Stuff

The last piece of my bedroom furniture has eventually arrived -



... my bedside bench. By Kare Design.
Plush, patchwork and Paisley pattern, with flowers, just how I like it.

Another flower, another pin cushion.



For Mama K.'s birthday on Sunday.

Couch Potato, no, Doll

Everybody needs a couch doll, I do declare today. The couch is an important place and needs to be as comfy and gaudy as possible.



Couch doll in a slender matryoschka-style
(although Hubby says she looks kinda Dutch)
pattern: improvised
fabric: bed linen and felt (for the face)



an easy one-day project, the face was appliqued and embroidered while baby Carolina had her afternoon nap



and sewn together and stuffed in the evening together with Clara (while she sure had fun, she asked me whether we really need it... but who really NEEDS wallpaper for example, Hubby said, I need making something...)

Pink Surprise

When you hot wash cloth diapers with bed linen that lay forgotten in the basement for four years...



... you might end up with some extra pink to pep up your baby's garments.

What I Wore to my Tuina Baby Massage Class

With my first baby girl I went to lot of classes - postnatal (yoga) classes, baby clubs, ayurvedic baby massage, baby music garden, you name it. My second comes with me to the Mama & Baby Yoga classes I teach and that is it. But with this new baby I also wanted to learn something new and just participate. I chose the Chinese form of massage, Tuina. Most of the time Carolina is too busy crawling during class to be massaged, but I enjoy the stimulating information about energy circles, acupressure points and inner organs - good extra knowledge for a Kundalini Yoga teacher. And the other day I even prescribed myself a professional 60-minute Tuina massage, I recommend it to every busy Mama out there.



Skirt: vintage
Ballerinas: Deichmann (grab what you can in size 42/UK 8/US 10,5)

New Additions

... to the circle/flower theme!



Sacred geometry: Flower of Life



New functions for my embroidery loops

Glassware:



IKEA's Yngaren



tea-light holder gone stitching

Home 2012

What started with an innocent purchase of 2 home magazines last September, has snowballed into a major interest of mine. I am the target group right now!



I have tried lots of them - classic German Schöner Wohnen, Wohnidee, Elle Decoration (who buys a bathtub for 20 000 Euros?), the L-magazines: Lea, Lena, Laura and Lisa, special editions for wallpaper and paint, German magazines with trendy English titles: Living at Home, Living & More, We love Living. I started anticipating publication dates (that used to be the case with knitting magazines...) I look at them, I read them, I clip them, I buy stuff I see in them online. It is like learning a new language, a visual language, a language our new home starts speaking.

And I must say - I keep coming back to the ones I bought first: Living & More and We love Living, for their thrifty homespun feel.

Tuning in for Summer

Happy Summer Solstice to you!

Flowers on the Wall

Another wall done!



A wallpaper window in the bedroom wall.



The wallpaper design is by Amy Butler - it is the Lacework Sunset Terracotta Wallpaper - warm. sensuous and delicate with round floral mandalas, you can see that Mrs Butler has a regular yoga and meditation practice (I read in a recent Mollie Makes interview that she meditates every morning for 30 minutes and has the Yoga Journal on her bedside table). The wallpaper is just beautiful and I don't get tired looking at all the pretty details.

For the border I had different ideas, I wanted it pink (of course), I considered a frame, but was afraid that it might fall on my head at night. As it turned out, I couldn't find anything in pink, neither in the local DIY stores nor online. For some moments I thought that fabric lace might be an option, complimenting the lace design of the wallpaper.

I compromised on a self adhesive whitish border with some ornaments.



Sweet dreams, in case I ever get tired from looking at that wallpaper...

Motto of the Day

Another variation of the theme.



Now in the WC.

Sunday Couching

... enjoying the fruits of this week's work. With the wallpaper now on. What looks neat & clean now, was actually a 2-day-process full of surprises. My advice: professional help.

Another surprise, when Clara came back from the hairdresser's:

Sew Crochet

The circle/flower theme has spread over to my crafting.



Those two little pin cushions had been in my mind for a couple of weeks now, just waiting for the right moment to pop out. Quick & easy while the baby was sleeping.



Clara had found that beautiful button while playing on the kindergarten playground last year and had given it too me - she always gives me the buttons she finds. And ever since she has asked me numerous times what I will do with the button and when. Clara approves of the result.

For the crochet African Flowers I had bigger plans - cast on right before Carolina was born (blogged here), I imagined a Mamy Bag similar to this one. But........ very unrealistic right now. A crochet pin cushion - yes, possible!



The pattern for the African Flower comes from Heidi Bears.

EDIT: I also had a question about how to make the pin cushion - I followed this tutorial here, and also used pinking shears to clip curves).

Berry-Cherry-Melon

my favourite breakfast right now

Round-Abouts

I am sensing a theme in my decoration. Nearly everything that finds its way into our new house is round. A circle. And/or a flower.



Recently thrifted small bowls and a plate. The church charity shop again. For free.



an ancient Greek style salt shaker (birthday/housewarming gift by Johanna)



a vase



living room table cover (blogged here)



doilies on the wall



wallpaper for the bedroom



bedrooms




(boobie pillow is Hubby's last year's birthday gift)



Yoga yantras



Does anyone know the name of this plant?



tile stickers for the WC



My midwife had not seen our kitchen (and didn't know about me coming full circle) before she gave us this breakfast board.





Seems like I live pretty much on the feminine side of decoration.

Thank You

A beautiful and busy weekend. We celebrated Hubby's and my birthdays/housewarming party. Thanks to everybody who came and made it such a special day! We couldn't believe it - there were around 40 adults and 25 kids of all ages running around the house and garden. Luckily - no rain, and a fantastic potluck buffet.



Lucky me - with friends who know what I like. If you want to know how the turquoise clutch came about, Vera put a German tutorial on her blog.

And we got completely stoned!



With painted and inscribed stones from Doris (steinreich).













Love, love, love.