Howling at the Moon

  Last week I followed a workshop 'Make your own Delft Blue Tile', because I really love Delft Blue. We learned a bit about the history of Delft Blue, how the Dutch got the idea from China in the sixteenth century and brought it back to the Netherlands. The porcelain it was made of gave it a very delicate appearance, but only the puissant rich could afford this type of china. A bit cheaper variety was invented, made of another type of clay, that didn't turn white after baking, but was glazed white afterwards. One of the things I hoped to learn in the workshop was making by own Delft Blue vases, plates and tiles, but it turned out the items have to be baked off in an oven that can reach 1200 degrees Celsius, which I don't have. Also, the cobalt paint blocks that we used aren't available at every streetcorner, so I guess my self made Delft Blue collection will be just this one tile.  In the Delft Blue store I bought beads, that I made into a chain to use for home deco

 A while ago a colleague of mine asked me to crochet a blanket that she wanted to give as a present to another colleague, who's expecting a little girl. I showed her two blankets that I made a couple of months ago (see here and here ). She wasn't really sure which one she liked most, so I made both blankets again. The blanket below is the one she chose.   Pattern: Half Double Crochet Herringbone Stitch (YouTube instructions) by Daisy Farm Crafts    You can make the blanket as wide and long as you want, just by adding more stitches and rows Yarn: Royal by Zeeman Pompoms: PomPon Mix by Pipoos   ~*~ The Terra Madre Top that I made a couple of weeks ago was featured this week by Pattern Paradise ! The little dogs that I made for daughter's teachers were featured by Ginx Craft !

 A couple of weeks ago I went for a workshop Delft Blue Painting with two colleagues. I have painted a little chair in Delft Blue style a while ago, but somehow the colors didn't look like Delft Blue at all, but after the introduction prior to the actual painting, I understood why. I used different colors of blue, but Delft Blue is done all in one color of blue; the darkness of the blue is determined by the amount of water you mix it with. The blue that's used for Delft Blue painting is cobalt. We got a tile to practice on, brushes and a little piece of compact cobalt, that looked totally black. After outlining a flower with a pencil (a design we had to practice with), we had to wet the cobalt and could paint, starting with the lightest color of blue, which looked grey on the tile. To get a darker blue we had to add more cobalt and we ended with the darkest blue. To get the blue color the tile has to be baked off at 1200 degrees Celsius.  After the practicing round, things got

Stash Buster 13   YAY! The new book by Erinna Lee was dropped in my mailbox this week! From her book Amigurumi Treasures I crocheted a lot of projects and now finally Amigurumi Treasures II is out. Lots of great patterns again.  The first one I made is Mackenzie the Seahorse, for another colleague who can deliver any minute now. Working at the operation theaters of a large hospital gives you lots of female coworkers, so there's always at least one that's pregnant.   Pattern : Amigurumi Treasures II by Erinna Lee Yarn : Various Colors of Capri by Katia ~*~ The Summer Top that I made for my daughter was featured by Annemaries Haakblog and Oombawka Design !  

 This spring I started a little vegetable garden. In the grocery store where I do my shopping people got seeds for vegetables and flowers with every ten or so euro they had spend. The flowers did great, but to be honest not all vegetables blossomed under my hands (and sometimes they did while it wasn't intended, because I waited too long to harvest). But I learned and now know what vegetables I want to grow next year and what not.  One of the vegetables that did very well was chard. I don't think I have ever eaten chard. Actually, before I started my little garden I didn't even hear about chard, so I had no recipes at hand either. But I tried something myself and because it didn't taste bad at all, I share the recipe here.   What you need puff pastry 2 shallots 1 grated garlic garlic clove handful of chard, stems and leaves separated   handful grated cheese handful pecans 4 eggs 200cc creme fraiche salt and pepper to taste What to do Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius

 Crocheted clothing is totally hot, according to my daughter, so requests come in one after another. This time it had to be a halter neck top. The good thing is that the request comes always with a pattern, (so she knows for sure I'm making the right piece). This time I had to order the right colors, though, so she had to wait a couple of days before I could start. Let me show you the Summer Halter Neck Top!   Pattern: Summer Halter Neck To p by Rugratz Crochet Yarn: Paris by DROPS ~*~ My Porch Bench Blanket was featured by Pieced Pastimes , Annemaries Haakblog and Sew Can Do ! The little dogs that I made for my daughter's elementary school teachers were featured by Moogly !

 I think I told you this before, but my daughter's favorite brand of clothes is Brandy Melville. Unfortunately there's only one store in The Netherlands and every time we go there, long, long lines of people (young girls and their mothers actually) are waiting to go inside. It may be my daughter's favorite brand, but it's not my favorite store. Not in the least because Brandy Melville clothes are just one size and made for the petites in this world, so most girls that don't fit in the clothes automatically feel big. Not exactly how you want your girl to feel. Anyway, my daughter has some Brandy Melville pieces, one of them a little dress, and asked if I could make an imitation. I thought I could, so we went for fabric. I thought it would take a while before she would find the perfect color and pattern, but no, just five minutes of looking and considering and we could go for the register.  And here it is. One happy daughter again!   ~*~ My Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

 A couple of months ago we asked a landscape architect to make a design for our garden. The garden we have now, is much bigger than what I was used to and the space just overwhelms me. I can not see how to make something nice of the whole terrain. The design the landscaper came up with, is absolutely beautiful. I love it! The actual achievement of the whole project will take some time, because some things depend on the realization of other things, but we made a start by building a porch. I'm also busy with deciding which of the plants there already grow can stay and which ones I will remove. I don't really like (or maybe it's better to say 'really don't like') yellow flowers, so all plants that bloom with yellow flowers will definitely have to go.   The colors I want for my garden are white, pink, burgundy and black. Most of the plants already in my garden give flowers in those colors, so fortunately I don't have to take out a lot of good plants with just th

 What's your favorite ice lolly? Mine is the orange creamsicle. Today I made a smoothie that tasted just like it and in case you are  a fan of orange creamsicles too, I share the recipe with you. WHAT YOU NEED 1 banana 1 cup of fresh orange juice 1/2 cup of whole milk 1/2 cup of frozen Greek yogurt vanilla essence (to taste) orange flavored powdered lemonade (to taste) WHAT TO DO Keep your Greek yogurt in your freezer, so you have frozen yogurt at hand whenever you feel like having a creamsicle smoothie.   Peel the banana and squeeze the orange Put all ingredients in a blender and blend Drink That's it!