Ombre Eggs and Bamberg-bound

I hope you had a lovely Easter; we certainly did. We had a great church service followed by a day spent with family -and chocolate! Now we're getting ready to head off to Bamberg for a last-minute mini-break, but before we head out, here's a close-up of what's inside the larger glass dome on our mantel.  
I moved things around a little more since my previous post, so now you can see some of the ombre-style eggs I dyed this year. Sadly, I dropped and cracked my favorite egg on the keyboard as I was Skyping my family, so no pictures of that one. =( Still, the mini yellow bunting was fun and adds a bit of color and height. Originally I had hoped to find some budding branches or yellow daffodils, but the bunting was longer lasting in the end. I find display height to be tricky, yet important, with these domes.

Here's a close-up of one of the eggs we bought at the Easter egg market this year. I can't believe it was only 12 Euro; I know the market is saturated with certain things, but I really think this woman could charge more as her style is definitely unique.

And here's a sneak peek of what I've been working on (I'm hoping to reach one of my New Year's goals!):

That's all the news for now. We're heading out soon, so this will be another quiet week here on the blog.

Anybody have any tips on what to see and do in Bamberg? Specifically any craft or other creative-oriented shops?? I would love some insider tips!


 

4 Free Easter Printables

Just in case you find yourself still needing some Easter decor -or a card- I thought I'd share 4 free printables that have recently impressed me.

Adorable bunny bunting from The Sweetest Occasion.

He Is Risen poster printable from Tattered & Inked, available in three colorways.

Four different Easter cards from Nifty Thrifty Things.

 
Beautiful cards from FunkyTime. 

I'm signing off for the Easter weekend, so I'll wish you a joyous Easter and see you next week!

Spring cafe decor

Just a quick little post to feature some pictures I recently took on the sly. I find that Tischdeko (table decoration) is really an art here in Germany -at least far more than in the US. For example, check out how one of our favorite cafe's all dolled up for spring:

How sweet is that? Ok, so the fresh flowers on the table and windowsills are nothing majorly earth-shattering, but the little ribbon around the vase is a nice touch. I could do that at home, too. I don't even know what you would call those arrangements by the doorway, but I'm liking them as well -but not for the home, ha ha! I like how they surround you and greet you as you come and go and think it's a lovely touch in a shop.

This weekend I'll be checking out a local painted Easter egg market again and trying to get our balcony ready for the warmer weather. What are you doing this weekend?

10 Minute Spring DIY Hostess Gift

Our lovely neighbors invited us down to dinner this weekend to say farewell to winter and hello to spring, so I planned to take a little hostess gift. I find that hostess gifts are much more common here in Germany than back in the US, so we usually bring something when we're invited somewhere. Last time it was a little candle and some pom-pom flowers, this time some fresh spring flowers seemed more appropriate.

Giving potted plants is a common here, but you usually need to add a little "oomph", right? Shops will generally add a decorative flower pick (Blumenstecker) and then wrap the whole thing up in miles of cellophane and ribbons, so I took my cue from one of Allison's Hippity-Hop Projects and made my own Blumenstecker.

Disclaimer: I was in a hurry, so my project is not as nice as hers AND because I rushed, I made a mistake, so I suggest you grab the free bunny pattern here and check out the proper how-to instructions here.

If you're in a rush, you can do what I did in 10 minutes: 

Call your husband who's at the store to say please pick up some little flower thing for the hostess gift and tell him to hurry home because you need to make it pretty somehow. Fret about how to do this. Remember all of Allison's cute, free Easter decoration ideas and remember you can make a Blumenstecker with what you have on hand, phew! I had already cut some strips of translucent paper to wrap around and dress up the plastic pot the flower comes in.

Then you set up the iron, print out the hopping bunny pattern, iron the fabric, put the fusible webbing stuff between two layers of fabric and seal the deal (and your fate), think you are clever to use a tracing wheel to trace the pattern so you don't have to wait for your disappearing ink pen to disappear, realize you will go blind trying to cut out the shape this way...panic, but start cutting anyway only to realize that shoot! you were supposed to put the skewer between the layers before ironing the fabric together and get all frustrated. 

The clock is ticking, so you finish cutting out the bunny and are pleasantly surprised at how he looks like his template! Yay! Grab the twine and make a bow, find the clear, double-sided tape and stick the bow to the bunny, feel mortified that you taped your bunny's bow on. Get a brainwave to find the green Japanese masking tape to adhere the bunny to the wooden skewer...yes, it works! but you still feel guilty for not 'doing it right'. Ah well, the neighbors were thrilled in the end!

If you don't sew or have fabric on hand, I could easily see using this template with some cute cardstock instead! Dare I say it could be faster?? =)

And yes, I am a dork. I played with Photoshop while I was on a long phone conversation the other night and 'dyed' my photos in Easter egg colors... 'tis the season, right?

Are hostess gifts common where you are? What do people usually give? I am always looking for new ideas that aren't as generic as my regular go-to's of plants, wine, chocolate and food.

Meeting Amy Butler, or the Handarbeit and Hobby Fachmesse

So I met the famous American fabric designer, Amy Butler, here in Germany! How did that happen? Well, let me tell you:

Allison contacted me to see if I was interested in attending the Internationale Handarbeit & Hobby Fachmesse in Köln (the International Craft and Hobby Trade Show in Cologne) last Friday. We last met up when my husband and I stayed at her place last summer, so we were due for another little adventure and this peek into the more industrial side of German crafting promised to be interesting (and it was!).

A word on the photos: indoor photos with fluorescent lights -and about a million other little lights in the booths- made taking decent pictures impossible, so bear with me here! Also, Photoshop was making me cross-eyed this time, so some of the text in the collages is pixelated, which probably bothers me more than you, but oh well.

We had a total blast and it was really fun to have a girl's day outing together. Allison has a shop, Stillwater Designs, where she sells her lovely jewelry and handbag creations, but her specialty is imported American designer fabric from the likes of Amy Butler, Joel Dewberry, Kate Spain, etc. This was a business trip for her, so our time at the Messe was sprinkled with buyer meetings with sales reps and so on. I think she was worried I would be bored, but it was SO interesting to see this aspect of running a shop! I loved tagging along!  Below you can see some of the booths and a shot of Allison contemplating which fabric to purchase. I loved getting some sneak peeks of to-be-created and to-be-delivered fabric lines from certain designers! SO COOL!

This fair was mainly about sewing and knitting. There were sewing machine companies, people selling fabric, ribbon, patterns, knitting needles, knitting patterns, how-to books, yarn, yarn, and more yarn -it was crazy! There was even a speed-knitting competition going on during the weekend. Knitting is HUGE in Germany, so it's no surprise that half of the show was devoted to it!

Some of the booth displays were more...unusual...than others. Take for example the yarn and pattern booth featuring mannequins with massive antlers. That was eye-catching! However, you do need to attract attention, right?

I liked this little ribbon booth; I wish I could remember the company name! (UPDATE: they are from Baenderei Kafka) There was ribbon for sale, but not a lot. There easily could have been a greater selection of ribbon at this fair, ah well.

In addition to ribbon, buttons were available in many booths. One booth was even selling some and, as you can see below, was attracting quite a crowd! I love how they had a little spring garden theme and had buttons for sale in the metal cones hanging on the fence and in terracotta flower pots nestled in crates. Such a great idea!

Like knitting, felting is also HUGE in Germany, so booths selling various felt, felt yarn, and felting supplies were easy to find. I was interested to learn that you could get a needle felting attachment for your sewing machine. Who knew? I like how this one booth displayed everything from adorable felted owls to felted birds perched on nests created from swirled felt yarn -so cool!

Embroidery and cross stitch elements were also to be seen, but they weren't as common. This next collage is my attempt to show a decorating style common here in Germany: a delicate modern Scandinavian country style of decor.I like this style to an extent, but after a while it's just too cute and delicate for my taste.

Another major trend in German crafting, well sewing/fabric, is pastel colors. I would say I see far more pastels (like Tilda) on German crafting blogs than I do on American ones...or? It's either really pastel or really colorful (auf Deutsch = Bunt) in a red/blue sort of way. In general, American fabric seems to embrace a much greater variety of colors and motifs, but below you'll see some of the pastel German displays I spotted. And yes, I think the octopus is cool...except for it's angry eyes! Why must it have angry eyes?? (Was ist los mit dem bösen Augen?!)

Kokka's Japanese fabric booth was incredible! I love Japanese fabrics and it was so fun to see things from the Enchino collection and many others. Their fabric is definitely oriented towards a bold, modern and more colorful feel.

The highlight of our time was spending time in the massive Coats booth where they had a huge section featuring Rowan/Westminster Fabrics including Kaffe Fassett and a huge Amy Butler selection....and Amy Butler herself! See how colorful and diverse these American fabrics are? American fabric designers really do have their own flavor and it's so fun to see how the different countries have their own sort of style. I love how Amy Butler's oilcloth (Waschtuch) collection was featured with several darling bags and raincoats on the mannequins! How fun would it be to have one of those raincoats??

The gumdrop pillows/poufs and quilts were also spectacular, but the real treat was getting to meet Amy herself. I've often read that she's really friendly, but we were so impressed to see just how humble, sincere, and down-to-earth she really was!

Allison (far left) and I (far right) felt like two giddy little American schoolgirls, but somehow we managed to have several conversations with Amy throughout the day. We met her when we first arrived and we chatted for a bit and then she asked us to come back again after Allison did her buying, so we did; we all talked for quite a while!

We talked about tons of things, from tips on sewing with patterns (Schnittmuster), how your business and creativity can and should evolve over time, what her favorite collection is (it's always the one she's working on), and then I was begging her to create a line of ribbon.... =) She's thinking about it.  =) We also heard about new fabric materials that she'll be working with in the coming months, so Amy Butler voile, corduroy, and other treats are in the works!

I could go on and on about our pleasant and interesting conversations with Amy, but honestly, I had a truly fabulous time hanging out with Allison! It was so fun to spend time with another American with whom I have so much in common. It was so fun to geek out over fabric and laugh over some crazy displays. We both thoroughly enjoyed dinner out at a Mexican restaurant by the Messe train station ...good Mexican food is nearly impossible to find in Germany, just like finding good Italian ice cream is nearly impossible in the US!

What about you? Anything catch your eye from the trade show? Are there certain crafting trends you notice where you live?

PS- to see more pictures from the show, check out Allison's post!

Spring in(to) our living room

This is what we had going on in our living room last week. It was nice to feel like we had some 'real' spring in the living room in addition to our seedlings. I'm not sure how I feel about my little glass dome arrangements. I keep fiddling with them and moving them around.

You can also catch a glimpse of our photo gallery wall in the mirror (the mirror that will be painted this year, ahem). You can see the before shots here.

Last Friday I had the opportunity to drive up to Köln for the "h+h cologne - Internationale Fachmesse für Handarbeit + Hobby" (International trade show for craft and hobby) with Allison. We had SO much fun! We even met Amy Butler! Pictures coming soon!

So Pretty: Fleamarket Find at Wunderschoen Gemacht

Last week I saw the prettiest little arrangement of the sweetest spring colors over at reader Dunja's Wunderschön Gemacht blog. I always love the photos she takes, but these were just too cheery not to share! These are some of her photos from her lovely flea market find -and before you say "I never find anything good at flea markets!", take note: she used to say the same thing before finding this piece!

Another thing to note: the piece is pretty, but her own things are what bring it to life. That's a helpful perspective to keep in mind when you're hunting around; it doesn't have to be a showstopper, it just has to fit in with what you already have.

Be sure to check out Dunja's blog -she takes lovely photos and has a great eye for color and style! Don't worry if you don't read German, just put her address into Google Translate and you'll get the gist!

What about you? Have you found any flea market treasures lately? I really don't seem to have much luck in my area of Germany. I really miss going to yard sales in the US! =( Most flea markets around here feature trashy videos and random used clothing (shockingly, much of that clothing is undergarments!). Anything 'good' is rare and usually insanely expensive. I think I would have to drive an hour to Frankfurt to get close to anything better...or?

Eggshell Seedlings: Day 7

Things are looking good with the seedling project -I already have 1-2 inches worth of green shoots showing! I have to say the most amazing thing is that they started sprouting out of the ground on the third day. I was shocked that they 'turned into something' so soon!

I think the trick has been to keep them in natural sunlight as much as possible -I was even moving them around to different windows as the light changed through the first few days- and keeping them watered. I put a few drops in each eggshell every morning to keep them damp. They do tend to stretch towards the sun, so I try to rotate them during the day to keep them from getting too crooked.

Since these guys sprouted so quickly, I've also started a few biodegradable seedling trays with some climbing flowers. I'm not sure what I'll rig so that they can climb around on our balcony later, but I thought something beyond the potted plant would be fun. They seem to be taking a little longer to get out of the soil.

Anybody else plant some seeds? How's it going? I'm actually wondering if these are going to be too tall to use for the table by the time Easter comes around, ha! On the other hand, I'm scared to rely on another round because I'd have to use different seeds (can't recall exactly what I used the first time, some kind of balcony wildflower mix) and who knows if they would be slower?

Something yellow, something spring

A few bits of spring cheer in the form of daffodil-shaped candlesticks. Another Depot find for 2 Euro. Can't go wrong for 2 Euro, can you?

Fun fact: Daffodil auf Deutsch = Osterglöcken, which if you were to literally translate that back into English = Easter bells. How sweet is that??

Pillow success! (but curtain distress)

I made some happy little pillow covers and am thrilled to share the results. I was especially pleased with my pieced rectangle cover! I also hemmed a TON of curtain panels, so it was nice when the recipient called me today to say he was grateful and so impressed with all the work, phew!

The pillows are made from some cute Ikea fabric and leftover curtain remnants. The brown velvet curtains were great to work with...the stupid sheers...not so much.

You get what you pay for at Ikea, and the cheapy Wilma sheers are no exception. They made my life miserable for several days...cutting straight (when they weren't even straight to begin with!) and sewing such thin stuff...ugh, so glad it's over! (like our rockin' 70's stone floors? ha!)

I have to say the frustration with the sheers made me a little nervous to work with thin and slippery fabrics, anybody have any tips? I bought some rayon-ish stuff to attempt a clothing item and now I'm nervous I'll wreck the fabric!