Lemony Leaves

Up and away

2010-07-25T21:44:00.001+02:00

I am just dropping in here to say that I have been busy last week with a custom order - that's why it had been a little bit quiet, but, shame on me, I can't show you any pictures of the finished book, yet. And I won't do so next week, too. But I am not willingly mean, no. I am simply already - as you may have guessed by this posts heading - away from home and so I will be the whole next week - visiting some friends, helping them move and throwing fresh paint onto their walls ...

So next time, I will be posting some pictures of the book and by that time, it will be already august ... summer is slowly coming to an end over here, which makes me sigh. Don't you also think, time always rushes by too fast?

Coptic headbands

2010-07-19T15:08:00.000+02:00

As you may remember - somewhere hidden deeply in a dark corner of your mind, in case it didn't get lost completely, but I won't blame you if so - I won an instructional book about how to make coptic headbands written by buechertiger way back in february. In case you already asked yourself whether I will ever put it to use or have forgotten it, well then, here is the answer ...

No, I definitively haven't.

and another detail shot ...

I hope, I did everything right - in case anyone might notice some mistakes, just tell me, since it is the first time I did those so-called simple two-colored coptic headbands. Anyway, it was fun doing them, and I felt that they add some sturdiness to the finished coptic bound book besides looking very decorative.

Blue water and the heat

2010-07-11T20:18:00.004+02:00

For several days now, it's so hot outside and in here, that even the tiniest amout of water seems to promise a refreshment - looks nice, but I am not sure about the taste, though ...

Just looking at those fresh and bright colors helped a (very little) bit not to literally melt away within minutes due to the heat - the icecubes in my glass weren't that lucky ... but I guess, it would freak me out, if they had eyes ;) ... see, I must have gotten at least some degree of brain damage due to overheating ;).

Anyway, I still managed to more or less *finish* a new, experimental addition to the inspiration wall.

... *off to eat a huge dish of ice-cream* ...

Old stuff also works

2010-07-08T13:40:00.002+02:00

A nice person told me lately, to allow myself to be experimental - and so I did ...

Sometimes, it's the old stuff that works when you don't want to waste *precious* or expensive paints or paper for simple sketches or doodles: pages from an old, discarded book - or my old liner pencils and a simple box of paints which I haven't touched since I left school ... and that was sure a while ago.

Inspirations

2010-07-07T16:11:00.000+02:00

Do you know the feeling when you see something that inspires you, and you immediately have to do or make something with this inspiration? Happened to me this weekend when we saw a movie about China - it was just a tiny scene in the movie's intro which was showing some kind of swirls. I tried to work out a *swirly looking* binding (never would have done so last week, but this week I made the binding test cards ...) and here is what I came up with:

Next time, I'd choose a diffent color scheme - red, black and white, perhaps - but as always, I grabbed the next scrap piece of felt, which was a bright green, so I ended up with bright green on the cover, too. The pocket-sized book measures about 11 x 8 cm and is filled with 200 blank, off-white pages with torn egdes. Since it is completely handsewn, I was pretty glad, I made this one rather small ;) ...

The reason why I do not like the color scheme of this book right now is my current liking for bright white and pale blues - only, I didn't even notice before having a closer look on my *inspiration* wall ... ahem, actually just a few pins and doodles on a hemp cord.

... well, seems, inspiration mostly finds you when you are not looking for it, isn't it so?

Stitches

2010-07-06T12:34:00.000+02:00

Since I am still giving the sewing machine a time-out, I switched to simple but nice handstitches - a blanket stitch, to be exact - to do sewn egdes of projects for now. Pretty time-consuming, but the results are worth it.

I started with a large suede leather book - size about 21 x 16 cm - with handpainted details on the cover, a handstitched edge and 200 pages of creme-colored, french laid paper with wave cut egdes. I decided to keep the binding rather simple. It is bound in a combination of longstitches and linkstitches, a modifacation of a binding I tested on the binding test cards.

I also made, only much more quickly ;), a birthday card for my sister; thrown together because I did not have a card at hand and let's be honest, because I don't like the cards you mostly find in shops - often, they are too kitschy or too impersonal. The card is simply drawn on a scrap piece of linen-cotton fabric, backed with blank cardboard for writing and the edge is done in blanket stitch.

Since we are living rather far apart, I hope my sister had have a nice birthday party with lots of friends and fun this weekend ... xoxo, big sis.

Use your hands

2010-07-03T10:52:00.003+02:00

Let's just resume this week and the one before under the headline *back to basics - doing stuff by hand* ... I don't know whether it is my *magical* hands or the hot weather - the technical stuff I am using seems to beg for a summer vacation. Well, the demon in my sewing machine decided to appear again, nothing new to me - luckily after I finished a birthday present for a friend - a gardening apron, since there are plants all over her home.

So, damn, where to hell have I left the number of the exorcist?

Whereas, the fact that the graphics card of my computer went on strike was pretty new to me. The only positve thing to mention here was that there wasn't much to see either, since the internet skipped working, too ... o_O ... as well as the telephone. Oh, yeah. So, besides a lot of frustrating hours in front of some cryptic programs, updates, test runs and so on I used the time to do some experimental stuff ... ahem ... no presentable results here, so I am just pretending I was trying to take some nice pictures of my messing around with inks ;)

or my playing around with fimo (polymer clay)...

or my fiddling with threads...

The fiddling with these *binding test cards* was a nice way to work out some bindings and to test how to modify the stitches. So at least, there was one - more or less - presentable result. The first, rather small (5,5 cm x 8 cm) book I made with a leather cover, sewn with linkstitches and a modified longstitch.

The blue book below the leather book still needs to be sewn, but I haven't decided on a binding yet, since the binding should match the handsewn edge ... maybe I will do it today, or maybe, I am just going to enjoy the brilliant summer weather ...

Have a nice weekend, everyone - one without technical issues, but with a lot of sun :)

Hello, chaos, welcome home

2010-06-22T13:28:00.002+02:00

It happened again, although I tried very hard to avoid it and keep things sorted ... I have been visited by my old friend - guess who? Yeah, you are right, the name is chaos *sigh*.

Well, at least, I won on the stay sorted side, but I badly lost on the finishing projects side. The visit seems to be the revenge for all the painting I did lately, just too many pieces on that *fabric-painting-pile*. But on the other hand, it's always nice to find long forgotten things underneath the ones you still remember ;). Although there are always some things I like to stay buried ... awful color combinations, unsightly experiments or simply overall epic fails.

This is what I found when I sorted through the paintings pile, see that seastar in the lower corner? I totally forgot about it, it was among one of the first paintings I did - months ago ... Sad, isn't it? But well, I guess, that is just me - slightly chaotic and ticking slower than the rest of the world. The proof can be seen above.

The only book I finished lately (although I admit, I had to deal with severe/stupid computer problems for a while which needed to be solved) can also be considered as an experiment. It is a handpainted softcover fabric jounal with a polka dot, hot pink sideflap and off-white pages with pink colored egdes, bound in a combination of long stitches and link stitches. Whether it is totally unsightly or not, may be up to you ;).

I guess, I should stop writing now and get some things done ;)

Starting small and simple

2010-06-15T17:41:00.002+02:00

Going back to bookbinding, I started small and simple with one of the most basic bookbinding stitches, the pamphlet stitch. And since I wanted to use three already cut up tiny pieces of a larger piece of handpainted fabric, I made three tiny pamphlets - to be easily tucked away in the backpocket of a jeans or any other pocket.

And what is the best thing about summer - besides the sun and icecream, of course ;) ? All sorts of fresh fruits, naturally. So I quickly made an easy summer dessert cooking some fresh peaches, lime juice and leaves of fresh peppermint - it still needs to cool down and be put into the refrigerator, but already smells delicious.

If your garden is full of mint or peppermint, too, like the one my peppermint came from, why not give this recipe a try? Looks incredibly yummy!

Ah, well ...

2010-06-14T18:46:00.001+02:00

... how I wish I would have been busy as a bee lately, but instead, I have been enjoying some books (ahem, reading, not binding them), the sun, far too much icecream and some new high-tech toys ...

So, I admit I am a rather lazy bee, getting easily sidetracked by all sorts of things ...

Scraps, stains and the sun

2010-05-12T14:29:00.005+02:00

Hi there again on a finally sunny day :) - it's the first one since days, weeks ... ages? Well, anyway, I immediately took this chance to take some (hopefully) better pictuces of two items I made some time ago, both came into life more or less by accident.

The first item is a set of some fabric coasters completely made of fabric scraps - a great way to use up your scraps, in case you have some of them left and you have no idea what to do with them. Originally, I did not plan to make some coasters, I just happened to doodle on some pieces of left fabric, really nothing fancy. Then I started to randomly sew them together with some simple hand stitches ... sew sew sew ... et voilá: coasters. I also gave them a handstichted back of some leftover handdyed fabric to make them reversible when I don't *feel scrappy* ...

The second item is a placemat made of thick cotton fabric which I really liked - until it got in touch with the lovely man I am merried to ;). Well, he added his own decor to it... Unfortunately, I don't really like random stains, especially not the ones of the kind *I am here and I will never leave you again*. So what to do with a stained placemat when nothing really works to remove the stain? Well, throw it away, or be inspired by the stain(s) and throw more *stains* onto the placemat ... Grabbing some fabric paint, I went with the second option.

Now, the meals are always a little bit more colorful :) - and by the way, those stains inpired me to do more drawings, like the one I showed you in this post. So, you never know, what might become of a random doodle.

And since it is starting to get warmer and sunny outside, I could not resist to bring some spring onto my desk by picking up some tiny flowers in the park. They are nothing special, but particularly the daisies remind me of my childhood when the grass we played on as children was filled with numerous dots of white and yellow ...

Hope, you picked up some flowers or some kind words (as I did) for your moms last Sunday, too - or had a great day as a mom. Bye and have a nice and sunny day.

Spring and dots

2010-05-06T11:58:00.003+02:00

As promised, I am going to try to catch up a little bit. And since today is a very grey day here - same as most days this spring here - I thought I might share some ideas for simple ornaments I made back in february and march to add some color (especially some bright green) to exactly such grey days to instantly lighten up the day and the mood.

And last, but not least, my favortite ones: I simply love the vintage feel of the lace pieces in combination with the bright colors of the felt. They were a gift to my mother-in-law, but on that day, she wasn't the only one who wanted to keep them. Guess, next year I will have to make a lot more sets than just one ...

So much for today, I am off with some words which are (at least for me) perfectly suited for grey and rainy weather to keep me smiling. ;)

It's been a while

2010-04-28T15:13:00.005+02:00

It's been a while since my last post. Sorry to all those who already started to complain about that, and yes, shame on me for neglecting my posting. ;) Seems the time in-between now and then got lost in some strange time consuming vortex (aka life)...

Anyway, since I haven't spent my time doing nothing - I actually got heavily lost in painting and drawing, there is quite some stuff to show to catch up. But be aware, I somehow got crazy about bright colors. For now, just a tiny sneaky picture ...

More to come, promised ;)

A present on my otherwise empty desk

2010-02-04T17:58:00.003+01:00

Yesterday, a letter full of motivation arrived. It is a nice present, now laying on my desk, from the bookbinding artist buechertiger who hosted a give-away on her blog to share her birthday with her readers. Surprisingly, I was the lucky winner. If you are interested in bookbinding or anything related with it - such as paste paper and the making of it - just head over and have a look! You will find a lot of interesting tips and hints on those and a lot more subjects.

This *reverse birthday present* is a book about different ways to make coptic headbands, it is filled with detailed descriptions and a lot of easy-to-follow photos. I am really looking forward to trying it! Thanks again, buechertiger!

Only, given the current state of my workspace which is still an empty desk in a corner rather than a real workspace, I guess I will have to be patient until everything is finished. And well, if you think, hey there's a lot of space to work on - then you are right. But: there is nothing to work with ... *sigh* I am in constant *search mode* for all my tools which seem to play hide-and-seek with me right now ... But I still can withstand their attempt at driving me crazy ;)

As I mentioned, I am progressing. Our new shelves are finished and have also already passed their *bunny security test*, so the niche behind the desk will soon be filled (or cluttered up, who knows) and the coming weekend will hopefully be used to add/build the last missing items. I am finally looking forward to replacing the screwdriver with needles and the saw with a more delicate cutting tool. :)

Simple colors

2010-01-29T16:00:00.001+01:00

Back in time, just before the weekend - and still fighting with paint and chaos *sigh*. But at least, I am progressing - *yay* for that :). And I am keeping the promise, and will show you what I have been working on just before I took my vacation in Chaosland.

All of them are fabric prints on natural, unbleached cotton, made with all kinds of materials I had at hand: potatos (released my inner child), rubber stamps, cardbord rolls, buttons, foam and plastic packaging, cork from a wine bottle - see, really anything works. Although I am not sure yet if I dare to cut the prints down or use them as whole pieces ... Anyway, here are some colorful candies for your eyes - the icy blue, light pistacio green and light purple ones are my favorites, what are yours?

Have a colorful weekend :)

Typo toy

2010-01-26T23:09:00.006+01:00

In-between the sawing and screwing I am doing at the moment, I simply needed some distraction in form of *surfing* ;) And of course, I spent a lot more time with clicking than I should have. But at least, I came up with this - it's a really cool toy, easy and simple to use, just fun:

You can make your own *wordle* using any text or source you like, just head over to Wordle.net. Happy playing :)

So slow

2010-01-22T14:06:00.006+01:00

Hello again, out there. Everything around me feels just like a blank canvas which needs to be filled, same way as with this blog which I have been slightly neglecting during the past few days. Posting was postponed because we are (still) figuring out and building a new workspace for me - besides throwing some new paint onto the walls. All my stuff has been crammed into a tiny corner, so that I won't be crafting anything anytime soon. I'd like to show you our 3D Tetris (for those who still know this game - it was one of my favorites ...) - literally piles of boxes and boxes - but, ahem, my card reader is somewhere in there ... So, no photos for now, maybe later.

I also will show you some fabric printings I have been doing before the *big chaos* started which were inspired by the fabulous Elizabeth Hartman from Oh, Fransson! I so much want to bring more color into our home, and her new quilt along would be just perfect to do so, only, I am lacking all those bright colors. So I came up with my own solution, but more of it (hopefully) next week ;)

For now, I will be taking a break - at least from crafting - diving back into the fumes of freshly painted wood and walls.

Have a nice weekend everyone, Denise.

Sorting and shibori

2010-01-08T17:55:00.004+01:00

I am currently sorting all the stuff in my *studio* to fight the overwhelming mess and chaos - it is quite chaotic even for me. And anyway, isn't it a good thing to start the new year sorted and tidy? Unfortunately, I started with those embroidery threads - something I don't even use that often at all ... All of them were tiny bits and pieces left from mums old or never finished projects, knotted into one (yes, really one) big mess. But since the mess was a gift, I can't complain, right? I did cut all the paper spools to size to fit them into a small drawer of a well known little IKEA chest. And I sorted them by color to finally know all the threads I now own. If anyone had told me it was that much - I guess I never would have believed it. Luckily, I am close to finish with the threads ... So, just the rest of the *studio* left ...

In-between all the sorting, I simply had to do something *more creative*, so I crabbed a simple piece of white cotton fabric, one of the threads I was sorting and dyed the piece with things I found in my kitchen. I dyed the fabric in very hot water, to which I added some concentrated vinegar and ground curcuma - et voilá - bright yellow. Although the fabric is not ironed yet, I think the result is okay for the very first try to dye things like this. I don't know yet, what I am going to do with it, but since I am a *fan* of japanese art and culture, it is always interesting to actually learn new things related with this culture.

The contrast of the original white and the bright yellow is not very hard, but I don't mind, because after all, the yellow really brought a dash of color into my day as a contrast to the snowy white outside :)

Looking back

2010-01-04T16:52:00.006+01:00

Again, another year has passed by far too fast with all the small and big changes, it brought for all of us. One big thing for me was that I discovered - and still am discovering - the joy of bookbinding. Having put bookbinding away for nearly one and a half month now, I am trying to motivate myself to resume it by reminding myself with all the books I made in that past year. And yes, it's really for self-motivation ;) since I tend to be easily carried away with different and new things I am learning and discovering (prooved by the accusing looks the unfinished bookcovers are always giving me when I see them on my shelf o_O). However, I think bookbinding is the ideal project to combine so many different aspects of paper work, drawing, painting, sewing... within one object of not only decorative but also funtional purpose one can actually use every day.

Beginning with a quickly done book with nearly no knowledge of what I was doing back at the end of July and ending with - hopefully - better ones in November ...

If you are interested in the appropriate links, just klick below.

... still so much left to learn.

Happy New Year

2010-01-02T22:29:00.000+01:00

I am just stepping by to wish everyone out there a happy New Year. I hope your holidays were joyful and peaceful and you had a great New Year's Eve.

All the best for you in this fresh and upcoming new year!

Hey, how cool!

2009-12-29T23:22:00.005+01:00

This december, the German branch of SciFi channel hosted an online drawing contest to celebrate the launch of the television series "Sanctuary" in Germany. You could draw simple "monsters" online in a small active drawing window. I participated under my name and my husband's name - well, I didn't know back then, that I could post more than one monster ... But as life is, always expect the unexpected!

One of the monsters, I drew and donated under my husband's name - the "Hey, it's me - monster" - actually made it into a real design for shirts, bags and so on which are now sold for a charity project! Just have a look at the SciFi shop.

How cool is that? It's so cool to see your own stuff somewhere in a real shop, on real objects. A nice late Christmas present.

Already over

2009-12-29T18:36:00.002+01:00

And again, the Christmas season is over and gone too soon, as it always is. I hope, your holidays had been nice and peaceful. I could not post these photos before Christmas, so I am doing it now - let's just say as a silent goodbye with some impressions from the famous Striezelmarkt in Dresden - until next year.

Playing Christmas elf

2009-12-16T13:29:00.001+01:00

In case anyone might have wondered where I have been the last week and what I have been doing, here are some photos. But be aware they are mostly sneaks, and not more than that because you know: Christmas and all those presents ... I don't want to risk anyone seeing the items I have been making for them too early.

;)

I hope you had a nice, creative and productive week, too.

Dreams

2009-12-10T21:42:00.003+01:00

I once dreamt of being someone else in someone else's life, a wish burried deep inside me, hidden behind a daily routine - now I have stopped dreaming. From day to day, I am closer to be the person I always wanted to be ...

Never stop dreaming, never stop hoping to be able to create your own world. Your blank dream may grow to become something big one day.

Simplicity

2009-12-09T17:18:00.006+01:00

Standing alone in the grey shades of autumn and winter silence, the plants have forgotten their lives and lost their colors. All is reduced, and what remains is pure simplicity.

The flower centers are actually accentuated with a golden color, because I like the appearance of such vivid colors that change their appearance depending on the angle of light. Only it's hard to take an appropriate photo without daylight.

- black ink on shoji paper with acrylic color details, mounted on heavy watercolor paper, size with white frame 14cm / 5.5" square -

On those, I just had to use such a reduced colorscale. In case anyone might have noticed that the drawing I showed in my post Lines is not included here: this is the second, white version. I tried to do the berries in red, too, but so far I am not that pleased with the result.

Too much playing around ...

2009-12-08T16:54:00.003+01:00

Well, I have been doodling yesterday evening - again ... Originally, I intended to do something useful while I had to wait for some ink and water dyed papers to dry, but I ended up loosing focus - again ...

*sigh*

And the result itself? Way too swirly in my opinion - not really my style after all - too *unstraight*, but I was reminded of Christmas by the *deer* in the center so I went ahead with *kitsch*. But isn't doodling all about playing with a pencil while trying not to think about it too much? At least, I am still trying to get the concept behind *doodling*, since I only got in touch with it recently. So far, I only knew real sketches to train your view or your imagination, as a prepation stage in a process of creating art, or real artwork ... But where to put something like that? Well, personally, I used to put things like that into the waste bin, considered to be an embarrassment. The way you see it, will be left up to you.

Maybe a colored digital version in a cool color scheme might make it bearable, but I don't think there will be time for such a time consuming process soon.

I feel, like I drifted away too much lately, so I should start to get serious again.

Lines

2009-12-07T18:09:00.004+01:00

Playing and experimenting with lines and shades ...

- doodling while watching a film, and well, what should I say ... the film was not *that* interesting to keep my eyes glued to the screen ... -

- black ink on shoji paper, mounted on heavy watercolor paper, but I think, it still needs some more work on it - therefore unfinished -

Blue

2009-12-07T15:42:00.003+01:00

... is the color of december - at least when you are looking outside. The skies are blue with all different shades of white and grey in them, the snow and the ice are shining blue in the fading twilight of the evening hours ... With the bright summer colors gone and nearly no green left, blue sometimes seems to be the only color left. So, I tried to be inspired by all this blue ...

This was my view this weekend when I woke up at my parents in law's house - enjoying the misty morning light and a great december *winter wonder land* view. And here are some things I did the last days, besides making again *millions* of different cookies for my mother in law and painting some walls - no, not in blue this time ;):

Words woven into water - a series of watercolor and ink drawings on heavy, nicely textured watercolor paper and a blue star, whose pattern I found on Ravelry, it is called Celestine Crochet. It will hopefully have found a new owner until Christmas since it will become a present.

I hope, you all had a nice weekend and you are not having a too blue monday ...

;)

Christmas cookie recipe

2009-12-04T12:42:00.007+01:00

Today, I will share two recipes for the Christmas cookies I made last week since I was asked for the recipe :). The first one, you can use when you are in a hurry and need the cookies *quickly* - but if you have some time, try the second recipe. Those cookies are even better although they need much more time and have a quite higher content in butter - and we all know, what that means ;). All in all, both recipes are really simple and easy to make.

Basic recipe number one, the quick one:
250 g flour

1/2 package of baking powder (approx. 7g)

50 g butter

100 g sugar

1 egg

a pinch of salt

milk (if needed)

flavors: vanilla, cinnamon, lemon juice or finely ground almonds, ... choose one of them or use whatever you like

Take the warm and soft butter, stir it well with sugar, egg and salt using a hand mixer until you have an even pulp. Add flour, baking powder and the flavoring ingredient of your choice and knead the dough until it is even and smooth. If it is still sticky, add a little bit more flour, if it is too crumbly, add some drops of milk. If you add ground almonds, just use some more drops of milk. Now you can use the dough right away (see below).

Basic recipe number two (simple recipe for shortpastry) - the longer you wait, the better they are:

Note at the beginning: All ingredients should be cold, you should work rather fast to prevent dough from getting too warm, i.e. too sticky.

100 g sugar

200 g butter

300 g flour

1 egg

flavors: vanilla, cinnamon, lemon juice or finely ground almonds, ... choose one of them or use whatever you like

Put the flour into a bowl, add sugar and mix both. Crack the egg and add it, but do not knead yet. Slice the cold butter into small pieces and add them to the flour/sugar/egg in the bowl. Add a flavor of your liking (or laeve it as it is). Knead all ingredients fast with cold hands until the dough is even and smooth. Wrap the dough into plastic cling wrap and put it into fridge for at least for an hour. If it is too sticky when taking it out of the frigde, just add a little bit flour. Now you can use the dough (see below).

Dredge your working surface evenly with flour and roll out the dough really thin - about two to maximal three millimeters for the first recipe, three to five millimeters for the second one. Cut out the cookies with cookie cutters and put them on a baking tray which you have lined with baking parchment. Be careful not to put the cookies too close to each other because they will increase in size (depending on the amount of baking powder you added and their thickness)! Put them in the pre-heated oven on the middle rack for eight to ten minutes at 175°C (first recipe) or 220°C (secone recipe) until the edges start to turn golden brown. Let them cool down on a wire grid.

After they have cooled down, you can decorate them with powdered sugar, molten chocolate and sprinkles or coarsly ground nuts, sugar icing or whatever you like ... :)

Just for your information, I used sugar icing on my cookies with a lime flavor ;). For this, simply take some powdered sugar and add lime juice drop by drop - always stiring the mixture. Add as much drops as you need to achive a thick, highly viscous liquid. If the liquid becomes too thin, go back and add more powdered sugar. Now, you can put the liquid into a piping bag with a really thin tube or just go ahead and make your own from scrap:

As shown in the sketch, I simply take some leftover baking parchment, fold the parchment square diagonally in half, cut along the fold so that I have a triangle. Roll this triangle so that the center of the former square becomes the tip of the newly formed tulle, pull tight to form a small opening (where the grey arrows is), fill it and use it like a normal tulle.

Happy baking :)

Good and bad?

2009-11-30T17:06:00.004+01:00

Well, at the moment, I am slowly caught up into thinking about the Christmas presents I have/want to make. There is sewing, drawing, bookbinding ... on my list, and of course buying some presents, but I haven't thought about that too much yet. Oh my, and days are flying by so fast currently, that I really wish my day could have 48 hours instead of 24.

Anyway, I took some time to do the decoration for Christmas. The gingerbread men and bisquits of my last post are *in action* now, sleeping peacefully in our Christmas decoration. Although they looked so yummy, they would be a little fuzzy when eating them, so I made some *real* cookies this weekend. Unfortunately, they definitely won't last as long as the gingerbread men, but I am okay with that ;)

Well, that was the good part. Onto the bad one... I am planning to do some ink drawings in the next few days, or at least until Christmas, as a present, therefore I did some little *practice pieces* to get used to ink and pen again, because I feel like I haven't done so for ages ... The outcome is ... well, see for yourself, let's just call it a little bit misshaped - or a happy little accident ;)

Seems like I am having a little hiatus in bookmaking, since I am only posting other crafts lately, but I will return to the books - I promise.

C'est fini ...

2009-11-27T22:09:00.007+01:00

Christmas is approaching, and so is the time of the secrets... As I promised yesterday, I finished another more or less green item, this time something for my first swap. The overall look is still a secret until it arrives in its new home. Although green was intended to be the basic color, I have to admit, the sneak photo shows quite much orange in this item... hm....

Anyway, I hope the receiver might like the concept and is looking forward to hold it in her hands ;)

Trying to get into the mood for ...

2009-11-26T17:22:00.002+01:00

I`ll give you three guesses ;)

Besides some other things I am currently *crafting*, I just had to use some felt scaps and turn them into some Christmas decoration. First, because I am not planning to use this color anytime soon for something else, and second, because I felt the urgent need to get into the mood for Christmas with our really nice Christmas market already opening tomorrow and the town being already decorated with lights ...

I hope, you are starting to get into the Christmas mood, too, at least slowly.

Seems like I am much in love with this shade of green this year. More of green to come tomorrow in a little sneak *preview* ;)

Back... or: How I have been kissed by a car and turned 18...

2009-11-23T21:07:00.006+01:00

Hello out there. I admit I have been a little bit absent lately, but I still exist ;)

The past two weeks gap of posting was not really planned it just happened as days passed by...

The first week was spent at my parents home - I was visiting them for the whole week because it was my mom`s birthday and I had not been there for nearly half a year which made me realize how incredibly fast and unnoticed time flies by. This week was full of non-adventures and an out-of-service access to the internet, therefore getting kissed by a car was literally the *highlight*. Don`t worry, nothing serious happened, but when the grandpa who maneuvered his car precisely into the front of our car just came up with a tiny "Oh, I am sorry, but I can see no damage, do I really need to give you my address?" my "Yes, you need to do so!" included a little bit more than just a polite request for his address - although I wouldn`t have seen any damage myself, too, if I had tried to - dark as it was and with his bad eyes and such strong glasses - however, he also had not seen us in the first place when he was driving and went into reverse for whatever reason (with us lights on and standing still 2 meters away from him...). But enough of complaining...

Well, nevertheless, I was not totally lazy that week and did more than just watching TV and enjoying family ;). Since I had wisely taken some fabric and my paints with me, I managed to paint some more bookcovers.

Well, unfortunately, the last week back home was way less productive than I had hoped it to be. To tell the truth, I did nearly nothing due to a stupid but persistent cold/infection/whatever. Although my stomach still feels like it is enjoying endless private rides on a rollercoaster, I am much better... :)
Being slightly ill also seems to make me look way younger than I actually am (and unfortunately: feel). When I did some daily shopping I added a bottle of wine to the list - and guess what: I was asked if I am already allowed to do so!?!? Buying such things is restricted to matured persons of the age of 18 and above in Germany, so I would not have mind it anyway if I were 21 or even 25. But since I already turned 18 quite some days ago (ahem, more than a decade.... ), I really thought she was kidding me. No joking, the lady was serious!

Well, the moral is that it is at least way better to remain in a youthful stage than to hurry to look your age, isn`t it?

A Tuesday ...

2009-11-03T22:47:00.000+01:00

like this one is best spend in a cozy corner with all your best friends.

Boo

2009-10-31T19:12:00.004+01:00

Darkness has fallen and so Halloween begins... A happy and creepy Halloween to the monster in you.

Autumn floating in...

2009-10-30T19:41:00.004+01:00

... yes, I know, autumn came already quite some weeks ago, but so far I still managed to hold onto the bright summer colors. Well, that's over now. The reason is a present for a book loving friend, who hopefully will become the author of her own book one day - at least this is a dream of hers. So I made a book in a more or less autumnal color scheme (hope she still likes purple!) to put down all of her ideas onto paper instantly - and what is needed besides paper to do so? Pencils, right? Therefor this book has a *built-in* pencil case in the sideflap sewn in a contrasting purple fabric.

Happy birthday D and I hope you will have a great party.

Last weeks ups and downs...

2009-10-29T15:42:00.008+01:00

... came for me in a full color scale from purple to red. Some colors in-between were missing, though, mostly due to the new behavior of my personal satan - the new nickname for my sewing machine which definitely ruined some covers during the sewing process. I hope I can overcome this tricky behavior and it will turn into a nice behaving sewing machine again. But when you have a closer look at the red satin book, you will see that the front fabric also looks crumpled, this time mostly due to my lack of sewing experience concerning patches *~* So, there is still a long way for me to go, to do things right and to make them turn out the way I originally had in mind - or at least close to this ;)

So, no light yellow and green this week except a work in progress piece combining a mellow yellow theme and my personal favorite: a line related theme.

Yes, I definitely love lines. Simple line art can express anything when used in right way as shown in a very impressive way by tape artist Chris Hosmer. All those great images are made with different tapes - which means a real limitation to line itself. Just a tiny glimpse of his work below, called "Africa 2", which I think is really great in perspective and color choice, but there is so much more to see on his blog:

Well, onto fighting the demon in my sewing machine, we will see who won the next few days...

;)

A Tuesday in town ...

2009-10-27T16:42:00.001+01:00

was just a typical day in autumn.

It's here

2009-10-20T20:32:00.003+02:00

The sweet Fioleta from The Floating Dreams did send me a postcard she picked up at a bookbinding exhibition in Oxford lately to inspire me on my journey in bookbinding. And see what I am holding in my hand: it arrived today, yeah! British post didn't go on strike on this one, and the postman here did really find my mail box (he does not always do so, unfortunately ...).

So thank you, Fioleta - I will see, what I can do not to dissapoint you ;)

You brightened up my day and made me smile :)

Denise

A Tuesday in town ...

2009-10-20T14:52:00.001+02:00

feels so grey today.

Mr. Green O'Crab

2009-10-19T13:54:00.004+02:00

Let me introduce Mr. O'Crab, Green O'Crab, to you. He might look a bit odd, but believe me, he is quite funny and a very nice being. The only thing with him is that he is always longing for ink or a pencil to tickle his belly full of 200 limegreen and tropical blue lightweight pages. But when he sees no one around, he securly closes his mouth with bright white thick cotton cords - but be aware: he always keeps his limegreen button eyes on anything that goes on around him, they are never closed! But if you treat him well and stroke his flower print fabric back from time to time, he will be a trustworthy friend...

;)

Denise

Tropical snow

2009-10-13T23:55:00.000+02:00

What a day... didn't I talk about the *rainy* season lately? Well, replace the rain with snow and here you go. Since I am really not that much into snow - mostly because it is intrisically tied to cold weather - I prefer to hide myself as much as possible behind my desk with a nice huge cup of hot coffee, thinking of something else than snow. There will still be enough time to enjoy the winter, but not yet, at least I am not willed to do so yet ;)

So, I finished another softcover fabric book whose components laid around for quite a while now, but which was perfect for a little vacation for the eyes - seeing bright tropical blue and limegreen paper in combination with a white cotton fabric strewn with nice flower prints lets you instantly forget the freezing cold outside. Offwhite satin cords, which are used to close the book, bring in a warm shine which reminds me of shells I always pick up when I am at a beach. To add contrast, the edges are stiched with a dark teal that reflects the depth of the ocean where the shadows slowly creep into the light turquoise water....

Oh, how I wish I could be at a warm sunny beach now...

Red against Moby

2009-10-10T20:16:00.018+02:00

Currently, I am making a miniseries of three softcover notebooks painted in red - ahem, besides all the other more or less book-related ideas and projects, which are starting to form a rising wall around me, so it might be wise to work on those projects rather than starting new ones *ah, focus focus*... Otherwise the piles might silently fall down on me and bury me. Although it would not hurt that much since the piles are made of fabric, it might complicate daily life......

Nevertheless, I try to get the series done. Last time's red poppies became abstract circles, this time's inspiring grass became quiet striped, and the third motiv already drifted away to a completely abstract construct. Maybe it is a mixture of grass and underwater landscape which I am doing in a parallel project. At the moment, I like the poppies the best - perhaps because poppies of all colours are one of my favorite flowers since they are so delicate and fragile but yet intense.

The seastar is part of the underwater project I mentioned above; the greenish-yellowish in-process-something (a sunflower yellow in reality, not as orange as it appers to be on the photo) next to it was inspired by the love for a sixties yellow mellow mood that suddenly overcame me when I was listening to Moby this evening. Ah, and again another project started... *remember: don't listen to the music - focus focus*

Well, I am off to sort things out and get them done ;)

Red ribbons

2009-10-08T23:26:00.014+02:00

This time something about my newest adventure - bookbinding. Since I am quiet new to this I am still trying this and that and everthing without a certain direction - well, at least yet. ;) Inspired by red poppies and using my favorite colour scheme of black, white and red, I made a softcover notebook with 120 plain white pages of slightly heavy drawing paper. For this book, I tore all pages apart at all sides to give the egdes some texture and a soft touch so that the egde of the textblock feels somewhat like fabric or as soft as the red felt, which forms the *inside* part of the cover.

The ribbons which are used for closure have a very nice fishbone weave and are made of cotton. They are still very long, mostly for decorational purposes, but for now I will leave them as they are since cutting them off is far easier than cutting them *on* ;)

And one more important thing: A big thank you to the nice Fioleta who already mentioned me on her blog and contineously supported me right from the start since I made (and am still making ;) ) my first steps into the world of the internet. Thank you, Denise.

Preparing for the rainy season

2009-10-06T19:53:00.010+02:00

Yes, its already october - the rainy season is approaching fast. So what? Make the grey rain bearable with a tiny bit of colour to cheer you up! For me, todays colour was a pale, but bright pink - so I made this little tissue pocket to cheer me up on days like today, when it is raining the whole day long and you see nothing but thick grey clouds.

And yeah, my first entry! Nothing big, but its a start. Hope, your day has had some colour in it, too, bye, Denise.

A brand new start

2009-10-01T14:56:00.007+02:00

Hello and welcome to this very fresh, tiny blog by me - who's me? Hum, this is a good question, but I would describe me as a *ahem* slightly chaotic, often day-dreaming, eclectic mind with two nearly neversleeping, creative hands and - at least my family says so ;) - a huge heart...

Helplessly loving art, nature, photography and handmade things, I constantly create all different sorts of things in our nice little flat under the eaves where I live together with my lovely husband and two very fury, but incredibly cute little bunnies. So, this blog will be about all the things I hope still to create and other things I am interested in.

For the moment, please be a little patient with me, since I am now doing my very first steps into the world of the blogs, but after all, I simply hope you will enjoy reading this blog. :)