before ordering some more.
Am trying here not to make the same mistake as I did with scrapbookpaper..
hoarding sucks! I have soooo much scrapbookpaper... I will never finish it!
Anyone recognize the problem?

It's that time of the year again....

..... Autumn is starting to manifest itself.
Leafs are falling, the house is getting a bit chilly in the evenings and the sun spreads a different light..... I am loving every minute of it.. at least this weekend haha!
For Sunday Postcard Art I made the following card for this weeks Autumn topic...
No deep thoughts this week, nor was I very inspired when I saw the prompt, I was just happy to use these leaves for the very first time...and I already have them for 2 years! I also got to use some of the new colours I got last friday of watersoluble Caran D'Ache crayons :-)



Enjoy your Sunday everyone and have a good week at work..or whatever it is you do this coming week!

Life is a circus....

.... and some people just can't handle that!




this weeks topic at Sunday Postcard Art is Circus.
Again, I did not want to go for the obvious tiger, clown, bearded lady, elephant.. and so on. Searching for inspiration led me to the one and only circus I have ever liked: Monthy Pythons Flying Circus :-)!
Their absurd sketches were my inspiration this week.
I have embedded one of my favorite sketches ever "The Lethal Joke"...
Warning..you might die laughing!




Enjoy your Sunday!

Rose is a rose is a rose...

A very busy week has gone by...without any time for creativity..until today!
For this weeks topic at Sunday Postcard Art I altered my favorite flowerpaper from Scenic Route and the text on the card was inspired by this quote

Have a good week everyone!

Postcard Make-Over Show

Not only are we being Amused to Death on television with one makeover show after another, at Sunday Postcard Art they want to you alter a "real" postcard this week and to give it a new look!
I say: "No problem!"

Here is my BEFORE



and AFTER



This altered nude is originally from painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani and I dressed her up a little and gave her some tattoos because nudity on blogs should be strictly forbidden!
JUST KIDDING!
Actually, when I first saw her I thought: "she hasn't got anything to hide"... so I can't explain why I covered her up...
Well..I love her anyway; dressed or undressed, she is just beautiful I think!

Enjoy your sunday and hop on over to the Sunday Postcard Art blog to see more make-overs

Week 5 already!

When you haven't seen the original collagesheet that was uploaded by Crowabout in the Flickr Crowabout group, it is hard to imagine that this bird was made out of a lot of square images that absolutely didn't look like a bird at all!
While cutting out the elements I was holding the sheet up side down and for some reason I then "saw" the bird! aaaah...I love being inspired!

(if you ask yourself why this image is so huge, I have copied the html code from my flickrupload of this image. Blogger would never make it this big)

Her name was Lola.. she was a showgirl

When I saw her face on the collagesheet..
this song popped into my head immediately

Easy does it

It's Sunday again and that means it's time to post a new postcard!
This week the theme at Sunday Postcard Art is "Crowns and Wings".



For some reason I had no problem whatsoever to make a card this week; it took me about 10 minutes and I felt immediately inspired when I saw the theme.
My design was based on the famous Irish Claddagh Symbol, but I replaced the hands with wings.. and the heart... well ... a heart is a heart :-).



Enjoy your Sunday!

I CAN SEW!!

I CAN SEW!!I CAN SEW!!I CAN SEW!!I CAN SEW!!
I CAN SEW!!I CAN SEW!!I CAN SEW!!I CAN SEW!!



I subscribed to a 3 day sewing workshop in Amsterdam here and I had a great day!

Babette progress - 2

What can I say.... I love it!
I love working on it
I love seeing it grow
I love the idea seeing my mini-moi with this blankie
I love the colours
It's a great project and I totally advise it for everyone who wants to learn to crochet. If you finish this blanket you are sure you can crochet!
I taught myself using 2 crochet books of Jan Eaton:

- Encyclopedia of Crochet Techniques
- 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets

These 2 books are all you need to become a crocheter :-). Have fun!

Collage with Crowabout week 2

Working backwards :-)... the group is already in it's 4th week...got some catching up to do!

Sunday Postcard Art - Mystic

Once again the prompt on the Sunday Postcard Art blog led me to a journey on the internet for inspiration. From Mystic River to Mystic Pizza and these 2 Wikipedia pages: Mystic & Mysticism.... I finally came up with the following:



Have a great week!
Hopefully I'll see you back later this week for a new Crowabout Collage (maybe 2), an update on my Babette Blanket, and the result of the first day of the sewing class I attended yesterday. There is also the possibility later this week for a new Studio DaphNat post... we are going to do some product testing this time :-).