All good wishes for 2011

Wanna wish you all a very colourful,

covered with lots of love,

a very healthy,

and crafty, 2011!

Hope to see you all again in the New Year!

Enjoy your evening!!

With love,

lisette.

Give away and things

Did you all have a good Christmas? Mine was good and I got spoiled with lots of great presents. Among my presents was the magazine '101 woonideeen' but I already got that one. So one of these can belong to you! I'm adding the magazine in a little, last-minute-2010, give away. A small package with a surprise give away. Okay, you will know the magazine is in it but the rest will be a surprise! If you wanna make a chance, leave a reaction before Sunday 2 January 2011.

Another gift I was spoiled with is this beautiful silver ring. It's a ring with a glass bead which you can change. So here above is a transparant and a brown bead.

And here is a green one. Really an amazing ring. I love it!

Pimp up your vase! I found this one in the thriftstore. I love the structure/shape at the top, made some (fake pearl) bead strings and added it in the lower parts of the vase. It makes it 'classy'.

Merry Christmas

image from etsy, by smilingknitting

Don't get cold feet, get warm at the fireplace with your hands wrapped around a cup of hot, steamy chocolat, spread your love on family and friends, enjoy the presents you'll receive and give away, have nice dinners and enjoy the snow... Or just..

Merry Christmas, you all!

Little presents

I don't have many handmade Christmas presents this year. Which is really weird for a crafster! haha.. But as you probably know for yourself, time time.. I put that one (more time) on my wishlist for Christmas but I guess I'm won't getting it.

One of the handmade presents I did make, is from a collection that is in the 2re5 label. As I told you in the last post, I will have three collections. One based on the recycling of 100% wool blankets and sweaters, one is based on the use of vintage fabrics and one is based on the use of old embroidery. Mostly embroidered tablecloths but here is a project based on a little embroidered painting which I turned into a bracelet.

And there is still one pair of mittens (the pink one) available for Serious Request!! Let me know if you want these funky mitts and support a good cause! SOLD

Mittens for Serious Request

Here, now, today, this Monday morning 20 Decembre I promiss to be a better blogger in the New Year! It had been some busy weeks here and blogging was the last item on the daily lists. But that will change in the New Year. Then you will be top priority!

But for now.. As you know I'm setting up a label/company and although I planned to have my online shop working in January, that won't be happening. No problem, I calculated delays. What is a bummer, is that I have three collections in the label. One is based on items made from 100% wool blankets and 100% wool sweaters. Different sized blankets, cushions, phonecovers, more and more but also mittens. And the time for mittens is NOW!!!!



And there is this other thing. For those outside Holland (or Belgium, Sweden, Switserland, Kenia) let me explain. Here in Holland (and these other countries) we have Serious Request. That means that 3 DJ's from a radiostation (here it's 3fm) lock themselves up in a glass house, for seven days, without food. You can request a song but only for money. And the collected money is always going to a Red Cross project. This year it will go to a project to help Aids orphans.
It's a big thing here. Everybody figures out a way to collect money and for the last years we raised millions euros. I love this action!!! For me, this is Christmas. There is a hugh solidarity between everybody.


What do I do? Well, I don't send Christmas cards anymore and donate that money instead. Last year I sold some sets crocheted Christmas stars through the blog and donated an extra 50 euro. For this year, I will sell two pairs of mittens from the new collection. They are a size small-medium. For 90% it´s made with natural, recycled materials (100% wool). Only the lining is new and synthetic (fake fur).

They cost 34,50 euro and I'll will give halve of the money to Serious Request (on both pairs). So not only will you get smashing, original mitts (or a funky, original present for someone, for Christmas), you'll support Aids orphans. And that's what Christmas is all about, isn't it? Be there for eachother..
(NOTICE: The set of green mittens is sold.)

My heart grows and grows

Still no time to work on, and finish the tutorial for the Christmas decoration... Really, I'm wondering if I find the time to work on it before Christmas is over!! It's busy here and I have some other jobs and things I must do first.

And between all that, I received a lot of gifts!! So big smiles and happiness! Tuesday I received a great gift from the lovely Ingedien, from 100% Heppie. A beautiful handmade, felt case with a needle felted tomtit bird on it. I can use it for my keys but I will definitily use it to store all my little boxes of sewing machine needles in. It's perfect for it! It was beautiful, beautiful wrapped with a personal card. Thanks so much, I love it, 100% Heppie!

And today I received yet another present!! A great wrapped package, full of Christmas Happiness, from the lovely Ingrid from IngThings. So much goodies handmade, and picked out, with love and attention. So warm and sweet. Christmas came in the mail!

A lovely felted heart, origami stars from beautiful paper, a beautiful (did I say, beautiful already?) crocheted garland with all these colorful stars, a sweet candle, a great big vintage bell and coasters, and even more..

I love, love the fabric!! It's beautiful. A bit vintage, a bit Scandinavian, like needlework, embroidery, perfect colors, great pattern. I love it. Thank you very much Inge!

Mmmhh, and the first picture? That's a mug I found in the thriftstore, last Monday. There is an apple tree on it which has apple hearts growing, and the line 'my heart grows and grows'.
And mine really does, after receiving so much sweetness! Thanks again Ingedien and Inge!

Striped scarf

Hope you all had a great weekend?! Mine was fine. Had some friends over for dinner, went to visit some friends, did some sewing and all together was just fine.
Here is yet another Winterly present for under the Christmas tree or just spoil yourself! It's a bright, colorful, stiped acryl/wool crocheted scarf (29,50 euro). Mail me for more info or details.

I hope to find some time tonight to finish up a crochet pattern to make a nice Christmas decoration. Will be sharing it with you!! Hope tomorrow or Wednesday! (time, time, time.. I'm wishing more of that, for Christmas)

Funky earmuffs

The funkiest earmuffs ever!

I crocheted two new ones for this winter. And because, last year, I had most demands for the grey and brown, I made them in these colours. Mail me if you want to buy (24,50 euro, one size, cotton) one, need more info or more pictures.

For now, already, enjoy your weekend!

Embroidered card - how to

Some of you had some questions about how I made the embroidered card (two posts back), so here's a little explanation. Take a double card and fold it open. Sketch the word or the drawing you want on the card with a pencil. Take a large (a thick) pointed needle, lay the card on a prick cushion and prick little holes, every 8 mm. In corners and roundings, make the distance between the holes shorter (otherwise you get sharp corners). Then just embroider, using the lockstitch, the holes, glue (make sure you use paperglue, and the glue doesn't come through the paper) the double card together so the back of your embroidery is between the papers, and tadaa!

And about etsy!! I love the concept, I love to be there and get inspired by so much good stuf! But to have a little shop there is not MY thing. That has all to do with me!!! For me it's too chaotic there, too much work to get a good store there, too little options to do promotion but then again. That's for me!! Because I have such a brain and certain demands. So please open a etsy store. It only costs you a few dollar to open one and you can always close it, if you're not happy. But try for yourself!

XXL - Mega mega scarf

So hello again! Hope you (Dutchies) all had a good Sinterklaas weekend!? Mine was fine and although I really like the snow and all the ice, I'm done with the traffic delay!

Anyway, we are heading to Christmas and that means presents again. Therefor I will be selling some of my handmade goodies. Nice, warm, winter(ly) handmade presents for under the tree. I'll be showing them here. I don't know yet if I will be adding them on etsy. You know, the thing with etsy is that it takes so much time to add an item. I really don't have that patience.. Then there is the thing that 95% of the buyers aren't Dutch and most of my items won't fit a mailbox which makes the shipping charts to other countries expensive. A few months ago I sold some crocheted blankets to a lovely customer in Australia and she almost payed 80 dollar for the shipping charts. That's a lot. It are all reasons for me to neglect etsy...

Okay, I'm off the path again.. Handmade, warm presents! I present you one mega, mega thick knitted scarf! I only have one, and that will be the only one I will make. This was so, so much work! I knitted three long tubes and twisted them together. It's a light wool but mega thick scarf in orange, grey and blue! The ends are tight together with a small knitted thread. And because I knitted tubes, it's not only a thick and warm scarf, the front and the back both are beautiful. (69,50 euro)

I have some crocheted berets. In the same colours as the scarf. Here I'll show you the orange one but I also have these in grey and blue. (23,50 euro incl. sending in the Netherlands)

I only have one beret in three colours.

Will be adding more presents this week! And I'm working on a Christmas/Winter crochet pattern for you. Hope to post that this week too!

Simple

I needed a postcard. And quik. Didn't have the right one, so I made one in a few minutes. Just embroider some words (mine are in thick cotton thread because I like the structure that comes out) on a plain, double card. Glue together, so the backside of the embroidery is in. Write on the back. Fast, simple and I think beautiful.