New haircut

Yesterday a friend of mine cut my hair. It is a bit shorter now then I planned, but I like it.

Globe Theatre Romeo & Juliet

Again a bit of culture for Mommy. I love Shakespeare and this version is really well done. The actors are great and costumes and set are amazing. I really enjoyed to watch this. Although it was a bit difficult for me, being all in English (Shakespeare is one of the few exceptions were I prefer the German translation). One day I want to see a play live at the Globe Theatre.

My Washi Tape

Of course I could not resist the trend of washi tape. But they are so expensive! Fortunately I found some  affordable alternatives at Ikea and a local coffee shop (Tchibo) some while ago. Tchibo had some new tapes last month. I will show you these soon.

New Butterick Patterns

Butterick published some new patterns, but only one caught my attention - B6094 by Gertie

It looks somewhat boring from the front. Like the typical 50s dress. But look at that back, it's gorgeous!

Although I decided to sew only from a handful of pattern in the near future, I think I have to have this pattern.

Little Vampire Woman

I was really skeptical about this book. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies was a nice read, although I did not like that the author used almost all of the original text and only added zombies. Then I read a zombified version of Goethe's Werther which was amazing, because it was a new text, but really well written. But I was curious how you could write a good book with the March Sisters as vampires and not losing the context of the book. Would the sisters be bad girls?

But I have to say, the author did make it. The feel of the original story is still there and I still like the sisters. The vampire story fits in well and it was fun to read this new take on the book. And for a change no zombies.

Foxy Dress (New Look 6262)

After a disastrous last year where I sewed almost nothing and most of it was a failure I finally are back on track. I found a pattern that I really like, New Look 6262. I already owned some dresses of this kind which are store-bought and are worn constantly (at least before I got pregnant). So I thought maybe I should make more of this kind, because I already know I wear these kind of dresses. Because if I am honest I did make a lot of dresses that are too fancy or uncomfortable for everyday wear. And it is a great pattern to show of all these special prints I so adore. This resulted in three of these dresses already sewn and at least three more are planned (means, already bought the fabric for these).

But on to the foxes. I bought the little one this great fox from Walnut Animal Society, then knitted him a fox hat and then thought how much fun it would be when I had a matching fox dress. So I searched for fabric and stumbled upon this gorgeous fox print.

The dress was really easy to make and very fast, too. I tried to be accurate and even hand stitched the facings down. Only the zipper is not even, but I really had no desire to fix this. I really like this dress, it is only a tad too long for my taste. I did make the other ones 5 cm shorter. But overall I like it and can't wait to wear it in the fall.

Outfit:

Dress - made by me

Belt - vintage

Shoes - Just Fab

Flower - H&M

Gloves - vintage

Stephanie Plum Novels

Okay, I admit I watched the movie before I read the novels. And it did take some time to start on the novels.

I started to read these when I was still pregnant and it were the first books I finished when the little one was already born. I read book two and three while breastfeeding the first weeks (the Kindle is great for breastfeeding). I enjoyed all three very much. It is the kind of light read I really need right now. At the moment the only thing I want is fast and light entertainment and a bit of non-baby-related stuff.

The main character Stephanie Plum is likable and by far not perfect. Which I appreciate. I really don't care about characters who are pretty, know everything and are good at everything (also called Mary Sue). Of course this is no serious literature, but it is clever enough to be worth reading. If you like detective novels, maybe you should give them a try (but don't expect Sherlock Holmes).

The novels where entertaining enough that I think about reading some more of the books.

More Stamps

Here are some more stamps I got a while ago. These are all acrylic stamps you stick on an acrylic block to use. The neat thing about these is, that you can see through the block and aim the stamps better. The set on the first photo is from a local shop here in Germany and the two sets on the second picture are from Studio L2E. The first are great for greeting cards and the second for planning.

E & A in July

After an idea by A Beautiful Mess and Elise Blah Blah, here are some things that the little one and I liked in July:

Toy

I really enjoy my little Stormtroopers // The little one loves this Kasper puppet we found some years ago on a park bench

Activity

I sewed a lot this month and did not show you one piece yet, sigh // baby swimming

Music

Chances by Jill Barber, nice to relax // German children's songs

Jill Barber

Some time ago I discovered Jill Barber through Bomb Girls. She has an amazing voice and I love her music. It is very 40s. And now that I enjoyed her CD while doing the washing up, I thought maybe I should share her music with you. So enjoy!

Babylit

Ok, I am a nerd when it comes to books. Especially classic literature. And how could I resist classic literature for babies?

BabyLit are board books with themes from classic literature. They don't really tell a story, but are the normal numbers, colors etc. books for little ones. But of course inspired by classic tales.

I really like the style of these and love to browse through them. At the moment I don't use them too often with the little one, but instead read fairy tales to him, which he seems to enjoy. But I hope a bit later, when he understands the content better, he will have fun with these books. Right now I try to collect all of them. Dracula is so far my favorite. I like that it has darker colors and not the usual bright color scheme of children's books.

Instax Share

May I present to you my new toy, the Instax Share Printer. I already told you about my Instax Mini 8 camera, but as soon as I saw this in a preview I knew I had to have it. But I had to wait almost two months to get my hands on this. And I love it!

The Instax printer let you print photos you have on your phone onto the Instax Mini films. So you get a cute polaroid style photo from a picture on your phone. This idea is so cute.

The printing functions with an app. It is all very easy and fast.

I used the printer so far for pictures for my cookbook and to give photos of the little one to friends and family. The great thing is, I can even take pictures with my DSLR and then transfer them to my phone. The picture quality is not great, but that is not the point. This is something to have fun. You could use the printer also for scrapbooking or on holidays (which I plan to do, which means, yeah we go on holidays this year, I am so excited!).

The printer is not cheap and the films are neither. This is a great tool for Instax fans. Especially if you already have an Instax Mini you already have the films at home. I love it and don't regret buying it. It is so much fun to have photos physically in just a few seconds.

Royal Ballet Tchaikovsky Collection

When Mommy can't go to the theatre, the theatre has to come to Mommy. So I wished for this Ballet DVD set from the Royal Opera House for Easter after I discovered this on Amazon. And what should I say, each Ballet is fantastic. I really enjoyed all three ballets. The little one was normally asleep after the first act and I could relax (I think he really likes classical music). And I fell in love with Marianela Nunez. She is such a great dancer.

If you are interested in Ballet and want a good deal, get this box. It is a great collection and all three ballets are more than worth the price.

Insomnia

I am sitting here in the middle of the night (it's 4 a. m. here, ok so early morning already) and can't sleep and it is not because of the little one (ok, not entirely because of him).

We went to bed at the normal time (11:30 p. m.) and I was so tired, but because of the good weather and because the sometimes the world hates you, some stupid people decided to stand before the house and talk and play music and so on. And because it is hot I could not close the window.

So I did not fall to sleep and just before I did the little one woke up and cried really hard (1:30 a. m.). Fortunately my boyfriend came to bed right this moment and put the little one to sleep again. But of course the stupid people were not gone and then I was wide awake.

Youtube and Bloglovin entertained me for the last two hours and I am not sure when I want to go to bed again, because I hate to lie there and not sleep. So maybe I simply wait for the little one to wake up and be hungry (normally between 5 and 6 a. m.) and hopefully sleep then a bit.

A not so nice end to a very nice day. And I had so high hopes!

Baby Bib

I found the idea for this bib on Pinterest. To make this was very easy and I had everything at home. I simply traced a bib I had and used this as a pattern. The bow I made without a pattern.

The little one wore this bib at the Easter weekend and our families liked it very much. It was so cute!

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

This is a novel about two sisters. One has a special talent with plants. She can use the plants to influence peoples emotions. One day the other sister comes back to her home village and a lot of things change for the two.

This novel was nice read, but nothing special. The idea of the plot was interesting, but the story lacked a bit. At the end everything went a bit fast. The characters were nice and I liked them. I think, the author could have done more with the story and the characters.

This is a nice quick read for the summer, but no must-read.

Stamps

Here are some stamp sets I got from easy a while ago. Before the birth of the little one I was in a bit of a stamp craze. Only to have them now and no time left to use them. Darn! But maybe in the near future.

Brazilian Party

Today was the annual summer party of my former workplace. The motto was Brazil because of the WM. We watched the game, there were cocktails and cigars and some yummy food and even some Samba dancers.

I was a bit boring with my clothes because I had the little one with me in the carrier, but fortunately I had some nice earrings, a colorful headscarf and a hairflower.

The little one behaved himself well. Only after three hours it was all too much and we had to go home. I think he especially liked the dancers.

dress (maternity) - noppies
cardigan - Even&Odd
shoes - Hush Puppies
scarf - Lush
hairflower - Belle Blossoms
earrings - Topshop
carrier - Manduca

Another kind of Blog Hop

Sorry, that this comes a bit late. I was not in blogging mode the last few weeks. But finally here is my post for the blog hop. I was tagged by Teresa from DaisiesforViolet.

The idea is to answer some questions and then tag three other bloggers to answer them too. So here we go:

What are you working on?

Too much. There are way too many things I started, working on actively or want to make. And there are not only sewing projects. Right now I am really into knitting and my queue on Ravelry is really long. At the moment I am knitting a cardigan and it is my first one and I am really really scared.

Then there is my new photo album for all the photos of the little one. I got the photos this week and now they lie here and want to be put into the album. And I fear the little one will be no big help with this. He thinks it is awful when Mama does not want to play with him 24 hours a day.

There are a tons of letters waiting to be answered. I am really sorry for my pen pals, because they get an answer after six or more months. One letter is in Russian. I am not sure if I manage to answer this in Russian or if I have to go with this in English (I don't think she will mind, but I started this to improve my Russian so it would be a shame).

I have a lot of ideas for blog posts, but don't get around to write them. I even have photos for some of them. I really don't know what hinders me than my own laziness.

And please don't get me started on my sewing and embroidery. I think I have more UFOs here than I can remember. Which does not hinder me to start new projects or buy new fabrics. Oops!

But all in all it could be worse. Even with the little one I got around to make some things which are waiting to be shown on the blog.

And I finished a book last weekend.

How does your work differ from others in its genre?

Because I work mostly from patterns I do not differ such a lot from others. Maybe I differ a bit from all the whole-time-crafters that I study and have a job and crafting is only a hobby for me. That is mostly the reason I don't want to work on my own patterns. I simply want something done and not be a master in anything. It should be fun to make and a nice result. That is all I am asking for.

Why do you write/create what you do?

Because it's fun to make something with my hands. And it is a nice change from all the work on the computer. In our modern world we rely too much on computers and technic. We can buy practically everything. So it is nice to make something by myself. I don't do this to save money (buying oftentimes is cheaper) or have a unique item. But simply because I enjoy the process and like the result.

How does your writing/creating process work?

Mostly it starts with a tutorial/pattern I find online and simply have to make. Sometimes I need something specific and search for a pattern. Pinterest is my big weakness. There are so many great ideas floating around. I could browse the site for hours.
Sometimes with knitting I search for projects I can handle but also where I can learn something new. You can't knit scarves all the time!
I am easily inspired. Which is a real problem. Sometimes I have to stop myself to not start another time consuming craft. Especially when I have free time (like right now) it is tempting to start something new. But when I then work again and have lessons everything lies here started and I grow frustrated.

To spread this blog hop a bit, I want to hand it over to some German bloggers:

MissBlogger 

Goldkind 

Parlandurwen

Knit Collar

Okay, I really should show you this. I started this collar already last year on a car trip and finished it knitting in February and then it took me till the end of March to sew on the ribbons. And now it took me so long to post about it, that the weather is really not approbate for a knit collar.

The pattern for the collar is from "Learn to knit. love to knit". I used the wool recommended there and it was really nice. I only got confused with the pattern sometimes. I am a bit tempted to do it again properly, but first there are other projects.

I hope I can wear this collar in the colder season. This would be quite cute to a simple dress or coat.

&Stitches Stitch Swap

The team of &Stitches organized a stitch swap and of course I had to participate. My swap partner Teresa (Daisies for Violet) is from the USA and she told me that New York is her favorite city. So I stitched her the skyline of New York. I am very proud of this work, because it is my first embroidery I did without a pattern. I simply searched for a skyline at Google and then changed it a bit to my needs. It took quite a while to finish this, but it was also much fun, especially towards the end, when all came together.

My swap partner send me this amazing embroidery:

It looks so neat and pretty. I still have to learn a lot about embroidery. Thank you so much Teresa!

Fun thing is, that Teresa has a son almost the same age as the little one. I hope we can stay in contact and exchange some experiences. It is so nice to meet other moms from all over the world.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

I read this book before the birth of the little one and it was a really good read. The main subject of this story are religions. I really liked the ideas transfered in this book. It was no light read and especially the ending left me speechless for a while, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The start was a bit slow. I waited for the tiger the whole time, but without the beginning you don't understand the rest. But I am not very patient as you know. But when the "real" story started I enjoyed the book very much.

You really should read this if you like a bit of philosophy or religion.

Strawberry Rhubarb Dessert (with some melons)

Recipe by MissBlogger (German only)

Baby Haul

I only wanted to buy nursing pads and what did I got? Pacifiers, socks, muslin blankets and not only one but two packages of nursing pads. I simply can't resist all the cute stuff. And did you notice that baby stuff is everywhere and everything is just too adorable?

Outfit of the Day

The weather today was beautiful. It was almost like summer. So I dressed up a bit when we went grocery shopping.

Dress - Lady V London

Bolero - Forever 21

Shoes - Agnes & Norman

Tights - Ebay

Necklace - Punky Pins

Flower - H&M

Happy Mother's Day

Here in Germany today is Mother's Day so I wish all mothers all the best. Here are some cards I made for today:

The little one was not so thrilled when I tried to get his footprints, but I think they turned out okay. I hope the recipients will like the cards.

Oh, and if you read this, I love you Mom!