Bags, bags, bags

I just finished making a few more bags. Two // Between the lines // Classics (with leather squares), a striped tote (I just love that fabric!) and then something totally new: a bag with a big oilcloth front pocket. A new design which I personally like a lot - let me know what you think about this one! The oilcloth is from Petit Pan and so is the matching orange polka dot fabric. I never worked with oilcloth before but it's actually pretty easy to work with. Also new is the small key ring added on the inside of every bag.

All four bags will be available from my Etsy store later on this week.

Wishing you a great week and a happy Monday!

xo, P.

Avril in June

 

No this is not another post complaining about the weather, though it could have been as Spring really... No, lets just not go there!



Avril simply is the name of some really nice yarn (thread?) I bought a long time ago at a crafts fair but which has remained untouched until now. Avril is a Japanese label for all natural yarns and thread. What I liked about mine is the subtle variegated color (and the way it's presented on a simple but stylish cardboard cone) - the base color is moss, but the tones range from khaki green to darkish grey almost. Lovely!



It's been sitting on my shelf for almost two years and I'm glad I remembered it when I was thinking about making friendship bracelets - I like knotting and I was looking for a fast little project in between... (euh, fast?! I'm still not done and I started it on Sunday.)



It combines really well with the tiny copper beads, I believe... it's nice to the touch and perfect for knotting.



Any little gems hidden in your closet?

And the winners are...

 

And the winners of the MOO giveaway are:

Sarah said..

MOO cards are so smooth and beautiful! I would love to get a set of cards now that I've got my career lined up! :)

June 3, 2012 10:35 PM

Frances said...

Ahh, here's an opportunity to allow the power of the internet to wave a magic wand.

I've been reading about Moo cards for a few years, seeing many praises from folks who've been so pleased with the Moo products.

On this side of the Atlantic, I've yet to actually touch a Moo card. The chance to have my very own Moo cards is tantalizing.

Best wishes!

June 4, 2012 12:55 AM

rebecca said...

I love the mini cards - I've used them for birthday party favors as well as for my jewelry business. my email is rdorris AT gmail DOT com

June 8, 2012 4:25 PM

Congratulations, ladies! I'll forward your contact information to the people at MOO and they will get in touch with you shortly!

Thanks for participating to all!

Wishing you a happy Monday!

xo, P.

End-of-school year fever

Cherries, they're one of my favorite fruits.
That and apricots and nectarines and melon and strawberries.
And even if we didn't have much Spring-like or Summer-y weather lately, at least we try to enjoy this season's fruits as much as possible.

I haven't had much time to work on anything really this week and it looks like it will stay that way for a while. Not that I lack ideas - my head is bursting with all the things I still want to do before vacation starts. I have an idea for a very cool tutorial, for instance, if only I could get my act together... End-of-school year fever...

If you haven't signed up yet for the MOO giveaway, you can still do so until Sunday 10th, midnight CET! Hurry up!

Wishing you a great weekend!

xo, P.

MOO Giveaway!!

Yes, you read that correctly! Today's post is a giveaway! A very cool giveaway - a big one! If you are a regular visitor of my blog, you probably know I don't run sponsored posts here. But I'm more than happy to make this one exception!



I've bragged a couple of times already about MOO postcards I had ordered and about my MOO MiniCards (so cute!). I have been a big fan of MOO ever since I discovered them through Flickr a couple of years ago. I ordered postcards and MiniCards from them and have been a very satisfied costumer. A little while ago I was contacted by Dan at MOO's with the question if I'd be interested in placing an order at their expense combined with running a giveaway on my blog. Wow! No need to think twice about that one!  So, I ordered a new stack of postcards (I ran out of the previous ones) and MOO MiniCards, because I simply love those MiniCards (did I mention yet how cute those MiniCards are?), and stickers, a new product to me. I couldn't believe how fast everything got here and again I'm totally over the MOOn about how beautiful everything came out!



So, if you don't know MOO yet this is a great opportunity for you! And if you do know MOO already, you know what I'm talking about!

So, let's get to the point:
MOO is - generously - offering a 100-pack of business cards to three (yes, 3!)  readers of this blog. All you need to do is leave a comment at the end of this post. Tell us what you like about MOO if you know them already or what you'd use your business cards for if you were to win. Sign-up will be open until Sunday, June 10th, midnight CET ( Paris, France that is). The three winners will be announced on Monday, June 11th. Make sure to leave a valid e-mail address in your comment!

And now, everyone, head over to MOO!!

Good luck!

_______________________________________________________________________________

Comments are closed now - the winners will be announced shortly!

Thanks for participating!

Work in progress...

I have been working on these last week.
Soon to be available in my Etsy shop...
There's more to come!

Wishing you a great week!

H

 

Little H.: "Mom, which bag can I use?" - As in: 'I don't have a bag to put my gym stuff in...'
Can you believe this is an ever returning question here? Our place looks like bag-country, or better: it is bag-country, with bags hanging and lying around everywhere!  Most of them where homemade, but I bought quite some over the years as well - the excuse most often being: at that price I can't make it!
Anyway, last Saturday little H. couldn't find a bag to put her aerobics stuff in (did I ever mention she discovered aerobics this year and got totally hooked. Aerobics, well the kind she does, has nothing to do with Jane Fonda nor the eighties. No leg warmers, no hairbands, but a lot of jumping around at very high speed in a choreographic setting. You need a lot of flexibility (which she has to a freaking extent - we have no idea who she got that from) and muscle strength in order to keep up. But I'm so deviating, here, I guess, from today's topic.)

Me: 'You can't find a bag? Would you like me to make you one?' 'Yes, mommy, please!' We were one hour away from her Saturday aerobics class - I guess I felt like sewing...
I went for the grey sweater knit fabric which I got at a discount because there was a hole in it somewhere. But grey is just grey, right? So, I decided to add a nice little detail. I am creative, but not when it comes to adding details. You won't find butterflies or flower appliqués in my designs for the simple reason I'm not good at drawing (and also because I'm simply not a butterfly-flowery person). That's why I stick to squares and circles which are harder to mess up. Here, I didn't get any further than adding the first letter of her name. To get the Abercrombie & Fitch appliqué kind of effect, I used several layers of  fabric - which worked out fine, but for the in between layers, I might as well have used something else than my nicest fabrics since you can't see them - even the smallest child would have known that.  Oh well! With the appliqué we were already more than half an hour down the road and I still needed to fix the lining (dropped the inside pocket - sorry!) and the handles. You guessed it, even though I worked like crazy and kranked up the speed of my sewing machine, I didn't finish the bag in time, so she still had to chose one from her extensive collection ( she chose this one - still a favorite!). But, hey, I finished it right after class and she was as happy as could be. As for me: it's not my best work ever but it was a fun little project for a grey Saturday afternoon.
Oh, the weather... it has been so miserable the passed couple of weeks. It feels like we skipped a couple of seasons with all the rain we had lately but let's not go down that road. Not today!

Note: This bag could easily be made from an old sweater. It's a simple tote like this one - except for the boxed corners and appliquéd handles.

So frustrated

Everyone had the day off here. And what started as a day with potential for fun activities became a long, boring and frustrating day.  Because of (stubborn) me and a stupid printer!

It all started with little H. and me wanting to finally tackle the birthday party invitation issue. In no time we had the invitation ready on my laptop. We had a list ready with invitees. All that remained to be done was the printing. Only: the ink cartridge seemed to run low on yellow, and you need yellow in order to print green, don't you. Our invitation came out all purple and blue. Nothing wrong with that according to little H., but mommy is a perfectionist (sometimes) so she ran to the store to get a new color cartridge. Got home, installed it and... And nothing! The printer refused to print, except for a test page which clearly showed the presence of yellow now. I should have stopped here. We could still print with the old cartridge, couldn't we?! But no, I wanted to fix the problem. I checked settings, configurations, tried to find solutions online... And time flew by. I ran to the store again thinking that replacing the black cartridge as well, would do the trick. It only got worse: even the test page wouldn't come out now. I'll spare you the details of a long investigation, but it turns out that print cartridges for this particular brand of printer have a regional code (besides their expiration date - hence the absence of yellow!). And since we bought the printer in the US a long time ago (it never got used until now - long story!) and replaced the American expired but brand new cartridges with same brand cartridges meant for the European market, we have a compatibility problem.  Obviously, the warranty has expired as well. I do hope the help desk will contact me with a solution, though, but to be honest I doubt it...

Regional codes, seriously?!
Such a waste of precious and much needed family time...

And I felt bad about it all night.

Paris, je t'aime :: the day after

Random pictures from a random walk the day after the French presidential elections.


Blue Blanc Rouge



Ariane 




Superheroes
Hollande - Sarkozy :: le rassemblement 




Riverin Hollande

Leather tote

 

The facts:

1. I like the leather Baggu bags which have been showing up everywhere lately.
2. I have so many bags already, I really have the feeling I can't justify spending that much money on yet another bag, because, yes, that's what they are: a little bit on the expensive side.
3. I love sewing, especially bags. I even have my very own bag pattern, very similar to this Baggu tote.
4. I have tons of leather waiting to be transformed into bags among other things.  

Hence, I made my very own 'Baggu' style bag.

And I used one of my new labels, which I just love, love, love and which I got here.

Skirts

We're in anticipation of Summer - which might never come - at least that's what it feels like right now. It's dark and grey again as I'm writing...

Anyway, chances are my Flemish and Dutch readers know this book by now. Yes, I'm talking about 'Allemaal rokjes' (literally translated it means 'all skirts') by Mme Zsazsa and Elza D, a fun book with different skirt patterns for moms and girls. The explanations are easy to follow, the patterns are great and the book is a fun read as such. Sewing won't become easier than this. Let's hope the book get's translated. Wat zou je daarvan vinden, Mme Zsazsa?!

I made this a-line skirt from the book for little H. last week. I made another one for M. as well, but 'the light' (read: the weather) has been so poor we didn't have a chance yet to take pictures. There are more skirts to follow, as we bought plenty of fabric, also last week. I might even try the A-line skirt pattern for myself. Unless... Vinde Gij Mijn Gat (Niet Te Dik In Deze Rok?)* I can't help thinking of that song in relation to skirts. My Flemish readers definitely know what I'm referring to...
The fit of this pattern, however, is great so I'm pretty confident. Usually when sewing for my girls I need to make alterations to make it work. Not here. In both cases the skirt fit like a glove.

And now, could we, please, get a little bit of sunshine around these areas...?


The details: The fabric is from Anna Ka Bazaar. The zipper is vintage. I kept it visible - intentionally - because I like the color. I used white popeline for the lining and - intentionally - made it pass at the top for a faux piping effect. The jacket is something old - I knit it a long time ago from a Debby Bliss book in my favorite Lambs Pride Yarn (which, unfortunately, I can't find around here).


* Don't you think (my butt looks fat in this skirt) - a hilarious song by the Clement Peerens Explosition, a Belgian parody rock band from the 90's.

Spring Break :: 't Zwin

 

You probably guessed it but we were (well, actually still are) on Spring break. Despite the bad weather I took the girls to the Belgian coast last week. It rained and rained and rained some more but we did have a great time and even got a teensy bit of sun in between showers.
One of the highlights of our week was our trip to 't Zwin in Knokke-Zoute, a beautiful nature park and breeding spot for stork and many other birds. We saw and heard quite a few stork - simply amazing. And the one in the picture treated us to a defile as if on a catwalk, walking slowly and elegantly not the least bit shy. All, while I was taking pictures in real paparazzo style, trying not to disturb the bird but getting as many shots as possible. Wonderful!
After our visit to 't Zwin (and after taking off our muddy boots and clothes and me performing a silly dance with one foot still half way in a boot and the other one wearing a sneaker in an attempt to catch a plastic bag which flew from our car trunc - I got it! ) we went to Marie Siska for pancakes and some more fun at the playground.

A perfect afternoon despite the rain - you can't tell from the pictures, but as soon as we bought our entry tickets it started pouring - p o u r i n g! - for a minute we thought about going back to the car and simply leaving. And are we glad we didn't...!

Tree tops

 








 







All pictures taken on Easter Monday...
Spring at different paces.

Euhm... another bracelet? Really!?

I hope you all had a nice Easter weekend.
Ours was a bit more quiet than expected, with one sick girl in the house. Quiet but nice.
I found time to go through some stuff of mine and that's when I discovered this bracelet. I think it came with a magazine a couple of years ago and I never really wore it if remember correctly, finding it a bit plain. Anyway, at the sight of it, a little voice in my head went 'craft - color - paint'.  A couple of hours later I ended up with this. I kind of like it.



Initially, I wanted the orange to be neon. It's the second time I tried the neon orange paint I got (Pébéo Studio Acrylics - #370 Fluo Orange), and again it let me down. For some reason, it doesn't adhere to anything. So, after at least four (five?) layers, I ended up mixing it with some other orange acrylic paint I still had. The color turned out ok, not as flashy as 100% fluo would have given me, but still flashy.
Besides orange, I used gold, still left from this project, silver and sand color. I just wish I'd been a bit more patient and had waited a little longer before applying painters tape to a rather fresh (dry to the touch, though) coat of gold. Some parts came off and I had to start all over again. Well, that explains the 'rustic' look. Let's just assume that I intended it that way.

 


If you'd like to try this, all you need is a wooden bracelet, acrylic paint in a set of colors of your choice, painters tape, brushes and elastic - i.e. if you cut the original one to pieces like I did. Well, I guess I really wanted to use my neon orange elastic!




The process is kind of straightforward. Tape off areas, paint, let dry. Add another layer or two. Repeat for different colors, let dry and finally put back together with elastic.

Et voilà, another bracelet to add to the collection!!

Herb garden

We're at it again. Maybe we shouldn't. I mentioned it here a couple of times already, neither one of us has a green thumb. Whichever plant we tried, it died.

And every Springtime we give it another try.
Right now we have lavender and Marguerites or white daisies on the balcony.
And herbs on the kitchen windowsill.

I changed watering strategies. Instead of giving them water a couple of times a week, I now soak every plant in a bucket of water once a week (for now) - until there are no more bubbles emerging from the pot, just as I was told by the seller at the plant store. And I'm feeding my plants coffee grinds, saved throughout the week in a plastic container, something I picked up from a lifestyle magazine on French TV.
So far, so good.

So, lately, we've been enjoying fresh mint on our cucumbers (with just a bit of coarse salt added - divine!), basil on our tomatoes. And I do like a touch of rosemary on a roast. I just try not to think of all the bad stuff in the air and the construction works around the corner in particular, when I'm savoring my insalata caprese.
 
We still have some space left on our windowsill - I might add cilantro, if I can find any, and maybe some parsley as well.
What's growing in your herb garden. Any tips or tricks?

Wishing you a...

// Happy Easter //
and lots of chocolates!

xo, P.

Bracelets, once more...

I don't know how your week has been, but mine was weird. And short.

Flat tire on Tuesday, right when we were supposed to head off to gymnastics. Had to go by bus which we missed, so we had to wait and hence M. was late.
Wednesday, I had to get the tire fixed besides everything else on a usual Wednesday . Thursday, I was supposed to prepare samples of crafts activities for an upcoming school event - I wasn't in a crafty mood, apparently, since nothing seemed to work out the way I wanted. On top of that a big photo frame came down from a shelf, shattered to pieces, glass everywhere and me almost having a heart attack from all the rumpus it made. It took me awhile to pick up the pieces and while I was vacuum cleaning the last bits, I decided to quickly do the kitchen floor as well. That's when I noticed a big puddle of water under the washing machine... It was close to pick up time from school and I was trying to find a leak... No way I could move the heavy machine on my own. So, it had to wait until K. got home. Nothing wrong with the machine - thank goodness - just one of the joints in the water pipe running behind the machine that gave up. The leak got fixed on Friday morning - no harm done.
And that was my week, sort of.
Good thing at least the weather was nice, which allowed a short stop at the park after school almost every day.



Anyway, yesterday while I was still thinking about bracelets for the upcoming school event, I came up with this twisted rope/embroidery floss bracelet. Easy to make and at very low cost. Make it longer, tie a knot at both ends and you have nice rope handles for a summer tote... I might try this actually, if I find a spare moment.

In the meantime here's a short how-to for the bracelets. The rope blends perfectly in with the new styles for summer: espadrilles, rope wedges... If you want a more finished look, instead of tying a knot attach a clasp.



All you need is embroidery floss, hemp rope, a pencil for twisting, and something to hold the rope while twisting (I used a piece of wood with a nail, a ring binder will work equally well).

1. Cut several strands of embroidery floss and one strand of rope, of equal length. Tie them all together to form a closed loop.

2. Place loop over the nail, or ring of the binder and slip your pencil through the loop at the other end.

3. Start twisting and continue until the twisted rope starts twisting onto it self. Redistribute where necessary to get a nice twisted rope. Tie a knot through the loop and done!

Make a bunch to cover wrists, ankles,... Make them smaller and you obtain perfect napkin rings for that first spring garden party (or autumn outdoor gathering if you happen to live on the other half of the planet). Just play around with it and have fun!

Well, it's not my best idea ever, but at least I have the feeling I did something creative this week!


Wishing you a nice weekend!
xo, Pascale

And the winner is...

 Tania said...
Congratulations, and what a brilliant giveaway, thank you!
ollieandt@gmail.com

March 15, 2012 3:31 AM

Congratulations, Tania! I will send your information to C&T publishing and they'll take care of the rest!
Thanks again everyone for your enthusiasm about the book!!