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

 

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

Back to Peaceful, Calm and Tidy

Oh man, what a wonderful time we had with the Walker Boys. They arrived just after Christmas and left only last Saturday for Canada again.  When you only meet a couple times a year, family time together is even more valuable!

There were plenty of good winter walks at Rowe Woods, excellent meals (Dutch Pea soup, now that sticks to your ribs!) Lots of good talks and banter or just quietly sitting together and reading. Charley was so happy with both her best friends around.

The Oldest Walker Boy went with Mr. Walker to The Air force Museum in Dayton, for a photo shoot. They have just opened a new wing and it lead to many new gorgeous photos. And we went with the four of us the FABULOUS Viking Exhibition at the Cincinnati Museum Center. No photos but I can indeed highly recommend it!

And then they left again…SIGH!!! I was sulking, and pouting for days. But of course, that won’t do any good. What’s a girl to do? Some vigorous cleaning (as any other possessed by cleanliness Dutch Girl will) and knitting. I finally finished this shawl and it was received with a little dance of joy by a wonderful Princess in Toronto. And I am having lots of fun with this summer colored yarn I received for Christmas. It’s going to be a little summer bag.

And a little thrift store shopping was in order too.(My comfort food, so to speak) I found these beautiful swans to compliment my collection of Fifties Kitsch Planters. But this one receives a place of honor in this nice cupboard because it is a little light as well…such bliss!! It makes me very happy and Mr. Walker says that is all what really matters. ( as long as it doesn’t end up in the living room ;o))

And I found this pretty little handmade quilt. I love the colors. And my darling girl Charley was very happy with it when she returned so cold from a walk. (She is getting on in age)

So back to drawing , I will show some later….drawing and pouting, not a good combination.

Och hemel, wat een heerlijke tijd hadden we met de Walker Boys: gezellig samen zijn, winterwandelingen, lekker Hollandse pot op tafel, wat museum tripjes.
Ze gingen zaterdag weer terug naar Canada. En ik pruilde natuurlijk nog dagen daarna. Maar kom, en dan als elke Hollandse meid maar weer verder na een flinke schoonmaakbeurt hier en daar en wat yoga breien en natuurlijk een rondje kringloop wat een knus kitsch lampje opleverde en een warm quiltje voor mijn wat bejaard wordende Charley.

Love and Liefs,
Johanna

The Walker Residence in Mid Century Modern Christmas Style..Sort Of…

Finally, the house is in Christmas glory!! Much later than other years for two reasons. Well, my previous posts already revealed that on account of that crazy long summer weather my seasonal clock was a bit confused. Kerry’s fantastic blog helped to get me in the mood and I shared many memories and thoughts with her…might as well use them here to accompany the many photos I made this year ;o)

The other reason is, that the Walker Boys are coming home for the Holidays!! These hardworking, studying lads normally have to work all through the season and we travel to Toronto. But this year, they made it happen! The Oldest Walker Boy is arriving on Boxing day and the Youngest Walker Boy on the 30th!! We will have a proper Christmas on New Years Eve. And of course, by that time, I do not want to be bored with our decked halls and trimmed trees, the young menfolk love the Christmas decor!

So here goes…the Walker Residence in Mid Century Modern Christmas Style! Some photos look a bit weird because I used a wide angle lens.

My dearest ornament is this strange glass bear-like creature. It was given to me when I was a little girl in the sixties and my sisters and I had our own ornaments and of course a big part of the holidays was spent on moving the ornaments in such a way that our own hung most prominent ;o) It hangs since a few years in my own tree and its a tiny miracle it survived many moves, attacks from pets and curious little children hands!

A lot of our furniture and nicknacks I found at garage sales and the likes. But Ikea understands Mid Century Modern too ;o)

Christmas music: I love of course the fifties golden oldies but my favorite Christmas song is Faye Lovski, “Christmas was a friend of mine” https://youtu.be/GnXdnUZmJ_o. She is singing about the Christmas of my youth! And I really like Jonathan Jeremiah’s “Happiness” https://youtu.be/ZjsbbdsFOOU because it reminds me of our long distance family traveling to each other for Christmas !

Horrible Christmas Memory: I was once in a Christmas pageant, I think I was 8 years. I was a rather clumsy little girl, due to late developing motor skills. Oh how I wished to be the Angel but the teacher for saw many troubles with me so she decided I could be one of the shepherds. Disappointing for me, but still at least I was ‘in’. Alas..I managed to get my robe hooked on the manger, it tumbled over and baby Jesus (thank goodness represented by a baby doll) rolled of the stage. Everybody was in shocked horror and I could add another moment of shame to my long list.

Splendid Christmas Memory: Years later I was head of the ‘children department’ in the church where we lived at that time and together with the other moms we started Christmas celebrations for the tiny toddlers. It was just 15 minutes (taking short attention spans in account) and there was always the delightful squeaky old wooden donkey involved who would bring Mary on his back, pulled by Josef into the church. A little story, a little song and a treat…and than outside for the live Nativity Scene. Oh those shining little faces!!. Within a few years hundreds of people came to it. It made me really happy and when people complained about tumbling toddlers in the church, you can understand they were met with stern reproaches and a quote of Jesus himself who stated “let children come to me!”.
(I grew up with many different churches and beliefs…to me its quite simple: as long as Love and Peace is the message, I am happy.)

Christmas Reading: I like to re-read “Miss. Buncle’s Book” by D.E Stevenson..not really Christmas, but so cozy. And of course never a Christmas without a good Murder Mystery of the Nice Kind:Snow storms, chique family, big mansion and butler are key ingredients. And the sweetest Christmas book of all: The Father Christmas Letters by J.R.R. Tolkien. On our honeymoon in Great Britain in 1988, we searched high and low for a copy which in itself was already a joy. But we finally found it in gorgeous bookstore in Edinburgh …one with dusty windows and mahogany bookcases. It was the best!!!

Love and Liefs, Johanna

Lately: Peaceful, Calm and Tidy

With all the worldwide upheavals I needed more than ever my home to be a safe haven of coziness to cope and stubbornly ploughing on with what I believe is right. So here some pictures of what gives me joy and energy. This is a rainbow cloud. It’s the second time in my life, I spotted one..a good omen right?

Charley and I enjoy the Fall view from our house on top of the hill.

During our invigorating cold walks we discovered more beautiful fungi.

At the thrift store, I found this crazy vintage owl jug, which I use as a vase. It makes me very happy! (and ohlala, only $2.-)

I made some pretty toad stools myself. Sewing is not one of my better talents but this was such fun to do and I was happy with the results. Aaaand I could use these old tea pots which I bought for pennies because of the pretty decorations on them. (One man’s junk…) The pattern for these toadstools can be found on Anne Woods beautiful website.

Charley came back from her bi-weekly bath (she has a skin condition) and shivered. My darling girl is getting on in age. I loved seeing her comfortably taking a warm nap under her blanket. (Also a nice thrift find)

And lately, Mr. Walker and I love these chai chocolate puddings..so pretty too in the little mason jars. Very tasty..but yes, how can chocolate not be???

And of course, the ultimate healing thing to do…baking the apple pie!

Wishing you all good apple pie moments in your life!

Love and Liefs,
Johanna

Lately….

What happened in every day life at the Walker residence? Well, there was a fabulous tea party with a couple fabulous friends in honor of a birthday.  The weather was perfect…

Then the weather turned nasty hot and our backyard birds were so happy with our fountain.

I gave a lovely smart cookie of a girl a book and card for her 6th birthday and look what she send me for a ‘Thank You Note’ !! What a talent and a promise for the future!!!

It is always a secret wish of mine, to have chickens scurrying and scratching around in the garden. However, we travel too much and Charley loves chickens in different way (nicely cut up in her bowl…) So I am very happy with this jolly fat chicken, I found in a yard sale for 5 dollar and she takes care of herself!!!

Knitting these mittens is such bliss…at least when my hands are not too hot and sweaty.

And I finished and blocked this colorful shawl. Charley thinks it matches her coat very well.

Wat gebeurde er zoal in Huize Walker de laatste tijd? Nou bijvoorbeeld een gezellig thee partijtje met gezellige vriendinnen. Vogels die verkoeling zoeken van wel heel heet weer.Een bijzonder leuk meisje die een wel heel fraai bedankbriefje stuurde voor een cadeautje met kaartje. En ach…deze gezellige dikke kip!! Slechts 5 dollar op een garage sale en zij zorgt ook nog es voor zichzelf. Charley was teleurgesteld want zij ziet liever een kipje lekker in t pannetje ;o) Zij wilde wel even fotomodel zijn voor deze gebreide sjaal…en als t niet klef heet is, brei ik ook graag aan deze wanten.

Happy Canada day and Happy Fourth of July…a nice long weekend for all here in North America!
Love and Liefs, Johanna

Lately…

Well Spring has sprung and gave, next to work in the garden, lots of beautiful flowers in home to enjoy.

There was painting to be done, the kitchen looks nice and shiny again.

We had lovely warm days and I had plenty of time too, to just sit in the garden and watch birds and ‘our’ squirrels. They hardly left the owl box they live in and I suspected they had babies.

And indeed , we got some glimpses of them. There seem to be two…I am not always a fan of those greedy squirrels but this is so cute.

Knitting at the moment is this simple shawl but such a joy with this incredible yarn in the most beautiful colors. I so wanted to knit in colors after reading this book about Sonia Delaunay.

I watched the documentary on Vivian Maier and I am fascinated by her story. A sad story too in a way. I ordered her books from the library and I am enjoying it so much…what an incredible talent this remarkable woman had!

My sister was here with my brother-in-law for a whole week …such bliss. She spoiled me rotten and amongst the many presents she left me with, this lovely donkey for my collection. She shook her head…

Am I the only one who loves these??? Mr. Walker says, he likes them best in my studio ;0) …but I am still moping and sulking now my sister travelled back all the way to The Netherlands.

So best remedy for that: busy working again! For instance on a tea themed card set a lovey friend requested…it makes me very happy!

Aaaand Mr. Walker and I did also some very exciting traveling ourselves!! Can you guess where we were? More about that later.

Nou dat was een drukke tijd met veel werk in de tuin en ondertussen genieten ook van schattige eekhoorntjes, de keuken kreeg een likje verf, mijn zuster en haar man kwamen op bezoek vanuit Nederland (en gingen weer terug, snif!) Lekker breien en weer druk met tekenen. En meneer Walker en ik zijn op reis geweest…raad eens waar we waren?
Meer daarover later!

Love and Liefs, Johanna

Wovember: about 100% wool & being green, fashionable and thrifty

Had I not had the flu big time earlier this month, I would have made this post earlier in the month. How I love Wovember: a whole month of celebrating and promoting 100% wool. So much to read, enjoy and learn! And I see the nicest post too everywhere in the blogosphere, especially amongst the knitters and weavers, crocheters.

Well, I am finally joining in. Not about knitting this time. But about 100% wool clothes. I love clothes and I love to have a lot of clothes so I can dress properly for every occasion. I do not necessarily follow the latest fashions but I do like to express myself, my style through my clothes.  And I love good quality clothes, and 100% wool garments make me very happy. When taken care of with TLC, they practically last forever.

To create a wardrobe to my desire is a delightful challenge since I measure a generous 6 foot+  and I prefer skirts and dresses. So I am always on the look out for new additions to my wardrobe because the rule is: if it fits, it’s mine!  “And it will cost a pretty penny! ” you might add. What is a frugal Dutch girl to do? A simple solution: she shops second hand!

When I was a student, living on a tight budget and faced with a diminishing  wardrobe ( oh horror)  I discovered the noble art of second hand shopping. My fellow frugal fashionistas took me by the hand and taught me how to sniff out the quality garments in mint condition at flea markets, thrift stores, consignment stores etc. And I have never stopped doing this.

There is also another component to this. To shop second hand is green! Textile waste is a serious matter. In the US alone a shocking 25 million pound of textile waste is produced each year and only 15% is reused or recycled. And I am so happy with all the women who were bored with their outfits, sold or donated them instead of throwing them out!

So all the clothes you see here, showed by Sally, my faithful 1960 dress doll, are 100% wool, in perfect condition bought second hand. Two tweed skirts, two jumper dresses, a turtle neck , a jacket and a coat, all 100%wool, for about $100.- (including dry cleaning for the jacket , coat and the grey jumper dress) Not bad, right?

The red coat has a funny story to it. It was brought in at a church sale, the tickets were still on it, it was never worn. All the ladies who organized the sale tried it on but alas nobody was a match. “You have to be skinny giantess for this one, does a woman like that exist?” One of them exclaimed. And at exactly that moment I walked in and got everybody laughing…and they sold the coat to me for a ridiculous $3.- ( I did leave a generous extra for their fundraiser..)

The coat is from the 1980’s so you see that indeed 100% wool will last forever. I made new buttons, took the shoulder fillings out and shortened it. Tadaa….

worst selfie ever…

And with all that frugalness I could afford these cute boots and the delightful 100% merino tights that will keep my legs nice and warm when hiking in winter!

Wovember viert en promoot elk jaar de hele maand November alles wat met 100% wol te maken heeft. Ik geniet daar bijzonder van en ook van alle posts die mede bloggers maken. Ik had al eerder ingehaakt als ik maar niet geveld was door een hele gemene griep! Maar goed, hier zijn we dan: al deze kleren zijn 100% wol en gekocht tweedehands voor pietluttige prijzen ;o) En dat is heerlijk voor iemand zoals ik die heel veel van kleren houdt, het is een fantastische manier van hergebruik!

Love and Liefs, Johanna

Another Diorama

‘Children have one kind of silliness, as you know, and grown-ups have another kind.” -C.S. Lewis

I love making dioramas. I saw this glass cone and knew it was perfect for another diorama. I just opened my drawer with small/found/discarded thingies…and out came this little sea world.

I suppose psychologist have something to say about this…but I am not such a deep thinker ;0)

Here and here are a few more.

Love and Liefs, Johanna

 

About Happy Times and the Mystery of Facebook…

Although I am very critical towards my own drawings, I was really happy with this one.

Not yet tired of all those winter scene photos?  With all the grey and white, I am enjoying Spring and Fall photos from other parts of the worlds. These birds in the snow are mainly to show of that I finally mastered the trick of making a collage.

The Youngest Mr. Walker was here for a whole week, such bliss!!! Aaaand he is also my webmaster and IT consultant. So we spruced up the the pages for My Work and Sketches. And I decided to change the title a little…what do you think? Good decisions?

The Youngest Mr. Walker also created a Facebook Page for me. It is supposed to be a good thing and in view of more plans for the future too. Hmmm, it all seems a bit of witchcraft there to me. The Facebook button on my blog doesn’t always show up, I still have a hard time figuring out how to like or to respond via Facebook, let alone how to become friends!! Bare with me, dear friends and any advise is welcome….

Also Mr. Walker and I went to the yearly Mid Century Modern Show here in Cincinnati. Beautiful things there but my Dutch frugal heart went wild from the prices. Remember my yodeling about my dining room chairs? We saw exactly the same dining room set for…$4000.-!! Mr. Walker patted me on the shoulder but I just gasped. But we did buy this vase, ‘The Serpentine’ made by Haeger. I fell in love with it right away and Mr. Walker thought it was an excellent buy to celebrate the fact that we had our first date 30 years ago…you see why I fell in love with him right away too ;0)

But earlier, I found in a local store this piece of glass for Mr. Walker’s Collection  and this absolutely marvelous dog..not by Royal Copley this time but it’s cousin pottery, UPCO USA. Mr. Walker was very happy with the glass and nodded thoughtfully at the dog…the prices were very good of course.

It is still cold and nasty…so I follow the lovely Cathe’s example and bake and eat scones.

Ach, de winter gaat maar door hier, de vogeltjes blijven komen voor meer voer. En ik heb eindelijk geleerd hoe ik een foto collage kan maken…De Jongste Meneer Walker was hier en hij is ook mijn IT deskundige ;0) We hebben mijn blog wat opgepoetst en hij heeft een Facebook page gemaakt…dat laatste vind ik erg ingewikkeld. Maar Meneer Walker en ik zijn naar een Mid Century Modern beurs geweest: mooie spullen hoor maar ik kreeg appelflauwtes van alle prijzen daar. Meneer Walker was erg tevreden over mijn aankopen van garagesales ed van de afgelopen jaren. Wel hebben we de prachtige Haeger vaas gekocht, ter herinnering van t feit dat t 30 jaar geleden was dat we ons eerste afspraakje hadden…
T kunstig glaswerkje en de beeldschone hond vond ik eerder in een lokale ‘antiek’ winkel en waren natuurlijk voor de juiste prijs…je kan vast raden welke voor mij en welke voor Meneer Walker was ;0)

Love and Liefs, Johanna