I ♥ stamps

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

I ♥ Decorate

When J and I moved to our current appartment, we had to buy A LOT of new stuff. Our last appartment was about half the size of the new one, so we had a lot more space to fill. (Thank God for Ikea!! ;)



Two years later and it's clear that some of our choices work (I love our hallway drawer and my beautiful red, wooden bookcase) and some do not (I hate our messy bedroom and my completely uninspiring crafting/desk space).

So it's time for some changes, and this time - I want to do it right :)

Meet Decorate by Holly Becker and Joanna Copestick (pictures by Holly Becker over @ Flickr!):



Holly Becker has an amazing design blog called decor8, filled with inspiration and the most beautiful photographs!



Decorate is her first book and it contains design ideas for every room in the house.



There's even a chapter on creative spaces :) The photographs are by Debi Treloar - and they are absolutely incredible!! I tell you, I almost drooled on several occasions ;)



So with a little help from this book, I now find myself officially in phase one of my new decorating adventure: Preparation!

And I intend to stay there for as long as it takes ;)

I ♥ Spring!

Hope you're all enjoying your Easter Eggs? :) The weather has been amazing here these past few weeks, and I've spent as much time as possible outdoors. After months of winter it feels so GOOD to finally walk in the warm sunlight again, admiring all the beautiful, bright colours!



Since blogging or crafting is a bit difficult while you're on the move, I've been focussing on my macro lens instead. And oh how much I love my macro lens!!! :)



It allows you to really capture all the crispy freshness that is Spring! Look at that lighting! Look at those shades of GREEN! :)



And I suddenly find myself utterly obsessed with all creatures small...



... and smaller! :)



So if you don't hear from me, I'll be in The Wild!

I ♥ macro (and my new lens :)

Remember me telling you about ♥ing bokeh? Well, I also ♥ macro! :) And this week, after a year of using my Canon EOS 500D, I finally bought myself a MACRO LENS!!!



A Canon 100mm F/2.8 to be precise! Finally, no more restrictions!!! :)

And the results? Let me put it this way:

Marco...



+ Bokeh...



= *DROOOOOOOL*!!!!!!!!!! :)

What can I say?



I even ♥ the ones that are out of focus :)

I ♥ doodles!

If there's one book that makes me wonder why I don't draw/doodle/colour anymore...



... it's this one!



Sure, you could buy it for your kids.



But better yet.....



... BUY IT FOR YOURSELF!!!



Because seriously...



... why should the kids get all the fun?!

:)

I ♥ iPod Skins

First of all, thanks for al your comments and emails about the Sunburst Granny Squares! They sure are pretty, aren’t they? :) Many of you asked for the pattern, and although I did put it in the initial post, here it is again:

http://web.archive.org/web/20011226081401/members.aol.com/lffunt/sunburstgs.htm

Now, let’s talk iPod Skins.

I got my black iPod Classic (called Mini Me ;) about three years ago, and oh how happy I was with her! She was shiny. She was classy. She was awesome! :)



But alas! Despite my efforts to keep Mini Me out of harm’s way, after three years of carrying her around on a daily basis and dragging her half-way across the world, I have to admit: she’s not flawless anymore. In fact, she’s a bit battered and covered in scratches! :(

But fear not, Mini Me! :) I have found a way to make you pretty again, and all will be fine once more. The solution: iPod skins!



Aren’t these absolutely wonderful??? Seriously: what’s better than applying ART on your iPod???? Exactly. NOTHING!!! :)

I found two websites that have great designs: GelaSkins and Skinizi. The ones pictured above are – apart from the middle one – all from GelaSkins. They are so great!! I really like the Bookshelf by Colin Thompson, Toxicity by Alex Noriega and My Pop by Colin Johnson.

But then there's Skinizi, that sells the middle one. And I happen to LOVE the middle one. So cute! Plus, they have Anne-Julie, who’s work I also happen to LOVE:



So, I’m buying an iPod Skin!!! Wooohooo!!!

Just give me a day or two to decide which one it's going to be ;)

I ♥ bokeh (and my new lens!)

Oh, bokeh! How I love you!!! :)



Look at all the prettiness I collected over at Flickr! Aren't these pictures beautiful?? Nothing better than blurriness if you ask me :) Hell, I tried to achieve bokeh in my photographs even before I knew it was called bokeh!! :)

How to achieve this delicious bokehness you ask? Considering the fact I am rather technically challenged you’re probably better of googling, but I do know this: large aperture = better bokeh!

The bokeh I got using my kit lens (18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6) was okay. Okay, but not great. And I knew, if I wanted great, I would have to use another lens.

So guess what got delivered today??? :) My very own Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens!!!!!!



Did you get that? f/1.4!!! *drool* And you wanna know what you get with f/1.4???



Bokeh. GREAT bokeh :)



*sigh* I can't WAIT to get started :)

I ♥ Notebooks

Apart from baskets, I also ♥ notebooks :) Whenever I’m in a store that sells them, I just have to take a look. Hold them. Let my fingers run through the pages. I’ve had to create a rule for myself saying I cannot buy a new notebook before the present one is completed. (Otherwise I would end up with hundreds of them!)



To me, finding the right notebook is very, very important. Sure, I could just grab the first one I see and start writing, but I like to make a process out of it. And my process of writing starts with finding the right notebook.

I’ve had small ones from Paperblanks…



Large ones from Paperblanks…





Happy ones from teNeues…






















Pink ones…















And my latest? This beautiful Peter Pauper Press Birdhouse Journal!















I must say: I LOVE Peter Pauper Press. Check out their other gorgeous journals here! Aren’t they amazing??? *drool* They didn’t have the Owls Journal in my local bookstore, but I almost bought the Fresh Kicks AND Birdhouse Journal right then and there!!! Unfortunately that would’ve been against my rule of buying one notebook at a time, so I had to choose :(

The good news is: PPP also makes journals! Like my pretty, pink cats-in-dresses journal of 2010!















Which means I can buy another journal for 2011 soon...



... without breaking any rules!!! :)

I ♥ basket :)

I love buying new things. And sometimes, I love buying old things as well!

This was the paper bag my yarn was living in:















When you can see yarn through the bottom of a bag, it’s time for replacement ;)

So I looked around a little on the world wide web and lo and behold…















… A BASKET!















But not just a basket. The cutest basket EVER!



*Sigh* Never knew I could actually ♥ a basket.















(But I do :)