maria pysslar och ler

i'm alive

2009-11-10T10:06:00.000+01:00

but i spend more time here -> Lilla livet, stort

2009-07-24T15:21:00.000+02:00

måla

2009-07-24T15:19:00.000+02:00

for Nora

2009-04-13T15:06:00.000+02:00

chocolate + underwear

2009-03-30T16:10:00.000+02:00

My new friend

2009-03-22T11:35:00.003+01:00

A few days ago someone landed outside my house ...

What? Who?

!olleh olleh
he said.
He talks backwards.

He came from here. Made by Therese.

Flodis' cards :-)

2009-03-22T11:25:00.003+01:00

My friend Helena makes really beautiful cards:

She's got a blog, Flodissans Skaperi.

2009-03-13T22:30:00.002+01:00

Trial and error ... I made many small mistakes and two huge ones :D But if I want to learn, I have to begin somewhere. This one is for Nora. I think the fabric is a bit too thick for this ... but I've already begun sewing another one from the same pattern (Ottobre 1/09) and so far I've made ZERO mistakes! But I'm only halfways ;-)

byxor

2009-03-13T22:27:00.007+01:00

De här muddbyxorna är en modifierad version av byxorna i Ottobre 1/09. Smart med långa muddar som kan vikas ner för att förlänga byxornas användningstid, tycker jag.

They will be a gift for a boy who was born last month, but he is still too small for them.

trosor

2009-03-13T22:23:00.003+01:00

The white ones I made out of fabric scraps just to see if I understood how to sew them. The red ones with the elephants are my first "real" ones :-)

Sweets for my sweet (November)

2009-02-22T17:16:00.001+01:00

Chocolate

2009-02-22T17:15:00.001+01:00

in a box (Christmas gift):

Re-do

2009-02-22T17:13:00.000+01:00

It was a t-shirt. It is no more. ;-)

Necklaces

2009-02-22T17:10:00.002+01:00

Here are a few simple necklaces I made in December.

Bracelets:

+ earrings

I'm back

2009-02-21T18:33:00.002+01:00

Time is flying, Nora is growing, and, as a matter of fact, I AM crafting. But then I have become lazy with uploading photos and blogging about what I'm doing. I'll try to start all over again :-) Here, and now. Or soon.

Thank you so very much for all your nice comments and email, they mean a lot to me. Thank you!

I'll be back soon. (I hope.)

Nora

2008-04-25T13:10:00.002+02:00

Finally we have the internet again! And here's a photo of little Nora. She's now 1 month old (born 26.3) and I want to say THANK YOU to all my dear friends who have sent letters, emails, gifts, sms etc. I'll talk to each one of you later.

This photos is for Jes:

new home

2008-03-02T10:07:00.002+01:00

I'm silent here ... it's because we're moving next week (8.3), and because the baby is soon to come (~25.3) and I'm soooo tired. When moving, we might be without an internet connection for a while. But I'll be back. Later :-)

A needle felted dog, and a real one

2008-02-03T09:08:00.000+01:00

When I saw this book I immediately knew what to answer when Magnus' mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas. Needle felted dogs, that must be the perfect craft project for me ;-) The more so since it was a miniature schnauzer on the front side, just like my little Ia. But before making a schnauzer I tried making a dog of no specific breed, just to try. This is how it turned out.

And then ... my little Ia died. She was almost 15 years old, but it's still very sad. It's a week ago now.

what I've done lately

2008-02-03T08:41:00.000+01:00

Now I haven't posted for a while. But I have been crafting when I haven't been busy working, visiting the doctor or buying a house ;-) Yesterday I made a new blanket for Zam, you can see more of it here and on Flickr. It's not a very beautiful thing, but he so needed it.

I tried a bit of embroidery. It's not what I'm best at, but it was fun. I haven't finished it yet, it'll be something for Magnus. If I was a clever girl I could give it to him on his birthday this month, but ofcourse I couldn't keep quiet so I told him everything about it ;-) Cross-stitch embroidery isn't really my thing, I thought, but since I'm always keen on trying new things I decided to go for it and I found out that I liked it. It was nice to sit in bed, concentrate and count the stitches to follow the pattern.
One evening when I was tired I also made three atcs. They are no beauties, but I wanted to do something simple with paper without having to think too much.

A week and a half ago I tried making a dotee doll following the instructions by Dot herself. It didn't turn out too pretty ;) . But it was my first try. Maybe I'll do another one, maybe not. When I made it I got the idea to needle felt a doll instead so I made this one:

Here are a few things I've finished lately. One of the purses (this one for Elena):

And the soft soft super super soft scarf for a swap:

An acrylic painting:

I also made a necklace (quite a while ago though, but haven't showed you yet). It's for a swap for knitters. You can see what I sent here. My photo is quite bad, but it's a ball of yarn with two needles in.

2008-01-19T09:57:00.000+01:00

I love Blue Sky Alpacas organic cotton. I think this is a nice color combo: chocolate brown and minty blue. I bought them at KnitLab, a place that is very dangerous (in a very nice way) to visit because you can't leave without something ;-)

Angel

2008-01-13T10:44:00.000+01:00

This cute little angel has been flying around in my home for a while, but I've forgotten to show you. It's made by Maria Öqvist Öhman. You can find her blog here and all the things she's making here.

This week

2008-01-12T18:55:00.000+01:00

This week I have been working a lot and crafting almost nothing at all. Oh, and look what I recieved in FAA Secret Santa parcel! It's from Namolio. I love every bit of it, but my favourites are the three animals above.

I have been knitting. I have been baking. And that's it, I think.

Pink apron

2008-01-06T20:18:00.000+01:00

Today I found a piece of pink fabric and a pink iron-on cupcake. I recieved them in a swap and they're pretty, but I'm not a pink girl. Instead I sewed an apron for my niece Thea's doll. I hope she'll like it.

Making mistakes

2008-01-06T20:14:00.000+01:00

Sometimes when I look around on all beautiful stuff on crafty blogs and on Flickr I wonder if I'm the only person making mistakes and messing it up. I use to answer myself "no, Maria, you're not alone, it's just that they don't show you their mistakes". It might not be true, but I feel a little bit better thinking that ;-) Above you see one of my mistakes. I've been working on this quilt like ... forever? So it seems. And I make mistake after mistake after mistake. The last one today when I was about to sew a straight line. It turned out being not straight at all. To my defense the quilt is thick, and I've never made a quilt before. Except for the one I made in school long ago. Which, actually, looks better than this one. Hrm.

Creative the first week of 2008

2008-01-06T11:54:00.000+01:00

Yes, I think I have been creative every day so far. In one or another way, at least. I've been baking. I took some photos (on my Flickr or my other blog). And I've been knitting a little bit almost every day. Above you see a mitten for my niece. It might be too small, but I haven't met her for several months so I cannot remember the size of her hands. If that's the case her little brother can perhaps have them. Here are some other works in progress:

I made some simple covers for cds in a kind of cd swap/trade. I used paper that I folded, some pictures from a magazine, glue and my sewing machine. Very easy.

No, it's not for Zam. But he was the only photo model I could find in my bed room ... I'll make another one soon.

This will be a sock.

Creative Every Day?

2008-01-03T10:25:00.000+01:00

I found a great project through Jes blog called Creative Every Day 2008. I'd love to join, but as I'm getting bigger and more tired for each day I'm not sure how it'll go (the more so since I still work full time). I'll give it a try though :-)

Jes and some other blogging friends asked me about the pregnancy, but I never got around writing any emails (yet). I'm in week 29, only ~11 weeks to go! The baby is supposed to arrive around 25 March. I have no idea whether it's a boy or girl (I want it to be a surprise).

a crafty christmas gift

2008-01-03T09:29:00.000+01:00

Magnus and I got this one from my mom. It's handmade and the landscape with the black cat watching the birds is made of wool.

Inside you're supposed to hang you keys. It's good for someone in this house who often asks "where are my keys?" ;-)

the softest scarf

2007-12-22T16:07:00.000+01:00

As it's getting darker and colder I'm knitting myself the softest scarf ever. I found this (the white) yarn on sale the other day and it is sooo soft, I couldn't resist buying it although white isn't my favourite color.

More Christmas cards

2007-12-22T15:46:00.000+01:00

I've recieved several creative and beautiful Christmas cards this year. Do I have to tell you I love it? ;-) I have so many talented friends!

This one is made by Helena:

And this one by Therese:

Go here to see some more.

Christmas cards

2007-12-17T16:52:00.000+01:00

Three handmade Christmas cards that arrived today. The tree is made by Susanne, the sock by Cecilia and the third card is made by Lina.

it's all about knitting

2007-12-12T20:12:00.000+01:00

... and I planned so many things to write about, but I'm too tired so I'll only show you some pictures without the text.

Works in progress.

Aren't those needles adorable? They're handmade by a girl in Australia. I'll show you more, later, of what I've recieved from her.

This is the last gift from my secret friend and I loved it as much as the other ones I have recieved from her. The yarn is so soft, blue. I also got chocolate (we've already eaten it ;-)). I'll knit this for myself, (as well as the socks), after all the Christmas-gift-knitting is over.

Now I'm really too tired to write. Here's one reason:

Necklaces

2007-12-01T15:05:00.000+01:00

I've made necklaces ... a few ... ;-)
See more of them on flickr or here.

a little bit of everything

2007-11-24T10:23:00.000+01:00

I want to learn how to knit socks, I told myself. I found a yarn that I really like, I was looking around for an easy pattern and ... I told myself to wait a little. I don't know why, but I'm glad I did. Because look what my secret pal sent me! EXACTLY that yarn I wanted to buy, needles and also a great tutorial on how to knit socks (not in the photo though). It was just the perfect gift. THANK YOU!

Yesterday it was raining all day. When I got up this morning it was eight degrees colder than yesterday and now the sun is shining in our frozen garden. It'll be a great day, I'm sure.

I'm thinking of houses. I'd love to live in a somewhat bigger house, a house that is ours and not rented. It wont happen now. Until that day I enjoy other kind of houses, like those adorable houses on a hill and sew nancy also has houses on her mind.

I made this dog, inspired by the dogs in the Tilde book, for my friend's new born baby.

A crafty projekt (in Swedish).

(sorry, a post in swedish)

2007-11-23T14:40:00.000+01:00

Att skapa och att vara kreativ, vad innebär det? Svaret kan bli mycket olika beroende på vem man frågar och i vilket sammanhang. För någon är det detsamma som att måla tavlor och göra skulpturer, för någon annan kan det vara att hitta lösningar på problem eller att göra lyxiga chokladpraliner. Skapande och kreativitet är och kan vara så mycket. Trots det delas det ofta upp i olika intressekategorier: de som stickar, de som fotograferar, de som skapar musik. Varför inte samlas i ett gemensamt kreativt projekt? Ett tämligen fritt projekt, men med vissa ramar.

Du kanske målar, virkar, bakar, lagar mat, syr, stickar, skriver dikter och noveller, pysslar med papper, spelar teater, fotograferar, kladdar i telefonblocket, gör hemsidor, tillverkar godis, trär pärlhalsband, skapar i lera, planterar blommor och binder kransar, inreder ditt eller andras hem, snickrar, klipper och klistrar … eller något helt annat som du tycker är pyssligt, skapande eller kreativt? Kanske ägnar du dig åt en enda sak eller så tycker du att det är kul att prova på lite av varje. Vill du vara med i ett kreativt projekt? Det är öppet för alla, nybörjare med skaparlust och professionella. Det är inte någon tävling (även om jag därmed inte vill utesluta att vi har små tävlingar ibland, för de som vill) utan bara ett sätt att utmana sig själv inom sitt område och att lära och inspireras av varandra över ”ämnesgränserna”. För visst är det mycket det kreativitet handlar om, att se och hämta inspiration från annat håll, att prova det beprövade för att lära sig och att tänka nytt för att finna glädjen i att ha skapat något helt eget.

Vi har en gemensam blogg där vi visar vad vi skapar och där vi också kan diskutera eller tipsa varandra om sådant som känns intressant och relevant (och vi har högt i tak). Alla är välkomna att bidra med egna idéer och förslag. Varje vecka (eller kanske har vi längre intervaller?) har vi ett tema att skapa utifrån. Temat ska inte vara alltför komplicerat eftersom vi ägnar oss åt så pass olika sorters skapande. Inte heller behöver man vara med varje vecka, utan delta när man har tid, lust och inspiration. Vi visar varandra vad vi skapar utifrån temat, vi får mer än gärna kommentera och diskutera med varandra. Självklart får man skriva om och visa sådant som inte hör till temat om det kan vara av intresse för de andra deltagarna (och det tror jag mycket är), dock är det inte meningen att man ska visa precis allt man skapar i den här bloggen (till det är det bättre med en egen blogg ;-) ). Om ens skapande består av att man skriver långa noveller eller romaner kanske det räcker med att man publicerar vissa stycken här och länkar vidare till en annan sida där texten finns i sin helhet. Tillsammans får vi arbeta fram ett koncept som fungerar för oss alla :-)

Ditt första inlägg här på bloggen ska bestå av en liten presentation av dig själv. (Gärna med foto, men inget som helst måste.) Berätta om vem du är och vad du skapar och också gärna vad du har för förväntningar på det här projektet. Sedan är vi redo att börja skapa!

Vill du vara med? Skriv ett mejl till astrud242004@yahoo.se med ämnesraden ”kreativt projekt”.

Har du frågor? Kommentera på http://kreativtprojekt.blogspot.com, eller mejla till ovanstående adress.

New necklace

2007-11-19T06:51:00.000+01:00

A necklace I made for myself the other day.

Jewelry inspiration

2007-11-10T08:43:00.000+01:00

Next weekend I'm going to a party ... the week after that to a dinner ... one and a half week after that, another party ... then it's Christmas, New Year ... Today (or tomorrow) I'll be sewing myself a skirt. Or ... well ... I'll try.

But I do need a nice necklace and/or bracelet. I was looking around on the internet for some inspiration. Jes is, as always, making wonderful jewelry. Have a look at this:

But I also found a new talent out there ... MarMalaid! Her style is different from Jes, but also very beautiful and elegant. She has a blog too (in Swedish). Look at this:

dog statue with knitted scarf

2007-11-07T17:39:00.000+01:00

2007-10-31T19:23:00.000+01:00

tusen tack hemlis! jag postar bilder med mera till helgen!

Well, what do YOU have in the shower?

2007-10-27T18:43:00.000+02:00

Today I've dyed yarn for the first time in my life. I've been thinking of doing it for quite a while, but didn't buy the dyeing colors until recently. I wanted to try a method of dyeing in the microwave oven, described in Swedish here and here.

This is what the yarn looked like from the beginning.

First I washed the yarn very carefully.

And mixed the colors.

I put the yarn (one skein by one) in a container that would fit into the microwave. With the help of spoons I "painted" the yarn on one side, pressed a little with my hands, turned it over to the other side and put some more color on. I had rubber glowes, but it didn't become as wet or messy as I had imagined.

Here's one skein ready to go into the microwave for 3x3 minutes (at full effect):

When cooled down I rinsed it in water (not hot!) (and a little ättika). I hang it in the shower to dry. It was really fun and easy and I'll definetely do it again. As for the dying colors I only bought red, blue and yellow and then mixed them. They weren't cheap, but as very little is needed I can see they'll last for many, many skeins to come.

I'll show some more photos when they're dry + in daylight.

a little bit of Christmas

2007-10-19T12:48:00.000+02:00

Yes, I've been a lazy blogger lately. Since I begun my new job (1 Oct) I've been rather tired during the evenings (because of the pregnancy too), but I have been crafting from time to time ... just lazy with photographing it and blogging about it. Also, many things I make are secrets. It's for swaps and it's gifts and it's for Christmas. There's really not so much I can show yet.

So today I'll show you something old that I made many years ago (2000 I think) to decorate our front door. I got the inspiration from a magazine and when I found a tree in the forest that had fallen down after a windy night I cut off some of the branches in the tree top. I think it's quite pretty.

I know it's only October and the leaves on the trees outside are yellow ... but I'm dreaming of Christmas ;-)

A little Stash tea swap, anyone?

2007-09-22T17:31:00.000+02:00

Photo credit.

Where I live - in Sweden - Stash tea is nowhere to be found (if I'm wrong, please tell me where to find it!). And today I had my last teabag of Stash's "Sushi bar mild green tea". This tea is the only thing that helps when my tummy is "problematic" and I sooo want some more tea bags.

My number one wish is for some teabags with Sushi bar mild green tea.
Except for that, I'm very fond of all the chai teas.
And I'm always eager to try some new teas, like:

Green
Ginger peach green
Goji berry green tea
India kashmiri chai or India darjeeling green
Mangosteen green with matcha
Maybe one of the organic green ones
Pomegranate raspberry green

Black
The Christmas teas, or holiday ones

Herbal teas are okay as long as there's no hibiscus in them. However, hibiscus seems to be a rather common thing to put in herbal teas :/

I like surprises too. But NO DECAF-teas (exception for natural decaf ones).

(I'm not asking for whole packages of tea, just some tea bags.)

What do you want in return? I can send you tea, too. Or if you want something else, like crafting material, postcards, something sweet ... or something else. Just tell me :-)

Comment here or email me at astrud242004 /at/ yahoo /dot/ se

Winter & secrets

2007-09-21T16:02:00.001+02:00

Winter inspiration.

I'm thinking of winter already. Of warm hats and socks and mittens, of snow and of Christmas. And I AM crafting, but some things have to be kept secret for a while ;-). Not all though. I can just blame my lazyness for not photographing + posting it here. And the fact that I still don't feel weel :-(

I'm participating in Hemlig vän 2, which is a Swedish/Nordic version of Secret Pal. This is the first month of three. Of course I cannot show you what I'm sending (or else it wouldn't be called Secret Pal), but I'll be very happy to show you what I recieve. Today I got this:

Isn't it just perfect?! The yarn is wonderful, I love chocolate (and the minty one is one of my absolute favourites), the patterns (baby clothes) are very useful since that's exactly what kind of things I'm into now and the little teddy bear is so cute. THANK YOU!

Extra bra var det att paketet kom just i dag. Jag plockade upp det ur brevlådan när jag kom hem från vårdcentralen. Jag hade varit och tagit blodprover och då jag är rätt svårstucken och senast så rätt misshandlad ut efteråt var jag minst sagt nervös när jag skulle dit. Men med hjälpa av Emla, ett bedövningsplåster, och en massa värme och en bra sköterska så gick det kanonbra. Jag kände mig väldigt duktig som vågat mig dit på egen hand och dessutom inte svimmat. Jag tänkte att jag förtjänade nog ett klistermärke, men kände mig lite för vuxen för be om det ;-) Så när jag kom hem och fick paket blev jag så otroligt glad. Tusen tusen tack!!

Hemlis 2

2007-08-23T17:37:00.000+02:00

I haven't written here for a while. It's because I'm pregnant (which is a very happy thing), but not feeling well at all and having a hard time keeping the food I eat (or, to eat it too). But I'll be back as soon as I'm feeling better. Hopefully it'll be soon.

1. Vilken sorts garn tycker du mest om? (Ull, akryl, bomull osv.) Är det något material du absolut inte tycker om?
-> Naturgarner (ull, bomull, silke etc). Blandgarner och effektgarner kan också vara kul, men jag tycker inte om billiga akrylgarner à la stormarknadsutbudet etc.

2. Vilka är dina favoritfärger?
-> Jag gillar de flesta färger.

3. Är det någon färg du absolut inte tycker om?
-> Är inte så förtjust i pasteller och neonfärger. Rosa är väl inte min favoritfärg, men gammelrosa tycker jag ändå är fint.

4. Vilken sorts stickor tycker du bäst om/använder du helst? (Trä, metall, plast? Rundstickor, raka, strumpstickor?)
-> Jag är väldigt förtjust i rundstickor och stickar så mycket som möjligt på dem. Då kan jag sticka på väg till och från jobbet utan att slå till mina medpassagerare med stickorna ;-) Men jag både har och använder andra typer av stickor.
Strumstickor i trä är något jag skulle vilja ha, men inte har kommit mig för att köpa ännu. Men förr eller senare så :-)

5. Hur länge har du stickat? Anser du dig vara nybörjare, avancerad eller mittemellan?
-> Jag lärde mig sticka i skolan och har sedan, lite sporadiskt, stickat småsaker. Jag började sticka lite mer regelbundet när jag var på Island 2003 och sedan dess är jag fast. Jag är väl inte direkt nybörjare, men inte heller avancerad. Så, ja, någonstans mittemellan antar jag :-)

6. Dricker du kaffe? Te?
-> Jag dricker te och choklad, men inte kaffe.

7. Är du allergisk mot något?
-> Nej

8. Vilken slags musik tycker du om?
-> Jag är nog mycket av en allätare, men dansband göre sig icke besvär att försöka ta sig in i huset.

9. Favoritgodis?
-> Choklad!! Fast jag är en riktig sötsaksgris och gillar det mesta.

10. Håller du på med någon annan "skapande hobby", förutom stickning? (Spinna, scrapbooking, virkning osv.)
-> Jepp, massor! Bara ta en titt här på bloggen. Det är alltifrån smycket till papperspyssel. Jag håller på att lära mig spinna också, i sakta mak dock.

11. Vad tycker du är roligast att sticka? Mössor? Sjalar? Tröjor? osv...
-> Jag gillar mössor, fast just nu är jag lite insnöad på barntröjor (är gravid).

12. Prenumererar du på någon sticktidning?
-> Nej.

13. Har du något drömprojekt på önskelistan?
-> Jag har designat en kofta någonstans inne i mitt huvud, men vet inte riktigt hur jag ska få till det i verkligheten. Men en dag så!

14. Använder du pulsvärmare/handledsvärmare? I så fall, vad är ditt handledsmått?
-> Jag har inga, men har tänkt prova på att sticka någon gång. Jag tycker det är fint. 15 cm är handledsmåttet.

15. Tycker du om att sticka pulsvärmare?
-> Se ovan.

16. Stickar du sockor?
-> Hm, jag är en sådan person som har lite svårt för att sticka två likadana saker. Men jag ska skärpa mig för jag vill gärna prova på både sockor och vantar.

17. Vad har du för fotstorlek? (T.ex. längd, omkrets på tjockaste stället.)
-> Skostorleken är 37. I centimeter blir det 23 eller 24 både på längden och omkrets på tjockaste stället.

18. När fyller du år?
-> 7 maj.

19. Stickar du med pärlor?
-> Jag har provat på det och kommer nog att göra det igen.

20. Vilken slags böcker (ej stickning) läser du helst? (Deckare? Fakta? Romaner?)
-> Jag älskar böcker - alltifrån matböcker och pysselböcker till faktaböcker, romaner och bilderböcker. Är en fegis dock, så deckare och thrillers (för att inte tala om skräck) är inget för mig.

Titta gärna i min andra blogg http://lillalivetstort.wordpress.com för att lära känna mig lite bättre.

Inspiration

2007-07-12T09:52:00.000+02:00

Shops like this tend to be a bit too expensive for my taste, especially if they are situated in central Stockholm (like this one). But they're a great source of inspiration. I look at the things, shapes, colors and patterns and come up with my own crafty ideas.

Magic

2007-07-11T09:15:00.000+02:00

In my garden.

Sewing

2007-07-10T16:55:00.000+02:00

I'm not good at sewing, I only have very basic skills. But, as with all other craft projects, that hasn't stopped me from trying. I've made many mistakes throughout the years, but for each of them I learn something.

I sometimes try to follow patterns and instructions, but since I have a very limited "sewing vocabulary" I often have to give up simply because I don't understand what they mean. This one I made without a pattern or instruction.

It came out almost as I wanted it (the photos are before ironing etc, though).

Recently I bought a book, Sew what! Skirts, which I found very useful and inspiring. I learnt more about how to sew withouth a pattern - or rather, how to make my own - and make it simple and personal. This was my first attempt (olive green linen and old thrifted sheets):

Snail

2007-07-04T14:19:00.000+02:00

I'm as slow as this snail when it comes to write about my crafty adventures. I'm knitting, sewing, beading ... I take a couple of photos. But do I write about it? No. Slow, slow me.

sewing + day in my life

2007-06-24T19:03:00.000+02:00

Today I've been sewing two pictures for a craft project. I'm way too delayed ... :( But now, finally, I've finished it. This is for February.

And the picture below is for October. The one who will have the picture got married in October (at least as far as I can remember ...), hence my choice of motif.

To see more of my day, go here.

atcs

2007-06-09T11:36:00.000+02:00

The other evening I made some new atcs.

house

2007-06-09T11:34:00.001+02:00

I like this house.

by the water

2007-06-09T11:28:00.000+02:00

Lazy warm summer days ... Well, maybe not so much. I'm working during the day, but the evenings by the water next to our house, oh my. We've lived here for three months now and I love love love being that close to both the lake (photo) and the sea.

Here I go the evening walk with Zam:

And guess what I'll be doing this summer ...

thrifting

2007-06-03T17:24:00.000+02:00

Lovely weekend and lovely early summer days. Eating fruit in the garden, delicious icecream in city and walking by the water. Yesterday I went to a flea market and I did find some great stuff. But on my way from the market to a shop I passed by a small yard sale. Most of the things had belonged to an old lady it I found really good things for a really good price. I'm seldom lucky when it comes to flea markets, but this time I was.

earrings

2007-05-31T21:05:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow's my friend's birthday and I made her some earrings.
The photos are quite bad, but, well, here they are ...

wip again

2007-05-27T17:53:00.000+02:00

Last weekend was the baptise of my nephew Lukas and this weekend ... I've just been relaxing ... Or, hm, rather the opposite: I've been working in the garden. However, that is kind of relaxing for me. Just me and my dog at home, everything calm and quite and in our own pace. I have been crafting a bit, but, as before, it's my WIP and I still have no finished results to show you. I was crocheting a bit yesterday evening and today I continued this:

To see photos from my garden, you can go here.

vegetables

2007-05-06T20:19:00.000+02:00

It's not that I don't do anything, not that I don't craft. It's just ... that I haven't finished anything ... yet. Everything is a WIP (work in progress).

Like this one:

Or this one (we'll grow vegetables):

Spring weather and book reading

2007-05-01T19:39:00.000+02:00

Spring is in the air, flowers in bloom.

In a book swap I got those wonderful things from my friend Fillan:

And this is what I sent her:

another WIP

2007-04-29T12:29:00.000+02:00

Work in progress, a slow progress ;-)
Sewing, sewing, sewing.

atc

2007-04-22T16:05:00.000+02:00

Yesterday evening I sat down and made some atcs (since I had, earlier that day, found alphabetstamps and wanted to try them in some way). Earlier (before my time on flickr) I used to make a lot of atcs, but now I haven't made any for a very very long time. It seems I've lost it a bit ... lost my ability ... or how to say. But if I keep doing some more, I'm sure it'll come back. In any case, I had a good time making those.

I wasn't sure what would be the best, to scan them or to use my camera. In the scanner some shimmering and subtile effects of the paper and stamps was lost or almost lost. I tried to capture that on a photo instead. But ... the scanned atcs look more bright and happy, I think. Which one do you prefer, scanned och photographed?

Scan:

Photo:

like a summer day

2007-04-15T18:08:00.000+02:00

It's been a wonderful weekend with summer temperatures, sunshine, flowers in bloom, long walks in the forest and by the water ... Not so much crafting, not any organizing in the house at all ... but who cares ... I'm crocheting a bit and I washed some fabric that I'll turn into a baby blanket, but when the sun is shining and the birds are singing, I prefer being outside, in the garden, working, photographing, being lazy.

Here's a frog I met today:

He, or she, doesn't live in our garden. But in our garden we have birds and butterflies and quite often two deers are visiting us.

some more yarn

2007-04-12T18:45:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I visited a new shop ... and came out with some more yarn. Did I need any? No? Yes! I always need yarn! Of course ;-)
I love this organic cotton.

Now I have to crochet. Really really have to. The yarn is crying "Maria, coooome, coooome". So, I have to go.

spring is coming, is here

2007-04-08T21:39:00.000+02:00

I really like it here in our new place. It's so close to Stockholm (not more than 20 minutes by bus), but still out in the nature, surrounded by trees and water. I have been knitting a bit, crocheting and I've made some cards. But I can't remember where I saved those photos.

Spring is here, however they say cold weather will come tomorrow ... :( But next weekend, it'll be even more sunny and warm than it's been lately! I hope they're right.

I have created a blog which is about enjoying the small things in my every day life. You can visit it here.

My little nephew, Lukas.

I'm back!

2007-04-02T21:43:00.000+02:00

I finally have the internet again! Hurray!!

in our new house ...

2007-03-08T08:05:00.000+01:00

... everything is just fine. except that we don't have the internet yet. it seems it'll take a while :-( i can check my email and so from work, but it's not so good to write on my blog here. so i'll only write this.

i'll be back with a lot of things to show you. but it may take a little while.

oh, and yesterday evening i got a little nephew. i don't know his name yet. :-)

good or not

2007-02-24T14:41:00.000+01:00

There's no secret I love crafting, creating, making things. Like many other crafters I also like giving away some of the things I make. And I think I'm not the only one asking myself questions like "is it good?", "is it good enough?", "do I think it's cute just because it took me so long making it, or because it is cute?" etc. I don't ask that for every single thing I make, no no, and for the things I make for myself I don't even care whether it's good or nice or ... quite ugly, as long as I'm happy with it. The problem comes when I'm about to give someone something I've made.

Not everything I make is nice, or beautiful, or good, or cute. That's a fact, and it's not so strange. Some things does turn out better than other. Sometimes I make mistakes. Sometimes an idea seemed much better in my thoughts than in reality. However, sometimes it takes time to judge your own things, like you have to put it away for ... a year? at least! Sometimes I ask Magnus, but to be honest he isn't the best to judge either. I tend to appreciate handmade things - to recieve too - so much that I sometimes wonder whether I like them not only because I find them beautiful, but much because I know how much work and time there is behind them. When giving away something I want it to be something ... nice. Of course. But sometimes it's hard to tell whether the thing I just made is cute, or it just seems so to me but when I think of it I made something similar when I was ten and I didn't like it then but my grandparents did because I was ten and not ... almost 27.
I do know that some things I make are appreciated gifts by some people. Still, I'm sometimes afraid of giving away something I made. Afraid that they wont like it and either put it away where no one can see it or use it just to be nice to me. I can't blame them, not everyone loves handmade stuff, but sometimes I'd like to know will this little creature or this necklace be happy in its new home?. (Otherwise perhaps it could stay here with me.) If I put a lot of time and love and money in making something for someone, then I don't want them to hide it in their deepest wardrobe.
I guess the solution is to give things to people I know will appreciate it (but how will I know that?) and to give away only my best things (but then, again, how can I tell?). I'm sure I'm not the only one struggling with this from time to time, or are you all confident with everything you make, and that the ones you give it to will love it? Then, please, tell me the secret ;-)

link link

2007-02-23T11:13:00.000+01:00

Since I'm not crafting so much at the moment, I'll give you some links instead. And by the way, not being able to craft as much as I want to always give me so many ideas. When putting all my craft stuff in boxes I find things that I haven't used for a while, or had almost forgotten about. I want to try this, do that, ... I have to be patient ;-)
Now, links. I'll begin with
Photos
*Have you met Eva? This blog is in Swedish, with photos of the nature and of her daily life in Bromölla (southern Sweden). Since she's a good writer, too, I guess this blog is more interesting for those of you who understand Swedish. But go check out it anyway ;-)
*More Swedish photos here: Annelito's photo diary, more Swedish photos and more cats and Monkeygirl's photoblog.
*Gregory Colbert makes beautiful photos of people and animals. That was a boring description, but I think you too will fall in love with the little boy reading to the elephant.
*If you haven't seen Tisha McCuiston's photon yet, you should do it now ;-)
*This group at Flickr, Íslenskir ljósmyndarar - Icelandic photographer, is a treasure.

No more photolinks today, now we need some crafty stuff, right?
*Gunnels blog. She's a quilter and an embroider.
*Sigga Sif, rndnrnd we knit :-D
*Izabella's Tattered Letters.
*Sparrowgoods' journal.
*angry chicken.
*Norththreads.

from his point of view

2007-02-23T11:02:00.000+01:00

Today I'm feeling a little bit better, but this week I've been too tired even for crafting. All I've done is a little bit of crochet, in bed! I've been drinking tea, and tea, and tea ... Outside it's cold and every day it's been snowing. Zam, who loves snow, must think I'm the most boring person ever now, not wanting to play with him for hours in the snow ... Look how bored he is!

But we have looked out through the window together, I don't know what is so interesting, but interesting it is (if you ask Zam).

being at home

2007-02-19T17:18:00.000+01:00

I'm home from work with a sore throat, fever and everything. Did I have time for this? No. But well, there's not so much to do about it, except resting in the sofa with hot tea + honey and a cozy dog (who, by the way, stole my pillow while I was making myself some soup for lunch). I'm reading a little bit, sleeping a bit, not doing so much else. Yesterday afternoon I had a bit more energy and painted/collaged a "sign". Today it's been snowing and quite dark so the photo is a bit dark and since I'm using my laptop ... well, Photoshop and this computer, they don't get along very well. So to say. Anyway, this painting-collage-kind of thing is a bit messy, but it was fun making it. It's an old saying written on it, a kind of rhyme, that my grandma used to have (and still has? I don't remember) over the entrance door of their house. I'm not good at translating, but it's saying something like "Be a friend of the house when you enter, and be in the same [state of mind?] when you leave" (sorry, my English isn't the best ...). I really like it and for many years I have had this message on my door (although I'm not sure anyone noticed). Now I made a big sign instead ;-)

I'm not feeling a bit better now than in the morning - actually it's getting worse for each day - so I'll have to stay at home from work tomorrow too. Today I've been too tired to craft, but maybe tomorrow I can knit a bit? I hope so. Zam is still on my pillow, dreaming 'cause his legs are moving. It's not fun going out in the snow for a dog walk when having the fever, but it's worth it because he's the best company when I'm home and tired all day.

how to bake

2007-02-17T15:52:00.000+01:00

1. Mix all the ingredients. Try not to step on or fall over your dog when you move around in the kitchen. Ignore the dog eyes that say "I soooo want to taste". Ask the dog to move a bit while you put the muffins in the oven.

2. Make the frosting. Taste it. Ignore that your dog thinks you are unfair not giving him anything. Tell him to walk on four legs, not on two. Tell him to keep his tongue in his mounth.

3. Okay, okay.

the mess in here

2007-02-17T11:49:00.000+01:00

Busy busy ... our flat looks like a ... complete mess. Boxes, bags, things, things and more things ... everywhere. I have a lot of crafty ideas and projects, for me and for you, hopefully in springtime there will be time for it.

iceland

2007-02-11T08:17:00.000+01:00

It was winter 2003 and I shared a flat in Reykjavík with an italian and a french girl. I studied Icelandic and literature at the university (Háskóli Íslands) and during the weekends we rented cars and went to see the amazing Icelandic nature. It's already four years ago. I made new friends there from all over the world, some of which I've lost and some of which I'm still close with. I took a lot of photos and yesterday I decided to scan some of them. The quality isn't the best after scanning with my scanner, but here are some winter days in and outside Reykjavík.

I was crafting when I was there. I couldn't bring any stuff for crafting, but close to where I live was a paper shop where I bought scissors, glue and some paper so that I could make birthday cards. I used to sit on the floor in my room, listen to music and have a cup of tea and make my cards. What I did the most, however, was to knit. It was in Iceland my passion of knitting begun ;-) Not that I had never knitted before, but it was in Reykjavík I fell in love with all the wool yarn they had. I even went to the Álafoss factory & outlet, though I didn't bring much home since I already had too much to carry and Icelandic yarn can be found in the shops in Sweden as well. I remember I knitted a scarf and a number of hats. But the best thing was the "knitting café" on Monday evenings when I met some women from Iceland and other parts of the world (most of them were in Iceland because they had married an Icelandic man or because of their job). I was the youngest. We were there to learn how to knit a lopapeysa (you can see some here and here), there were one or two Icelandic women there to help us out.
Here I am (+ a friend), knitting at the café. The last Monday we met we had been baking cakes and cookies that we brought, that was a sweet buffé I can tell you ;-) (Now when I think of it, it seems a bit strange to bring cakes to a café, but well, we did.) Anyway, there's nothing I can be so nostalgic about as my time in Iceland.

more necklaces

2007-02-05T14:06:00.000+01:00

I made some changes with my blog, I hope it doesn't look too strange now. It's Monday afternoon, Zam is next to me in the sofa, on the table is a cup of tea. Little Ia is in another room, I think she didn't notice when I left. Outside the sky is grey, the weather is cold and boring. But it begun in a beautiful way. I was out on the fields with Ia and Zam just before the sun rise over the tree tops. Everything was frozen, the trees white and covered by ice. We were all alone. Ia didn't want to walk, Zam wanted to run ... so I had to carry one dog and let the other one run free ;-) It was so beautiful when the sun finally came over the tree tops, the fields and the snow bathing in sunlight, the shadows so long and blue and the few colors that were (like the red color of my dog) were so intense. Magical moment. But I didn't have my camera so now I show you some necklaces I made a little more than a week ago.

one of four necklaces

2007-02-05T10:19:00.000+01:00

Like a sunny day in springtime.
Or like candy.

a beautiful morning

2007-02-01T10:34:00.000+01:00

I do have some necklaces to show you, but today ... it was such a beautiful morning. I have to show you ...

The snow, the fog, the sun rising over the trees. Zam and I went out for a walk in the very right moment.

The "river" which is partly covered by ice and snow.

The little bridge over the river.

Zam enjoys the snow ;-)

yes, winter came

2007-01-27T17:28:00.000+01:00

Look, we finally had some snow! Well, not some, a lot of snow. It's been here for a week now. Zam loves it, to play in the snow, to eat it, to roll around in it ... :-)

I have to finish knitting the scarf for Magnus now that it's finally cold again. Speaking of knitting, and yarn, Zam was amazed when I did this:

What's that? he seemed to ask. It's going around around around ... why?

Little Ia finished her "dinner" and then turned around and sat down on the plate. My crazy little dogs *love*

some good news in the new year

2007-01-14T11:56:00.000+01:00

It's a new year and already so many things have happened. It's 14 Jan and more things have happened than in 2006!!! Luckily, good things :-)

The year begun very calm with me, Magnus, dogs, my friend Coraline and mom having a new year dinner. 3 January Magnus went for a job interview, 4 Jan for a second one (for the same job) while I went to the south to visit my family and friends for a couple of days. The following day Magnus called and said he got the job! This is really big news for us, good news :-) He's been working as an editor (freelancing) for many years, it's really really hard to find an employment in that field in Sweden. And now he got one! And not only did he get one, just after they called from another job and wants to meet him for an interview.

Well, his new job is in Stockholm where I already work so we see no reason to stay in Uppsala and travel every day the both of us (the way I do now). However, finding a nice place to rent in Stockholm is not easy. But, believe it or not, we found a little house by the water and the forest, still it takes only 20 minutes by bus on the high way to central Stockholm! I can hardly believe it ... The house is small but sooo nice inside, it's super ugly on the outside but, hey, it's the inside we live in, not the outside ;-) We'll have it from 1 March.

Then we only had one problem. The days for Zam (dog) to be at home alone would be too long so we needed some place where he could be during the day, some place nice and calm where he'd be taking care of etc. And I found one!! We'll leave him there in the morning on our way to work, and pick him up in the afternoon on our way home. It seemed really nice and cozy there and I so hope he'll like it.

Well, the job and house and everything happened in only one week!! It's sooo great, but I feel my head is exploding by too much thinking ;-)

Here we are haveing lunch at a crêperie in Stockholm, celebrating the house.

crafting 2006

2006-12-31T11:06:00.000+01:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007

spinning ;-)

2006-12-30T09:10:00.000+01:00

I'm learning how to spin with a drop spindle. It sure takes some time since I have to learn from books, but after practicing a bit I think I'm doing it the right way now. I want the finished yarn to be a bulky thick and thin one, however not as much difference between thick and thin as you can see here ... But I guess it's just to keep on practicing, practicing :-) And it's really fun. I'm working with gotlandsull, wool from Gotland sheep, and it's not the most clean and smooth one (I find small sticks and straw in it). It's quite easy to work with, I think, but the result isn't the smoothest, softest yarn to be found. Now I want to go and buy wool/fibers in different qualities to learn more about spinning, but it has to wait as the place I want to go to, Åddebo ull isn't really nextdoors.

gold flower

2006-12-29T16:03:00.000+01:00

Detail of a necklace :-)

knitting, knitting

2006-12-28T09:36:00.000+01:00

Early mornings on the bus and train ... I knitted this scarf for my mom as a Christmas gift. It's not perfect in any way as knitting at 5.40 in the morning on a bus isn't really what I'm best at, but I still like it because of the wonderful yarn (mohair lux). I added some glass beads to the scarf. Actually I have one more scarf to finish, it's for my grandma's birthday which was just before Christmas. But I wont meet her until next week, so I still have some time to knit ;-) Oh, and I almost forgot that I'm also knitting a scarf for Magnus, a thick soft one in black and purple. It was the last craft project before Christmas and I didn't finish it since I fell asleep on the train every morning and afternoon and I could not, of course, knit at home 'cause then it'd be no suprise. So, I wrapped the half-knitted scarf and promised him the other half as well ;-) But I guess there's no need to hurry, it's not very cold outside at the moment.

the Me-holiday

2006-12-25T18:49:00.000+01:00

This summer I was working, working, working. So, now between Christmas and New Year I'm taking all days off and I'll just ... be at home, be with Magnus and dogs and I'll cook and walk in the nature, tidy up a little, read, write letters and - most important of all - craft & create. It feels so great, yet a bit strange. I can hardly remember what it's like to be this free :-)

This ball of yarn is the one I got from Jes and I've already begun knitting a bit. It feels so luxury to knit something that is for ME. And I'll be beading, making necklaces ... And I will do it now!

God jul

2006-12-23T11:16:00.000+01:00

Today is the day of finishing and wrapping the last Christmas gifts (and by finishing I mean things that I'm making, not buying 'cause I've already done that), cleaning up a little at home (I like to wake up in a clean tidy home the 24th), cooking, listening to music etc. Tomorrow Magnus, the dogs, Magnus mom and I are going to my mom who lives on the country side close to where we live. After Christmas I have photos to show you of gifts that I've made, but I'm not sure who'll be reading this today so I have to wait until I'm sure everyone has opened their gifts ;-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS
GOD JUL
to all of you!

~maria

some work in progress

2006-12-16T11:06:00.000+01:00

This photo was taken in the November last year, but yet we haven't seen any snow since 1 November. Today we do have colder weather, this morning there was, for the first time, a little ice (however thin) on the puddles on the streets. They said it'll be warm again, but today I enjoy the colder weather and the beautiful sunshine. I'm about to bake saffron-marcipan muffins, this evening Zam (the dog) and I are going to meet some of my friends at a friend's house and have dinner and I'll bring the dessert, the muffins (served a bit warm) with vanilla icecream. It feels like a Christmas-y dessert.

Earlier this week I bought some new beads, I'll make a necklace which will be a Christmas gift. Here you can see part of the work in progress (the beads I bought are, as you see, not in the photo) ...

yarn swap!

2006-12-11T11:57:00.000+01:00

The softest alpaca yarn and hand dyed green wool and a knitting magazine and a handmade pendant, all the way from Maine and Jes. I got it late in the evening and the following day at work I was dreaming of my new stash of yarn. I have a plan ... I think I know what to knit ... But it has to wait until I've finished all the things I'm making for Christmas.

Thank you so much Jes!!

shop update

2006-12-10T18:45:00.000+01:00

Go to Sweet Daisy to find out what's inside the hats ;-)

december feels like neverending november

2006-12-10T17:22:00.000+01:00

It's warm. I don't need my mittens, my hat or my scarf. It's December but we haven't had snow since 1 November. It hasn't been below 0 degrees Celcius one single time since then. I get up at 4.50 every morning (and when talking about that, I wont be unemployed by January as I said before, I'll stay at my job at least until 31 March) and it's not cold. But it's dark, all the time dark dark dark. Today, Sunday, we had some sunshine and finally - with the help of all lamps in my living room - I could get some acceptable photos of necklaces that I've made quite long ago. I'll show them soon. The problem with the warm weather is that it doesn't feel like Christmas, or December, at all. I try but ... no.

time for fruit

2006-12-07T19:40:00.001+01:00

I'll be back ;-)

snow dreams

2006-12-02T09:22:00.000+01:00

It's the busy time of the year ... And it doesn't really feel Christmas because the weather is so warm, I don't need my hat or mittens when going to work early in the morning that's ... strange. I love this time of the year but I don't have so much time to enjoy it, I only have three and a half weeks left at my job and I have things to finish. I'm looking for a new job but most likely I'll been unemployed for a little while in January (hopefully not too long). In some ways I wish it was the other way around, that I was unemployed in December when there is so much else to do and that I had a job in January when nothing is happening anyway. Well well ...

In a Norwegian magazine I found some sweet (both in the "eating" and in the "looking at" sense) things to make for Christmas. I tried the "snow dreams" as seen in the photo and brought them to my job. On Friday afternoons we use to have a 30 minutes coffee/tea break in the afternoon and sometimes someone brings something like icecream or a cake.

I guess snow is what I dream of now. I will regret it later, but now I want some snow to get the right December feeling :-)

for Thea

2006-11-26T10:27:00.001+01:00

I'm knitting something for my niece Thea. She's 1 1/2 but I choose the size of two years old. But it seems to be bigger than that ... But that's good, better too big than too small, right? I really like the colors, they're so September, October.

crafting sushi?

2006-11-23T07:29:00.001+01:00

I think making sushi is something "crafty", in some way. I had never tried until my friend Lina was visiting and we decided to try. For being our first attemt I'm very pleased with the result.

and the winner is ...

2006-11-19T16:46:00.000+01:00

... Audrey! Email me at nenitas (at) spray.se with your address :-)

I want to say thank you to all of you who gave me links, they were all really great and inspiring. If you haven't seen them yet, go to the text (posted a couple of days ago) and read all comments, where you find the links.

The photo above is from my mom's house an early morning (with Zam still in bed).

new floor

2006-11-19T10:55:00.000+01:00

We had terribly boring & ugly floor in our flat. They were from the 70s and seemed to be dirty & dark no matter how clean they were. This week we got new floor, it wasn't a day too late ;-) But it was a mess in here meanwhile. We had to move everything from room to room, this is what the living room looked like one day:

The new floor is much, much, much nicer :-) But now I'm busy putting all furniture, books etc back. Not mentioning all my craft stuff, phu!

PS. I'll come back to the contest later today.

~new friends~

2006-11-16T10:17:00.001+01:00

"Hello" says Mofflan & Myfflan.

wedding album

2006-11-14T19:41:00.001+01:00

Here are some pictures from the photo album I made for my sister. She got married in May in a church by the sea. I'm not the photographer of the majority of the photos in the album (the photografer is Sune Olsson).

contest: give me a link, win a lip balm

2006-11-12T12:42:00.000+01:00

Outside it's dark, rainy, cold, boring. Far from the summer day in the photo. It's that kind of day when you need something inspirational to look at, something that cheers you up, make you happy, give you inspiration or just ... make you forget about the boring weather for a while.

Give me a link to one of your favourite blogs or websites, something inspirational or beautiful or just something that makes you happy or in a good mood (no matter the subject). Leave your comment here before Friday evening and I'll pick a winner who'll get a Be Gentle Lip Balm from my shop. It's a soft and kind lip balm for the cold winter season. Or just for dry lips ;-)

to craft in the dark ... ;-)

2006-11-11T15:55:00.000+01:00

It's been raining all day and the sky was so dark (well, now it's evening it's even darker). I think the thing that disturbs me the most when crafting isn't that I want more space but that I need light. There's just too bad light in our flat if it's not a sunny day (and most days aren't sunny and if they are I end up being outside playing with dog Zam instead).

I go to work by bus at 5.40 and then train at 6.10 and metro around 7.00. I use to knit sometimes on the bus, almost always on the metro (if not too crowded) and only for a little while on the train because on the train I use to sleep. But the first 5-10 minutes I sometimes spend knitting and then I like to keep the light off and knit, knit until I'm sleepy enough (knitting is really meditative). I think that's the only time when lack of light when crafting can be good instead of annoying.

the christmas spirit grows for each new day ...

2006-11-10T19:13:00.000+01:00

As it's getting colder outside and it's already November I'm thinking of Christmas. I love Christmas time of the year because I love all the cooking and baking and candy making, all the great smells, all the candle lights, the decorations ... and, of course, all the reasons to craft and create. I use to make holiday cards, gifts, decorations, gift wrapping ... However, this year I work so much I realise I wont enjoy all the preparations if I have to do everything in December. Hence, I've already begun making some gifts for Christmas. Some involve photos, many involve knitting (since knitting is kind of the only thing I can do on the train).

There are always some among my friends and family that are so easy to make/buy gifts to. And then there are those you never know what to give, still you want to give something. You don't want to put a lot of effort in making something - they wouldn't really appreciate it anyway - but you don't know what to buy either. For the "easy" ones I already have so many ideas that I have to choose since I simply don't have enought time to make all. Unfortunately, I cannot show you so many of my gifts until after Christmas. What are you making/buying for your friends and family?

dragonfly

2006-11-09T19:11:00.000+01:00

I got this beautiful necklace from my friend Fillan, you can see more of them in the shop Ärtan Pärtan.

hot pink & orange fatbook

2006-11-07T18:25:00.001+01:00

For the first time in my life I participated in a fat book. It was Joleen who organized it and the theme was hot pink & orange.

Since it was my first time and since I'd never seen a fat book IRL I wasn't really sure how to do. We were supposed to make 40 copies so I figured I'd better have a rather simple design to be able to make 40 ... When I had made 20 I realised other people made one and then copied it. Oh ... was it that simple!? I asked myself and made 20 copies ... So now I had 20 made by hand, 20 copied. I did learn something about making fat books ;-)

This is my favourite spread, I think:

good-bye 1940

2006-11-06T19:36:00.001+01:00

I love this pendant and wear it very often. It's made by Jes. The text, good-bye 1940, is perfect for me because at the moment I am saying good-bye to the 1940s! I work as an archivist and for some months I've been working with material from that period, however now I've almost finished it :-)

friendly knitting :-)

2006-11-05T11:40:00.001+01:00

My friend Lina is a teacher of textile handicraft. It's good to have such friends when you get stuck with your knitting, or sewing project, or ... something else textile ;-) Recently she was visiting me and, of course, we were knitting. She made those colorful socks: