I could skin my dog alive and hang it out to dry

Goodmorning all, what a nice morning
well there is just one little dog that should keep a very low profile today or she can invite her family for her funeral herself.

We have a maltese called zizi. Now I'm not really a little dog fan but my mom always have one so I grew up with them. Living in The Netherlands and the small houses her size fitted better anyway. She doensn't like to go out, she doesn't shed, she's fine with the kids, she eats all the food that falls on the floor. I taught her all kinds of tricks like standing up and turning around, and then the sit, lay down, get in your box, etc. and she's very good at just following the direction my finger is pointing when I utter a little grunt. She knows a lot but.....

when she goes outside she attacks every big dog she sees and then she has instant deafness. She doesn't hear me at all. Lol I really get ashamed when she does that. Owners looking at me like "What is this, can't you controll that little thing? It is annoying. Look how good my big dog listens" .The big dogs ignore her and then she thinks she's winning and attacks again with a histerical barking. She grew up with a big dog loving her...so she propably think she's the same size.

ok on the other hand we have a Mastiff (actually a boerboel/mastiff) She's a "puppy" and turns 1 this week. She likes to play.. that is why she's my husbands dog. He got her when I got the baby... (another story)

So this morning when we got up it was the thickest snow I've ever seen in my 11years here. The Netherlands is known for the bad weather and not the nice snow scenes. My husband had to drop the girls at his mother's on his way to work. It was madness here getting all the coats, shawls and gloves. I can tell you sock staying paired are a challenge in this house but gloves and baby shoes are even worse. Baby went out with slippers...They were away and I just turned to make myself my first coffee and enjoy the lovely morning
ahum untill little dog ran out of the house an (try to) charge across deep snow. She attacked a german sheperd. He should've scared her. I'll pay him next time to do that. The poor lady didn't know how to get rid of my dog. I saw it all happen through the window. "What's zizi doing outside?!" Anyway by the time I got through the front door Cinder the mastiff somehow got through the electric fence and charged the whole lot there...eeeeeeek! I think the snow was to thick for the signal?? Anyway luckily she knows the sheperd and thought it was fun the lady shouted at her to go home and she did..?! wow she doesn't listen that great yet. But zizi....

Cinder ran my way and I tackled her to get her to the chain but Cinder thouhgt we were playing in the snow. yeah right. My mom warned me anyway that one always have to be representable and here I was:
post baby figure, skinny pants that shows of my thundering thighs very well, a little sport vest and gym shoes without socks, no lipstick. The snow and saliva of the dog were everywhere on me and in my shoes. I got her chained at last and then zizi had enough lol the snow was to thick for her so she got very tired and came home....

I got iniside and looked like Onslow's wife in "Keeping up appearances".
Luckily for me all the vehicles passing by couldn't stare at me otherwise they would've driven off the road with this snow. Lol hello Monday Morning!

ps. zizi is now sleeping in her basking with one eye closed. One eye on me is determening if I'm going to bag her and ship her to Korea to be eaten in a restaurant. I will not relief her from that thought yet.

pps. Ok ok she'll accumulate credits quickly with me. She is cute by the way.

Giveaway woot! woot!

This is just awesome,
on a cold wet day I got a package from Australia to brighten my day!
I've entered my name for this and got so lucky to receive the most beautiful hand made items from Peta (read her blog: one stitch away as she makes awesome things that are just perfect)
A beautiful large bag where you can fit in everything when go shopping, even the dog lol! (just kidding about the dog). The bag if from "weekend sewing" by Heather Ross
A cute fabric booklet(awesomely neatly made) to store needles (REALLY need this)
and cute self covered buttons and Peta used some really nice fabric from Amy Butler for that!
I'm now posting without photo because have to install my cart reader again and I"m afraid if I wait till it is done I might forget to post in this hectic time.
Thanx so much Peta it really made my day

Hello Kitty key chain

I made a key chain with a Hello Kitty theme. I've had left over beads from my 9 year old's party. We've made hello kitty necklaces and I just ENJOYED buying the beads for the party. The beads are of good quality even though they're plastic (safer for kiddies). So when I when dd9 had a party coming up for a friend a made a key chain as part of the gift set. I bought the beads here (please don't look, it is too gorgeous, like beingin a candy store)

Felt apples

I like personalised gifts, as always, and made two apples for two sisters. Each little girl had her own apple to hang in her room ;-)

I made this.of course. at night and just drafted something and tried it out. The apples are stuffed and the names were added afterwards.

Crocheted bodywarmer

I crocheted a little top with my favourite granny squares. Oki I had to finish it in the Summer but made the last stitch in Autumn.

goat softy

I bought this goat´s pattern and parts for a good cause and received it in the post the day my youngest was born. Well yes almost 1,5 years later I decided I really have to start finishing projects.
Well what shall I say...everytime I make a softy I promise it will be the last one. Yeah right....

Well here he is
the pants and the crocheted little jersey I made on my own steam as it was not part of the pattern or pattern pieces.

Ok yes I should have turned his legs so he doesn´t look like he is maimed but for the rest he is ok I guess. Larger than I expected anyway.

Acappella, no fan of it but love this!

Was waching a show yesterday while computing and talking to my husband (yes ladies you know it is possible) when Voice Male showed up. A group from Belgium singing acappella tracks from movies or well known songs. Oh I just loved it.

Remember: no instruments were used!



this one they've made a clip with Belle Perez(Belgian singer)


here are some more songs on their site: the clips they've made themselves or known singers from Belgium.

http://www.voice-male.com/nederlands/funfunfun/index.html
http://www.voice-male.com/demomusicplayer/index.html

Love

"...and love comes in little droplets because it is concentrated and you must just enjoy it when you do bump into it and then live on it for a while..."

this was from my conversation with a cyber friend feeling down. I thought I'll put it on my blog. If one can feel pain the other side of the coin is that one can feel love. If you don't want to feel pain one will barricade your heart and then the beauty of feeling love cannot enter when it arrives.

No calories garanteed

I'm going to be on a market this coming Saturday....my 2nd in my life. So..of course I started too late and as I'm thriving on deadlines my creativity sky rockets. Pity there's still only 24hrs in a day lol.
I've been painting on 3 table cloths. This one is 175x142cm and a whole bundle of fun. I was thinking wat to paint on it that I can do free hand (saves time). The challenge for June at Crafty Mamas gave me an idea with the theme: Calorie Free sweet treats. Mjammie!

The treats are painted with textile paint onto the table cloth and then heat set in the tumble dryer and just to make sure: ironed on the back (have to iron the cloth anyway). The treats are large: 40x40cm and not shown on the photo is the golden liner I used and they have glitter sprinkles!

I took a quick photo on the coffee table where it was drying (yes wet paint all over the house on tables and chairs). A photo on our picknick table in the garden would've been more picture perfect but you get the idea.

ps. while we were eating my 6yr old was telling the story she was reading and said: "...he murdered the room and they called in the police..." I said:"what??"

Lol she meant he wrecked the room (naughty boy)

Knippie Idee Zomer 2008

Oki I have this STASH of fabric and I convinced myself it was time for an overlocker though I've never sewn a piece of clothing before. Not really. Well a little beanie for a baby doesn't count and also not the stuff that I tried but didn't really work out. I mean like seriously following a pattern from a sew mag and actually be proud of it.
Well, now I understand what people were talking about when they say: I can't imagine my sewing life without an overlocker. Quite right. I thought I'd buy one when I'm one seriously good sewer but no! Luckily I didn't wait untill then. I might become one mega sewing girls BECAUSE of my overlocker. What a lovely thing it is to be able to cut and overlock wowee.

Well, I tried a pattern from Knippie Idee zomer 2008 (Dutch mag). The difficulty level was 2 dots. Meaning any experience in sewing. I thought I had that. Well maybe my Dutch is not good enough but I just couldn't get it. And...how do I know how to ruffle the skirt part and it will fit the bodice? Well, I have a ruffler foot and ended up doing it again by hand... snif! snif! Any tips? What is the ratio?
I just pushed through and in the end it made all sense...

only thing is I made it like 2 sizes too big lol! didn't realise that with an overlocker one can easily reduce the size of the extra seam while cutting the pattern... Well maybe it'll fit next Summer lol!

White washed

I was sorting out the dirty laundry then the telephone went upstairs, when I returned some white wash was added lol! This is zizi our maltese after a trim

Dress from t-shirt

I've been wanting to try the tutorial out: making a dress from a T-shirt.
I is a very easy to follow tutorial from The Crafty Mama herself: Cinnamum .
It is my first try at sewing a "dress" and one has to start somewhere and quick. I have 3 girls, love being creative, love to buy fabric and am a sahm...so I tried.

Next time I will know that if you sew a t-shirt where you cut it off, it will stretch...yes very logic. Didn't get that one, now I know how to make lettuce edges...lol!
Well in the meantime also got an overlocker so the differencial feed will sort it out for me ;-)
I've used fabric from I think Stenso I bought last year. If someone recognises it as something else please let me know. I've made a double casing to pull ribbon trough but it is not very clear on the photo what I've done there lol. The model is dd8 and it is taken on the Dyke we live on.

Little bag of tricks

I've made another little drawstring bag

and this one is for sale in my dutch shop "Kadotje" (top right)

but if anyone else is interested(international) then please let me know

I sell it for 3.75Euro

and the postage will be cheap as it is light.

size:17x24cm

What I like about these little bags is that they look pretty and unique(because they're made with love of course), you can add something personal (marbles, crayons, chocolate, candy, bath fuzzies, etc) and make someone feel very special.

The bag can the be used for something else as well by the receiver.

I don't make any 2 exactly the same as that would be to boring for me ;-)

and that is the trait of handmade ;-) and creativity I guess

Front:

back:

Little bag

Another b-day gift and I started the sewing part and hour before the party started....
of course I could have had this done 2 weeks ago...

but there is propably no kick just like working towards a deadline lol

I'm also way behind on other gifts so I really have to pull up my socks and start sewing away.

My cold is almost gone, baby has her 2 teeth(!), the most of the ceiling work is done (dh) so I hope I can get back into the creative mood and just start.

No shortage of idea or statsh anyway lol

The back looks like this:

I was in such a hurry making this that drew nothing but just started cutting and sewing away. I couldn't find my magic pen anyway....

I've added in the bag a little box to make a pudding from Lillifee.

Lillifee is from Germany and my youngest dd just adores her. Her mother too lol!

Gift idea

A friend's dd8 had her b-day and I had to come up with something.
I painted a premade unbleached cotton drawstring bag. On the photo's the pink/orange looks a bit bland, sorry about that.

I painted a cherry and stenciled a butterfly on the one side, lined with gold.

I made a rosette with her initial on top of it with felt, a check fabric and a cherry fabric (which came all the way from Australia's Twospunkymonkeys from Crafty Mamas), embroder's thread, white lacey buttons and a satin ribbon.

I wanted to put a recipy with an ingredient mix in the bag or marbles (it is now the in season) but didn't have time. I've put a handfull of thick colouring pens in there which will always be used. When te little girl saw it she was so happy as she wanted a bag for her marbles...her mom said "maybe it is to beautifull to use at school" lol! I'm happy when a gift is received in such a way.

Ruffled skirt

It worked
I'm made my first cute ruffled skirt for my girls using 3 Bizz kids fabrics in purples and reds.
The ruffling is a lot of work as I do it by hand but I'm quitet chuffed with myself:


I used this tutorial from Kuky ideas.

New baby on board

I've resolutely told my husband this was our third and last baby....

so as he can't have babies himself he went and

took another mother's baby and brought her home.

I couldn't refuse:

Her name is Cinder untill we can find a very suitable name.

We actually want an eay to pronounce Afrikaans name.

Defenition of cinder according to answer.com:

burned or partly burned substance, such as coal,

that is not reduced to ashes but is incapable of further combustion.
A partly charred substance that can burn further but without flame.

I thought it fitted her looks.

Cinder is a Boerboel pup. Boerboels are the South African Mastiff. I grew up with these dogs on the farms. They're guard dogs as well as family friends and are very sensitive. Read more about boerboels at wikipedia.

So at the moment I'm changing nappies and newspapers!

(My baby is 3 months older but they're born in the same year)

sewing away

Well my new year's resolution is going just great!
I've finished 2 covers for dd8's lamps

and it the dotty fabric is the same as I used to make for her pillow cover and acute that is resting on her bed. I intend to sew her curtains from the same fabric but don't have enough at the moment. I'm so proud of mysef. The first time I've tried it and it looks gorgeous. In the evening with the light on it gives a blueish glow. Cute!

Watch out: Gorgeous Model!

and....this is how she pays her boarding and lodging by showing my creations ;-)
I've crocheted a scarf using 2 types of pink and a raspberry crocheting yarn (cotton mix called Paris).
I've added the basic granny square and my favourite daisy squares at the end of the scarf.
I WANT ONE TOO!
I've also tried my hand at making a bib! My first using this tutorial, it is a bit too small (maybe I've printed it too small?) Well it is good for my confidence so I'll make more. I HAVE to make more as this girl eats carrots!

you can see the dutch print pillow I've made for my kitchen chair. I've promised you a photo and you'll have to do with this one ;-)

Monushka

It has been a white again since I've posted but I haven't been idle at all.
I've painted a painting in Acryl 50x40cm for my dd6:

I've been painting an order 40x30cm:

The gold and silver 3D liners I use alway photographs badly, pity about the photo then but you get the idea ;-)

frilled

'Here is the promised photo,

I've based the pillow on a well known tute (which I now can't find! grrrr) but kind of then went my own way.

The pillow without the finge is 50x50cm and as this was for the room of dd8 it was made with the same fabric as Acute

Happy B-day

Yes, my friends cute little girl turned 2! I made her a pillow. One of my New Year's resolutions (and the only one) was to try my hand at sewing this year. I've already made a pillow for my dd8 (still owe you the photo) and now made one for Strawberry Shortcake. Lol the little cutie had a red birth mark on her forehead and out of sweatness I called her Strawberry Shortcake. The red mark dissapeared and she had the cute little head of Strawberry ;-) I wanted to make her something with a strawberry but as always starte WAY TOO LATE!

The backside is cherise pink with small white dots and a green bias binding. Actually more funky looking than te front. I made a little pocket and wanted to add a little felt animal but it was already too late in the evening and then my eye fell on the little sun so I added it. The fabric comes from one of my swaps. I think from the Flickr fat quater swap but I can be mistaken otherwise it is from a crafty mama ;-)

Update

..the crow we saved was a raven ;-)

and I phoned up a couple of weeks after the incident to hear how it was doing.
I asked about the crow and the lady said they would've been lucky to see a crow again, this is a raven.
I was right it was a "tame" one. This is why he didn't fly away.
They think he was propably hungry and that is why he went to the kids playing outside.
no.....not to eat them...
Unfortunately they put him to sleep just the day before I phoned.
It seemed he had a broken foot and that was why the toes grew crooked.
It was broken a long time ago and healed badly and they couldn't fix it.
The bird sanctuary were afraid that he may get entagled when they free him because of the way the nails grew and he may die a horrible death. So he had to walk the green mile.
this is a crow
this is a raven

Here is a very helpfull site on what the difference is between a crow and a raven as it can be quite confusing. The site even shows the difference between the calls:
The Raven's Aviary

this is where I sleep.

I need curtains.

Luckily it is on the upper level ;-)

all who peeks in are the family of Jackdaws living in the willow outside our bedroom

and they won't tell on me ;-)