My first ever...

My first listing on Etsy was a cross-stitched bunny keyring. I loved it, but it never sold. Even though it's the cutest little bunny ever! Then bookbinding caught my attention and the cross-stitching was put on the back burner. And now I would love to share the pattern with you! It's really easy so everyone can try!



This is the chart for the bunny:



You can change it to suit your mood or preference... For example:

"blue gingham bunny":



"red flowers bunny":



And my personal favorite: "Ninja assassin bunny":



Enjoy!

Great day!

Great day today! Not taking into account that the dynamic duo were extremely high-maintenance... But then again, they are 2 years old and 10 months old... So who can blame them?

Anyway, first I could surprise Ingela P Arrhenius with a magazine page with her posters... I just love her work, it always makes me so happy! Then she bought a notebook in my shop, so I'm very proud that she liked my work too...

Since I've been selling stuff regularly now I decided to show you my "minimalist" way of wrapping orders. I feel that when you order something nice online, especially if it's for you, it should feel like a present, since they deliver it to your door and you never know when exactly it will arrive. And everyone deserves a present now and then! So I wrap my things before I send them. I do have a very minimalist way of wrapping presents...



The larger one is wrapped in fabric with a hand-carved stamp on it, the smaller one is wrapped in paper.





Let me know what you think! Is it too minimalist...?

Winter

It was so cold this morning! We woke up to a sunny day and minus six Celsius. It's been cold all day. So I decided to show you how gorgeous the lavender and the sedum looked.





It was so cold out that I decided to finally finish some of the books I've been making and take some photos to post on Etsy. Go and have a look! I think this one fits the mood best.



It's going to be even colder next week, and they are expecting snow in our region tuesday... Yay!

Black and white

I love black and white. I always wear black and white, white for summer and black for winter. No white after labour day since I saw "Serial Mom"! Usually, I draw with black ink on white paper. Yesterday, I was at the craftstore (if I ever stop crafting, I think they will go out of business) and I picked up a bottle of white ink. I saw on Geninne's blog that she uses a lot of white ink. So I thought I'd give it a try.

I tried white ink on black, but that was kind of... boring. So I tried another color background. I think it turned out pretty darn cute. The white ink works really, really well! You should give it a try!

New stuff

It's been a couple of days, but here we are again... I have been really busy with the dynamic duo, and with making all kinds of things that need some time. Like ordering fabrics. They came in today, so I've got my work cut out for me!

These two I bought to make photo albums for the dynamic duo:




And these I just found yummy and retro, fun for some nice little books:





I've also been busy "branding" my things. So far, if you bought one of my books, you'd never know who made them. So I had some labels made to make sure everyone knows where to go for beautiful handmade books! These also came in today!




And last but not least, I got the photo for my buttons!



It realy feels like christmas!

Another experiment!

Oh yes! They just keep on coming!

This time, I tried to make something like the leather notebooks but then using fabric. I thought long and hard about how to go about it, and I finally came up with this one.






As you will probably guess, I am still not satisfied with the result, and it will probably be on sale on Etsy.com at a very, very reduced price, since it's just a prototype. Anyone in the market?

Paper bird tutorial

Today I have been a busy lady! I have made the paper birds just a tiny bit cuter, added an extra idea (with Christmas on the way and all) and written my how to... Maybe you could make these into a mobile, or use them as place cards for your christmas dinner? Or maybe you can think of something else... If so, please leave a comment!!!



First, choose some nice paper. It's cool if both sides have some kind of print, because you will see both sides. If there ever was a project where you could use pages of an old book, this would be it!

Print out the Bird picture once on thick paper, this will be your template. You can download the picture by right-clicking on it, then select "save picture as...", print it in the size you want, cut it out carefully.



Take the paper you want to use for the bird, fold it in half wrong side out and lay the template on the folded paper, with the bottom straight line on the crease. If you want to make a bird that can sit somewhere, use the extra border in the template. If you want to hang it, leave the border out. Trace the template on the paper.

Cut out the bird along the line. Make sure that you cut through both layers at the same time. Open the bird and fold it back right side out (this way, you won't need to erase too many lines from the trace!). Fold the wings out on the dotted line. Fold the tail out on the dotted line.

If you want to hang your bird, glue the two bird-bodies together. If you want to set it down, only glue the beak, the head and a small piece below the wings and the tail.

If you want, you can make small namecards and glue them in between the beak!





Have fun, and don't forget to send me a pic!

1000!!!

Yay! I am so proud that my blog has now seen over 1000 pageviews!

I hope you are having just as much fun reading my blog as I am having writing it!!! And making all the projects too, of course...

Tomorrow I'll try to post the birdie tutorial!!!

Leather

Some time ago, I went to a huge fabric market where they also sold leather. I bought some gorgeous pieces that I intended to use for bags, but I always felt it would be a pity to use them.

But now I have found a way to use them so that they will make me and several other people happy... I used them to make some really nice notebooks! I especially like the one with the multicoloured leather...

These are now for sale in my Etsy shop! Of course I kept some for personal use... ;-)





This one used to be a skirt...



Maybe I'll visit a thriftstore to see if they have some old leather jackets... I could make a notebook with a pocket for businesscards!

"Origami paper"...

On an origami blog that I visited recently I found an idea for a "box of flowers" that she gave someone as a present. I loved that! So I decided to make a "bag-o-butterflies" for a friend in need... I didn't use regular origami paper. Why, you ask?

Some time ago I asked a Chinese friend for some old newspapers. They were Dutch-Chinese newspapers, illegible for anyone who does not speak Chinese, but I love the characters and the colors that they use. I had already thought of making butterflies out of Chinese newspapers and today was the day!!! I cut them up into 15 by 15 cm squares, don't they just look yummy???




I folded them into the butterflies that you saw earlier on my blog... That wasn't really easy because newspaper isn't the kind of paper that folds wel... And your fingers get really stained, even though I ironed the papers first.

Anyway, this is what the butterflies looked like when finished!

Cheerful little birdies

Last night I couldn't fall asleep. I was awake until one, just because there was so much in my head that I wanted to make, that I could not shut my brain down long enough to drift off. And this afternoon, when the dynamic duo were taking their nap, I started one of them.

I wanted to make birds that you could cut out of one sheet of paper, and then fold so that you get the feel of a 3D bird. It took me some prototyping to get the right shape and place the wings so that they would look nice.

Then I took some pink and yellow origami paper, and some buttons, and off I went! The munchkin has already called dibs, she wants the birds to fly in her room!

Fine art ;-)

In Holland, we have a really nice tradition. Basically, we lie to our children. Now don't judge, anyone who claims that there is a Santa Claus does the same! In Holland, we call him Sinterklaas (coincidence?) and he celebrates his birthday on December 5th. He arrives about three weeks before that date with his helpers, called Zwarte Piet ("Black Pete", a coloured man who hauls Sinterklaas' luggage, and the subject of many a political discussion, I might add!). Before his birthday, children can put their shoe in front of the fireplace and Zwarte Piet will come at night and give them a present.

Last saturday, Sinterklaas arrived in The Netherlands with his steamboat and yesterday our munchkin was allowed to put her shoe by the back door (no fireplace, we have to make do though). Sinterklaas gave her a box of watercolour paint!!! So today, of course we had to paint...

These are her first works of art! I am such a proud mommy!





Our little artist at work!!!