Girl in forest

Girl in forest

(Personally, I think she had 'a tiny bit' too much champagne)

Luckily,

she is still gorgeous.

And suits our wall just fine!

&

what do you think of our new ceramic shelve of fame?

isn't it serene?

I collect (don't laugh, i know I collect a lot...)

small white lovely's to put candles in

or flowers.

Imagine the night,

and all those little pots are on fire.

Every single one mean a lot to me.

Unfortunately not for the boys,

that's why we had to tink a shelve high in the sky,

Most of them,

are bought in England.

Once lit,

they take us right back to the Christmas Market

in front of the stunning Winchester Cathedral.

Must be the time of year,

me dwelling over England these weeks!

So sorry!

Back to business, Tinkerbell...

Girl in Forest is also wondering around in my SHOP.

Happy Weekend

I have to hurry now,

my party with 10 girls starts in 1,5 hour

got to buy us champagne!

x

Embroidery Sewing XL

I'm sewing on very bold silk,

not easy,

but fun

Of course there had to be apples

and flowers

I wonder what it will end up to be.....

Happy Friday!

Paper Cutting

Today I'm busy paper cutting

a little bit of old

and bits of new

The Girlfriends

will drink their champagne

in new surroundings!

Happy Wednesday!

This week we danced on this song every day

What is your 'dance in the living room' song this week?

Life Tree/ Boom Screen Print

EDIT: The first Sweet heart Arrived!!!

Congratulations dear neighbors

We are in the middle of a

BABY BOOM

I ♥ babies,

I ♥ pregnant bellies &

the excitement around the birth of a baby.

Yesterday the first due date arrived,

no baby yet,

lucky for me,

still time to design my gift.

It took hours to make the cut out,

but I think it is worth the effort.

(btw: boom = tree in Dutch)

Of course the big apple in the centre would be baby

The top two could be the lucky parents

and the baby can be surrounded by brothers and sisters

or

The big apple is surrounded by

all the people who are gonna love and cherish this baby/toddler

forever and ever.

The design is really abstract because

I really want that every child

feels comfortable to be the centre of this family tree.

This is the original paper cut

I tested one

with name & date

&

different colors

I framed & hanged it.

I now know

which colors I will use

and

how I will add letters.

For all people who are not in 'my' baby boom circle,

but are part of their own,

this print will soon be in my shop,

of course with your baby's name on it.

I'll keep you posted!

(shall today be the day

I will make the first one for real?

Keep my fingers crossed!)

Corner View: ' Exactly 6 years ago'

November 2004

Guy & I just moved to England.

This was were I was,

what I was doing

&

who I was with

according my photobook.

the land in front of our house

surrounded by trees

by ancient churches and cathedrals

by the most lovely little houses, i was.

this was our first find

our home

for 4 years

and this little guy was wondering around the forest

i liked him

i worked my *** off in artcollege

& carried a little secret around in my tummy

to me this girl looks like 15

i was not

here i looked like a movie star

who had time to shop

for a decent winter coat

lucky me

i also made weird little movies,

believe me,

even i don't know what there on about!

What were you up to 6 years ago?

Jude Blereau's Apple Fig Tray Bake

Another great cookbook author,

I really admire,

is Jude Blereau.

Her latest cookbook,

wholefood for Children

comes in very handy,

having three small children in the house.

(ok, it wasn't a severe necessity....)

Her cookbooks are especially good if any of your

family is on a special diet.

A lot of her recipes are wheat free,

gluten free or easily adjusted to vegan, etc.

This morning I made the:

Apple Fig Tray Bake.

I did precisely what the recipe told me to do

and it turned out delicious!

You will need:

500 g red or green apples

peeled, cores removed and finely diced

3-5 dried figs, finely chopped

130 g white spelt flour

165 wholemeal spelt flour

large pinch ground nutmeg

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

125 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

180 g rapadura sugar, plus 1 teaspoon extra

1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract

2 large eggs

125 g yoghurt or kefir milk

120 pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Grease a baking tray (20 by 30 cm) and line with baking paper.

Place one-quarter of the apple in a small saucepan with two tablespoons of water.

Cover and simmer over low heat for 3-5 minutes or until well cooked.

Remove from the heat, roughly mash, then stir in the dried figs.

Set aside to cool.

Place flours, nutmeg, baking powder and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon in a bowl

and whisk through to distribute the ingredients evenly and break up any lumps.

Stir in the remaining apple.

Place the butter and sugar in a bowl, and using electric beaters,

wisk until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs, one at the time,

beating well after each addition, until thick and creamy.

Add the flour mixture along with the cooled stewed fruit and yoghuty and stir until just combined.

Take care not to overwork the mixture. Spoon the batter into the tin.

Combine the extra teaspoon of sugar and remaining cinnamon and sprinkle over the top,

and the nuts, if using.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool a little in the tin before slicing.

I'll bet everyone likes it,

I do!

(but I'm not fussy....)

(Maybe I should sent her a bunny too

I will try to sent Buddy and Louisa some!!!!)

Have a fun Monday (I hate mondays....)

x Guusje

Dear Tessa,

Maybe you remember This Post,

I made those lovely bunnies,

found in Tessa's cookbook.

I decided to write her a note,

about how I love her work,

that I've made bunnies,

and of course offered her a pair.

The next morning,

I've found a note back!

How cool is that?

(While jumping up and down,

I summoned my husband

to get to the computer straight away

to read it too)

I can't be lazy now, can I?

So i got out the bunnies,

the fabric (this time a soft flannel)

and sewing machine.

I made Bun

with her two Bunnies.

It is always hard to let them go,

but come on,

they are for Misses Kiros herself !

Have a good journey to Italy,

Buns.

Give Tessa a kiss

and pay attention when she cooks!!!

♥

Happy Friday!

Hope you do awesome things today.

(to be more honest for my own good:

I'll will be in PJ's on the sofa tonight,

with a bag of crisps

watching people sing their heads off on telly!

In the unlikely event of

anyone asking you what Guusje did this Friday:

I've read a novel,

listened to rachmaninoff,

ate steamed fish and vegetables,

Ok?)

Tomorrow I'll check in,

with the sewing machine

for a very special delivery!

x

✶

Martinmas Lantern waiting for sunset.

Corner View: 'Autumn'

Wouldn't it be amazing,

if all the CV girls and boys,

would fly from every where around the world

to an open space,

in the most lovely forest,

were autumn leaves

are falling

like wool felt pieces

on top of Mother Earth.

We'll put on our sheepskin boots,

our thickest coat

and gather round a bonfire.

We would sing a song,

wait for the wolfs to join

and drink our autumn brew.

When we close our eyes

and fall asleep,

we'll see sparkles in our eyes

from the warm and cozy fire.

When we'll open them in the morning,

we will be safe at home,

in our own beds,

like we've been never away.

(but do not forget to wash your clothes!)

What are you all up to?

We are busy with all kinds of stuff.

Pops is having a cold,

we all know who ends up to be the most tired of all....

but one can not be too worried about it,

even the most nasty colds come to an end one day.

In the little time between,

I made a screen print.

We managed to do some gardening

and collected loads of seed pods

for next year.

And a message to all the baby mummy's in The Netherlands:

Run to HEMA

and buy this knitted suit

for babies.

We love it!

Happy gardening all!

(or Rock 'n' Rolling....)

(or drinking too many champagne....)

(or doing nothing at all....)

Corner View: ' Famous '

I don't believe it is in any of our characters to be or become famous,

we are too shy / self consious/ weird or just not interested.

BUT....our middle child,

He could be the world's entertainer,

no problem at all....

Halloween

I hope you had a good party too!

We had soup,

hot chocolate and booze,

a bonfire

and

lots of scary neighbors....