Long time no see!

So... Hello you!

It has been a while. Unintentionally almost nine months passed without any blogging... ~oops!~

That does not mean nothing creative was going on, although I must admit the creative process has been slow in the past few months. Some sewing here and there, some crocheting as well, but nothing special. Did a lot of frogging in the crochet area ~LOL~! Still learning, but there is some progress ~smile~

During the Summer most of my time was spent in taking care of my family. And I love that so much. Adjusting to life with 2 kids has been about finding new balance in everyday things. And there was also my knowing I would not return to my former job which was a blessing on one hand, and a burden on the other. What was great about it, was being able to enjoy my kids so much, especially my baby J. Having him home for over 4 months straight after he was born, was such a joy! And when he started daycare I had some time for myself, which was also very nice.

Simultaneously, my new job and I found each other quite quickly after J was born, so that was such a nice surprise. After lovely summer holidays and after not working for over 6 months (including maternity leave) I started a new job in September. Starting a new job and settling in took more energy than I anticipated and at the same time, I wasn't surprised at all. And I am enjoying it all so much.

That being said, I found myself wanting to get behind my sewing machine again and finding the time to sit down and blog. And all in all the sewing started again when I also took on my new job. Those of you following me on Instagram (@maartjelinnea77) have seen some crafting, creating and crocheting but the blogging was a different ballgame.

So what better way of just starting today. Picking up where I left off. During the next few weeks I will have a show and tell and catch up with you.

Well, I guess that's life for you there and making do with whatever it brings. Have a lovely weekend and hope to see you back here soon!

Love, Maartje

Create 'n Date Late

Hello to you!

Even though it has already been over a week ago (oh how time flies), I wanted to share a little something about the wonderful Sunday I had in Amsterdam at Create 'n Date. This creative event was organized by my dear friend Maaike from creJJtion.

The day started at 10 am and ended at 14 pm. In those 4 hours 45 women (bloggers and Instagrammers (IG'ers)) came together in Amsterdam to enjoy latte's, lovely cakes, fabulous lunch, lovely sunny weather and we were able to partake in 3 different crochet workshops!

One was by Annemarie from Annemarie's Haakblog and her workshop was about making a lovely flower.
The second one also was a flower, by Saskia from Haken Bij Saar en Mien. Biggest difference to Annemarie's flower, was the use of the magic loop.
And last but not least, Claire from Haken en Meer, did a lovely bracelet in her workshop.

As it turned out, the weather was wonderful so we sat outside in the sun all morning and afternoon. It was absolutely amazing to meet a lot of people that I see and read about in cyber world (blogs or through IG). The atmosphere was amazing and it felt like we had been sitting on that Amsterdam terrace every Sunday for the past years, like old friends, crocheting our hearts out.

Result for me was practicing my crochet abilities again as I had sort of neglected them and was afraid to get started again. With help from Claire, Saskia and And I ended up with the cutest bracelet! And I took up my crochet project which I started a long time ago, which is a shawl for my daughter.

As for pictures... I hardly took any as I was so caught up in chatting and crocheting ~smile~ Create 'n Date was fabulous and I will definitely be at the next one!

Love xoxo,
Maartje

Inspiration for future projects

So hello stranger, how have you been? 
The past three weeks went by so fast, I cannot believe it! When the weather was good, I took our little guy outside and enjoyed the sun while it lasted. So no sewing, a little bit of crocheting, but mostly I spent my time reading, catching up and finally sitting down with a huge pile of magazines and some lovely books I bought myself as well as reading up on my favorite blogs and web shops.

And while reading, making a list of new Makes to be done in the next few weeks/months to come.

So stay tuned for some skirts and dresses for my girl, some pants for the little guy and I want to make a cover for the bouncer chair, so our little boy is totally snug and comfortable.

See you soon!

Love,
Maartje

Welcome!

Hi there, and welcome to my blog!

On this blog I want to share parts of my life with you. Especially the creative part that is!

The past couple of years, basically since my daughter was born in 2011, have sparked the creative flame that I wasn't all that aware of. 
Always having been interested in styling our house into a home and reading up on home decorating, I was always fascinated by the idea of creating and crafting. Having never had the courage to just do it, I only thought of what I wanted to do, instead of just going about doing it!

Over the past two years I thought, why wait and just give things a go! Last year I bought myself a sewing machine, because I wanted to make my lil' girl some skirts and dresses. My mother-in-law could teach me a thing or two in that area, so I thought, just start! Also my husband was very encouraging, which helps!

I ended up making a cute flowery dress for my baby! Unfortunately the not so nice summer of 2012 meant that she only got to try it on for size.... Hopefully this summer will be nicer so she can wear it again (with some alterations because she has grown quite a bit haha!). Other fabric, meant for a tunic and legging, is still sitting in my cupboard, waiting for another chance ;-)

Last year my husband did an international project for his company, which resulted in him going off to Toronto, Canada for almost four months in total. I stayed in Rotterdam, with our daughter. And having a daytime job, I just could not pack up and leave of course ;-)
Fortunately I was able to fly in on two different occasions to spend a couple of weeks there with him and our daughter. During that time, Maaike, wife of a Dutch colleague of his, who had moved there in 2011, sent me an email with all things nice to go do and see while in the TO-area. We arranged to meet, so she could give me a guided tour. We had a great time and has become a very dear friend ever since. She's a very talented designer and crochet lover, last September she taught me the basics in crocheting! I still have not managed to finish my first project, but I will not give up and keep persisting ~smile~

The crocheting sparked another craft I had not done since I was 8 or 9, which was knitting! I knitted myself a very comfy cowl, and have several skeins of yarn lying around, waiting to be knitted into something pretty!

Being pregnant now with my second child, a boy, to be born mid March 2013, has me crafting around our house, preparing it for the arrival of our baby boy!

Since my maternity leave started mid February I reupholstered the fuchsia pink roman blind in the nursery, sewed a mat to put into the playpen and made a big memo board to hang on the wall in his room. I also made matching garlands to hang on the playpen and in the nursery. 

And these things combined have made me think about starting this blog. To share my Makes with you and maybe even to inspire others to start crafting and creating.

So, during the next week, before our son is born, I will post some of the projects I have been working on. I will also try to figure out how this blogspot thing works, so I can personalize my blog by adding photo's and that sort of things ;-) And after, I will obviously continue blogging ~SMILE~

So thanx very much for stopping by and hope to see you again soon!

Xoxo,
Maartje