Moline

The February colour challenge

As promised I am showing you the inspiration for my February A-page-d-day-journal. It will be totally different. More girly and fresh and spring-awaiting. Whilst writing in my January journal I already made a colour test on one of the pages: 

And this is the mosaic I made with Flickr-photos: 

1. ~ Happy weekend, 2. Today Felt, 3. what is to be is up to me, 4. 02 | 15 | 2011, 5. breakfast at leopolds, 6. {M}, 7. shelf, 8. may 11/31 - on Explore ♥, 9. Untitled, 10. Untitled, 11. birthday pie, 12. i love fleas, 13. Sewing Kit Gift, 14. Licca, 15. Untitled, 16. September, 17. Roses, 18. peek at upcoming online workshop fashion styles recorded, 19. Untitled, 20. Singer Print., 21. snowing, 22. pretend i'm there..., 23. Anna Williams, 24. Saturday Morning Muse, 25. Pink Marshmallow, 26. urban vintage, 27. number the tea cups, 28. Mini Eggs, 29. fox sparrow, 30. Luxemburgerli

I gathered paper and ephemera and put it all in little baskets and made a nice heap of paper. I chose the colours of the pages first and then trimmed them, punched the holes for the rings and added the dates.  Before writing on them I already embellished some to make it more easier to fill the space with words. I first dreaded finding words and writing something on the blank pages. but when there is already something glued to it or the pages is divided by paper scraps it is much easier. I am not writing a novel but only jotting down some daily rummagings, isn't it? 

So every evening I sit down and write something or make a small scrapbook page. Some days it is so easy because you have some scraps from the day, receipts, postcards, letters, children's scribblings etc. And if there is still time left I add some extra pages or continue embellishng the following days. 

To share something of this fulfilling and liberating process I will put some goodies in the shop for you to make your own little pages or just to use the colours I am using for your little projects.  There will be a shop update tomorrow and I'll show you a bit of the work-in-progress and the paper mess in my studio.

I leave you here to have some homemade chili and garlic bread with the children and a sleepover guest of our son whilst dear husband is house hunting in freezing cold Seoul. This leaves me home alone without him but also with the opportunity of nighttime crafting  (not to mention the nice task of decluttering and organizing cupboards and corners of our house for the move...)

Have a wonderful Sunday and see you soon!

Yvonne

Nature is calling

Nature has been calling me lately! And people like Geninne, Cori Kindred and knittalatte  never fail or cease to amaze me with their love for nature and their treasures. I so needed another mosaic for my inspiration wall and it was easy to do this because of all the lovelies out there on Flickr. And whilst looking for more I also found two new lovely nature collectors: wild goose chase and les fabulations de nanou. 

 

 1. an unwritten book page 11, 2. 100% recycled calendar, 3. thimble forest gardens, 4. pine and spruce cones, 5. scented herbarium, 6. Untitled, 7. the snow falls, 8. Yellow, 9. Untitled, 10. wood, 11. the mess today, 12. una furtiva lagrima, 13. fern friday, 14. VTWonen Inspired, 15. yellow monday, 16. Studio wall

And it made me redecorate one studio corner and turn it into a greener space with lots of birdie love.

 

I am thinking of redoing this corner every now and then according to the season. It is still Green now but will slowly be accompanied by some Yellow and Orange and even Brown. I love to see the season's change throughout the house. And I mean not only a bunch of flowers in a vase but bringing a new touch to some corners by curating them colourwise.

 
1. granny blanket, 2. bergdorf goodman window display., 3. Tucker... today., 4.www.flickr.com/photos/wildgoosechase/4281147755/in/faves-..., 5. i'm ready, 6. early spring 2010 no. 2, 7. Untitled, 8. printed doll, 9. a fern book, 10. Woodsy Acorn , 11. proofs, 12. composição, 13. 36/365, 14.vintage British Isles pull down map, 15. T H E . W A L L, 16. It's a Boy Round-Up

And I can never stop making mosaics to inspire me. I even print them out later and hang them on my walls to put a smile on my face not only on the computer but also when I look at them in my room.

I hope you all had a wonderful week end! The weather was kind to us and we had a wonderful day in the countryside, 30 minutes away from Lüneburg in a Nature reservate. it is the time of the year when the Heather flowers are in bloom and needless to say I love this colour, having it everywhere in the house in different shades.

I so love the landscape with the ever changing plants that seem to form a picture. 

 

There are only horse carriages allowed and so it is very tranquil except the pitter pattering of the hoofs from time to time

They also built a wonderful nature trail for the children where even the grown-ups were amazed what you can possibly know about all the plants and animals in this environment 

 

And now, refreshed by two days of sun and outside family-and-friends time you find me again on a ladder painting a vibrant Green wall in Jakob's room to try out new things before the big move and to sort out so many things for give-aways and flea market sales.

I hope to find you all well and will show you how our Green corner turns out in a few days. 

Have a lovely day and see you soon!

Yvonne
  
 

 

Thrifting and redecorating - kitchen corner lovelies

Last weekend I went thrifting with my friend and brought home a lot of lovelies. I can never resist when I see china or embroidered table linen. So I came back home with a few of them. I will be sharing my finds over the week when I am using them.

I found a plate with a lovely relief that looks like bisquit porcelaine because it has such a matte finish (or no finish, wahtsoever).

It is now living amongst some other whities on the window sill and is appreciated daily.

Moritz got a new set of china teacups. he shares my ove for china and so I keep adding nice things to his former play kitchen, now doubling as a restaurant. The potholder has been stolen from my new series of potholders I made. I started making some for the shop but before I could put them there the nicest one was gone and hung in his kitchen. This melts my heart, sigh...

 

I got two porcelaine Strabuck's mugs in childsize and 5 nice teacups with this lovely blue pattern to be hung into his kitchen. And to be honest: this is a bit selfish as well because I love this tiny kitchen and the ever changing decoration. My husband suspects from time to time it resides in our living area because of me and not because of the children. Well, I hope they don't grow up that fast so I can have this kitchen around for a while. After that it may go to my craft room or so (giggle) 

 

Looking at these pictures I think we need a garland over there. Maybe a mix of crochet and fabric or a paper one. I will think of a solution.

 

And next to the kitchen is a small window Jakob uses for decoration. Some of our thrifted Steiff animals had a meeting there. I love the lambs and Pauline stacked them like the Musicians from Bremen (my place of birth)

 

 So again I could prove how much I love crocheting and thrifting. I will continue showing some of the finds and maybe I can replace the "stolen" potholder and add them finally to my shop.

Have a wonderful day!

Yvonne
 
 
 
 
 

 

Inspiration overload

Yes, there definitely was a silence for a long while. To be honest: I had an inspiration overload! I read so many blogs, looked at so many inspirational pictures on Flickr and read magazines and books. And I found a vast amount of great things to adapt, comment, share etc. And then I did not know where to start: painting the walls, sewing new spring cushions and blankets, go over the garden arrangements and flower beds, crochte all these great pieces I found in books and in blogs, rearranging the children's rooms? So what I really did was get away from the computer to NOT get more and more input. No mags, just some nice crochet patterns, lovely wool and peace on my sofa, bed, in the garden and everywhere I had to wait for the children (doctor, sport lessons etc). And that really calmed me down. I taught crocheting flowers to two of my friends and the result was that they are hooked as well. 

I found out that crocheting really soothes me when I am worn out by the day. Yhe lovely yarns and the recurring patterns help to concentrate fully on the job but you can also chat with a loved one and crochet or watch a film or drink tea or eat chocolate....Well, very versatile as you can clearly observe!

I finally started to finish (how does that sound?) the blanket I started last year together with my mother. And I kept working on it and promised myself to get it ready this month!!! And I am owing a lot to Loving the vintage for sharing the tutorial of how to join the squares whilst crocheting. It would have been a nightmare for me to sew them all together. So thanks bunches!

 

There is still a pile of granny squares waiting to be joined but it is growing as you can see...

 

And that is what my clever friend Gele made out of the flowers: A garland for a Halogen lamp in the kitchen. It immediately added a touch of femininity to the metal object. you can find more close ups here.

And last but not least I am showing you another version of my S P R I N G letters. It may be a bit of spam but I love them. And the very clever readers may notice that some of the flowers are always the same. Yes, this is a trick: I have some fabric flowers and always add some real ones to change the look from time to time. 

 

 Hope you are having a wonderful Spring time this year. 

 
 
 

Preparing a new colour wall

Preparing a new colour wall
Originally uploaded by moline

Again, yes! I am preparing another colour wall. This time for our entrance. I need some colour splashes this time of year. I am not a red person but I love it in this combination. Now I found a place in our house to reorganize and re-colour again. If you are keeping the rest of the room in neutral colours it is easy to change mood and look with just some small pieces like wall art or soft furnishing. And I just love to alter things a bit from time to time.

And I also craeted my own tumblr account. 
I've been bitten by the bug recently and I am already following some nice ladies over there like Yvonne for example. But the final kick was given to me by Emma when I read her blog post about redecorating her craftroom.
So now I am happily uploading picture after picture...
Have a lovely Sunday!
Yvonne

Getting crafty

So I really managed to open the shop again and add some crafty items. I decided to use my love fr colour to put together lucky parcels fo paper crafting. To make a series I decided to call the "twentysomethings" because the buyer will get at least 20 items to craft with. So the final number of items may vary. Maybe there will also be 30 somethings or so - we will see. 

 

  Paper makes me happy and it is a bliss to go into your own craftroom on a rainy day, rummage through your stock and creating piles of nice paper...
 

 

Dottie Angel

Dottie Angel
Originally uploaded by moline (resting again)

There are many reasons why this woman can be an inspiration - here are mine:
- she makes lovely vintage looking teatowels with linen, doilies and embroidered squirrels on it (as if that was not reason enough to really like her!)
- she has an airstream trailer in her garden
- he named "her" Gladys
- she is the proud owner of a light blue pick-up-truck and it really is a 68 Ford!
- she named him Winston

- even her sewing machine has a name: Miss Ethel

- her use of Orla Kiely patterns

- she has padded hangers in her closet (fabric padded and crocheted ones)

- she makes me look at hanging laundry in a different way with her garland-like washing line in her garden
- the way she travels with her old suitcase and tote
- that her used dog and the new one "Olive" are pampered with lovely granny square blankets (even dogs should be brought up in style!)
- the lampshade-teatowels and cushions she made (reminded me that I also once was into lamps 
- the patchwork covered shelves (why did I not have this idea? I just always use plain fabric and seldom mix them when covering up shelves...)
- her love for the English countryside
- her love for granny sqares and crocheting and knitting and doilies

I think I could go on for a while but I want to leave also a bit of thinking to you so I can go o and read her blog

See you soon!

The remains of the day

The remains of the day
Originally uploaded by moline (up again)

Lately I added some more colour to liven up our daily routines. I never was a Yellow person except having had a sunny yellow dining room in our old appartment in Constance. but then I thought there was some Yellow missing here in our house, namely right in the middle of it.
There were health issues and they are still going on and see: no Yellow in the middle! readers who have heard of Feng Shui must have heard it before. I am practising it normally and it is so incredible how I seem to have forgotten about this yellow health issue in the middle of everything.
So then I looked for some pretty papers and artwork and it was easy to find some to brighten up our wall in a former dark hall area with nearly no light. I've been eyeing the Paris print from Irene Suchocki for a while now and got it for my Birthday (told my parents, I needed it as well as the Katie Daisy print on the right side!!!)
Now I am greeted every day by a cheering up wall whenever I pass (and that is VERY often!). And at night when we had our tea in the upstairs bedroom and in between brushing teeth and putting away the tea tray (the ttp://www.flylady.net/Fly lady style - thank you!!!), I stop and look and I am just happy then...

Blue giving way to the cheerful Red

The Blues are gone! After some successful crafting in Blue I decided to go for an unusual colour for me: Red. Not that I've finished everything I wanted to craft in Green or Blue but you know - the usual problem: not enough time! But I am so happy I started this colour-challenge decision because it keeps me moving at the moment. Out came these for a start:

And two of them already have been sold in my wee shop .
And now comes Red and I am surprised at how much I like it. Seeing it in the mosaic makes me smile and to be honest: who can resist the cuteness of toadstools anyway, or strawberries and cream?

And again I was searching the house for Reds and could trace these:

Ad I am curious myself at how all this cuteness can possibly influence my craftyness...

Another blue week

Last Sunday I decided to have a nother blue themed week. I could simply not get enough of all the pretty Blues around me.
There were playful Blues

I found Blues amongst my contacts

And I also went through the house again searching for Blues

And I was happy that even Anastasia fell for it here, here, and Mervi here, here and here. Thanks for joining and please join me in some of the other colour weeks, too!