Creations for Christmas

As I haven't been able to create much myself this year, apart from creating a little human being, I have been enjoying the crafts, gifts and creations of others. Here are some examples of beautiful creations that entered our house for Christmas.

This is Saint George the knight, who protects our household from dragons, made by Anna: Oh and I couldn't resist these cute ceramic owls, made by Bottle & Jug pottery studio in Tlell, on the islands here:

And these are some wonderful gifts and presents made by talented friends Ella and Jane. The wooden house is made by John Broadhead, who lives and works in Queen Charlotte:

A beautiful crown for our prince and a Christmas sweater by his Oma:

My mother has been quite creative and productive while she's been visiting and looking after our little ones. This white felt angel is one of her many angel creations, to bring peace:

We're very blessed by all these and more creations, thank you!

Journey into the world

We had quite a different birthing experience this time around. Instead of a smooth natural home birth, we were introduced to the emergency procedures of trying to give birth on Haida Gwaii. As the baby indicated that he wasn't happy during the contractions, I had to be flown in a huge Sikorsky helicopter to Prince Rupert Hospital:
An emergency c-section brought little S. into the world:After two short days of recovery we flew back home in a seaplane:

Where L. waited to meet his new brother:

Agate Beach

We went on our first camping trip this year, on Agate Beach near Masset. Beautiful spot, the campspots are right on the beach, you hear the waves coming and going continuously. Lief just loved exploring the beach, and especially going in and out of the water. It wasn't very warm, but he didn't seem to mind, as usual. I'm always surprised how well kids can deal with cold water.
Camping with little ones is hard work, especially at night time. Because of the light and the sounds, he didn't want to go to sleep until 10.30pm and he was up at the crack of dawn, 6am...

Sea Asparagus

We are so lucky to live on an island with abundant Sea Asparagus growth. June is harvest month and Lief and I go outside to cut a bowl full of these delicious asparagus once or twice a week and use it fresh in a pasta dish or I also like to make a savoury pie with it. mmmm!

Little update

Here I thought I had renewed energy, but instead was thrown back on the couch for more sleeping and dozing off and conserving energy for the little one growing slowly. And growing it is. Last week we had an early ultrasound where we got a very clear peak of this 6cm long baby. It's amazing that everything seems quite proportionally developed at such an early stage.

This picture may be hard to read, but if you look closely you can decipher in the upper part of the photo the baby lying on it's back, horizontally, with a leg and knee sticking up on the left, it's head is on the right.
The wonders of technology. All of a sudden there's a real baby in the small belly bump that's slowly starting show.

I'll be off line for a bit (again) as tomorrow Lief and I are taking off for a trip to Vancouver, visiting family and friends. On Saturday my Mom will join us on a trip to Coupeville WA, where a friend and I will take a workshop jewellery feltmaking with Lisa Klakulak! I hope my energy will be sufficient to enjoy and learn lot's! Will try and document as much as I can and post a few pics when I return.

New energy

So the word is out... I'm 11 weeks pregnant. That's my excuse for not being online regularly and feeling rather pathetic. Most days are spent with hours on the couch, and early bedtimes. But some days are better than others and Lief and I explore the forest or the beach. The past days have been wonderful, filled with sun and light, so it's hard to stay inside.
Today I had renewed energy and we went to the studio, on the trail through the woods, where Lief stumbled upon roots, has some close inspections of the forest floor, and loved touching and even kissing the moss!

Here we inspect an old rusty motor that's part of a partly decomposed wood shipwreck on our beach. Lief wants to enter the studio

And really, all you need on the beach is a bucket and you can play for hours!

What helped immensely the past weekend was a visit by grandma! She had fun looking after Lief and was such a help in the kitchen. Thank you grandma, we miss you!

New goodies for the shop

I'm trying to upload these goodies at my etsy store, but etsy seems too busy tonight. They'll end up in the store soon....

Slow and Shop

It's been a while since my last post. Have been feeling a bit out of it lately. Haven't created as much as I'd like, but it'll come.

Lief was happy with his play-dough session, very concentrated for a while. How long can you keep play-dough? This batch was given to him for his birthday (Oct!) and is still workable... but it's probably time I'd make him a new batch.

Today we brought new items to Sitka Studio in Tlell; beanies, knit bracelets and sewn tea cozies and bags.
I've also uploaded a few items, like this indigo knit bag, in my etsy shop. More to come this week as soon as I've taken photographs.

Knits and wool stash

This week has been slow for projects. I did finish a pair of small pants though with handsandnotions yarn. I'm pretty happy how they turned out, though I wonder a bit about the thickness of the wool and comfort for a little one. I may need to take it out again to knit them on larger needles. It seems just a little stiff, but I'll see.


My stash of wool doesn't seem to shrink, though I try hard, as it means I'm allowed to re-stock right?!!

Contrast

What a contrast, a couple of days ago it was warm and sunny, felt really like Spring. Now there's been snow for a couple of days!! Lief doesn't seem to mind too much as long as he can go outside. Bundled up in one of Jane's Elfin hats and a scarf knitted by his mom, he's ready for anything. On the go...

Late afternoon walk

Such a gorgeous afternoon, after an early dinner Lief indicated he wanted to go for a walk to the beach. Amazing sunlight came through after several wet snowy rain storms today, this was just perfect to end the day.

We explored rocks and puddles, testing the water and taking samples. We found soaked feathers, slimy seaweed and little shells.



We continued our walk into the forest along the path where Lief called out to the Raven. He replied. They exchanged thoughts and I'm pretty sure they understood each other quite well.

Then we ended up back home where the Hellebores are flowering bravely in the shade.

Such a lovely way to end our day.

Sewing and Knitting

Some new projects this week. Sewing bags, knitting neck warmers and new wrist warmers. Lot's of fun, and I'm loving the materials.

A new neck warmer with custom yarn by Moonrover (find her at moonrover.etsy.com). The button is bone and found it at Maiwa in Vancouver.

Fabric for this bag comes from Chintz in Vancouver, it's heavy duty upholstery.





And a blue ceramic button by local potter Nancy Hett.






Flowering Moss wrist warmer, detail. (look at my flickr website for more pics, the link you can find in the column on the right)

Moss and Ferns

At this time of year, just before the trees start to show their buds, the forest is rich with greens from the moss and ferns. It is gorgeous, and inspiring friends as well as myself. Jane has been taking beautiful photographs of her finds in the forest.

I asked Liz to spin a yarn that would evoke the flaky white bark of Birch and Alder, with patches of moss. This resulted in this seamless round knitted scarf.

Last week I started felting again, inspired by the ferns this shoulder bag came out.

Back to work

This week Tracy went back to work, after two luxurious months of having him around it's a bit of a wake-up call. Full on back into motherhood. No back up, no sweet sharing in spending time with our little one. These are long days, for all of us. The first couple of days Tracy left before Lief got up and didn't get back until he was asleep. Lief would walk around the house inquiring where 'papa' went. Standing at the door, calling outside. Checking the woodshed, as he was sure he'd be somewhere chopping wood...

Yesterday a friend inquired about the felt baby jackets and was wondering which ones I still have. I had to take some new pictures and Lief enjoyed modeling them for me.

Such a gorgeous day, we spent quite a bit of time playing on the beach and in the forest. Spring seems to be arriving, we heard many birds whistling and chattering!

My new Etsy store

So today it finally came together, I opened an online Etsy store for my knits, felts and sewn items! It looks so easy, but those first uploads took me hours! Not even considering the time to get all the pictures done, or the time to create the pieces in the first place...

Tracy was wondering why I didn't just drive up to Tlell, to drop the items off with the local gallery where I sell my work... Ehm... Well, I told him there's several reasons to put my work at Etsy.com:

1. First, I just want to try out a different way of displaying my work
2. Be part of the online community of more than 100,000 crafty sellers who all make handmade items! And who knows how many buyers.
3. Be able to show friends and family my work, whether they're in the Netherlands, Vancouver, Blue River, Victoria, Whitehorse, etc...
4. Receive feedback on my work, I hope
5. Be inspired to create more work

There's probably a lot more reasons, but these come first to my tired computer mind. I have uploaded a 'widget' on this blog, so you can directly see what's in my store. Just one click away! Enjoy.

Toys and more gifts!

Today was a good play day for Lief and I'd like to introduce some of his handmade toys. On the left is Oscar, one of the 'Fools Parade' animals, made by Christine and Fiona in Vancouver. I had seen the Fools Parade on display at the Circle Craft Gallery, and though I was tempted to buy one then, I never did. My Mom, Lief and I found Oscar at the Roundhouse Christmas Craft Fair in Vancouver. My Mom decided it would make a great Christmas gift for Lief, so that's how Oscar came to live with us!

Next is Kenana Zebra, knitted by rural women in Njoro, Kenya. This group of women buys homespun wool produced locally. They believe in using environmentally friendly and ecologically sustainable materials and processes to support their farming communities in Africa. This was a wonderfully thoughtful gift from one of our friends.

Then there's Pull-Raven by Sleeping Forest, from Nova Scotia, which I bought at etsy as a gift for Lief. He drags is around the house (mostly on its side...) and somehow likes to rub the coarse cord on the back of his neck. The beautiful wooden frog is another great gift from my Mom. This one is made by Melissa and Doug and it actually hops along when you pull it, his legs push his back up in the air, quite cute. And these are some wonderful felted and sewn gifts by Ella and Arlo, thank you so much! We really enjoy them, so soft. The patterns are great, one day I may even create a mobile with the birdies... Thanks again Ella, very thoughtful!

I love Yarn!

Some yummy yarns from Hands and Notions, I just couldn't resist. So far I've been enjoying their colour and texture, but waiting for a special knitting project asking for these yarns.

At the moment I'm into a 'moss' theme, working with a yarn by hobbledehoy. She created a wonderful skein that resonates the feeling of our mossy Alders and Berch. White with patches of blue grays and greens.

Jane sent me this wonderful skein of greens and browns, that will go very well with the theme, such a thoughtful and gorgeous gift.
You should check out her new Etsy store, her organic cotton wash cloths are divine, so soft.