'Tis the season...

What is it about Christmas? I absolutely, truly HATE it, with a passion. I hate the dark days and long night, the cold weather, the forced-feeding and the "socializing". I prefer summer, warm weather, sun, and swimming pools.

Nevertheless, Christmas time does give lots of inspiration for craftiness... Inspired by the Scandinavian style craftbooks that I shared with you yesterday, I carved some very simple stamps that I plan to use on the napkins and tablecloth this Christmas dinner. I don't think I'll be sending Christmas cards, because I never do... Unless you order something from my Etsy shop, that way you'll land on my mailing list anyway!

By the way, if you live in Europe, you'll still get your order in time for Christmas...

Another addiction...

Those who know me already know my biggest sin, my worst addiction, and the thing I spend most of my money on... It's craftbooks. I have a shelf in my red Billy-bookcase that can barely stand the weight of all the books that are crammed in there... Being tormented by my color-OCD (kidding of course, or am I? Just look at my stash of DMC-skeins...) I had to sort them by color, that way, my cluttered bookcase looks half decent. It does make a nice photo-op, though.



Since 'tis the season to be jolly, and I get jolly reading a great book with lots of inspiration, I thought I'd share some of my current favorites with you. Right now I'm really into the minimalist style of Scandinavia and Japan. So today, the trip around the world takes us to two books that I read to pieces!

The first one is Scandinavian Needlecraft by Clare Youngs. I love the white and off white colors, the simple looking stitching and the coziness it exudes!!! Here are some pics from my favorites in te book. If you like crafting and scandinavian style, you should definately get this one on your wishlist! Or just get it for yourself... A little indulgence never hurt anyone...





I just ordered another book on scandinavian style, Scandinavian Stitches by Kajsa Wikman. I've seen pictures of it and I can't wait until I get it!!! Just to show you why, I "borrowed" this pic from one of my favorite blogs, the Stash Books Blog.



Enjoy shopping!!!

Pakjesavond

Tomorrow it is what they call in Dutch "Pakjesavond". It is the climax of Sinterklaas and I dare to say that most children are now stressed to the max! Especially since they have a daily Sinterklaas newsupdate on tv, and every year it's the same: everything is going wrong and no one will get any presents. Most kids have sleepless nights over that!

Wow, now that I think of it, it is actually a pretty cruel tradition...

Nevertheless, there are tons of Dutch books about it. I found one at our local grocery store, that was so adorable, that I just had to share some of the pictures with you! It kind of reminds me of two of my favorite illustrators, Ingela P Arrhenius and Dawbis.

Just a small recap for the non-Dutch: Sinterklaas comes to The Netherlands every year by boat, because he actually lives in Spain. He brings his little Helpers, called Zwarte Piet ("Black Pete", not too politically correct, by the way). On December 5th, he celebrates his birthday (which is on Dec. 6) by bringing all children presents. During his stay in The Netherlands, kids can put their shoe by the back door or the mantlepiece and Sint and Piet will put a present in the shoe if the children sing a song. Sometimes they add a little something for Sinterklaas' horse, Amerigo.






So tomorrow we'll have lots of presents! Yay!

Happy little tree

In memory of the late and unique Bob Ross, I decided that the house from my last post was lonely and needed a little friend. So I carved a happy little tree to keep it company.




Now I can make an entire street with houses and trees! This one is printed on cotton fabric.




And for all you Bob Ross fans out there, I say what I say with respect! Even though his show was always funny, and the paintings he made were not to my taste at all, I respect the way he made painting look easy, even though it's hard as hell!

Address book

Since some people asked me if I could do an address book, I've been trying to figure out how I should do that. I think I have an idea now, finally figuring out how I can make the tabs with some nice and cheerful colors! I also had to think of something nice for the front. So today, when te dynamic duo were asleep, I took my stamp-carving kit and made these!



The house will be printed on the cover of the address book:




The birdie I made to print on the envelopes and boxes for orders:



I will need to find some better paint to stamp them with... Maybe I'll try the acryllics and a roller... Any advice?

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...?