gelukkig in de jaren zestig

2012-01-22T11:39:00.001+01:00

another week has passed, so here i am with a new swatch. this time it was an ajour swatch, again i was a little dissapointed because it looked a lot nicer in the book. i probably should have used bigger needles and less fluffy yarn (maybe cotton) so the stitch comes out better. something to remember for the next ajour swatch. but here it is anyway!

no.3: ajour #1

besides that, i finally finished my couch socks. they turned out quite ugly to be honest, one bigger than the other (no idea when that happened), but they are incredibly warm and so easy to make.

also, my wristwarmers are growing and growing! some more rows to go and this one is finished.

oh and take a look at my newest plant: a chinese money plant. these are quite hard to find, so i placed an add on the internet, asking if someone could send me a babyplant.

a nice lady reacted and here is my own chinese money plant, ready to grow!

see you next week with a new swatch!

2012-01-15T17:15:00.001+01:00

last week i started knitting with the yarn vanessa sent me. it took some time to find the right project, i have only one skein and i really want to make something pretty with this yarn.
(which is 100% cashmere, sooo soft!)

i decided on making these honeycomb wristwarmers, a free pattern i found on ravelry. i wanted something with a simple design, this yarn is so nice it doesn't need complicated designs or patterns. just the honeycomb stitch (which is really, really easy) and stockinette. i think it's looking great, so far!

i also knitted my second swatch for the swatch-a-week challenge:

no.2: structure/color #1

this one wasn't as much fun to knit as the previous one, not that it was difficult, i just didn't enjoy it. not a stitch for me! (it did match my cardigan though!) next up is ajour, something i never tried... so i'm looking forward to that! :)

2012-01-12T21:10:00.002+01:00

just before the new year started, i received a lovely surprise package coming all the way from the USA. i won a give-away by the lovely vanessa at coloursknits, a really nice blog!

in the package was a lot of yarn (gorgeous quality yarns with cashmere and silk, in great colours), beautiful pearl buttons, felt flowers, a bar of chocolate, a card and a linnen tote bag. i was so happy!

i couldn't resist starting a project with the blue-grey-ish yarn, which i'll show soon, i'm really pleased with the results!!
the pretty pearl buttons will be used when i finally have the courage to knit a cardigan, something i've been wanting to knit for a while now. :)
thanks again vanessa!!!

2012-01-07T19:41:00.000+01:00

a little while ago, i found this book with knitting stitches on the fleamarket. i was thrilled, because it contains 400 or more knitting stitches! i wanted to start knitting immediately!

so i came up with the idea of doing a weekly knitting project in 2012. in this project, i will (try to) knit one swatch a week. the book is divided into categories (purl/knit, cables, ajour,...), and each week i will knit one swatch out of each category. this way i can improve my knitting and learn new stitches on a weekly basis. the project will be called the swatch-a-week challenge, and here's my first swatch:

no. 1: knit/purl #1

i added a little label where i write some info about the swatch. :) this stitch is called "piqué-triangels", it looks good on both sides and it's really easy to remember. it also looks far more difficult than it is, so it was a nice stitch to start the project with!

when i finish, i want to select the prettiest swatches and make a pillowcover with them. :) i'll probably coordinate the colors a bit, but i don't want to buy new yarn so i'm using whatever i have lying around. (which is a lot) so, until then, you may be expecting one swatch a week, for 52 weeks long! :)

2012-01-03T22:27:00.003+01:00

on the third day of the new year, i want to take out some time to look back at the previous year. it has gone by so fast!! when i was finally getting used to the working life, i moved out of my parents house... i'm happy i'm no longer a student, but how i miss all the free time and having nothing to worry about! :)

i didn't fulfill all my new years resolutions-post of 2011 . i didn't finish the granny square blanket, didn't knit a hat or loads of socks, couldn't resist buying new yarn, and i somehow just stopped working on my label, because i was never pleased with the results. so! no resolutions for 2012, just a bunch of ideas in my head and a weekly project. i'll tell/show you soon!

here's my photo mosaic of projects i worked on in 2011, i thought it would be fun to make a yearly overview! i included some unfinished projects too, like my granny square blanket, the new hexagon blanket, a cross stitching work and the double knitting hotpad that i had to tear out.

off to a new year! happy 2012 everybody!

2011-12-29T17:37:00.004+01:00

one bed/couch-sock is finished! i didn't have enough of the green yarn, so i used dark blue for the toe. you need a little imagination since the sock isn't sewn together yet.

(the colors aren't great on these pictures, it was getting dark and i had to hurry to take a picture! but you get the idea...)

i started the second sock yesterday and i hope i can finish it before it's 2012, so it can go in my 2011-mosaic. (like i did last year) :)

it was also my 23th birthday last week, and as a gift for myself i ordered this handmade ring from fleurfatale. i also received a gift voucher for julija's shop (yaaaaayy!!), so i'm looking for a pretty scarf pattern so i can go and buy some yarn... tips, anyone?

in the meantime... merry (late) christmas and a happy new year!! enjoy!

2011-12-17T11:12:00.000+01:00

remember the "at-my-boyfriends-place-project"? well, now that i live together with my boyfriend i decided it was about time i finished it. so i did!

the crocheting-part was finished some time ago (september i guess) but i stil had to sew a lining for it. this week i finally found some time... so now it's oficially finished and in use. :)

2011-12-11T15:21:00.001+01:00

ta-daaaaaaaaaah! after all those posts about christmas decoriations, finally, our christmas tree!!

filled with 8 knitted christmas balls, 4 handmade felt balls (tutorials here and here), pom-poms, lights (ofcourse) and tiny ornaments.

my mom gave me these cute wooden decorations, i think they are older than myself...

they are all different (angels, snowmen, horses,...) but santa is my favorite:

these ornaments were found in dille&kamille... loved those little felt hats.

it's also christmas in london... see:

and, since my boyfriend went way overboard with the pom-poms (he made almost 100 pom-poms!), they are all now over the place:

i still have to figure out where to put the crocheted snowflakes and felt balls...

but i'm feeling quite christmassy already! :) have a nice sunday!!

2011-11-29T21:25:00.001+01:00

two more weeks and we are setting up the christmas tree! we already bought the lights and also some cute decorations, although i know that's not what i planned, i just couldn't resist... :)

time keeps ticking so i'm knitting like crazy!

last weekend my boyfriend helped making these felt balls and pom-poms...which were fun and quick to make using a pom-pom-maker!

so, after this quick update i'm going back to my knitting.
doing the dishes and laundry will have to wait until tomorrow!

2011-11-20T16:35:00.001+01:00

i'm having a very relaxed sunday today... not doing anything special, just drinking some coffee and documenting my latest crafty projects...

this week i started on a new knitting project; with the yarn i bought at the fleamarket. (apparently putting raw coffee in an envelope inside the bag with yarn helps getting rid of the smell!)

i'm going for a purely functional knit... bed/couch-socks! i hope i finish them soon cause i always have cold feet in the evening. :)

next to show is one of the crochet snowflakes i made. maybe i'll put them in the christmas tree, maybe i'll make a garland for the windows or mantle, don't know yet... :)

i also wanted to share these pictures i took. the sun was shining so beautifully in the park across the street, and made pretty shadows inside our living room... which makes me love living here even more!

that's it for now... have a nice sunday evening!

2011-11-13T21:01:00.001+01:00

i finished my first christmas balls! they turn out quite big (note: i do have tiny hands) but that's a good thing, cause we're planning on having a big christmas tree. :)

here are 2 finished christmas balls, one ball waiting for stuffing and one being knitted. i'm really getting the hang of it, each ball looks better and better!

i also went treasurehunting at the fleamarket this weekend, this is what i bought:

buttons, as usual.i looove the pink and purple ones, so cute.

and yarn!! i definitely have enough yarn stocked up, but i couldn't resist buying some more skeins as the colors were extremely nice! now i only have to figure out how to get rid of the musty smell... :)

2011-10-30T16:13:00.005+01:00

i always said that, when i have my own christmas tree, i'm gonna decorate it with only handmade things. (except for the lights ofcourse)

i'm going for the traditional red and white-theme and i'm making knitted and crochet ornaments... i'm quite curious about how it's gonna turn out in the tree! we'll see in a couple of months!

crocheting some hearts and snowflakes here...

and knitting christmas balls here... i might design a few myself, too... something with letters and fun patterns. :) are you already thinking about the holiday decorations, too?

2011-10-22T22:07:00.003+02:00

today's post is not about me, i want to tell (and show) you about my mom. she truely is a knitting miracle! i can vividly remember myself as a child, wearing the knitted sweaters she made for us. she also got paid to knit examples of sweaters, scarves,... to show in yarn stores!

it has been about ten years since she finished her last knitting project, a fuchsia sweater for the 13 year old me. she has been secretly stealing my knitting works since then (i ask her to fix a mistake and then find her ten minutes later, with half the scarf finished), but no actual knitting project was started again. until a few weeks ago, when i found the pattern and yarn for a gorgeous shawl that was way too difficult for me to knit. so i asked my mom to knit it for me!

it's finished only two weeks later! and it's sooo pretty!

i really love it. so does my mom, she's very proud of it. she's already asking me about the next project, i think she really rediscovered her passion for knitting... so i couldn't be happier! :)

2011-10-16T21:14:00.001+02:00

i used to have this blouse that i loved wearing; it had such a fun print and my boyfriend bought it for me years ago when we were just dating. after all that time was almost falling apart, and when a colleague commented on a huge hole under my arm, i decided it was about time to let it go. saying goodbye to it was quite hard (i'm sentimental like that)... so i had the idea to save the fabric and do something with it. make flower brooches, for example!

the purple brooch was the hem from a dress i shortened, so nothing goes to waste!

i followed this tutorial! all you need is a strip of fabric, a gluegun and hands that love to do fiddly work. so simple but i love the result.

2011-10-11T21:48:00.000+02:00

remember this sneak preview? i made you guess and you came veeerrrry close.

but! it's not a penguin... no, also not a duck...

it's an owl!

i made this cuddly fellow for my colleague, who recently gave birth to a baby boy.
we (my colleagues and i) were late for a present of her birthlist, so we bought a giftcard and tied that around his ear instead. we gave our present today and guess what; she loved it!

the pattern comes from the same book as the little elephant i previously made.

his ears aren't as straight as they are supposed to be and there are some stitches sticking out here and there... but isn't that the beauty of handmade toys. :)

2011-10-02T12:31:00.006+02:00

fridaynight we got together for the third episode of Studio Noppie (that's how we are referring to the crafty club now)!
there was knitting and crocheting......home made cookies... (yum!!)
...some brand new books...
... a 4 year-old playing with the hats for the innocent campaign...
...and some unsuccesfull attempts to create a scarf. better luck next time. :)

2011-09-26T16:38:00.003+02:00

did you hear of the innocent smoothies knitting campaign yet? the concept is simple: you knit or crochet tiny hats, they put them on their bottles and sell them. for each bottle sold with hat 30 eurocents goes to charity! i thought it would be fun to participate so i knitted and crocheted some hats. it's quite addictive and fun trying something different for each hat. :) here's what i made so far:and a new one, started when i should have been working in the garden...

anyone who feels like joining me? :)

(PS: i had to repost this blogpost because i had some layout problems... - and i accidentally deleted my post - so the comments are lost. feel free to comment again!)

2011-09-18T15:06:00.002+02:00

after all those granny squares, i couldn't resist crocheting some hexagons...

i love how they look and feel; going for a solid colored hexagon was a good idea! and the boyfriend likes it too (he's not a big fan of my granny square-blanket-to-be)!

i also finished the knitting project that included the intarsia knitting technique. it came out really well but i can't show it yet... so here's a sneak preview!! feel free to guess. :)

2011-09-03T11:50:00.007+02:00

thursday night was the first get-together of our crafty club (still without a name, we're working on that). i taught 3 lovely ladies how to crochet a granny square. the end result should be a granny square pillow or granny square scarf. they did really well and it was lots of fun to teach them! (and quite hilarious at times too)

here are some snapshots of my students in action:

and yesterday i had a day off from work, and a friend came over. we did a baguette-and-cheese picknick in the park (lovely weather! finally!) and she brought her granny squares so i could show her how to join them. so that's what we did!

so you can see... the granny square virus has spread! and looking for more victims. ;)

2011-08-28T21:07:00.010+02:00

my zpagetti project is not quite finished yet, but i couldn't wait to show you!

i'm making the granny basket by pickles !

the proportions are a bit off right now since it's not finished yet. but i think it's looking good!

i filled it with my new yarn i bought at a yarn wholesale last week(a gigantic hall stuffed with all kinds of yarn, so much you couldn't even decide what to look at first! i was in heaven!).

what you see is my new batch of yarn for a blanket... acrylic, but really soft yarn in 6 pastel colours: a pink-ish red, off-white, a very light purple, yellow, pistachio green and light blue. i already decided all this yarn should become a hexagon blanket (i have something like this one in mind, but in pastel colours... although i love her bold colour combinations! great blog btw, that woman is a crocheting miracle, especially her blankets are amazing)

i'm not starting the blanket just yet (want to finish my granny square blanket first) but i couldn't resist trying out some hexagons... i think i'm going for this one:

it's really nice to crochet these, after crocheting more than 240 granny squares... :)

2011-08-20T10:06:00.003+02:00

did you hear of zpagetti yet? it's yarn made from textile leftovers, very strong, ecologic and durable. you have to work it with reaaaaally big needles. and you need some muscles, too!
i'm sticking to something i know, though. new yarn, but no new patterns for me! this project starts with a simple granny square... it's going really fast! (fat yarn + big hook = fast crocheting) and i hope i can show you the results in a couple of days. :)

when my arms get tired of working with the zpagetti, i usually switch to my granny square blanket. and every time, i just can't believe how tiny those squares are!

oh and some fun news: on september 1st some colleagues, friends and me are starting a crafty “club”. most of them are new to crocheting, knitting and sewing, and in our first get-together, i'm gonna teach them how to crochet a granny square pillow. can't wait for school to begin! ;)

2011-08-14T12:15:00.007+02:00

lets show you my works in progress today!

a new knitting project including some intarsia knitting, which wasn't half as difficult as i expected:

double knitting, which is going rather slowly due to all the counting:

and my cute flowers, to stay in the red and white colour theme:

have a nice sunday!!

2011-07-31T16:14:00.007+02:00

my first "home"sewing project was a clothespin-bag. i searched the internet for patterns, and i actually wanted to make a clothespin apron (like Kelly's), but my boyfriend didn't agree.
("i'm not wearing THAT!!")
so i made this bag instead. it makes hanging the washing a lot more easy and funky! definitely a winner!

2011-07-24T21:24:00.006+02:00

last summer i got my grandma to teach me how to knit socks and because i was so happy i learned something new, i made the resolution to try and get the hang of a new knitting technique each summer.

i felt like doing that yesterday evening. i decided to go for double knitting, a technique of knitting where you work with two colors, knitting the back and front of the work at the same time. (without turning your work, that is)
the finished knitwork has no good or bad side, but both sides are the reverse of eachother and they look both equally pretty. it's perfect for double-sided scarves with patterns, or in my current case: hot pads. (which should NEVER be used near fire cause i'm knitting them with acrylic yarn!)

i've always loved scandinavian patterns so for my first colourwork project i chose this star/snowflake-like pattern. :) (could be beautiful for the ends of a scarf, like this one)
here's a close-up that shows both sides, see how it is the reverse?

next up to master are intarsia, stranded knitting and cables. :) i'm thinking about knitting squares in different patterns (with different techniques) and putting them together for a pillowcase... maybe that should be my next knitting project after this! :)

2011-07-13T12:59:00.004+02:00

ahhh... finally our appartment became a home. after several weeks of painting, cleaning and moving, the place is finally decorated and if i can say so myself, it looks great. some details i love:
our bed and the green wall that needed 6 (!) layers of paint.
our dramatic ikea lamps in the living room.
funny plants on the marble mantle.
crocheting whilst drinking coffee out of my favorite vintage china.

AND.... my favorite space in the whole appartment; my crafty corner!
my button-pots on a shelf and a big desk (quite an improvement, my sewing table at home was not even half the size)... a big box stuffed with yarn only underneath it, my sewing box in front of it... a cute chair and my sewing machine.....
i'm in heaven. :)

2011-06-13T23:40:00.008+02:00

between all the cleaning and packing today i found some time for a quick snapshot of my clothes hangers... don't they look good together? i currently have 5 finished and in use, 3 W.I.P. and 23 more to go. :)

now back to what i was really doing; packing, cleaning, sorting and organising. most of my stuff is packed and ready to move, but my craft supplies were still unpacked (important things are to be packed last! ;) ) and horribly cluttered. so today i decided to sort everything out... gone with the mess!
so here's my decluttered, reorganised sewing box:

and this is (was) my stash of knitting needles: (most of them my moms; needless to say i never have to buy new ones)

now all neatly paired and sorted by size...

and put in plastic boxes; ready to go!

that's really the great thing about moving, having everything sorted and organised again... and rediscovering things you forgot you had!

2011-06-06T21:13:00.005+02:00

all quiet on the blogging front... i know. but i've been so busy!
my boyfriend and i found the perfect appartment for us to live in, so all we are doing is painting, moving and painting some more... we're almost done painting, and when the decorating begins i want to sew cushion covers, storage cubes and other things (maybe a patchwork blanket) for our home... does anyone know some good tutorials or inspirational DIY websites, by the way? now i'm off to enjoy my paintfree evening... let the crocheting begin! (still working on clothes hangers, i'll need them soon enough!)

2011-05-17T21:58:00.004+02:00

my sisters best friend is pregnant with her second child, so my sister asked me if i could make her a little gift. so i decided to knit her a little elephant with some scraps of yarn i had lying around.
two weeks later it's finished, and isn't it the cutest? :)
i used a dotted vintage fabric for the ears and paws. i would have used buttons for the eyes, but that's not very baby-friendly, so i embroidered the eyes with black wool instead.

the knitting went quite fast; stuffing the pieces, putting them together and sewing the fabric on was the hardest/slowest part. i really enjoyed making it, i hope the mommy and her baby will love it too.

2011-04-30T17:10:00.007+02:00

last weekend we spent 3 lovely days in normandy, france. we did a trip that brought us from the cape blanc nez to fécamp, rouen, amiens... the weather was great and we had a really good time!

we saw the sunset between these beautiful cliffs... ...slept in a chambre d'hôte where i felt at home immediately... (i love that color combination, by the way)
...and saw amazing landscapes...
..of which the color combination made me think of my granny square blanket! (except for the blue)
i put all the squares together now, what you see here are 200 squares... i included my slippers in the picture so you get a better idea of the size. :)

2011-04-22T19:56:00.004+02:00

nothing hobby-related, but i just had to share: my graduating project 'Van den Vos Reynaerde' won one of the prizes of "de best vormgegeven boeken"! it still feels quite surreal. :) you can view pictures of this project (and a lot of other work too) on my portfolio website. there's also an exhibition of all the awarded books in the design museum in Ghent until june. great, no?

2011-04-13T21:50:00.004+02:00

some sunshine, soft grass and a project to work on; i don't need much more to feel happy. :) here's a little update on the "at-my-boyfriends-place-project":
i've been working on my "starling handbag"... and i'm quite happy with how it's looking! the size is perfect and i'm still loving the color combination... yay!

2011-04-04T21:54:00.006+02:00

shame on me; i've been a very unactive blogger the last few months. it's not that i stopped crafting at all, but everything seems to be going much slower. except for shortening pants and repairing broken zippers, my sewing machine has been unactive too. (poor thing)

i'm really in my crocheting phase right now...i finished some crocheted clothes hangers this weekend; i've been enjoying the sun, crocheting along... (last saturday i discovered a bunch of wooden hangers for only 5 eurocents per piece in the thriftstore... i can't imagine anyone buying clothes hangers that cheap!)
so...3 hangers down, only 30 more to go!

i also spent quite some time in the garden, filling up the little hothouse my dad and boyfriend made together. now all these babies need is some sunshine and water! i hope my sunflowers turn out right, we're also trying to grow cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, beets, parsley, carrots and parsnip... my favourite!

2011-03-13T17:30:00.006+01:00

i'm the kind of person who keeps working on a project even though it is not at all turning out the way it is supposed to... i'm way too stubborn to give up, i always think "okay, so it's ugly now, but i can make it work!". that's exactly how it went with the lucy bag. it looks great and it's supposed to be really easy but mine ended up looking like a slouchy jamaican-style hat. (too bad i don't wear those...)
so i gave it up when the "bag" was almost finished. i (well, the boyfriend to be precise, he loves ripping out crocheting and knitting work) ripped the wole thing out and started over. since it was still not looking great (i blame the yarn or my tight crocheting), i decided to try another pattern. so now i'm trying the starling handbag by futuregirl.
and it's looking good!!
(look at that huge ball of yarn! it's 4 or 5 skeins in different colors knotted together - i was making a striped bag.)

ah....so far so good! :)

2011-03-05T11:53:00.007+01:00

i finished my first crocheted clothes hanger! it came out very well, although i probably chose the wrong kind of yarn. i'm working with thin cotton yarn, which takes a few more rounds of crocheting than it would with thicker acrylic yarn. but i do like the outcome very much!

next up is a minty green one!

and do you know i've been working on my granny square blanket for over a year now? time flies!! today it measures 70cm x 100cms, not yet blanket-size, but i'm getting there. :) (i updated my granny square counter!)

2011-02-06T16:11:00.003+01:00

one of the reasons i learned how to crochet was because i loved those old-fashioned granny square blankets and i really wanted to make one myself. i also have a thing for crocheted clothes hangers, and i wanted to make some too.

so i was looking for those good old wooden clothes hangers on fleamarkets, but they were actually quite difficult to find. not the right size or form, too big, too small, too expensive... but last week i finally got lucky! i bought some cotton yarn and now the idea is to follow this pattern and to combine grey with a color for each hanger.

i've also started a new pair of socks, this will be a ribbed pair for a change. :) i'm modifying my own basic pattern so i'm very curious about the outcome... can't knit fast enough! :)

2011-01-30T19:09:00.006+01:00

fleamarket and kringwinkel-finds from the last few weeks:
a wooden apple-bowl...
lots of mending wool to fix the holes in my socks...
six skeins of soft mint-coloured Phildar yarn...
and a book with patterns for seventies shawls! i might crochet the shawl on the cover with the new (old) yarn but there are so many great patterns out there it will be difficult to choose! :)

2011-01-23T18:30:00.007+01:00

my second pair of socks is finished! again the basic pattern like my first pair and even the same type of yarn, but look how different the outcome!

i'm wearing them right now and they are super warm and soft and cosy... perfect for a lazy sunday!!

i also added a new label for my blogposts: "the sock bug", for anything sock-related. :) up to the next pair!!

2011-01-13T21:35:00.006+01:00

ready for a crochet update?
tadah! here's my sisters crocheted cowl! i think the color looks great on her and it's really warm and cosy. i'm definitely making one for myself too!

i also started working on my granny square blanket again! here's a picture, and i updated my granny square counter too. 144 squares so far! so far so good...

2011-01-05T20:06:00.004+01:00

i thought it would be fun to make a photo mosaic of all my (finished!) creative projects of 2010. so here it is.
i forgot to add the pyjama i made in sewing class, some other small sewing projects, the knitted socks i'm currently working on, all the prototypes/tryouts i made for my label, the cowl i made for my sister (which is finished, but technically, i finished it in 2011) and my granny square blanket. (which is still growing!!)

i hope i can show the finished cowl soon! but my sister is wearing it (and getting a lot of compliments about it) so i'll have to wait till she comes (when it's not dark outside) over for a decent picture. :)

2011-01-01T11:33:00.005+01:00

happy new year!!
2010 was a very busy and creative year for me. i hope 2011 will be calmer... :) and longer! i already made my new years resolutions.

in 2011 i...
- want to get used to my new daily life
- am going to move out of my parents house (so you will probably see a lot of handmade things... cushions, blankets, embroidered handkerchiefs, christmas decorations etc. in a few months)
- want to finish some projects (the granny square blanket, it's taking me forever)
- have my label ready, perhaps already some items sold?
- want to finish creative projects more quickly
- want to try using up the yarn i already have lying around instead of buying new yarn
- want to try knitting a hat and knit a LOT of socks
- ...

what are your resolutions for 2011?

PS: my sisters cowl is almost finished... hopefully i can finish it today!

2010-12-12T16:59:00.004+01:00

it's picture-time!
here's the finished boyfriend scarf i've been wanting to show:

and this is the cowl for my sister. it's very easy to crochet but it uses so much wool! it's only 15cms wide and it already used 4 skeins.. phew!

some time ago i also started this cross stitch work. i'm following a christmas-style heartshaped pattern from the cross stitch book i bought in Aix-en-Provence.

i always like it when i have a lot of creative projects going on. i still have to finish my second pair of socks too!

2010-12-05T17:35:00.005+01:00

wow, it's already december! the "boyfriend scarf" is finished, i haven't found the time to take decent pictures yet, but i'll show it soon, it's quite pretty if i say so myself. i'm trying to "unfluff" it, it's a bit itchy and fluffy... i heard about putting it in the freezer but i tried that and it didn't work... maybe it has to go in wet? tips anyone?
i'm now crocheting a cute cowl for my sister using blue merino wool (so soft!), i hope it will be finished before christmas. and i'm definitely making one for myself too, i can never have too many scarves/shawls/cowls. :)

i'm also still conceptualizing the items for my label and i'm designing a logo, ordering labels and all... i'm currently working 6 days out of 7 so there's not much time left to create. i hope i will have some things ready to show in the christmas holidays though. :) still getting used to "the working life"... how i miss the free time of a student!

2010-11-13T15:17:00.005+01:00

hey guys! i'm giving away a free ticket for cocoon, a fair about interior design! we went last year, but we can't go this year. it's a really big and good fair, i'd recommend it to people who are redecorating or planning to, or to anyone who's interested in interior design in general. or for people looking for a nice day out, we usually combine our trip to cocoon with some serious shopping in brussels. :)

cocoon is in brussels expo from 20-28november, and i have one ticket (for 2 persons). only thing is, you can't go on a sunday with this ticket.

if you want it, you can leave a comment until wednesday the 17th, let's say until 17u00. you'll have to promise you're really going though, otherwise we're losing our yearly free ticket! ;) i'll pick someone at random wednesday evening.
good luck!

2010-11-11T12:50:00.003+01:00

combining work and hobbies is much harder than i imagined; all i feel like doing when i come home is eating and knitting in front of tv... (i'm currently finishing "the boyfriend scarf", it's already 160cms long!)

all i've been able to do for my label is go shopping for supplies. i got some fabric and i ordered some other stuff to experiment with at Vanmarieke. meanwhile i'm also thinking about a logo and maybe woven labels or something to "mark" my stuff. :)
some sneak peeks:

2010-10-22T17:47:00.004+02:00

this week i (finally) finished my presents for the P.I.F. i took part in.
everyone received their package, so i can put it on my blog!

i made 4 pouches, from some curtain swatches i found on the fleamarket. (i followed Miss Stik's tutorial) and i finally found a use for the felt balls i made... zipper hangers!

look, i sewed my "made by severien" label in!

i also made crocheted bird hangers... i found the pattern here. i use one as a keychain, but they could be used as decoration too, maybe for the christmas tree.

and last but not least, square pincushions... my first real try at something patchwork-ish. :)

these are the packages they received. i also added some buttons and colored ribbon, and a self-designed card. (not on the picture)

i had a lot of fun making all this, but i found it rather hard to decide what to make, and if it would be "enough"! but they were all happy and surprised (so they said) so that's a mission accomplished!

2010-10-19T21:39:00.007+02:00

today i'm celebrating my blog's first birthday!
(i spent most of the day behind my sewing machine... so there was no time for a decent 'blog birthday' picture.;) )

1 year, that is:
74 blogposts
111 followers
19 464 views (wow!!)
436 comments
1 give-away

in this year i blogged about:
7 finished knitting projects
1 big crochet project with 120 granny squares
15 finished sewing projects
10 books i have on my bookshelf
a lot of thrifting and treasure hunting

one year ago, i could have never guessed that i would have so many page views, comments and followers today! i'm always smiling when i read your encouraging and kind words... i met really nice people, received nice things by mail, went to markets i wouldn't have gone otherwise, and the most important of all: i was always inspired and motivated to keep creating! so what i'm really trying to say is... thank you!!
guys!!

2010-10-13T21:11:00.004+02:00

i have a confession to make: i caught the sock bug!

after knitting my first pair, i was so excited i bought sock yarn enough for 3 pairs. last week i started knitting my second pair of socks. again the basic pattern, self-striping yarn doesn't need complicated patterns. this one is going a lot faster, it's also a lot prettier (my knitting is more even and the heel looks better too)!

another confession: i LOVE buying sock yarn. i wanted to order just one skein of basic grey sock yarn and ended up buying all of these... oops!

that's right: no cold feet for me this winter!

2010-10-11T20:37:00.007+02:00

i've been experimenting with embroidery and cross stitch... some sneak peeks:

very relaxing.

so what exactly is this then? i'm trying to create stuff i would want to buy and have myself. little things, bigger things. being my own client is harder than i imagined, so is the creating process. it's taking me ages because i want it to be what i imagine it to be. it's not easy... but i'm getting there. at last! :)

2010-10-05T15:06:00.007+02:00

my head is bursting with ideas... unfortunately that's also where they usually look better. a lot better. it's a lot of trial and error. so i spelled the keyword out on my working space:
(i think the originel set of these bowls said "party". which means i'm missing two letters.. but i do like my set better!)

2010-10-03T17:43:00.006+02:00

ta-daaaaah! i finished my wabi-sabi scarf!
i love how my mittens match! :)
(the colors look better on the pictures in my previous blogpost)

ps: it's been a bit quiet here, i know. that's because i'm trying to find a job as a graphic designer. anyone? ;)

2010-09-20T21:34:00.004+02:00

i'm already halfway trough my wabi-sabi scarf... and i think it's looking great!
it's looking a bit odd on the needles, that's because i couldn't find the correct length. :)

the fringe is created "as you go" (by wrapping the yarn around a piece of cardboard when turning the work), which is a great tip for people who love knitting but hate weaving in ends and finishing a fringe!

2010-09-14T10:41:00.011+02:00

after visiting Handmade in Belgium some weeks ago, my boyfriend showed me the kringwinkel of hasselt! i found two quite large packs full of "smyrnalaine", which is the wool i recycle into little felt balls.
(i love the graphic-ness of this image!)
these are some felt balls i made with some leftover "smyrnalaine" my grandma gave me.
i really like those colors! (especially the yellow)
i'm not sure what to do with them yet, i just enjoy making them! :)
i also bought some fabric, letter-shaped bowls and three pocket books! all of it for only 5 euros! seriously... how great are thriftstores?!

2010-09-10T19:07:00.003+02:00

my mittens are finished!!!
a perfect fit and a lot of fun to knit!
(hands up! - i surrender!)
they are very different... yet they make a cute pair. (my grandma was very worried about this; "isn't that weird, two different mittens? i mean, people might think you are mental.", she said, very seriously. i had to laugh so hard i almost choked on my coffee!)

and today i started the wabi-sabi-scarf that will go with it.

there's also a lot of sewing, crocheting, even some cross stitching going on... i'm still working on my PIF's and a give-away to celebrate my 101 followers, but my sewing machine decided to break (so did my laptop - all in one week, guess i have bad karma) so it will take even more time... sorry guys! i promise: it'll be good! :)

2010-09-02T19:36:00.007+02:00

i've been knitting a lot lately... right now i'm working on mittens for my own teenie tiny hands and a scarf for my boyfriend. (gotta prepare for winter!)

my mittens in their current state:
i'm using Noro Kochoran yarn... and it's so gorgeous! i'm constantly producing "ooh's" and "aah's" when the colors change while i'm knitting. the yarn is also quite chunky which means it's a really fast knit too!

and this is the boyfriend scarf:

for this one i'm using 100% Alpaka wool, so it's really, really soft... i'm liking it so far, it's a beautiful stitch! i'm secretly hoping he won't like it. (and give it to me!)

2010-08-30T21:16:00.010+02:00

what a fun weekend i had! saturday, my boyfriend and me went all the way to Hasselt to visit Handmade in Belgium. it was a lot of fun, i talked to Melissa, took pictures of Caroline singing, saw some bloggers but was too shy to go and talk to them, tried to take a closer look at Tiene's jewelry but there were just too many girls fighting over them... ;)

i really enjoyed the market... i saw very nice things! i didn't buy anything though, either i thought "i could make that too" or "nice, but a little bit too colorful for me" or "great, but i don't have babies yet" but most of all "i want to do this too!!". so i figured... maybe i should! my boyfriend and i talked and brainstormed about it all weekend long and at dinnertime the decision was made ("do you really think i should do it?" - "yes!" - "really?" - "yep!!" - "okay!").
i'm going to start making and selling stuff, creating my own label or whatever you should call it. i'm not giving away what i want to do just yet... i want things to get a little more concrete first. :) (oooooh, so exciting!!!)

after the market we did some shopping and i finally got my hands on some textile paint to make my own labels, using my beautiful custom-made stamps by Mamasha.

it needed a little practice, i wasn't sure exactly how thick the paint should be... but practice (eventually) makes perfect!

my boyfriend was helping me and he thought we should also use the vintage stamps he gave me for my birthday... aren't they nice?

i also did a little sewing...
and that's all (for now)!

2010-08-25T20:57:00.005+02:00

i promised you to show the progress on my granny square blanket... here it is! i've been working on it for six months now, and i have about 110 squares. i was a bit dissapointed when i put them together, it's still quite small. at least it's pretty!

meanwhile i'm also working on the lucy bag, it's my project for when i'm at my boyfriends place. what you see is the bottom of the bag. it isn't supposed to be this "wavy", but i think it'll turn out just fine when i start working "up". i'm loving the colors and the yarn!

2010-08-18T20:42:00.004+02:00

my socks are finished! they are far from perfect, but i love them so much! no more cold feet in winter... i'm already planning my next pair! :)

2010-08-09T21:20:00.008+02:00

thursday, i received the P.I.F from Poes P, a gorgeous grass-green crocheted bag, beautifully made! it's perfect for carrying my knitting around the house!
i haven't been this excited (those buttons!!) about something since receiving Mamasha's custom made stamps! (of which i never showed a picture, shame on me; here it is... so beautiful)

saturday i went to the fleamarket in Geel and i found alot of sewing supplies:
again a lot of fabric...curtains, table sheets, pillow cases... (must.stop.buying.fabric.)

and a lot of buttons!

my pots are getting quite full now... look how empty they were 8 months ago... i even had to get some new pots for white, yellow and orange!

next up: the progress on my socks (one and a half finished!!), the progress on my granny square blanket and when i hit 100 followers... a give-away!!

2010-08-06T12:04:00.007+02:00

Poes P wanted to know how it all began... i guess being crafty runs in the family... i remember my mom knitting a lot when i was young, she even got paid to knit sweaters for Phildar! my grandma also knitted, but i mostly remember her crocheting all kinds of doilies. i never picked up the needles myself untill i was 18, a friend of mine lost her handmade scarf at school and i decided to knit her a new one. i knitted some scarves for friends and family, nothing special really, just easy stitches, nothing advanced.

i also wanted to know how to sew, mostly for practical reasons; i wanted to know how to shorten pants and fix holes. my mother in law got me a gorgeous mint-colored Singer for my birthday two years ago. i never really used it untill i started sewing classes in ghent.

unfortunatly, while working on some more of these little bags, my Singer broke and it couldn't be fixed. so i bought this brand new Janome in december, as a birthday present for myself.
last february i also started crocheting, because i wanted to crochet a blanket... still working on that. :)

so i guess that's my story. as you might have noticed, i'm really in my knitting phase right now (blame the socks!) but i hate sticking to only one craft... it won't take long till i have a crocheting or sewing phase again. :)

feel free to catch the "how-it-began-stick" from me and share your story too!

2010-08-02T19:26:00.004+02:00

(warning: this is not a very summery blogpost! not that the weather is... i wish at least the sun would shine!)

when cleaning my room today i rediscovered the striped neckwarmer i finished in october. i realised i never put it online, so here it is! it was really easy to knit, just two rectangles knitted in rib stitch, sewed together like a circle. it's great for fall, warm on your neck but not too hot, like a scarf would be. the size is a bit off though, i wish i made it a bit tighter... but i was too lazy to start over. :)

it can be worn draped like this...or folded, like this.

the yarn i used is actually self-striping sock yarn, it's called "Regia Design Line: Landscape". such pretty colors!

i'd also like to share my sock progress! my grandma helped me with the heel (which means: she knitted it and i watched carefully and took notes)! oooooooooooh, i can't wait to finish it and put it on!

2010-07-29T21:06:00.009+02:00

i'm back from la douce france! let me share some of my souvenirs with you!

in Aix-en-Provence there was a cute fabric store just around the corner... they had such pretty fabrics! i decided to buy some, but only if they were "provence-ish" and affordable.

there was also a big bookshop in Aix. we went in to buy a map of Marseille, but ofcourse i ended up buying books. i never saw so many good hobby books in one shop, i had the hardest time picking just one. :) to my own surprise, this point de croix ( cross stitching) book caught my special attention...

i've also got some other souvenirs: a tan and a sunburned belly, new sandals, authentic marseille soap and 34 crocheted granny squares... and while i was in france, my order from Wolhalla arrived at home. they are selling Noro yarn for only half the price and i ordered three skeins, one for a pair of mittens and two for a scarf called "wabi-sabi". this yarn is sooooo pretty! the colours are stunning and it is incredibly soft...totally worth its money! i can't wait to start (after i finish my socks!), i do hope i get them ready before winter.

conclusion: the provence is great, holidays always end too soon and i should really start using all my yarn and fabrics. (a sewing project is in the making, though!)

(PS: still nobody who wants to P.I.F.???)

2010-07-14T22:57:00.009+02:00

who wants to... P.I.F. ?!
i'm looking for 3 persons who want to "pay it forward".... for those of you not familiar with the principle: i get a small present from Poes P and i make a small present for 3 other crafty people, who have to make a small present for 3 other people, who have to... you get it, right? the first 3 people who answer to this post (and agree to pay it forward too) will receive something handmade from me! :)

other than that... (besides working) i've been crafting my ass off! my head is bursting with ideas, i'm constantly fighting against the urge to start yet another project... a bit annoying, really. i'm currently working on 2 knitting projects, 3 crocheting projects, 1 felting project and 1 sewing project... no wonder nothing ever gets finished. my solution (untill i can change myself and start finishing things before starting new projects) for it is to give each project its own time and place. i leave one crochet project at the time at my boyfriends place, so i can only work on it when i'm there. (not constantly, ofcourse). i'm also taking my granny's with me on the train to work, so that's done there. my knitting projects are mostly done in front of tv, and sewing and felting is for when i really, really feel like doing that.

am i the only one who has so many projects running that never seem to get finished?
if so, how do you deal with that? sometimes i wish i was interested in sewing, crocheting or knitting only!

PS: i'm off to france next saturday for some well deserved holidays... see you guys in two weeks! ;)

2010-07-12T11:51:00.012+02:00

some time ago i asked my aunt (who runs a paint/curtain/wallpaper-shop together with my uncle) to save some curtain swatches for me.
well... this is what she got me:
that's a lot of fabric! lots of little pieces too (good for patchwork), and quite some fabric i won't use (too synthetic or plain ugly) but also some beautiful prints and colors! (the black tree/bird-print is my absolute favorite, so pretty!)... a "thank you" present is in the making!

also: my sock is growing! it's far from perfect, but i'm very happy with it so far!

2010-07-05T21:00:00.005+02:00

since most of you thought that the "on my bookshelf" category should stay, here's a post about my latest finds:

i found these in de Slegte... they are Penguin music books from the 1950's...
oh so pretty!!! they reminded me of my "insel-bücherei"-books!

2010-07-01T22:25:00.005+02:00

found two weeks ago on the fleamarket in turnhout:
8 gorgeous pieces of fabrics, probably old curtain swatches... all with flower and birds prints in different colours!

this one is my favorite! i already know it's going to be very hard to decide what to do with them... any suggestions?

i wouldn't be me if i wasn't constantly looking for buttons... we came across this nice lady who sold vintage button cards, in different colors and sized. and quite cheap too!

i also started (yet another) knitting project... i've been wanting to learn how to knit "in the round" for some time now, and look... a sock is being born! i'm quite happy with it... and i still got all my eyes! ;)

2010-06-29T11:54:00.008+02:00

hello again! it's been a while since i had the chance to update my blog, but the past weeks were incredibly busy... facing the jury, setting up the exhibition, making last-minute business cards, updating my website, ... but all went well! i graduated "magna cum laude" and i can now officially call myself a graphic designer, how weird is that. :)

when i wasn't doing things for school, i tried making all kinds of small balls...

these were crocheted with the new cotton yarn from my last post...

and i also tried to make felt balls with some wool i had laying around. it is very bulky yarn, 100% pure wool, called "smyrnalaine" and it is actually used to make carpets with. making these is so much fun!

i know exactly what to do with these tiny balls, but i'm not telling you just yet... my little secret!

now something else: what do you think about the "on my bookshelf" (and other more graphic design related) posts? should they stay or should they go? i was thinking about "where my blog is going" and at the moment it's a bit of everything... i don't know what i think of that. maybe i prefer "gelukkig in de jaren zestig" to be an "all craftyness blog".. i could start another blog which is only design related.. somehow that would make more sense to me. i added a little poll to see your opinion! please do vote!

2010-06-13T17:41:00.011+02:00

friday, eline from pomme-pon and i went treasure hunting in one of the kringwinkels in Ghent. we found some really cool stuff, look what i bought:

a piece of (synthetic) fabric, a sheet and a pillowcase...

buttons...

and cute tiroler and lace ribbon! (which i'm trying to bleach, it's still a bit too yellow for my taste)all of it for only 8 euros... :)

we also went to Veritas and these 4 were screaming "buy me!"... i know exactly what to do with them, it's gonna involve some crocheting and also some felt... can't wait to give it a try! i LOVE the minty green, my next blanket or crocheting project (i really want to make the Lucy bag) should definitely have minty green as one of the colours)

2010-06-08T20:49:00.013+02:00

after going to sewing class yesterday, i really felt like sewing some more! i sewed together some usefull stuff for the sewing room, ain't that nice! sewing things to make sewing even more fun! (and organized)

i made an apple-pincushion from an old pyjama (my grandpa's, who passed away some years ago, so you can imagine i kinda felt guilty cutting it up at first, but then again, he never even wore it) and a pillow case from the kringwinkel.

(tip: i made the bottom heavier by putting a flat weight in it.)

with the scraps i quickly improvised a needle book, so no fabric waste! the ribbon was cut out of a sweater, i started saving those a while ago. i love making things out of bits and pieces like this... rather than making everything out of 100% new stuff!

(ps: my entrelac-knitting is improving, i asked for advice at the Ravelry-forum and they really helped me out! my granny square blanket is growing too! check out the granny square counter, i added a new picture!)

2010-06-02T20:10:00.007+02:00

today, i finished a big part of my masterproject ("all work no play" was the motto of the past few weeks)... the hardest and biggest part is done! (it still feels unreal, two more weeks 'till i have to defend my work for the jury, three more weeks 'till the graduation exhibition and four more weeks 'till i graduate... eek!)

so, i decided it was finally time for some play... :)
i picked up my needles and some leftover yarn and i tried to teach myself to knit "entrelac", which is a beautiful knitting technique that makes your knitting look like it's woven, it looks really gorgeous. here's an example:

i followed the instructions in one of my knitting books and the first three triangles went really well, but somewhere along the way, i totally got it wrong and ended up with this kind of artsy-looking , but ugly thing:

is there anyone who can help me out here? it's obvious that i'm doing something wrong, but i can't figure out what. hmmmm.

by the way: am i the only knitter/crocheter who loves buying yarn? i have more yarn than i have time to knit! i currently have yarn in stock for one pair of socks, for six scarves (!!) and besides that a whole stash of leftovers and yarn i bought at sales (only 2 or 3 balls of which i have no idea what to do with)...

2010-05-22T22:51:00.010+02:00

look, how nice, Liesel gave me the happy 101-award. this time you had to write 10 things that make you happy... that's easy, i could write 101 things that make me happy! here's my top 10: (not in a particular order, by the way)

1. my boyfriend and how he holds my yarn when i'm knitting or crocheting.
2. buying cheap or second hand buttons and sorting them by color when i get home. afterwards looking how my pots are getting fuller every time. and, most importantly, when i am in need for buttons for a crafty project... going trough all my pots to find the perfect button!
3. looking back at old design or crafty projects, seeing every flaw and mistake in it, and thinking to myself how much i improved since then.
4. talking with family and/or friends, drinking some wine, eating some olives or cheese... preferably on a warm summer night.
5. receiving letters, postcards, packages by mail. nothing beats a handwritten letter, really. i'm 21 and i still have a penpall!
6. making plans for “the future”, being slightly scared but so excited about it! (and already decorating my future appartment/studio in my head)
7. taking my analog camera with me, taking photos of random things, getting them developed (in a perfect world: developing them myself in the blackroom!) and put the nicest ones in my photo albums. also in this catagory: watching a polaroid picture develop.
8. cleaning my room and messing it up again!
9. planting flower or vegetable seeds and watching them turn into a flower/plant/vegetable!
10. finding unexpected treasures on a flea market! i always look for nice books, tin cans and pretty porcelain, but finding something you weren't looking for (like my sewing box) is even better!

i'd like to give the award to Lilavanille (because i just recently discovered her blog and i'm loving it already) and to everyone else who feels like making their happy-10-list!

also: some photos of my weekend, i spend most of my time sitting behind my laptop (working for school) but i found some time to do some gardening and crocheting... in the sun ofcourse! (another thing to add to the happy-10-list!)

2010-05-15T19:48:00.007+02:00

apparently there's some give-away virus going trough Blogland!
- LaFilleHella is giving away a handmade scarf and 2 cute bowls. i'm not entering because i can fill an entire store with scarfs and porcelain only... ;)
- Dutch Apple is giving away a handmade bag out of recycled materials! it's really pretty!
- Melissa is giving away all sorts of things! all really nice! some fabric, some vintage...

oh and look how beautiful the light was yesterday evening...
i should really start taking more photos again!

2010-05-09T22:10:00.008+02:00

i don't want to sound greedy, but i really want these!
they would be the perfect addition to my button collection... be sure to check out Tie-ne's blog and her give-away! (lots of give-aways lately, phew!!)
(ps: i'm teaching myself some new crochet skills today! more about that soon!)

2010-05-07T13:18:00.010+02:00

remember when i said i wouldn't enter to give-aways anymore?
well... this one... i just HAVE to enter! it was a silly idea anyway.. ;)

look!! Rood met witte stipjes is giving away free fabrics! pretty, juicy, lovely fabrics!
*click* her webshop

2010-05-06T10:30:00.012+02:00

look what i got in the mail the other day:

Kamiel and Odille's home-made pencil cases and book marks! she sent it to me including a little note, just because, which really made my day! i was (yet again) amazed by all the kindness and generosity you find here in Blogland. thanks again, Kamiel and Odille!!

also check out my new bible! 500 pages about knitting, crocheting, sewing, but also needlework, macramé, patchwork,... basic information and simple patterns (for example knitted socks and mittens, which i want to give a try this summer), it really can't get any better.

it also has some great examples of granny squares...
which reminds me: let's see how my blanket is doing:

i crocheted 36 squares now, of which i attached 32 to each other. it measures about 60x30cms already... what do you think?? :)

2010-05-04T20:08:00.009+02:00

last week (actually, two weeks ago, i'm running late), Kelly from Ma vie en vert gave me the "sunshine award", which really made my day! Thanks again, Kelly! i'm totally going to ignore the rules of the award, except for this one: "give the award to as many bloggers you want." i'm giving the award exclusively to Kamiel and Odille for bringing some unexpected sunshine to my life... more about that next time!

and for now:
i'm wishing for some sunshine... for my zucchini's!

2010-04-27T11:45:00.009+02:00

home made sushi, times two:

the edible kind:

the knitted kind:

i found the free pattern for knitted sushi a while ago at ravelry, i just had to make it. :)
totally useless, so i used them for dressing up our new sushi plates.

ps: check out Kupuku: they have sushi-pillows and magnets, very funny!

2010-04-23T16:24:00.005+02:00

i'm both a coffee and tea lover, i can't really pick a side. i love a good caffé latté or just plain coffee after dinner, but i also love drinking nice fruity or herbal tea.

my boyfriend however, is totally on the tea-side!
so that's why i made him this little tea-bag for his birthday. i saw it for sale on etsy and i thought "hey, i could make that!"
my version was made with scraps of fabric and a found piece of elastic band. the dimensions are a bit off, but for the first time i think it turned out quite good.
if you think it's silly to bring your own tea to work or school, you could also use it as a litle wallet for keeping businesscards...

2010-04-18T18:45:00.011+02:00

for my sisters birthday i wanted to give something home-made, so i made her two aprons. they were finished a while ago, but since she reads my blog, i couldn't blog about it untill now. (remember the one i made in sewing class? - i edited the pattern a bit though; i made the straps a bit smaller, which looks more elegant to me)
the fabric comes from ikea, i simply love it! i finished it with bright green biais and green buttons... and ofcourse my button-labels!!

this will probably be one of my last sewing projects till june, since time seems to fly twice as fast for masterstudents. things are getting pretty hectic and the big jury is in june... so if it gets a little quiet at "gelukkig in de jaren zestig, don't worry, all i'm doing is trying to graduate. ;)

(ps: thanks for posing, lynn!!)

2010-04-15T18:15:00.009+02:00

i've been such a lucky lady lately! after winning Mme Zsazsa's aardpeer-give-away, i also won Kir's jewellery bag and now i also won a custom-made stamp by Mamasha!! Thanks to you all!

should i stop entering to give-aways now, to give the rest of you a chance? ;)
(look at the beautiful fabric card and recycled envelope!)

and as the cherry on the cake, my grandma gave me these gorgeous porcelain cups & saucers yesterday! (6 of them, plus matching coffee/tea-can!)

2010-04-13T21:22:00.008+02:00

today i helped a friend (and fellow graphic design student) bind a book for her school assignment. we did a great job, if i can say so myself. i picked up some new bookbinding tips & tricks along the way: (i'm writing them in dutch because the tutorial is also in dutch!)

boekbind tips & tricks:
- een letter, woord, figuur in relief maken op de cover kan ook. daarvoor moet je, in plaats van 1 dik karton van bvb 4mm te gebruiken, 2 kartonnen van 2mm op elkaar lijmen. in het bovenste heb je dan je letter/woord/figuur uitgesneden. de kant met het relief lijm je als eerste in (dus je wacht met de rug en de andere kant te lijmen op het boekbinderslinnen tot de relief-kant droog is), je lijmt het op het boekbinderslinnen, draait het vrijwel onmiddelijk om en oefent lichte druk uit op de plaats waar het dieper is. met een vouwbeen of een stomp voorwerp kan je de randjes mooi uitduwen. tip: gebruik op die plaatsen zeker niet teveel lijm. (edit: leg een vochtige vod bij je om je belijmde vingers af te kuisen. zo beland er zeker geen lijm op je cover!)

- het is zeer handig om in plaats van boeken als gewicht te gebruiken, 2 sergeanten en 2 houten planken (bedekt met papier, anders plakt het hele boeltje aan je plank) te gebruiken als pers. je steekt dan je gebonden katernen - met schutbladen en al, met het stofje en eventueel kapitaalbandjes erop) (licht) gelijmd erin, en als het er dan tussenzit kan je er nog eens overgaan voor nog een laagje lijm. daar kan je het gemakkelijk in laten drogen zonder dat je de hele boekenkast moet leeghalen.

- het toverwoord bij boekbinden is écht waar: geduld geduld geduld. een beetje zoals bij naaien, vind ik.

2010-04-06T12:53:00.008+02:00

my first selfmade summer dress ever is so simple you can barely call it a dress... i made a copy of "le sac dress" by american apparel, which is a versatile dress you can wear in different ways. basicly it's just a rectangle with two v's at the sides and a strap going trough it. they ask 38 euros for it in the shops and i made it for only 14!

i did make it too short (so no picture of me wearing it - i still have to change the 5cm bottom hem and make it a 1cm hem so the dress gets 4cms longer) and my straps (1,5m!) are also too short.

and here is a picture of my favorite earrings for kir's give-away. i bought these 2 or 3 years ago at the flee market in turnhout for only 2 euros! who says jewellery should be expensive?
also check out my granny square counter on the right; i added a new picture. :)

2010-04-02T13:37:00.006+02:00

i went fabric shopping for a summer dress (it's almost finished, pictures soon).. i found what i was looking for but ofcourse i couldn't resist also buying these gorgeous fabrics as they were very, very cheap.

the orange and blue fabric were really cheap (2,5 euro/m!!) and come from modecoupon (where i usually buy my fabrics) and the flowery fabrics come from the kringwinkel, the greenish one is actually a pillow cover and the other one is a matress cover! my fabric box is getting quite full now... luckily i recently re-organized it, also see blendingblue's great tip.

2010-03-30T16:52:00.005+02:00

i already made an owl for "maken voor moeders", and last sunday i made him a dinosaur friend:

i had a lot of fun making these, i actually wanted to make something more advanced but i never made babystuff so far (no babies in the family yet), so i decided to keep it simple. :)

2010-03-28T14:52:00.003+02:00

before we get all excited about the results of my give-away; i'd like to thank everyone for participating, i never thought 21 people would enter their names! so here we go....
my moms innocent hand...
tum-dum-dum.......

(for those who can't read my handwriting:)
i'm happy to announce that kamiel&odille and blanca (i wrote bianca, sorry) are the winners of my give-away!! they both chose set 1, so we drew names again for set 1, and kamiel&odille came out as the winner, so blanca gets set 2.
the only thing left to do for these two is to mail me their adress ( severienvandam@hotmail.com ) and sooner or later this week a small package will arive...

2010-03-26T11:25:00.004+01:00

this...

and this...

is why i'll probably never run out of brown buttons. :)

PS. don't forget the GIVE-AWAY...

2010-03-24T17:43:00.012+01:00

having 50 (51!) followers really made me happy so i decided to do a little GIVE-AWAY!!
i hope to make 2 people happy by giving away two sets of 5 postcards and square, thick notebooks out of recycled paper.

(i made these quite a while ago and i sold them with Veerle as my partner in crime at the Markt Van Morgen, a creative market for beginning fashion/graphic/jewelry/...designers. it was a great day and we even made it to the top 5 best/most original booths of that month!)

SET 1: a postcard series with a vintage-style collage + a sunny notebook!

SET 2: a postcard series with a retro touch + a cute fishy notebook!

all you have to do is leave your name and what set you would prefer in a comment! an innocent hand will pick the two winners and you will recieve your set by mail. i'm closing the give-away on sunday, 28th of march. (so you can submit your name untill saturday 23:59 PM)
good luck!!

2010-03-19T18:33:00.006+01:00

this weekend i made a bag to put my laptop accesories in. this one is for my lacie hard disk!

cute, no?

i also made a cuddly owl for "maken voor moeders". i made it out of an old tshirt and some scraps of fabrics i had laying around. if i find more time i might make him a little friend too, or i might try making some baby "stuff"...

oh and did you notice my button-labels? i finally found a way to use my 5000 brown buttons! (long story short: my boyfriend got me 2 huge bags with about 5000 -or more- brown buttons two years ago, i was at the time crazy about buttons and he thought it would make a nice/funny present.)
what do you think? i thought about making labels with my name on it, but "gelukkig in de jaren zestig" would make a really long label, and "handmade by severien" sounds so plain.

PS: 50 followers!! that sounds like a give-away...... :)

2010-03-14T23:49:00.013+01:00

i always think it's great how people make tutorials about something they know how to do. so, as i followed several tutorials made up by my fellow bloggers, i decided to make my own: a bookbinding tutorial. note that it's in dutch (too difficult to explain in english) and that i am very messy and i wanted to do it quickly too, so this is probably not the way you want to do it at home!

TUTORIAL BOEKBINDEN:
Benodigdheden:

(De meeste dingen vind je bij bvb. Schleiper, meer speciale dingen -kapitaalbandjes bvb.- vind je bij Le Saffre in Gent of bij de hobbyspeciaalzaak)

engelengeduld
papier (bij voorkeur gerecycleerd), op maat gesneden (dit wordt later dubbelgevouwen, dus voor een A5 boekje heb je A4 nodig, voor een A4boekje A3, etc)
schaar
naald (scherpe, dikke naald)
stevig garen (géén standaard naaigaren, wel van dat dik, “gecoat” garen dat op sterretjes zit)
potlood
meetlat
scherp breekmes
stevig gekleurd tekenpapier
boekbinderslinnen, behangpapier kan ook, een soort van canvasstof moet ook lukken
boekbinderslijm (van cruciaal belang, probeer het niet met pritt, velpon, knutssellijm,...)
kapitaalbandjes, niet broodnodig maar wel een leuke afwerking
dik karton: 2-3mm dik: geen karton van kartonnen dozen, daar zit lucht tussen. je wilt geperst karton gebruiken!
linnen of stof (iets dun, katoen-of linnen-achtig)
kladpapier
penseel met harde haren

A. Katernen vouwen, naaien en lijmen.

1.Vouw al je losse papieren in 2. Leg deze in mekaar, per 2, 4 of 8, al naargelang de dikte van je papier. Dit zijn je katernen. Een dik boekje betekent veel katernen. Ik heb vijf katernen gemaakt van papier uit een oude schetsboek, dat maakt een boekje van 1cm dik.

2.Teken op elk katern stipjes op de vouw: in het midden, 5 cm daarboven en 5 cm daaronder. (een groter boek (hetmijne was slechts 10,5x15cm) heeft meer ruimte nodig tussen de gaatjes, ofwel voor de stevigheid meer gaatjes, dit is wel een andere manier van naaien.)

3.Prik met je scherpe naald gaatjes in de vouw, op de stipjes. Je kan verschillende katernen op elkaar leggen en ik vind het gemakkelijk als je er iets zacht onder legt, bvb een handdoek.

4.Nu kan het naaien beginnen! Neem je eerste katern en steek van buiten naar binnen in het middelste gaatje. (laat langs buiten +- 5cm hangen) Steek van binnen naar buiten in het bovenste gaatje. Steek terug van buiten naar binnen in het middelste gaatje. Steek dan van binnen naar buiten in het onderste gaatje. Dat ziet er langs binnen zo uit:

5.Katern één is genaaid. Leg het tweede katern erbovenop en herhaal de naaitechniek tot je buitenkomt uit het bovenste gaatje. Steek dan ONDER de draad van het vorig katern (je krijgt een soort kruisje), trek aan en naai verder zoals hierboven beschreven.

6.Je doet altijd hetzelfde, maar zorg dat je katernen aan elkaar hangen door telkens je ergens uitkomt (afwisselend langs boven en onder) ONDER de draad van het vorige katern te steken. Zo hangen je katernen aan elkaar. Strek stevig aan, maar niet té, want dan scheuren je gaatjes. Dat ziet er zo uit, maar dit is wel veel te los, het moet strakker, maar de foto is maar om het systeem te tonen:

7.Als alle katernen genaaid zijn, knoop je het uiteinde dat je nu hebt aan het uiteinde van in het begin.

8.Nu zitten je katernen aan elkaar! Knip een stukje van je stof dat ongeveer driedubbel zo breed is als de dikte van je katernen, en ongeveer 2 – 4 cm korter dan de lengte van je katernen.

9.Snij ook 2 dubbele pagina's uit je gekleurd papier (dus even groot als één blad uit één katern). Gevouwen in 2 dus exact het formaat van je boekje.

10.Gebruik een papier om netjes 0,5cm lijm aan te brengen op de rand. Lijm ze met dit randje op het eerste en laatste blad. (Deze stap kan je ook pas op het einde doen – zoals ik heb gedaan – maar eigenlijk is het beter als je dit nu al doet). Dit zijn je schutbladen!

11.Vouw het stofje over je katernen en schutbladen (druk deze goed op elkaar, gebruik eventueel papierklemmen om ze goed samen te houden zodat ze onderling niet verschuiven) en smeer (voldoende) lijm over de rug. Leg erop en eronder ook een kladpapier, zo lijm je niet op tafel. Gemakkelijkst is om het net op de rand van de tafel te leggen.

12.Als je kapitaalbandjes gebruikt, is het nu het moment om ze erop te lijmen. Knip er 2, even breed als de dikte van je boek, en lijm ze zodanig zodat het “randje” net op je papier ligt.

13.Leg dit (liefst op de rand van een tafel en met papier boven en onder, zodat je niet op je snijmat lijmt... hum) plat onder véél gewicht (boeken dus) en laat een nachtje drogen.

Dat zou er dan zo moeten uitzien:

B. Kaft maken en lijmen

1.Snij uit je karton 3 rechthoeken: 2 rechthoeken hebben hetzelfde formaat als je papier, maar tel er in de lengte 6mm bij en in de breedte 3mm. 1 rechthoek is de rug, dit is ook 6mm langer dan de lengte van je papier, maar heeft als breedte de dikte van je boekblok.

2.Knip je boekbinderslinnen uit. Leg je kartonnetjes erop, en neem overal ongeveer 5 cm extra. Meer mag ook, maar liefst niet minder. (Ik heb mijn linnen eventjes onder de naaimachine gestoken om het een beetje te decoreren, een leuke tip voor de naaisters onder ons)

3.Lijm je kartonnetjes op je boekbinderslinnen. Dit doe je als volgt: lijm je karton in, NIET je linnen (dit gaat opkrullen!) en plak het op je linnen. Laat tussen je rug en je voor- en achterkant ongeveer 3mm.

4.Als alles gelijmd is, knip je driehoeken van de kanten. Ik heb dit snel gedaan, dus het is een beetje scheef, maar het zou er ongeveer zo moeten uitzien. Zorg ervoor dat je wel minstens 2mm laat tussen de hoek van je karton en het linnen, anders zie je je karton straks!

5.Lijm je linnen in (karton mag je ook inlijmen als je wil) en vouw het over het karton. Doe eerst boven- en onderkant, daarna de zijkanten. De hoekjes duw je netjes in.

6.Laat drogen. (als je tijd hebt: een volledige nacht, weer onder boeken) Ta-dah:

(recht mag ook)

C. Boekblok in kaft lijmen

1. Neem je gedroogde boekblok, en lijm het schutblad in. Om proper te werken leg je er een kladpapier tussen alvorens te lijmen. Kleef je schutblad op je kaft, begin met de voorkant.

2. Doe hetzelfde, maar voor de achterkant.

3. Je boekje is klaar! Laat het wederom plat en onder gewicht drogen. Haal het de volgende dag ervan onder en bewonder je werk!

Zo, veel succes ermee!
(nuttige link voor een andere bindwijze, afwerking is wel hetzelfde, en alles is véél properder gedaan!) En dit is een voorbeeld van een geprint boek dat ik zelf heb gebonden, dat was voor een eindwerk en daar heb ik uiteraard véél meer tijd en zorg in gestoken:

(voor meer afbeeldingen: zie www.severienvandam.net )

2010-03-11T20:37:00.005+01:00

check out the "série noire" books i found in paris last year:

the design is actually very simple but that's what i like about it so much.
i especially like the way "on est comme on est" is set on the back, and the horizontal text (and logo - that's one pretty "f" by the way) on the spines.

2010-03-09T21:45:00.008+01:00

after a visit to the MoMu in Antwerp (for the Delvaux exhibition, which turned out to be good but not as great as i expected it to be), we also went to Tilburg for a visit to the Textile Museum.
some pictures of the visit:

first some coffee at the café...

the exhibition started with some authentic "wool-blanket-making-machines"...

... but what was really amazing was the textile lab: imagine all kinds of fabric-making machines in a big room and people working in it, creating gorgeous textiles, tapestries,... and ofcourse loads and loads of yarns!

unfortunatly, it wasn't allowed to take pictures of the mina perhonen exhibition which was breathtaking and inspiring - i loved it so much!

2010-03-03T20:41:00.007+01:00

as a christmas/birthday present, my boyfriend learned how to knit for me! the plan was to make me a scarf, so he chose a pattern, bought wool (and several knitting books!) and he bought buttons for it too. very cute and sweet, even though he never got beyond the "learning how to knit" phase. (he even went to the local knitting store to ask for help figuring the pattern out, which totally made me giggle.)

this is the pattern (without description) that i'm going to improvise. i'm just going to make a pointy scarf, that goes around the neck and closes with buttons... it's probably going to end up totally different than the example but i don't really mind. (i'm not so much a description-following-kind-of-knitter)

(has he got taste or what?!)

so i started knitting, and because i wasn't sure what would be best, i knitted 3 different points:

1 is a point going up from one side in a ribbed stitch.
2 is a point going up from 2 sides, also in a ribbed stitch.
3 is a point going up from one side in basic stockinette stitch, but longer than the previous two.

this is where i need your help: what would you choose? you can vote using my little poll on the right! or just drop a comment, as you wish!

2010-03-02T22:32:00.006+01:00

my list of inspiring websites, just because:

crafts:
-craftgawker.com a wonderfull site full of photos of anything crafty. you can login and save your favorites, and file them under your own catagories.
-ravelry.com a knitting and crocheting community, where you can add your own projects and look at everything everyone has ever made. i was absolutely godsmacked when i discovered you can even search for a kind of yarn, and see what everyone made with this particular kind of yarn! very inspiring and helpful!
-sewingweb dictionary a sewing dictionary for english sewing terms. comes in quite handy when trying to follow certain sewing patterns.
-spoonflower.com design and print your own custom fabric! there is also a flickr photo group where you can submit your designs.
-craftpudding.com a collection of crafty projects divided into categories (bead craft, recycle craft, needle craft,...)

food:
-foodgawker.com same concept as craftgawker, only this was first. warning: don't visit this website when feeling hungry. (for romantic gals: there now also is weddinggawker.com )

design:
-design*sponge.com the name says it all.
-bloesem blog and how could i forget the famous bloesem blog?
-dezeen.com for the architecture and design lovers. (all credits go to my boyfriend for this one)
-boberika.com fashion, art, design,... lots of pretty things.
-the curiosity shoppe funny, cute, wacky objects.

graphic design:
-ilovetypography.com for interesting reads about typography.
-welovetypography.com the same as the above, but images only!
-fontfeed.com a journal about typography: new fonts, designers and inspiration.
-bookcoverarchive.com my favorite website about book covers so far. do click "randomize"!!
-book by its cover book covers! books! yay!
-the ampersand a blog dedicated to the ampersand. great concept, lots of found typography.
-typenuts.com a website for downloading free typographic backgrounds for your iPhone. (not that i have one)
-collected visuals all about "visually pleasing findings".

...
enjoy!

2010-02-24T20:49:00.005+01:00

my first granny squares:

i'm making 4 different squares: 2 yellow and 2 green, always with a white border. i love the color combination, bright and cheerful!

what do you think?

(also check out my "granny square counter", on the right of this page)

2010-02-21T22:01:00.005+01:00

5 reasons why spring is so much better than winter:

1. spring is the perfect time for squeezing our feet into pretty, open shoes.

2. letting the dog out is so much more enjoyable in spring.

3. having pink things all over your garden makes everyone happy.

4. reading in the grass makes a good book even better.

5. spring is perfect for going on long bike rides.

anyone else longing for spring as much as me? reasons why? do tell!

2010-02-19T16:35:00.007+01:00

i'm in crocheting heaven! i finally received the cotton wool i ordered some weeks ago at HobbyGigant.nl and it finally arrived!
this is going to be one of my biggest crafty projects ever...

i'm going to make a granny square blanket!
it's going to be a lot of work, but the good part is that you can easily crochet on the train, on the bus, while watching tv, while talking to someone, while waiting... i'll post pictures of some finished squares some other time... but i'm loving it already. i love the colors!!

i'm also considering this project as finished:

because i was only practicing my crocheting skills with these squares! i made about fifteen of these squares so far, i might make a pillow cover out of them.

a lot of starting projects lately, i know... as i said, i like working on a lot of different things at the same time. :)

2010-02-18T17:23:00.009+01:00

all you knit is love!
two years ago, i knitted this scarf for my boyfriend. we went to pick out "masculin" blue wool and i knitted it in seedstitch, which is very pretty and easy. knit, purl, knit, repeat this till end, same on the other side. unfortunately i decided to "knit up" all the wool (because it was expensive) which resulted into a really long scarf. he decided it was too long for him to wear, and it turned he didn't like the stitch too much. (he's rather picky about clothes, accesories and shoes) so i ended up wearing it!

anyways, knitting eases my mind and calmes my nerves, so i started yet another knitting project...... i like working on different projects at the same time, so i can change and it never gets boring.

but this one has been a pain in the ass so far! i'll explain why someday. ;)

2010-02-16T11:53:00.006+01:00

after making my spool rack my boyfriend said he wanted to make me a sewing box too. we were already deciding how big it should be and how many compartments it should have, when we went to a flea market and found this:

for only 10 euros it was mine. when we brought it home, we decided to give it a little more color, so we took it apart and painted all the black parts into a toilet-ish green.
which resulted into this:

isn't it gorgeous??

unfortunately, my sewing space is rather small and i have to put it next to my (tiny) sewing table... but once i move out of my parents house i promise i will find a better place for it.

also check out my spool rack: i sorted my sewing thread by color, it's even prettier now:

2010-02-14T19:16:00.010+01:00

great news: i got a blogger award! Tie-ne nominated me and it really made my day. So thank you Tine!!

the award rules are:
1. thank the blogger that gave the award (check)
2. put the award on your blog (check)
3. link the person who nominated you (check)
4. share 7 interesting facts about yourself
5. nominate 7 other bloggers

my 7 interesting facts:
1. i can't go to a flea market or to a thrift store without buying buttons, books, porcelain or vintage tin cans.
2. i really want my older sister and brother to have kids soon, so i can spoil them with selfmade gifts. i would also make a great grandma!
3. i'm currently in my master year in graphic design at KASK in Ghent. my masterproject is about designing pocket book versions of 5 medieval stories. i really enjoy designing books!
4. i started knitting at 18 when a friend of mine lost her scarf. i decided to make her a new one, and i haven't stopped knitting ever since.
5. i finished reading The Dark Tower series by Stephen King some months ago. it took me two years to read all seven books, and when i finished, it was really dissapointing. not because of the ending of the story but because of the ending of the reading.
6. my blog name comes from an interviewi once read in Knack Weekend. i cut it out and pasted it on my sketchbook for my second bachelor year. back then, my blog was mostly about assignments from school and collages and drawings from my sketchbook. although i changed my blog last year; i decided to keep the name because i'm quite a nostalgic person, and i think it suits me very well.
7. i can sleep anywhere, anytime. on the train, on the bus, standing up, in theoretic classes. i even fall asleep sitting on my boyfriends motorcycle.

and i nominate the following bloggers:

1. ma vie en vert: for inspiring me to think ecologic and because i enjoy reading her blog alot.
2. miss stik: for sharing great recepies and inspiration.
3. de oontand blogt: because i love her photos and her original blog name.
4. madam hert : for her original banner and her HOLGA photos.
5. handmaidliset: because i learned how to crochet, just because of her blog.
6. eloleo: for her links to great sewing projects, for her tutorial for the recycled shopping bag and for inspiring so many creative people.
7. emily: for telling us what's hot and happening in beauty world.

2010-02-10T20:59:00.008+01:00

some other hidden treasures i found in a second hand bookstore (to be precise: in "the english bookshop" on the ajuinlei in ghent, i can reccommend this shop to anyone looking for second hand literature, art books or like me, pretty books ) for only 50 cents!
that's what i love about finding these little books: they're all so pretty and really cheap too.

anyway; both the booklets are guides to a museum or to a park. the guide to Osterley Park is my favorite, 'cause of the faded blue color and the simple, yet stylish typography. i bought the other guide for it's odd color combination and the drawing of the canon going all the way to the back of the booklet... picture time!

2010-02-08T21:29:00.005+01:00

just recently, i wrote my (late) new years resolutions for 2010. the list was getting longer and longer, and i realized it was almost impossible to get all of these things done in less than a year.

that's when i discovered the day zero project. the principle is very simple: you write a list of 101 things you want to get done in 1001 days. for me personally, it has been a great help to set my goals (some important, some random). having it on the internet somehow keeps me motivated!

some items on my list (i'm not sharing them all):

1. graduate (working on it)
3. find a job
~~5. learn how to crochet~~
12. use my 5000 brown buttons (working on it)
21. travel somewhere warm
26. grow my hair long (working on it)
44. take a picture everyday for a month
63. give blood
~~64. write a blogpost about the day zero project~~