Thimbled

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T15:21:00.002Z

Merry Christmas everyone! Fijne Kerst toegewenst!

Beach Walk

2011-12-20T21:21:00.004Z

Oops, no posts in a while! It's been so dark lately with a lot of storms, but last week I managed to take these bright and sunny photo's on Eoropaidh Beach here in Ness. I can't believe these were taken in December!

Are you all ready for Christmas? I am most certainly not!

Sunset

2011-10-03T23:08:00.001+01:00

Sunset, a photo by Thimbled on Flickr.

Sunset in Lewis

2011-10-03T23:06:00.001+01:00

Sunset in Cross Skigersta, a photo by Thimbled on Flickr.

Thought I would share this beautiful sunset that we had a few nights ago here on the Isle of Lewis...

Home Interiors

2011-09-04T17:55:00.006+01:00

I have been meaning to upload photo's of four chairs that I had painted, so here goes:

I painted the chairs duck egg blue, and covered them in grey and blue Harris tweed.

They are looking pretty good in the dining room, you can just see them in the photo below:

Here is my living room:

I love living in this house, it's so cosy, especially with a big fire on!

Tall Ship Race 2011

2011-07-17T14:07:00.001+01:00

Tall Ship Race 2011, a photo by Thimbled on Flickr.

The Tall Ship Race cam to the island, and yesterday me and Angus went and took some photo's of the Russian tall ship. Unfortunately I had missed most of them, including the Dutch Eendracht. Still enjoyed seeing this one though, in it's 108 meter long glory.

Kitten

2011-07-17T14:04:00.001+01:00

Kitten, a photo by Thimbled on Flickr.

Small kitten in a big world. We have decided on a name now, Well, rather Angus has, it is called .... drumroll... Rizla! Yeah, you can guess who thought of that, can't you!

Meet Kitten

2011-06-27T22:29:00.005+01:00

Meet Kitten, the latest addition to the household. He is super cute, super fluffy, and super bouncy.

Don't let the cuteness fool you though, his sharps are the sharpest ever. This wee thing can shred you in a nano-second. Fact.

He was a stray, and we first got him when he was 5 weeks old, he is now about 8, and growing super fast. His eyes were blue, now they are a pretty green.

No name for him yet, although Angus insists on calling him Rizla...

I better go give Mr. Cute his milks or he'll throw a tantrum...

Memento Board

2011-06-19T20:52:00.007+01:00

It has been all change here at Thimbled, me and Angus (and cats of course!) have moved from Glasgow to the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, and we both have new jobs and have also moved into a new house. So it has been a busy few months getting organised, unpacking, decorating and just generally getting used to living in small rural community again after having lived in Scotland's largest city for 8 years!

In the move here we did have a little accident, we had a lovely large mirror with gorgeous beveled edges which did not survive the trip. But the wooden frame was lovely, so I thought I could use it for another project.

I used wadding, floral cotton fabric and lots of ribbons to make a memento board. First I sanded, then painted the frame, before distressing it. The wadding, fabric and ribbons are tacked on with a nail gun. I made sure that the ribbons overlapped so you can slide your cards and photo's between them.

It now hangs in the hall in our new house and it really brightens the space up!

Clay Classes

2011-05-01T13:20:00.008+01:00

For my birthday my friend Larah bought me a course of clay classes (cool gift, right?) and this is what I made...

William the fish, painted with blue, green and gold metallic acrylic. He was air dried in case he would break in the kiln.

A wobbly vase, which had been put through the kiln, then coloured with blue and white glaze, and then put through the kiln again.

I also painted and decorated tiles that had been through the kiln, to hang around the new house. The fish I made with clay which was air-dried then spray painted silver. The birds are made from wood, painted with acrylic.

We have been staying with Angus's Mum and Dad since we got to Lewis so we could get organised, but tomorrow we are moving into a new house here in Ness on the Isle of Lewis, can't wait to decorate and unpack our things!

Will have to post about all the DIY that we have been doing, we have been doing up some old furniture, which will hopefully look great once we are done!

Easter

2011-04-25T18:08:00.009+01:00

This Easter weekend my friend Lyanne came to visit me over the weekend, along with her pal Elaine. We went for a spin around Lewis, and along the west coast to visit the Callanish stones. We had great weather and I managed to take some nice photo's.

Wicker man in the Castle Grounds, Stornoway.

Me and Lyanne on Cross beach, Ness.

Hope everyone had a very happy Easter!

Island Art

2011-03-31T20:41:00.004+01:00

My Dad is a very good photographer, and he likes to take photo's of the scenery here on the Isle of Lewis. He has exhibited his photo's in Stornoway before, and I have now also listed his prints on Folksy.

Reinier's photography is available to buy here.

Beach Time

2011-03-31T20:29:00.006+01:00

Angus and me went for a walk along the beach last Sunday as it was a beautiful day, and I just wanted to share these photo's with you.

For more photo's have a look at my Flickr page.

Subversive Cross Stitch

2011-03-27T21:47:00.007+01:00

I am loving subservive cross stitch, I made these a while ago, and I am working on a 'weak tea, weak mind' one. I love having them around the house, they make people smile as they are a tad naughty!

I made the one above and below for friends, and I think it made them laugh!

I got most of my inspiration from Flickr, there are some really funny ones out there! These designs are by Claire at www.misofunky.com.

Spring Fair

2011-03-20T21:18:00.010Z

Yesterday me and my friend Larah had a table at a local spring fair to sell some of our cards and paintings. We did quite well, although the fair was a bit on the small side. Here are some the things I had for sale.

I used lots of Prima flowers and pearls, and Lili of the Valley card toppers. For the matting and layering I used vintage papers inked round the edges with gold and copper ink.

I stamped the letters for "dream" out in clay, then painted and varnished them for the card above.

I also used up some of my skeleton leaves, I have so many!

Also make lots of felt birds and hearts, love making cute wee things with felt! Good job now that I have moved there is a craft shop (the Colour Factory) a two minute drive from me! When I lived in Glasgow we had a Hobbycraft store but it was hard to travel to.

You can see Larah's paintings on our Folksy site at Island Art, her paintings are very beautiful!

Art

2011-03-08T22:34:00.006Z

I have started a little Folksy shop called Island Art, where artists who live on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, can list their work. The idea is that everyone who takes part are all inspired by the surroundings here to create beautiful and stunning pieces.

My friend Larah Macleod paints stunning acrylic canvases with beautiful sceneries. I love the blues, always my favourite colour, absolutely gorgeous!

In a few weeks we are planning on taking part in a little arts fair here in the local area, where we will take paintings along and my own handcrafted cards and accessories, which should be fun. I am in the process of listing more items, so check back soon.

You can check out Island Art here.

I have also gone Pro on Flickr, check it out here!

Stornoway Harbour

2011-03-01T22:14:00.004Z

I took these photo's of Stornoway Harbour while out with my Dad in the early hours of the morning last month.

I submitted the photo above to the local paper and they published it, which made my day.

Yesterday I started doing a pottery class, will have to post about that and update on crafty bits very soon, it is just a case of finding the time! I know, I have been a rubbish blogger!

Callanish

2011-02-27T22:04:00.002Z

Callanish Stones, Isle of Lewis, on an overcast day.

Hat's Off

2011-02-21T15:51:00.003Z

Do you like my two new beret's? They have been knitted by Cathie, Angus's mum, and I think they are pretty cool! She assures me that it is an easy pattern, so I will have to try it out myself. If you fancy a go, I have written the pattern down below.

Beret

You will need 50g of double knit yarn and 3 1/4 mm & 4 mm needles.

Cast on 91 sts.
Work in garter stitch for 4 rows, ending with a wrong side row.
Change to 4mm needles.

1st Row: (right side) [K8, inc in next st], 10 times, K1. 101 stitches.
2nd Row and every following alternate row - Purl
3rd Row: [K9, inc in next st], 10 times, K1. 111 stitches.
5th Row: [K10, inc in next st], 10 times, K1. 121 stitches.
7th Row: [K11, inc in next st], 10 times, K1. 131 stitches.

Continue this way, including 10 stitches on every right side row until the following row has been worked.

17th Row: [K16, inc in next st], 10 times, K1. 181 stitches.
19th and 21st Rows: Knit

Shape Top:
23rd Row: (right side) [K16, K2 together] 10 times, K1. 171 stitches.
25th Row: [K15, K2tog] 10 times, K1. 161 stitches.
27th Row: [K14, K2tog] 10 times, K1. 151 stitches.
29th Row: [K13, K2tog] 10 times, K1. 141 stitches.

Continue this way, decreasing 10 stitches on every right side row, until the following row has been worked.

53rd Row: [K1, K2tog] 10 times, K1. 21 stitches
55th Row: [K2tog] 10 times, K1.
Break yarn and thread through the remaining 11 stitches. Pull tight and fasten securely. Make up by top sewing the back seam and you are all done. Wear with pride!

I am getting my knitting needles out tonight to have a go!

Beach Finds

2011-02-15T20:40:00.007Z

I love being near the beach. You always find lots of interesting bits and pieces. I especially love driftwood with it's smooth curves and corners. I have been collecting small bits to make something with, and last night I made small clay fish so that will be an upcoming project. This is what I found last time:

I especially love sea glass.

Can't wait to see what I will find next time.

Love

2011-02-14T17:49:00.008Z

Happy Valentine's Day to all you lovers out there! To celebrate I though I would have a heart themed post with crafty projects made by Thimbled over the past year.

A ribbon wreath in blues...

A pretty heart filled with rose petals...

Another fabric heart in my favourite colours of turquoise and pink...

A sweet lovebirds card...

And a shimmery wedding card!

I will be back soon with more crafty updates, till then enjoy what is left of Vally Day!

Psssst...

2011-01-31T23:21:00.003Z

... I am still here! It's all change here at Thimbled, I am going through a house move and have limited internet access, but do have a tonne of photo's to share with the blog world once it is all sorted! Also I will be starting a new blog project soon, so watch out for that!

I will be seeing you soon...

Happy Christmas

2010-12-25T15:54:00.002Z

Hope you all have a fabulous day!

Spend the day sipping mulled wine, munching chocolates, watching Christmas TV and making this awesome Gingerbread house!

Lots of love from Orjana at Thimbled!

Come Dine With Me

2010-12-24T21:40:00.006Z

On Tuesday I had a lovely pre-Christmas dinner with my friends Kirsty & Lyanne...

With plenty of presents...

And lots of delicious cheesy lasagna and garlic bread...

Lots of candles...

A trio of puddings...

And lots of wine, which made the Christmas tree look like this!

Happy Christmas Eve! May Santa be good to you all tomorrow!

Christmas Preparations

2010-12-19T23:13:00.008Z

I haven't done much for Christmas so far, apart from slinging some tinsel around the house and making red felt stockings and clay hearts.

The clay hearts I made using a heart shaped cookie cutter and DAS clay. I painted some white and some red, and others I spray painted gold. With some ribbon bows they look great.

As I don't have a tree I have hung them all on a plant. With lots of candles around it looks very festive!

Some of the hearts I embossed with gold embossing powder.

Are you all ready for Christmas? I still have cards and parcels to post, not very organised this year I'm afraid!

A day in the life of..

2010-12-18T12:12:00.004Z

... Nonnie. Occupation: full time cat.

Home Again

2010-12-10T12:46:00.015Z

I am back again after a visit to family in the Netherlands to celebrate Sinterklaas. It snowed a lot while I was there, but not nearly as much as back here in Britain!

These photo's are all taken in Groningen, in the north of the Netherlands.

In de Grote Markt in Groningen there were these scuplted ice statues to raise awereness for global warming.

Behind the wolf is the Drie Gezusters, a famous pub in Groningen.

While there I also had lots of yummy krentebollen, traditionally made at Hogmanay. You eat them hot with lots of icing sugar, delicious!

You can buy fresh olliebollen and krentebollen from stalls like the one below, which are dotted around everywhere in winter time.
And here are my two cousins Ineke and Jessica at Sinterklaas, with their new scarves which I made for them!

Aren't they cute?

Holiday

2010-11-24T15:29:00.008Z

Tonight I am flying off to the Netherlands to see my family, and I am very excited, although a tad nervous as I hate flying. I will be celebrating my first Dutch Sinterklaas in the Netherlands for many years, so should be lots of fun. I will be back on 7 December, so any orders placed in the shop will be posted out on 8 December.

I shall leave you with a few cards I recently made, all very pink and girly. The elephant and bird were made using templates, and the idea for the peacock came from a craft magazine. They are not quite finished yet, but that will have to wait...

See you soon blogworld!

Handmade Earrings

2010-11-23T15:17:00.001Z

I have been making lots of earrings the last few days, some for the shop and some to keep or to give as gifts. It was fun to make these, I will have to make some matching necklaces and bracelets next!

The earrings pictured are now available in the shop. They are silver plated and very pretty!

Pink Birdhouses & More

2010-11-17T19:50:00.009Z

Last month at the craft fair at the SECC here in Glasgow I saw a few of these birdhouses on show. You could buy the template there, but I thought surely you can design one yourself!

So here is the design I came up with. I cut out lots of little hearts and bird shapes, and covered them in super sparkly pink glitter, and I think they look very pretty! I shall have to make the template available here, as soon as I have made a digital copy (unless you want the scrunched and penciled bit of paper that I used!).

I have also finished knitting this Sirdar Vegas scarf, which I made as a Christmas gift. You can read more about it on my Ravelry page. This yarn is great, it had lovely sparkly and feathery bits running through it so that it is very textured.

I knitted this on two different sized needles, I like the way it adds texture, although this is hard to spot in the photo's.

I have also been sewing more hearts, I just love making them!

I have listed the red Christmas hearts from my last post in the shop, along with some more Christmas cards and tags. You can view them here!

Christmas Preparations

2010-11-16T16:27:00.009Z

Look what arrived in the post the other day, a cross stitch made by my friend Larah! It made my day, thank you! It reads "Orjana and her guga live here".

Unless you are from the Isle of Lewis you might not know what guga is. A guga is a salted baby gannet, considered a delicacy on the island where Angus is from. (It takes like salty duck and ~~is very smelly and fatty~~ tastes delicious). For more info on guga have a look on this fab blog here.

I have also been making some more Christmas cards using paper crafting cd-rom's. The one above is from Joanna Sheen's Christmas Creations, and the one below is from the Ivory Cats cd-rom. I love the 3D effects on these. I think these cards will be great for those family members who prefer a traditional Christmas theme rather than the cutesy look I usually go for.

I have also been sewing Christmas decorations from the gifts which came with the last two issues of Cross Stitcher. (Have you seen the magazine since it has had a makeover? It is really good now). I shall have to take out another subscription I think...

These hearts were fun and quick to make, and look so cheerful! (The felt and fabric came as a freebie with the magazine, the buttons and ribbons are from my own stash).

All I need now is a tree to hang them from!

Blog Promote

2010-11-15T14:37:00.000Z

This is my friend Iain. Cool isn't he?

He has got a blog over at Rated I. He rates music and film amongst other things, and is well worth checking out!

Grundl Pompom Scarfs

2010-11-03T20:12:00.007Z

I love this Grundl Pompom yarn, it is so soft and warm! It took me while to figure out how to knit it best. You can knit it either with the pompom's showing on both sides by knitting it in stockinette but this uses way more yarn and gets a chunky result. I knitted this in garter stitch, so it's nice and lightweight, and drapes better.

So that's the first of the Christmas scarves done! A few more to go... For more details on this one check out my Ravelry page!

Edinburgh

2010-11-02T20:24:00.015Z

A rushed trip into Edinburgh today, to sort out my passport at the Dutch Consulate. It rained the whole day but Edinburgh was still lovely. I managed to take some photo's of Edinburgh Castle & St John's Church and graveyard.

This last photo is my favourite. I love the dark gloomy wet streakiness of it.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T23:28:00.005Z

Do you like our spooky pumpkins?

How cute is Yoshi the cat?

Thanks Kirsty & James, for a fun night!

Sunny Autumn Days

2010-10-22T13:52:00.007+01:00

Fairies

2010-10-20T13:50:00.004+01:00

I am loving my Candytuft Flower Fairies stamps! I have also got the Flower Fairies CD-Rom's and they are amazing. There is so much on them that I don't quite know where to start!

For these cards I used black sparkle embossing powder, Stickles glue's, and Anita's 3D gloss finish for the 3D butterflies. For the background butterflies I used Blonde Moments pearl pigments and a Versamark stamp pad.

I think I OD'd with the glitter on the last card, I guess sometimes less is indeed more!

Knitting Hats

2010-10-08T16:57:00.006+01:00

Do you like my chunky winter's hat? I think it might be the first of many, it was so quick to knit up. I don't know why I didn't start knitting hats before!

This only used one skein of Sirdar Big Softie and at under three pounds, it's a pretty good buy really! You can find details of this project on my Ravelry page. It is a super easy pattern, try it out!

I also saw this cupcake trinket box in a shop recently, it had to be purchased so it could join my doughnut from a few posts ago!

Autumn

2010-09-26T18:43:00.006+01:00

Finally Finished!

2010-09-24T15:30:00.005+01:00

Remember this post here? Dated November 2008? Well, I finally finished it! In 2010!

I am not sure why it took me so long, I kept making mistakes, then got fed up fixing said mistakes, so dumped it in a dusty drawer somewhere. Which is what you do with pain in the bum WIP's (works in progress) right?

I am glad I finished it though, it is super soft and super warm, ideal for the cold weather that is coming.

The pattern for the cowl is from the Purl Bee, and can be found here. I used one skein of Sirdar Blur in Sigh, which contains 30% kid mohair. I wonder what I'll finish in another two years!

Butternut Squash Soup

2010-09-18T11:09:00.003+01:00

Now the weather is getting colder it is time to make big pans of steaming soup again. Here is my current favourite, butternut squash and coconut soup. This is a nicely spiced soup, quite sweet because of the squash, and will really warm you up.

Recipe:

One butternut squash, peeled and cubed
3 large onions, chopped
500g lentils, washed and drained
bunch of coriander, chopped
500ml coconut milk
100g dessicated coconut
2tsp coriander powder
2tsp cumin powder
2 veg stock cubes
seasoning to taste

Fry the onions until soft, add spices and stir. Then add the lentils and coconut milk. Simmer for ten minutes, then add all other ingredients and simmer again till soft. Leave to cool a little and blend. To serve, add some chopped coriander. You can also make this soup with sweet potatoes, or instead of adding the dry spices you can add curry paste when you fry the onions.

Eet Smakelijk!

Shop Updates

2010-09-13T15:57:00.010+01:00

Urgh, what a miserable autumn day! I don't think I am ready yet for the cold, I am still mourning summer! The cold has put me in the mood for Christmas crafts though. I have made a start on making Christmas cards, both for myself and for the shop.

These Christmas cards all feature a tried and tested vanilla biscuit recipe that I have made a few times now, and is very yummy! So I thought, why not print out the recipe and make cards from them? These I have made to sell, I will be making more for myself!

You can find these Vanilla Hearts cards in my Folksy shop!

I have had a few people comment on the fact that Orjana.com has been under construction for a while now, that is because my boyfriend Mr. Web Developer has been experimenting with the cart that you use to check-out and pay. It should all be up in the next few weeks though!

I also made these pear cards using lots of paper strips and glue. They are huge cards, which you can't really see in the photo, they measure 19 x 19 cm.

The pear cards are also listed in my Folksy shop, find them here!

Paper Piecing

2010-09-06T11:04:00.009+01:00

Here is my first hexagon project all finished up! The hand sewing went a lot quicker than expected, you could finish this in a couple of nights. I followed the instructions on Craftstylish, the only thing I would change next time is the interfacing I used, or whether I would use it at all.

I don't know whether I used the wrong type or what, but on a project so small I don't think I would bother. I also made my hexies 1.5 inch wide so it would be a little bigger. The lay out I used is a little different than that in the instructions too, I used 8 hexagons of one fabric, and 6 of the other two fabrics.

Next time I think I will just pin the finished top piece to the backing fabric, trace around and then cut around it with a small seam allowance. Then only cut into the V's, of which there are only ten in the photo above. I mis-read this in the Craftstylish project instructions!

Then fold the seam allowance inwards so that it matches the top piece exactly, and then sew along with tiny neat stitches. Just fold one edge in every time. This allows you to adjust as you go along, meaning you get a very neat finish.

I enjoyed this project so much that I have already started basting my next batch of hexies to make coasters with. I made these hexagons 0.8 inches wide, so they are very small.

And this will be the next placemat, using the same pattern as I used on the first one, the hexagons are the same size too.

See ya next time!

Cinnamon Rolls

2010-09-05T20:11:00.003+01:00

Fancy some yummy homemade goodness? You should try these! Easy to make, they make the house smell fabulous and taste delicious!

Makes 8. You will need:
350 g self-raising flour
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
100g melted butter
2 egg yolks
200 ml milk
pinch of salt

Filling:
1tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp of melted butter
55g dermerara sugar
100g raisins or sultana's

Mix the dry ingredients and whisk the wet ingredients. Combine to make a soft, slightly sticky dough. Roll out into a square about 30 by 30cm. Cover the whole area with the filling, then roll up to make a log shape. Cut the dough into eight pieces, and gently transfer to a lined baking tray. Brush with milk. Bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees, or until golden brown. Once cool, glaze or dust with icing sugar and serve.

Yum!

Let's Catch Up

2010-09-01T15:22:00.020+01:00

This is how my quilt looks now: distinctly un-quilty! I need to buy some backing fabric and heavy weight wadding and a special quilting machine foot thingy...

So yeah, it might be a while before I show you the finished product! I am happy with how it came together so far, the seams are neater than I expected for a first attempt, and I love how all the colours came together. It will definitely be a happy quilt once it is all done!

I also wanted to show you some recent crafty buys, below my glossy red Cath Kidston thread tin I bought in the sale a while ago...

...and my amazing donut/pin holder! I love the donut. I mean, seriously love it. It is defo in my top ten all time favourite possessions.

I also finally caught on the Anna Maria Warner trend, and bought some of her Little Folks cotton voile. It really is as soft as people have been saying, it also feels very cool against the skin. I bought these before I went on holiday, I have just been waiting on a suitable project to use them on.

What do you think of my new 'wall art'? The bird below I painted using only blue aquarell or water paint.

Loads of you are probably familiar with the Gorjuss brand, but I have only recently discovered this beautiful range of prints and cards, which are drawn by fellow Glasgewian Suzanne Woolcott. Below is a greetings card which I framed. I am planning on framing two more, and then hanging them in the living room where they will look pretty.

Next time a few photo's of my attempts at English paper piecing, which seems to be going well so far. It is easier than I thought which is always good!

Digital Overdose

2010-08-25T15:02:00.004+01:00

Yay! After making the guy endless amounts of tea, Angus finally has his redesigned website Digital Overdose online! So if you are looking for a website for yourself or for your business, look him up!

Pretty good right? I think so anyway!

The Beginnings of a Quilt

2010-08-24T11:45:00.004+01:00

I have started work on my quilt, not much to show so far apart from stacks of fabric squares! The colours are going to be mostly cheerful blues and reds. I have started sewing the squares together into strips, need to iron them now so I can sew the strips together. It's not cool that crafting is forcing me to iron! I shall post more photo's when I have something more substantial to show you!

Bracelets

2010-08-23T21:23:00.008+01:00

Here are the bracelets I made, using beads bought on holiday in Groningen from the appropriately named Beadies shop.

I think the turquoise bracelet is my favourite, I love the Tibetan hands and the sea green leaves!

Dutch Supplies

2010-08-20T13:20:00.013+01:00

When on holiday does a crafter look for souvenirs? No. Does a crafter look for craft supplies? Yes!

My mum bought me these felt stickers and glass beads when we were away. The beads are so beautiful! I was happy with the beads, because I am definately into jewellery making at the moment, more on that in my next post!

I also bought this gorgeous kid mohair yarn at the market in Groningen for one euro per skein! I have noticed that craft supplies are so much cheaper there, so not fair!

I also bought these cards, the colours are so typically Dutch. The card stock is 100% recycled paper, and is by Floris recycled stationary.

Also bought some Dutch themed ribbons, and I already have a project in mind for them. I was thinking some red/blue patchwork cushions with these ribbons incorperated into the patchwork.

While crafting you also need other supplies of course, those of the munching variety!

Dutch Scenes

2010-08-17T18:09:00.012+01:00

Have you ever heard of Febo? Where you get hot food from little holes in the wall, just like a huge vending machine. Well, they do a mean cheese souffle (and if you have never had one you have not lived), and other Dutch things such as kroket and frikandel. Well, people don't seem to be familiar with this concept in the UK, so maybe there is a gap in the market?

Oh the cheese, cumin cheese, nettle cheese, pesto cheese, clove cheese, coriander cheese... Once you have tried these you will never want ~~smelly~~ cheddar again! Is it weird to miss cheese? Because I miss Dutch cheese!

To make this post officially 'Dutch' I thought I better include a few photo's of clogs. I had my eye on the pink ones in the corner!

I promise that the next post will be back to normal and contain actual craft related content! Also, I have updated my twitter account, and will be using it more from now on as I have activated mobile twitter. You can find me here!

Schiermonnikoog

2010-08-15T10:50:00.025+01:00

Hello bloggers! After quite an absence I am back again, sorry for the gap in between posts! I have been in Groningen, the Netherlands for the past three weeks visiting family, and came back to Glasgow last Wednesday. I have got absolutely loads of photo's to show you, so I think I will have to do it over a few posts. I'll start with the photo's from our day visit to Schiermonnikoog, which is a small Dutch island. Eleven of us went all together, my mum, auntie and uncle, the kids and friends.

It was such a lovely, blue, bright and carefree day, we all enjoyed it immensly!

Holiday

2010-07-22T11:42:00.002+01:00

I know I know, I have been rubbish at updating my blog! Today me and my mum are going to the Netherlands, my mum is moving there for good, so its all very exciting! I will be back in a while, with lots of photo's and (Dutch) crafty things! I know the blog doesn't look like it usually does, but Angus is working on a new design so keep an eye out for it.

See you soon!

Hup Holland!!

2010-07-11T09:36:00.016+01:00

Tonight is the night, for the first time in over 30 years Oranje is through to the World Cup finals!!! And I could not be more excited! I feel a bit homesick though, it would be so good to be back home and join in the Orange fever!

Just in case you are wondering this is supposed to be a craft blog... It will get back to normal at some point I am sure... Because I have a lot of crafty things to catch up on!
So what do you think of my new Dutchified blog? I don't think I could make it more orange if I tried!

The pictures are from Boomerang.nl, where you can send your own e-cards. Or shamelessly steal blog content.

Lots More Fabric & Sewing

2010-06-15T15:55:00.015+01:00

My Dad is coming for a visit today, and he requested I make him some fabric hearts, so here goes!

I hope he likes them!

Took some photo's of the flowers on the balcony, in between the cats chewing and pigeons sitting on them they are not doing that well...

Especially the strawberries! I think we will have to wait a while before we are tucking into any!

In my last post I mentioned I bought some fabric from Celtic Fusion Fabrics. I find their shop a bit awkward to navigate, but they do stock some lovely things. Inclusing Cloud9's range of pretty fabrics!

I adore this fabric, it is organic, super soft and the prints and colours are gorgeous.

Also added some super cute prints by Micheal Miller to my stash.

It is not as bad as it looks people, I only bought one fat quarter of each fabric!

I finally started practising patchwork and quilting. This pin cushion was a practice run, I think it is quite cute!

So I started on a larger project, still quite small though...

I still need to do the quilting bit on top though. Not sure what I could do with this, can you have quilt as a tablecloth on a coffee table?

Instructions on how to make this quilt can be found here on Cloud9's blog. I changed it a bit, and made it a bit smaller. The panels here measure 4 by 3 inch. Just in case I messed it up I didn't want to waste lots of fabric!

Sewing!

2010-06-11T19:51:00.008+01:00

I though it was about time that I started using ~~my mum's~~ my sewing machine properly, so started off with a few simple patterns for a knitting bag and a needle roll. The sewing machine I use is a old Swedish Husqvarna Prisma 980, which still works pretty well after fifteen years and several international house moves later. It is computerised with loads of options, which can get a bit confusing for a beginner!

I used the red fabric as it was the only one I had enough off. The rest of my fabric stash comes in fat quarters only (but don't worry, a trip to Remnant Kings after work today soon rectified that situation).

I don't think it turned out too badly...

Next time I really need to match my thread to the colour of fabric that I am using though, although I quite like the effect it had on the needle roll.

I attached lots of orange and yellow buttons on the back of the needle case, just so it looks nice when you roll it up. There is a ribbon tie to fasten the it together, but you can't see this in the photo's.

I have got some more lovely fabric to show you, but that will have to wait till the weekend! The light isn't very good just now for taking photo's. I also started making my first ever quilt (read = mini quilt), which should hopefully turn out ~~awful~~ really well!

Fabric & Ribbons!

2010-06-04T09:36:00.012+01:00

Yay, my order from Seamstar arrived this morning! Everything was really nicely presented which I always appreciate when ordering crafty things. I try to make orders from Orjana .com fun to open as well. So it came wrapped in plenty of tissue paper and ribbon, as you can see:

I was in the mood for dots, and I thought this would co-ordinate well with the fabric I already have. The fabric below is Tula Pink - Hushabye – Droplets in Brown:

Tanya Whelan - Darla - Darla Rose in Aqua:

Robert Kaufman - Brown Polka Dot:

Tanya Whelan - French Hatbox - Dots in Celery:

And I also bought ribbon of course!

And this handy tips card was a really sweet idea! Am very happy with my order anyway.

So I can't wait for the weekend, which is practically here already since it is Friday, so I can get crafting. Hopefully the toy stuffing will come tomorrow, that would be perfect! Now I better go and get ready for work!

100th Post!

2010-06-01T23:05:00.008+01:00

So this is officially my 100th blog post! I guess it should have been more by now because I have been doing it for a while, but as you may know I am not the most conscientious blogger in the world, but never mind!

This week I have been making ribbon corsages. The first one wasn't the greatest but it got better, and I think the green one below turned out pretty well.

I made the bow button on this one myself using Shrinkle plastic, which is always fun to use. I love anything that involves the heat gun!

I have also just placed an order for ribbons and fabric on Seamstar which I can't wait for! And I bought a kilo of stuffing of Ebay, which is probably overkill but you never know, I am sure it will come in handy... So you can probably guess that I am in a sewing mood!

Just to let you know that Angus is updating Orjana.com just now as well, so it will be unavailable for a wee while. We will be back though!

Happy Birthday

2010-05-16T16:52:00.004+01:00

Happy birthday Angus!

I love you lots!

Beads

2010-05-14T21:22:00.008+01:00

These beads came through the post yesterday, lovely crackle glass, millefiori and sandstone beads. I made a few sets of earrings, results below!

Tomorrow it is a certain someone's birthday, so I will be back with another post!

Happy May!

2010-05-09T11:48:00.010+01:00

Hello folks! May again, things are getting greener, and the weather is getting better at last. To celebrate I have been buying some plants and flowers, yellow tulips below:

Strawberry plants:

And herbs, including lemon thyme below which smells amazing:

I also bought a new gadget. Since Polaroid have stopped making film I have sold my Polaroid camera, and instead bought a Polaroid PoGo printer. This little printer uses Zink technology, meaning that you need no ink. The paper is embedded with crystals which are heat activated by the printer, and this creates your photo. You can buy the PoGo from Amazon or Ebay around £20, and the Zink paper is available from the same places for around £3 to £4 per 30 sheets.

I also wanted to show you my blue ribbon wreath, which now hangs in the living room. I just tied lots of ribbons on to a wire heart. Next I am making one in pink!

My Dad also came to visit over the weekend, which was nice as we live pretty far away from each other. It was good to catch up! Luckily we had nice weather over the weekend.

My Dad had just bought a new car, which put me in the mood for going for long drives! I guess I'll have to learn how to drive first, it is on my to-do list!

I think I'll spend the rest of the weekend maybe crafting and maybe tidying up the house. See you soon!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T13:19:00.006+01:00

Thanks to Angus for the eggs and Kirsty for the card! Happy Easter holidays everyone!

Wedding

2010-03-31T23:24:00.012+01:00

Congratulations Ann and DM! Me and Angus hope you will be very happy together!

Maggie, Angus's sister and me.

Yummy wedding cake made by Careen!

The groom and Angus.

And lastly, meet Donald, quite possible the cutest thing on the planet!

Island Textures

2010-03-30T20:58:00.016+01:00

All taken in Ness Port, Isle of Lewis. Next time some more photo's of our trip and the wedding, they still need sorting out. See you soon!

March in Pictures

2010-03-23T18:32:00.011Z

How has everyone been so far in March? The weather is getting so much better, and we have had the first day of Spring. For Mother's day I baked lots of cakes, a Victoria sponge and a carrot cake, so me and my mum were on a bit of a sugar high.

Happy Mother's day again Mum, if you are reading this!

I finally decided to do something with this massive canvas I had lying about the house, so I bought lots of tester pots in blues and greens. I thought I would do stripes mainly because I couldn't think of anything else! Then I added lots of glitter glue, and a few ribbons.

It looks quite good against the chocolate background, and I love the colours. You can't really tell how big the canvas is, but is more than a metre wide.

I also wanted to show you this, it is a cross-stitch sampler I made for baby Donald a while ago, but haven't had a change to give it to his mum and dad yet. Tomorrow we will meet baby Donald for the first time, as we are off to the Isle of Lewis. Angus's sister Ann is getting married on Friday so we are looking forward to the party!

I will be back soon, hopefully with lots of good photo's! I better go and do some packing now...

First March Post!

2010-03-07T14:13:00.008Z

On Saturday we went to the Creative Stitches show in the SECC here in Glasgow, and as ever, it was really busy. It was a good chance to buy some supplies though! I bought some beads, ribbons (I am a sucker for ribbons!), stick-on pearly things, and die-cut owls from Kanban. I love Kanban stuff, especially the cupcakes and Russsian dolls they do.

Also made this blue necklace, using some Fimo beads left over from a previous project, and some glass and wooden beads. I am not sure yet what I am going to do with the pearl beads I bought, but I am sure they will come in handy. I am going to go and recover now, it was busy day yesterday, also went out last night and had a few too many White Russians!

Origami & Flowers

2010-02-28T21:55:00.008Z

I can't believe the weekend is almost over already. It was my first weekend off in a long time, so I enjoyed it. Did some shopping, went to see Mic Macs in the cinema, and generally lazed about.

I also bought a few spring bulbs to cheer things up, and to remind me that spring is definately on its way!

Here is the origami mobile I mentioned last time. I made the cranes from this gorgeous Chinese dragon paper, and tied a few beads underneath each one. The cranes are pretty easy to fold once you have done it a few times.

I have hung it in the living room for now, although I keep walking into it. I quite like it though!

Next weekend we are going to the Creative Stitches show at the SECC, so should have some more photo's then!

Happy February!

2010-02-18T16:42:00.007Z

Oh dear, I really have been a crap blogger the last while! How is everyone's February so far? Had a good Valentine's day? Angus and me has a quiet one, as I was working (uuurgh - work). I was going through our photo's and came across Angus's tilt shift photo's which I think are so cool, I might have shown some before. I love the way everything looks tiny. Below is a KLM plane at Schiphol:

These are monster trucks at a show we went to last year. They look kinda cute in the photo:

And this is our local train station in Scotstoun, Glasgow:

And this is Goes in the Netherlands, where one of my grannies lives. This picture was taking when Angus and me where at the top of a Ferris wheel:
This one is my favourite, the houses look tiny, it is a bit like the houses in Madurodam, a pleasure park in the Netherlands where everything is scaled down:

And this one was taken at the Ullapool harbour last summer:

I have neglected my crafty area a bit recently, although I am busy folding origami cranes for a mobile, which I shall hopefully finish tonight. If the light is good tomorrow I will take and post some photo's. Also, I wanted to say congratulations to Angus, who started his new job as a web developer today. He has been doing it free-lance for a while now, so it's exciting that he is now officially employed. Congrats babe!

Last Post of the Month

2010-01-31T21:35:00.007Z

Last day of January, I will be sad to see it go! I like the way it's the start of a new year, all the Christmas hassle is all but a distant memory, it is my birthday month, and the promise of spring lies ahead! I have managed to find the time today to upload a few cards to Orjana.com:

Till next month!

Back again!

2010-01-29T12:23:00.009Z

Oh no, haven't been here all month, work really gets in the way of real life! Beter have an update then! How cute are these little cupcake charms? They are tiny but perfect.

I bought these and the necklaces below from Sugarmice on Folksy. I would totally recommend this little shop, great attention to detail, and everything gets delivered with little gift boxes and tissue paper.

It was my birthday on the 22nd, and funnily enough I got lots of crafty things! Lots of papers, stamps, fabrics, more Harris tweed, stickers and more. So you can guess what I'll be doing on my day off.

Also got this set of mini books on sewing from my lovely mum, with lots of techniques and ideas.

I think they look quite good on my crafty shelfs. Extra points if you can spot the little black cat crafted by my friend Kirsty!

Angus is also busy updating Orjana.com, he has perfected his cart so he will be loading that onto my site. I love the little temporary page he has put up! I have started making Valentine's cards, so hopefully those will be up soon aswell.

If you would also like to have a fab web designer at your services then visit Angus on Digital Overdose!

Happy Newyear

2010-01-01T15:05:00.000Z

Just a quick post to say...

happy newyear to all that may read this...

and because I want a post dated with today's date, 01-01-2010!

Snow

2009-12-22T12:56:00.002Z

Me and Angus went for a walk today, and I thought I would test my brand spanking new camera, a Fuji S1500. I am still getting to grips with all the functions, but what a difference with the old one! It's so quick and accurate.

Not long till Christmas now, I have done my shopping, presents are wrapped and posted, so bring it on! Thank you Angus for my Christmas present!

2009-12-09T10:58:00.006Z

Guess what Sinterklaas brought me after all? A parcel from my lovely Oma (Gran), containing lots of goodies such as pepernoten (spiced biscuits), chocolate letters (A for Angus and O for Orjana), marsipan, banket staaf (puff pastry with marsipan inside), Dutch books, perfume, candles... I am so spoiled! Thank you Sinterklaas, or should I say Oma!

Hearts. I have been making lots of them, and I am not finished yet...

More hearts...

Cupcake hearts...

Different sized hearts...

Maybe for in the Christmas tree, or in my case for hanging off door handles! Might send a few away in Christmas parcels as well!

Happy Sinterklaas!

2009-12-05T21:41:00.004Z

It's the 5th of December, which is an exciting day for lots of Dutch children. If they have been good, then Sinterklaas will visit them on his grey horse and drop presents down the chimney (or leave them beside the central heating if you don't have one). Lots of sweets such as peper noten gets eaten, and you have to make sure that you leave a carrot in your shoe for Sinterklaas's horse!

Peper noten above, and Sinterklaas's helpers below.

Here is the big man himself!

Unfortunately Sinterklaas didn't come all the way to Scotland, but I still had a lovely day as we had a pre-Christmas dinner with my friends! There was wine, presents and plenty of food involved! Can't wait for Christmas itself now!

First Post of November!

2009-11-20T21:59:00.008Z

Yay! I have finally updated my website, Orjana.com. I might have mentioned before that the cart I was using wasn't very good, as it did not allow me to set different postage levels, but my oh-so clever boyfriend has coded one all by himself! Which means that UK postage is now available at a flat rate of £2.50, and I also have international shipping available.

So I got busy uploading some more hand made cards straight away! But it is so difficult to take good photo's with the weather we've had recently, the light is so weak.

I will also list some more Christmas cards when I get some decent snaps, as only a few are listed at the moment.

Sometimes work really gets in the way of life, I haven't written a post all month! Which means I have loads to catch up on...

...such as big hugs and congratulations to Careen and Murdo, whose little boy Donald Murdo was born on the 5th of November! Please be assured that a little something is on the way by post, as soon as I find some wrapping paper!

Not long till Christmas! Well ok, it might still be November, but time flies, especially at this time of year. I have already written all my cards, bought most of my presents... I can't wait to have lots of Christmassy blog posts! This time of year is always best for crafters I think!

If you are interested in having your own professionally made shopping cart for your site, then contact Angus at Digital Overdose. He's pretty good!

Craft Goodies

2009-10-28T18:56:00.002Z

I was going to take a few more photo's of the goodies I bought at the Hobbycrafts show on Sunday, but I never got the chance to take them, as it gets dark so early now.

I managed to control myself and not buy too much stuff, but who can resist pretty ribbons? But I wish I had bought more now!

Also bought some peel-offs... (which I love colouring in with Sakura Souffle pens, I am such a kid!)

And lastly some pictures of pretty crystals, which I have got a thing for, especially blue ones.

I tried to capture the shimmer of the tiger's eye and cat's eye crystals (the brown and dark blue ones), but it is quite difficult to see in the photo how the light catches them.

And some more photo's of bright shiny things, because it's my blog and I can!

Coconut Ice & Hobbycraft Show

2009-10-25T17:08:00.009Z

Whoops, not a post all month! Time just seems to fly these days! Anyway, I made some coconut ice for the first time, and it is pretty nice, if you love coconut and extremely sweet things that is.

Here's the recipe if you fancy making it. It is so easy to do and you only need four ingredients. You will need one tin of condensed milk, 200 g icing sugar and 350 g dessicated coconut and a few drops of red or pink food colouring. You mix all the ingredients together as if you are making dough. Go easy on the condensed milk, add half first and then add more as you need it because you don't want it to be too soggy. The right mixture is still quite moist but holds its shape. Then split the mixture in half, and add a few drops of food colouring to one half and mix. Then press the mixture into a square tin, followed by the other half. Leave to set overnight or longer if you can to get the proper texture. Done! Que a trip to the dentist for a filling!

Also went to the Hobbycrafts Show at the S.E.C.C. with my mum today, where I stocked up on some ~~sparkly and glittery~~ essential craft supplies.

Bought plenty of glitter glue, stickers, and glitter card...

And some lovely Laura Ashley papers...

Everyone seems to bring out a craft range these days, even that Laurence something Bowen has a range out, isn't he that MDF guy from Changing Rooms?
I was going to take some more photo's but it got dark so quickly, it will have to wait until Tuesday when I am off work.

Last post of September!

2009-09-30T14:49:00.007+01:00

I tried to make some FIMO jewelery, but haven't had much success! I either keep burning them so that you open the oven to a big toxic cloud of smoke, or I forget to put holes in the beads!

The blue necklace above and the earrings below were both baked in someone else's oven because mine just burns things.

I do love these colours though, especially the turquoise.

Tomorrow it is my auntie Marian's 40th birthday...

... so if you are reading this, hartelijk gefelicteerd!

And a little birdie tells me there might be something in the post for you!

Back Again!

2009-09-17T11:39:00.018+01:00

I am back home again in Glasgow after a lovely holiday in Groningen, Holland. It was fantastic to see everyone, and I had a great time hanging out with all my cousins! We went for walks, did some shopping, celebrated my grannie's 81st birthday, and my cousin John's 14th birthday, and had lovely meals together.

Here is Ineke, my auntie Marian's daughter, isn't she cute?

And here is Jessica, my youngest cousin. Both Ineke and Jessica were extremely busy playing in a sandpit when I arrived!

Here is my grannie and eldest cousin Tom posing in front of the chicken coop at my uncle Han and auntie Linda's house.

And this is my cousin John, celebrating his birthday (with a chicken haha).

And myself with the lovely Tom again!

Doesn't he look cool on his motorbike?

We also went out to dinner to a lovely Chinese buffet, which was decorated with all these Terracota army statues.

For my gran's 81st birthday we bought quite a few lovely Dutch gebakjes (cakes). They looked so pretty I thought I better take some photo's for my blog!

We also went to the market in Groningen, where there was a book fair. If only you were allowed more than twenty kilo's on the plane, then I would have bought some!

And this is the Martini tower in Groningen city centre.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the photo's, I can't wait to go back again. Maybe I'll get Angus to move there with me!

Holiday

2009-09-03T21:03:00.002+01:00

Just a quick post to say I am going away on holiday tomorow for two weeks, to visit family in the Netherlands, and can't wait! Hopefully I will have loads of (good) photo's to show you when I get back!

Scratch and Angus, I will miss you! (in that order!)

Soap & Cake Recipes

2009-08-21T15:46:00.010+01:00

I was in the mood for baking, so I had a go at making a carrot cake. It was easier and quicker to make than I thought, and tastes really yummy! The recipe I used is below, although next time I think I would substitute the raisins for more grated carrot.

Carrot Cake

175g light muscovado sugar
175ml sunflower oil
175 self-raising flower
3 eggs
150g grated carrots
100g raisins
zest and juice of 1 orange
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

For the frosting:
300g icing sugar
140g unsalted butter
juice of 1 orange.

Mix the sugar, oil and eggs gently, then add the carrots, raisins and orange zest. Sift the flour, soda and spices into the same bowl and again mix gently. Pour mixture into a lined and greased cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes at 180 degrees, until a skewer comes out clean. Use some foil to prevent it from burning at the top. For the frosting beat the butter, sugar and orange juice together untill smooth, and spread over the cake once it has cooled down.

I will definately make this recipe again, it was delicious! I really need to practice making frosting though, mine turned out bit on the runny side.

I have also made these cupcake soaps, don't they look pretty? I used dried lavender, rose buds and glitter to decorate them, I just couldn't stop adding stuff to them!

They smell amazing, I used tea rose essential oil from the Bodyshop, so they don't leave your hands really dry either. I used melt and pour soap for these, you melt the soap in a bain marie, then add some colouring powder or food colouring, some nice smelling oils that won't irritate your skin and dried lavender or rose petals, then pour the mixture into silicone cupcake moulds.

These moulds are so handy, no messing about to get them out again either. As soon as you have poured the hot soap into the moulds, gently push a few dried rose buds into the middle, then leave them in the fridge to cool down for a few hours, and they are done!

Featured on Folksy

2009-08-14T11:37:00.005+01:00

I was excited to see that my bird postcards were featured on folksy today. I quickly took a screen shot because I think it is kind of cool! Can you see them? It's the bottom middle photo.

The postcards are available here on folksy, or with free postage on orjana.com here!

Dutch Visitors

2009-08-13T10:00:00.017+01:00

Well, my gran, auntie and cousin have been and gone, it was great to see them again, we went shopping in town (my gran made us get up so early that the shops were still SHUT when we got there), went sighseeing in Loch Lomond, went out for a nice dinner, so I think we all enjoyed ourselves. They brought lots of stroopwafels (syrup waffles), boterkoek (butter cake), and speculaas (spiced biscuits), and also yummy Dutch coffee and tea and cumin cheese, which, if you have never had it, is simply delicious!

My mum and auntie on Loch Lomond.

My cousin Niels.

My mum again.

And me!

Everyone on the balcony!

My auntie Marian again.

And the piles of craft stuff they brought! There is so much that I don't even know where to start! Craft Overload!

Crafting and, erm, hamsters!

2009-07-31T11:40:00.014+01:00

Phew, being a wildlife photographer must be pretty damn hard, because I have been posing about with my poor little hammies for ages, and these photo's were the best I could do. I tried to distract them with food, but not even a chocolate digestive could persuade them to sit still!

Angus reckons this hamster must be evil, but I think it might be my favourite of the two, it gets sat on by the other ham, who is much bigger and fatter, so this wee guy is like the under~~dog~~ham.

Anyway, for those of you who are sitting there thinking 'Well I thought this was a crafty blog...' I shall get back to business. Look what I found when I was over at my mum's:

An even-weave cross stitch of Beatrix Potter's Tailor of Gloucester that she made about ten years ago when we still lived in the Netherlands. I remember she bought it while we were on holiday, and when we visited the World of Beatrix Potter in England.

But ten years and a million house moves later it was looking pretty neglected, so I gave it a wash and a good iron, and it is looking much better. I didn't manage to get all the creases out though, so it looks a little distorted in places, so if anyone has any tips...

My Lili of the Valley order arrived, and it was lovely, I like the cutesy feel of the characters, and they are so good for children's cards as well. I made a few more cards with them straight away, and if I carry on at this rate I can open up my own equivalent of Hallmark pretty soon!

That was about it for today, we are busy tiling the bathroom floor (well, Angus does the tiling, I make the cups of tea for the workforce). Also, my gran, auntie and her eldest son are coming over from the Netherlands for a weekend next week so I am dead excited about that. It's like a little bit of home is coming over to me!

More Cards and Pincushions

2009-07-28T10:05:00.014+01:00

Hello guys! How cute are these fairies? They are stamps that came free with a magazine, not bad for a freebie! Thought I would make some cards with them, so I stamped the image in black ink, covered with clear glitter embossing powder, then coloured in using shimmer paints. I am loving fairy designs at the moment, I ordered some stuff from Lily of the Valley, can't wait for that to arrive!

Remember these pincushions? I have been making a few more, because they keep disappearing when I have people over, so I know I am not the only one who likes them!

There also been two new additions to the household, meet Jack and Victor (after Still Game, a Scottish comedy in case you're wondering), two Russian dwarfs! The photo is a bit rubbish, but the brown hammie has red eyes, which I think is dead cute. Scratch has been a little bit obsessed, she sleeps beside them at night!

Shop Update!

2009-07-20T16:09:00.011+01:00

I have added lots more items to the shop, after having neglected it a little bit while being on holiday etc. I was having a bit of hassle with postage and international orders, so have decided to make postage and packaging free on all orders! Unfortunately international orders are not available at this time, but we do ship anywhere within Europe. I have added these pretty cards, they can be found here!

Fabric Hearts & Felt Flowers

2009-07-14T18:31:00.008+01:00

Well I have been catching up on crafty projects since I got back, I made these felt flower brooches, two of which I made for Angus's sister Maggie so I hope she likes them. The other two I made for ~~myself~~ the shop!

I love the polkadot buttons as well, I try to sew them onto everything!

Also made some of these hearts, which I stuffed with dried rose petals so they smell pretty good.

I absolutely love the fabric with the peacock print, wish I had bought more of it now!

I made a few of these hearts, such a nice quick project, which I kinda get hooked on, the same with the pincushions I posted about a few weeks ago, I have made more of them as well. Once I get the hang of a crafty project I can't stop making it!

Home Again

2009-07-05T21:51:00.012+01:00

Well, we are back again from the Isle of Lewis, we had a lovely time visiting family and friends, going to the beach, horse riding, and attending the wedding of Angus's sister Careen. So here is few photo's:

We went to the beach lots, and even went swimming a few times, it was that warm.

Here is Angus on the beach at Port of Ness.

A window in St. Moluag's chapel, an ancient church in Eoropaidh on Lewis, which dates back to around the 12th century.

A stained glass window in the chapel.

A commemorative cross at St. Moluag's chapel.

Cliffs at the Butt of Lewis, the most northerly point of Lewis.

Here is us all dressed up for the wedding, Angus looked very handsome in his kilt!

And congratulations again to Careen and Murdo!

Holiday

2009-06-22T21:51:00.003+01:00

Me and Angus are going away on Wednesday for a week to the Isle of Lewis for a family wedding, so no blog activity till I get back. I should have lots of photo's for you though when I do!

I didn't have any travel related photo's other than this bus stop sign in case you are wondering! We are going by train, then a bus, and then a ferry, so I anticipate lots of travel sickness, but I am sure we will have a good time when we get there. So I'll see you all soon!

The week in pictures

2009-06-16T21:14:00.015+01:00

It's been a wee while since my last blog post so I better catch up!

Me and my mum went to our local Chinese market a few days ago, where they sell all sorts of things including lots of sauces and spices for Indonesian dishes, which was a nice surprise, as when I still lived in the Netherlands we would quite often eat Indonesian food, such as Babi Panggang (sweet and sour roasted pork), Bami Goreng (stir fried noodles), and Poe Yoeng Hay (omelet with vegetables). Because of Dutch colonies in Indonesia in the past, Indonesian food has practically become indigenous to the Dutch, much in the same way curries are considered to be British food. So for our dinner I made us some Bami Goreng with fried eggs and sate sauce (above), and Sayur Goreng (spicy green beans), which was very yummy.

It was quite funny to find the yellow jar with Bami Goreng spices (on the right) in a Chinese market in Glasgow, because it was made in the Netherlands and contained an Indonesian sauce.

My friend Lucy came down to Glasgow as well, whom I last saw a year ago when we graduated, so we went for a walk around the Glasgow uni grounds for old times sake, and took lots of photo's. We also went to the Hunterian museum and had a look at all the pickled body parts and were thoroughly grossed out. All in all a lovely day!

The uni main building above, the cloisters below:

The main gate on University Avenue with lots of names on it:

And I also wanted to show you a photo of this beautiful rose that my mum picked for me:

And lastly Scratch, who was fascinated by the blow-up bed because it made her wobble, but was deemed worthy of a snooze all the same:

Blog Anniversary!

2009-06-08T17:19:00.012+01:00

Today Thimbled is one! What a year it has been, in one year alone I have moved home, graduated, been employed, been unemployed, learned how to use the sewing machine (yes, that does go on my list of 'big things'), and generally tried out all sorts of crafty things, some projects being more successful than others!

So, in honour of my blog anniversary I made these pincushions, the pattern for which can be found in the new Sew magazine, issue one. (You basically cut out six triangles from different fabrics, sew them together at the long end, till you have a circle, then gather the outside of the circle using a running stitch, then stuff with filling.)

They are actually quite big, I was going to make more in different, brighter fabrics because they are quite satisfying to make, (what I was gonna do with so many pincushions I have no idea!) but I ran out of stuffing. Oh well!

There would have to be a button involved somewhere...

And for your viewing pleasure, Scratch the cat. She came for a nosy while I was taking the photo's above, and for once she sat still for like, a whole micro second so I took these:

I might be biased, but I reckon she is pretty damn cute!

So that's it, on to blog anniversary two!

Shop Update

2009-06-03T23:34:00.012+01:00

Just a quick post to show you some of the new items added to Orjana.com, including these pressed flower toppers:

Mini postcards, these are so cute, I want to keep them all for myself!

And also oriental themed mini postcards, even cuter! They have the actual message and stamp on the back, they are just reductions of real postcards.

Mini note cards! (Yes, there is a bit of a theme going on here)

Also added a few more buttons and stamps, so have a nosy! I also wanted to show you the felt dresses that I started making a while ago now, finally finished. They make bright little ornaments, I've hung them on my wardrobe.

I adore this cupcake! I love the pink felt and turquoise ribbon, my fave colour combination. One side has little padded hearts, the other has lots of buttons, I prefer the heart side, because the ribbon on the button side doesn't look right, think I might go and change that actually.

Makes a perfectly good window ornament though!

Now I am off to bed, I need to recover from pink overload!

Flat Update

2009-05-30T12:21:00.016+01:00

Remember the flat looked like this?

Well I forgot to take some 'after' pictures, so here goes:

This is the view when you step into the living room, sorry the photo is so dull, it's because I'm shooting towards all the windows. Do you see that black blob on the sofa? That would be Scratch.

Here's the view towards the kitchen and the hall, you can just about make out the fish tank (and a fish if you look really hard).

Please ignore the bits of wood behind the bookcase, that would be Angus's idea of having a tidy up! I love my blue glass lamp and the peacock feathers:

Can you tell my favourite colour is turquoise? I had to move some of the herbs from the window to the bookcase yesterday, as they did not appreciate the mini heat wave we had going on, they were so droopy.

The basil however is loving it:

And that concludes the grande tour of the living room! Now back to some more crafty related things, I made this red cross stitch heart, similar to the blue one I did before:

Made some mini cards:

And a sneak peak of a certain someone's wedding card:

That's about it, we are going to the park in a while to have a picnic, can't wait! Have a nice weekend!

Introducing Orjana.com!

2009-05-23T14:18:00.011+01:00

Yay! Orjana.com has officially launched! I thought it would be fun to have our own little shop, so my super clever boyfriend designed the site for me! We are starting of quite small, but are hoping to have lots more stock very soon! So far we have handmade cards, tags and accessories, as well as some craft supplies. Here's a screen shot for you:

What do you think? It's super cute, right? So far we have lots of brooches:

Card toppers:

Handmade cards:

Handmade gift tags:

Embellishment packs:

Paper packs:

And Monster!

So please have a look and let me know what you think! I would love to know what your thoughts are! And a super big thank you to Angus for helping me, and I am sorry that I was your WORST client ever! Haha!

Birthday Wishes

2009-05-16T10:56:00.009+01:00

Happy Birthday Angus!

I hope that you have a lovely day!

Also happy ~~belated~~ birthday to Careen, my favourite sister-in-law-to-be!! Although all my future-sisters-in-law are my favourite, I couldn't possible pick one!

Stamp Carving

2009-05-15T13:56:00.006+01:00

I had a go at hand carving rubber stamps, and now I'm hooked! All you need is a stanley knife and some rubbers that you are bound to have laying about anyway. It's pretty good fun to do, hopefully I'll get a bit better at it and be able to make more intricate things.

They look so cute stamped onto ribbon!

Also got a few more swaps (postie must hate me), I love the colours of the goodies below, lots of papers and bits of fabric.

It's also a certain someone's birthday tomorrow, so check back then for another post!

I need some title inspiration

2009-05-11T21:50:00.006+01:00

After about a week of rain the sun finally came out today, long overdue if you ask me, so I went for a long walk. These bluebells smell so good! I finally got my flickr account sorted aswell, take a look if you fancy.

Also had a go at evenweave cross stitch, which took some getting used to as I have always used aida, but it was pretty easy to get the hang off. I'm loving the folksy art feel of the heart, I'm working on a bigger one in red at the moment.

And I got this lovely card from postcrossing.com, if you like snail mail like me, then you will like this site, it will keep your postie busy anyway!

The Week in Pictures

2009-05-04T11:13:00.010+01:00

We went for a walk in the park,

Fed some swan type things,

Attempted to take an arty photo of Scratch and failed miserably,

Received the button and ribbon package from swap-bot,

Bought this gorgeous wool (Sirdar Blur), which so soft. The colours came out a big weak in the photo though.

That was about it, in my next post you will see above wool magically transformed into some yummy garment. Yeah right.

Felt Needlecase Tutorial

2009-04-24T12:40:00.017+01:00

After having neglected my knitting recently (it seems to bring on a migraine if I do it for long) I felt inspired to start a new project. After having a look at yarns on ebay I thought, I must have some already I can use, so I started pulling out various bags and boxes out of cupboards, and this is what I found:

A rather sizeable collection if I may say so.

(Yes, I do like close-up photo's)

So I guess I better get knitting, and start using some of this lot up!

I also made this felt needlecase, and I think I might be a little in love with it, it's all the buttons I think!

So if you would like to make one too, here's a wee tutorial for you:

You need: 6 x felt squares, two of each colour (or all same colour if you wish), ruler, fabric marker, scissors, thread, lots of buttons or any other decorations that you like eg. beads, sequins etc.

- Mark out 6 squares (I made mine 10 cm squared, you could make them smaller/larger if you wish) on the felt, and cut out.
- Take the first square of the colour that you want to be your front, and decorate with buttons.
- Then take the matching square and blanket stitch together on three sides, not the side that will be the spine.

- Then take another square that will be your inside page and decorate if you wish, then blanket stitch together, as above.
- Repeat for last two squares.
- Then neatly pin all three pages (all six squares) together and blanket stitch along the spine. Done, you now have a yummy needle case!

Here's one I made before for a swap on Swap-bot, only I didn't double up the inside and back page, which I should have done because it makes it a bit stronger, but it was my first go after all!

Buttons

2009-04-21T22:53:00.013+01:00

If you don't like buttons you better look away now...

I want to buy some more...

Felt, Fabric and a Recipe

2009-04-16T11:56:00.006+01:00

This recipe came from Angus's mum, and is very easy to make so I thought I would share it with you. Please ignore the slightly black bits, that would be because my oven seems to have only one setting i.e. lava hot.

Boiled Fruit Loaf

4oz /120g Self Raising Flour
4oz /120g Sugar
4oz /120g Raisins or Sultanas
4oz /120g Butter or Margarine
2 tsp Mixed Spice
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
Pinch of Salt
1 Cup Hot Water
2 Eggs

Mix everything but the flour, bicarbonate of soda and eggs in a pan and leave to simmer for five minutes. Leave to cool a bit, then mix with other ingredients. Pour into a greased and lined 2lb loaf tin and bake at 175 degrees (347 F) for about 45 minutes. I normally double the quantities and make two while I am at it.

Also bought some yummy cupcake fabric from Ebay, I don't know what I am going to do with it yet, any ideas?

And also made this happy birthday banner since there are a few birthdays coming up, the idea of which I got from here.