Zeeman, cheerful and cheap

When I feel like buying some new kitchen goodies without spending too much money,

I pop into 'de Zeeman' .

Today I couldn't resist these colorful and cheerful cousions, papernapkins , dish cloths and pegs.

Thank you Zeeman , you brightened up my day :)

The "scrap-craft" of our ancestors.

Crochet has given me a lot of pleasure and relaxation over the years.
I have had a lot of happy moments, creating handmade items for myself and others.
When I give a crocheted gift, a part of me goes into it,
selecting the yarn, the pleasure of creating,
the thoughts and feelings I have as I work, it's all part of the fun.

Crocheting granny squares is one of my favourite crochetting jobs.
I like the history behind these squares,
they were the "scrap-craft" of our ancestors.
In years gone by, there was no such thing as throwaways,
yarn scraps became granny squares.
These days , it's all about creating the little squares,
the nostalgic feeling the squares represent
and the cosy feeling that goes with it.

Innocent child and snow-white flower!

Innocent child and snow-white flower!
Well are ye paired in your opening hour.
Thus should the pure and the lovely meet,
Stainless with stainless, and sweet with sweet.

White as those leaves, just blown apart,
Are the folds of thy own young heart;
Guilty passion and cankering care
Never have left their traces there.

Artless one! though thou gazest now
O'er the white blossom with earnest brow,
Soon will it tire thy childish eye;
Fair as it is, thou wilt throw it by.

Throw it aside in thy weary hour,
Throw to the ground the fair white flower;
Yet, as thy tender years depart,
Keep that white and innocent heart.

William Cullen Bryant

not one , not two , no,.......... three awards

This must be my lucky day :) I received not one , not two , no,.......... three awards today.

Funnely enough it's the same award , I already got from Bellavien.

I am supposed to give the award to 15 bloggers , so that would be 45 in total,

but that will be a bit much ,

so instead of that, I give my 'Blog love' to all the lovely people that read my Blog,

your comments mean a lot to me , I love getting feedback , so thanks to you all.

Here are the 3 Blog friends that gave me the Award :

If you click on the names you can visit their lovely Blogs !

Sunshine

Mysticwynd

NaturallyComfy

Having a walk with baby 4

Here is the fourth addition to the series,

'having a walk with baby'.

A print is available in my Etsy shop here

Painted lady - Vanessa cardui

We put lots of herbs in our garden to attract butterflies

and it seems to have worked !

beautiful butterflies on the chives ,

it is a real joy to see them enjoying the flowers,

and they did not mind us taking very close-up pictures of them at all.

“If there is one creature that represents my essence, it's butterflies.”
Patricia Velasquez

Having a walk with baby 3

This is the third drawing in the series 'having a walk with baby',

a print of it is for sale in my Etsy Shop here.

Sending you some love from our garden

Nothing is more the child of art than a garden.

Sir Walter Scott

Inspriration Award

To my surprise a have recieved yet another Award.

Nannieflash surprised me with this lovely Award.She makes beautiful cards and her Blog is very inspiring,why not have a look for yourself at Nannieflash ?

I would like to nominate de Lantaarn to recieve this Inspriration Award from me,her Blog gives you a lovely view of her beautiful house and has lots of inspirational ideas on it.

the rules for this award are: 1) link back to the person who gave it to you; 2) put the picture/award on your blog; 3) you can nominate anyone and as many as you choose; 4) leave a fact that no one knows about you; and 5) leave a comment on the blog that gave you this award.

So I guess I now have te tell somthing about meself nowone knows about ........well here it goes.....'I have never enough hours in one day so sometimes work right through the night.'

job finished (decorating weekend-update)

Today I finished the little decorating job I started last weekend.

I have been looking for a chest of drawers like this for ages

and when I saw this one , I just had to have it.

But it needed some paint because I didn't like the gray color it had.

So I painted the commode and I am very happy with the result.

Rose Award

Getting an award is always is very nice surprise , and last week a received this lovely gesture from
Bellavien.
She gave me this

Rose Award , and I really appriciate it.

Her Blog is is always worth visiting , she lives in Sweden , one of my favorite countries.

But now it is my turn to give this Award to someone that inspires me.

I very much like to give it to Lol met Wol , she has a very inspiring Blog with lots of idea's and lovely crochet.

At the moment she has a great swap going on .

decorating weekend

This weekend the weather isn't too good ,

but perfect for some indoor decorating ...........

to be continued

hierarchy

If there was a hierarchy in things most importend in life,

children en flowers ,

would be at the top of it.

a print of this picture is fore sale in my Etsy shop

Huisje, boompje, beestje..........

April has been a wonderful month , with a lot of sunshine.

Nature gives us so much to enjoy ,

so here's a few little snapsshots,

I want to share with you.

new bag in the shop

This is my latest design, another little giftbag,

I had some spare beads so I incorperated them in this project

Have a look in my Shop where this bag is for sale .

Orange theater

Tomorrow is Koninginnedag ( Queensday ) in the Netherlands,

so everybody is in a Orange mood.

Decorations are Orange and so are cakes and other sweets.

People like to dress in orange too

and it seems the whole country is one great Orange theater.

The girl I draw loves theater too and her favorite color is .........

you quessed it .............orange :)

Her name is Florina and a print of her is for sale Here

Dottie the cat-like-doll

I like to gather different colors of yarn and a crochet hook and to just start crocheting and making something up as I go along.

Creating a new design is what I enjoy best.

This little lady , named Dottie is some kind of a cat-like-doll, and really I like the way she turned out ot be.

She is looking for a new home,

and if you like to give here one you can purchase her here

impossibility

“It is impossible to treat a child too well.

Children are spoiled by being ignored too much

or by harshness, not by kindness.”
Sloan Wilson

A print of this little boy is for sale in my Etsy shop here

Happy Easter- digital frames

New in my Etsy Shop: digital frames for some Easter scrapbooking
The perfect craft solution.You purchase, I email you the Jpeg file.

Save it to your computer, and print as many times as you want, any paper, any size, perfect for decoupage, cardmaking, scrapbooking, journaling and more
for sale in my Shop

Blue Bella

Here's the latest addition to my Dutch Doll collection,

her name is Blue Bella.

I enjoy crocheting these little dolls ,

so I guess many more will follow.

You can purchase her or read more about her in my Etsy store ,

just click here

HEMA and Jamin

If you are Dutch and you live abroad, you miss the shops you grew up with as a child.

Where would be be without the HEMA , the Jamin and the Albert Heijn ?

Don't you just love this vase from the HEMA ?

I couldn't resist it ,

the beautiful roses I spotted whilst doing my weekly shop at the Albert Heijn,

seemed to be made for it.

and the chocolate easter eggs from the Jamin, which they sell in all the colors of the rainbow.........I just hàd to buy too.

Spring is in the air !

The sun shines, it's nearly spring ,
the best season of the year.

I made some smiling faces , to bring you in the mood for spring

Available in my Shop,

the big ones here and the small ones here

a new print , skating fun

I just finished this drawing , it's for sale in my Etsy shop,

here

Isn't it fun to iceskate, to fly over the ice ?

new in my Etsy shop ; rosebags

I just finished a new series of little gift bags.

The bags measure approximately 4" by 4" (10 by 10 cm)

and are crocheted with acrylic yarn.

They are for sale here

knitting

I really should be painting in my studio,

but instead I find myself knitting .

It must be the weather, snow, rain and wind ,

make me want to curl up on the couch with a hot drink and some warm fluffy yarn.

spinrag and snow flakes

How about this ?

This luxury, handspun by spiders, snow white yarn is fluffy and light and softer than you can imagine!

This yarn is made from pure spinrag and superfine snow flakes, then frozen with pure crystals and wind blown ice fluffy feathers!

When nature joins forces with the weather elements it produces a very luxurious, textured, fluffy and unique winter thread!

Now who wouldn't want to knit with a yarn like that ?

contained

“All knowledge,

the totality of all questions and all answers

is contained in the dog”
Franz Kafka

This is a digitally manipulated photograph of our dog Amy,

who is always willing to pose for me .

Warm comfortable and cosy

It is still so very cold outside ,( minus 6 degrees Celsius )

so little Amy and me are making it ourselves comfi indoors.

I am busy knitting scarfs, hats and jumpers,

while she lies tucked up in one of my crocheted plaids on my lap.

Happy snow year

A new year,

a fresh start !

Snow, like a blanc canvas,

ready to be filled with new ideas.

Wishing you all, a very creative year !

Balloon

Did this little bird just receive this balloon with a heart,

or is he going to give it to someone very special ?

I made this painting some time ago ,

I used oil on canvas.