Stamps and cards...

A few weeks back I bought some stamps from Panduro in Jessheim. They, Panduro that is, were moving to a new location, and was selling some of their stamps really cheap... oh how I love bargains...

And, of course, I had to try out my new stamps... so I made these cards. It was sooo much fun stamping again. I haven't done that in quite a while. And it was sooo much fun having some new stamps to play with...

You can just spot my latest sewing project under this card here... I'll write about that another day...

I guess I should rather be making christmas cards this time of year, but... there is always use for some flower cards as well... isn't there??

Awards

I've gotten a couple of awards lately... Yay! I'm so glad that people read and like my blog enough to give me awards. I'm so honoured. Thank you very much - all of you!

First out is this one that I got from Monica S
Monica wrote:

Så vil eg at Tonje skal få ein slik ein... ho har vore kjekk å ha ein del gongar... då ho har budd i eit engelsk-talande land i 9 år, har eg tydd til ho når eg har stått fast. (om det er noko eg har trengt å oversette) Og så har ho vore så snill å gi meg eit godt julegåvetips
(say no more ;-) )!!
Takk Tonje!

A few days ago I got this one from Tofo:

I got these two from Anne Marie... waaayyy back in July... I'm so sorry, Anne Marie, that I haven't blogged them before... I got them in the middle of moving house and not having access to a computer every day... so they kind of got put aside for a while...

Thanks again. I guess I'm supposed to send these on...?? But it's so hard for me to choose just a few to give them to, and a lot of you already have these, so I'll give them to all of you that follow my blog. You all deserve them.

Herringbones...

I finished my Herringbone Neck warmer yesterday. I didn't knit it as long as the pattern said to knit it, because I wanted a quite snug fit around my neck. I've got plenty of scarves and turtle neck jumpers, but they all seems too loose round my neck and therefore let the cold air in...

I'm so pleased with this one. I tried it out on my daily walk, to get Susie to sleep, today. It's nice and soft and warm... just like I wanted it.

I couldn't find any buttons to fit the neck warmer and I didn't have time to wait until I could get to a shop and buy some, so I just made two monkey fist knots in the same yarn as the neck warmer and used them as buttons instead. They are a bit soft, but... so far so good.

I really like the texture of the herring bone stitch.... and the colour of this yarn.... Let it snow!

You are a STAR and a WINNER

I'm sure you are all waiting for the results of my giveaway.... I'm sorry to have kept you waiting the whole day, but I'd promised Maja that she could help me with the draw so we had to do it after she was home from school. But then we had someone over for dinner this afternoon, so when I was gonna do the draw, I was busy preparing for having dinner guests. I hope you understand.

Anyway, after keeping you waiting for so long, I thought I would keep you waiting for a wee while longer... cruel, I know... but I just wanted to show you the hand pieced/ paper pieced star all finished. I ended up making a coaster... as I suggested in my other post. I used two layers from an old flannel nighie after Susie as batting, so it's nice and thick.
I wouldn't look too closely at my quilting... It's awful... it almost looks like the basting is still in... but, hey, it was my first time hand quilting... But then again, the coaster goes quite well with my favourite mug colourwise, don't you think?
Ok, so over to the draw! Here Maja is helping me cut all the entries into separate strips. (Isn't her nightdress cute?? I just love that cow pattern...)

All the entries are in...

Who will be the lucky winner....

Eileen! You won! Congratulations. Please contact me with your address, and I will send you the prize.

Eileen said...
Tonje, these are beautiful prizes. I'm sure you made the adorable slippers! Congratulations on your 100th post. It is a lot to keep up with especially when you are moving all about!thanks always for visiting me and leaving such lovely comments. :-)
07 November, 2008 11:50

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And this is what my wee helper did with all the non- winning entries... she shredded them! I think maybe she enjoys using her new scissors...

I would like to thank all of you who took part in my giveaway. I really appreciate your comments.

Lazy Saturday morning

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Don't forget to enter my 100th post giveaway!

Today we had a really lazy morning. It was cold outside, but we'd lit the fireplace, and while the girls were snuggling on the sofa watching a DVD and being quiet for once (this photo isn't from today, but this is what they looked like. Today's photo was too blurred... I was probably too tired to focus...)...
...I was trying my hand on hand piecing for the first time. Is that what it's called when you tack a piece of fabric around a piece of paper and sew it together by hand...?? This is something I've never done before, it was quite relaxing although a bit repetitive.
Here is the star I pieced, tacking on and everything. I'm quite amazed that the colours are so true in this photo ... I always have a hard time catching the colours correctly. Finished with the piecing. The tacking/basting is out and it's ironed. I'm not really impressed whit my stitching... maybe I should have matched the thread better with the colours?? Or maybe I shouldn't have watched Tintin with the girls at the same time as I was stitching...Well, this was just for fun, just to try it out and see if I liked it, so it doesn't really matter. I'm thinking maybe I would try to hand quilt this as well. That's another thing I've never done before.
The star is quite small, so I guess I'll have a (nice) coaster for my morning coffee when this is finished.

This afternoon I started a new knitting project as well. I guess this was the day for starting new things... I just totally fell for this neck warmer when I saw it. So that's what I'm knitting. I'm not using the same yarn as in the pattern... I'm going a bit cheaper with "Oda" from Trysilgarn (colour 209 if anyone is interested. The colour in the photo isn't quite right though).
The pattern seemed pretty straight forward to start with... only two rows to repeat. That was until I started knitting... It was a bit hard to wrap my head around what the pattern really said, and how to do it practically. But after a couple of (four, five) trials and errors, casting on, ripping it off, casting on... etc... I finally got it. This isn't really a quick knit... well, not for me anyway, even though I use needles 8mm... but, hopefully, I'll have a new neck warmer in a few days... that is if I don't start a new project in between...

100th post giveaway!!

This giveaway is now closed!

I have finally reached my 100th post! I guess I'm not the most eager blogger since it has taken me about two and a half years to reach this number.... It has been so much fun all the way from the beginning when I was only blogging about ATCs through family life and now my knitting and sewing. So many of you have been a big inspiration to me... there are so many great blogs and bloggers "out there"...

Anyway... I'd like to celebrate this "milestone" with a little giveaway. I really appreciate all of your comments, questions and support, and I'm happy that you take time to visit me. I think you all deserve a present... but, that would probably ruin me... so one lucky(??) reader will get a little something from me. I've put together a little "winter care packet" (handmade by me) consisting of:

One pair of pocket slippers. To keep your feet warm so you (hopefully) avoid the sniffles. These are really stretchy, so they'll fit most people.

If the slippers can't hold the sniffles away, I've added a travel tissue holder (with tissues)... so at least you can have the sniffles with a bit more style... hmmm....I've also added a couple of small fabric hearts on a string to cheer you up. Hang them on a peg on your wall, on your christmas tree, or as I do, on a couple of candles...(or chuck them in a drawer so you don't have to see them...)

All you have to do to be in the drawing for these things, is to leave me a comment on this post. I would love to hear from everybody... the lurkers as well. I think it is so much fun seeing who visits my blog, and to go visit their blog back. You have until midnight next monday (10th November 08). I will do the draw next tuesday. Make sure I have a way of contacting you in case you win.

While we're waiting...

...for my post no 100 (stay tuned... I'll have a giveaway), I thought I'd show you some wintry photos of the snow we've got the last coupla' days, but blogger won't let me upload any... so I guess I'll answer the challenge I got from my mum (Sonjas side) a while back instead then... (I'll do this one in Norwegian since the questions are in Norwegian... can't be bothered to translate them...)

1. Hvilken mat eter du ofte?
Ofte? Hva menes med ofte? Jeg spiser jo brød flere ganger hver dag... ellers har det gått mye i fiskemat (fiskekaker, fiskepudding, fiskeboller) og pølser etter at vi flyttet "hjem" til Norge igjen. Det var noe jeg savnet da jeg bodde utenlands.

2. Når du er i selskap, er du den personen som sitter, eller hjelper du til?
Tjaaa... det kommer vel litt an på det da. Jeg pleier å hjelpe til hvis det passer sånn, men det er jo ikke alltid det er så greit å blande seg inn... kommer an på hva slags selskap.

3. Hvor sitter du helst når du blogger?
Da sitter jeg på roterommet/datarommet (og forhåpentligvis snart syrommet) i øveretasjen.

4. Kjøper du ofte skrapelodd?
Nei! Det tror jeg faktisk aldri jeg har kjøpt. Har jo fått noen i gave da... liker veldig godt å skrape dem og se om jeg vinner... jeg har forresten kanskje kjøpt skrapelodd av gevinsten et par ganger...

5.Hvilket land eller by har vært din beste ferie?
Syria! Uten tvil! Vi besøkte foreldrene mine, som bodde ett år i Damascus, i tre og en halv uke da eldstejenta var 5-6 måneder gammel (2003). Vi var der akkurat da krigen mellom USA og Irak brøt ut, så det var jo litt spesielt (Irak er nabolandet til Syria). Folkene i Syria var helt fantastiske... så gjestfrie og hyggelige. Tror ikke jeg har møtt noe folkeslag som jeg har likt så godt før. Det eneste jeg kan "klage på" var at nærmeste nabo var en moske... og høyttalerne som kalte til bønn flere ganger om dagen var rettet rett mot verandaen vår, men det var jo egentlig litt artig det og.

6. Hvilken TV kanal ser du mest på?
Øhhh... ser ikke på tv. Vi har faktisk ikke tv her i huset. Æres ord! Men jeg ser jo endel på film da. Vi har prosjektør, så det blir som å ha kino i stua (som Maja sier). Greit å ha biblioteket omtrent rett utenfor døra, for der er det gratis å låne dvd'er...

What IS it???

I've been wanting to make some of these for a while now, but I didn't have a pattern and since I've never seen any in real life, I didn't have a clue how to make them. But then Tofo was so kind as to send me a pattern... and here they are;

I even crocheted a wee flower to decorate them with. Cute, ehh??

When my husband first saw these, he said "what IS that??" And when I told him he just laughed. I don't think he was too impressed.... but I like them. They are called "pocket slippers", and are really stretchy and really easy to make (and really cute too).

I'm definately going to make some more of these.

Pink drawsting

I thought Susie ought to get something as well since Maja just "ordered" a bag from me. Sus loves to put things in little bags and carry them around, and she always pinches Maja's wee bags. So I used some more of my flea market fabric and made her a pink drawstring bag.

It wasn't easy to take a pic of the new owner... she's always sooo busy...

...So I caught her while she was stuffing her toys in her new bag.

Ok, so she finally tired of running and stuffing and stood still long enough for me to get (a good) one.

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I just want to mention there is a great give away over HERE.

Strawberries in October

It was Maja who insisted I buy the strawberry fabric at the flea market on Saturday. There was a bit of mildew on it, so I didn't really want it. But she insisted... "can't you sew me a bag of it, mum? Pleeeeeeeease?" What can you say... I guess I could just cut round the mildew... I threw it in the pile of other fabrics... And here is the bag... Tadaaa! I used one of the other flea market fabrics for the lining and pocket.
The pocket on the front is a "double" pocket, one with a zipper and one behind. Quite handy.
It has an inside pocket as well... a girl can never have too many pockets...
Maja was so eager to get her new bag, that I finished it already Sunday evening (but haven't had time to blog it before...). And here we have the new bag owner... happy as can be!

Tourists and a flea market

I just realized that we hadn't been in to see Oslo since we moved here in the beginning of August... so since Maja didn't have to go to school on Friday (they got Friday off since they had to "work" at the charity event on Thursday evening) and hubby was off work on Friday as well, we decided to spend the day as tourists... in Oslo!

So, of course, we had to do all the touristy things like: - take photos in front of pretty fountains,
-Take a picture in front of the Opera house, and walk onto the roof of same house
- lie down and enjoy the sunshine
- take photo with the guard in front of the King's castle

Well, enough of the touristy things... When we took Susie out for a walk in her push chair to get her to sleep on Saturday, we came by a flea market.... Heheyyy.... In we strode to see if we could do a bargain... It's been years, and I mean years (probably a decade or two), since I went to a proper Norwegian flea market. I was a bit apprehensive, bringing this stack of fabric to the lady behind the desk... thinking this will be a fortune (everything is expensive here), but boy was I wrong... Happy happy joy joy... I paid next to nothing for this... Some of the bits are quite small but a couple of these fabrics were huge!
I also found these wall hangers that I'm sure I can use for something.
I've already found use for the blue one. I cross stitched this dream catcher... ehhh... (blush)... five years ago, and I still haven't hung it on the wall. I didn't have a wall hanger for it... All it needs now is some interfacing on the back and it's ready to hang.
Just a detail of the dream catcher. I used beads and metallic thread for effect on it. I can't wait to hang it in my bedroom...