introducing...

yes, once again i will celebrate a handmade christmas...and i will share it with all of you offcourse :) it is going to be a month and a half party full of preparations, gifts, decorations and other fun stuff like lists of gifts for all ages. i will start my posts in november and you are welcome to join me in the celebration!

Last year i did a 5 week newsletter, but this year it is all going to happen here on the blog. i promise it will be fun and it might even include a freebie or two for you ;)

obsessed

i have been in a cross-stitching mood lately. this might be this years christmas presents :) more about that in the next post, it is only 2 months until christmas you know, so we have to get started :)

yesterday i saw that you could win one of these lovely apron overlays. it is so cute i think! but as my luck in any games or giveaways are very bad i decided to make one for myself. not as pretty and perfect but i think equally cute :)




dixon liked it too!

i also made a few of these scarfs, they are so easy to make!

did you make anything this weekend?

i ♥ photos, the beach and crafts!

yesterday afternoon i just felt the beach calling my name, so i took my gang aka daughter and the 2 dogs for a spin.



we took a good long stroll down the sandy beach searching for stones, feathers and other treasures.






just above the shore i spotted this wonderful field that i just had to capture. i asked my daughter to take some photos of me...but then...



dixon the streaker came through :)




i love my copy of amanda soules new book handmade home. i has lot´s of lovely, simple and really handy projects. i started slowly with some easy potholders and then i made some new fall hats for my neices and my newphew. i have some more to make since my girl really wanted one too!





i might try a few other projects this weekend. otherwise i am planning ahead and thinking of what i´ll make for Christmas presents this year...and i have some layout shares too.

happy friday you all!

this will be my last weekend in my summer vacation, i start working on monday...it´s ok i guess. i just hope that the lovely weather could come back!
sadly i will also be very still this last weekend, because i was out working in the garden being a good girl and all, and then i hurt my foot so badly i have it in a bandage now and am limping on crutches. :(

onto happier things :)

i am loving this cross stitching buisness as of late! i have showed how a few projects before and here are 2 more.





and i just went thrifting today and found a lovely patterned with poppies :)

i am also working on a project much like the one cathy z is teaching in her class. i will be back tomorrow with that. i also have a wall hanging project to share, but that will too have to wait since we have dinner guests coming in a half an hour :)

have a lovely friday! ♥

project runway ala my livingroom

well as my facebook update said earlier today; my livingroom looks like a workroom on project runway! the daughter is still sick and we were both bored, so we took out the sewing machine and all our scrap fabric and we have been creating ever since.



my daughter sewed a collection of clothes for her maisie mouse including a swim suite :)



those of you that know me know that i am not very good at sewing. my sewing adventures often include alot of luck and erhm one or two bad words...



i started out making a sun dress for my daughter. this was the first time i was trying out stretch bands. so this is a super duper simple no sleeves dress but she likes it :)



then something took over and i dug out the purple linnen that i had. and i totally and with no pattern at all made this dress for her!




i have finished the straps and altered here and there after this photo.

it is not at all well done but i am so damn proud of myself! now i am off to email mom :)

project random

I busted out my sewing machine for yet another project! Yay me!
My daughters birthday is coming up this weekend and i wanted to make her a "soulemama" inspired gratitude wrap. Her best friend is moving away and they have decided to be penpals, which i think is a very good idea. So i made her a place to keep her stationary.



I chose a jean fabric and a yellow cotton one. I sewed the two fabrics together, which is where i made my first mistake :) Since i wanted the wrap to acctually hold stuff the pockets would have been super to have been sewed on before i sewed everything together :)



Anyway, since i had already messed up, i just went with the flow. I went on and added some padding.



I acctually wanted to make some fabric pockets, but since the above, i resorted to plastic. I found some scrap page protectors, one larger which now holds the acctual papers and envelopes and one smaller to hold stickers and stamps. The smaller one i sewed right in the middle to create 2 pockets. Then i just handstitched them both so the inside of the wrap.



As the wrap came together, i added a felt butterfly on the inside and a felt flower to the front as decoration.



To tie the wrap together, i simply tied a knot with a felted ribbon. Voila!
Haha, i guess it turned out ok, but i think i will make some more as pratice, because i think this would make a wonderful Christmas gift!

The second project i made this weekend, was highly inspired by something i had seen on flickr somewhere.



As i am a stone collector it was a pure joy for me to pick some smooth stones at the lake this week. I took them home and painted the first step; black. I use ordinary craft paint for this so it doesn´t take all that long for the paint to dry. Then i painted the "center" of the stones in different colors and after that i used a q-tip to make the dots. The finishing touch was to add positive words to the stones; love, hug, yes!, lovely etc. Now, i think i will just use them as a decoration like below, on a glass plate or maybe give one or two as a gift for someone that needs some encouragement.



I like the colors and the messages!

What did you make this weekend?

the craftiness continues

So, one day i just felt like sewing something. Now, let me just take a minute to tell you that i am so bad at everything sewing :) I especially have no patience and when i sew you need to have patience! I decided to make an atempt to make a mat that i can carry with me on my walks. To sit on or lay for that matter if the moment inclines. Anyway, i have a stash of fabric scraps of different sizes and patterns. I also happened to have some wadding home. So, i picked 2 fabrics out and my sewing machine. Poor thing must think i hate it :) i cut the 2 fabrics into 4 squares 48x48cm. Then i made a little patchworking (thanks mom for that!) i stitched every square together and ironed the seems to prevent chunkiness.



I then picked out a plain green fabric for the backside and sewed 3 sides together. Before i turn everything right i stitch the wadding onto one short end.



When i turned everything out i "pointed" out the corners and cut a little bit of fabric that was "over" :) Yep, my mesurements are not very good either. I folded the edges and since my intention was to be able to roll the whole thing up while i carry it, i picked out some green ribbon and pinned them to the edges too.



Then all that was left was to sew that last edge and voila! The end!




I know, i know it is not rocket science and i am a poor tutorial writer, but at least i am proud of myself!

And Dixon? Well, see for yourself!