On the cover

 

 

Before you read this post, put on Colin Farrell with 'Happy' :-). That is how I feel at the moment! Just after I published last weeks blog post and opened up my mailbox (the real one, not the one line one), I was in for a pleasant surprise. Do you remember I wrote about the glass of my green house breaking and hoping for a bit of luck? Well, I believe my fortune has changed :-)

The Victorian Homes magazine was sent to me, with one of my photo's on the cover. I jumped for joy :-)! It looks absolutely fantastic! Beside the cover photo, two beautifully written articles are inside, about the tea parties I have in my garden and my collection of vintage tea cups. All photo's in the articles were made by me. I am so incredibly proud!

If you are interested in the magazine. You can buy it at Barnes and Noble and select book stores and grocery stores in the USA. You can order a copy on line too.

I spent some time behind my sewing machine last week, to make new cushion covers for in my garden. I love a bit of change now and then. Let me show you the first one. I am quite happy the way it turned out. It's partly made of vintage fabric.

While I am writing this post, I can see large patches of blue in the sky, while the first rays of sunlight shine through my window.  I think I will put my sewing machine in the cupboard for a day and head off to the garden! When I was there yesterday, I noticed the first daffodils and hyacinths in bloom. At last, at last, at long long last :-)

Wishing you a sunny day. Have fun!

Love,

Madelief x

* The floral dress on the photo's was a recent vintage find. It's absolutely lovely and perfect to wear at tea parties in my garden. The crochet necklaces were made by me.

 

 

Staying warm

It took me almost two months to make, but my slightly large (1.90cm) and wide scarf (50cm), is ready to wear. I am incredibly pleased with the result. The colours combine beautifully and I love the ripple pattern. The girls think it looks a bit like a Missoni scarf, which off course is music to my ears :-). The big advantage being that my wrap is much more affordable!

I used dark blue, black, denim, cobalt and grey wool from the acrylic 'soft' line by Zeeman, a light blue acrylic/wool mix 3.5 by Phildar and an incredibly soft grey wool with a silver thread by Phildar, called Strass Light (argent). I wish you could see the silver thread on the photo's, but I can assure you it's the touches of silver that make the scarf special!

If you are interested in making a scarf or wrap with this pattern, you can find several tutorials on the internet. I prefer the tutorial by Lucy from Attic 24. Simply because you can't go wrong.

The photo's below were taken on my roof terrace. On a clear day the view is amazing, but today the city centre of Rotterdam, with it's tall buildings, disappeared into the mist.

I felt a bit like Mary Poppins, being on top of the roof, waiting for the chimney sweepers to arrive and do their rooftop dance :-)

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Love,

Madelief x
 

A touch of pink

I hope you did not get a shock yesterday, or the day before, while visiting my blog. I have been messing with my template. Wanting to give my blog a lighter, more contemporary look, but still 'keep the Madelief feel'. I did not manage to built what was in my head. I think I have to ask the help of experts, or give it a bit more thought....  So when my blog looks different again the coming weeks, you will know what it's all about :-)!

I have been busy upstairs in the loft, where my craft room is. Just painted a dark brown picture frame and a blue table 'lily pink'. I did not use any special paint, just a tin from the DIY shop.

I was still in need of  a small table for my stall at the Swan market on the 28th of September. This one, which I found at the thrift store, is just what I was looking for.

The roses were given to me by my husband for our 25th wedding anniversary. I decided to crochet a pillow, using the colour palette of the bouquet. The cups are thrift store finds. 

Wishing you a Happy Weekend! Hope the sun will shine on you.

Love,

Madelief x

Crochet cushion

Hi everyone,

There I so much I would like to show you. Last week was a busy one. In between work and home, my mother and I spent two sun filled days in Maastricht, her place of birth. We visited family and enjoyed the sunshine, terraces and beautiful shops. The rest of my spare time was spent with a crochet needle in my hand and my nose in baking books.

I had my last tea in the garden yesterday.  I will show you some photo's soon, but I thought it would be too much to show them now, my last post being a tea party and the one before a lunch :-).

In this post a cushion cover I finished today. I used the same colours as in the covers I recently made. This was the last one for the living room. Perhaps I will make another one for my craft room with a granny square flower in the middle. Just found a gorgeous pattern on Etsy.....will be conintued....

The pastel bowls, floral cups and teapot are recent vintage finds.

A Happy week!

Love,

Madelief x

Thank you for your sweet comments on my last few posts. It's always a joy to read them! A big kiss to you!