We went to Sweden and we brought home
a CD by Veronica Maggio
a sweet Dalahorse
and a Pippi sweater!!
It turned out that the sweater that I had brought with me to Sweden had shrunk in the wash: the sleeves were too short to keep me warm in the evenings! Then I saw a sweater that I knew... Pippi has one exactly like it!
Mine is knit with cotton, so it's perfect for summer. And the sleeves are long enough!
When I wear it I feel a bit like my hero!
I made something for me! After finishing my blocks for the 4x5 Bee, I really felt like making something that I could keep for myself. Don't get me wrong, I love making blocks for other people! It's fun to try different color and fabric combinations, and making a block many times can be a challenge, but is also great practice.
But, as I said, yesterday I felt like making something for me, so I made a Dalahorse pouch! First I traced around a Dalahorse shaped piece of wood that I got from Sweden (I got it from the paint-it-yourself table at one of the Dalahorse factories in Nusnäs). Then I embroidered a running stitch on that line with bright red floss.
For the other side of the pouch I made a mini quilt block (6 inches square) with DS Quilts Collection fabric.
I added some soft canvassy fabric and some quilting and constructed the pouch. Tadaa...
Carina is running a Dalahorse Craft Along. She has a Dalahorse template on her blog, if you also want to make something with a cute horse!.
We went to Sweden and we brought home...
a CD by Veronica Maggio
and this sweet Dalahorse
We bought this sweet guy in Nusnäs, where they are traditionally made. I found him on the 'seconds' shelf; he is not perfectly white, but this gives him a vintage look. He jumped in my arms, gently walked me to the checkout and went home with us. Did you see that Carina and a couple of other bloggers are hosting a Dalahorse Craft-along? That looks like fun!
We went to Sweden and we brought home...
2 pelargoniums
They are typically and traditionally Swedish plants, that you can also see in paintings by Carl Larsson and in windowsills all over Sweden. I loved the light pink flowers and the high stakls so much that I couldn't stop talking about it and couldn't stop pointing them out when I saw them. When we saw them at a market on our last vacation day my husband and children bought these two for me! We thought it would be difficult to take them home (by plane and through customs), but the customs officer at the airport didn't even blink an eye when we walked ''nonchalantly'' past him.
More souvenirs to come...
A couple of weeks ago we visited London! It was Damaris's and Emil's first visit so we went to all the touristic highlights (or drove past them on the Hop on Hop off bus). Of course we also went to the big department stores, Selfridges, Harrods. The best shop though was Liberty!!
Of course I got myself some fabric. But mainly I drooled on all the fabric that I couldn't take home, the wonderful Christmas displays, and the decor all around the store. It reminded us of the wonderful shops in Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. Especially the carved wooden owl that we saw. Sorry, taking photos did seem like a good idea... We did take a quick snapshot in the elevator. Can you some of the woodwork?
These are the books we are reading this summer!
For Damaris: Angsten Academie (School of Fear)
For Frederik: Straf (Punishment) by Birger Baug; I read this one already and liked it a lot!
For me: De Daisy Sisters (I don't need to translate that, do I?) and Het graf (The grave) by Henning Mankell
For Emil: De vloek van Woestewolf (The curse of Fiercewolf) and Het ijzeren tapijt (The iron carpet) by Paul Biegel
This is what I read last summer.
Are you reading anything good?
Give Away Day!!!
On Monday May 17 (a very special day, because Damaris will turn 12!) will be crafty web wide Give Away Day again. See Sew Mama Sew for details.
I'm off to assemble my package for you to win. I'll have a good rummage in my stash of craft materials and I'll probable go to the market too. I'll leave you with a couple of photos taken on our recent trip to China (that is where I was in the last 2 weeks; did I fool you with my scheduled Sweetness post?)
Shanghai -view from the Bund-
Guilin -view from the boat to Yangshuo-
