Flickr Favorites

1. it's spring, look to the skies, 2. flip flop, 3. swinging creases, 4. sit with me...

I'm ready! REALLY ready!
I am already wearing shortsleeved shirts inside the house and wear my wintercoat over them when I go out. A bit silly perhaps but I protest against this long, cold winter now. It's been enough!
Can't wait for the first rays of sunshine to come, so I can wear my flipflops, hang the washing out, plan a picnic and watch everything bloom and grow!
Are you ready too?

Last weeks favorite mosaic was all about Shibui. Go find out what that is here! :)

If you like to play this week, make your mosaic and add a link to your blogpost (NOT your blog please) or Flickr in Mister Linky (click on the button below and fill in your name with the link to your blogpost or Flickr picture).

Handmade Olympics: time to vote!

The past week I went through the nominations for the Handmade Olympics and boy it was hard to make a shortlist but I managed in the end.
What a joy it was to find out more about all the nominations. I tried to get a diversity of nominees together. It's a gathering of people who do things just because, who share their live and love for handmade through their blog, who are an inspiration to others, who volunteer to make this world a better place through their craft, who raise money for people and creatures in need, who are caring & sharing,... There are so many people out there who forward kindness of all sorts.
I'm happy to present the following ten people/organisations (in random order).

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.
I am not a quilter but I do know it takes hours and hours and hours to put one together. I'm impressed by the dedication that people in this initiative are raising money for Alzheimer awareness. I wish I could see the exhibit they organised: Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece http://www.alzquilts.org/afpbp.html



Etsy Trashion team
People that turn trash into treasures is what this team does. The Trashion Team is a group of artists that create art, jewelry, fashion and objects for the home from materials that were leftover, discarded, or found, and sell them on Etsy.
I think it's fantastic that objects get a second life and get recycled or re-used and the amount of creativity involved is amazing.

Margaret from The Resurrection Fern blog
This blog is new to me but became an instant favorite. I'm especially taken with the stone diaries http://resurrectionfern.typepad.com/resurrection_fern/the-stone-diaries/ , the beautiful photography and the amazing tutorials.
You can tell from her blog that Margaret loves to share her love for art & handmade. I love it when people are a source of inspiration for others.

Etsy Project Embrace

The EPE team is a coalition of artists whose main purpose is to create awareness and support for people who have been diagnosed with cancer.
I find it incredible that in no amount of time, a large group of Etsy sellers put their hands together and are continuously raising money for the American Cancer society. Go team, EPE!

Hearts for Haiti
It's amazing what this group of sellers has accomplished in such a short period of time for the recent events in Haiti. It is an Etsy collective of donated items from hundreds of Etsy shops to raise money to rebuild Haiti. 100% of the proceeds from this shop (minus Etsy and Paypal fees) go directly to DoctorsWithoutBorders. Big thumbs up to all the volunteers who run this shop, donate items and more important to all those people who purchase from them.


Julie of Joy's Hope.

Thank you to whoever nominated Julie. What a beautiful person she is. I went to her blog, started reading about Joy and with wet eyes I continued reading along. A woman that writes from the heart about her family, shares ups and downs and so much more. A real asset for the handcrafted world.

The Toy Society.
I love the idea of toy dropping at random places and can't believe it has spread from a local Australian project into a worldwide event.
I think that if I was a kid, and even if I'm not anymore, would LOVE to find a cuddly friend to take care off. Brilliant. Simply brilliant.

Renee from My Ugly Kitty
As a cat lover, I could not resist this sweet person for her help in raising money to aid shelter cats. She has rescued a kitty, herself and shows how with love and care these are just as happy as any other cat.
Big cuddle for your ugly but adorable kitty.

Lucy from Attic 24
One visit to her blog and you're lost for many hours. Just browsing it makes you happy. She shares her lovely colourful crochet skills with so much flair that it just makes you want to pick up a hook and start yourself. She's an inspiration to many people and treats them with lovely tutorials and eyecandy pictures.

the Etsy S.N.E.A.K. Team
Ha! If you like a good surprise like me, this is the place to go. It's a way to support independant artisans who are trying to sell their wares online. Two days a week at an appointed time, an Etsy shop with few or no sales is announced on this site. As many people as possible then buy items from that shop, resulting in a frenzy of surprise business to the unsuspecting shop!
What a fun initiative this is and what an enthusiastic way to support handmade.

Wow! what a list! Impressive huh?

Please go vote for your favorite HERE!

voting rules:
1. you can vote once in each event.
2. voting closes on wed. february 17th at 5pm
3. the top 3-vote getters in each event will be announced on thursday february 18th!

There are more categories to cast your vote so don't be shy and make sure to visit them too! :)

Winner give-away

I just realised that I had to close last weeks give-away for the paper bead necklace.
So I went to the number randomizer to let it pick a random number.Anne is the lucky person to receive this necklace. Big congrats, Anne, I'll be contacting you for your address. Thank you all for checking out the tutorial and leaving so many awesome comments! :)
Happy sunday everyone!

Ripple dreams... part 2

After I printed the instructions last week, I couldn't wait to get started on my ripple dream.
I do not like making test squares but I'm glad I did follow Lucy's advise to do so. After all, I'm not an advanced hooker. I even managed to mess up the test square because I didn't count carefully enough but in the end I managed to get it right.
Then I started off with 283 stitches. When I finished 2 rows, I was wondering if I had enough yarn left to make 2 more rows.
So I made a 3rd row and still wasn't sure I had enough yarn left for a 4th row...
If not, I will make the blanket with 3 ripple-rows in one color instead of 2.So I decided to try and see how far I got. Looks like it will be tight but I'll manage.
So I unrippled it all and started with my second ripple row...
I'm excited for the progress now but not sure how long a row takes me yet as the first rows were kind of slow. Will keep you updated of course...

Tutorial on Poppytalk handmade

Today, one of my tutorials is published on Poppytalk Handmade. It's all about how to make wax decorations: for gifttags, as flowerpotholders or even a garland.
Hop over here to find it. Enjoy!
If you leave a comment here, you'll have a chance to win the ones I made for making the tutorial. :)

My creative space

The table in my studio is free from dust and since that doesn't happen too often, I take advantage of that by cutting paper for my cards.
As I have a few fairs scheduled, I better be prepared and make some Dutch cards. On my last fairs, I only took the English cards and lots of people loved 'em but why send an English card when you speak Dutch? So, I translated them and will be taking them to my next fair which is on Sunday, 7th of March in the Cultural Center in Hasselt.
It's International Woman's day and our province organises 'Evanement' and there are a lot of activities happening: workshops, fair with mainly female sellers, children's animation, music,... So if you like these kind of activities, mark this in your calender if you live in the neighborhood! :)

Want to show you creative space? Hop over to Kootoyoo's to play! It's fun! :)

Flickr Favorites

1. "Walk for the Animals" 2009, 2. Let's Walk, 3. walking_000, 4. New York - 575 Fifth Avenue

New month, new habit. Last fall, I tried to go walking for at least half an hour each day but I failed. Yup, you know the usual excuses: no time, too busy, too cold, too wet, too tired,...
Well, after my fail I don't see why I can't try again! :)
We don't have a dog who needs to get walked each day but I think that would be the only solution to me slacking again... I'm a cat person though.
I LOVE walking so there is no reason why I shouldn't really... *sigh*
I'll look at all your Flickr fav's when I'm back from my walk! ;)

Last weeks favorite mosaic was bursting from color & called spring all over! I loved the happiness of the colors! Reminded me too of re-doing the upstairs rooms and hallway in our home in spring... don't know if I like the reminder though! ;)

If you like to play this week, make your mosaic and add a link to your blogpost (NOT your blog please) or Flickr in Mister Linky (click on the button below and fill in your name with the link to your blogpost or Flickr picture).