Howling at the Moon

A couple of weeks ago I made a giant flamingo for my daughter and since then, she is completely into flamingos. So when she saw this smaller flamingo in the Amigurumi Alfabet book by Christel Krukkert, I had to make that one, too.   www.betweennapsontheporch.net My daughter is playing mother and daughter flamingo with them, which means mostly the smaller one has to take long rides on the back of the larger flamingo. Really cute, I think. ~*~  This week my Rainbow Rose was featured by Mazkwok . Thank you!

Laura Byrnes California Malia Top by Pinup Couture

It's King's Day in the Netherlands today and while for most of the Dutch people that means traveling from everywhere in the country to the capital city to drink beer until they drop down, for us, the mothers (and sometimes the fathers), it means selling old toys or self made stuff from and with our kids. Or not exactly with our kids, but more on our own, because after three minutes the kids take off with their friends and the mothers have to run the business.  My daughters have been busy all weekend making earrings. My husband made a nice board for them to hang the earrings from. Unfortunately the weather forecast says snow (the first time we have snow this year, now that it's spring; unbelievable), so I so hope for my daughters, and also a lot for myself, the weatherman will be wrong.     www.betweennapsontheporch.net To eat after selling I made orange tompouces (Napoleons). Everything is orange and red/white/blue at King's Day, because Van Or...

As told last week I'm busy making some clothes for my trip to Menorca in June. From experience I know it will be warm and sunny then, so I'm making tank tops and singlets mostly. This is my latest DIY frock. Bought another cheap tank top, cut and tied fringes at the bottom and embellished it with wooden beads. Whole different look.  www.betweennapsontheporch.net

For almost my entire life, I went on vacation to Menorca, a little island in the Mediterranean Sea. First as a child, with my parents, brother and sister, and now with my own family. Of course I've seen other places meanwhile, but I always come back to Menorca. I love the island, the people, the food, the vibes and of course the friends who live there.  For the first time since I have kids, I go on my own to Menorca, to visit my friends and to celebrate Festes de Sant Joan. I'm really looking forward to it, but (of course) there's the guilt, because my daughters love Menorca, too, but I'm going alone (for my husband it's all the same, he doesn't have the same nostalgic feelings for the island as I have, and he thinks Menorca is as good as any other island).  This week I started making a couple of clothes to bring with me. At first there is the airy singlet. I bought a simple, cheap singlet, crocheted a pretty doily, embroidered the doily to the single...

Ava Dress in Spanish Red Rose by Pinup Couture

And after making the R from the book Amigurumi Alphabet by Christel Krukkert last week, of course I had to crochet the Y for my oldest, who's name is Yara. ~*~ My Rainbow Rose was featured by Pattern Paradise , by City of Creative Dreams, by Creative Jewish Mom , by Sew Can Do , by Across the Boulevard and by Oombawka Design !! Thank you, ladies! 

 A couple of weeks ago someone pointed out the book Amigurumi Alfabet by Christel Krukkert to me (unfortunately only available in Dutch) and because I was looking for good character patterns for a while I decided to buy the book. I started with the R for my daughter Reva.  www.betweennapsontheporch.net All characters come with an animal pattern that starts with the same letter, hence the ring-tailed lemur. My youngest feels lucky for having the lemur, while my oldest has the yak. And although I love yaks, and all other sorts of cows for that matter, my oldest seems to take it personal and asked if I could please find another, cuter and fluffier, animal starting with an Y, haha! ~*~ Scrapality , Creating My Way to Success , Oui Crochet and Creative Jewish Mom all featured my Love&Peace Dress this week!! Thanks, Andrea, Jill, Susie and Sara!!

Ava Dress by Pinup Couture

Do you know rainbow roses? Real roses colored like rainbows? They're made by splitting the stem in four and putting each part in a different food coloring bath. The stem sucks up the coloring and the rose should color like a rainbow. Sounds easy, but after trying several times with no rainbow coloring of my roses at all, I gave up.  Source But then I saw a crocheted version of the Rainbow Rose, so I made that one! www.betweennapsontheporch.net For the Princess Dress I'm working on for some weeks now for my daughter, I've made this Rainbow Rose with leftovers from the Love&Peace Dress . It was just what I needed to get in the mood to finish the whole dress. Sometimes I start making something and then, just when I only have to do the seaming or only have to put on three buttons, I can't find the zest for it. Some projects are flinging about for years and out of sight is out of heart. The dress is lucky, it's still...

My oldest daughter saw this dress on Pinterest and fell in love immediately. I always have encouraged my daughters to choose their own clothes and to develop their own style, so I really liked it when my daughter came with this idea and asked me if I could make her one. I couldn't find a pattern though, so I had to make up my own version, but at least the colors are the same.  www.betweennapsontheporch.net

Margaret Rose Dress by Pinup Couture

For some reason in The Netherlands there's not just one day of Easter, but two. The second day, a lot of families go shopping (but mostly looking) for funiture, for especially furniture malls are open. Normally I try to avoid these crowds and stay inside, but we needed a new coffee table and thought that it would be relatively quiet if we went before all brunches and lunches (another tradition here for lots of families) were finished. Luckily we were right about that, so before we left we not only had a table but had lunch in the same mall, too. And while we were carrying our table to the car, hoards of shoppers came towards us. Just in time.    From a cushion of our old couch and a piece of cloth I made a small bench to fit with the new table. You can lift the cushion and store stuff underneath (like games and toys of my daughters, that would lie around the living room otherwise). Just a new table and a new little bench and your whole living room looks comple...

Just a small project: potholders! Because the other day I found an adorable butterfly hook in one of my favorites stores: Flying Tiger . Perfect to hang potholders from. And since one can never have too much potholders....   www.betweennapsontheporch.net ~*~ Speaking of butterflies: how do you find my new artwork, made by Jacko de Kroon? The antique glass-bell is about fifty centimeters high and it's filled with three butterflies, called Papilio lorquianus. I just love it and can't stop looking at it.  ~*~

Flamingo Earrings by Doodad and Fandango