Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Wishing everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Welcome new followers

Time flies in this busy time of the year, and I want to welcome the new followers.
Welcome Lady Jane, Maragverdugo, Jennifer, Patrizia, Elis, Ana Camara and Amary.

The tea keeps nice and warm inside the new tea cosy, the kitten is happy with the spilled milk on the floor.

Tijd voor thee Time for tea

Enige tijd geleden ben ik begonnen een theebeurs te maken en vanavond heb ik hem afgemaakt. Ik ben blij met het resultaat. Voor de foto heb ik de beurs even open gezet zodat de theepot gezien wordt, maar de beurs kan ook dicht. De workshop is van Loes Snoodijk 

Some time ago I started making a tea-cosy and tonight I finished it. I'm pleased with the result, even the teapot fits inside. I left the cosy open for the picture so that the teapot inside can be seen. But to keep the tea hot you have to keep the cosy closed of course. It is probably a typical dutch design cosy. It looks a bit like a very large stuffed handbag which you can open to put the teapot inside.

The workshop for the cosy is by Loes Snoodijk and can be found on http://members.ziggo.nl/miniloes/theemuts.doc, it is a dutch site.

Theepot in de theebeurs, het kastje moet nog afgewerkt worden
Teacosy with the teapot inside

Een tijd geleden ben ik naar de "Kladblogdag" geweest en heb ik meegedaan aan een pakketjes ruil. Het borduurpatroontje voor een kleedje heb ik nu af.

Some time ago I went to the "kladblogdag" and joined the kit swap. The embroidery I finished quickly but finishing the edges I left till tonight. So another finished project.

Geborduurd tefelkleedje
The tablecloth

Nu is het tijd voor een lekker kopje thee.

Now it's time for a nice cup of tea.

Surprise gift

Yesterday I went to my embroidery group and Elisabeth gave me a shoebox full of dollshouse furniture. What a nice surprise. When I got home I opened the box and looked more carefull.. it was even better than I thought, not only furniture but also some kitchenware, a lovely doll and some other items. It was like an early christmas present! The two rocking chairs remind me of a trip to Nicaragua some years ago, maybe I will use them for a small scene.
Elisabeth apologized for the broken legs on one of the cupboards but I'm still very happy with it, just have to find/make some new legs.
Boxes like this are so inspirational! So my mind is spinning and I will have a happy time thinking where to put which item....
Thank you Elisabeth!

Mokken voor een quiltster Mugs for the quilter

Op de poppenhuis beurs in Arnhem heb ik een paar mooie mokken gevonden. Sommigen hadden al een quilt tekst en anderen heb ik laten beschilderen. De foto's zijn niet zo duidelijk maar het geeft wel een idee.

At the dollshouse fair in Arnhem, the Netherlands, I found some nice mugs, I had some of them painted with texts for quilters and one of them had the text "I love quilting" already. The pictures are not all very clear, sorry for the bad quality but it gives an impression.

De mokken staan in de winkel, in de etalage en in de toonbank. Alle kleine details maken de winkel steeds realistischer.

I've put one of the mugs in the counter inside the shop, the others on the windowstills. These little details make the shop even better I think.

Since I was trying to make some pictures of the mugs I made some more inside the shop.

Borduurpakketten, compleet met linnen, patroon en garens

The packets of embroidery kits, they come complete with pattern, linnen and threads..

Er zijn ook pakketjes te koop voor de dames die het moeilijk vinden om lapjes bij elkaar te zoeken.

For those ladies who find it hard to choose fabrics, complete kits are sold and sets of fat quarters can be found in the shop.

Nog meer fat quarters en een plekje om te zitten en een boek door te bladeren.

More fat quarters and a place to sit down and look at books.

Achter de toonbank is het iets rommelig, zakken met vulling, meestal hobbs. De snijmatten beginnen een beetje door de buigen, niet de beste plek om ze te bewaren maar er is vraag naar dus moet het op voorraad zijn.Gelukkig zijn knoopjes en DMC garens keurig gesorteerd. Voor het DMC geldt, dat de juiste kleur snel gevonden is als je het nummer weet.

Behind the counter it is still messy, the shopkeeper has tried to order it a little. But the bags of batting have to be put somewhere. Of course you'll need different types and sizes. The cutting mats start to bend a little not the best place to store them, standing up like that. Luckily the DMC embroidery treads are sorted by number in the drawers, so it is very easy to find the right color as long as you have the number.

Another workshop

Some time ago I went to another workshop by Wim van Soest. I love his workshops because after a days work I go home with a finished product that looks beautiful.
This time I made a leather hatbox.

I made the hat a long time ago but it fits nicely inside.

I have followed other workshops before and some things I have put together for a picture. The chair and pillow are no workshops. The chair was made by a friend for my birthday some years ago and the pillow I embroided many years ago, the pattern comes from the dutch dollshouse magazine Poppenhuis en Miniaturen.

Welcome new followers

Welcome new followers: Julialq1965, Anarniel, Cleer, Margarita vives, Mary, Rita, Esperanza, Maru, Pepper, Craftland, Ana Anselmo, Tippaliisa and Paky. Hope you will enjoy following my blog.

Kladblogdag

Yesterday was the second time I went to the 'kladblog' day. A meet and greet day of miniaturist here in the Netherlands. Since I got a ride from some friends, I had to leave early and missed the workshop Lisette gave, which was a pity since she made a beautiful table.
A lot of people made small gifts for the others so it was a little bit like a gift bonanza!

The gifts varied from material to knitware, the little clown is knitted, and everything is beautiful!
Several people brought some of their work, and every time I enjoy looking at all the details. Some things are familiar because I had seen pictures on the blog but seeing it for real is always better.
And this was not all, Wil gave some wood and fineer and I entered a workshop swap and went home with 12 small workshop packets which I can make at home. So I know what to do the coming time.
Just a great day!

little quilt inside the shop

When I made the shop "Steekje los" ready for transport last week I noticed that I didn't have quilts inside the shop. There isn't space to hang them. So I took one of the smaller quilts from the quilt exhibition and a towelrack from one of the houses and put it in the shop. It looks good, so for the time being I will leave it like this. Now I have some space in the exhibition for a new quilt. The only problem is what kind of quilt to make... I like so many and have started to make a quilt in 1:1 scale, but I will think of something.



Little quilt in country colours



Making birthday gifts

For two of my miniature friends I made some birthday gifts. Of course I forgot to take pictures but luckily one of my friends made pictures.

One friend wanted some fruit, so I made banans, apples, oranges and grapes.

My other friend has a shop filled with angels. So I made this little angel, she can make a pillow or place it on the wall (embroidery on 16 treads per cm).

Nieuwe quilt New quilt

In het weekend het ik een klein quiltje afgemaakt. Het is gemaakt van kleine stukjes stof die over waren nadat mijn moeder een grote quilt had gemaakt. Het is een kleurige quilt geworden geïnspireerd door de quilts van Kaffe Fassett.  

During the weekend I finished a small quilt that I made some time ago. It is made from small pieces of fabric, left overs from a 1:1 quilt my mother made. It is very colorfull, inspired by quilts designed by Kaffe Fassett.

Op het moment hangt het quiltje in een kleine scene, maar of het hier blijft weet ik nog niet.
At the moment it hangs in a small scene... but I'm not sure if it will stay here.

Deze scene en twee anderen waren te zien bij het "Open huis" van de quiltwinkel "De Frottende Freule"

This scene and 2 others together with one of my shops were displayed at the "Open house" of a quiltshop called the Frottende Freule in Schildwolde in the north of The Netherlands.

Hier kijkt een bezoekster in de poppenhuis handwerkwinkel.
An unknown visitor is looking into the shop.



Welcome new followers

Quilt in bright colours

For quite a while I didn't welcome new followers, sorry about that. Now I have to enter many names:
So Welcome

Ayamontinomaria, Mieke, Sandi Quance, Piikko, Minimariba, Sans DD, Minimis, Helen, Cincorosasshop, Music_Ana, Debbie's mini thoughts and creations, Giraultclaude, Ultsu, Jeanette5, Nyork, Otterine, Miniaturista, Lívia, Ivani Grande, Janne, Manfred, Auxi, NarinaNäpertää and Cinderella Moments.

Hope you enjoy this blog.

Sabiha's new blog

Just read that Sabiha lost her blog but started a new one at:

Miniature interiors

Hope that all people who loved following her will find the way to this new blog.

Large containers for flowers

Yesterday I made some large containers for flowers. They are about 6 cm high, so really big pots. I want to fill them and put them next to the door of a shop. One of the containers I damaged so I can make a little home for a mouse in the bottom. It was a project in the dutch magazine Dolls House Nederland issue 79. Now just make the flowers, probably Hortensia.

Received give away

After waiting (im)patiently for the mail for a couple of days, finally I heard a soft thud yesterday. Yes a parcel from Ireland! Carefully I opened it and not only did I find a duvet and some pillows but also towels, bags and some fabric.

The give away was made by Maria, it just looks lovely.

Now the dolls living in this house have towels and nice bedding, hopefully the floor will be finished soon as well, then the bedroom will look better than it does now.

Welcome new followers

For a while I haven't welcomed new followers, sorry about that. So now: welcome new followers, Marlies, Mona, La Belle Brigante, Plushpussycat, Eliana Martins, Catherine, Victoria, Doortje, Erica, Hilsu, Aguadecolores1 and Beatriz Fernandez.

Where did the boxes go?

During my holiday I made several boxes and not al of them have found their destiny at the moment but some have...

Some bags and small boxes found a place in the bedroom of my second house.

And the little teddy from Lea Frisoni is sitting happily on the bed

Update on the country shop

For a long time I did not do much with regards to miniatures. But after my holiday I came back al inspired. And having collected some egg boxes I could finaly finish the outside wall of the country shop. As you can see the walls are old and need some repointing, but they are stable.

Now I can start to rummage trough the boxes, to find the items I collected. Most were stored together in a box but I do miss some items so I'll have to start rummaging. And of course I need to make and pimp items so it will keep me going for a while.

Inside I need to hang the shelfs on the wall and fill them.

The items on the table look quit nice together... I wonder if I will change a lot.

Give away won

I've just received the message that I have won this lovely give away, how lucky i feel. Now I will wait (im)patiently for the mail every day!!

Quiltshop

I've just made some little changes to my quiltshop and decided that it was time to share some pictures.

The name of the shop is "steekje los" which in dutch has different meanings, it not only means 'loose stitch' but also 'little crazy'. Which I thought is a nice name for the shop. On the inside you find everything you need for making quilts, knitting or embroidery.

The little "Tilda" style doll I made some weeks ago is sitting on top of a cupboard. Maybe she will inspire visitors that they can make such a lovely doll.

Not only can you buy the regular patchwork fabrics but they also sell special fabrics which support the fight against breastcancer.

And for the quilters who start early, there is a nice selection of christmas fabrics.

On the counter you can just about make out the tine needle box I bought at the fair. Sorry that I can't get a better picture of that. Behind the counter it is still a mess....

If you look for inspiration, lots of magazines to choose from... And the embroidery kits are nicely organised. Maybe you prefer knitting, there are so many colors or different treads to choose from, cotton, wool...

The shopkeeper just checks if the knitware on diplay looks ok. From where she stands this is the view of the shop.

shopping in Paris

When I was Paris a few weeks ago I did visit several dolls house shops and the fair. And close to the camping there was a car boot sale aswell were i found a few items at the end of the day. Especially the fair I liked a lot and bought some nice items for different projects. I place everything on a tray and put it on the table so I can enjoy it. Today I want to place everything in the different houses and projects. Some items will go in a box since the project, like the country shop, is not ready to put everything in it.

The flowerpots have some small holes around the rim but once I put some flowers in them that will hardly be visible. They were cheaper than the perfect ones ;-) Not everything is very clear in the picture, but at least you got an impression.

Holiday

It has been a while since I wrote a message here. But having computer problems and being on holiday had to be blamed for that. But now I'm back, my computer is not functioning properly, it is old and slow and can't cope with much information.... I have to invest in a new one but this will take a while.

In case you wonder were I went for my holiday... This is one of the things I saw, do you recognize it? Yes it is the Sacre coeur in Paris. I was very lucky since there was a market where I could tast al kind of delicious foods and of course I visited the shop of Lea Frisoni... I love her book and the delicate minitures she makes inspire me every time. In the area are a lot of shops with fabric as well and I bought some Toile de jouy fabric to make in a quilt (1:1). Very close to Paris is the small village of Jouy en Josas where I visited a museum about Toile de Jouy fabric. So interesting to learn more about the fabrics that have attracted me for a long time.

I did not only visit shops and markets but also spend some time making stuff. I took with me some kits, mostly from priegelwerk . But some others as well. The little mouse is from a kit by Shirley Scheibehenne, it wasn't easy to make because it is so small and it made my fingers hurt but I do love it. The kit contained two more stuffed animals I can make, but that will have to wait. It is not my favorite work, but the result is good.

Now I have so many boxes, I have to decide where to put them.