Bag tutorial

Isn't my new bicycle a beauty? It's a birthday present from my husband. I love the big trunk on the front. I can throw in just about everything. I'm showing off a little here, but it's also the perfect opportunity to show my new summer fling bag. This bag is everybody's darling. I get so many compliments and questions about it, so I figured a tutorial would be convenient. Just click on the picture below, to get the full tutorial.

DWZI/This week I saw...

Deze week kreeg ik eindelijk weer eens een opdracht voor de winkel. Iemand wilde een iPhone hoesje laten maken dat past bij een tas die gemaakt is van een Zwitserse legerdeken. Ik heb al een hoop van deze hoesjes gemaakt, meestal met een logo of een naam erop. Wil je ook een zelfgemaakt cadeau, neem dan gerust contact op. In de winkel staan vooral voorbeelden van wat ik eerder heb gemaakt. Iets nieuws doen is tenslotte veel leuker! Zo'n tas zou ik trouwens ook niet gek vinden!

This week I finally got a new assignment for the shop. Somebody wanted an iPhone cover to accompany a bag made of a Swiss Army blanket. I love making handmade gifts, so don't hesitate to contact me, if you want to have or to give a handmade present.

Saar seven

One of Lauren's best friends is having her birthday today. She had a request. A pillow for her room. When I asked her what color it should be, she answered: "Blue, that's the one color that's missing..." Blue it is, well, rainbow it is actually, because I figured that's what her room should be in her eyes. Happy birthday, dear Saar!

Summer fling

It has been summer up here for two whole months and now, when I want to show you my latest project, it's raining. Anyway, summer inspired me. My favorite season. The sun, the beach, the garden parties, every cliche you can think of! Love the heat too, although in Holland we don't get that very often.

I was never much into yellow, but last weeks, yellow keeps popping up. It is the most summery color after all. These colors inspired me to this bag.

The facing I used was too heavy, it's more like a freezerbag now. Well, that might come in handy to bring bottles of cold whatever to the beach. I came up with, what I thougth to be really fancy, pockets on the inside of the flaps that hold the wooden handle. Bad idea.

Besides that, I don't feel at ease with this loud colors in the end. Summer can also be like this, don't you think?

And I think this bag goes great with it. I adjusted the pattern a little bit, for the better.  I tried to take a picture of myself in the mirror, because a liked the way my shoes matched the bag.... There was no daylight whatsoever and the mirror was full of greasy little fingers. I like the twirling colors, though.

Hipstamatic exhibition

Last week I read about an exhibition at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, of pictures made by both professionals and amateurs, using the Hipstamatic app from their smartphone. My husbands asked wether I heard about this app. I was going to show him, while I told him about how annoying I thought this app was and how annoying the fact that everybody uses it on their blogs. So I took a picture of an astrantia that was in front of me to show him how stupid it was. We were both silent, because we actually liked this picture. Very much!

Hunters and collectors

History began in school with the (very boring) chapter about hunters and collectors. Luckily there was more to history than just that, but I thought about it when we were on a daytrip to Texel. Our boys still are hunters, shrimpfishers to be more precise and our daughter is a collector. She's looking for shells. Years ago we made this mobiles with the shells we found. The beauty she found last week, was perfect for a necklace, inspired by this one from Vlijtig.

Happy day

Don't tell my children, but Mother's Day means nothing to me. I like the little works of art they make at school, and I like their excitement about it, but that's it. My mother felt the same about the whole concept, so instead she bought a cake, to treat us. Now there's a tradition I like. That's easy, because I like traditions anyhow. I made this strawberry pavlova. Isn't this just summer-on-a-plate? I'm a decent cook, but baking is a whole other story. This pavlova however,  is also for rookies like me. The hand that cuts the cake, did that also thirteen years ago. Happy anniversary!

This week I saw/DWZI

...fashion statements from our children. Check the crossed velcro from her her sneakers. These pictures were taken on Texel. An island in the North of Holland. We took a day off and went with an early boat and returned with a late one. It feels like a holiday! We ride our bikes off course and the children went shrimpfishing while we were enjoying the sun on the beach.