Special feature Friday (on Saturday)

Edition 11

The last week has been extremely busy and as a result I did not get to write the Special Feature Friday for 2 weeks.
So this week we will have to do with a Special Feature Saturday.

Cold weather is coming up so I was browsing for some knitwear. Wilst browsing I came across a shop called Deadly Mori Girl I have a huge weakness for this style, it is cute just like I find lolita cute but not as over the top, and easier to wear in every day live. The styles are quite different but yet these two styles can be mixed very well! And one could still work with a lot of lace in the outfit, and of course, for me there is never too much lace.

This shop has many lovely clothing items perfect for Mori style, the light colors, knitwear, folksy lacy type of clothes.

 I am not a fan of green, but I love this teint of green,

  especially with the lace this makes a great piece!

The items look well made and very detailed! The materials used seem of a very high quality, with beautiful lace. This style is certainly great for this time of year as well. 

The only thing I would want to say about this shop is that I hope they will come with more items in the future, this shop has potential and I think there should be so much more!

I love this cardigan, the color is so pretty and it looks very soft and comfortable.

Special Feature Friday: French Baguette

Edition 10

I can't believe it is edition 10 already! There are so many lovely shops to choose from on Etsy!
Usually I search for a while before I decide witch shop to feature, but this time I found a shop real quick.
I love vintage and antiques and we all know that a great country to shop for unique pieces is France.

This week was my anniversary of my first year in France! unfortunately I did not get to see as many antique markets as I would have hoped for. But I did find this shop on Etsy.

It is called French Baguette and filled with lovely mainly French vintage items.

                           Isn't this just great? I can picture it in the most wonderful country kitchen!

Browsing trough this shop makes me wish I had a huge kitchen, I want it all! Wonderful enamel coffee and teapots, the cutest cups, ceramic container and plates, I could go on because there is way more.
They all breath that atmosphere of a wonderful warm kitchen with a delicious meal is cooking on the stove and cookies in the oven. Really, yet again I get hungry writing this blog!

Lets not forget about the tins, I just love vintage tins.

Of course this shop also sells items that are not kitchen related, but I would really suggest you go and check them out yourself. I think there are great things to be found for the collectors! 

Work in progress

When I am working on a project I do not like to clean up the items I need for crafting until it is finished.

This means that sometimes we have go go to bed with the house being a mess, and get up with a house being a mess. Since I have started working on the shop this has become an explosive problem.

Explosive because that is what the room looks like, as if a little bomb of crafting items just went off.

Usually you can find me somewhere in the middle of it, with a cold cup of tea and an old sandwich I forgot about. In my old house this was not much of a problem because I had a room for sewing.

In this house it is quite a problem because it is small, there is not much place to put things away, and of course I am not living here on my own but with Dear BoyFriend, who I will be calling DBF from now on.

I can't quite believe how patient DBF is with me, putting up with all my stuff day in and out, sometimes he decides we need to clean up, and then we do. but about 3 hours later it is back to being a mess. I think he is sweet for helping me clean up my crap in the first place.

So, something needs to change, I should start working on one project and then finish it, and not -as I am doing now- 5 projects at the same time. Or maybe I have to stick with two, because in the evening I work on different projects since I do not like to sew in the evening. Oh dear, there you go, as soon as I find a resolution I decide something to make that resolution useless in the first place.

So I should definitively work on getting my stuff organised better, after all this is a tiny house and we will be here for another 3 years. I will dream of having a sewing room for myself one day, but for now I am happy with what we have!

Special Feature Friday: Exclusively Pearls

Edition 9

This week in special feature friday Exclusively Pearls. Why you ask? well...don't we all love some pretty pearls?

This shop has a lovely collection of pearls, braclets mostly but also earrings.
The items are very classy indeed!

                    I love these pink pearls, they are classy yet the color makes them a bit more playful!

These are items for all occasions, fancy dinners, funerals, weddings. They would certainly do very well as a birthday or Christmas gift. (Really, we have to start thinking about Christmas because it is coming FAST)

                 Also these peacock pearls are gorgeous! I just love the glace of all the different colors over it. 

There are also items for girls in the shop, it must be great for any young girl to have her very own bracelet of pearls!

As usual for Etsy these items are handmade, witch always gives me the feeling of luxury.

This is a fairly new shop, but there feedback is all positive, and I do think these items are everlasting when it comes to style.

Christmas inventory

The end of September is nearing, and the list of things to do before Christmas is getting longer.

Along with gifts for family I am also making a lot of items for the shop this year.

I can hardly wait to see everything in the winter theme in the shop, but before that time arrives there is a lot to do. I have started with 3 patchwork pillowcases, using bits of fabrics I had left. 

Here is a little preview for one of the patchwork pillows, far from being finished though as I am planning on quilting the front.

I would love to tell more about the gifts I am making, but I cannot risk it, family might just read along ;)

All I can say is that it involves some knitting.

I might have mentioned before that I wanted to start crochet. This week I finished my first crochet ball, it took about 3 tries before it worked out well, that is with all the stitches on the right place and of course in the right amount. Especially ending with the right amount of stitches was difficult at first, but I get the idea now.

Cosmetically there is still a lot that I have to improve, but I am sure this will all come together eventually!

I have found some really nice patterns of a little owl, and I would love to make those!

However, with the busy season coming up I am not sure if I have time to work on the crochet any time soon.

Better be off to bed early, to be up and about on time tomorrow! 

Special Feature Friday: At Home Bistro

Edition 8

Did you know that Etsy is also a wonderful place for finding recipes?
And because it is such a wonderful international community there are many wonderful new foods to try out.
European, American, Asian, Indian, Mexican, Vegan, and so on.

I never before thought of purchasing recipes via Etsy, but I adore cooking books, and I have quite a few of them. But sometimes I like to try something out of witch I do not have a recipe. Of course there are many websites where one can find recipes for free, but these are not always accurate.
Therefore, Etsy is a great option for getting recipes, that are accurate, and not made up to accommodate the tastes of the country you live in, but actually taste as they should. For example, the average Chinese restaurant in The Netherlands does not make actual Chinese food, but rather a less tasteful version of the real thing, to make sure most of the Dutch people would like it. This makes sense for commercial shops because after all Chinese is very different from the Dutch cuisine, and when Chinese food first arrived in the Netherlands it was more important to sell then to be authentic. I am glad to say that more genuine Chinese restaurants are popping up throughout the Netherlands now.

At Home Bistro is the shop I ran into this week, this shop has quite a selection of wonderful foods, and the recipes are very easy to download after payment. The great thing about this is that you are able to work with them right away!

  Don't these cheese cake clouds look delicious?

  I would nearly lick my screen to get a taste of them!

This shop has a great varieties of recipes, desserts, cakes, soups, main courses and some traditional American dishes like meatloaf, cheesecake and marshmallow fluff cream.
Really, I dare you to go and have a look without wanting to eat something afterwards!
Another positive thing about buying your recipes like this is that you will only have to buy the ones you want to make, and you don't have to spend a fortune on a whole new cooking book.

 Could you resist this chocolate cake?
 I know I can't....

So, that is my message for this week, remember Etsy when you are searching for recipes, you will be surprised!

*edit*

After the shop owner of At Home Bistro heard of this blog she decided to give the readers of this blog a 15% discount! Use the code AISHA15 to get the discount when you want to purchase a recipe!

Special Feature Friday: SnapdragonToyCo

Edition 7

Next week is my dear nephews first birthday. Before he came along I never took notice of anything baby's might need, as cute as they are, it was never something I had to think about.
But, nowadays I have to check the baby clothes department of every store, and have a quick look in the window of the toy shop to see if there are any nice toys he might like.

I also started to pay more attention to baby toys on Etsy. My nephew seems to be very attracted by animals, if they move he has to look at them, and pet them in his own clumsy and still very uncoordinated way.

This week I found SnapdragonToyCo at Etsy, they make knitted animals, dolls and wooden children toys. Especially the wood animals caught my attention as they are so simple yet extremely cute.
Like this hedgehog for example;

I know it is wood, but it looks like it is worth it to give it a cuddle anyway!
The wood used is often solid maple wood, I find this a very pretty type of wood. The woods are finished with a bees wax. they make perfect save toys for children to play with, even when they want to stick it in their mouth. And, as it is wood, it will last forever and maybe one day even the child's own child or grand children might enjoy it just as much as their parents once did.
In my eyes there is no material more perfect for this as wood. With this shop it is also possible to request a custom made animal, just in case your favorite animal is not in the shop.

Vacation shopping

A better-late-then-never update about all the items I bought on my holiday!

As I said before, this year we went to the Netherlands and England on our holiday. Mostly to see family but there was plenty of time to do other things, for example, shop for my shop. In the Netherlands we went to this little quilt shop in Schagen, Aljona's stoffen. There I found some fabric in a peachy orange color, there where 3 types in one series, one had a tree and different kind of animals, it spelled "les amis de la forét" in the same series there was a fabric with foxes and one with branches and birds. The fabric came in a color I usually do not feel attracted to but this print was so cute, so I decided to get a fat quarter of each. However once I came home I felt like I should have bought more. I also bought 2 fabrics with a flower pattern.

We also went to Amsterdam where I got to go to 2 quilt shops, the first one, birdblocks, I have been there many times and often found a lot to buy, but unfortunately this time I only bought 2 Christmas fabrics. The other shop is called Dutchquilts, this shop is really quite special because they sell antique prints, Dutch but also others. It is really a nice shop to find some different kind of fabrics. Both shops are right next to each other, so if you visit Amsterdam it is really easy to visit them both!

The last quilting shop I visited was in England in Canterbury. I have been in Canterbury a few times before, and walked by the shop, The sewing shop , but I never went in. Well this time I did, and the shop is really cute. I was thrilled to find the fabric "Les amis de la forét" because at that time I really regretted that I did not buy more, so I took another fat quarter. I was especially happy with this shops selecion of Christmas fabric's, they already had a great selection, something I missed in the shops in the Netherlands.

As I would like to build a nice inventory with Christmas items this year, I need the fabric's early to get it done in time. So I was very happy to find a great selecion of winter fabric's in this shop. As well as some floral fabrics and a fabric called paint by numbers, this reminded me a lot of my childhood so I just had to take some. (but again, I should have bought more because it is a great print to work with!)

And then at last I found a shop in Weymouth where they sell wonderful beads, mostly semi precious stone.

I had a hard time finding semi precious stones in the shops, and it was great to find some here, I only took a little selection though because at this point there was not a single free spot left in the suitcase.

So, the holiday was a success, I am extremely happy with everything I bought. It was great to visit all these shops and I hope to be able to return to them again!

Vallon des Trésors

Special Feature Friday: MinkuLUL

Edition 6

We came back from holiday last week, we had a lovely time! Unfortunately I got ill so I did not get to do as much as I wanted this week.
From next week on I only have class in the morning though, so that leaves every afternoon to work!

For this weeks Special Feature Friday I choose a shop that sells the most beautiful hand painted silk scarves.
MinkuLUL has a great selection of scarves, painted in the most beautiful colors and designs.
The fabric used is silk, one of my favorite fabrics because it is so light and soft.

I can imagine it must be a lot of work to paint these scarves. They are so detailed I can imagine that a lot of love goes into making them.

I admire the craftsmanship that went into making these scarves! This is a great shop to remember for birthday and holiday gifts, I am quite sure everyone would be impressed with a silk scarf from this shop as a present. And of course, these scarves can be worn on many many occasions.

Shopping on holiday

Our holiday is going splendidly! I got to see my family and meet up with everyone. My darling nephew grew so fast, he is absolutely adorable. I was really glad to see him, and see all the new things he has learned. He just learned how to walk, whilst holding something or someone. It is adorable to see him wave, and it took a while but he got the hang of how to clap his hands as well. All very simple things but it is so much fun to watch a baby figure these things out. I am so glad to be up to date again!

And as planned, I got to go shopping for the shop, I visited about 3 quilt shops and the damage was substantial. I could not be more happy though, I just love shopping for fabrics and with the shop these experiences are only getting better.

So, a little preview of the fabrics, they are not yet washed or ironed since they are still in the suitcase for the second part of the trip, so please excuse me for the pictures being a bit messy.

It is August and time to start thinking of Christmas items, so I kept an eye out for Christmas themed fabrics and I have found quite a few nice ones, some very obviously Chrismassy (as we like to call something that looks like Christmas), and some a bit more subtle. I have a few more Christmas themed fabrics at home, and I think all together this can become a nice collection!

I fell in love with these fox and forest themed fabrics right away, they are so adorable, I now wonder why I have not bought more than a fat quarter of each. at first I was doubtful about the print because it is not a color I am usually attracted to, but the longer I look at it the more it starts to grow on me. Right now it is my favorite combination of all the fabrics I bought this week.

Owls, I love them, and I am so glad they are in the fashion, there are wonderful fabrics available with owls on them. this week I bought this fabric the owls look great and the color combination makes it appropriate for a baby room as well.

And at last the flowers, I always keep an eye out for flower fabrics, especially these are very detailed and very pretty, I went for blue and brown, mostly because it was very difficult to find another fabric in the right colors blue, but also because I thought the blue and brown looked like quite a match, and the colors in the raspberries are the same as the colors in the rose. 

So, my first week of holiday has been very fruitful! Thursday we will get on our way to the UK and I hope to find a couple more quilt shops there, I would still like some more Christmas fabrics and I really hope to walk into the fox and forest fabric's again. I also hope to find one or two bead shops, I checked out one bead shop in Amsterdam but was not greatly impressed by the assortment, so I did not buy much.

The last thing I would like to let you know that this week there will not be a Special Feature Friday. But I will make that up with you the week after, and take extra care of finding an extra nice Etsy shop to share!