And again

Yes, I like this fresh, summery one too! I'll use it to cheer up my quite greyish wardrobe :).

Did it again

Went to Amsterdam again. Bought some lovely red and white beads. Here's my new red necklace. The white one will be created soon after. 

If you want to make one too, you could use my tutorial.
Now I changed something at described step 3. I noticed one's getting a more jumpy effect, which I wanted to achieve, by crossing the wire in front of the wire you're holding sometimes before the bead and sometimes after the bead. (I hope it's clear what I mean. Maybe someone wants to correct my language?)

Garland?

Hi! Nice to be back again. Just like last year, we combined cycling and camping during our holidays. Not so many kilometers a day, because L (5) persisted to cycle herself. I so love the forests of the Veluwe in the central part of the Netherlands. Near Putten, you really should go to see the huge and fairytale beech trees!

And the beautiful heath fields nearby.

The weather wasn't great, adults said. But kids, especially mine, loved to be in the rain and took advantages of the situation!

What better to carry on a three weeks cycle trip, besides a tent? Right, a crochet hook! This is my work on progress, an ode to my all time favourite crochet lady: Emma Lamb. These motifs appeared to be a nice play element during camping. L loved to sort them in all possible ways.

What the final result will be is not yet landed in my head :). Keep you posted about it.

Taking some rest

Packed my holiday present. I'm ready for it.
Wish you all a great summertime and like to see you again in a few weeks!

Update: Suddenly saw the color similarity with my header :).

Leaving

My colleague Roel is leaving us. He likes this blog, so I gave him a self-made souvenir. I used this good old tutorial of Vlijtig. Took the sizes slightly bigger for the iPhone 4 model. And demolished a small, cheap coin purse of Hema to get a spring-fastener.

Roel, all the best!

Just giveaway m&m treats!

Please take notice of this (earlier mentioned) great idea of Peppermint Plum. I like to share with you how to make a slightly different version: this stamped m&m treat necklace. If you like to read some more about this m&m treat, just go here, here and here.

This is what you need to make about 40 or less :) pieces:

1. a big bag flat (without nuts) m&m's
2. small letter stamps
3. a decorative stamp like in this nice stamp box of Djeco
4. an ink pad
5. colorful threads
6. colorful ribbon, 3 mm wide

And 4 large paper sheets of traditional Canson Mi-teintes. I used two pieces of light yellow for the backs, one green and one magenta colored sheet for the fronts.

Just couldn't stop...

.... photographing (because these, M's treats in school, are photogenic).

Talking sticks

She loves Indians. Sadly I haven't found some time yet to make M a costume. But I know, although she's already ten, she will still love it when I make her one. Hopefully in the near future.
We discovered the Island of Brienenoord some weeks ago. It's such a strange and great place to go! Last wednesday the weather suddenly turned out to be beautiful! We cycled with the girls, who were invited to M's birthday party (and proud M on her brand new bike!) through Rotterdam, passing by an industrial area. Directly behind too many awful buildings, you can find a small bridge, leading to this green island. (Het doet me denken aan Pluk van de Petteflat :))
No, no costumes nor feathers on their heads, that's too childish. But yes, our Tipi tent (which I btw really recommend to other camplovers), a campfire and talking sticks.

Little F was there again, sitting on the ground during the party preparations, peeling off branches. 

After cake and presents the girls decorated their sticks and added their stories, told by little drawings.

 

Then we all went to explore the island, enjoying the quest F made in the early morning. During the trip all experiences were drawn on the sticks, so that their stories could be told to their parents afterwards. And the parents liked it!

Festive

Our eldest daughter M got ten years old this week! We had such wonderful days and weather! Our teenager woke up, surprised by this birthday dress.
Reading blogs can make you enthousiastic. When you mix this incredible Boleo, this wow skirt of Oontje and this horse dress, you can imagine I came to this result. I loved the idea of buying a duvet cover of Ikea to use for sewing cloths. You can wait for some more items, since these's a lot of fabric left.

Thanks Sanne of Eloleo for the great pocket idea! It was great to puzzle how to make it.
Don't you think it's a stylish girl with the matching treats for school? I'll write about that later. Just let me know if you would like to know how to make these treats!

Jump over fire

Today we had a lovely day. Year's best feast in school was celebrated: St. Jan.
Flowergarlands on kids' heads, everybody dressed in white or light colors.

Sweet games in the forest, eating cherries and pancakes, singing songs, making music and above all jumping hand-in-hand over (and through!) a burning fire. To seal friendships. Between schoolfriends and familymembers. Once a year, so special.