Finished project: Destroyed Shirt Bunny :)

Q: What happens when your boyfriend leaves his favorite shirt on a chair that happens to lean against your pet rat cage, and then leaves for work?

A: Well, then the rats go to work as well, with a result looking something like this:



Yes, people. That IS a shirt with its sleeve gnawed off... :) On the bright side: my rats got a very comfortable bed made out of a sleeve, and I got myself some extra fabric!! ;)

And what to do with that extra fabric, you ask? Well, let me tell you: take a cute pattern...



... and make yourself a motherflippin' bunny!! :)



How adorable is that?!! :) Honestly, I think it's so cute...



... I might just start leaving some of J's other clothes next to the rat cage as well from now on - completely 'by accident' of course! ;)

Finished project: Pencil Case

Oh, how I love starting a new crafty project!! :) The process of choosing the right fabrics, prints and colors is almost rewarding enough in itself, isn't it? :)



I wanted to make the pencil case from Lisa Lam's the Bag Making Bible for quite a while now.



I love pretty lining, but I've never really used it before in any of my projects. So before I'm stepping up to making a bit more complicated bags, I thought I'd start with a pencil case ;)



I have to admit: I got a bit confused, so it took me two tries to get the lining on the INSIDE of the case ;) But here it is!!! :)



I really love it! The dots, the stripes, the soft colors and to top it off: the bright yellow zipper!! Perfect for pencils...


... or to keep my little crafty supplies in one place when I'm on the road!!! :)

Out and About (and a Baby Weasel!!)

This week started with a beautiful, clear autumn day! The light was absolutely amazing and bright, and The Wild looked very pretty :)







But what I enjoyed most? Our surprise encounter with a baby weasel!



We scared it half to death when we came across it, but it wasn't our fault: it was sitting in the middle of the path!! It looked completely healthy (and in the first few moments completely pissed off as well :), so we guessed its mum must be close by and we let it be. After many hours of watching Wildlife SOS, I believe it's what Simon would have done ;)

I had to mute the video though...



It was full of Martin trying to convince me not to 'save' it and take it home ;)

DIY Gifts & Packaging Workshop

Yesterday I spent my Sunday afternoon at a workshop DIY Gifts & Packaging, organized by Elle Aime.

We made pretty boxes from scratch...



... including cute labels!



And we made pins - loads of them! :)



Unfortunately for me, I don't really have great pin-making skills (apparently ;), so out of the five or so I made, I only like these two that I made with fabric :)





And at the end of day we got a goodie bag!



Owww, you gotta love the goodie bags ;) This one was filled with pretty fabrics...



... and loads of others crafty goodness :)



And yes, that IS a pink, CHOCOLATE lollypop shaped like a button standing there on the left!!! :D And boy I wish it was standing on my desk right now, being all happy and cute!.....

But people, when it comes down to chocolate....



... I have no self-control. At all.

;)

Work In Progress: Another Blanket :)

I ♥ stamps

All of these beauties are from Ink+Wit. And what can I say? They had me at the sock-wearing polar bear! ;)

My Memories Suite ~ GIVE AWAY! (closed)

Okay people, this is exciting. I have NEVER done a Give Away before on this blog, for one plain and simple reason... I was too afraid no one would participate, and that would be kind of a bummer ;) A few weeks ago however, I was contacted by My Memories scrapbooking software to organize a Give Away, and I thought: what the heck - let's do it!



So here it goes. My Memories Suite enables you to make a digital scrapbook. It works on pc and Mac, and - normally - costs $40. Choose a design, a layout, pretty background colors, add text, a song or even a video, print your scrapbook or export to JPEG, DVD or iPod. These are just a few things you can do with the software, and I must say it's very easy to use. Check out more information here and some very positive reviews here.



Now, I don't know if I'm the typical Scrapbooking type. Or actually - that's a lie. I know I'm definitely not :) I'm not that interested in placing my photographs into scrapbooking designs or adding themes, although there are plenty to be found in the software and on the My Memories website by many different designers, including free kits.

I have however used this software the past few weeks to make photo collages - and it works great!!! Since I didn't have Photoshop I always had to upload my pictures on the web using some sort of online collage-tool - it was an absolute nightmare... It took ages and was very, VERY annoying. But it's so much easier and quicker with My Memories Suite and I absolutely love it!!! :)



So, would you like to download this software for FREE?

All you have to do is leave a comment to this post!

The winner will be announced November 11th!!!! :)

A Lean Green Sewing Machine :)

Check out this funky green piece of history!!



It's a Husqvarna Zig Zag and it belonged to J's grandmother.



When she moved to her current home a while back, she was looking for a new owner, and - of course - I didn't mind stepping up for the job ;)



I love the vintage feel to it. The color is amazing, the metal cool and sturdy, and it weighs about a ton!! ;)



I don't know how old this particular machine is, but the type is apparently from 1947 and was the first free arm sewing machine.



It has a very limited amount of stitches though - most of witch are, believe it or not, different kinds of zig zags ;) - so for the last couple of days I've been looking for an upgrade.

But boy, picking one is not easy!!! They all look pretty much the same, they're all made out of plastic, and they're mostly electronic. And chances are...



... NONE of them will have these kinds of drawings in the manual ;)

My Kind of Kitty Cat :)

I CANNOT BELIEVE MY HOLIDAY IS OVER ALREADY!!! :( You would think three weeks would be enough chillin'... but it really, really, REALLY isn't...

So let's just look at the adorable, blue & yellow kitty cat I made the other day, to ease the pain a little ;)



It has dots. And a bell. And it's blue. And yellow.



Now, that's my kind of kitty cat ;) Want to make your own? You can find the adorable Poiny Kitty Pattern by Wee Wonderfuls right HERE!

Also: do you like the colorful frames I put my pictures in? I sure do :) I created them with a piece of scrapbooking software that will be the star of a wonderful GIVEAWAY next weekend!!! :) So be sure to check back! And have a wonderful week in the meantime!!

In memory of Steve Jobs...

... here's my favorite Apple keynote ever: the presentation of the revolutionary iPhone 1 in 2007 :)



"We're gonna use a stylus!!!" (...) "NO."

The Hidden Music Box #2: Let It Be

Je t'aime... elle aime :)

I feel like the luckiest person in the world: not only have we been experiencing the most wonderful post-summer weather EVER around here, I also still happen to be off from work :) So after a week of hangin' around in The Wild, enjoying picknicks and the sunshine, I decided it was time to venture into The City for a little shopping trip.

I had a lot of fun in Rotterdam, but the highlight was without a doubt a visit to Rotabs Stylecenter, an amazing concept where people can rent little shops to sell their own handmade products.



You can imagine my jealousy of a dream job like that!! ;) I especially loved elle aime, one of the little shops that sells loads of crafty goodness from several designers. Just browsing through their collection made me feel all happy and inspired! :)



And of course, I couldn't control myself... ;) Check out the pretty stuff I took home with me!



A beautiful movable cat by Jordan Grace Owens...



A pocket mirror with a little fox on it by Claire Hartigan...



The perfect button for crafters...



And three cute postcards!



How I love my new little treasures! :) I can't wait to start crafting again myself...



... right after the gorgeous weather has left us!! ;)