Simple is good

Here is very, very ugly weather!! Rain is falling down very heavy, it's storming and it's dark. But why complain? This is a perfect day to wear pyjamas, stay inside and craft all day long! One of the things that came out today is this upcycled children's shirt I made for my friends son. Sometimes simple is good.

Colourful holes

Found this big, colourful knitted blanket in the thriftstore. It's beautiful but it has some holes in it. And too bad but these holes are no good to fix. So I doubted a while but finally decided to buy it anyway and make pillows from them. Recycle, recyle is the keyword here.

But I can't work on the blanket now. Today I finished a large (multiple) knitting project for a client. I'm so sorry I can't tell anything about it. In October I can and off course I will tell you all then!

Anyhow, I put everything aside for this big assignment including my re-writings for the business plan. I need to change some calculations, do some things different in the financial plan. So tomorrow is all about the calculator! And I don't like that part of the plan.. but who would?

Mary's Granddaughter

I need to share the work from Marysgranddaughter with you. Probably you already know it because it's so beautiful and her work has to have so much attention on the Internet. It's so original, so pure. It's strong and at the same time so delicate. I love the individual pieces that are brought together. The use of porcelain arms, the natural backgrounds and pure color use is so great. What an amazing artist!!

Knitting

A lot of knitting is going around here.. Really a lot. I'm working on a large project. And you? Busy with creative things? Some sewing, knit of something else? Are you reading a good book? Enjoying a good recipe? Or are you just having a lazy day?
Whatever you do, enjoy this Sunday!?

fell in love

... fell in love...

true, true craftmanship..

squint

Today.. is vintage children's shirts

This morning I had an appointment with a possible textile supplier for my business. It was a great meeting and while I was there, I saw these perfect vintage children's shirts. I loved these so much, I had to have them right away. But of course they are for you! I don't have kids, and all the friends and family's children are still babies. These two are both size 140. It's polyacryl, feels a bit like tricot. I think the red one is completly new. The blue one has more fluffs on the arms. But if it was ever worn? I doubt it.

The shitty thing is that I can't get a normal picture, were you can see how great these are!! See how bad that looks, here below. It doesn't show the shirt at all! So that's too bad but I had to show it! And if you want one, or both of these hip, vintage shirts, give me an email for details and price!

On the way home I came across a thrift store and found these cake plates. They are very pretty I think but the best part is, that my name is on it!! See that stamp next to the brand?? My name!! Spelled right, on all the plates! I think it's the name of the collection. Can you imagine? My name! Must be a good sign, and of course I had to buy these...

Tuesday

1. Turquoise sheer Dress, 2. Vintage, 3. Blue jazz vintage dress, 4. Vintage hippie dress, 5. Vintage 70's dress, 6. 60's Purple collar dress, 7. 1970's Dress, 8. Vintage Maxi Dress, 9. 1970's Ric Rac dress/tunic

Today,

already tuesday,

is about

VINTAGE

dresses..

How it all began..

found

A while ago Miek’s tagged me with the assignment to write about how I started to be creative. I really needed to think that one through but here’s my story.

As a little girl I was always making drawings, cutting and pasting little artworks. Crafting was definitely in my blood. For a while me and my girlfriends on primary school were obsessed with making friendship bracelets. We could sat down, chat for hours and make bracelets around our toes. I never did any sowing, crochet or knitting while my mom and grand mom’s were the best at it. My mom had sewing lessons and we had a lot of self sewn clothing as well as knitted sweaters, scarf’s, vests, anything. As a little child I always loved to sit next to her while she was sewing. And I loved it when I could push the pedal with my foot to wind up a new spool on the sewing machine, or push the needles in the pincushion.

When I was about eleven, twelve I started to make jewelry from rubber and I started to work with clay. Loved that so much!! Also I loved to change my room every week. Which my parents weren’t too happy about it all the time. You know, I had a really heavy bed which made deep trails in the carpet. So every time I moved my bed around, I always took a fork to scrape the carpet back and you wouldn’t see the marks in the carpet anymore. That was a good solution, I thought!

these pieces of rubber art are found here

Besides decoration and working with clay I still made drawings, which made me go to the Graphic School of Arts in Utrecht when I was sixteen. I loved working with art, making drawings but I knew immediately that this school wasn’t for me. You have to be really, really, really good to make it in advertising design. I knew I wasn’t that good and besides that I couldn’t see myself at a desk the whole day, making just the things a customer is paying for. I missed that creative freedom, felt limited in the tools to work with and didn’t like the graphic design ‘world’ a lot.

I went searching for my old drawing map and found some of my old assignments. As you can see, a lot is technical drawing (which I didn't like at all!!) The last one is a assignment I loved a lot. You can do it yourself! Take a good picture from a magazine and cut out little square pieces. Fill these with drawings. At the end you may not see the difference between picture and drawing.

I went to a school to study to be a social worker. Not that I wanted to become one but it was the best school to do, to get the right diploma to go to a teachers trainings school, to become an art teacher. I guess l lost my path here.. Because after I finished this school, I got my degree to be a social worker. After working different jobs, and mainly working with psychiatric patients I started teaching. Besides my job I studied to get a teachers degree and for the last five years I worked as a teacher at a vocational school for students that want to become a social worker. Mainly I gave social skills and arts.

During my time as a student I didn’t do any much crafting at all. I guess my passion for thrifts and vintage got more attention here. I love thrift stores, secondhand clothing, old house wares and furniture. I can tell you that I only have a new couch and a new mattress on my bed, everything else is thrift and second hand.

About four, five years ago I started to miss crafting a lot... For a while now I was working, student time was over and I moved from a small student home, to a bigger place. A place that I can call home and needed to be furnished and decorated. Here I made more of a turn to vintage goods besides just second hand goods. My love for vintage got bigger and bigger.
My new home also gave me more space to work on crafts again. I started to work with clay, did some drawing and painting again but was attracted to textiles. I learned to crochet, to sew, to knit, to felt. Everything textile I could work with I tried, I learned about and experimented with.

Meanwhile giving art classes at school my passion for crafts got more fired up! And after a long journey (read back on my blog) I’m back at the beginning. Ahead for a new, I hope to be, long journey to make my living out of crafting, designing and decorating all layered with vintage! Behind the scenes I’m working really hard to get set up, and at the end of the year I hope all is ready to start. Long kept dreams can come true.. even if you were hiding them for so long.

I would love to know more about how my friend KerryAnne got started! And do you want to think about your start, your journey? Go sit for it, think back and forward, and make us a good story about your crafting life.

Have a good weekend you all!

friday 13th

it COULD be your LUCKY day...

Natural vase

Forgot to show you this new vase I finished a while ago. At the moment nothing crochet is going on here. Working on two large orders, still working on a lot of paperwork for the business. Really, time is slipping through my fingers. But I enjoy! Although I would wish the evenings weren't getting darker so quikly.. Were heading more to winter... grrr.. (not yet, not yet!!!)

Vintage sleeping bags

I always tell people, friends and actually everybody I meet, that I'm setting up a business and I need 'old' stuff. Like wool blankets, old textiles, clothing, old cups, small cabinets but mostly textiles. Friends buy stuff for me on fleamarkets, clean up their attic and sometimes people even ask other people and great, great things are flying in here at liset!
Yesterday my mom's neighbour brought me a pile of wool blankets but also these three vintage sleeping bags. No way I'm getting a scissor in these! I'm so, so, so in love..
Enjoy your weekend!

Today

Today..

....I found this great line on the Internet.. ..(don't know were anymore, it was early)..

... did my grosseries and found this mini-bread.. can you see it?

..it is half the size of a normal bread..

..love it so much that my appetite for evening dinner is gone...

..(I ate the whole bread.. ....want some too,

and you're in the Netherlands, go to AH)..

..came home and found a lovely package in my mailbox..

..I'm one of the winnars of the give away at Ingthings from Inge..

Love the pincushion AND the lovely vintage card.. thank you so much..

.. cleaned these two Japanese cups I found in Friesland, last week..

going to etsy.. with a bit of pain in the heart..

I like them a lot..

.. and you know, today isn't over yet!

Dungarees

Remember when I bought this jeans on the market a while ago? You know the one that was way to big but I couldn't leave it there because I love jeans with stripes and even more, I love braces and dungarees. But I had to be realistic so I gave that jeans away to Patricia.

Which didn't make my search any less!! In the last couple of months I searched for my own, new dungarees and last week I found them. Completly, completly happy!!! I love the details like the colored lining and the embroidery on the back and on the braces. And it wasn't a cheap market jeans but a new, pretty expensive one (it's a brand I don't know and can't find back in the jeans, something with a I and with a F). But hey, sometime you have to spoil yourself. Happy, happy, happy!

Colorful Coasters

My parents rented a house boat in Friesland, last week and I went there for a couple days. Had a lovely time! I like a house boat (with good weather)! Made friends with some ducks, who came for bread, every day. Have to say I didn't knew they were so hostile towards each other. Men, how groups attack each other! Even big ducks attacks the little ones.. And I know, that's nature but I don't like seeing it.

I finished a bunch of coasters for the etsy shop. I've been maken these in order for a while now so I thought, I'll make some in stock. And now I have. So mail me, check out etsy, if you want a set.