Dans la lune

Kinderfeestjes

2012-02-06T00:56:00.001-08:00

Voor meer informatie zie :
http://mistermoustache.webklik.nl/

Blaudzun in the Effenaar

2012-02-04T09:43:00.000-08:00

My daughter Julianne treated me to tickets for a Blaudzun-concert in the Effenaar in Eindhoven, it was a great night with wonderful songs.

The story of the operasinger, a puppet-play

2012-01-25T07:24:00.000-08:00

Nearly finished puppets for a new puppet-play about an opera-singer.

They are rod-puppets.A rod puppet is controlled by moving the metal rods attached to the hands of the puppet and by turning the central rod secured to the head.

Origami ornament

2012-01-25T07:07:00.000-08:00

You can find a great tutorial for these origami paper balls at http://thelastpiece.typepad.com/the_last_piece/2011/11/a-christmas-origami-tutorial.html.
I used old sheets of music paper I found at a book-fair with secondhand books.

Felt fun

2012-01-25T06:51:00.000-08:00

I was in the mood for some needlefelting and made these little figures.

A garden-summary of 2011

2012-01-16T05:50:00.000-08:00

The harvest of 2011 in our small suburban garden:

500 g of cherries
606 g of redcurrants (or miemeren as we call them in Limburg)
622 g of strawberries
1849 g of raspberries
490 g of blackcurrants
362 g of gooseberries (plus all the ones we ate straight from the bush, I love gooseberries)
362 grr of blackberries
214 gr of mini-plums
1051 gr of pears
73 gr of grapes (how to keep the birds of your grapes)
2980 gr of pumpkins
146 gr of rhubarb
490 gr of courgette or zucchini
200 gr of kiwi-berries

Some rucola and beans. Thyme, rosemary, celery, wild garlic, lemon balm, peppermint, basil, chives, gill-over-the-ground, origanum, parsley and lots of delicious eggs from our 4 chickens.
I would love to have one of these beehives in our garden: It's the starterskit from henandhammock.co.uk
We have these butterfly-houses in the garden and a hedgehog-house which is actually inhabited.
The birds seem to prefer to more natural nesting places in the hedges and trees and we half buried these old stone bottles for other insects.

Apparently addictive

2011-12-13T10:08:00.001-08:00

Postcards

2011-12-12T06:57:00.000-08:00

Having fun with a fineliner:

Getting in the Christmas spirit

2011-12-08T02:06:00.001-08:00

Images from Cath Kidston and Pinterest

2011-12-06T05:22:00.001-08:00

I made these two baby-dresses with the following tutorial I found on Pinterest:

http://www.prudentbaby.com/2010/05/snappy-toddler-top-free-downloadable.html.

If you would like to take a peak at my Pinterest-boards:

http://pinterest.com/meneerm/

I love Pinterest, it's full of new ideas.

Kite paper birds

2011-12-06T04:59:00.001-08:00

I made these little birds from a little wire and kite-paper and then added some LED-Christmas lights.
This is how they are made

I hope this little drawing makes any sense.

Now added little pieces of kite-paper like these ones:

Use the colours you like and glue them to the frame and cut to shape.

If you like add two little wings of kite-paper to the bird.

Make a little hole in the bottom of the bird and add a little cardboard ring (I got these from labels)

to strengthen it.

Add the LED-Christmas-lights and you're finished.

2011-11-29T07:53:00.001-08:00

Poor killerwhale Morgan has been transported to Loro Parque on Tenerife instead of being released and reunited with her relatives sighted near Vesterålen in northern Norway.

Op reis

2011-11-15T03:57:00.001-08:00

Zag je ooit in een verstild landschap twee kussende bomen staan?
hun blader-lippen raakten elkaar maar net,
zij had een jurk als die van een freule aan,
hij een parmantig boordje en in zijn haar een strik gezet,

Zo staan ze daar al jaren,
versleuteld in een kus die eeuwig gedijd,
de wind speelt door hun takken-haren,
altijd in tussen-tijd, perfect moment in stille saamhorigheid.

photo: flickr davydubbit

Zweden

2011-11-15T03:31:00.001-08:00

Het land gehuld in een gouden kleed,

zwarte-witte stammen met gele waas getooid,

de herfst die reeds de zomer versleet,

mijn kleurig gemoed verstrooid.

Golvende, geschoren stoppelvelden,

vol zwart vleugel-gefladder, gekraai,

waar ganzen, gakkend over zomers vertelden,

lariksen vurig waren, voor even fraai.

Rode huizen, spikkelend gezaaid,

mistflarden in een dal,

weemoedig afscheid terwijl de cirkel eeuwig draait,

en niets voor altijd duren zal.

Ceramic animals

2011-11-14T03:04:00.001-08:00

My youngest daughter has quite a collection of Schleich animal figurines. I used them as an inspiration for these necklaces.

Fairytale cupcakes

2011-11-14T01:54:00.001-08:00

I found this little frog in a thriftshop, he makes a fairytale setting together with these cupcakes.

Round robin - a traveling envelop

2011-10-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

Round Robin at http://roundrobinnotebook.blogspot.com/ started a traveling envelop, the first person stuffs an envelop with all sorts of goodies and sends it to a second person, who takes the things she enjoys from the envelop and replaces it with something else and then sends it to a third person and so on. The last person sends it to the first, who can then keep the envelop.
What a nice idea.
This was the envelop I received.

Chocolate

2011-10-16T11:50:00.001-07:00

Chocolate muffins with whole chunks of white and dark chocolate topped with a dark-chocolate ganache and then dipped into dark chocolate.

Autumn garden

2011-10-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

I love everyting about the Autumn, how the forest smells, the stormy weather, the light and most of all the colours of the leaves.

Little baby-dress

2011-10-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

I recently did a sewing-course at the Kantfabriek by Helen Janssen from Prutsdesign and first made this little baby-dress with matching baby-bloomer.
I found the lovely pattern at Pinterest.
Here is the link to the pattern: http://www.scribd.com/doc/55455525/Little-Girl-s-Crossover-Pinafore-Jumper.
For the diaper-cover: http://www.dana-made-it.com/2008/07/tutorial-perfect-diaper-cover.html

More cake

2011-10-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

Blueberry cupcakes with white chocolate frosting

Little cupcake pop-ups

Red velvet cupcakes with white chocolate frosting

Living statues

2011-10-07T04:02:00.000-07:00

My youngest daughter Annelotte at the Living Statues in Arnhem. The 7th time she participated.

Once upon a time

2011-09-19T00:09:00.000-07:00

I love stories, always did. Whether reading one or being told one, it is so captivating. It makes you forget about yourself for a while. In the Summer we often visit story telling festivals, just a lazy day in the park, listening.

Storytellers weaving their tales with humor, insight and wisdom.

I had always wanted to learn how to really tell a story. So last Spring Emmelie and I did a course in storytelling in Maastricht.

Storyteller Bea showed us a lot of ways to tell stories and made us do exercises in improvisation.

So much fun!

My dream: to tell a story beside a mystical fire with multi-coloured flames, a story about dragons, princesses and princes, gnomes and fairies.

Cake and cake-pops

2011-09-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

I found this great little mold which makes cake-pops shaped like a little muffin. The cake is a bavarois with blackberries from the garden.

Weaving a basket

2011-09-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, on a sunny Saturday, we ( my youngest daughter and I) learned the very old art of basketry.

We did a course at the Vrije Akker, a biological picking farm, in Grubbenvorst.

We both made a basket from willow rods. We had a lovely day outside in the field.

Though the result is not perfect, we are both very proud of our achievements. It took quite a lot of hard work, but I had wanted to learn how to weave a basket since I was a child.

Kunstbende

2011-08-25T03:36:00.000-07:00

Kunstbende geeft jong talent podium

Door: Pieter Duijf

LIMBURG - De uit Heerlen afkomstige Martijn Mendel(17) noemt zichzelf een ‘fotograferende kunstenaar’. Hij vindt zijn inspiratie voornamelijk op de digitale snelweg. “Ik kan soms uren op internet surfen en portfolio’s bekijken. Er zijn zoveel getalenteerde mensen.”

Een foto van Annelotte Lindner; een
kleine in een grote wereld.

De 15-jarige Havo-scholiere Annelotte Lindner uit Tegelen is verzot op het kleurgebruik van schilders als van Gogh, Seurat en Charley Toorop. Ook de tekeningen van illustrator Chris Riddell, die bekend is van de Klif-kronieken, vindt ze mooi. Martijn en Annelotte behoren tot de winnaars van de Limburgse versie van Kunstbende. Kunstbende is een landelijk project dat dit jaar voor de 23e keer wordt georganiseerd, waaraan jongeren tussen de 13 en 18 jaar in diverse kunstdisciplines meedoen. Martijn(eerste in Limburg en tweede in de landelijke finale) en Annelotte deden mee in de categorie ‘EXPO’, die ‘Illusie’ als thema droeg. Voor deze wedstrijd stuurde Annelotte enkele foto’s in met daarop speelgoeddieren in een ‘grote-mensen-omgeving’. “Het is een kleine wereld in een grote wereld, waardoor er een illusie ontstaat.” Martijn over zijn winnende foto’s: “Ik bewerk al mijn foto’s en probeer er zo een origineel en uniek werk van te maken. Voor Kunstbende heb ik een serie gemaakt die ik zo heb bewerkt dat het leek alsof het oude, korrelige en analoge foto’s zijn. Ik hou van het vintage-effect. De serie heet ‘Welcome Ghosts‘. Hiermee bedoel ik het verwelkomen van het onwerkelijke.” Kunstbende Limburg wordt van oudsher georganiseerd door Buro Pinkpop. Paul Moerel van Pinkpop: “Het idee is om jong en creatief talent een plek te geven waar ze zich kunnen ontwikkelen, zich kunnen laten zien en waar ze andere gelijkgezinde jongeren kunnen ontmoeten.” Martijn begint komende maand met de studierichting fotografie aan de Kunstacademie St.Joost in Breda. Hij heeft dus duidelijk professionele ambities: “Ik wil groeien in mijn vaardigheden en mijn eigen stijl ontwikkelen. Ik wil dat mensen kunnen zeggen dat ik iets heb gemaakt zonder mijn naam te hebben gezien.” Annelotte wil eerst haar Havo-diploma halen en de vooropleiding voor de Kunstacademie afmaken. “Ik wil dus later kunst blijven maken.” Op zondag 4 september organiseert Kunstbende Limburg voor het eerst een expositie van de winnaars uit Limburg én uit andere provincies. De expo start om 16.00 uur en wordt gehouden in het HKL aan de Kapellerlaan 36 te Roermond. De toegang is gratis en voor iedereen toegankelijk. Afgelopen jaar deden 350 jongeren uit de hele provincie mee aan Kunstbende Limburg.

Flower power

2011-08-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

Felt cuties

2011-08-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

New brooches

2011-08-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

Kunstbende

2011-08-17T04:22:00.000-07:00

My daughter won second place at the final of the Kunstbende in our province, they have an exposition now in Roermond, from September 4th till October, 7th.

My travel-wishlist.......

2011-08-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

Le petit artiste voyager (http://lepetitartistevoyager.blogspot.com) asked for favourite places in the world.

My travel-wishlist would be:

1. I already visited Ontario twice in the Fall, but I would love to go again and drive up north past Orillia and Huntsville and keep on driving.

2. Glastonbury (and Stonehenge) magical places

and while I'm there (in Spring) : a bluebell forest

3. Iceland, island on the mid-Atlantic ridge, full of geysers and volcanoes. I would take the boat from Bergen in Norway to the Faroer islands and then to Iceland.

4. Höga Kusten in Sweden, simply majestic

5.Hawaii, another volcanic island with beaches fit for paradise.

6. the Northern lights in the land of the Sami, in the pristine snow.

http://lepetitartistevoyager.blogspot.com/2011/08/my-travel-wishlist.html

Cake-pops and more

2011-08-06T06:04:00.000-07:00

Last week we had several wonderful picnics and therefore did a lot of baking. I never made cake pops before, so with the help of you-tube gave them a try.

The little cake at the top is a meringue, then a raspberry bavarois and finally cake with nougatine.

It was quite delicious.

This is where we went for the picnics: close to the river the Maas in Buggenum.

We also went to Kwekerij van Buggenum which is a nursery as well as an pick flower farm and picked these lovely field bouquets.

All these lovely flowers made me wanting to experiment with coloured ink and watercolor paper, I scanned them which didn't do wonders for the quality of these pictures, but here they are:

Rose petal jam, a recipe

2011-07-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

-Rose leaves enough to cover the bottom of a small pan.

-1 dl of water

-150 gr of sugar

-1 spoon of lemon juice

Put the leaves in a small pan and add the water and the sugar. Bring it to a boil (for 10 minutes) while stirring sometimes. The sugar has to dissolve. Add the lemon juice and wait until the jam thickens. Pour the jam in a sterilised jar. Turn the jar around and leave it for a little while like that. Then turn around again and leave to cool.

recipe : De keuken van het Midden-Oosten van Ghillie Basan

A lovely day

2011-07-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

We first visited the Maashof in Lottum, a tea-garden where they use roses in all sorts of dishes. My daughter had a delicious pancake with roses and rose-jam. In the shade of some lovely sycamores we watch the boats on the river go by. The sky filled with majestic clouds and sometimes we heard the sound of thunder, but it stayed dry.

Inside there was a little shop selling all sorts of things related to roses.

Then we went to Hayberries in Broekhuizen and picked 5 kg of blueberries. I do love blueberries, just to eat fresh, in a pie or jam, all delicious.

At the end of the day we had a cup of coffee at the other side of the river in Well in another teagarden. The restaurant has a straw-bale construction.

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About fireflies and baby-hedgehogs

2011-07-16T10:00:00.001-07:00

Today we saw two little baby-hedgehogs in our garden looking for food and sniffing around. What a magical sight. Earlier this week late at night we saw the bright shine of a firefly. I always think it is kind of special to discover so much life in a small urban garden.

In the blackbirds nest there are now three young birds, the parents are quite busy collecting food and there is a whole family of sparrows. The young have already left the nest, but the parents are still feeding them.

Very hard to recognize ( I only recognize her shoes) but this is my youngest daughter busy with a Greenpeace campaign for the protection of the seas at a local market in Baarlo.

I found this great chocolate mold and made this tiny little teacups and filled them with ganache.

I think they are very cute (and tasteful).

Niki de Saint Phalle and Festival Mundial

2011-06-23T05:05:00.000-07:00

My oldest daughter treated me to a visit to the Schunck Glaspaleis, a museum in Heerlen which currently held an exposition by Niki de Saint Phalle, one of my favourite artists.

I like the vibrant colours in her work and most of all the themes in her work.

Then, how much can one get spoiled in one weekend my second eldest daughter treated me to tickets to Festival Mundial in Tilburg.

Quite a line-up: Paolo Nutini, Selah Sue, Gabby Young and the other animals, Katzenjammer and Hotel among others.

The band Hotel is one of my favourites, I recently saw them perform at the demonstration against nuclear energy in Amsterdam.

But my very favourite: Katzenjammer, what a vibrant performance.

Despite all the rain (quite an experience to listen to a band from Sierra Leone in the pouring rain) a beautiful day.

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2011-06-23T02:05:00.001-07:00

I have been experimented with this great yarn called Feltro tweed especially designed to knit or crochet and then to felt.

The end-result: these bracelets.

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Our garden in Summer

2011-06-23T01:17:00.000-07:00

Some more garden photos, I love the garden this time of the year:

Pears are ripening on the tree, the first-ever grapes (with last years first grapes birds were a little quicker), a zucchini or courgette plant, giant chess pieces and our first ever harvest of cherries.

I found these really big cones in the forest and made a garland out of them, gooseberries (we made a very tasteful gooseberry-pie with meringue),

ferns and an old iron French fence that we found in this beautiful store called Vieille France in Biest-Houtakker. Old barns in an old French village style: http://www.vieillefrance.nl/

Amaranth grown from seed, the last forget-me-nots, strawberries, chicken auntie Cato, viola, our Dutch carriage dog Gwion and blueberries.

So far our fruit-harvest from our garden:

500 gr of cherries

506 gr of redcurrants

616 gr of strawberries

1475 gr of red and yellow raspberries

335 gr of blackcurrants

291 gr of gooseberries

Last night much to my surprise I found this blackbirds nest in the bird feeder.

It is not a very clear picture, I didn't want to disturb her but if you look closely you can see her sitting on the nest.

Last week we saw a lunar eclipse (June 15th), only glimpses though as it was rather cloudy. But beautiful still.

photo Piet Valentijn

Nuclear transport is just wrong!

2011-06-07T02:07:00.000-07:00

A train carrying highly radioactive nuclear waste from the nuclear powerplant in Borssele in the Netherlands is currently en route to France. There the dangerous nuclear waste will be processed. It is not right that the Netherlands continue to use dangerous nuclear energy and continue with nuclear transport.Nuclear power is unnecessary as there are enough clean alternatives. Follow this action by Greenpeace during the journey at http://www.greenpeace.nl/kerntransport and get yourself into action. Sign the petition at http://www.schoongenoegvankernenergie.nl.

Or speak out against this nuclear convoy through the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Help stop the train by joining their virtual action of protest at

http://www.nuclear-dead-end-road.eu/

Craftymarkets!!!

2011-05-27T03:37:00.001-07:00

http://www.hipenhandgemaaktmarkt.nl/

Emmelie will be at de Hip en Handgemaakt markt in Deventer and I will be at the Craftygardens in Eindhoven on Sunday June 5th.

New papercut card of Venlo

2011-05-11T01:44:00.000-07:00

Romerhuis from the 16th century

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Beautiful places

2011-05-09T05:51:00.001-07:00

st. Mary´s Basilica, Krakow, Poland

Greenpeace at Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Christ of the Abyss San Fruttuoso, Liguria, Italy

Las Lajas Cathedral Ipiales Colombia

Stilte

2011-05-09T05:48:00.000-07:00

Vanmorgen werd ik wakker uit rusteloze dromen,

Gedreun, gedender, gewoonweg lawaai,

Auto’s, treinen, een vliegtuig, verkeer(de)stromen,

Stilte, dat is toch saai?

Stilte, rusten, onlosmakelijk met geluid verbonden,

Ik schreeuw om stilte maar wordt niet gehoord,

Geluid door lawaai verslonden,

Stilte wordt door herrie doorboord.

Stillevens van geluid: het ruisen van de bomen,

Roepende kievit met zwarte kuifkruin,

Gakkende brandganzen die overdromen,

Kippenwoordjes getokkeld in de tuin.

De egel die ’s nachts stilletjes scharrelt,

Water dat zachtjes stroomt,

Winterse sneeuw die nog zachter dwarrelt,

daar had ik liever van gedroomd.

A couple of ceramic tealight-holders

2011-05-04T10:45:00.000-07:00

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Cuckoo clock

2011-05-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

We made this lovely cuckoo clock at a workshop at the Sprookjeskamer in Eindhoven.

I love the PIP studio wallpaper.

The Sprookjeskamer is a gorgeous store in the centre of Eindhoven :
http://www.desprookjeskamer.nl/

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Two fairytale necklaces in the making

2011-05-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

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Another cupcake stand

2011-05-04T10:22:00.000-07:00

Another cupcake stand made of plates and cups.

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Mexican style garland

2011-05-04T09:58:00.000-07:00

In a papercut mood I made these Mexican style garlands.

New paper mache teacup

2011-05-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

I made another teacup with Ann Woods' pattern and felted Red Riding Hood and the wolf. It's not a very scary wolf, he turned out rather sweet.

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Craftymarkt!!

2011-04-21T03:26:00.000-07:00

The 21 st and the 22nd of May we will be at the Craftymarket in Oostzaan near Amsterdam.

DIY Cupcake stand

2011-04-12T06:31:00.000-07:00

I found some cups and plates in a secondhand store and made this cupcake-stand with a little Easter-touch from a reclaimed bunny.

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New bracelets

2011-04-12T06:29:00.000-07:00

Springtime!!!!!!

2011-04-12T06:01:00.000-07:00

lily of the valley

lunaria

spring flowering erysimum in yellow and orange

rosemary

muscari

a fern uncurling

last year's pelargonium already in bloom

forget-me-not

pear-blossom

primula veris

cherry-blossom

vinca

We had rain and hail today (I can hear the chickens complain outside), but for the last few days the weather was simply gorgeous.

The garden really came to life and everything is becoming green.

Such a joy.

Sunday market

2011-03-17T04:07:00.000-07:00

We will be at the Sunday market at the Westergasfabriek on April 3th.

Softie by my daughter

2011-03-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

Love this funny softie by my daughter: http://lolligeannelotte.blogspot.com/

She won second price in the category Expo at the final of the Kunstbende Limburg last Sunday with her pictures of miniature worlds.

I'm so proud of her.

A new Ann wood pattern

2011-03-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

Ann Wood posted a free paper mache teacup tutorial on her blog. http://annwood.net/blog/2011/02/24/paper-mache-teacup-pattern/

I love it.

Above is my first attempt, I got a little impatient with the second yellow paint-coat on the inside which resulted in this crackle effect, which by chance looks like an old much used teacup.

Teacups by Ann Wood herself:

And some by Julie Whitmore

Matryoshka

2011-03-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

Another little matryoshka in a matchbox-bed.

Ceramic gnomes

2011-03-15T11:05:00.001-07:00

New children's apron and Spring in our garden

2011-03-15T10:57:00.000-07:00

The weather is beautiful and sunny.

The daffodils and hyacinths are in full bloom and our chickens are enjoying the sunlight and warmth.

New brooches

2011-03-15T10:55:00.001-07:00

New ceramic broochesin a fairytale style.

Cupcakes

2011-03-02T07:17:00.001-08:00

I found this beautiful glass cake-plate in a thriftshop and I discovered this great new store in Venlo, selling English food articles like scones, fudge, marmelades, carrot cake mix and clotted cream. The store is called De Bruin&Stacey and is located at the Grote Kerkstraat 16 in Venlo.

More candles

2011-03-02T06:07:00.001-08:00

Candle girls

2011-03-02T01:57:00.000-08:00

I finished these first candle-sticks from the mold I made from the thrift shop find.

They are a real Spring girls.

Some more softies from the Marie Claire book

2011-03-02T01:55:00.000-08:00

These softies are quite addictive to make.

Felt hair bands and hair elastics

2011-03-02T01:52:00.001-08:00

I just finished these hair bands and elastics with little felted flowers.

Children's apron

2011-03-02T01:47:00.001-08:00

I made this children's apron at a workshop at the Kantfabriek by Helen Janssen of Prutsdesign.

It was a fun day (with a great lunch), she had all sorts of colourful fabrics, ribbons and laces to choose from.

My youngest daughter made a bag of reclaimed materials and my oldest a fabric garland.

My daughter's bag : lolligeannelotte.blogspot.com

Oscar et la dame rose by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt

2011-02-25T02:22:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I talked about this really good book I had just read called Ulysses from Bagdad by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt and by coincidence last night I saw this beautiful and touching movie called Oscar et la dame rose which is also a book (and film) by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt.

A kitsch candle

2011-02-23T08:20:00.000-08:00

In our local thrift-shop in the Helbeek in Venlo I found two great candle-sticks of little girls, one with flowers and one with a little teddybear.

I made a mold from one of them and used it to make this kitsch-candle. It is a bit hard to see the details in the picture.

Another workshop at the Kaarsentempel

2011-02-23T08:13:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we had another workshop at the Kaarsentempel in Tilburg by Mirjam de Leuw.

We learned several techniques like rolling candles, mille-fleur and pouring candles in different colours.At the top is our end-result.

Soaps and bubbles

2011-02-23T08:10:00.000-08:00

I found some great molds on Ebay and Etsy and made these fab soaps. I really like the detail in the molds, especially the fairy one.

Marie Claire knuffels om te naaien

2011-02-23T08:06:00.000-08:00

This is really a great book with patterns for all sort of animal-softies, this is the first one I endeavoured.

First signs of Spring in our garden and our chickens

2011-02-23T07:58:00.000-08:00

Ulysses from Bagdad by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt

2011-02-23T03:32:00.000-08:00

“My name is Saad Saad, which means Hope Hope in Arabic…”

Saad wants to leave the chaos of Baghdad for Europe, freedom and a future. But how do you cross borders without a dinar to call your own? How, like Ulysses, do you brave the storms, survive shipwrecks, evade the opium smugglers, turn a deaf ear to the sirens-turned-rock stars, escape the cruelty of a Cyclopean jailer, or tear yourself away from the amorous enchantment of a Sicilian Calypso?

By turns violent, slapstick and tragic, Saad’s one-way journey begins. From adventures to tribulations interspersed with conversations with a loving father he can’t forget, the novel tells of the exodus of one of the millions of men currently in search of a place on earth: a stowaway. Always a captivating and sympathetic story-teller, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt offers this picaresque saga for our time and questions the human condition. Are borders the bulwark of our identities, or the last bastion of our illusions?

Extract from the official website of Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt.

I have read many more of his books like Odette Toulemonde and Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowersof the Koran.True storytelling.

Highways

2011-02-15T07:39:00.000-08:00

On the hill behind our house they are building a new highway,

the second one, I can hear the trucks and see the lights.

Many trees have been chopped down and the landscape has been transformed.

It reminded me of Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser.

I really love his paintings and his use of all these bright colours.

But I also love his architecture.

He came up with other ways to build highways without

disturbing the landscape so much.

Roses

2011-02-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

Two necklaces made with fimo-clay.

Matryoshka

2011-02-13T23:55:00.000-08:00

A little leftover fabric made this little matryoshka in a little matchbox bed.

Cupcakes, cookies and more

2011-02-13T23:46:00.000-08:00

Yo yo maker

2011-02-13T23:35:00.000-08:00

I had seen these fabric yo-yos before in magazines and I discovered this yo-yo maker in a craft-shop, they are easy to make and with this device even easier. It was a fun project for the weekend.

A paper-boat garland

2011-02-13T23:27:00.001-08:00

I found a book with beautiful paper in a secondhand bookshop and made a garland of little paper-boats with it.

Great book : Mister God, This Is Anna by Fynn

2011-02-08T02:45:00.000-08:00

Anna was only four years old when Fynn found her on London's fog-shrouded docks. He took her back to his mother's home, and from that first moment, their times together were filled with delight and discovery. Anna had an astonishing ability to ask--and to answer--life's largest questions. Her total openness and honesty amazed all who knew her. She seemed to understand with uncanny certainty the purpose of being, the essence of feeling, the beauty of love. You see, Anna had a very special friendship with Mister God. . . .

A lot of baking

2011-02-03T12:21:00.000-08:00

Cookie moustaches, bonbons, chocolate-salami, peanutbutter-cookies, chocolate-oreos, chocolate muffins and chocolate-moustaches.

All for the Scandinavia-day in Hoevelaken.

New papermache brooches

2011-02-03T12:13:00.001-08:00

New (second) blog

2011-01-17T07:16:00.000-08:00

We have started a second blog next to this one for all the stuff we make and want to sell:

http://mister-moustache.blogspot.com/

More animals out of old blankets

2011-01-17T05:14:00.000-08:00

De Kaarsentempel

2011-01-17T05:10:00.003-08:00

Last Saturday we did a workshop in the Kaarsentempel in Tilburg and learned to decorate two candles, one with waxes and one with a marble effect.

A pink frog?

2011-01-14T06:55:00.000-08:00

From the same blanket I made this little frog in pink! Maybe rather a fantasy animal than a frog.

I used this simple pattern:

My grandmother

2011-01-13T02:44:00.000-08:00

In the archives of the city of Utrecht I found a old newspaper from 22-4-1911 mentioning my grandmother Rika (Hendrika) winning a price and congratulating her with her 12th birthday. So sweet!

This was her much later in life.

Little elephant

2011-01-13T01:31:00.001-08:00

I found some old baby-blankets in a thrift-shop and made this little elephant of the soft fabric.

The river

2011-01-12T06:21:00.000-08:00

photos: L1

It is not causing any major problems (not like the situation in 93 and 95) but the river the Maas or Meuse which runs through our city is flooding, due to the melting of the snow and a lot of rain at the same time.

New boat

2011-01-12T05:58:00.000-08:00

I made this new boat last week, using this Ann Wood pattern: http://annwood.net/blog/2009/12/11/paper-mache-boat-pattern/

and I felted this little duck as its captain.

Giant puppets

2011-01-03T10:05:00.001-08:00

A while ago I saw a parade of giant puppets, stadsreuzen or gigantes y cabezudos.

Our own city has two giants called Flujas and Guntrud, the founders of our city.

Nearby city Roermond also has a very impressive giant called Sjtuf (Saint Christopher).

I found these other giants on the internet,they are beautiful touching and moving images

La geante du Titanic et le scaphandrier by the mechanical marionette theatre-company Royal de Luxe.

A giant deep-sea diver desperately searches for his niece, a search which has encompassed a hundred years, the sinking of the Titanic and a mysterious mailbox.

Company with Balls with their show Join the parade.

Mister Moustache

2011-01-03T10:03:00.001-08:00

A cup with a felted moustache

Let it snow, let it snow

2011-01-03T09:54:00.000-08:00

Our very first White Christmas in years.

My youngest daughter and I build a snowman and a little snowy-dachshund.Our own dachshund prefers staying inside, he doesn't like the cold snow at all.

A last minute Christmas decoration:

a little felt snowman (dry felting)

I love these intricate stars (Hema)

top 2000

2010-12-22T07:02:00.000-08:00

Ever since the change of the century a new tradition in the Netherlands : the 2000 best pop songs from Christmas Day till New Year's eve at 12.00 o'clock at Radio 2 voted for by the public.

We spend all these days singing along with the radio, watch little television and sometimes get up in the middle of the night, because we want to hear a specific number.

Radios are on in the whole house.

For years Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen took first place, just once a Dutch song by Boudewijn de Groot "Avond" came first.

This year Hotel California by the Eagles takes first place and Queen comes second.

My daughters and I discuss music, we all discover new music.

My personal favourites (at least for this year):

Prince- Sign o'the times,

Simple Minds- Belfast child,

R.E.M. - Losing my religion,

Nirvana- Smells like teen spirit,

Crowded House- Weather with you,

Van Dik Hout- Stil in mij,

Alanis Morissette-Ironic,

U2- Stuck in a moment,

Train- Drops of Jupiter,

Coldplay- Clocks,

Black Eyed Peas- Where is the love,

Razorlight- America,

Snow Patrol- Just say yes,

Cat Stevens- Father and son,

and last but not least Pink Floyd- Wish you were here

Christmas papercut card

2010-12-22T04:56:00.001-08:00

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everybody!!!!

New papercut cards

2010-12-21T04:50:00.001-08:00

Papercut card

2010-12-17T14:24:00.000-08:00

New papercut card for a postcrosser who is an avid reader.

Seven dwarfs brooches

2010-12-16T04:32:00.000-08:00

Little ceramic dwarfs on crocheted dollies.

Crochet-fun

2010-12-16T04:28:00.000-08:00

Three crocheted locket-like necklaces, two with embroidered leaf and flower.

Another Danish Christmas heart

2010-12-16T04:24:00.000-08:00

You can find patterns at http://www.hjertertiljul.dk/en/skabeloner_en.html