Today is for....

... trying to complete a massive to do-list

... making some difficult phonecalls (difficult because I hate having to call people I don't know)

... making a start on some blog-posts for the future

... wrapping up some products I made for when I take my little store from Etsy into the real world

... register for 30 days of lists March 2014 edition

... making my 30 days of lists notebook

... figure out a way to make some businescards on the cheap

... having a nice healthy salad for lunch

... and leftover chinese for dinner

... watch season 5 of  "Sons of Anarchy"

... and paint my nails a lovely bright pink in the meantime

... enjoy the spring weather we're having today

... be a good housewife and clean the toilet and fold the laundry

...  but maybe make time for an afternoon nap (I slept really bad last night)

And what are you up to today?

Currently 7.02.2014

Every week I take a moment to record whats happening right now in my life.

and what are you doing right now?

My top secret project revealed: ETSY!

A drumroll please!!

I have opened my very own Etsy store!

I have wanted to open up my very own lttle store for ages now. 

But opening a real-life store is never going to happen. 

Finances, time-wise.. Physical problems.. 

There are a thousand reasons why opening up an actual real-life store is not gonna happen..

But then it hit me.. why not an Etsy store? !

I love making little simple things. 

But how many , let's say, handwarmers does one need? 

So I opened up my very own little boutique.

You will find all sorts of little things.

Things I've crocheted, stationary, little trinkets like the collection of charms I've just put on there.

The collection at the moment is a bit limited but keep an eye on it. 

I will add new items regularly.

Now, no more talk, hop over there and have a look!

maybe even put in an order?? 

;-)

Moodblanket update

It is the 6th week of this project and so far I am doing an excellent job of keeping on track.

I usually do my square on thursday evening. I have the house to myself and snuggle myself with a drink on the couch. A perfect time to crochet my weekly square.

 At the moment it still looks nothing like a blanket. I "just" have a row of 5 granny squares.

In the small journal I keep track of the color I choose for that specific week and write a bit on why I choose that color.

Choosing a color is not always easy. As the colors are linked to a specific mood, and I have more than one mood a week, I try to choose the most prominent feeling of the week. 

As you can see, I've had 2 "turquoise" aka happy weeks. And have not used my dark blue (sad)  or bright green (stressed). But it's only February so who know what is yet to come.

I'm glad I went with one square a week and not a daily one. Eventhough it means I don't have anything that resembles a blanket yet. But it does allow me to keep on track and up to date. And leaves me time to do all of my other to-do's.

Doing a daily square would mean I would already be behind and once I get behind I often abandon a project alltogether. But I do get a bit jealous when I see all the daily-square-blankets in the Facebook-Group.. All the different corlor-scheme's, different patterns. Amazing!
But I'm sticking to the plan. Eventhough it will mean I have more of a mood-scarf  instead of a blanket for a while..


About the yarn: I chose Drops Paris mainly because I fell in love with the colors. I had never worked with it before.
It is quite thick and does take a moment to get used to handeling. Also, one square seems to need quite a bit of yarn so for a whole year it might have not been the most economical choice. It would probably also be cheaper to order it from internet but I rather support a local independent store. And I love brouwsing that shop. All those yarns in a rainbow of colors. It just makes my soul happy.

Also helping me keep on track is the fact that I have all my supplies all togehter in a smal basket. The yarn, my notebook; for notes and the mood-colorchart, the crochethook for this project and a decent pen.
That way I don't spend any time looking for things. It means I can finish a square in about 20 minutes. Wich measn that not having enough time isn't an excuse not to make a square.
And not having any excuse is just what I need.

And how about you? Are you joining us in making a mood-blanket? Or are you documenting your year in a different way? How is that going?

February Snail Mail

One of my intentions for 2014 was to send more snail-mail.
I love the feeling of finding a beautifully decorated envelope on the doormat or a cute postcard.
And reciving such mail starts with sending it out yourself first.

First of all; it being the first week of February; I just finished writing my birthdaycards for this month.
I always do this at the start of the month. That way everyone gets their card on time.

See that yellow post-it tab on the envelope? I use it to write the down when the card needs to be posted. 

Everyday before I go for a walk with Abby I check the stack on the stairs to see if there is a card that needs to get mailed. 

Next; a small stack of Postcrossing cards. 

For those of you who don't know about Postcrossing; it's a community where you can request a random adress, after signing up,  that you send a postcard to. And your adres can also be requested. It is a lovely way to recive postcards from all over the world.

And last one, for now, a card for my mother. Not telling you what's on it. It won't arrive at her house utill tomorrow.. ;-)

I'm still working on my first leter to a penpal. So no pictures yet.

But when it's done I will share it here.

Currently; 24.01.2013 and 31.01.2013

Each week I'm taking 5 minutes and record what's happening right now.

This is last week's card. We had a familly weekend and I didn't have acces to a computer.

** Jack is my 4,5 year old nephew..

This weeks card

** My super secret project is soon to be revealed... 

Favorite Reads

I am an avid book reader.
Ever since I've learned to read I read pretty much everything I can get my hands on.
I am always willing to try out something new. But I do have some favorites.

First up: Cecelia Ahern.
I love all of her books. I started off with  "Where rainbows end" but quickly got hooked and bought everything I could find. I think she is most know for "P.S I love you".  Which I found a bit too sad..
My favorite is "A place called here" It is a story about the place where all missing things (e.g socks and stuff) and missing persones end up. Most of her books are kind of modern fairytales. Very realisitc but mostly with a twist.

Second on the pile: "eat, pray, love" by Elizabeth Gilbert.
I picked this up one whilse waiting on a trainstation. "Back in the day" I still bought books based on their cover and this one appealed to me instantly. I finished in 2 days and loved it! One moment you're crying and the next you're laughing out loud People really give you funny looks when you do that on a train...
It is a wonderfull story about finding yourself.

Moving down te pile is "the devine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood" by Rebecca Wells
I bought this because it was on sale and had lots of pages. It is a very complicated story but I love the way how it really sucks you in. You just want to know how it all turnes out and you keep on reading..

Next up: "looking for Alaska" by John Green.
I believe this is more of a book for teens but that didn't stop me. Practically nothing can stop me from reading a book...
I think I saw it somewhere in Flickr in the "what's in my bag?" group.
It starts out as a story about of boy going of to school out of town but the end is really different ( not going to spoil it, go read it). I've recommended it to several students for their english liturature reading list.

Then we have "Book Lover" by Jennifer Kaufman & Karen Mack.
Another book I mainly bought because of the title and cover. It tells the story about a woman who is addicted to books. It starts out as a funny book but at some point you realise she is addicted to books like some people are addicted to alcohol or drugs. It does however have a happy ending. And is a good read.

I love books with happy endings. I am willing to settle for a sad ending but if there is one thing I can't stand it's an open ending... I find that very unsatisfying..

Bottom one on the pile is a very old book. "Désirée" by Annemaier Selinko
My grandmother once gave it to me. It's a journal type book. Well actually it is a set of 2 books.
The story is told by a jong woman in France right before Napoleon got to power. She is middle-class with wealthy parents. She writes about befriending Napoleon before he became emperor. The book tells about how he got to power, the time when he is in power and how he looses grip on things and is send to Elba.
It gives you an insight in those years and in more fun to read then historybooks.
I think I've read it probably about a dozen times.. and still love it. If you can get your hands on it I highly reccomend it. If you are into historic novels.

So these are some of my favorite books to read. I've read and re-read all of them so many times!
Are you a reader?
What are your all-time favorite books?