karkovski

10::10 Sunday

My 10::10 project of the week was Bird Cards. I haven't done that many through time and the ones I have made have been either sent or given away.

I originally had 6 cards ready to stitch, but 2 got messed up in my machine.

The pink one below is one I made a while back and its been hanging in our living room, but when I found some pink frames, I decided it should be for my daughters room.

See the pink Russian Doll hanging on the white frame? Sabine sent it to me, as a neat surprise. The pink elephant is from the sweet Alicia.

"The Four Seasons" poster in the white frame, was made by Dorthe Mailil.

You say worm - I say snake

Here my daughter is sporting her new Moomin dress. I made it from a pillow cover, that I got from Paivi. Who by the way, is still waiting for her end of the swap. A-hem. The worm, which she prefers to call snake, is the one I started on for her. We both got impatient and I ended it a bit to soon. She is also showing her love for the walrus, her Daddy brought back from GREENLAND. Yup he went there for 4 days to work on some machines. That's all I know about that!

And YES! We got a bunny. Today. He (or she?) was promptly called Mumle - as in Mumble from Happy Feet. He is loving his new huge home (used to house this big fella) and we have one HAPPY boy, loving Mumle.

Green House Effect

Our Green House

Things are looking mighty fine in our green house right now. We got lots of flowers ready to plant outside and soil ready for "food plants".

We thought my funny looking old olive tree, was dead at one point. It looked dead. And one of our cats had scratched it up silly. I guess they don't give up that easy?

One of these days we will be planting tomatoes, cucumber and bell peppers. We had sooo many of them last year and they're sooo yummy. To top that off, we also have a variety of fruits around our garden: Strawberries, blackberries, gooseberries, raspberries and elder. We've also planted 2 tiny apple trees (last year), that we hope to see apples on this year.

And of course we have herbs.

Last year we had a huge bunny. Now, its old house looks a bit empty. We've been talking about getting a new smaller one. Well lets see about that...

Now I keep saying WE, but actually my sweet husband is the gardener here. (And the one talking about a new bunny.) I have nothing to do with the garden. At all. Maybe I should give him a hand this year. Yeah, that'd be nice. He has practically done the whole garden by himself and I probably don't say it often enough, but I really appreciate all his hard work and all the wonderful fruits and vegetables we reap. Wouldn't you?

Now take a guess where he went to work this past weekend? I'll give you a clue: I would be wearing a lot more clothes than THAT! Oh and he lived there for 2 years as a child. And Laila can't participate!

Nook Sleeping

Emma suggested that I actually SHOWED you guys the pillows already I made! SO since I made the last one today (for our bed), I thought you'd like to see a peek of our nook. I used all vintage fabrics for the front and linen for the back. I did 2 types of closures. 2 in envelope style and 1 with ribbons at the bottom. The quilt is handmade and a thrift store steal at $10,- Love the colors.

The cat is for tomorrows 10::10 project (see the back of it here). It's made of Moomin fabric from a pillow cover, that Paivi sent me, among other goodies I'll show you later.

After seeing the pillows, my son stated that he wanted pillows "with something on them!" Hmmm....no solids? So he's been browsing my fabric stash for quite a while now. Wanting a mix of EVERYTHING. Mama doesn't approve, but want the kid to express himself. I'll "guide" him a bit in the right direction though. His pillows will be up next.

Found some inspiration in an issue of selvedge, from Poppy Treffry (loving her name). Check out her shop if you are into embroidery.

LOVE these pillows!

ariadne at Home kids

Yvonne sent me the fabulous ariadne at Home kinderen, which is full of inspiring images - don't speak the language - of interior design for kids rooms. I also found a great deal of softie inspiration: Check out the dog (top right), the robot softie on the bed (top right) and those super soft looking kittens (bottom)! I'm not working on any softies right now. Well I made a cat out of some Moomin fabric (more on that in another post), for my 10::10 project to show you Sunday, but nothing else. See I'm making pillows. A LOT of pillows. I just bought 12 pillows, that I have to dress! We made a veeery long bed for our son, that I want to make 5 large pillows for. We also got ourselves a tiny alcove, where we could just barely squeeze our bed into. I thrifted me a wonderful quilt for it, but I need some pillows to lean up against, while I read. That's 3 more. Then I got 3 for my daughters newly painted, very pink bed. It used to be her big brothers bed. She sleeps in his bed though, it's long enough for both of them. That was 11 pillows. The last one is for a wooden toy box with a lid, in my sons room. We have some left over foam mattress and I never made the box seat that comfortable, so I'll be upholstering that as well. Then there is the wallpaper I never did in there. Why is that so intimidating? Geez the To-Do list is long. I did finish 2 pillows. Two. Luckily when my daughter starts Kindergarten June 1, I'll have a few hours a day to get things DONE.

All washed and ironed. Ready to sew.

Top 3 are for bedroom/alcove.

Flowers for the girl.

Solids for the boy.

Linen for the back of all of them.

Garden Knitting

I've been knitting in the garden today, finishing up my  puppy. We've had the most wonderful weather this weekend and have been enjoying it to the max!

We've been in the garden, rearranging a few things to make it more "kid friendly" and pleasing to the eye ;o) First we removed a huge pile of dirt from our backyard to our front yard. Not a pretty sight, but we actually just piled it on top of the existing pile, that is helping our house to look like shite.

This is our new and improved bonfire place, the kids playhouse (which we moved quite a bit!), their slide in the background and the "tree house" my husband built for our son - baby sis can't get up in it.

We also moved this beech, so now we're crossing our fingers, that it doesn't die....

Oh and I sent this sweetie to Elisa in Italy, who is having a baby girl! And as you might remember, I sent some wooden dolls for Carols Made For China project and LOOK, the little girl is holding my dolls!!!

Also, I applied for Plush You 2007 and Kristen returned with this post - do you think I'm in?

Sunday came and left....

....and my 10::10 project TWO, was no where to be found. The poor dog is still laying around in tiny pieces, waiting to be stitched up. He'll be ready for next Sunday!

Meanwhile, here's my daughters new kicks. Same as big bros.

And her thrifted clogs. Got her those last year, but they weren't a hit until now. She's practicing. They seem very hard to walk in.

When we visited Grandma, her husband had made these of the kids - aren't they cool? Seriously, the man is a true artist and such an inspiration. He will be 80 this year and he is busy. Playing music and performing, learning new instruments, painting, working on the computer - all kinds of stuff. He's the man to ask, when you have questions about anything graphic/visual. These paintings are b/w photo copies of the kids, glued to canvas, washed with watercolor and painted afterwords.

I feel so lucky!

Easter a la casa karkovski

I want to thank everybody, for all the wonderful comments you give me! It is so uplifting and means a lot more than I can say in words. I'm sorry that I don't get back to everybody - I try - but at least I get back, if you have questions etc. Please know that all words are valued ;o)

On the some what same subject: My email situation is a bit weird at the moment, as I have changed address - karkovski(at)mail(dot)dk - but some mail end up in my husbands in-box! Other mail, that I was gonna get back on, is hanging in my Hotmail and other old address for now. But I'm working on it though. So if you were expecting to hear from me - don't give up!

Very Easter like - wouldn't you say?

We are usually not a family that is busy, but since Friday it's been NUTS around here!

• Friday: School Party at my sons school
• Saturday: Copenhagen - My husband and my Mom took the kids to the zoo, while I helped my Sister In Laws Mom decorate her pet shop windows(big fun). Afterwords we went to my Sister In Laws birthday and took their car back home
• Sunday: We had a friend and his daughter over all day, ending up in a barbecue - yes we start early on barbecues, due to my over enthusiastic husband!
• Monday: The kids and I took my brothers car to visit my husbands Mom and her husband. She took the kids to the beach, while I went shopping for a Spring jacket for my son.We stayed over night
• Tuesday: We got home around 3, my husband came home and took the kids to McDonald's, while I returned the car. My Dad picked me up and I went home with him and had dinner with him and his wife. Took the train and got home around 10 at night
• Wednesday: Was a blur
• Thursday: Relaxing, my husband and son went fishing, my daughter and I did Play-Doh and now we're making cup cakes

Gotta go - time for frosting.....

10::10 Project ONE

Phew! I managed to make 10 Elephant cards for my 10::10 Project this week. TEN!

I've tried to make them a bit different, using some solids, instead of pattern in pattern. Does it work? Yes or no?

Next week I'll knit a dog. Hopefully I have the time to make ONE, with Easter coming and all.....not gonna make 10 of those. Unfortunately.

More here and here.