if you still need some more craft ideas – Japanese are there to help

jei vis dar truksta rankdarbiam ideju – gelbeja japonai

Cotton & Paint 2007 vol.28

bags for little people

passport case

Cotton & Paint 2007 vol.27

lunch bags

Linen & Cotton vol2

mini sewing case

more for packing lunch

Cafe 2006 autumn vol5

kids party ideas

something like this could be made by you and your child

sewing travel case

lovely bag idea

More ideas and promised little gift – tomorrow.

Those linen booties and crock stitching in my previous post where both copied from ever so inspiring Japanese craft magazines/books.

Here are a couple from my stash:

For my sweet baby ISBN4-07-246385-x

I’ve bought mine here but you can try other places. Some more pictures: here and here.

Next up it’s one of my favourites:

Heart warming life series – Idees special ISBN978-4-529-04493-6

Found a good site with quite a few Japanese craft books reviews in it. Have fun!

Two people made a little precious person and I made a little welcome gift for them/him.

Linen/cotton/wool filling. Mushroom toy has a squeaker…to hopefully entertain…

Some more of those little things to come.

This pencil case will not be up for sale, but still hope it will be for someone. Don’t know for who yet…

With help from Lithuanian post, my part of a swap finally reached  Loreta!  So, what was in that box:

Jane. This girl has a bit of a history as originally she looked very different from what you see in this picture below (for 4 years she was very much a girl of more modern times -  bright clothes, ginger hair… high boots and she was tucked away in one of my craft boxes).  My swap partner loves original dolls and she loves old, vintage things, so I decided to embrace the challenge in order to surprise her… I’ve only kept the original body and changed the rest to make Jane look like she’s from some older times (her dress is actually made from a vintage and I believe early 20th century fabric and lace!) … It took me two long nights till I got some sort of decent (not perfect) result… I can only hope Loreta honestly likes Jane. As for me – no more dolls on my work desk any time soon!

Loreta’s youngest daughter Une is attending art school, this pencil case is for her…

It was a great fun. And I’ve got some beautiful stuff to remind me of it for the rest of my life. Thanks again Loreta! x

I want to do more swaps!

it’s finished. But I haven’t quite decided what it is gonna be for… ‘sigh’. Well, originally it was meant to be a placemat for my older son, but I’ve changed my mind. And my boy doesn’t mind it (as long as it’s going to be something for him). So, I’m still thinking. Once I’ve completed this project I’ll let you know. It might take a while though… But for now lets have a look

Some of you might have recognized, I’ve borrowed my picture from this beautiful book. Delphine Durand is one of our very favourite illustrators and if you don’t know her yet – here, yep, she is fantastic. And those stories she illustrates… eh! I only wish there would be more (all) of her books in English.

I’ve been stitching intensively for the last two nights. You can see my first trial a couple of post ago where I’ve shown one picture… since then I had to change the process a bit and start again, but at last we have the result – a place mat  for my youngest who loves almost all living creatures and trains And loves to eat.

Stitching is easy, only getting everything ready for it takes a bit of time: I had to enlarge the original picture (below), cut out all the felt pieces I wanted on my mat and just stitch them all on. Now my older boy wants a mat too, so the same process only with a different theme is awaiting me…

it’s from this beautiful Japanese magazine I’ve treated myself to

Looking at this and other Japanese craft magazines I have (I’m gonna share some favourites here with you one day), I get so built up to make things… Once I get another place mat done, I’ve been wanting to make some simple linen ones for all of us, I want lunch bags for my boys, pencil cases, mini pouches, baby stuff and new toys… cushions, clothes…. jewlery! Yes…

Will see how far I’m gonna get with my crafty hopes, kids holidays begin from Monday .  I still haven’t prepared my promised free patterns for you…  but it will come. It will.

btw. if you like fish and don’t mind the soft ones, udder is offering a great give way!

Enjoy your day! x

I so love this December. With its beautiful weather, with its festive mood and so many uplifting things around. I’ve taken a break from (not so intense  in any way) crafting for others and am just giving myself more  freedom to do things that I miss.  I’m reading more. I’m back to doing my morning yoga. I’m writing… lining up some fresh ideas for my shop,  my future and just am hanging out with my dearests.  Playing (and relaxing at the same time, the best game to get hooked on with your kid). I’m making something for my sons

Hope you are in good spirits too. Have a relaxing weekend!

P.S. thank you for your comments, it’s very much appreciated! Keep on talking to me

Among many many good things that Britain brought into my life I’m gonna mention scones today.  Plain ones, with raisins, cheese or cherries… but most importantly with a cup of  tea – I love scones so much, that to prove my love I bake them very often. My current best version is a wholemeal ones with shopped apricots, sultanas and raisins. I get them ready for breakfast and I’m not gonna say the number – all of them are gone (somewhere) by the end of the day.

I’ve also found a great apple cake recipe

and a new Polish recipe that makes  really yummy Christmas cookies

50g butter

1 tbsp golden syrup or honey (I used honey)

50g light brown sugar

225g plain flour

3tsp mixed spices (ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon..)

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3tbsp milk

1 egg yolk

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Melt the butter, syrup or honey and sugar in a pan. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.

Sift the flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Pour in the melted butter mixture, milk and egg yolk. Mix to a soft dough.

Kneed until smooth, then roll out between 2 sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick. Stamp out forms using cookie cutters. Place on the baking sheets. Make a hole in each if you wish to hang them up later. Bake for 10 minutes, until a slightly darker shade.

Speaking of cookies, I had to make some for my kids school’s Christmas fair. I used simple gingerbread dough and decorated it with the icing. No idea how successful they were, but it was fun making these.

Ok. Next up buckwheat pancakes

Made from  wholewheat and buckwheat flour (50/50). My kids actually love them. I also substitute normal sugar for black molasses, it not only is healthier, tastes better, but also makes the pancakes look brownish, so my kiddos call our pancakes ‘the chocolate ones’

So that’s baking. Now making. Lina and her goodies. Already in my shop

I also have a bigger bear that needs to be finished… and a couple of other things…  so I might do my last shop update next Tuesday night, but no promises here

That’s it. The sun outside is calling – have a great Sunday!

I enjoy making things (a lot!), especially if I know they gonna have a concrete ‘owner’ to go to. All of my toys are intended for kids and I always hope that my little creations will be played with, so having neglected unsold toys standing on my bookshelf is not the result I hoped for. I still have two ladies: Isolda and Isabelle, who really need to move from our home to somewhere where they will be appreciated. So I’m offering swaps this time. Nothing big. To you from me: my elephants, some other mini goodies that I’ll add according to what the winners will be interested in and I would hope to get something small in return. Anything you would love me to have. Simple and hopefully fun

Isolda:

Isabelle:

If you’re interested – drop a line in the comments (pls name the elephant you would like to own) and I’ll pick (next friday the 10th of October) two swap partners for myself .

Have a great weekend!