PIF present

This morning a wonderful surpise awaited me. This beautiful ´Bade dag ´ (washing day in Norwegian) mini quilt was waiting for me in my mailbox. It is from Laila in norway. Thank you very much for this wonderful little quilt and the cute socks for Ruben. Since he has very cold feet, they will come in handy.

Update on Ruben, a nurse came by the house and performed a hearing test on Ruben, which was OK, so now we know that he can hear, let´s wait and see if he also can listen... But she was a bit worried about his weight. He has gained weightbut not enough so we will start with one bottle of formula at night and see if he starts gaining weight. This (gain weight) is something DH and I have never heard, LOL. Ruben had to gain at least 100 grams by next week, so we will do our best.

Weekend

This weekend we went to Rijnsburg in Holland. It is a town near Katwijk, which is a small sea side town. It is not very crowded in the summer time so it is very relaxed to go to the beach in Katwijk. Some of our friends were also at the beach, so we and the kids had a great time yesterday. It was not to hot but it felt great.

We left around 5.30 pm and by the time we packed all our stuff, Nic was gone, we couldn´t find him anywhere and the beach was not very populated, so for a moment my heart made overtime, all our friends helped looking for Nic and finally he was found by the site of the road where we agreed to meet with the car... For some reason he understood that we were leaving and started the walk to the road, and both Niels and I missed that he left... It happened in less than a minute, so this was a great lesson for us.

We agreed to go to the beach today as well, but it rained, so we drove back home. When we arrived back home, I found these packages in the mailbox...

And this is what was inside. Nita, I love all your stuff, it is all so cute. My DH liked the bunny very much. Thank you very much, it is gorgeous, and I will find a nice place for it in the nursery.

Nita made Ruben a little cushion with a R, a toadstool rattler and a cute little bunny. Here they are with Ruben.
And the previous post was my 150th, and since only two persons gave a comment I will make them both a lottle something for my giveaway. Can you both please given my your snail mail addresses? You can mail me at: denheijer00(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Finished small project

Here is an update on Ruben, this is him. He is doing very well and he also eats very well, so no problems thre. he is a very nice little boy that doesn´t cry much, so mummy has time to do some crafting.

I finished this frog for Nic, he hasn´t seen it yet, since he is staying over at his grandparents in Holland.

This morning Ruben stayed at my parents since I went to the hairdresser, which was a very necessary thing, I wanted to go before the delivery, but that didn´t turn out they way I wanted, so I went now and I am very happy with my new short haircut.

4 season quilt swap + giveaway

I promised that I would show the whole mini quilt that I made for the 4-season quilt swap as soon as my partner had received it. So I got a mail that she received my quilt so here are the pics. My inspiration was Holland since the kids where in Holland on vacation and I am making a ´dutch´ quilt for Ruben. So this is the back which has a high ´Dutch´ contents and the front which was made from different dutch fabrics, which I bought from a dutch store that specializes in traditional fabrics. To finish it, I added the little wooden shoes in the middle.

And as for the giveaway. I am almost at my 150th post, almost. I will pick a winner from the ones that comment on that 150th post. I don´t know what I will make, but I will make the lucky one something handmade. So leave your comments and who knows..., you may be a winner.

Etsy warning!

I order a lot of stuff from the etsy site and I have met wonderful sellers out their. Their work is gorgeous and they always delivered on time.
At the end of June I ordered from ´chocolatelollipop´ some bibs for my expecting baby and I have received nothing. I contacted the seller to verify whether the goods were lost in the mail or if the seller wasn´t able to go through with the sale. No answer what so ever. I since have tried to contact the seller on several occasions and ultimately filed a non-delivery to etsy.
I also contacted paypal to resolve the matter and ultimately filed a claim, which was granted yesterday in my favour, however, no money back, since the seller has no money in its account.
I now that etsy forbids to name perticular names and transactions but I think I am in my right to name this seller. I have paid money for which I have to work hard, this seller accepted my money and didn´t deliver and chooses not to reply to my messages to come to a resolution. I think this seller should banned from etsy, since I have seen that the seller continues to do this.
What do you think? Am I unfair to claim this?
Be warned...

May I introduce to you: Ruben

Well, here he is... Peter and Nic meet their new brother Ruben for the first time. Ruben is born on wednesday afternoon at 5.39 pm and weighted 3575 g and is 51,5 cm.
Everything went very well and there were no complications, so everything is well with us. The boys were a bit dissapointed that they didn´t get a little sister, but also like their little brother.

This is Ruben on a a quilt that I made earlier and I think they are great boy colors. I also am making on with a dutch theme, red and blue to match Ruben´s nursery.

Yesterday, all the new mums on the maternity ward of the hospital got a piece of cake with the name of their baby. A very nice gesture of the hospital, espcially since they keep you on a low sugar diet in hospital.

So yesterday the doctor told us that we could go home today, but this afternoon the pediatrician thought that Ruben was to ´yellowish´ and wanted him under the lamps. SO They did a blood check, but everything was fine and we could leave hospital around 4.00 pm. So we are very glad to be back home, even though I could craft very well in hospital, but I am also very glad to be back home with my ´men´.

Nursery

It is time to give a glimps of the nursery. It is painted completely white and I added some red and white points of attention.

The boys both made a painting for the nursery so I hanged them with some red and white polka dots ribbon. Nic made a toadstool and Peter painted more abstract.

This is the crib all our chlindren slept in, so it is made ready for the wee one. And again, red and white.

The commode is white and blue but again, I added the red details. I love this red and white toadstool lamp that I bought in Antwerp, it is great. the boys also love it and it gives a nice glow at night. No regrets on that buy. The little fabric bag and shoes are form ´Blij als mij´. Check out this lady´s website, she makes lovely stuff.

So I think we are ready for the baby, will keep you all updated on the events that are coming.

4-season quilt swap

I just realised that I haven´t given an update on my 4-season quilt swap. So here it is, this quilt was sent to my swap partner, once she lets me know that she has received it, I will post a picture of the whole quilt.

It is inspired on a dutch theme since my kids are ion holiday with their grandparents at the Dutch coast.

Update

Finally I restored my camera connection with the computer, but now my computer has funny streaks... I don´t know what to think, it is sluggish, and sometimes refuses to go to certain websites... I think it is time for a back-up and a good clean-up.

So, what have I been up to... This week is my first week off for maternity leave. I went to hospital this morning, where I had to wait for 3,5 hours for a 30 minutes scan... But OK, this can happen. And the doctor told me that we will induce next week. No, I won´t tell when, just that it is next week. I will let you know when the baby is born.

So this first pic is the matroyshka doll I made for a swap and she should be on it´s way or maybe even already arrived at her new home.

This little doll is the doll I made for Nic´s kindergarten teacher for the end of the schoolyear. He found it looked like hime and he gave me a new assignment... Nic wants a spider man doll. Will have to think how I will make that.
These are the goodies I received from my swap partner. It is a wonderful dottee matroyska doll with baby. I love it, she looks fabulous. Thank you, Jennifer.
And these are some goodies that I bought yesterday during the sales that started here in belgium. In Belgium ´sales´ start on July 1st for all stores together, so I went to Zara Home and they had some gorgeous doorknobs, which I couldn´t resist for the nursery. I also bought a hand crocheted baby blanket in red and white and a red and whit polka dot pillowcase.

Yet another swap

I have signed in for the swap at Mee crafty. It is a kids swap, no the kids will not swap, we will swap for them, let´s not spoil teh fun in swapping. It sounds like great fun, and the deadline is far enough so I should have no problem meeting the send date, even if it is near my due date, I will have something to do during my week maternity leave...
Thanks Chloe for organizing yet another great swap.

No pictures

For some reason, my computer refuses to recognise my SD card... So I tokk some pics this weekend of my WIP, but I can´t show it to you.

It has been a productive weekend. I have almost finished the little boy doll for my son´s teacher which he can give at the end of the schoolyear, 4 days away.
I started my ´Dutch´ quilt, I have finished half of the top, so that is going well. I also crocheted some small matroyska dolls, so it was a productive weekend.

This is my last week at work. Thursday is my last workingday before my maternity leave. I have an appointment on July 2nd and then we will hear the exact due date since the gyno wants to induce labou two weeks early. But since my regular gyno is on holiday by then, I will meet this replacement on the second. I will keep you posted.

Mystery Quilt revealed

I can finally reveal my mystery quilt. All of our friends made a block for a love quilt dat we made for Mendi, daughter of friends of ours. She is in hospital with a case of TBC gone bad. She is 4 years old and loves pink as all girls do. She has been in very poor health, but is doing better and is expected to leave hospital tomorrow.

The boys and I visited her on saturday in hospital and she look much better but is still very weak, so we hope she feels a bit better underneath this lovely quilt.

I am so proud that all our friends made a block, even the ones that claim not to be creative. The back of the quilt looks like this, pink with fairies.

Finished smaller projects

We are having a lazy weekend. Niels went on a diving clinic yesterday and I stayed home with the kids. The weather was not so good, cold and cloudy, so we stayed indoors most of the time.
A perfect time to finish some smaller projects that I was doing.




I made this red and white shroom as a test. I would like to make a doorstop for the nursery with some shrooms. Next weekend I will get some green yarn so I can make a cover for the stone I am going to use.

Next was Huey the hamster. We had a huey before we had kids, but he was all tan but I think this is also a nice hamster. I will have to make him a small sleeping bag.

Russian Doll swap

I signed up for the Russian Doll swap at I'm a ginger monkey. The swap already closed but I am in, so will have to think what I will make. In as little as 4 weeks time I have time on my hands, because then my maternity leave starts and I can craft... for hopefully 3 weeks before the baby comes. We´ll see.

Buzy weekend

We definitely had a buzy weekend.
On Friday my niece got married, so we attende the wedding, I made her a wedding dottee doll as a present to go with the envelop we gave her. Since she and her husband already were living together, they didn´t really need any presents. I know the picture isn´t great but it was taken in to car on our way to the wedding.


When we arrived home at night, this presnt was waiting for me. I ordered the shoes and the matching fabric box/bag at Blij als mij . The baby shoes are just darling. We´ll see if the baby is a girl... otherwise they aill make a beautiful present for another little girl in the future. I just loved the red polka dots. Aren´t they amazing?

Saturday morning we learned that friends of ours had their first baby, a lovely girl named Suzanne. Good luck to you, Martin en Arina.

On Saturday we also went to the birthday party of Julian, the son of friends of ours turned 2 and had a party, so we drove to Holland to visit him. We had some great ´kibbelingen´ small pieces of fish deepfried. They are great, even our children like them.

And today, I drove my eldest son to grandpa and grandma, because there is a circus in town and they went with him. He was delighted and told us, he even touched a real snake. I did some little household jobs around the house, bought paint for the nursery, etc.

And now I will go and have do some quilting. Have nice evening.

Look who arrived today

Look who arrived at our home today. It is Ariel, she was very shy the last time I saw her, but here she is well at ease and wanted to pose for the picture.
Ariel was made by Jill from Miaou and is truely gorgeous. She has a lovely dress with pink roses and the most precious hair.

I also saw on her blog that my pirate arrived at Jill´s and that her boy likes him. So I say this was a great swap. thanks for organizing it Chloe at Mee crafty.

Wonderful surprise and WIP

This wonderful little needlecase was waiting for me when I arrived home yesterday. Caron made it for me for visiting her blog . I really like the colors and it will get a nice place in my ´Maternity set´ which i will take into the hospital. The hosptial staff always looks funny when I am cross stitching or quilting during the beginning of labor. This is a nice size that fits my stitch tin. Thank you very much Caron for your wonderful gift. Bloggers are the greatest.

Yesterday I went to the store to look for some fabric for my secret project. i can´t tell you what I am working on until the recipient has received hher gift, so bare with me. I think it looks great, but I will post pictures when it is finished.

Our pirate is ready for his journey

I am participating in a doll swap and this is a glimps of the doll I made. My swap partner asked for a doll for her son, so I thought that a pirate would be a perfect boy´s doll. I hope her boy loves him, my son and father in law wanted him, so i had to fight them off.

Now he is ready for his big journey to the north. Have a save journey!

The nursery - 30 weeks and counting...

I decided on the theme for the nursery. It will be a dutch theme, since my husband is dutch and we lived there for a couple of years, two of our children where born in Holland, so a dutch theme.
I saw these cupboards at Kast van een huis I think there are adorable, so my dad will try to make me some.
The colors will be mainly blue and white with red accents, so it shouldn´t be to hard to make a quilt in those colors.
This afternoon I will go to the paint shop and decide what color blue and then we can start painting.

Family weekend

Every two years, my DH´s family gathers together for a family weekend. This time we spent it near Nieuwkoop, a small village in the middle of Holland.

We rented a big house, we are with more than 90 persons, so it is a big house and it takes a lot of organizing. We would like to thank everybody that made this possible.

We arrived on saturdaymorning and left Monday afternoon, and we had a great time, doing games, talking to family that we don´t see very often, we also did some games in the meadows, as you can in the pictures. I managed to finish a dotee doll, for my cousin that is getting married in two weeks. So it was a nice and relaxed weekend.