Monday, 6 August 2012

A trip to Holland and another finished project...

I know, it's been ages again... Since it's my aging day I decided it was time I posted something again... I promise you I have been busy and I've got about a thousand things in my head that I would like to try out, but unfortunately I don't seem to find the time to complete all of them (even during the holidays). Last week, for instance, my BFF zjizjipke and I decided to expand our knowledge on the Netherlands (well, if finding a few interesting shops and a nice beach to lie on qualify as expanding knowledge)... The loot was once again superb (well I think so anyway). We made a little trip to Tilburg first where we went to visit the local fabric market. Unfortunately my favourite fabric guy wasn't there, so I didn't buy any. And then we took a trip (read: we crossed the street) to Pipoos, a hobbycrafter paradise... I think I let myself go just a little bit...


I know it doesn't look like much, but trust me, my bank account is still trying to recover... So after this short morning stop it was back in the car and on to Vlissingen, a nice coast town in Zeeland. After enjoying a nice lunch and some time on the beach (resulting in sand everywhere) we decided to visit the local shops as well. The good thing is that we never just stick to the main shopping street, but that we also decide to check out the side streets which resulted in a fantastic find: a cute little shop filled with beads and other lovely things. I think I went a bit crazy in that store as well...


These will definitely come in handy in the future projects... And what do I find when I get home... A recently ordered book which I discovered by accident while I was shopping for Zjizjipke's birthday. I loved the book so much I just had to have it myself...


I'm going to have a lot of fun with this book... Which brings me to something else I enjoyed making for a friend of mine. I had been searching the internet for a while on how to make your own chalkboard paint and I was ready to get my hands dirty when I got to the store and discovered that it would cost me less to buy the ready-to-use chalkboard paint than if I bought all of the ingredients to make it myself. Result: I bought me a small bucket of chalkboard paint (dark grey), I went to another store to buy a dinner plate and some coffee cups and I was ready to get started. The idea was to turn the dinner plate into a message board, and the cups just had to have a few different shapes on it, just for the fun of it. So I started out with some tape to make beautiful shapes and figures on the cups, and to make the message square on the plate. Then I started my painting (and making a mess of everything)...


I used a porcelain paint marker to write the message above (I did this before I started with the chalkboard paint, of course). Now the idea was to let it rest and dry outside and then to take off the tape. But, then the little voices in my head (I think there's two right now) started arguing whether taking the tape off then might damage the painted surface. Maybe it would be better to take it off while the paint was still wet... And little old me decided to listen to the doubter and takes off the tape, which resulted in tiny little splashes right around the edge of the painted surface. I loved this result a lot more than I ever would have loved the straight lines that could have been created...


I just love the erratic lines... Now all I have to do is wrap the presents and give it to the lucky birthday girl... Now I have made a few other items as well using mod podge and other crafty goodies, but I think I'll save them for another day... As always, I love to see you again soon...

Love, Crazy Crafter xxx

Tuesday, 10 July 2012

My apologies...

First of all I would like to apologise for being absent for so long... It's been a hectic month and a half (with final classes, exams, corrections and deliberations) and I'm afraid the busy days aren't over yet... After all my mother, brother, sister and myself have all decided to move within the next 4 months, resulting in big messes everywhere with overstuffed boxes and unpacked items in pretty much every room of the house (and of my brother's and sister's house)... So lots of work to do, but I'm also glad I'm able to show you something else I've been working.

Recently I've finished a project for a good friend of mine who's decided it was time to leave the parentals and move into her own little piece of heaven. So, as one of the housewarming gifts I decided to cross stitch something she could hang on her wall. Thanks to pinterest I had my little "keep calm and..." phase and as a teacher I just loved the "keep calm and pretend this is on the lesson plan" one. Classes can be a bit chaotic at times and sometimes you might forget your books or something else you had planned on using, so the key is always to remain calm and act like it was supposed to happen... Works like a charm... Most of the time. Anyway, turns out that my friend is a teacher too, so I decided that she should definitely be in the know to this little teacher's secret... And voila... The result (framed and all) as I will be presenting it to her in a few days/weeks/when I see her again...



A few months ago I started making my flowery granny pillow. After making all of the little squares and connecting them all into a nice little square I was left with only one thing to do: create the back of the pillow. Unfortunately, my skills on the sewing machine are not that advanced yet, I needed the help of mommy dearest and this week she finally found some time to help me finish the pillow...

The beginning... Some little flowery squares...

Starting to put them together...

Finished putting them together...

Now all that's left is dealing with the spaghetti...

Spaghetti solved!!!

A little close-up of the flowers...

The finished result

And the backside. I bought this cute fabric in Ikea and couldn't resist combining it with the flowers

And a close-up of the end result...

Now I'm not going to post the pattern for you since I had some help in that department. Just go to http://rosehip.typepad.com/rose_hip_blog/2008/11/index.html and start crocheting... Good luck and I hope to see some of your results in the future ;-)

Love,
Crazy Crafter...

Thursday, 31 May 2012

Perhaps another photo challenge?!?

So, I've just finished this photo challenge and I'm already considering another one. This time though, I don't think I'll be able to make all of the challenges since my students' exams are coming up and I'll be doing a lot of correcting... But anyhowx, here's the idea for June...


I do feel there are some beautiful pictures in the making here... Let's see if I can try to make it work...

Love,
Crazy Crafter...

#photoadayMay ... Day 31 ... Something beautiful...

Wow, I can't believe we're already at the final day of the photo challenge... It's been loads of fun (and at times challenging), so it's definitely something we need to do again ;-)

Now, for today I decided to go for something I always love to watch every time spring comes along: blooming flowers in all of those gorgeous trees...


Gorgeous blossoms right??? So, enjoy!!!

Love,
Crazy Crafter xxx

Wednesday, 30 May 2012

#photoadayMay ... Day 30 ... My personality

This is a difficult one, because there are many words that describe my personality: I'm bubbly (most of the time), smart, sweet, funny, kind, proud and stubborn, hard-working,... But if I had to take a photo of my personality, I'd currently go for something like this...


A waterlily... (Sorry, I didn't actually take the picture, but it's so pretty and kind of makes my point): I feel like I have a beautiful personality that is still trying to find itself completely. I've gone through a lot of changes the past 2 or 3 years and they haven't stopped yet. The blooming can also represent my creative side that is finally starting to make its way to the surface. And lastly, just like a waterlily, I only reveal my true self when I'm ready for it (so around the people I trust)... Ok, I think that's it... 'Til tomorrow...

Love,
Crazy Crafter xxx

Tuesday, 29 May 2012

#photoadayMay ... Day 29 ... A number

So... hi again... For this one I decided to go for the number 31, since that is the number of days left until the summer holidays (2 months of blissful rest, so I can start anew in September and teach my students some useful languages)


I guess I'll see you tomorrow then...

Love, Crazy Crafter xxx

Monday, 28 May 2012

#photoadayMay ... Day 28... The weather today

And we're back on track...
Luckily today's weather (as last week's) was absolutely gorgeous... Lots of sunshine, no clouds, and a pleasant heat (although at times it does get a bit too hot)...


Just check out the neighbour's roof and a tree-top (including bird) and then... The gorgeous blue sky... Now all I have to do, is hope that my room will cool down a bit before I go to sleep (about 30°C does not make for a comfortable sleeping temperature...) So keep your fingers crossed...

Love,
Crazy Crafter xxx