VANMARIEKE

2012

2012-01-05T10:37:00.003+01:00

En natuurlijk ook veel geluk, gezondheid en gezelligheid! Tot snel!

Cadeautje

2011-11-21T16:02:00.001+01:00

Feest bij VANMARIEKE, omdat we verhuisd zijn.... En bij feest hoort een cadeautje! Daarom krijg je tot eind november bij elke bestelling vanaf 15 euro een setje feestvlaggetjes van strijkvelours cadeau. Om je eigen feestelijke t-shirt mee te maken en trouwens ook erg leuk om te combineren met deze stof:

Nieuwe spullen

2011-11-15T09:29:00.001+01:00

De laatste weken kwamen er veel nieuwe spullen binnen voor de shop, waaronder strijkvinyl in de matte variant, stofknoopjes in de allerkleinste maat (1,1 cm) en stoffen, heel veel stoffen!

Bij deze stof moest ik gelijk aan dit patroon denken, voor een kinderkookschort.

Ik maakte de schort al eerder voor mijn jongens en het leuke ervan is, dat de schort aan twee kanten te dragen is (dus je kunt er twee leuke stofjes voor gebruiken). Helemaal leuk als sintcadeau voor je keukenprins(es)!

Changes

2011-11-10T23:22:00.001+01:00

It has been a long time since I posted a message here. Reason? Well, because VANMARIEKE moved! From the attic from our home to a "real" office, situated in the centre of my beautiful city 's-Hertogenbosch. Since a few weeks I am working in the former hospital, a monumental building with a lot of history, and I love it! Here is a picture of the outside of the building:

I will tell you more about it in the coming posts..... And..... Another change: I have been thinking about this quite a while and decided to stop writing in English and continue this blog in Dutch. Easier for me and hopefully it will help me to write a bit more.

100% heppie

2011-09-25T22:09:00.000+02:00

100% heppie I certainly was with the brooch I ordered here. Lovely packed, it arrived in my mailbox last week.

The perfect addition to my new bag.

Sadly enough, I already lost it....... I think that I didn't attach it well enough to the bag. How stupid of me! (I'll probably order a new one, or one of the lovely necklaces, a bit more safe ;)).

Delivery Bike

2011-09-15T13:56:00.000+02:00

I am so happy with my new bike. It has not only space for two kids on the backside, but it also has a big wooden crate on the frontside. And this is perfect to carry all the packages and envelopes in when going to the postoffice. To make the bike a bit more "VANMARIEKE", I made a little bunting from fabric scraps and attached this to the crate.

So Sweet

2011-09-07T11:46:00.000+02:00

Of Helmi to send me these cute fabrics. She screenprinted the designs herself on vintage fabrics. And because the owl reminded her of my logo, she offered me to send me a piece (which became a few pieces). Now I only have to think of a nice way to use the fabrics, maybe on a bag or in an embroidery hoop as an artwork on the wall...... Thanks Helmi! A little present is (finally) on it's way to you too, hope you like it.

Almost Ready

2011-09-01T09:05:00.003+02:00

I finally finished embroidering this deer. The only thing I have to do now is choose a nice fabric for the backside and make a pillow from it. Very retro, don't you think? I love it. And if you want to make a pillow like this for yourself, you can order it in the shop (the package comes with printed canvas, yarn, needle and instructions).

Workshop Weekend

2011-06-27T20:42:00.005+02:00

Two workshops this weekend. The first one was for me, called "Blozende Stoffen" in the Stedelijk Museum 's-Hertogenbosch, inspired on the Scholten & Baijens exhibition over there (worth a visit if you are around! My favorite was the paper porcelain).
We made a fabric screenprint and an artwork with wood and yarn.

And the second workshop was for our eldest son in the Verkadefabriek during a festival about food and taste. Making a painting with fruits and vegetables.

Experimenting

2011-06-10T11:46:00.004+02:00

A new order for the shop of the Textielmuseum to make fabric buttons, bobby pins, rings and magnets. And next to the "normal" fabric covered ones, I experimented a little with vintage embroidered tabelcloths and handkerchiefs. And they liked these a lot, a very good excuse for me to go searching for more embroidered fabrics in second hand shops again.

Winner!

2011-06-07T21:42:00.003+02:00

While we were enjoying some lovely days in Paris, you all left nice comments on this blog, hoping to win a metre of one of the new ByGraziela fabrics. 99 comments via this blog and 3 via Facebook, makes 102 comments in total (wow! I am impressed!). And the bad thing for 101 persons is that there is only one winner.... And it is: Marjolein! Congratulations!!

ByGraziela + Give Away

2011-05-30T22:32:00.004+02:00

Yesterday, I added a new set of four new fabric to the shop.
These fabrics are from ByGraziela and are reprints of designs from the 70's.
The fabrics are extra wide (1,50 - 1,70 metre) and therefor very suitable for bedding and curtains (but also for pillows, bags, skirts, etc.....).

And to celebrate this new brand in the shop, I will give away one metre of one of these fabrics to one of you! All you have to do is to leave a comment here before or on Sunday June 5th and keep your fingers crossed. On Monday (June, 6), I will draw the lucky winner.

Retro Camping

2011-05-24T08:33:00.004+02:00

Sometimes you find items on the internet that you have to share. Like this tent. I always liked to have a VW van to go camping with, but with two small kids it isn't very practical, because it is really small. This tent is a more practical alternative. Designed to look like a perfect 1:1 scale replica of their 1965 Camper Van and comes in your choice of red, yellow or blue. Available from August this year, so too late for our holiday, but still cute!

Unfinished projects

2011-05-18T15:54:00.001+02:00

I made a start to finish several sewing projects that where laying around the house for quite a while (some already for more than a year). Like these fabric flags for a bunting. Perfect in time to decorate the garden with.

Knitting

2011-05-11T21:16:00.000+02:00

My sister asked me if I was interested in a knitting workshop. Sure, I am always interested in doing something creative. When I was young, I learnt how to knit, but because I am left-handed, I didn't learn much more than the basics. And that's where it all started again, at the basics. Knitting a scarf (for the winter, this time), with the perfect wool to start with, because you do not see any mistakes (which I made already of course). In the meanwhile, I really started to like knitting and I found a little book at the second hand store which will hopefully help me to try out different stitches. My goal is to make one of these, but knitted for myself (found via Vlijtig). Must be possible, right?

Cool!

2011-05-02T11:40:00.002+02:00

New cool t-shirts for the boys ordered at "a Little Lark". And a bicycle scarf for me....

Boats

2011-04-13T11:54:00.005+02:00

Martine from Artoek asked me if I was interested to receive a set of these cute foldable boats to send with my orders. What a question, of course! Look how cute they are! And the good news for you is that you will receive one with your order these coming weeks (until stock lasts). A little bit more about Artoek, which is an online shop, selling kids costumes and accessories and foldable paper products to put in treats for kids at school or at a party. And if you are looking for cool ideas for your kid to treat, go and check her weblog Traktatie.

Bits And Pieces

2011-04-06T20:38:00.004+02:00

For the playroom, I decorated this type case (in Dutch: letterbak) with all kinds of small fabric pieces. I used Mod Podge (a kind of fabric glue, bought here) to glue the fabric pieces to the type case (which I luckily found in a second hand shop, already painted white). The boys can use it to store little toys in and it is a nice room decoration as well. The vintage telephone and the little wooden houses are from the second hand shop too and I used to play with the little red tea set when I was a kid myself.

Three

2011-03-23T11:48:00.004+01:00

Last friday, the VANMARIEKE shop celebrated her third birthday! Wow, wow, wow, time goes fast and still very happy with my shop.
In those three years, I have introduced lots of innovating sewing/DIY stuff, like iron-on velours, cover buttons and iron-on vinyl. And I will hopefully continue doing this with love for a lot more years!
Recent new additions are the do it yourself kits with screenprinted fabrics from the amazing Clothkits (in the picture my favourite skirt, designed by Rob Ryan):

And how about the Evergreen wrap, an eco-friendly wrap from cotton to wrap your presents in and to be reused as wrapper, scarf or bag:

To celebrate this anniversary, you will get a handy present with you order and if you order for more than 25 euros (excl. shipping) you will get a 5% discount as well (until friday 25/3)!

A bit too late

2011-03-08T11:00:00.003+01:00

But back to draw a winner. I forgot that we had to celebrate carnaval last weekend.
Started with the kids, finally they both chose to be a knight. And a knight is not a knight without a horse! I made these sock-horses following this great tutorial.
And I never expected 73 comments on the give away, thanks to you all!
The winner is number 2, Irene from Bureau Knipoog, congratulations!

Inspiration - Edition Paumes Books & Give Away

2011-02-23T08:57:00.004+01:00

Redecorating you house? Or a kids room? Or visiting Paris, Copenhagen or Stockholm?
Get inspired by one of these books, now available in the shop.
"With a poetic and original approach, édition PAUMES explores the environments of those who stimulate the creative industries and in doing has produced a set creative "bibles" that overflow with inspiration."
Good news, I will give away one Edition Paumes book (you can pick one)! Just leave a message on this blog before or on Friday, 4th of March and I will draw the lucky winner on Saturday 5 March.

Larie!

2011-02-10T11:26:00.002+01:00

Since a little while I am the proud owner of a smartphone.
And of course I got a cover with it when I bought the phone, but that one was a rather dull.
And since a little while I am selling products from Larie! , like "Strijkies" and "Kneepatches".
And.... she happens to make keycords and phonecovers too!
So, when I was ready to order there, I ordered a cover and a cord for myself, you need to spoil yourself once in a while right?

Yum

2011-02-08T21:59:00.003+01:00

Yesterday, I had a nice lunch with my niece Kristel at the Verkadefabriek.
She also brought me a bag of very yummy homemade chocolate - black pepper cookies. Nicely packed in a paperbag, decorated with one of her own (selfmade) stamps. Thanks Kristel!

Redecorating (2)

2011-01-26T23:01:00.004+01:00

A few more cool items that we used to decorate the playroom for the boys with.
First, a cable car that we bought in an amazing shop selling retro style stuff in Germany, called Manufactum.

In the background a poster from Swedish designer Ingela, called Circus (bought here).

And to play on, jump on, read on or build houses with I have covered a mattress (cut in two parts) and some pillows with fabrics that the boys chose themselves.

Redecorating

2011-01-18T15:37:00.004+01:00

Bit by bit, we are redecorating our house. The boys are now sleeping together in a tiny little bedroom in a bunk bed (stapelbed) and this gave us the possibility to make a playroom from a former (bigger) bedroom. To store all the toys, lego, cars etc. in, we bought an Ikea (of course) closet with storage containers and to make it a bit more special we bought a LEGO storage container here. Really cool, don't you think?

Wow!

2011-01-11T22:13:00.003+01:00

I found this wrapping paper at the grocery store Albert Heijn, isn't it beautiful? I love it! You can use it for free to wrap presents/flowers in that you buy there.

2011

2011-01-03T22:51:00.004+01:00

And for myself a little bit more time and inspiration to blog ;).

Simple Decoration

2010-12-17T14:58:00.002+01:00

I found this simple decoration idea in a book I got from Sinterklaas. Cookie cutters as christmas ornaments. By the way, so much more inspiration in this book! Especially if you love second hand and vintage stuff. Maybe an idea for a last minute christmas gift?

Looking Forward

2010-12-07T10:25:00.003+01:00

Sinterklaas was great! We all were spoilt with nice (and lots of) presents.... And now, I really can't help it, I am looking forward decorating the house with christmassy things. And not only the house but also T-shirts and maybe napkins or a table cloth? That is why I have these iron-on reindeers in the shop, temporarily available in red and white. And I am not the only one who is into reindeers at the moment. You can find some great DIY Holiday Reindeer Cards over here.

Experimenting

2010-12-02T21:31:00.002+01:00

I have so many beads and buttons, time to do something with them. I made this necklace, what do you think? And any other ideas on how to use them?

Funny Movie

2010-11-24T20:40:00.004+01:00

I came across this funny little "movie". Wanna see more? Check this website.

Autumn

2010-11-22T19:58:00.003+01:00

Here are some felted acorns that I made today. I saw the idea on the internet a few times before and I really like it. Such a pretty Autumn decoration, don't you think?
You can make the felted balls yourself or, quick and easy, buy felted beads. Add a bit of glue and a nice walk in the forest with the kids to find the caps, et voila!

Woollight

2010-11-08T21:23:00.003+01:00

I already saw them in a shop here in 's-Hertogenbosch a while ago but I didn't know that the designers of these beautiful lamps were living in my city as well. Until a few weeks ago, when I met one of them in the post office. We happened to know each other from a ceramics course 6 years ago, what a coincidence! You can find more about Woollight here.

Back in stock

2010-11-04T08:58:00.003+01:00

These two beautiful fabrics. Now in the shop. And later Today, more great fabrics.

Time

2010-11-02T21:12:00.004+01:00

To announce the winners of the give away!
Due to a busy autumn holiday and being busy with the shop afterwards, I didn't have the time to do so, sorry! We enjoyed a culinairy weekend with friends at the Swarte Ruiter in Holten. Good food, good wines and good company, very nice!
And after the weekend we spent a week in a holiday home with the kids. Relaxing, swimming, indoor playground, even mini-golf (not my favourite, but the boys insisted to play!) and, as we were close to it, a visit to the Hertog Jan brewery. This picture was taken in their beer-cellar.

But now the most important part of this post, the winners....
The random number generator picked number 15 and 34, which are Kir and Tania. Congratulations ladies, I will contact you regarding you wishes!

Time for a give away!

2010-10-19T09:11:00.004+02:00

Since last week, I am selling these do it yourself keyfob kits. Pick your colour and the ribbon of your choice and off you go. Easy to make and great as a gift (yes, before you know it, it is christmas time;). I am giving away one kit per 25 comments and all you have to do is leave a comment here before or on sunday October, 24th.

Six

2010-10-13T10:27:00.003+02:00

Today, our oldest son turns 6! Had already a party on sunday and will have one on friday, but today it is really his birthday.
And today also his party on school, with popcorn in selfmade boats to give to his friends (and as parents we were allowed this morning to stay and celebrate the party in the classroom, which was so much fun!).

Carrots

2010-10-12T23:11:00.003+02:00

These carrots were harvested by the boys last weekend at the farm where our "groentetas" comes from. The people from the farm organised a tour and it was very nice to see where our vegetables grow.
We managed to take a few carrots home, but most of the carrots were used to feed the ponies.....

Looking back

2010-10-08T08:57:00.003+02:00

To a succesful weekend at the Textielweekend in Tilburg.
Had good sales, met nice people and feeling a bit sad that there wasn't time for me to follow one of the great workshops. I managed to buy a re-bag, a beautiful project from Kant Social Design, which will probably continue for a while (at least, that is what somebody told me). And I couldn't resist buying a piece of this beautiful vintage fabric from my neighbour on the market Mijn Pakkie An. We met before on several markets and she sells lots of lovely antique and vintage sewing stuff.

Garland

2010-09-30T13:57:00.002+02:00

Our son will turn 6 in two weeks time. And he really wants a pirate-themed party. And poporn as a treat for his friends at school. And a bike. Yes, big boys know what they want!
I made him this party t-shirt to wear on his birthday (and luckily he likes it).
Easy to make, just stitch a string on a t-shirt (don't forget to use the stretch needle). Cut out some flags from iron-on velours (size 2x2,5cm) and iron them on. Ready! Also nice as a gift. I am thinking about adding a 6 somewhere, what do you think?

Happy!

2010-09-25T19:29:00.003+02:00

I am so happy with our "groentetas". It is a bag full or organic vegetables that we receive each week since a few weeks. The nice thing about it is that it also contains vegetables that we wouldn't buy for ourselves and this makes cooking more creative. One of the results: this simple and delicious fennel soup for lunch.

Textielweekend 2010

2010-09-20T23:46:00.003+02:00

From 1 to 3 October it is again Textielweekend in Tilburg. With lots of workshops, expositions, demonstrations and a market. Really worth a visit if you are a textile lover! And VANMARIEKE will be on the market on the 2nd and 3rd of October too, so if you are visiting, please come and say hi.

I won!

2010-09-14T09:22:00.002+02:00

Remember the lamp that I've showed you a while ago? I also sent the picture to the Dutch magazine "101 woonideeën". And to my surpise, I received an e-mail last week to tell me that the picture is in the september edition of their magazine and that I won an IKEA gift certificate with it!

Preview

2010-09-09T22:24:00.003+02:00

A little preview of the goodies (little gifts to promote my webshop) that I am packing for various goodiebags for colleague (web)shops. And because I am so happy the way these little iron on appliques turned out, you will receive one too if you order something from the shop in September.

Big Bubbles

2010-09-01T17:20:00.004+02:00

Making big bubbles from soapy water! We also did this on a campsite in France, it is very easy to do and great fun!
All you need is two pieces of rope (one of 40 cm, one of 80 cm), two sticks of 50 cm (can be branches that you found), a bucket filled with 4 litres of warm water (not too hot) and half a litre of cheap liquid dishwashing soap.

Attach the ropes to the branches/sticks (short one on top, long one below, I hope you can see on the photo's how it works). Now put them in the soapy water and slowly walk backwards to make the best bubbles ever (blowing bubbles is possible too).

France

2010-08-30T10:00:00.003+02:00

We are already back for a week, but the kids still have holidays and I was busy sending out all the orders that came in, so no time yet for blogging.
We spent our holiday camping in France and the best pictures were made by our oldest son, who used our old digital camera (with lots of shoes and garbage cans ;).

The market in Sarlat (very touristic and busy):

The only church we visited and of course we had to light a candle (picked up this tradition from my mum):

And the last few day we spent in the railroad house of and with my parents in the Creuse (a very nice quiet area in the middle of France):

And now back to daily life! But with nice things to come in the near future.
Hope you all had a good holiday too!

Four

2010-07-22T10:14:00.002+02:00

Our youngest son turned 4 last Tuesday, time flies.... No more little kids in our house, but two big boys! And after the summer holidays he will go to school. How exciting (for him as well for us). Anyway, the best present he got was a steam engine, to attach to his wooden trains. See them testing it in our empty living room.

Temporarily Moved

2010-07-20T12:00:00.005+02:00

This wall decoration from the Scandinavian brand Isak is normally standing in our living room but has now temporarily moved to my working room. All furniture had to move out of the living room, because we spent the whole weekend sanding our wooden floor and re-oiling it again. Pfff, what a job, but so very necessary and worth the effort.

Lucky Me

2010-07-09T13:09:00.002+02:00

Another Swap Bot swap and this time it was a pincushion swap.
And look what I got!!!!!! A toadstool, isn't it beautiful! I really don't want to stick pins into it ;) I think I will give it a nice place in our living room, it really needs a bit more attention than just being a pincushion.

Baby Girl

2010-06-29T11:41:00.005+02:00

A little baby girl was born.
Her parents designed a birthcard in Beatles style and with a dad working at a recording studio and a granddad playing in a band, she will most probably become a very musical girl..... As a present I bought a t-shirt where I ironed a headphone applique on.

Growing Vegetables

2010-06-21T22:50:00.002+02:00

At the moment, the boys are really interested in where everyting is made. Like where do they make cars, where do they make bread, where do they make blankets, etc. When I saw these little greenhouses, they seemed just perfect to explain to them where the tomatoes and peppers come from. They were very pleased to put in the earth and the seeds and almost every day they follow the growth process. We hope to harvest our home grown vegetables later this summer as well of course.

Shop Update

2010-06-09T19:51:00.009+02:00

I had to wait a long time before these new Japanese fabrics arrived. And now they are here and will be in the shop later this evening.
Most of them are plain cotton, like these:

But two of them are jersey fabrics (100% cotton) and I am so very pleased to have them in the shop (more will follow):

Weekend

2010-06-03T11:36:00.004+02:00

Finally some time to upload the photo's from last weekend.
We spent the saturday at the farm from my uncle for a family reunion. With great weather and so nice to see all my nieces and nephews with their kids.
The farm is not a real farm anymore, but still with a lot of space around it. For the kids a perfect playground and they couldn't be more happy when a tractor arrived to make haystacks and they could drive along. The picture says it all!

Two Winners

2010-05-21T20:34:00.003+02:00

85 reactions (one double), wow! A big thank you to all of you!!! So nice to read all your comments and to visit so many blogs that I haven't seen before, a little treat for me as well.
And two winners of course:
Number 45, which is Needle work (no blog) and number 14 Christel, congratulations to the both of you! Needle work, could you please send me your address?
By the way, the picture was taken last summer in Sweden.

Poor Blog (+give away)

2010-05-17T22:23:00.004+02:00

I've been ignoring you too much these days! Too busy and (as a result from being busy) little inspiration.... Sorry. Nevertheless, I still enjoy reading other blogs and hope for a bit more inspiration soon. Sigh.....
On the other hand, business is doing pretty well and that is a good reason to share a bit of my happiness with you.
Time for a new give-away!!

These ribbons arrived for the shop last week, so very pretty. I love the wooden spools that they are wrapped around as much as I love the ribbons themselves (and the best thing is that I can have them when the ribbons are sold ;).
I will give away one metre of each of these 4 ribbons to one of you (or if there are more than 50 comments to two of you and more than 100 comments, to 3 of you etc.). Just leave a message on this blog before or on thursday, 20th of May and I will draw the lucky winner(s) on friday.

Another Swap

2010-05-10T22:56:00.002+02:00

I am starting to be a real Swap-Bot addict and especially the Dutch Swappers group is what I like a lot. I wrote about it before and I really have to show you what I received for the "Kringloop Goudmijntjes" swap. Mission was to buy something from the thriftstore for a maximum of 1,50 euros. Afterwards you could upcycle it if neccesary. And I got this very cute (and eco cotton!) bag, decorated with lovely flowers, made from recycled sweaters and blankets. I am going to put it in my bag and use it when I am in the city to put in my purchases. A good way to avoid ending up with tons of plastic bags.

Tip Top Tas

2010-04-26T20:41:00.005+02:00

When you ordered something from VANMARIEKE's webshop in the last few weeks, you might have received a nice goodie together with your order. Why those goodies? They were donated to VANMARIEKE by other webshops to promote their shop and make a nice little present too!

Tip Top Tas has donated goodies too and the webite is really worth a visit!
Not only is she selling beautiful bags from various talented designers and nice accessories like keycords and cardholders but she sells also the Bag-in-Bag. This handy bag is a perfect solution if you have more than one bag or a bag just like I have, always looking for my keys and other stuff.
By the way, if you like to donate a goodie too to promote your (web)shop/site (it will only cost you a few goodies), please send me an e-mail and I will send you some more details.

Welcome to our World

2010-04-23T10:08:00.003+02:00

He is here already! Our little nephew Willem was born last Tuesday. A month before his due date, he decided to come and surprised us all. My sister was visiting a friend in Den Haag (she lives in Den Bosch), when labour started and a few hours later, little Willem said hi to the world in Den Haag. Quite a funny story, don't you think? Luckily his mom and Willem are doing fine and will be home later Today.

On The Beach

2010-04-21T21:38:00.003+02:00

We spent last weekend in a little house near the sea to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of my parents. Lots of laughter, good food, wines, sunshine and sand! The boys couldn't be more happy, playing at the seaside and throwing little shells, stones and twigs in the water. Really a little holiday! Thanks mum and dad!

In The Garden

2010-04-15T22:18:00.003+02:00

With the weather getting better, it was time to clean the sandbox of the boys. They really like playing in it but they couldn't because the sand was dirty and the box needed a new cover. So, we bought new sand and I made a new cover for it. Very easy to make with laminated tablecloth and a few pieces of sewing elastic. Ready for a new summer!

Good Luck

2010-04-09T21:30:00.002+02:00

For Annemiek (Zevendwergen), she is the lucky one to win an embroidery pattern, congratulations!
And for all the other people who could use a bit of luck, you can now make a Good Luck Doll for them, the pattern (in Dutch) is available in the shop.
Have a nice and sunny weekend!

Sublime Stitching (+ give away)

2010-04-04T21:34:00.004+02:00

I found these really cool and funky embroidery patterns from Sublime Stitching and they are now for sale in the shop. How about an embroidered Matryoshka on a jeans jacket? Or an embroidered rocket on a school bag for boys? I think I'll go for the embroidered owl (of course!) on a simple white linen skirt that I bought yesterday.
And how about you? I am giving away one Sublime Stitching pattern to one of you. Just tell me what would you embroider and on what (there are more patterns to choose from, see the shop)? Leave me a message before or on Thursday, April 8th and I will draw the lucky winner on Friday.

Cute Owl

2010-03-30T22:00:00.005+02:00

I received this cute owl applique via the mail from Marjolijn for a swap-bot swap I did.
I recently joined the Dutch Swappers group there, initiated by Lisette from Little-Z. And again, swapping is so much fun! Want to see my appliques? Go and check Lisette's blog to find out what I made.

Two

2010-03-21T21:58:00.003+01:00

Last thursday, VANMARIEKE celebrated her second birthday. Wow, time flies when you are having fun! Still enjoying it everyday... To celebrate VANMARIEKE's birthday with you, until monday night (the 22nd), you will receive a 10% discount on all orders above 15 euros in the shop.

Maggie and Mildred

2010-03-17T09:37:00.002+01:00

I found this cute little movie, a must see for every crafty.

Maggie and Mildred from Holly Klein on Vimeo.

I found it via Twitter, feel free to follow me!

Preparations

2010-03-09T12:17:00.002+01:00

Welcome into my little studio! This is where I work. Normally, the bolts of fabric are neatly stacked in a kabinet (and this is not all), but now I am pricing them for the coming fair. In fact, I am pricing all the products that I will take with me, also the iron-on velours. And some good news about the iron-on velours, the prices have dropped! My supplier decided to decrease the prices and of course I decided to do this as well.

(Not) Fair

2010-03-08T21:24:00.002+01:00

So busy preparing for the "Creatieve Hobby- en Handwerkdagen", shipping orders and going with Teun to the hospital (he will have ear tubes on Wednesday) Today, that I almost forgot to draw two lucky persons that can pick a decotape from my shop. Here are the winners: Judith and Ria, congratulations!

Decotapes

2010-03-04T13:46:00.003+01:00

I just could not resist buying these kawaii decotapes for the shop, because I like them so much myself. And guess what, two of you can win a roll! Leave a message here before or on coming Sunday, March 7th and I will draw two lucky winners on Moday.

New patterns

2010-02-26T21:52:00.004+01:00

I have listed some awesome new patterns in the shop.
The first series are from One Red Robin and my favourite one is (of course) mama and baby matryoshka, soo cute!

The second series are from Make It Perfect. Lovely clothing patterns. I am absolutely in love with the Versatile Wrap skirt! Makes me longing for warm and sunny days even more......

Wow!

2010-02-26T08:50:00.004+01:00

I did not expect so many comments on the ribbon give-away, a big thank you to you all.
I used the random number generator again to pick the winner: number 3, Lieve Lyntje. Congratulations, hope you will have fun creating something nice with the ribbons!

And, more give-aways to come! I have a little plan, more about that later....

Ribbons, ribbons, ribbons

2010-02-23T10:57:00.003+01:00

I promised this already last week, but with the school holiday, there was not much time for blogging. Another give-away and this time I am giving away some nice ribbons (see the picture). If you are interested, please leave me a message before or on coming Thursday (the 25th) and I will draw a winner on Friday.

Superheroes

2010-02-15T23:07:00.002+01:00

It is Carnaval in Oeteldonk (the name of my city in times of carnaval), time to dress up and have fun. For the boys, I made a superhero costume. With a silver cape and of course their initials on their chest (made with iron-on velours). A very last minute project, done in less than two hours (the base is a christmas pyjama from H&M).

Winners

2010-02-13T20:09:00.003+01:00

The winners of the iron-on velours are Michaja of La vie est belle a salon and MijMij. I will add a a piece of the latest new colour orange as well (later tonight available in the shop). Happy crafting ladies!
And for the ones that did not win, don't be sad! There will be another give-away later this week.....

Making Space

2010-02-10T15:17:00.003+01:00

Every once in a while, it is time to make some space. For new things to come, for old things to go or if you just cannot walk without stumbling over stuff. Well, the last example is the case and I tried to do something about it. Result: A lot of little and bigger bits of iron-on velours. And why not giving them to you.... So, if you are interested, please leave a message before coming Friday (the 12th). I will give away two sets of scraps.

Paris

2010-02-09T13:50:00.004+01:00

Last weekend, we spent in Paris.
We arrived on Friday and it almost felt like spring!
We really enjoyed being there without the kids (they spent the weekend at my parents), visiting nice shops (for example Home Autour du Monde), eat good food (and drink a wine) and of course visiting the Eiffeltower.
There was also a trade show dedicated to textiles that I visited (the main reason to go to Paris) and I found some wonderful fabrics/new brands for the shop.

Blending Blue

2010-01-28T10:24:00.003+01:00

Blending Blue is a new project by Lisette, also the owner of little Z, a shop with handmade stamps and paper goods.
On this weblog you will find free patterns and free downloads. You will also find links to other sites/blogs where you can find free patterns/tutorials. And because there is so much wonderful stuff out there she will be regularly hosting a guest design from other designers.

So enjoy! Be creative and please share your thoughts and suggestions...

And the organic fabrics go to:

2010-01-25T20:38:00.001+01:00

Mikkemus! Congratulations! Can you please contact me regarding your address? Thanks.

Mr A Balladeer

2010-01-25T10:11:00.002+01:00

Beautiful song by Marinus de Goederen, frontman of a Balladeer. It definitely makes my Monday morning!

Oops

2010-01-18T20:05:00.003+01:00

A little mistake from me.... I meant to say that the give away closed last sunday (the 17th), but I did not look very well on the calender and picked the 24th. Okay, so one more week for you to leave a comment ;).
In the meantime, I found this lovely apple jar in the second hand store. I think it is so amazing if you see what other people "throw" away, don't you think? The jar is just so perfect for my collection of vintage buttons, I love it.
I bought the apple and pear fabric under the jar at Ahlens (a department store) in Sweden last summer.

New fabric line + give away

2010-01-14T10:34:00.004+01:00

Finally! They are here and I am proud to have them in the shop!
A new line of fresh and clean organic fabrics. Better for the farmers who grow the cotton and better for the world. And of course with great prints!
To celebrate this new line, I will give away a fat quarter set of these fabrics (5 FQ's) and all you have to do is leave a comment here or send me an e-mail before Sunday January 24th. On Monday, I will draw the lucky winner.

Snowtime fun

2010-01-11T19:52:00.002+01:00

Yesterday, we went to the "Loonse en Drunense duinen". It is a national park, not so far away from us and it is the perfect place to have a nice walk on a sundaymorning. We took the sleigh with us to sleigh from the dunes. Great fun! And of course a hot chocolate milk when we were finished sleighing.

Lamp

2010-01-06T21:11:00.003+01:00

The christmas holiday was the perfect time to work on this project: a new lamp for our hallway. The base is a simple rice paper lampshade from IKEA. The flowers are made of different origami papers attached to the lampshade using Aslan (a double sided adhesive foil).

Happy 2010

2010-01-01T14:17:00.002+01:00

Happy 2010 to you all. Make your dreams come true!

Lots to do

2009-12-22T10:49:00.004+01:00

Wow, I realised that it has been more than a week ago since I posted a message here.
Busy with christmas dinner and market at school, going outside and enjoying the snow, making some more christmas decorations for the tree, sending out lots of orders, meeting friends......
Found back this garland I made last year (easy to make, see instructions here):

Used some berry branches to put in my Anne Black vases:

Made this paper garland from origami paper for our christmas tree (like I made this one before with recycled paper):

Found 10 of these cute little candle holders (with candles) for only 50 cents in the second hand shop:

And since this is most probably my last post before christmas I would like to wish you all a very good christmas time together with your family!

Going to be a white (and red) christmas

2009-12-13T22:46:00.004+01:00

Less than 2 weeks to go until christmas.
Making the house cosy with candles and christmas decorations.
I love using red and white for christmas, quite traditional. I made these two candle holders from felt and red/white stars ribbon. Very easy!
The ribbon is also for sale in the shop and if you buy for at least for 15 euros in the shop (until december 31), you will get one metre for free. Also great to use when giftwrapping your christmas presents.

Spoiled

2009-12-07T23:59:00.003+01:00

The boys have been spoiled by Sinterklaas. They thought the "marble race court" was the best present they got, I like it too by the way... It is very relaxing to watch the marbles roll down ;).

I made some more notebooks as a present to give to my brother in law and to my dad. This time I use the iron-on velours on a Moleskine notebook, it worked very well (even better than with the one for Teun).

Preparations for Sinterklaas

2009-12-01T13:41:00.004+01:00

While the boys were baking "pepernoten" with my mum and dad, I was making Sinterklaas presents.

A little boek for Teun to make drawings in, I made letters cut out of iron on velours and ironed these onto the book. A little experiment.

Clay stars for my mum and sister, cut out with a cookie-cutter. Already a bit to come in the mood for christmas with the red and white stars ribbon.
And now, I am off to the city to do some Sinterklaas shopping!

And the iron on vinyl goes to.......:

2009-11-30T21:39:00.003+01:00

Number 6 (drawn with the random number generator, but I do not know how to get the picture in here), that is Riet from Levenmetliv. And if the number generator didn't come up with Riet, I would have given her the price anyway, because she is trying to make a bananabox/cover/thing whatsoever, and her trial chronicle is hilarious to read (and she made a tutorial for the most beautiful aeroplane spoons). Congratulations Riet!

Little Give Away

2009-11-25T10:17:00.004+01:00

Time for a little give away!
I noticed that a lot of people are curious about the new iron on vinyl in my shop, so I am giving away 0,5 metre of the vinyl of your choice (it comes in gloss and matte). Or if you like you can have 0,25 metre of each.
All you have to do is leave me a message before sunday 29 november, telling me what you would make with it. On monday 30 november, I will draw one lucky winner.

Stumble upon

2009-11-19T20:53:00.003+01:00

I got this internet tip from my father (thanks dad, it is really timewasting!), the website is called Stumble upon. You can add your interests and it brings you to random websites with very different contents. I think it is funny. I found this movie, which made me smile!

Busy

2009-11-17T16:27:00.005+01:00

With making these goodies for the goodiebags of Tresj (for Flavourites live) and Doekjes (for a christmas market).

With making these accessories for the Textile Shop (in Textielmuseum Tilburg). They are going to sell them there, I am excited!

With making this onesie for my sister. She is pregnant from her first child. I am excited too and going to be a real aunt!

With testing this for the shop. It is called iron on vinyl and you can use it to laminate your fabrics with. Great for bibs, placemats, coasters etc.

Inspiration

2009-11-08T20:08:00.004+01:00

I am fully enjoying autumn so far and I really do not want to think about christmas yet, but when you receive these magazines, it is hard not to think about it.....

Full of beautiful pictures (some even with snow) of christmas decorations, trees, candlelit houses and some recipes as well. The BoligLiv magasin is Danish, I got a subscription to it for my birthday and I really like the Scandinavian style.

Stamp

2009-11-02T16:36:00.003+01:00

Normally, I send my orders in plain white envelopes. A little while ago I bought some brown ones, because I thought they looked more sophisticated, but they turned out to look kind of boring. Luckily, I have this book, which inspired me to make a foam stamp to decorate the envelopes with. Together with a name stamp from Little Z they look quite sophisticated, don't you think?

Vintage Finds

2009-10-28T21:17:00.002+01:00

When I am in a second hand shop or at a flea market, I always like to browse through to books they have. Hoping to find books that I am already looking for for years (no luck yet). And always looking for books with names, of the kids, friends, family and myself. I was very lucky to find these two, with nice retro pictures as well!

Ribbons

2009-10-25T13:23:00.004+01:00

These lovely new ribbons arrived for the shop last week. Other exciting stuff for the shop is coming my way too, but I have to be patient (and test some things first).... and waiting is not my strongest side!

Award

2009-10-23T20:25:00.002+02:00

I got this award:

from Nicollie.
There are some things that go with this award like saying thanks to the one that gave me the award: Thanks Nicole!
And telling 10 things about myself:
1.My parents were going to name me Joris if I was a boy;
2.I hate light softdrinks because of the awful sweet aftertaste;
3.I studied Food Technology (do not do so much with it lately);
4.I don't watch much television, but I really need to watch the detective each Wednesday night;
5.I like wearing dresses;
6.I am a lazy sewer, I do not use pins if possible and I try to avoid zippers, pockets and strechy fabrics....;
7.I like to eat raw puff-pastry;
8.My favorite shop is HEMA, I also like IKEA a lot;
9.My favorite colours (at the moment) are purple and aqua;
10.Gerberas are my favorite flowers.
So, here you have some totally useless facts about me, haha!
And the last thing that goes with the award is to pass it on to 9 other people. I am not going to do that, because I see it already everywhere in the blog world.

Necklace

2009-10-15T14:25:00.003+02:00

Finished! This is the result.
Since I cannot crochet nor knit, I tried something else with wool, I used a knitting bobbin (punniken in Dutch). I think it turned out rather nicely and I like the autumny colours of the wool a lot. To make it a bit more special, I attached matching fabric covered buttons to the necklace. I feel another crafty addiction coming up!

Five

2009-10-13T10:36:00.002+02:00

This little baby turned five Today!

And Today it is also his birthday at school. Very proud (and a bit shy) he went to school to celebrate it with his little friends. Singing, blowing candles, standing on the chair, making music and of course giving treats. Popcorn and a little autumn themed button.

Market and more

2009-10-07T15:30:00.003+02:00

The Textielmarket was just awesome! I met lots of nice people, had many enthousiastic customers en had very goods sales. Unfortunately, I did not have the time to look around myself and I almost forgot to take pictures...
Here is one of my booth:

Here is one of me in my booth (taken by a photographer of Tilburg.com, you can find more pictures of the Textiel weekend there):

And here is a picture of one of my Autumn projects, a necklace (by the way it is not finished yet and has nothing to do with the market, but I liked to share something new with you):

Textielweekend

2009-09-27T11:48:00.003+02:00

Next weekend it is "Textielweekend" in Tilburg (South of the Netherlands). During this weekend there are all kinds of activities around textiles. Workshops, expositions, lectures and also a market where textile designers sells beautiful things like scarfs, jewelry and bags and where suppliers sell wool, felt, yarn, fabrics and notions. Guess what? I was invited to be part of the supplier market and will be there on the 3rd and 4th of October! Working very hard at the moment to make buttons, iron on velours sets, cutting fat quarters and more (I will show pictures later this week). If you plan to come to Tilburg next week, I would love you to come and say hi to me!