Hier is ie Bambi!

(no mouth yet, no tail and a few spots missing, but who's counting...)Crafting_

Isabelle and her ribbons (by Kenzo by Maman)

Kriskras...

... is the name of the second-hand children's bookstore I've been meaning to go to for some time. Turns out it's just another one of those places I'll have to avoid when the funds are low (i.e. most of the time). Amazing finds! I'll just show you one, to wet your appetite.

Well? I know, I know, and the owner is truly friendly. Arghh! If I were a rich woman...

'Hide and Seek' Isabelle Style

Papa even hier toppen!
Papa hide here!
(...while holding the bedroom curtain aside so that Marc can see the exact designated spot)
Ikke zoeken...
I search...
Waar is ie nou papa?
Where is papa?
Onder bed? Neeeee.... (... looking under the bed)
Under the bed? Noooo...
Bij de deur? Neeee.... (... looking behind the door)
At the door? Nooooo...
Onder Lipekot? Neee.... (... trying to lift the poor cat)
Under Likkepot? Noooo...
Daar is ie papa! (... moving the bedroom curtain aside)
There is papa!

Bambi

Considering Isabelle's undying devotion to this particular bit of Walt Disney production (of course, we only let her watch the first twenty minutes in which a) there is not a trace of violence or pain and b) the world is a matriarchy), it was rather unavoidable, so Bambi is on his way...



... though not quite ready yet, to the great disappointment of the clamoring troops.

Once finished, he is supposed to come close to looking like so:



Taken from this book,



... which has been photographed so many times for so many blogs, I almost didn't dare to post it here, but I'm sure some of you haven't seen it yet... and, it's my very first Japanese crafts book, I mean one that I actually own, rather than download pictures of. And it's much much more marvelous than anything those downloads ever prepared me for. I am in heaven. Thank you YesAsia!Crafting_

La visite de Mamie V: Running and Resting

La visite de Mamie IV: Hortus Botanicus

These plants are fantastic, I've been meaning to post some pictures of them for a long time, but never got round to it. I find them exquisite.



My mother finds them horrible. We have agreed to disagree.

Rain and poetry

It's raining really hard. I just found this poem I'd written a while ago. It's about my little writing/sewing room. It's also in French.

La chambre étroite d’où j’écris
est la proue de mon bateau,
avec la tour de l’église comme tous les phares du monde,
et le petit coq doré toutes les lumières,
et les vagues de maisons,
de pigeons,
de nuages,
viennent s’y écraser au fur
et à mesure qu’on avance,
m’éclaboussant au passage.

Le nez collé à la vitre, plus devant que tout le monde.

J’ai toujours rêvé d’être conducteur de bus, d’avion, de métro
(voir la cinquième ligne du métro de Paris, qui elle n’en a pas),
ni pour la vitesse ni pour le contrôle,
mais pour la vue,

le nez collé à la vitre, plus devant que tout le monde.

La visite de Mamie III: To cut or not to cut

Of course we didn't manage to go ENTIRELY without shopping. Still, I am proud to announce that we managed to limit ourselves both in time and in money spent. Most of what we bought came from my favourite second-hand clothing store, the "Appel & Ei" (Apple & Egg) in Leiden.

Here are some 'Self-portraits wearing new old finds':

Amazing summer dress

Very hip retro top

Charming detail of very hip retro top

And this is where it gets funny...

The thoughts of a normal person in the Appel & Ei:

"hey, that's a beautiful blouse. What nice fabric. Not really my colour though, pity... and it's probably too small,... well, I'll try it anyway... look at that, it's a perfect fit!... and the colour is quite flattering after all. What luck! I'll take it"

Véronique's thoughts in the Appel & Ei:

"hey, that's a beautiful piece of fabric. Just what I need for that linnen bag I wanted to make... and it's a blouse, so that's perfect! Since I don't wear blouses anyway,... and it's not my colour,... and probably not my size either... no qualms about cutting it up... still, I'll try it on, since I'm waiting anyway... oh no! it's the right size... and the colour ain't half bad!... man, just my luck!!! how can I cut it now? This is too bad... Well, I'll take it, and I can always decide later whether I want to cut it or wear it..."

Latest news report: still utterly undecided...

La visite de Mamie II: Workshop

As a birthday present, Marc and I sent my mum to a silver workshop this past weekend, and this is what she made:


Gorgeous or what? See, now you know where I get the genius from...

La visite de Mamie I: Le Magasin

Since last week, Isabelle owns her own business. A tough job, but at least you're your own boss (and, in her case, everybody else's too).

It's early days yet, so business is on the slack side...

though she can always rely on her one most faithful customer...


... and the customer in question can count on the cakes being fresh...


And this is the most important bit, making sure the finances are in order (any day now, she'll be able to take over our household budget...(hopeful sigh)).

Of course if you know Michael (my brotherlet) or rather if you knew Michael (still my brotherlet) in the early 1980's, this photo series would send you straight down memory lane. I'll try to unearth the relevant pictorial evidence in Montpellier this summer and post it here for comparison's sake...

Emilie

I had a vague suspicion that my mum's visit this week was not going to be particularly auspicious in terms of blog and/or craft activities, so I worked like crazy to finish what I'd started on.

At 1am on Friday the 24th of March 2006, Emilie was born...


She is simply adorable, I can't get enough of her. And Isabelle was delighted to find her in our bed the next morning...


We happen to think she's MUCH prettier than her model,


... which came from this book:


So obviously, the rest of the morning was spent kissing and rejoicing...


(which explains why we weren't quite (ahem) done cleaning the house by the time my mother arrived)Crafting_

Naptime work

Crafting_

Sammy

Once upon a time there was a Spring,
and with the Spring came Sammy,
and Chagall's painted ceramics, and bluebirds singing,
and lots of laughs,
and some really good cries,
and the feel of wet green grass between our toes,
and a finely embroidered smell of happiness.

Noone knew whether it was Sammy or the Spring,

so we waited...

... and the Spring wilted,
while Sammy got larger,
and happiness quietly grew...

Home-made Zakka

I solemnly promise that this is the very last picture of this bag that you will see
(this month that is :)))Crafting_

Isabelle's dream

... een klein beertje, en die had een héél klein bed, héél klein bed... en beertje had één papa, en géén mama... ik één papa en één mama, beertje alléén één papa... en papa van beertje een lamp in de maan gedaan... lieve papa van beertje.

Ik ook lieve papa.

(a little bear, and it had a very small bed, a very small bed... and the little bear had one papa and no mama... i have one papa and one mama, little bear only one papa... and papa of little bear put a lamp in the moon... sweet papa of little bear.

My papa also sweet.)

Finally

The little off-white pseudo-felt bag is getting a proper lining...


There! that's better!

Crafting_

Upcoming

I have a new project, I don't want to reveal too much at this point, but here are some hints...



Crafting_

Heavenly Céleste

It all started out as a bit of a goat (if you'll forgive me the pun), or at least as a self-badgering trip. I mean, let's face it, the odds were clearly against me. I had slept three hours at most (for the fifth consecutive night) and my inspiration levels were at 340 degrees below zero.

These were my raw materials:

There was no pattern, no instructions, only a beautiful picture in a Japanese craft book that I do not own (and those are only good for beating yourself over the head with for not coming up to their level) and that dirty bit of shopping list I'd found next to the sink a couple of posts ago.

My brain was fried. My mood was horrid. I hated those socks.

But then something happened. As I was grumpily going through vague cutting and sewing motions, it suddenly hit me that these two socks, among all other old, raggedy, unmatched socks in Marc's sock drawer... these two socks were going to be saved, they were going to be seen, they were going to be loved.

Thanks to me.

And that thought actually made me cry (see three-and-a-half paragraphs above for some reasons why the fact that I cried about a pair of socks coming to life is not entirely to be blamed on my congenital insanity). And so I slowed down, and started working with love. Working as if I meant every stitch.

And she came out beautiful, my Céleste, shaming that grey elephant boy over on the Japanese craft cover.


But more importantly, she made me happy.

Crafting_

It was beyond my control...

... do you remember that song by Mylène Farmer (well, you probably don't, since a) most of you have luckily never heard of Mylène Farmer and b) it was not one of her great hits)?

Anyway, I know we REALLY don't need them, but at 1 euro a piece, I couldn't help myself.


Aren't they simply darling?