Michel is helping out at his old job tonight where they're celebrating Harry Potter-night.
Yes, that's right... in about an hour the Dutch translation of the final HP is being released at last!
How awful if you haven't been able to read the original book... do you think there will be anyone left in the world who doesn't know how it ended?!
Last week I got a super surprise in the mail:
The Plush You book!
And the best thing was that I'm in it!
This book was put together by Kristen Rask, who organises the Plush You exhibitions. I participated last year and that's why I'm in the book together with some of the most wonderful plush makers of the world :) The book also includes sewing tips and patterns.
I think you'll understand that I showed it off to all of my family this week!
If you want it the book can be bought here.
While I was at work my family went swimming!
Do you realise what this means though... the weather was good enough to go swimming! Outside! Michel even got sunburnt! Could it possibly be that summer has come at last?!? Let's hope so... we all could do with a bit of sunshine on our faces.
I've had a bit of a blog block these past days, which is mainly due to the fact that I haven't been sewing for a while. We've also been spending some time with my sister who was back from England for a short visit. Amber and Simon we're happy to see her again.
I'm hoping to relax a little more. Even though Amber doesn't have to go to school, we still seem to be running around a lot. Tomorrow I'll just enjoy the lovely weather and perhaps I might even get some sewing done.
Oh, I finally finished Harry Potter! I promise I won't spoil anything, but mail me if you'd like to talk about it ;)
Is bookish a synonym for tired and edgy?! No? Well, that's how I've been feeling today anyway. Let's just say that I could have been a little more patient with the children... ahum.
However, wonderful things entered our house today, all via my lovely husband.
First this book that I've been impatiently waiting for! I know everyone else in the world already owns it and has sewn many lovely things from it, but it's new to me and I love it. Can't wait to get started on some of these projects!
Then this fantastic book that I've also had to wait for for a long time. It's absolutely wonderful... very inspiring. I'll post some photos from it in another post (perhaps when I've finally started a new mosaic project).
Next up this gorgeous children's book. The drawings are so unbelievably wonderful.
Aren't these so beautiful?!
And then there is another children's book that we really like.
It's all about an elephant who thinks he's a cat... funny!
And then there is of course still this book (styling by Simon, by the way :))
I must the slowest HP-reader in the world, because I'm still only on page 224!! Please, tell me there are other people that still haven't finished it?! I think I'm just scared to read on...
Well, those were today's books... who knows what Michel will bring home again tomorrow?!
(Oh, I just have to tell you that Michel managed to break the new mug that I'd bought on Tuesday! Along with this favourite mug... well done, dear! And this afternoon when I got the washing out of the machine my lovely new table runner was all messed up, the colours had started to blend :(
So, no wonder I'm feeling bookish!)
Oh oh and.... tomorrow morning we're going to pick up our new car!! Yay!
Oh and PS, I'll post all the links for the books later (I need to get some sleep now)!!
A little while back we had a 50th birthday to attend. The person celebrating his birthday is a painter who is a friend of Michel's. On his website here you can see the kind of work he makes. Michel and I both love his paintings very much.
Last year he was working on a book that shows an overview of his recent work. He asked Michel to write a piece about him (isn't that cool?!) en we helped him a little with the English translation of the text.
As a thank-you he gave us this:
Our first (and probably last) gorgeous piece of art... we think it's wonderful! This photo does it no justice at all, unfortunately. It is proudly hung in the livingroom. The children like it too, for the subtle details.
So we were invited to his birthday party. Coming up with an appropriate gift wasn't easy. Michel found a book that he thought would be appreciated, but I really wanted to make something myself. However, I found the thought of making something for an artist rather intimidating! Still, I put those feelings aside and started sewing.
I thought I would make a cushion for the sofa in his workshop. As a startingpoint I took Michiel's very own painting and picked out fabrics in the same colour tones as the painting. Then I cut small and wider strips and "randomly" started sewing. I did have some idea how I wanted it to turn out and I made sure the colours were spread the way I liked it.
When it was finished... I liked it! How I love a project that simply turns out the way I planned it!
But even better was that Michiel liked it as well. He was touched that I had taken the trouble to make something myself. And really that's all that matters, right?! As I've heard, it's now being used/displayed in his workshop.
Isn't it the small, simple things in life that make you most happy? I'm glad it works that way for me.
My dear son dismantling his babybed with his own toolbox.
Beautiful cards from Tiel.
At long last some progress organising my craftroom; I'm able to locate some of the pretty things from under the mess. Still quite a bit to go, but I'm on the right track.
Jack is back :))
Harry Potter is nice and all, but I secretly prefer my annual dose of Jack Reacher. Anyone else a fan? It's shameless entertainment; perfect for summery days! I'm half way through the book, so I'd better get back to it!
And if you'd still like to be included in the drawing then leave a comment on the post below.
The other day Michel came home with this funny book.
It has a hilarious ABC in it that's full of irony.
(A little essential info here: Quote is a business magazine. Every year this magazine publishes the Quote 500, which is a list of the 500 wealthiest people in The Netherlands. There is always a lot of controversy around this list)
I think it's funny that children simply see this as a book with nice pictures in it. Simon was telling me all about it today. They don't notice the double meaning of course.
Don't these pages have a vintage feel to it?
You can listen to the ABC here.
As promised a little something on the lecture by Ian McEwan Michel and I went to last week (seven days ago already... where did they all go?!).
It was a bit of a hassle to actually get us there (embarrassingly late of course), but we were both so glad that we went.
Since the state of my brains is a bit of a theme for me right now, it felt so good to be in a grown-up, intellectual, English-spoken environment again... it was almost as if I was back at university.
Ian McEwan turned out to be a very witty, intelligent and well-spoken man. Listening to him speak was a pure joy... I have a soft spot for anyone who knows how to speak, not just talk.
He read from his latest novel On Chesil Beach and then discussed it with the interviewer and told a bit more about his writing in general. Michel -as an aspiring writer- had his ears sharpened and came away with lots of handy ideas for his own writing.
I discovered McEwan's work while I was studying. For me he immediately fell into the same category as Graham Swift, the writer I admired most at the time and on whose novels I wrote my dissertation. It was one of the rare occasions that I decided that I wanted to read everything that this writer had written. And although I made a good start, I never accomplished this task. But now, after having seen and heard him in person, I'm super motivated to get reading again and tackle his oeuvre.
Here is my little list of writers that I truly love and want to read all of:
I'm very curious whether you have a similar list?!
Now I just need to get in the reading-rhythm again... probably that's what I should be doing when I enjoy the wonderful weather outside instead of sneaking back in to sew :)
And finally, just look where my sister will be teaching next year... congratulations!!
Michel brought home this book yesterday. I believe it's from Pottery Barn. I don't exactly know what Pottery Barn is...is it sort of the American Ikea?
It's filled with beautiful photos of wonderful kids' rooms.
Lots of inspiration.
I love this.
Last week I had a great idea for a flowerlike placemat. I thought it would be so cool. So I drew the shape and cut all the fabrics and sewed them all together...so far so good. But when I added the back-fabric, I suddenly thought it would be nicer to make a cushion out of it. Uh-oh, mistake! This is how it turned out:
I can tell you that it looked very different in my head ;)
Oh and this is what got this weekend to make up for Michel's maggot eating. Oh I didn't tell about the maggot eating yet?! Well, one day Michel made three crackers with cheese for himself. After he had eaten two, he noticed a little wriggly something on his plate. After a closer look it turned out to be a maggot. Michel looked at his remaining cracker and saw a couple of other maggots in there too...did I mention he already ate two at this point? Soooooo grooooooooosssssss!!!!!!!
So I wrote an angry letter and this what we got. Maggots are supposed to be very nutricious by the way ;)
*just 1 kilo this week, so that's 8 in total*
