Scraphappy and Thank You!

It’s clear that there is not much activity going on at Mrs. Walker Get’s Cozy. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, but its just taking up too much time and with my lovely job getting more and more busy, it’s time to make a decision.

This will be (for now) the last post here. However, in the last couple of weeks, I have discovered Instagram and how quick and easy that is. The community I am getting to know there is just as lovely and benign as what I have encountered here at WordPress. I think many of you might have an Instagram account too. So yes, by all means look me up at @floraposte and I would love to meet up with you all there!!

So a Big Thank You to everyone that have visited, followed and supported me here and left lovely comments. It is really special to me, it meant a lot and I am very grateful.

I am leaving you with this image of the Scraphappy Spring Library Display which my  colleagues and I created. I made the little fellow on the swing and the rabbit that is diving down the hole. And of course, all material used where already at the library , in my craft closet or found in the re-use…the whole display cost no more than $10.-

Love and Peace,

Johanna

Scraphappy at the Library: Winter Display

Fall and Winter, my favorite seasons! So double fun making a winter display. Not over the front desk this time, but in the rather big display case at the entrance.

Magical White Winter Wonderland is the theme. I re-used the boats I made for the summer display (pattern by the fabulous Ann Wood) Painted branches white and my colleague and I used up all discarded white felt we could find from previous displays and programs.

I made a trip to all my favorite thrift stores to find white Christmas ‘stuff’ , little white baby clothes and more white fabric. Selected all the white buttons out of my button jars and white leftover beads from too many projects. Taking glue, foil, thrift store, etc into consideration, the total costs are between $25.- and $30.-.

The glass doors are permanently stained with little children’s finger prints…which is an excellent sign in my opinion. But I glowed with joy with the compliment of one of our senior regulars, an 85+ Veteran who always takes a rest on the bench at the entrance before continuing his walk to the car park on his way out. He told me he loved the display and used the words “Adorable and Cute”. How cool is that!!!!

And it was a while since a made a Waldorf doll. It took a few retries and a lot of grumbling. But he turned out quite OK and he was great company in the car. Just as the little overexcited bears with their new knitted blankets (white leftover yarn indeed, I used the Margaret Tulip 9” Dishcloth Afghan Block Square by Margaret Mcinnis.  The teddy bear patterns is from The Knitted Teddy Bear” by Sandra Polley

For more Scraphappy post follow this link!

And may I wish you all Happy Holidays and a very healthy, wealthy, crafty New Year!!!!

Ha, winter in de Bieb dus ook een magisch winterwonderland. Dit keer niet bij de balie maar in de grote vitrine bij de ingang. Een behoorlijke klus waar ik zelfs mijn cursus van ‘het zelf maken van antroposofische poppen’ van lang geleden weer kon gebruiken. Wederom, alles is hergebruikt en ‘gevonden’ materiaal en de kosten waren dan ook niet meer dan $30.-. De kindertjes staan permanent met de neusjes tegen t raam, wat heerlijk is. Maar een zeer bejaarde gespioneerde militair (vaste gast hier in de bieb) noemde het “ Lieflijk en Schattig”. Nou daar we worden toch wel heel blij van!!!

En laat ik gelijk iedereen Fantastische Feestdagen toewensen en een heel Gelukkig, Gezond en Creatief Nieuw Jaar!

Love and Liefs,

Johanna

 

Scraphappy: Little Fun Project!

No library displays this time! I am busily working on the winter 
display but worried that I don’t have enough time and too much 
ambition = not the only one in the craft world with this problem 
right??



So I did this little cute project. And you can see my Ravelry notes 
here:https://www.ravelry.com/projects/likeflora/lil-pumpkin-2.  

Now this little pumpkin was not only a joy to knit on a cold Sunday 
afternoon but it tells me so much more. The stem is brown Merino 
bought when we still lived in Canada, the leave is 100% USA wool 
bought somewhere in the Rocky Mountains at an incredibly cute 
handcrafts store that seemed to appear out of nothing and I cannot 
find back on the map. (Shame on me, I know...)
And the golden orange/brown 100% Scottish wool was bought at the 
Harris Tweed Company in the Hebrides when Mr. Walker and I where 
there in August and September this year to celebrate our wedding 
anniversary...30 years ago we had our honeymoon in Scotland 💫


So you can understand how I love looking at this little pumpkin. 

For more Scrapphappy Posts follow this link




Ha, een lollig klein  pompoentje denk jij! Maar als je weet dat t 
gebreid is met restjes van wol gekocht in Canada, de Rocky Mountains,
 USA en Schotland...dan snap je wel dat dit pompoentje toch heel 
wat verhalen te vertellen heeft. Je kan mijn Ravelry aantekeningen 
hier bekijken:https://www.ravelry.com/projects/likeflora/lil-pumpkin-2. 

Love and Liefs,

Johanna

Scraphappy at the Library: Fall Display!

 

Even in in the Cincinnati Area Fall is finally over! Not being a summer person…it makes me very happy. Cold windy walks, hearty stews and soups, winter clothes and candles everywhere:it’s invigorating!

Fall at the library means “ Back to School” and the Summer Adventure programs are over. So time for a new display.

I made fall dioramas. The Glass containers are bought in thrift stores etc. Collected Mother Nature’s gifts during my walks and made the lovely mushrooms with scrap fabric. I used an Ann Wood pattern. Her patterns are fabulous!!!

And Fall means falling leaves and migratory birds. I folded all these birds from wallpaper, this paper was left in our house by the previous owners. I used this free pattern.

The leaves are cut out of the leaves of discarded books and painted with leftover paints from the children’s programs. You can see the lettering coming through, which I thought was very appropriate ;o)

The only thing bought new is air conditioner coil that I used to make the swirls to attach the leaves to and hang the birds from. It’s playable, re-usable for other displays and costs only $10.-.

Ha, een nieuwe herfst en nieuwe decoraties. Ik ben altijd zo ongelooflijk blij als de lange hete zomer voorbij is in Cincinnati! Heerlijk met rode neus en wangen verwaaid  weer thuiskomen van t wandelen , stevige soepen en stoofschotels, warme truien en knusse kaarsen. Dus ik heb me natuurlijk laten inspireren door vallende bladeren (gemaakt van kapotte boeken) en trekvogels gevouwen uit overgebleven behang. De herfst diorama’s zijn gemaakt met vondsten uit de natuur en de paddestoelen met restjes stof en t patroon komt van Ann Wood. De glazen schalen waren voor een prikje uit de kringloop. Het enigste wat ik nieuw kocht, zijn de koperen buizen voor ‘verwaaide bladeren’. T is eigenlijk een onderdeel voor een airco, kost een tientje en ze zijn herbruikbaar.

And for more Scraphappy posts , follow this link please!

Happy Fall and Love and Liefs,

Johanna

Scraphappy At The Library

I am so fortunate, to have to read picture books for a living! It is wonderful on a daily base…and sometimes I come across a book that is just has it all.

“There Is a Bear on My Chair” by Ross Collins is one of them. To my mind a perfect children’s books: the illustrations are simple and beautiful, the story exciting and witty for both children and adults ( really, it’s beyond me how to achieve that!). The illustrations and storylines are inviting for children to use their imagination and add to the story. I keep on reading it and whenever I can put it in a story time or teacher collection. It is perfect.

And than that feisty little mouse with his beautiful knitted jumper!!!! I had to knit it. Luckily I had the perfect leftover yarns to do so. 

I did not write up a pattern, that’s a skill I respect too much to dabble with. The experienced knitter can see I used sock and yoke techniques. It did make for some eerie knitting from time to time…

My colleagues played with him for a day and than the little mouse was so happy to make friends with the daughter of one them and he has found a warm and welcome home with his own chair and bed and no sassy bears!!!

For more Scraphappy posts follow this link!

 

Wat een mazzel om leuke kinderboeken voor je werk te moeten lezen! En soms kom je een boek tegen dat zo perfect is: “There Is a Bear on My Chair” by Ross Collins is grappig en spannend voor voorlezers en kinderen. En dan dat muisje met zijn mooie truitje…dat moest ik toch even nabreien hoor! Ik had toevallig de juiste restjes wol. En dat muisje heeft wel een heel goed thuis gevonden bij een lief dochtertje van een collega. 

Ps some of you were so kind to inquire after my dog Charley. My lovely Princess is still going strong in her growing years. Despite the fact she is totally blind now, she still enjoys long walks, proper naps , good food and lots of cuddles. 

She sends love to you all.

Love and Liefs,

Johanna

Scraphappy At The Library

Well…it’s been a while. March last year, I was absolutely pleasantly surprised and delighted to be able to work at the library again, right here in Cincinnati! And since that day, life has become very busy in a wonderful way.

 

This library is completely different from the little rural libraries I used to work at in Canada, the Cincinnati Public Library is considered one of the busiest in the USA. To work here is pretty intense, I am part of a fantastic team and it makes me very happy.

Although I have little time for drawing, blogging ,etc I still do have plenty of creative outlets..even at work. One of the things I do, is making displays for the front desk. And these photos are from the current summer displays, relating to the summer reading programs. (This is at the Symmes Branch, if you are in the neighborhood and want to have a closer look.)

 

The reason I post about this one is because of posts I see about Scrap Happy. I told Kerry what I had been working on and she encouraged me to post about it. I cold not resist.

Everything here is made from recycled or leftover or even found materials. For instance : all the butterflies are made from lovely silky flowered wall paper I bought for 2 dollars in a thrift store, the creatures I knitted with leftover yarn, I re-used fabric from my husbands shirts.

Taking glue, wallpaper paste, paint etc into account , this entire display cost no more than $25.- and can be re-used over and again…as already happened in a way: the rabbit I made years ago for Easter. The little hat a thrift find of 25 cents and how appropriate with all the travel images etc.

The patterns for the boats I bought from Ann Woods beautiful website and are made from cereal boxes, newspapers and leftover fabric. The teddy bears in the boat and on the flying bed are from ‘The Knitted Teddy Bear” by Sandra Polley.  The origami butterfly pattern you can find here.

All other knitted creatures, come from my head and knitting needles and leftover yarns, some are already quite a few years old and very dear to me ;o) I have no patterns for them since it is more of an intuitive zen knitting process and writing a pattern is a skill and an art of which I do not think lightly!

Please follow this link for more Scrap Happyposts.

 

Och hemel, t is wat lang geleden. Vorig jaar, kon ik tot mijn verrassing zomaar weer aan de slag bij de bieb hier in Cincinnati, Ohio. Wel een van de drukste bibliotheken in Amerika. De baan maak me superblij maar er blijft weinig tijd over voor illustreren en bloggen. Gelukkig kan ik zelfs mijn creatieve kant ontwikkelen op t werk: 1 van mijn taken is t verzorgen van de decoraties bij de balie en deze heb ik gemaakt in t kader van de zomer programma’s. Ik heb vrijwel alleen maar rest en hergebruikte materialen toegepast. Onnodig te zeggen dat t een ongelooflijk leuk project was om te doen.

 

Love and Liefs,

Johanna

 

Cincinnati City Walk, Part Two: Street Art

I love murals and Cincinnati has a few beauties. These are some of the finest and I thought it nice to share them with you.

Have a Great Weekend!!

Love and Liefs, Johanna

Thank You All & Cincinnati City Walk: Part I

Thank you all so much for leaving kind and encouraging comments on my previous post. I am a 100% sure it sped up the healing process, it felt like a warm blanket, friends!!!

But enough with the indulging in a little pampering! Sore backs don’t heal themselves, work needs to be done: exercises, rowing, swimming and above all walking.

Hilly nature walks are a step too far at the moment. So a nice walk through the city centre in the vicinity of Findlay Market it was and we brought the camera this time. In Spring weather the light is perfect for street photography.

So images from Cincinnati on a Saturday morning. This is our brand new street car!

Cincinnati with its history with the meat industry, has a fondness of (flying) pigs. You find them everywhere.This is a window display at a butcher…I don’t think those pigs entirely agree ;o)

That costume of the tour guide of this guided tour is too beautiful for words!!!

Cincinati is climbing out of recession and many building are done up beautifully at the moment. The contrast on what is and is not done yet, is clearly visible…

And than a perfect ending in one of our favorite restaurant for a proper BBQ meal.

Nou wat een lieve, leuke berichtjes kreeg op mijn vorige post. Daar knapt een mens van op hoor. Ik ben alweer aan de wandel en druk met oefeningen. In de modder ploeteren, op de heuvels in de wilde natuur is wat veel gevraagd nog maar een knusse stadswandeling met de camera in de aanslag zit er alweer in. Dit is Cincinnati op een zaterdag morgen met lekker lente weer.

Love and Liefs, Johanna

Oh Snap and No Drawings to Show For Either!!!

Some memories stay engraved in your mind with date and all: two weeks ago, Friday morning I made the bed and whilst bending over I felt a sharp pain in my back which I had not felt for long time. Snap!!! I could hardly walk, not sit up straight, not lay down. Ouch Ouch ouch…

The next few days I spent dozing of on muscle relaxers, soaking in the hot tub, scurrying through the house in the most inelegant way. Mr. Walker felt so sorry for me whilst I wailed and moaned  I complained just a little because in the greater scheme of things life was still good right?

Of course it was, Monday morning I called a chiropractor and he turned out to be a man of action who does not waste time! An hour later he was doing his witchcraft with high tec machinery and skillfully pulling and twisting my arms, legs and spine, which I bravely tried not find scary at all ( in vain)

So for the past two weeks, I could not sit up right, so no drawing to show for what so ever. I did read plenty of books.

And I did have fun crocheting these pebbles..and they fit so nicely with my green and blue light. Do not watch too closely, crocheting is not really my thing. Raveled it here

I admired greatly a quiche I baked (yes, that is rather pathetic indeed)

Knitted one sleeve at my from the top down cardigan.

There was snow and cold, as you can see in the first photos. I had cut a few branches earlier and put them in a vase. If you wait long enough, they will flower and you have a little Spring at home.

I laughed out loud when the Oldest Walker Boy send this photo all the way from Toronto.We debated wether this was left by a contemptuous dog or was Mr. Snowman trembling in his little snow boots about the upcoming winter storm?

We have nice Spring weather now…and I am knitting an Easter Hare in happy anticipation. You can already see it’s pretty behind ;o)

And this is what Charley is suggesting every time, I lay on the floor, doing my re-hab exercises. That is twice a day…

Love and Liefs, Johanna

Lately: Looking for Sunshine, Yoga Knitting, and More…

 

“It is a serious thing //just to be alive / on this fresh morning / in this broken world.”
― Mary Oliver, Red Bird

The Oldest Walker Boy send me this beautiful photo of the view from his office in Toronto. The sun broke through glorious.

At the moment, sunshine is a bit of a rare commodity here and it almost seems to reflect the state of the world we are in right now. Its hard, very hard not to be weighed down by the daily news I find. I am not going to discuss that, this blog is not about politics and the likes. But I find it difficult to make a post about my important nothings. However I am going to because I need to. We all need to find things that replenish our energy and make us keep going on doing what we believe in..right?

Here you see a moment of sunshine in my living room…

I tidied up my card rack after Christmas. I love my card rack. It reminds me of lovely people and the beauty of great images. This year’s Christmas cards will not be discarded, they find their way as book markers  and make me smile every time I pick up a book and I read a lot of books!  

I baked scones and drank tea and lit so many candles on days the sun is hiding.

Lots of comfort yoga knitting too! These slippers looked so funny when they came fresh from the needle but they look so dainty when on the foot! Pattern here.

Finished my summer bag! I repurposed one of Mr. Walker nice cotton shirts. He wears them to work and when too old for wearing, I use the nice fabrics for all kinds. In this case, I lined the bag cleverly (if I may say so myself) with the breast pocket part so I have a nice inside pocket without any difficulty. There was a some yarn left for a little pouch for my shopping cards. Raveled it here.

I picked up the “from the top down cardigan” again. I am not very patient with bigger projects. But we are getting there.

And I started knitting a blanket!! The perfect project for me. Little squares in a wonderful lace pattern. It’s called the Tulip…ahw, the national flower from The Netherlands ;o) BTW the gorgeous deep purple yarn is a blend of merino and possum, send to me as a present all the way from New Zealand by my friends from Union Homestead…finally found a purpose for the beautiful and to me unusual yarn. Its so soft!!!

And the ultimate “comfort food”: finding a new perfect fitting dress!!! This is better than pizza and chocolate!! What are the odds of finding my favorite kind of dress in a perfect size: a 100% wool jumper dress, in a second hand store…it was never worn, the label was still on it. I paid $12.- dollar. (And keep in mind, I am a royal 6ft+, finding clothes that fit , is a serious undertaking!) If you heard some yodeling…it was me!!! And I apologize for this selfie…I send it even to my sons that’s how happy I was. They were good natured about it, bless them!!

Och hemel, t lijkt allemaal wat grijs: ‘t weer, ‘t nieuws. Dat laatste ga ik niet bespreken want deze blog gaat niet over politiek. Maar t maakt me wel somber en ik vind t moeilijk om over gezellige niemendalletjes te babbelen. Toch ik ga t wel doen, want ik heb  iets nodig om vergane energie weer aan te vullen…dat hebben we allemaal nodig toch?
Dus mooie momenten van zonneschijn vanuit t kantoor van mijn oudste zoon en in onze woonkamer. Ik word ook blij van gezellige kaartjes en als ze niet op t rek hangen dan worden t boekenleggers. Heel veel breien en kopjes thee en kaarsjes en lekkere warme scones. En och hemel…als je luid gejodel hoorde…dat was ik in mijn nieuwe jurk. Past perfect , ondanks mijn lengte, en nog een koopje ook. Dat is zelfs een selfie waard!! (Met excuses)

Love and Liefs, Johanna