Tutorial: Japanese Stab Binding (DIY bookbinding)

Today I'll show you how to bind a book the Japanese way. It's a very simple technique once you get the hang of it. Enjoy!

Melissa Milis: GIVEAWAY MAART {Pilger Bags}

Melissa Milis: GIVEAWAY MAART {Pilger Bags}: We hebben een mooie camera-tas deze week om weg te geven. Erg handig en oh-zo mooi! Dit is Chevron van Ketti Handbags , een mooie vrouwel...

Tutorial: DIY pincushion (no sew!)

So, a while ago I bought a sewing machine. A big one with 30 stitches, not the little one I reviewed earlier on this blog. Finally I have a proper machine for myself instead of using the old one of my mom, which is very loud and clumsy. It made me believe it was my fault, while it was just the machine. Being able to sew properly, I could use a pincushion. Click read more for the tutorial!

Haul-idays at Chronicle Books

Actually this is not sweet at all, this contest was US-only as I read on Emily's blog. Thank you America for leaving the rest of the world out again!

This is pretty sweet. With the holidays coming up, Chronicle Books is doing a give-away. Everyone with a blog can make a list of the books they would like to win up to $500. Everyone who comments on the post with the list can win the whole package too! So if you've got quite the same taste as me, just comment and you'll be able to win all of these books just like me. Great! Here's my list:

Reprodepot Flora, $24.95
Print & Pattern, $35.00
Handmade Living, $29.95
Creative Inc., $16.95
Amy Butler's Style Stitches, $29.95
Mastering the Art of Beading, $27.50
Handmade Weddings, $24.95
Paper + Craft, $19.95
DIY Fashion, $24.95
Letterpress, $24.95
Treasured Notions, $24.95
Stitchable Stationery, $14.95
Handmade Hellos, $19.95
Lotta Prints, $19.95
Lacy Crochet, $14.95
D.I.Y. deck, $16.95
Simple Sewing, $24.95
Sublime Stitching, $19.95
Paper Craft Kit, $24.95
Knitting Pretty, $19.95
1-2-3 Sew, $24.95
52 Creative Craft Projects, $6.95
________________________________
$498,5

I'm really excited!

Earrings

I bought some supplies today to experiment. These came out of it:




I totally love to make them and at the moment I have no idea when I will ever get tired of making a lot of different pairs. I'm planning on making personalized designs too so that people can place custom orders. I'm still looking for a nice packaging for them so that I can also sell sets in a nice little box.

The building

Just some photos of the building I've been living in for a few months now.
Please note that I didn't choose the wallpaper or anything, it's just the way it was when I arrived here. I love how all of the posters are at least 10 years old and the wallpaper changes on every other floor. The wood and the cracks have a lot of charm.

Moved

Hello all, I recently moved to Ghent for 5 months, I'll be doing an internship and see what it's like to live on my own. It feels good. I love the place, I never lived in a city before and this is my favorite city of the country. I feel more alive in a way. I also like arranging everything into a new room and putting up photos and posters on the wall, it makes me feel kinda new.

I went to Made in Belgium a while ago, which is a market for handmade things and the people who like to buy/make it. I did a gig there for the first time which was very exciting, but what was also very nice is that I won a give-away. Here's what I won:

I love everything but my favorite is the necklace, it's really beautiful.


The people on the market were also very nice, I met Melissa and bought a book from her, had some fun in her photobooth.

Thanks to Made in Belgium I felt the need to make something myself, I searched for something that I was familiar with and got into crochet again. Made me an iPhone case:


I set the goal for myself to make a lot of things and open an Etsy shop with all kinds of stuff. I'm working on a little bag now, going bigger everytime.