Love cross stitch card

After looking for a nice card I liked in Luxembourg for our anniversary, I decided to make one myself. So this is what I came up with...

Merry Merry

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas (or just a merry day if you don't celebrate Christmas) and a wonderful new year full of love, joy and peace.

Easy Christmas Sewing class

Here are a few pictures of our Christmas Sewing class. I had two friends joining in with me for a little sewing (they have never used a sewing machine before) and we had a blast making stockings and pillows to decorate their homes for the season.

Crochet mornings

I shared before about my crochet morning class. Once a week a few friends get together to chat and crochet... We started following some of the squares in a crochet book (this book if you are interested) to make a blanket for charity.

Very proud

This year I have been teaching two classes, crochet morning and an easy Christmas sewing class. And on our last crochet class of the year one of my students gave me this hand made ornament for my tree. She said, "it has everything you taught me, it is sewn, with embroidered eyes and a crochet beard" and when I clicked that she made it herself... I felt so proud...

I feel proud that I shared what I love doing, that she will make other people happy with her lovely creations and that I have inspired someone to create pretty things.

And ATC received

And this is the little gem I got on the post last week...

Picture from Sue @ Dereyme.co.uk

It is such a cute card, and the stitching is gorgeous. But what I like the most about it is that it looks just like my Feli, with his tail curled up playing with the leaves in the park. We have a little park accross the road with a really long avenue of trees, and it has been gorgeous to see Feli play with the leaves (and we had tonnes of them). So this ATC is just the perfect representation of my autumn this year!

Thank you Sue for making such a great and lovely card for me. I will treasure it as the very special gift it is!

Artist Trading Card

Second round of Artist Trading Card (ATC) swap organised by the lovely Ali at Very Berry Handmade. And I am so happy to report that my ATC arrived safely home with her new owner Pat from Sunshine and a Sewing Basket, all the way in South Africa. Never been there but I am glad a little bit of me is now there with Pat.

The theme for this swap was Autumn, and after much deliberation I decided that I wanted to make a squirrel cross stitch. And I found this lovely pattern on pinterest that I thought would look great in a really small stitching arrangement.

I then replicated the squirrel the other way around and added a little heart. The leaves on the sides are also from the pattern. And here is a little close up...

Really look forward to see what is in the post for me soon as well! If you are interested in seeing more Autumn loveliness, head over to the ATC group on Flickr (click HERE).

Brrrr it's cold around here!

And it was time for a new jumper... One year on the little puppy has grown and outgrown his coat from last year... remember?

So mummy put her hands into action and cut into an old skiing jumper and voilà, look at Feli's new jumper:

He looks so grown up on year on... and so smart in his big boy haircut! So if you have a little puppy or doggie and an old sweater or jumper around... you can also make them something cosy for their cold winter walks.

So a little tutorial...

First pick an old sweater or t-shirt (it does not need to be long sleeves but better if it is a warm one). Feli really liked this one apparently!

Then cut the sleeves off and use the shoulders to mark the sleeves for the front paws. Then mark the sides to fit the dog's back. The tummy side may need to be smaller, but we will do that later.

Baste stitch and try it on the dog to make sure it is comfortable. Then sew all around and cut the seam allowance to 1cm. If the neck opening is too big you can also take it in to make it smaller. Finally cut the tummy side open through the middle and add Velcro so you can close it to fit the dog snugly.

Finally mark where the legs and end of the back are and trace a wavy line (just like in the picture). Cut and sew all around the edges with a zig zag stitch. And voilà, new winter outfit ready!

Now we can go out warmly!

Wednesday's sneak peak...

It is ATC week this week, and as usual I was still thinking what I wanted to make. Happy to report though that the ATC was made and posted on Monday as it should! but I can only show you a little sneak peak until it arrives to its destination (and this time it is going quite far!!).

An because winter has started I have finally managed to alter Feli's rain coat (it was a tiny bit big for him) and made him a jumper... a little sneak peak and tutorial coming soon.

And Wednesdays is also sewing class day so I had to get something ready to start sewing this week (sorry still waiting for a nice day to take pics of my new T-Shirt I made in the last few classes). So I decided to start a Kimono Dress. I bought this pattern from Pattern Runway and have been really looking forward to getting started. I was supposed to just prepare the fabric and maybe cut it to take it to class (but the whole thing is now basted ready for the teacher to give me the thumbs up to start sewing... oops I am a little to exited about making my own clothes!

  

This is a picture when I thought I was done for the day... but then I forgot about the pile of laundry and a few other things that needed done and kept going!

What have you been up to this week? Hope something nice and crafty! Linking up to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesdays (link here).

I embroidered Rocco

A few months ago our friend's dog Rocco stayed over at another friends for a weekend. And this friend loves posting on facebook, so I was bombarded with lovely pictures of the cute French Bulldog...  and while looking at my favourite embroidery websites I found this pattern. What do you think? I just thought it WAS Rocco!

Pattern from Passion Broderie 77 (click here for link to the site)

Well the good news is my friends thought it looked just like their dog when they got their cross stitch during their visit to Luxembourg a few weeks ago.

And here's a close up of the face...

It is embroidered with two strands of DMC black (310) embroidery floss on Aida (18 count) fabric.

And a little baking....

It was one of my friend's birthday a few weeks ago and I offered to make her birthday cake... and we agreed after much deliveration that we would make cupcakes!

And though I LOVE making cupcakes, it is always the question of when making them for grown ups of how to make them a little more interesting. I here is what I came up with!

Lemon wet sponge cupcakes with buttercream frosting and topped with candied lemon peel... uff it is more daunting to name them than actually make them... so feel like a little recipe for the cupcakes?

Ingredients

250g butter (110g for the cakes and 140g for the frosting)
110g sugar (plus a small cup of sugar)
110g self risig flour (or normal flour and a tea spoon of baking powder all mixed)
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 tea spoon of vanilla extract
2 lemons
280g icing sugar
a few tea spoons of milk if necessary.

How to make the cakes

Preheat the oven at 180C and line a 12-hole cupcake tray with liners. Cream the butter for the cakes with the 110g of sugar in a mixer until smooth. Add the eggs, the vanilla and the zest of one of the lemons. Then fold in the flour until the mixture is smooth. Add some drops of milk if necessary to make the mixture easier to work. Distribute the mixture in the baking tray and bake for 10-15 min until the cakes spring back when lightly tapped.

While you wait peel the second lemon with a potato peeler and then cut the skin in julienne (very thin stripes). It should look like this:

Boil some water in a pan, and then with the heat off add the peel for 30 min. Strain and make s syrup with the cup of sugar and a cup of cold water. When all the sugar is disolved add the peel and cook for 30 min (until the peel is soft to eat). Save in a glass jar (it keeps in the fridge like jam).

Make lemon juice with the two peeled lemons.

Finally make the butter cream frosting. I follow the instructions in this (HERE) great video by My Cupcake Addiction of you tube.

Once cooled, pinch the top of each cake with a knife. I generally make two cuts in the shape of a cross. And slowly introduce two teaspoons of lemon juice in each cake. Then frost the cakes and decorate with a few strands of the candied lemon. And voilà, lovely lemon cupcakes.

Sneak peak

This is how my table looked earlier this week! Yes it was the start of my clothes making course!!

And I learned how to sew with a double needle on an over-lock machine! I could not believe my luck and was jumping out of excitement when I realised that is how I was supposed to sew my garment!

Also there has been a little bit of embroidery going on here...

Some stitching for a gift and some samples for new patterns that are coming out soon! Really exited about that... what do you think of my colour scheme?

Linking up to WIP Wednesdays over at Freshly Pieced... and looking forward to having a sneak peak at what you have been up to this week too!

Craft supplies Luxembourg and around!

One of the things that always puzzles me is how difficult it seems, I guess due to the language barrier, to find the shops I need around here (that is Luxembourg, of course). So one of my crafty friends put together a while ago a map on Google with all the shops she knew. And I have been using it A LOT to find new things I like and to let my creativity fly!!

View Craft Supplies in and Around Luxembourg in a larger map

And lately I have got to know many more local crafty friends, and so this is my little contribution to all of you around that are asking yourself where can I go get my supplies?? I will hope to update it every time I find a new shop or I know of any changes, and please do tell back if you find somewhere nice that I should add here...

In the meantime here's a few of the shops in the list that I generally go to (click on each name for a link to the shop's web-site when available):

• Bastel Kiste & Stoffe - Located near Bvd. de la Petrusse on the other side of the valley in the City of Luxembourg. This shop has everything for the crafter. From pottery, painting to a huge selection of quilting fabrics and notions as well as some dressmaking fabrics. Also they stock a nice selection of yarns. On the pricey side but very handy as they have everything!
• Wollbuttek - in the Vieie Ville. They stock a great selection of Lana Grossa yarn. The place has beautiful yarn and it is my favourite yarn shop in Luxembourg. Again you won't find the stuff for a on the budget project!
• Veritas - on Ave. de la Gare as well as the new shop in the Belle Etoile shopping centre (Bertrange). It is half an accessories shop/ half a notions supply shop for sewing,knitting and jewellery making. Although the set up is very strange to me, they have nice stuff, love their beads, buttons selection. They have yarn on the cheaper side as well. 
• Cactus Hobbi (Belle Etoile) - In the DIY section of the supermarket there are lots of crafty items on sale, lots of paints, paper craft items and even some yarn! Also in the clothes section there is a sewing aisle with lots of handy notions.
• Knode Senc - It is a home appliances retailer and the official Singer retailer in the city of Luxembourg. They sell accessories and service machines as well. 
• Mercerie Le Fil Dore - A really handy shop in the centre of Luxembourg Ville. They have lots of notions and a friendly service! 
• Stoff-Ideen Trier - Recently learnt about this shop and I am so glad I did! Has an interesting selection of fabrics, of every type and need. From quilting cottons to flannel and lace! In the centre of Trier, so although not really Luxembourg, it is a short distance away!
• Ava - or lets call it paper heaven! I love this shop, both the Luxembourg and Messancy store! They have all paper related items, from stationery to kitchenware. And I always seem to find something useful around there! Great for decoupage lovers!

I am aiming to update this list regularly as I find shops around that call my attention and find useful! And of course, if you are around the area and know of a shop we can add to the list, I will be very happy to check it out and add it here!

A new table runner

A while back I posted about receiving some ribbons from the lovely Julie at The Ribbon Jar and now I am introducing you my second project using the most amazing Italian Passamano ribbon. I was inspired to feature the ribbon as the main design item in the project... sometimes we use ribbon as a trim, a little hidden detail, etc but not this time... and voilà this is what I came up with!

So want to know how I made it?

I started with a few yards of the lovely Passamano in bright colours... (sorry I have some dotted ping ribbon in the picture as well, but that one was not used in this project!).

Then I found some inexpensive linen (yes of course at Ikea). It is a mixture between linen and burlap I would say and it looks really rustic and just what I wanted. 

Step 1: Cut the linen to your desired size for the table runner + .5 inch length and width for sewing allowance. Mine was 90 x 50 cm.

Step 2: Start playing with the ribbon, and pin it down when you like the way it looks. I went for lines that cross one another and a few that also bent. I looked modern and funky to me, but you can let your imagination fly, this ribbon twists so nicely!

And keep on going, cutting and adding until it looks finished to you... mine looked like this:

Step 3: With a basting stitch (I hand sew mine to make sure it stayed where I wanted it to) sew all your ribbon down to to fabric. You could go straight to the sewing machine but I found it easier to have the ribbon already stitched before I started with my machine.

Step 4: Then I did go to the sewing machine (little helper included) and sewed the ribbon down. I used a matching thread for each ribbon and sewed on both sides very near the edge.

For the crossing points, I basically jumped (lifted the needle and moved the fabric across) to where the other side of the crossing. then just cut and hide the threads. Like this:

When I finished it looked like this:

And a few close up shots of the corners... they are just so pretty I can't help myself.

Step 5: To finish I cut another piece of linen and simply sew both pieces right sides together leaving a little opening to turn inside out and finished with a row of stitching 1/2 inch (1cm) from the border.

Hope you liked the project and it inspires you to create something new!

Interviewed!

I have been interviewed by CLEW (Calling Luxembourg Expat Women), an on-line magazine in Luxembourg! Click here for a link to the interview.



The column is called Lets Create, in which each month, Miranda van den heuvel talks to creative people in Luxembourg and says "look, Luxembourg is creative! Here's how and where!"



It was a pleasure to take part in the interview, it was fun to think of the answers and most of all flattering to be called a creative person! Thank you Miranda!!