Veelana's Design

lets try this again...

2012-01-15T07:59:00.002+01:00

Hello everyone,

i just realized that it has been almost two months since i posted something...

I started november so well with the daily posting and then it went down hill. We were very crafty this december (we have so many great handmade decoratons now!) and my son loved it. the holiday stress didn't catch up with me this year, but we got all the important stuff d.o.ne anyway - cooki -es, presents, decorations - and we had fun doing this more relaxed approach.

I'll try to post some pictures at some point because our tree was awesome again this year :-)

January has so far been nice - i have a custom doll order to work on and we have all kinds of stuff to organize. Mr. Turtles starts school in september and the whole application process starts in a week. Also, I'm trying to get organized in my home :-)

Vee

Top ten tuesday best boardgames for families / Brettspiele für Familien

2011-11-22T08:16:00.000+01:00

We are passionate boardgamers, and since games make wonderful christmas presents I thought I could share some of them - maybe they are useful for some of you? My DH (darling husband) prepared this awesome list for you :-) Thank you, hun!

Wir sind mit ganzem Herzen Brettspieler und weil Spiele sehr schöne Weihnachtsgeschenke sind, dachte ich mir ihr wolltet warscheinlich gerne ein paar tips haben. Mein LM (lieber Mann) hat netterweise diese tolle Liste für Euch zusammebgestellt :-) Danke, Schatz!

A good family game for me is a game that has enough strategy as to offer

differnt strategies to win the game but enough luck so that the little ones

don´t get crushed. I also do not believe in holding back and letting children

win. I do not mind getting the outside track to make it harder for me, but

it is really important that children learn to lose, to win and to think.

niagara

Nice little game where too much greed leads to sunken boats. 8 and up

verflixxt

A game to be mean. Some kids like that, some don´t. No one knows your kids better than you do.

zauberstauber

A racing game to be played on a tabletop. It is great fun to learn to move you vacuum around.

Be prepared for your kids to get the hang of this faster than you are and you won´t ever win again.

maulwurf company

My favourite. It´s easy, It speeds up and it´s a challenge for young and old.

toru

A reaction game. The children should be older and you must make sure that players

do not get too competitive or this may lead to injuries.

ninja vs ninja

Kids just love to beat figures from a board. This game only takes 5-10 minutes and is great fun

6 and up.

robotics

Build little robots to order. It takes a little planning, so again for larger kids.

klondike

A very cool dexterity game from haba. You have a metal plate and put differently colored

marbles on it. Now you try to wash out all the rubble and keep the gold while the other

players bet on your abilities.

dixit

A very nice social game of associating pictures. Kids can play that easy as soon as they are in school.

zap zerapp

A race where you have to pick figures and listen closely on how much movement they allow you.

But get too greedy and you stay in your space.

Spielefest 2011

2011-11-18T22:18:00.001+01:00

Boys Don’t Play With Dolls. Or Do They?

2011-11-17T21:56:00.001+01:00

I wanted to write a blog about boys playing with dolls, but there are so many good ones already, so I thought I'd just do a link up today :-)

Boys Don’t Play With Dolls. Or Do They? by Picklebum

Boys and Dolls “My son plays with dolls. Will it make him Soft or Gay?” by Easy Peasy Kids

Girl toys, boy toys, and parenting: The science toy preferences in children by Parenting Science

His first (written) word!

2011-11-16T14:23:00.001+01:00

Mr Noodles is getting the hang of this whole "writing" thing. One of the cards in his workboxes told him to do sommersaults, but he decided to do cool sommersaults - and he wrote it on the card without any help from me. Yes, it is spelled wrong. No, I don't care. I'm terribly proud of him!
ust in case you're interested - Purzelbäume are sommersaults on the floor (or matress, in our case) and the right spelling would be "coole" NOT "Kulä" but he sounded out his letters and that's what he came up with :-)

Mr Noodles kriegt langsam raus, wie die Geschichte mit dem Schreiben funktioniert. Auf einer Karte in einer seiner Lernkisten steht "Purzelbäume". aber er beschloss, "coole" Purzelbäume zu machen - and er hat es ganz ohne meine Hilfe auf die Karte dazugeschrieben! Ja, er hat es ganz falsch geschrieben. Ja, das ist mir ganz egal. Ja, ich bin stolz auf ihn!

Vee

Top Tip Tuesday Toys for Boys

2011-11-15T15:15:00.000+01:00

Boys, huh? what should we give or make for them for the holidays? What to tell friends and family when they ask you and you don't want to end up with boxes full of shiny and new plastic toys that nobody ever plays with? I love the handmade suggestions I posted last week, but here are some more ideas, especially for a smaller budget

We love adding to toys that our kids already have - it keeps the toys fresh and interesting.

Lego - there's still room in our lego box and Mr. Noodles gets better at building and constructing with it all the time
wooden train set - you can always use mor tracks or bridges!
Star Wars figures - it might be something different for your kid, but Mr. Noodles loves Star Wars and every new figure goes into the collection and gets played with. You know what your kid is a fan of - Dinosaurs, cowboys and indians, superheros or soldiers...

I don't place restrictions on these things (friends and family can gift this)

Books (age apropriate and hopefully interesting) in english and german
Puzzles
Boardgames (people need to check with us first to see if we have something already)
Art and Craft Materials

Vee

Last moments of fall

2011-11-14T23:32:00.000+01:00

I'm really crafty at the moment! I'm at a handmade christmas market next next weekend and I have to have lots of nice things to fill my tables :-)

Ich bin im Moment richtig produktiv - nächstes Wochenende bin ich auf einem Bastelweihnachtsmarkt un muss meine Tische natürlich mit vielen schönen Sachen füllen :-)

We still had a chance to enjoy the last beautiful fall colors in my friends garden - but now the trees are bare and ready for winter.

Wir haben im Garten meiner Freundin die letzten schönen Herbstfarben genossen - aber jetzt sind die Bäume winterfertig und das Laub ist zusammengekehrt.

Handmade for Boys Part II/ Handgemachtes für Burschen, Teil II

2011-11-13T07:14:00.001+01:00

Looks like I inspired some other people with my "handmade for boys" Post on friday - I've been featured in this awesome treasury:
Anscheinend hat mein "Handgemachtes für Burschen" Post vom Freitag Andere inspiriert - ich bin in diesem tollen Treasury:

Silent Saturday - Laminating my heart out...

2011-11-12T22:00:00.001+01:00

Reader Question: handmade for boys?

2011-11-11T09:49:00.000+01:00

quirkytreerose raised an interesting question in the gals and dolls forum:

Seen any blogs or lists of handmade BOY things?

I can think of dozens of things for girls, even up to age 10 or so.

But, now that 2 of my boys have reached the age where the little legos are the coolest thing out there...
I can't think of much anything to make gor them.
All the tutorials & lists I've seen, like on babble , are full of girly stuff

Yes, There is sooooo much you can get - I just did a search on etsy and made this treasury especially for you!

not so good...

2011-11-10T23:39:00.000+01:00

Whoa, just one day after I post about NaBloPoMo, I almost forget to blog! Our Spaceweek is going full force and I think it will become a space month - we're having so much fun with it...
Mr. Noodles discovered that our library has books about space and he wants to read them all now - regardless of what age group they are for. So we are currently making our way through a book about moon exploration that was clearly written for kids at least 10 and up...

Vee

NaBloPoMo

2011-11-09T09:01:00.000+01:00

I'm taking part in (Inter)National Blog Posting Month, Its an experiment - I have no idea if I can finish this!

Vee

top ten tuesday - why should you buy Handmade? 10 Gründe diesen Winter handgemachtes zu verschenken

2011-11-08T10:57:00.000+01:00

Top ten Reasons to buy handmade this Winter

Handmade things are made by Artisans who love their Product - you will notice the difference
Often, handmade Gifts are made from recycled/upcycled Material and better for the enviroment
If you support an indieartist/artisan, you don't help them to buy a 3rd Sportscar, you help a college student pay off their loan, you get food on the table for a family or you help the confidance of an old lady knitting in her retirement home.
Your can give it with a clear concience - it wasn't made in a sweatshop, it was made by someone who was paid what their work is worth
A handmade gift says "I really care about you", not "I got this at walmart"
Your gift will be unique
you don't have to go to a crowded shopping Mall/Store and fight other people for the last item on the shelf
The quality of handmade products is usually amazing! You will not find lead paint in them...
You make a connetion with the actual MAKER of your present, not a sales clerk who doesn't care about you
Buying handmade shows our children that not everything in this world needs to be mass produced. It teaches qaulity over quantity and shows that you value skill over mass production.

10 Gründe, Handgemacht zu kaufen:

Handgemachtes wird mit Liebe zu Sache hergestellt - ihr werdet den Unterschied merken!
Handgemachtes ist of aus recyclingmaterial und besser für die Umwelt
Wenn Ihr einen Künstler/Kunsthandwerker unterstützt, helft ihr ihm/ihr nicht, noch einen Sportwagen zu kaufen sondern ihr helft einem Studenten, seine Studiengebühren zu bezahlen, ihr stellt eine Mahlzeit auf den Tisch einer Familie oder gebt einer alten Dame im Altersheim etwas Würde zurück.
Ihr könnt mit gutem Gewissen einkaufen - Euer Geschenk wurde nicht in einem Sweatshop hergestellt, sondern derjenige, der es gemacht hat, bekommt einen fairen Lohn für seine Arbeit
Ein handgemachtes Geschenk sagt "Du bist mir wichtig" nicht "Ich hab's von IKEA"
Euer Geschenk ist einzigartig
Ihr braucht euch nicht im Weihnachtstrubel mit anderen um die letzte Schachtel im Regal streiten
Die Qualität ist üblicherweise grossartig! Und um Blei in der Farbe müsst ihr euch auch keine Gedanken machen...
Ihr nehm mit der Person Kontakt auf, die Euer Produkt gemacht hat, nicht Verkäufer der sich nicht wirklich für Euch interessiert
Wenn ihr Handgemacht kauft, zeigt ihr euren Kindern, das nicht alles aus Massenproduktion kommen muss. Ihr bringt ihnen den Wert von Qualität und individuellen Fähigkeiten bei

Vee

Mommy, can we go visit Mars?

2011-11-07T14:38:00.001+01:00

My son asked me yesterday if he could go visit the planet Mars sometime - I'm still a little misty eyed! I so want to witness the first marslanding - looks like I infected him!

ein Sohn fragt mich, ob er mal den Mars besuchen kann. Ich bin noch immer ein bisschen gerührt! Ich wünsche mir SO SEHR das die erste Marslandung noch zu meinen Lebzeiten stattfindet - anscheinend hab' ich ihn angesteckt!

Vee

Space Sunday/Weltraumsonntag (good for untalented crafters and lazy people, too :-))

2011-11-06T13:03:00.002+01:00

We've started our space unit and here is some of the fun stuff we did so far - complete with a tutorial for a super, super easy Rocket craft and a video!

Wir haben mit unserer Weltraum-Lerneinheit angefangen, und hier gibts ein paar der Highlights für Euch - mit einem Tutorial für unsere supereinfachen Ballonraketen - sogar mit video!

Mr. Noodles

We started our "Space" unit by looking at the night sky and painting one of my all time favourite pictures, "Starry Night" by Vincent van Gogh - I got the idea for the Art Project from this wonderful blog - Nadene drew the outline we used and you can download it there for free :-)
We used the technique described on that blog, only we used crayons (worked really well, too!)
My Mom was there, so she got to color, too - it was a nice family fun activity!

Oma

Wir haben unsere Weltraum-Lerneinheit mit der Betrachtung des Nachthimmels begonnen - und dann machten wir uns an eines meiner allerliebsten Bilder, die "Sternennacht" von Vincent van Gogh. Die idee habe ich von diesem wundervollen Blog - Nadene hat auch die outline gezeichnet, die wir verwendet haben. Ihr könnt sie dort gratis runterladen!

Wir haben die Technik verwendet, die auf dem Blog beschrieben wird, nur haben wir wachs- statt Ölkreiden verwendet. Funktioniert aber genauso gut :-)

Meine Mama war gerade zu Besuch, also durfte sie mitmachen - es war ein richtig netter Familien-Kunst-Nachmittag!

We all had seen the picture before, but I didn't wan to have the original (or rather a copy in a book - I wish I owned the original!) on the table because I wanted to see what the kids would come up with - the pictures where really creative!

Wir kannten alles das Bild - ich hatte es aber nicht als Vorlage daliegen, ich wollte lieber sehen, wie meine Kinder das ganze sehen - und die Bilder wurden sehr kreativ!

We watched "The moon rocks" (bubble Guppies episode), sang along and decided to go to space ourselves.
Wir haben uns die "Der Mond ist toll" Episode der Bubbleguppies angeschaut and mitgesungen und beschlossen, Raketen zu bauen um selbst in's Weltall zu fliegen.

This craft is so easy, EVERYONE can do it. You need this:

balloon
cardboard/cardstock
colored pencils or crayons
double sided sticky tape

Das is so einfach, JEDER kann das schaffen. Ihr braucht:

Luftballon
Karton/Pappe
Buntstifte oder Wachskreiden
Doppelseitiges Klebeband

This is how we did it:

So haben wir's gemacht:

Draw a rocket on your cardboard and cut it out

Zeichne eine Rakete auf die Pappe und schneidet sie aus

Color your Rocketship

Malt eure Rakete schön bund an

Name your Rocket

Gebt der Rakete einen Namen

Double sided sticky tape goes on the back
Doppelseitiges Klebeband auf die Rückseite

blow up a balloon, stick on rocket

Ballon aufblasen, Rakete draufkleben

Let her fly!

Lasst sie fliegen!

And here is the Video of Mr. Noodles practicing counting down in english

Und hier ist Mr. Noodles und sein englischer Countdown:

Vee

Silent Saturday

2011-11-05T23:56:00.003+01:00

October Challenge

2011-11-04T22:31:00.002+01:00

The october Doll Challenge on the Gals and Dolls Forum is done - here is what we made:
Die Oktober Puppenchallenge bei Gals and Dolls ist vorbei - hier sind unsere Ergebnisse:

My Doll is in my Shop :-)

Monday Makers/Montagsmacher

2011-11-03T13:29:00.000+01:00

I would love to reinstitute the monday makers series and I'm looking for peaple to feature!

Ich möchte meine Montagsmacher Serie wieder neu starten, und ich suche nach Leuten, die ich herzeigen kann!

Who can get featured? Wer kann mitmachen?

Almost anyone. Fast jeder.
I want to focus on Children right now, so toymakers, dressmakers and all childrelated crafters/bloggers are on the top on my list. Ich möchte mich auf Kindersachen konzentrieren, also sind Spielzeug-oder Kleidermacher Kinderbastler oder Blogs mit Kinderbezug ganz oben auf meiner Liste.
This blog is family friendly, so nothing too adult. Das hier ist ein Familienfreundliches Blog, also bitte nichts zu "erwachsenes".
Even if you don't sell anything - do you have a blog and something to say? Auch wenn ihr nichts verkauft - habt ihr ein Blog und etwas zu sagen?
Are you a hobby crafter, a great scrapbooker - do you have a cause you're promoting? Auch für Hobbykünstler oder Scrapbooker - ihr habt doch bestimmt etwas zu sagen!

Just let me know about it in a comment on this post, give me an e-mail adress that I can use to contact you and I'll get back to you. I reserve the right not to feature you if your product is in direct competition to mine and a lot cheaper - I don't mind featuring your waldorf dolls if they are in the same price range as mine.

Lasst mich in einem Kommentar wissen, ob ihr interessiert seid - gebt mir eine e-mail adresse und ich melde mich. Ich behalte mir das Recht vor Personen, deren Produkte in direkter Konkurenz zu meinen stehen nicht zu featurn wenn sie viel billiger sind - Ich habe kein Problem das zu tun, wenn eure Waldorf Puppen das gleiche kosten wie meine!

Hope to hear from you!
Vee

Cutest spooks ever! Niedliche Halloween Gesellschaft

2011-11-02T10:33:00.000+01:00

I took Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, a ghost, a Vampire and Wiich Trick or Treating.
Halloween isn't very popular here, so we had a Party at our apartment and went out after dark to get some candy at my friends house. Fun!
Ich hatte eine kleine Halloween Party mit Darth Vader und Luke Skywalker, einer Hexe, einem Geist und einem Vampir. Nachdem es dunkel war, gingen wir noch im Haus meiner Freundin auf Süssigkeitenjagd...

Yesterday I had a lot to clean up, though - my Mom arrived around noon for a visit. She doesn't see her grandkids that often, so it's nice to have her over for a week...

Gestern hatte ich dann allerdings jede Menge aufzuräumen - meine Mama kam gegen Mittag an - sie sieht ihre Enkel nicht so oft, deshalb freuen wir uns besonders, dass sie eine ganze Woche bleiben kann :-)

Greetings from grey Vienna,
Vee

Nice Halloween Party!

2011-11-01T23:00:00.000+01:00

We had a great Party yesterday - pictures will come tomorrow, I promise!

Unsere Halloweenparty war cool - Bilder gibt's morgen, versprochen!

Vee

Hello, Wien! Fall fun at the pumpkin festival! Kreischende kleine Kinder beim Kürbisfest

2011-10-31T00:45:00.003+01:00

Just a very short but picture heavy post tonight - We had a beautiful day at the Pumpkin festival. The kids and I had just finished our unit on fall, apples and pumpkins unit, so they where very eager to tell their friends all they had learned.

Nur ein kurzer, bilderlastiger Post heute - wir hatten einen tollen Tag auf dem Kürbisfest. Die Kinder und ich hatten gerade unsere herbst Lerneinheit beendet und sie waren ganz begierig, ihren Freunden alles zu erklären, das sie gelernt hatten.

We saw insane amounts of sugar beets when we were on the train!
We had fun playin "I spy" and looking at the scenery :-)

Wir haben vom Zug aus jede Menge Zuckerrüben gesehen! Die Zeit haben wir uns mit "ich seh' etwas das du nicht siehst" vertrieben

Stunning Fall colors!

Wunderbare Herbstfarben!

People built scarecrow Dioramas in front of their houses - in this case, a very cool Pippi Longstocking.
Vor jeden Haus standen Vogelscheuchen - in diesem fall eine tolle Pippi Langstrumpf.

...or some very cool Flowers or Palm trees made of pumpkins.

...hier waren es coole Blumen aus Kürbissen, sogar Palmen haben wir gesehen!

The kids loved playing with the decorations - The Train was really long!

Die Kinder konnten mit den Dekorationen spielen - der Zug war ganz schön lang!

The best thing we found was a little maze made from balls of hay - the kids played there close to an hour!

Das tollste, was wir gefunden haben war ein kleines Heuballenlabyrinth - die Kinder haben fast eine Stunde damit gespielt!

I tried takimg a group shot of the kids - it didn't quite work...
Ich habe versucht, ein Gruppenfoto der Kinder zu machen - gelungen ist es nicht so ganz...

Greetings from grey and slightly foggy Vienna

Vee

Veelana's Design goes german/Veelanas Design jetzt auch auf deutsch!

2011-10-25T09:54:00.000+02:00

You may or may not know that etsy is now supporting german as a language - and I now had the job to translate everything - my paolicies, shop description and yes - Every. Single. Listing.

Keine Ahnung, ob Ihr das schon wisst, aber etsy unterstützt jetzt Deutsch als Sprache - und ich hatte das Vergnügen, meinen gesamten Shop zu übersetzen. Titel, policies Beschreibung meines Shops und - ja genau - Jede. Einzelne. Puppe.

Ihr werdet warscheinlich noch über die eine oder andere englische Unregelmässigkeit stolpern - bitte lasst es mich wissen!

To see my Shop in german, you have to set the language on etsy to german - If you don't everything will keep looking the way it did until now - don't worry!

Um meinenShop auch auf Deutsch zu sehen, müsst ihr auf etsy Deutsch als Sprache auswählen - Ich freu' mich auf deutsche Kunsden!

Liebe Grüße aus Wien
Vee

First "Homeschooling" experience

2011-10-22T22:50:00.002+02:00

My son wants to learn. He soaks up anything we teach him like a sponge - and he can only start school in a year. He visits a public Kindergarten very close to home, but Kindergarten means something entirely different in german :-) SoI looked around on the internet to learn about teaching your kids and ended up reading about homeschooling.

Mein Sohn will lernen. Er saugt wissen auf wie ein Schwamm - und er kann erst nächstes Jahr in die Schule kommen. Er besucht einen Kindergarten, aber hier ist das ja was anderes als ein "Kindergarten" im Englischsprachigen Raum. Also hab' ich mich im Internet umgesehen und bin recht schnell auf eineigen Homeschooling blogs gelandet.


Our set up not in use

Homeschooling isn't really the plan for the next years, though - Mr. Noodles will start public school next fall and that will probably be the end of this...

Homeschooling ist nicht unser Plan für die Zukunft - Mr. Noodles kommt nächsten Herbst in die Schule, und das ist dann warscheinlich das Ende...

So, what is it we do? I first started with three boxes filled with items for my son to study and work with - one box for reading, one for writing, one for math - and we sat at the table literally for three hours. WAYYY too much - this wasn't what I wanted to do at all. I looked around and saw that most homeschoolers say that their kids at that age spend an hour or 90 minutes sitting at a desk, so we where doing something wrong. I scrapped my plan and started again, this time with more boxes - but less stuff per box and it only takes 5-10 minutes per box for him to do. Maybe a bit more if I sneak in something more challenging :-)
Also, was ist es was wir tun? Ich hatte zuerst mit drei Schachteln begonnen, die mit Lernsachen für meinen Sohn gefüllt waren - eine jeweils für Lesen, Schreiben und Mathemathik - und wir saßen etwa drei Stunden am Tisch. VIEL zu lang - das war wirklich nicht, was ich wollte! Ich habe mich ein bisschen umgeschaut, und festgestellt, daß gleichaltrige Kinder von Homeschoolern eine bis anderthalb Stunden mit Lernen am Tisch verbringen, also machten wir klarerweise etwas falsch. Ich entsorgte meinen Plan und begann nochmal neu, diesmal mit mehr Schachteln - aber weniger Inhalt. Er braucht jetzt 5-10 minuten pro Schachtel, etwas länger, wenn ich etwas besonders Anspruchsvolles hineingebe.

The set up in use

We've been doing this for a little over a week now and so far it works well for both of us.
I set up the boxes either at night when the kids are sleeping or while Mr Noodles is in Kindergarten and we do "study time" sometime in the afternoon. If we end up not doing it that day, we do it the next day - I want to keep everything very low stress after all.

Wir machen das jetzt seit etwas über einer Woche so und es funktioniert ganz gut für uns beide.

Ich mache seine Schachteln fertig wenn die Kinder schlafen oder wenn Mr. Noodles im Kindergarten ist und wir haben am Nachmittag "Lernzeit". Wenn's sich mal zeitlich nicht ausgeht, machen wir's halt am nächsten Tag - es soll ja kein Stress sein.

So, what's in the boxes? This is what was in them on monday:
Also, was ist in den Schacteln? Hier ist unsere Lernzeit vom Montag:

Magnets:
I make an object from our geomag magnets and Mr. Noodles has to build the same thing. This is a very easy shape, we're up to way more advanced stuff already because this is so easy for him.
Teaches: Geometric shapes, magnets, observing closely

Magnete:

Ich baue etwas aus unseren Geomag Magneten und er muss es nachbauen. Das ist noch eine sehr einfache Form, wir sind inzwischen viel weiter, das Nachbauen ist sehr einfach für ihn.

Er lernt: Geometrische Formen/Körper, Magneten, genaues Betrachten

Word finder
I read a story and he has to find and circle some of the words
Comes from the Fall Pack at http://homeschoolcreations.com/preschoolpacks.html but since I translated it, not much of the original was left in that case :-)
Teaches: Word recognition
Wortfinder

Ich lese eine kurze Geschichte vor und Mr. Noodles muss einige Worte darin wiederfinden.Die Geschichte ist aus dem Fall Pack von http://homeschoolcreations.com/preschoolpacks.html, aber weil ich sie übersetzt habe ist nicht mehr viel davon übrig

Er lernt: Worterkennung

Coloring:
I got some very cute clone Wars books from a friend in the US. Mr. Noodles hates coloring and really needs the practice - all of it not an issue whith this book, he likes doing it and does it better than usual...
Teaches: coloring, staying inside the lines, fine motor skills

Ausmalen

Ich hab ein paar sehr nette Clone Wars Malbücher von einer Freundin aus den USA bekommen. Mr Noodles mag garnicht malen, dabei braucht er die Übung wirklich - mit diesem Buch gar kein Problem, es macht ihm Spass und das Ergebnis sieht auch weit besser aus als sonst...

Er lernt: farben, ausmalen, innerhalb der Linien bleiben, Feinmotorik

Read!Build!Write!
Also from http://homeschoolcreations.com, he gets two words to read, than builds it with alphabet tiles (these are from a top words game), then he gets to write the word down. This is one of the boxes that takes longer than 10 minutes
Teaches: Handwriting, word recognition, letters

Lesen!Bauen!Schreiben

Auch von http://homeschoolcreations.com bekommt er zwei Worte (zum Thema passend) die er zuerst lesen soll, dann legt er sie mit Topwords Plättchen, zum Schluss schreibt er das wort slebs. Das ist eine der Übungen, die mehr als 10 Minuten dauern.

Er lernt: Handschrift, Buchstaben, Worterkennung

Sommersaults
His favourite box - he gets to do some exercise! He needs this after something challenging - and the Read!Build!Write! exercise is very challenging for him.
Teaches: Gross motor skills, coordination

Purzelbäume

Seine liebste Kiste - er darf ein bisschen Sport machen! Nach so etwas anstrengendem wie dem Lesen!Bauen!Schreiben! braucht er das auch ganz besonders dringend...

Er lernt: Koordination, Grobmotorik

Homework
This is his music class homework - usually a very easy worksheet (circle the wind instruments etc.)

Hausaufgaben

Seine Hausaufgaben für die Musikschule - üblicherweise ein sehr leichtes Arbeitsblatt (alle Blasinstrumente einringeln oder so)

Boardgame
Ligretto Dice is a very fast paced and fun game that I love to play with Mr. Noodles
Teaches: following rules, counting, fine motor skills, fast observation

Brettspiel

Würfel Ligretto ist ein sehr schnelles Würfelspiel, das wir sehr gerne zwischendurch spielen.

Er lernt: Spielregeln folgen, zählen. Feinmotorik, schnelles Beobachten

Apple count:
He just has to put the right amount of apples on the tree and count them (over 20 is still a little hard for him) This is from http://www.2teachingmommies.com
Teaches: counting

Äpfel zählen

Er muss die richtige Menge "Äpfel" auf den Baum legen und sie zählen - über zwanzig ist er noch etwas wackelig. Das Spiel ist von http://www.2teachingmommies.com

Er lernt: Zählen

Reading:
We read a story and I point out some of the words
Teaches: Word recognition

Lesen

wir lesen zusammen eine Geschichte und ich zeige ihm einige Wörter

Er lernt: Worterkennung

You may have guessed so by now, our topic this week (or rather the past two weeks) was "fall" with some apples and leaves mixed in. We pretty much finished this unit this weekend - I'm not entirely sure what I want to do next. I still have knight stuff for a couple of days (we started that unit but dropped it after we started talking about fall and leaves instead of knights...) that I could finish up or if we should get started with the Halloween stuff and finish that knights at some other time...

Ihr habt es warscheinlich schon erraten, aber unser Thema in den letzten Wochen war eine bunte "Herbst" -Mischung mit Äpfeln, Blättern und Drachensteigen. Wir sind damit jetzt so ziemlich fertig - Ich bin noch nicht so ganz sicher was wir als Nächstes machen. Ich hab' noch Material für ein paar Tage Ritter (die Einheit haben wir unterbrochen), könnte aber auch gleich mit Halloween anfangen...

Finger print Autumn trees are so much fun! I laminated them afterwards - I haven't told you about my new Laminator yet, but that has to wait for a different blog, this one is too long already :-)

Fingerabdruck-Herbstbäume machen Spass! Ich hab' sie anschließend Laminiert - aber über meinen Laminator schreib ich ein anderes mal :-)

Vee

Something's Coming to Veelana's Design.../Bald gibt's eine Überraschung bei Veelanas Design

2011-10-17T11:33:00.001+02:00

I'm currently preparing Veelana's Design for the Holiday Season - and I have a surprise for my german speaking readers!

Ich stecke über beide Ohren in Weihnachtsvorbereitungen für meinen Shop und das Blog - Bald gibt's eine tolle Überraschung für meine deutschsprachigen Leser!

How angry birds can help your kids physical fitness - and I'm not talking about their thumbs! Wie angry Birds die Motorik deiner Kinder verbessern kann - und ich meine nicht die Daumen!

2011-09-15T11:43:00.005+02:00

Mr. Noodles Birthday cake was
made by the wonderful Lady deWeird

Okay, I admit, my five year old plays angry birds on our galaxy tab and he loves it. He is actually very good at this - and not just "good for a five year old".

Na gut, ich geb's ja zu - mein fünfjähriger spielt Angry Birds auf unserem Galaxy tab und liebt es. Er ist richtig gut darin - und ich rede hier nicht von "gut für einen Fünfjährigen"

Now, the leading opinion among parents (at least in Austria) is that preschool kids shouldn't watch TV or use computers and older kids should only use them for learning. Now, I'm not going to open THAT can of worms today (lets just say that I have a different oppinion...).
Also, die allgemeine Meinung unter Eltern (zumindest hier in Österreich) ist ja, daß Kindergartenkinder nicht fernsehen oder Computer spielen sollen und daß auch ältere Kinder Computer nur zum Lernen verwenden sollen. Dieses Büchse der Pandora mag ich jetzt gerade nicht aufmachen (ich bin da anderer Meinung...)

I'm not going to talk about the fact that angry birds teaches my son about slingshots, catapults, trajectories angles and so on.
Ich will auch nicht darüber reden, dass mein Sohn bei Angry Birds eine Menge über Schleudern, Katapulte, Flugbahnen und Winkel lernt.

So, what is it about? Worum gehts denn dann?

~~Mr. Noodles~~ Diego in the Jungle

well, my kids love to play what they see on TV. I can't keep count of the times I had to sing "come on, Vamanos" on the way to the supermarket while spinning my kids around or pretend to some animal that they have to rescue...
Angry birds lead to the same thing. Any time we are outside walking for any reason, we play angry birds. It goes like this:
I am the slingshot. each kid grabs one of my hands and pulls them wayyyy back. I start pulling them a little, they start running, release my hands and are off. If he's with us, Dad has to be The Pig. They run until they hit him, going "weeee" while they do it. If there's no pig, they just run for a bit and then we start over again.

Meine Kinder lieben es, alles was sie im Fernsehen sehen nachzuspielen. Ich kann nicht mehr nachzählen, wie oft ich "come on, es geht los" auf dem Weg zum Supermarkt singen musste wärend ich meine Kinder im Kreis drehte oder wie oft ich ein in Not geratenes Tier sein soll, das gerettet werden muss...

Bei Angry Birds ist es genauso. Jedes Mal wenn wir draußen sind spielen wir Angry Birds. Und so functioniert es:

Ich bin die Schleuder. Meine Kinder ziehen meine Arme nach hinten. Ich zieh ein bisschen an, die Kinder rennen los, lassen meine Hände los und "fliegen". Wenn er dabei ist, muss Papa das Schweinchen sein. Sie rennen dann, bis sie ihn fast umrennen. Wenn kein Schweinchen dabei ist, rennen sie einfach ein Stück und dann geht's wieder vom Anfang los.

Awesome, right?

Rachel over at I Heart Crafty Things had a different idea - go check out her post about playing angry birds outside :-) It's awesome and looks like soooo much fun - I would totally do that for a kids birthday party!

Rachel von I Heart Crafty Things hatte eine andere Idee - schaut Euch ihren post an über Angry Birds im Freien spielen :-) Das ist ein toller post - das Spiel schaut aus als würde es sehr viel Spaß machen. Es ist sicher toll für eine Geburtstagsparty!

Keep creating! Vee from sunny Vienna

and the winner is:

2011-06-14T07:04:00.000+02:00

The winner of my 500 fan giveaway is alicia!

The next prize will be added as soon as I hit 600 fans, so tell you friends! This will go on until I hit 1000 fans on facebook.

Give away time! /Zeit für ein Giveaway! CLOSED

2011-06-09T08:57:00.002+02:00

I promised my fans on facebook a give-away once I reach 500 fans and that happened last night - more quickly than I thought it would ...

Auf Facebook habe ich versprochen, ein Giveaway zu machen, sobald ich 500 fans erreicht habe - deas ging schneller als ich dachte, gestern Nacht war es so weit!

So, how will this work? This will be a multi part giveaway. I will add to it over the next couple of days. you can check facebook to stay up to date with this! The rules on facebook state that giveaways need to be held externally, so it will be right here on my blog :-)

So funktioniert es: Das ist ein mehrteiliges giveaway. Nach und nach wird es neue Sachen zu gewinnen geben :-) Werde mein fan auf facebook um auf dem Laufenden zu bleiben. Die facebook Regeln verlangen, dass giveaways extern abgewickelt werden, also passiert das ganze hier, auf meinem blog :-)

How to enter:
I will post pictures of the item that will be given away on my facebook page with a link to a corresponding blogpost. If you want to win, please comment on the gallery, then follow the link to the blogpost and comment HERE ON THE BLOG.
Since this is a giveaway for my facebook fans, you need to be a fan of my facebook page.

Wie kann man gewinnen:

Ich werde ein bild des aktuellen giveaways auf facebook posten mit einem link zu einem blogpost. Wer gewinnen will, hinterlässt bitte ijn der gallerie einen Kommentar und folgt dem link unde KOMMENTIERT HIER AUF DEM BLOG.

Das dies ein giveaway für meine facebook fans ist, muss man auch ein fan sein um zu gewinnen.

There are several ways to get more than one comment:

Es gibt mehrere Wege, um an mehr kommentare zu kommen:

one comment is free/ einen Kommentar gibt's für jeden
tell your friends about this giveaway on facebook/ erzähl Deinen Freunden auf facebook von diesem giveaway
tell your friends on twitter/ erzähl's auf Twitter
blog about it / schreib' auf Deinem Blog darüber
found another way to share this giveaway? tell me! / Du hast einen anderen Weg gefunden, mein Giveaway anderen mitzuteilen? Lass es mich wissen!

You can leave a total of five komments this way - and please leave your e-mail adress in EVERY comment you leave! The winner will be picked using random.org

Auf diese art kannst Du bis zu fünf Kommentare hinterlassen - und bitte schreibt Eure e-mail adresse in JEDEN davon. Der Gewinner wird über random.org ausgelost.

On to the first item! Today, you can win one of my cute little bunting babies! Each is about 8" tall and they come in several colors. The winner gets to pick one of the ready to ship dolls in my etsy shop. Should all the bunting babies be sold out, the winner gets a custom bunting baby.

Zum ersten Gewinn! Heute könnt ihr eines meiner süßen kleinen säckchen babies (bunting babies) gewinnen! Sie sind etwa 20 cm groß und es gibt sie in vielen verschiedenen Farben. Der Gewinner darf sich eines der versandfertigen Püppchen aus meinem etsy shop aussuchen. Sollte keines mehr vorrätig sein, bekommt der Gewinner eines, daß ich speziell nach den wünschen des Gewinners anfertige.

Please take note that I will ask the Winner to pay for half the shipping.
This giveaway will be open until Sunday, june 12th. I'm not picky - if it's still sunday 12th anywhere in the world, your entry counts :-)

Achtung: ich werde den Gewinner bitten, die halben Frachtkosten zu übernehmen.

Das Giveaway bleibt bis Sonntag, den 12. Juni offen. Ich bin nicht pingelig - wenn es noch irgendwo Sonntag, der 12. ist, zählt der Kommentar.

So, like my facebook page, leave your comment here and go check out my etsy shop :-)
Also - werde fan auf meiner facebook seite, hinterlass Deinen kommentar und geht in meinem etsy shop stöbern :-)

hugs,
Vee

Lets talk about Storm, then. / Dann lasst uns doch mal über Storm reden.

2011-06-02T11:13:00.000+02:00

In the past week or so the Media has talked (and written) up a storm about well - Storm. Kathy Witterick and David Stocker decided not to tell their friends whether Storm is a boy or a girl - and now the whole world wants to know. Grab a cup of you favourite drink, it's a long post!

In der letzten Woche wurde viel über Storm geredet. Kathy Witterick und David Stocker haben beschlossen, ihern Freunden nicht zu sagen ob Storm ein Mädchen oder ein Bub ist. Nehmt Euch eine Tasse Tee oder Kaffee, das ist eine langer post!

Storm and Jaz

I always love a good socio-political discussion, so I decided to add my two cents.

When I first read about this, I thought it was a bit weird - especially since most articles proclaimed that they wanted to raise a gender free baby. So I tried to find out more, and the more I read, the more I wanted to write about it, too.

Ich mag Sozialpolitische Diskussionen, also geb' ich hier mal meinen Senf dazu...

Als ich das erste Mal etwas zu dieser Geschichte gelesen habe, fand ich das alles schon etwas seltsam - besonders, da die meisten Artikel davon redeten, Storm solle geschlechtslos aufwachsen. Aber je mehr ich las, desto dringender wollte ich auch darüber schreiben.

The story is this: Kathy Witterick and David Stocker, who already have two sons, ages 5 and 2 decided not to tell their friends the gender of their newborn.The idea apparently started when Jazz, the 5 year old boy wondered what kind of presents a baby would get if people didn't know wether it is a boy or a girl. This is something that sounds so much like something my almost 5 year old could say (we're nor really raising the kids to be very sensitive to gender issues, so he probably wouldn't - but it still sounds like him), so I consider that a very plausible explanation. So they waited to see what would happen - and now they are being told by total strangers that they are doing things wrong, that their kids will become weird, need psychiatrists, should be taken away, will turn gay or transgender...

Die Geschichte ist diese: Kathy Witterick und David Stocker, die schon zwei Söhne haben (2 und 5), haben entschieden, ihren Freunden das Geschlecht ihres Babies nicht zu sagen. Die Idee wurde anscheinend geboren, als der fünfjährige Jazz überlegte, welche Geschenke ein Baby wohl bekommen würde, wenn niemand weiß ob es ein Mädchen oder ein Bub ist. Das klingt genau wie etwas, daß mein Sohn sagen könnte (wir reden mit unseren Kindern nicht wirklich über "Gender Issues", also würde er es warscheinlich nicht sagen, aber es klingt sehr wie etwas das von ihm kommen könnte), also glaube ich die Erklärung. Sie haben also gewartet um zu sehen was passiert - und jetzt wird ihnen von völlig Fremden erklärt, daß sie als Eltern alles falsch machen, daß ihre Kinder seltsam werden, psychologische Btereuung brauchen, nicht bei ihnen aufwachsen sollten und warscheinlich schwul oder transsexuell wird...

Mr. Noodles, age 4 1/2

I honestly don't think they deserve that. Their sons are allowed to express themselves in any way they choose - they pick their clothing in the store and currently like pink and purple, occasionally wear dresses, wear their hair long and semi long and both have a strong sense of being boys - and while my son doesn't wear dresses, he loves his long hair and always picks bright colors to wear. I totally get it. My son constantly gets mistaken for a girl and we leave it up to him to correct people - sometimes he doesn't, most of the time he does.

Ich glaube nicht, daß sie das verdient haben.Sie erlauben ihren Söhnen sich frei zu entfalten - sie suchen sich zum Beispiel im Laden ihre Kleidung selbst aus und lieben derzeit rosa und lila, tragen gelegentlich Kleider, tragen ihre Haare lang bzw. halblang und fühlen sich beide als Buben - und wahrend mein Sohn zwar keine Kleider trägt, so liebt er doch seine langen Haare und sucht sich gerne helle Farben bei seiner Kleidung aus. Ich verstehe das :-) Mein Sohn wird ständig für ein Mädchen gehalten und wir überlassen es ihm, ob er die Leute korrigiert oder nicht - meistens tut er es, manchmal lässt er es bleiben.

At the first glance, Storm is a different case - but is he really? They simply choose not to tell people until Storm can do so themself. And it leads me to the question that is probably what started the whole thing.

Auf den ersten Blick ist Storm ein anderer Fall - aber ist das wirklich so? Die Familie hat einfach beschlossen, nichts zu sagen bis Storm es selber kann. Und das führt mich zu der Frage, mit der warscheinlich alles begonnen hat.

Turtles, my little daughter

Why is the gender of a four month old baby important? So you can pick out a gender appropriate outfits as a present? Why is the gender the first thing people want to know? I think with other grown ups it is a bit along the lines of looking for mates of the preferred gender, but this can't be the reason with kids or babies. I think that we, as a society are really far away from treating all kids as genderless until they decide for themselves, but would it really be so bad? I am absolutely convinced that people are "Born that way" and socialization plays a very small part in our sexuality or what gender we feel we are in the case of transgendered people. It does, however play a big role in our acceptance of ourselves.
I think that people that get to express themselves freely are happier than people who let themselves be restricted by what society deems appropriate. Especially since the gender boundries are different in each society. A kilt is a piece of clothing for a man, long braids where the hairstyle of choice for Vikings or american Indians and while soccer is a perfectly acceptable sport to play for girls in the US, German girls will be ridiculed for joining a soccer team.

Warum ist das Geschlecht eines 4 Monate alten Babies wichtig? Damit man ein geschlechtsgerechtes Erstlings-Kleiderset als Geschenk mitbringen kann? Warum ist das Geschlecht das erste, das man von anderen wissen will? Bei Erwachsenen hat das wohl mit der Suche nach einem Partner des bevorzugten Geschlechts zu tun, aber das kann ja bei Babies und Kindern nicht der Grund sein. Als Gesellschaft sind wir noch weit weg davon, alle Kinder als geschlechtslos zu betrachten bis sie es uns selber sagen, aber wäre das wirklich so schlimm? Ich bin absolut überzeugt, dass wir so geboren sind wie wir sind und unsere Umwelt nur einen kleinen Part beiträgt wenn es um unsere Sexualität oder, im Fall von Transsexuellen, um das gefühlte Geschlecht geht. Die Umwelt spielt allerdings eine entscheidende Rolle, wenn es darum geht, wie gut wir uns selbst akzeptieren können.

Ich glaube, daß Menschen, die sie selbst sein können glücklicher sind als die, die sich durch gesellschaftliche Zwänge einschränken lassen, besonders, da sich gesellschaftliche Normen in unterschiedlichen Gesellschaften stark unterscheiden. Ein Kilt ist ein Männer Kleidungsstück, lange Zöpfe waren bei Vikingern und Amerikanischen Ureinwohnern völlig normal und währen Fußball in den USA ein Mädchensport ist, macht man sich über Mädchen in Deutschland/Österreich lustig, wenn sie einem Fußballteam beitreten will.

Mr. Noodles loves dolls!

While I wouldn't do what they did, I can still applaud them for doing so. They aren't hiding Storms gender from him/her wich is the important part and I'm sure their kids will grow up healthy and happy. Do I think we all should treat our kids as genderless? Not really. I think this family is wayyy ahead of our times - but there are things we can do today, too. Let your girls wear pants and play in the dirt if they want to, and let your boys grow their hair long and play with dolls. They will hopefully figure out who they really are at some point in their life - and until then, the best thing we can do is to support them.

Obwohl ich daß, was diese Familie tut nicht nachmachen würde, so applaudiere ich ihnen doch dafür. Sie verstecken Storms Geschlecht nicht vor ihr/ihm, was sicherlich wichtig ist, und ich bin sicher, daß ihre Kinder gesund und glücklich auwachsen. Glaube ich, daß wir alle unsere Kinder als geschlechtslos behandeln sollen? Nicht wirklich. Ich glaube, daß diese Familie unserer Zeit WEIT voraus sind - aber es gibt dinge, die wir heute schon tun können. Laßt Eure Mädchen Hosen tragen und im Schlamm spielen wenn sie das wollen, und gebt überlasst Euren Söhnen, ob sie sich die Haare lang wachsen lassen wollen und mit Puppen spielen. Hoffendlich werden unsere Kinder irgendwann in ihrem Leben herausfinden wer sie wirklich sind - und bis dahin können wir sie unterstützen und begleiten.

Read more about it here:
Zum weiterlesen (englisch)
http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/newsfeatures/article/998960---genderless-baby-s-mother-responds-to-media-frenzy
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389593/Kathy-Witterick-David-Stocker-raising-genderless-baby.html
https://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/05/28/enough-about-storms-gender-lets-talk-about-gender-pronouns/

Please feel free to discuss this in comments - there really is no need to agree with me, voice your opinion as loud as you want to, as long as you stay respectful to other commentors

Ihr könnt sehr gerne über dieses Thema in den Kommentaren disskutieren - ihr müsst mir wirklich nicht zustimmen, sagt eure Meinung ruhig so laut ihr wollt, so lange ihr anderen Personen gegenüber Respektvoll bleibt.

Vee

I just realized I never showed you this...

2011-05-26T09:09:00.000+02:00

I know the Holidays are wayy behind us, but I just realized that I forgot to show you what I made for my husband! He is the biggest Star Wars Fan I know...

Weihnachten ist zwar schon lange vorbei, aber mir ist gerade aufgefallen, dass ich euch nie gezeigt habe, was ich meinem Mann geschenkt habe! Er ist der größte Star Wars Fan den ich kenne...

I got the fabric from a really cool shop on etsy...

Die Stoffe habe ich auf etsy in einem echt coolen shop gekauft...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/whimsiedots

and the solids are from Ikea
die einfarbigen Stoffe sind von Ikea

This is the first quilt I have ever made :-) I had a blast - I think it took close to 100 hours for me to finish it. I started by cutting up the Star Wars fabric into squares and rectangles in multiple sizes from 5cm to 40cm (all multiples of 5cm) plus half a cm or so all the way around. I arranged the squares/rectangles into 40cm by 40cm squares, filling the gaps with 5cm solid squares.

Das ist der erste Quilt den ich gemacht habe :-) Ich hatte jede Mange Spass - und habe etwa 100 Stunden gebraucht. Ich habe zuerst den Star Wars Stoff in quadrate und Rechtecke geschnitten, die eine Größe von 5-40 cm hatten (alle ein vielfaches von 5cm), ein halber cm Nahtzugabe ringsum. Ich habe die Stücke dann zu großen. 40cm quadraten zusammengesetzt, die Lücken hab' ich mit den Ikea stoffen gefüllt.

I'm going to have a scheduled upload this week! I will upload on Sunday night to my etsy shop - you can follow me on facebook to see a preview as soon as I take the picture!

Ich werde am Sonntag abend neue Puppen in meinen etsy shop stellen - ihr könnt mir auf facebook folgen, um fatas der puppen zu sehen, befor sie in den shop kommen!

50 Things I Am Not Allowed To Do At Hogwarts

2011-05-09T15:53:00.000+02:00

not doll related, but soooo funny... I love Harry Potter - and this list made me laugh

50 Things I Am Not Allowed To Do At Hogwarts

I will not poke Hufflepuffs with spoons, nor will I insist that their House colors indicate that they are "covered in bees".
No matter how good a fake Australian accent I can do, I will not imitate Steve Irwin during Care of Magical Creatures class.
Growing marijuana or hallucinogenic mushrooms is not "an extra credit project for Herbology".
"I've heard every possible joke about Oliver Wood's name" is not a challenge.
I am not allowed to attempt to breed a liger.
I will not go to class skyclad.
The Giant Squid is not an appropriate date to the Yule Ball.
I will not use Umbridge's quill to write "I told you I was hardcore".
I will stop referring to showering as "giving Moaning Myrtle an eyeful".
Polishing my wand in the common room is acceptable. "Polishing my wand" in the common room is not.
If a classmate falls asleep, I will not take advantage of that fact and draw a Dark Mark on their arm.
House elves are not acceptable replacements for Bludgers.
Starting a betting pool on the fate of this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is tasteless and tacky, not a clever money-making concept.
I will not start every Potions class by asking Professor Snape if today's project is suitable for use as a sexual lubricant.
Adding the name "Bueller" to Professor Binns' roster is not funny.
"Springtime for Voldemort" is not an acceptable suggestion for the class play.
Seamus Finnegan is not "after me Lucky Charms".
I will not refer to the Weasley twins as "bookends".
I will not refer to the Patil twins as "bookends".
The Slytherin prefect is named Draco Malfoy, not "Rocky Horror."
It is exceptionally tasteless to tell Professor Lupin that "Once you go Black, you never go back."
I will not call Lucius Malfoy "Jareth".
I will not bring a Magic Eight Ball to Divination class.
I am not to refer to the Potions classroom as "Kitchen Stadium".
I will not tell Ron and Hermione to "Get a room" whenever they start to fight.
The Forbidden Forest is forbidden for a reason.
I am not a tribble Animagus.
I am allowed to have a toad, rat, cat, or owl. I am not allowed to have a reticulated python, snow leopard, Tasmanian devil, or piranha.
I do not weigh the same as a duck.
Remus Lupin does not want a flea collar.
Sirius Black is not #24601.
I will not lick Trevor.
I will stop asking the Arithmancy teacher what the square root of -1 is.
I am not being repressed.
Calling Lucius Malfoy "Luscious Mouthful" is just plain gross.
I will not change the password to the prefects' bath to "Makes getting clean almost as much fun as getting dirty".
There is no such thing as an Invisibility Thong.
I am not a Pinball Wizard.
Asking "How do you keep a Gryffindor in suspense?" and walking away is only funny the first time.
I will not offer to pose nude for Colin Creevey.
I will not offer to pose nude for Dean Thomas.
It is a bad idea to tell Professor Snape he takes himself too seriously.
It is a bad idea to tell Professor McGonagall she takes herself too seriously.
Sir Cadogan is not one of the knights who say "NI".
I will not offer to prepare tandoori owl.
I will stop asking when we will learn to make "Love Potion Number Nine".
I will not ask Dumbledore to show me the pointy hat trick.
I will not greet Professor McGonagall with "What's new, pussycat?"
There is not now, nor has there ever been, a fifth House at Hogwarts, and I am not a member of that house, nor am I its founder.
I will not take out a life insurance policy on Harry Potter

Aurelie' s amazing adventures/ Aurelies aufregende Abenteuer

2011-04-21T14:42:00.000+02:00

Tweet Sooo - we're back from Disneyland Paris! sadly, our internet connection didn't like me at all - the last days I wasn't able to post Aurelies Adventures to facebook. But hey - I can always blog about them, right?

Also, aus Disneyland Paris sind wir gesund und munter zurückgekommen! Leider konnte mich die Internetverbindung im Hotel nicht so gut leiden - an den letzten Tagen konnte ich Aurelies Abenteuer nich auf facebook posten. Aber ich kann ja hier darüber schreiben :-)

Wednesday/Mittwoch
We had to get up really early to go to the airport! luckily, Veelana took me along in her backpack, so I didn't even have to wake up. I only got up after we were on the plane - I looked out to see Vienna and later to see Paris from above! I thought it was pretty amazing :-)

Wir mussten wirklich früh losgehen zum Flughafen! Zum Glück hat Veelana mich in ihrem Rucksack mitgenommen und ich musste nicht aufstehen. Ich bin erst herausgekommen als wir schon im Flugzeug waren - Ich habe aus dem Fenster geschaut umWien und später Paris von oben zu sehen! Das war großartig :-)

My first day in the Park was a great success - I went on several rides and I saw the pretty castle! I loved the small world boat ride with all the pretty dolls, and I think that was also little Turtles favourite today. Mr. Noodles loved Star Tours :-)

Mein erster Tag im Park war sehr erfolgreich - Ich bin mit einigen Bahnen mitgefahren und habe das schöne Schloss gesehen! Die "Small World" Bootfahrt mit all den schönen Puppen hat mir sehr gefallen, und ich glaube, die kleine Schildkröte mochte das auch am liebsten. Herr Nudel liebt Star Tours :-)

Thursday/Donnerstag

I went on big thunder mountain today! I was only a little bit scared, but then it was a lot of fun. Veelana took a lot of pictures of me in Frontierland, just like a real Photoshoot!

Ich bin heute mit big thunder mountain mitgefahren! Zuerst hatte ich ein bisschen angst, aber dann hat es ganz viel Spaß gemacht. Veelana hat ganz viele Bilder von mir gemacht in Frontierland, das war ein richtiger Photoschoot!

Friday/Freitag

I got a pair of mouse ears today! We went to the park really early to make the most of our extra magic hours, and we got to ride on Dumbo twice! after that, we stayed on the Carousel (or rather the "Mewwy wound" as little turtle calls it) for a couple of rounds. I loved lancelot's carousel, I got a horse all for myself.
All the walking made me so tired, I'm going to bed early.

Heute habe ich mickey mouse ohren bekommen! Wir sind ganz früh in den Park gegangen um das meiste aus unseren "extra magic hours" herauszuholen, und wir konnten zweimal mit Dumbo mitfliegen! Dann sind wir für ein paar Runden auf dem Karussel geblieben (oder auch aif dem "Mewwy wound", wie kleine Schildkröte es nennt). Lancelots karussell war toll, ich hatte ein eigens pferd.

Ich bin schon sooo müde vom vielen herumlaufen, ich gehe ganz bald ins bett.

Saturday/Samstag

Today we went to Paris to see the Eiffel tower! It was amazing! We got some delicious food at a small bakery and had a picknick on the grass. Everybody was worn out because we walked so much...

Heute waren wir in Paris und haben den Eiffelturm gesehen! Es war großartig! Wir haben in einer kleinen Bäckerei etwas leckeres zum Essem gekauft und ein Picknick gemacht. Am Abend waren alle ganz furchtbar erledigt weil wir so viel gegangen sind...

Sunday/Sonntag

We spent a lot of time in Discoveryland again - Buzz Lightyear is the bestest thing EVER! I had so much fun shooting the batterys to help the little aliens! The big X-Wing is really impressive, and Wall.E and Eve are soooo cute!

Wir haben heute viel Zeit in Discoveryland verbracht - mit Buzz Lightyear fahren ist super! Ich hatte soviel Spass dabei, mit Laser auf Batterien zu schiessen und den kleinen Aliens zu helfen. Der große X-Wing ist ganz schön beeindruckend, und WallE und Eve sind soo süß!

Monday/Montag

After playing with the broomstick and its two buckets, we all had the music to the sorcerers apprentice stuck in the head :-) Luckily, I like it - and playing was fun. Mr. Noodles thought so, too!

Nachdem wir mit dem Besen und seinen Eimern gespielt hatten, hatten wir alle die Musik zum Zauberlehrling im Kopf :-) Zum Glück mag ich sie - und das Spielen hat viel Spaß gemacht. Herr Nudel fand das auch!

Tuesday/Dienstag

I met Mickey today! We started our last day really early, and met him right after the park opened. He was riding around in his car, probably doing a last check to see if everything was all right for the guests. Awesome!

Ich habe heute Mickey getroffen! Wir haben unseren letzten Tag wieder sehr früh begonnen und als der Park geöffnet wurde, fuhr er in seinem Auto herum - warscheinlich ein letzter Check um zu sehen ob auch alles seine Ordnung hat. Sooo Toll!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for reading about my Disneyland adventure - I had so much fun! I hope the pictures show this a little. Now, I will be looking for a lovely family to adopt me :-)

Danke, dass Ihr euch die Zeit genommen habt mein Disneyland Abenteuer zu lesen - ich hatte so viel Spass dabei! Ich hoffe, dass man das auf den Bildern sehen kann. Jetzt suche ich nach einer lieben Familie, die mich adoptieren will :-)

Hugs,
Aurelie

Introducing Aurelie

2011-04-12T14:00:00.001+02:00

In this new series I we will follow one of my dolls on an adventure. This time, Aurelie goes to Disneyland Paris - and you can all follow along and see what happenes.

In dieser neuen Serie könnt ihr mitverfolgen, wie eine meiner Puppen ein Abenteuer erlebt. Dieses mal kommt Aurelie mit uns nach Disneyland, Paris.

Hello, I am Aurelie, and I'm soooo excited! I am going to Disneyland! My friends Boo and Bunny keep talking about what an awesome time they had in Florida last winter, but I can't wait to see Paris!

Hallo, Ich heisse Aurelie. Ich bin ja schon sooooo aufgeregt - meine Feunde Bu und Hasie haben mir ja schon soo viel von von ihrem Urlaub in Florida erzählt. Ich kann es kaum erwarten, Paris zu sehen!

I better go and pack my bag - Veelana made me a cute backpack for this occasion. With Flowers! What will I need? Hmmm...

Ich geh mal lieber meine Sachen packen - Veelana hat mir extra einen süssen Rucksack gemacht, mit Blümchen darauf! Was ich wohl brauchen werde....

Follow Veelana's Design on Facebook to get the newest Updates about Aurelie's adventure!

Folge Veelana's Design auf Facebook um nichts von Aurelies Abenteuern zu verpassen!

http://www.facebook.com/VeelanasDesign

Veelana's Design is going Bilingual!/ Veelanas Design wird zweisprachig!

2011-04-12T10:20:00.002+02:00

Just a short post to let you know that Veelana's Design is going to be in english and geman from now on! The german part will be purple so you can easily find it/skip it!
Eine kleine Neuerung - Veelana's Design wird von jetzt an zweisprachig! Der Deutsche part wird lila sein, damit ihr ihn leichter findet!

Vee

2011-03-30T09:34:00.000+02:00

I'm always somewhat excited when the barbeque season starts. We don't have a garden of our own, but we have a couple of friends that invite us over - and I bring food. I make a mean potato salad, and my stuffed mushrooms are delicious :-) Anyone want to invite us?

Last year, we really ambushed a friend with our first bbq of the year. He lives in a little village outside of vienna and we where in the general area looking at a really cool underground lake. When we got out we called him up to see if we could visit him to finally see his house he told us so much about - and we decided on the phone that we would start the season by tossing some stuff on the grill right away. We went to the supermarket while he started the fire....

This year, we planned things a bit more carefully - we called in the morning and actually had time to get the food before we got there. Our friend was preparing the fire when we arrived, and while I went to prepare some food (a bowl of mixed salad, stuffed mushrooms, bell pepper and zucchini slices and some delicious aluminum foil wrapped little packages with feta cheese), Mister Gray (new nickname for our son! Yay!) played catch with his daddy. My husband got so excited because he finally had someone to play again...
We had an absolutely beautiful day. I'm so glad the season has once again, started!

Greetings from beautiful and sunny Vienna,
Vee

15 day "five a day" challenge, day six

2011-03-24T18:28:00.000+01:00

PS: I added a really cool new doll to my store - my kids think she's the coolest ever! Her hair is soooo soft!

PPS: Still looking for more people to feature on mondays!

I see you - Oe-l nga-ti kam‹ei›e

2011-03-23T14:00:00.006+01:00

Did you like James Cameron's "Avatar"? I sure did - what really stuck with me where the gorgeous colors in the forest at night. At the time I didn't know what to do with it - I was inspired, sure, but I had no idea what to make. When I saw the blue doll skin fabric I immediately knew what I wanted to do.

So, here he is. It took me a long time to finish this one - I actually started him when I made my second bunch of dolls for sale - but I somehow never had the nerve to actually paint his face and body with the blue color. I was so scared I'd ruin all of my work...
Well, I finally did it, and finished his hair and clothing too (the breading and beading was a lot of work - the beads just barely got on the little braids...), so now you get to see him.

My son loves him, too. But that's not really much of a surprise, he loves all my dolls and wants his picture taken with them :-)

Nerdy greetings from cold but sunny Vienna,
Vee

PS. I will, from now on, refrain from using my kids real names on my blog. I don't mind doing it and I don't really see any danger involved - but my husband pointed out that using their names makes them easier to find on google, and that they might not appreciate all the little stories I tell about them once they are older and easily embarrassed :-D

I have yet to find cool pseudonyms - I'll just use son and daughter for now. Do you have any cool ideas?

tuesday Treasury

2011-03-21T14:00:00.002+01:00

Some lovely cherry blossom inspired treasures made by my Daily Sweets etsy Teammates!

Silent saturday

2011-03-19T06:57:00.000+01:00

Behind the scenes: the making of a bunting baby

2011-03-18T23:11:00.001+01:00

I thought you all might enjoy a look behind the scenes - I recently made a whole bunch of bunting babies for my etsy shop, but a nice customer decided they wanted a baby with open eyes instead of my usual sleeping babies. I was delighted to make a baby like that - and I have to say that I have NO IDEA what I prefer. What do you think?

To the cutting board... errr ...table! After that, I sew the body and hat with a special, non ripping thread - not the same as the one I use for the shaping of the head, though.
The customer wanted a purple body and hat, blue eyes and brown hair. I love doing custom work because I don't have to come up with all the possible variations - and I always hope that a custom doll will end up being something really special to a customer.

The head is filled with fiber fill to make the doll washable since it is for a little baby and shaped with non ripping thread into the typical waldorf head shape. The nose gets stitched on right after this step.

After the head has been covered with skin fabric, I mark the face with pins. I had a lot more pictures - but I didn't want to give away all of my little secrets ;-)
Also, this blogpost would get really, really long!

Once I like what I see, I have another use for the pins - I use one to paint the doll's face. The eyes are painted in several steps with lots of drying time in between - and I love adding the final touches like freckles and the highlights in the eyes. It makes the come alive!

I fill the body and attach the head and the hands. Hair is added to the head and the little hat is stitched on - this may sound like a quick step, but it actually takes quite a long time to get everything right - especially the hair!

At the end, the doll gets a haircut and is ready for shipping! I take a last picture so I can add the doll to my gallery (I promise! I'm working on it!), the doll gets a last hug and a kiss for good luck and it's on her way to the USA.

I hope you'll arrive soon at your new home!

Hugs,
Vee
Want a custom doll, too? check out my etsy shop!

15 day "five a day" challenge, day five

2011-03-15T15:50:00.000+01:00

I've been extremely bad with blogging regularly for a couple of weeks now, so in a desperate attempt to change that, I decided to jump on the 15-DAY 5 CHALLENGE - Bandwagon. I ran across this HERE. My goal is to post something every day - it's going to be a post like this unless I post something else. Enjoy!

15-DAY 5 CHALLENGE
5 basic facts about you 
5 not-so-basic facts about you 
5 ways you break the ice 
5 signs that you’re into someone 
5 signs that you’re NOT into someone 
5 things you do when you’re bored 
5 things that make you hyper 
5 things you’re known for 
5 things you want to do 
5 things you’ll never do 
5 good things about you 
5 bad things about you 
5 ways to make you cry 
5 ways to win your heart 
5 things you need to say

Last time I interpreted "into someone" to include people I'd like to have as friends, not just sexual partners. Same goes for this post.

I stop talking to you
If I have to talk to you, I keep things short
I start talking really slowly - if I treat you like you're stupid, RUN!
I don't invite you over anymore
I tell you so

Thats that from me right now - feel free to do the challenge yourself! If you do, drop me a link, please, I will link you up. This should be a fun way to get to know eachother!

Vee

PS: I added a really cool new doll to my store - my kids think she's the coolest ever! Her hair is soooo soft!

PPS: Still looking for more people to feature on mondays!

Really, Photobucket?

2011-03-14T20:45:00.000+01:00

I posted this picture with my last blog post - not exactly the same, I had to re-crop it because the other one got deleted - and today I got this message:

This image or video violated our terms of use

Really, Photobucket? *shakes head*

What do you think? Is this a "bad" picture or just a cute one?

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve: Free-range Vacation on a Farm

2011-03-13T22:02:00.002+01:00

I came across this almost two year old photo when I was sorting some pictures - and this is DEFINITELY a moment in time I want to preserve. Its from the first day of our 2009 vacation on the Kerndlerhof, and Dorian went wild within a couple of hours of getting there.

The Kerndlerhof is a great big Farm where families can take a vacation, play with the animals, be involved in some farm activities like feeding the animals or getting your own egg for breakfast, ride ponies and chill out under some trees while the kids have fun. Its a great way for those city kids to get a bit closer to nature and to let loose.

Dorian did this within a couple of hours. He got rid of all of his clothes, drank water from the hose, played with the bunnies - our job as parents was simply to feed him a couple of times a day and put him in the shower at night before bed - he was almost three years old and he didn't really need us. He drank some water when he was thirsty, asked Gaby the farmlady when he wanted to know something about the animals (and sometimes for a snack). We had a blanket in the shade of a tree where we played with Lilith, and while one of us took a nap, the other listened for cries for help or other alarming sounds. They never came :-)

And yes, I've cropped that picture. I didn't want to post a naked picture of my son, not because I'm scared grown ups could look at it - because really, there is NOTHING SEXUAL about a little kid running around in his birthday suit - but because I'm not sure he could ever forgive me for this when hes sixteen and one of his friends discovers this picture...

Keep living,
Vee

PS: and while I do not pray for Japan, my thoughts go out to everyone who lives there.

Silent saturday

2011-03-12T13:03:00.000+01:00

15 day "five a day" challenge, day four

2011-03-12T01:27:00.000+01:00

I've been extremely bad with blogging regularly for a couple of weeks now, so in a desperate attempt to change that, I decided to jump on the 15-DAY 5 CHALLENGE - Bandwagon. I ran across this HERE. My goal is to post something every day - it's going to be a post like this unless I post something else. Enjoy!

15-DAY 5 CHALLENGE
5 basic facts about you 
5 not-so-basic facts about you 
5 ways you break the ice 
5 signs that you’re into someone 
5 signs that you’re NOT into someone 
5 things you do when you’re bored 
5 things that make you hyper 
5 things you’re known for 
5 things you want to do 
5 things you’ll never do 
5 good things about you 
5 bad things about you 
5 ways to make you cry 
5 ways to win your heart 
5 things you need to say

Just to clear things up: I interpret "into someone" to include people I'd like to have as friends, not just sexual partners - or I would just talk about my husband :-)
I talk ~~a lot~~ A LOT when I'm into someone.
See "5 ways you break the ice"
I touch people I like (no, APRORIATELY, get your mind out of the gutter *grins*) I like hugs :-)
I invite them over, usually for dinner or a boardgame night
I turn up the "mean charm" - if you can take it (or even better, give as good as you get), you're probably going to end up being one of our close friends!

Thats that from me right now - feel free to do the challenge yourself! If you do, drop me a link, please, I will link you up. This should be a fun way to get to know eachother!

Vee

PS: I just finished a very cute custom baby - you can order one, too - they have an official turnaround time of about 10days to two weeks, but I got this one done in a couple of days.

PPS: Still looking for more people to feature on mondays!

15 day "five a day" challenge, day three

2011-03-10T15:38:00.000+01:00

I've been extremely bad with blogging regularly for a couple of weeks now, so in a desperate attempt to change that, I decided to jump on the 15-DAY 5 CHALLENGE - Bandwagon. I ran across this HERE. My goal is to post something every day - it's going to be a post like this unless I post something else. Enjoy!

15-DAY 5 CHALLENGE
5 basic facts about you 
5 not-so-basic facts about you 
5 ways you break the ice 
5 signs that you’re into someone 
5 signs that you’re NOT into someone 
5 things you do when you’re bored 
5 things that make you hyper 
5 things you’re known for 
5 things you want to do 
5 things you’ll never do 
5 good things about you 
5 bad things about you 
5 ways to make you cry 
5 ways to win your heart 
5 things you need to say

I talk about my kids
I tell jokes
I talk about Religion and politics and other "inapropriate" topics
When I'm around, there's usually very little ice to break - I'm very outgoing
I can be really mean but witty to people once in a while - and that includes everyone, even my husband and myself. But I can usually take as good as I give :-)

Thats that from me right now - feel free to do the challenge yourself! If you do, drop me a link, please, I will link you up. This should be a fun way to get to know eachother!

Vee

PS: I have a bunch of bunting babies in my store - they are sooo totally cute!

PPS: Still looking for more people to feature on mondays!

15 day "five a day" challenge

2011-03-10T01:48:00.001+01:00

I've been extremely bad with blogging regularly for a couple of weeks now, so in a desperate attempt to change that, I decided to jump on the 15-DAY 5 CHALLENGE - Bandwagon. I ran across this HERE. My goal is to post something every day - it's going to be a post like this unless I post something else. Enjoy!

15-DAY 5 CHALLENGE
5 basic facts about you 
5 not-so-basic facts about you 
5 ways you break the ice 
5 signs that you’re into someone 
5 signs that you’re NOT into someone 
5 things you do when you’re bored 
5 things that make you hyper 
5 things you’re known for 
5 things you want to do 
5 things you’ll never do 
5 good things about you 
5 bad things about you 
5 ways to make you cry 
5 ways to win your heart 
5 things you need to say

I could totally survive on green tea, lemon sorbet and greek salad - at least in summer
I used to play left guard in an all girls american football team until I hurt my ankle and spent all summer in a cast...
I hate being late
I'm 5'4"
My Middle name is Verena, not Veelana - but it's where the "Vee" comes from

Thats that from me right now - feel free to do the challenge yourself! If you do, drop me a link, please, I will link you up. This should be a fun way to get to know eachother!

Vee

PS: I finally have a new doll at my store - I have no idea why it took me so long...

Team Umizoomi, ready for action!

2011-03-08T14:38:00.000+01:00

When we heard about the "Faschingsfeier" (= Mardi Gras Party) in Dorians Kindergarden, Dorian and I ran into a bit of a problem. Toy weapons where not allowed, and he didn't want to be a knight without a sword or Darth Vader without his lightsaber. Tthat left us with a somewhat limited selection of boy costumes...
After a lot of thinking it over, we finally agreed on "Geo". He's a tiny superhero in one of Dorians favourite TV shows, Team Umizoomi. Its on Nickelodeon and really cute - look it up!
Anyway, I thought I'd post about the making of this costume :-)

this is what I'm trying to make. Cute little superhero, right?

I started with some very soft velour fabric in blue and cut the parts that I need for the costume. I used a pair of well fitting pants and just traced it onto the fabric. The sweater was a bit harder, but not much. I again used a sweater to trace the parts I needed onto my fabric.
I sewed it up real quick - there are only straight and easy seams...
The only trouble I ran into was when I tried to hem the Arms and legs and forgot to remember to swtitch to a zig-zag stitch to keep the seams stretchy...
I finished the hood with a double layer of orange fabric.all the way around the opening.

After a bit of thinking I came up with a fairly simple way to make the belt:
I cut the parts out of very sturdy cardboard (a box that Pampers came in) and painted them with acrylic paint. Here's what they looked like after aplying the first coat of paint - I painted it twice more.
I cut out some shapes (squares, triangles and circles) and assembled the belt with adhesive film to protect the paint and to smoothe over any rough edges.

I stuck the shapes on with regular tape afterwards.

Dorian loves his costume - and the pants I made fit so nicely, he'll wear them as lounge pants :-)

If I had the time I would totally make a matching Milli costume for Lilith!

Silent saturday

2011-02-26T08:47:00.000+01:00

This is completely embarrassing...

2011-02-22T00:00:00.001+01:00

I've told you already that I'm a complete nerd, right? So I took the Star Trek personality test and it came up with this. I honestly don't know if getting Troy is better than being a redshirt or worse...

You are Deanna Troi

Deanna Troi		80%
An Expendable Character (Redshirt)		70%
Beverly Crusher		65%
Geordi LaForge		65%
James T. Kirk (Captain)		55%
Mr. Sulu		55%
Will Riker		55%
Spock		50%
Uhura		50%
Chekov		45%
Worf		45%
Jean-Luc Picard		40%
Leonard McCoy (Bones)		35%
Mr. Scott		35%
Data		31%

You are a caring and loving individual.
You understand people's emotions and
you are able to comfort and counsel them.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Test

Monday Makers: Art of Felt

2011-02-21T11:17:00.001+01:00

Today I have the pleasure to introduce you to the lovely Daria of "Art of felting" who shares with us some wonderfully inspiring stories! Enjoy! And if you want to be featured here, please click HERE and read the post - it's easy!

Hello and welcome to my Monday Makers Series! Can you tell me a little bit about you?
Hello there,
my name is Daria and I am a mother to three adorable girls ages 2,4 and 6. The eldest, Shulamith, goes to a Waldorf school and the four year, Abigail, old goes to a Waldorf kindergarten. Jael, spends her day with me at home.
I was born in Belarus, and when I finished school I decided to study biology. as I graduated, I got a research job at a lab, but somehow felt it wasn't what I was meant to do. However I found that those years where well spent, as I use the knowledge I acquired in my studies everyday when making felted animals. I recommend for any artist who wants his or her art to appear lifelike to study the anatomy of those creatures, as the understanding shows through your work.

How did you start creating your beautiful felted works of art?
Art was always a big part of my life, even in my years at the lab, if I wasn't painting I was sculpting or working with clay to express my self in different artistic mediums.
I was introduced to the world of felting through the Waldorf community. The kindergarten did not allow store bought toys so I made her one, then another one. Next thing you know I was making all her friends toys too. Little by little it became not only a hobby, but also a business.

Where can I buy your creations?
http://www.etsy.com/shop/darialvovsky

Can you tell us a little bit more about your art?

I have two main themes in my work.
One is making of the felted animals which i love, and the other the Waldorf sculptures and tapestries. It all began in a hot Russian summer at my grandfathers home, It was the first time I had returned there after many many years and the strongest impression I had was that the garden of my childhood was gone. My memory did not resemble at the least what I saw in front of me. Not only did the garden appear much smaller, the colors where different. Even the air was not the right density, it felt as if i was standing in two worlds, the one in my memory and the one in reality. It was a parallel universe, a different continent. It felt like it was a low budget film trying, unsuccessfully to shoot a scene of my childhoods memory.
This got me thinking. My children are seeing different colors, smelling different smells then I had smelled as a child. I looked at the games they where given as presents. Regular games that can be bought at any store. Educational. Plastic. Instructive, Trying to set the children on their way of becoming whoever it was they where supposed to become, robbing them of their present, rushing them into the menacing future.
I literally felt the creeping of goosebumps all over me. I saw then the beauty in the whole Waldorf idea. The soft colors, the calm radiating from these toys. Those toys where like a good book, taking you hand in hand halfway through the world of imagination, instructing you to use your mind, and take the rest of the trip by yourself filling in the blanks, the back story. The faces.
I was hooked. That day was a turning point for me, and ever since I am part of the Waldorf world.

Do you want to offer a promo code/give away something to the blog readers?
I would love to offer a promo code "Veelana" for %5 discount.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all my questions!
I'm still looking for people to feature in this space - contact me here or on etsy if you're interested!

Vee

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve: Disney world 2010, part 4

2011-02-20T08:36:00.000+01:00

This is it! the last part of our WDW vacation 2010 - and I'm so glad I finally took the time to write it all down! You can go and read the first three parts here:
Part 1 part 2 part 3 have fun reading this!

Click to view day fourteen album

Dec. 5th: Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo!
We had the most delicious breakfast at Wolfgang Puck Express and spent the morning in Downtown Disney. We did some shopping, the kids wanted to go to Disney Quest one more time and we played our favourite video games.
We went back for a mid afternoon nap (most of us - chris went to the parks again), and when we wanted to go out for the night again, something really cool happened.
Our hotel had this gigantic Christmas tree in the lobby. Every evening one kid got to light the tree with a magic wand - and today Dorian was picked! (that only works if you define "picked" as: "mom went there early to ask them if they could pick him and got on the hotel staffs nerves until they did")
Dorian got very, very nervous. He told me that he didn't know if he could do it...
He did very well! We yelled "Bibbity-bobbity-boo" as he was told and the lights went on. Very cool!
We ended up not going out anymore, just played at the arcade for a bit.

click to view day fifteen album

Dec. 6th: Pizza Planet, here we come!
Dorian really wanted to do the Jedi training again before we left Disney World, so we headed to the Disney Studios. We got in an hour early because they had the extra magic hour that day and I headed right to the Jedi training area with Dorian, while Chris and Lilith got us fast passes for the Midway Mania (Toy Story) ride. We just had time to see clubhouse Disney again and I tried to get onto the rock n roller coaster but it was closed. Dorian did a great job with the Jedi training! To celebrate, we went to Pizza Planet for lunch and I finally got some salads! I love having a salad with my meals, I had Idea how much I missed it!
We went back to the hotel for a nap and headed back out in the evening - and while everyone was sleeping I had a quick dip at blizzard beach. Sliding is soooo much fun!
The magic kingdom was next on our list and we got to see space mountain with the lights on, I think they had to fix something - very cool! and we saw "Wishes" again which was just as awesome as last time.

Interlude: Strollers
Just in case anyone is wondering why there is no stroller in any of our pictures - we didn't have one. We did originally plan to buy a cheap stroller for our vacation, but we didn't find what we where looking for right away and did our first day in the Hollywood Studios without one and it worked great! Our kids are used to riding on mom and dads shoulders and we never had to deal with stroller parking.
I have to say that I never once missed the stroller, but there where plenty of times where I was really happy that I didn't have to deal with one, especially when we were in a crowd...

Click to view day sixteen album

Dec. 7th: We need a break!
After having a late night, we just stayed in bed for a while. Chris went out early in the morning and we planned to meet up for lunch at Wolfgang Puck express again. The food was delicious and Dorian got to go to Disney Quest with his dad one last time. I had time to pack in the afternoon when I was back at the hotel with Lilith and I had plans to head out right after glee again that night for one last shopping trip.
Chris brought Dorian back to the hotel and headed out again to Epcot. I planned to put the kids to bed before glee started, but it didn't work that way - Dorian was asleep after his head hit the pillow, but Lilith refused to cooperate. We ended up watching "glee" together - and she fell asleep about three seconds after the episode was over...
I used the rest of our snack credits to buy candy at Goofy's candy shoppe and had dinner at "Earl of sandwich" - and the best ice tea lemonade EVER...

Click to view day seventeen album

Dec. 8th: going home
We spent the last day of our vacation in the magic Kingdom, doing all of our favourite rides one last time (or three times in the case of Dorian and the Peter Pan ride) and went on a ridiculous spending spree at the main street bakery with our last meal credits. We got three pastries for each credit and I think we had about 12 or 15 credits left - yes, we had a whole suitcase full of food on our way home. The cinnamon buns are sooooo awesome...
Dorian ate a whole ice cream sandwich - two gigantic freshly baked cookies with about two inch of vanilla ice cream in between - and I think he only got hungry after we were back home about a day later...
Our flight back to Frankfurt was uneventful but cramped - they where looking for volunteers that would take the plane on the next day. We volunteered (800$ cash per ticket, a nice hotel room and an additional day of vacation are pretty strong pro arguments), but we ended up on that flight anyway...
We couldn't get onto our plane in Frankfurt as we planned becausebecause they were backed up for days.
Going home by train had its advantages - the airline transported our bags :-)

That's it! There will be an epilogue post next week with some stuff I forgot to mention or that just didn't fit anywhere, but you made it to the end ouf our vacation! Thank you so much for reading all of this - the last couple of days were pretty hard to do, I waited a tad too long...

Silent saturday

2011-02-19T08:11:00.001+01:00

15 day "five a day" challenge

2011-02-19T00:58:00.000+01:00

I've been extremely bad with blogging regularly for a couple of weeks now, so in a desperate attempt to change that, I decided to jump on the 15-DAY 5 CHALLENGE - Bandwagon. I ran across this HERE. My goal is to post something every day - it's going to be a post like this unless I post something else. Enjoy!

15-DAY 5 CHALLENGE
5 basic facts about you 
5 not-so-basic facts about you 
5 ways you break the ice 
5 signs that you’re into someone 
5 signs that you’re NOT into someone 
5 things you do when you’re bored 
5 things that make you hyper 
5 things you’re known for 
5 things you want to do 
5 things you’ll never do 
5 good things about you 
5 bad things about you 
5 ways to make you cry 
5 ways to win your heart 
5 things you need to say

I'm married with children :-)
I'm currently trying to get my etsy shop noticed
I'm now officially a grown up Hobbit - I'm 33 years old
I love books, boardgames and Music
I'm a stay at home mom right now

Thats that from me right now - feel free to do the challenge yourself! If you do, drop me a link, please, I will link you up. This should be a fun way to get to know eachother!

Vee

PS: I finally have a new doll at my store - I have no idea why it took me so long...

Monday Makers: BabyfishDesigns

2011-02-07T09:19:00.000+01:00

As part of my new Monday Makers Series I had the pleasure to interview Gina from BabyfishDesigns, who makes, among other things, extremely cute and sweet waldorf doll zip up hoodies. She lets us take a little peak into her exhausting day and even has a coupon for you, if you read all the way to the end!

Vee: Hello there! Its great that you found the time for this interview! Can you tell me a bit about you?
Hi! My name is Gina and I'm a SAHM of three littles with another one joining us in late April. My hubs and I have been married for 7 years and we have so much fun together! I've been selling OOAK clothing at BFD's for probably 7 or 8 months now and it's been an amazing and incredible ride! I make OOAK upcycled kids and doll clothing, and hope to start offering adult pieces soon as well. I LOVE all my amazing customers and getting to know them and their children (and dolls! lol) has been so much fun.

I want to see more! Where can I buy your creations?
My etsy shop: www.babyfishdesigns.etsy.com, but you can also see all my work, including customs on my facebook page, www.facebook.com/babyfishdesigns

What does your day look like?
Well, since I have such small children (my oldest is only 4) and we homeschool I don't have as much sewing time as a lot of other shop owners but I make do! :) I generally try to get up around 5:30 and read my Bible, catch up on shipping and facebook and convos and then if I have something I'm behind on I try to get it done before everyone else gets up around 7. Then breakfast and getting the hubs off to work at 8. From 8 to 8:45 the kids have free time and I try to do some cleaning then from 8:45 to 9 they have to clean up any of their stuff and get dressed and we start school at 9. We usually do some sort of craft or painting or something around 10:30 or 11 and then my husband comes home for lunch at 12. In the afternoons the kids all lay down for naps and this is when I do most of my sewing. I try to save the evenings to spend time with Tim (my husband) but if I'm behind or have a deadline I do sometimes sew some more after the kids are in bed, or sometimes even after Tim goes to bed! Phew! Anyone want some more coffee?!?! LOL!!!

Do you have any tips for other artisans/crafters?
My biggest tip would be to only do it if you LOVE it, and MOST importantly, make sure you still have time to make art/creations simply for the joy of it...just for yourself or you'll get burned out.

Do you do custom work?
I love customs! In fact the majority of my work is custom orders. I just wanted to encourage people to look through my albums on Facebook or my sold items on etsy. I frequently don't have enough time to keep my shop stocked with RTG items. Also I LOVE doing customs with YOUR old shirts. There are few things quite as special as seeing your little one in a cute outfit made from your old clothes.

Do you want to offer a promo code/give away something to the blog readers?
They can use the code veelana10 for 10% off any RTG item, or I'll give a $7 discount for any custom orders using your shirts (the discount is usually $5.)

Thank you so much for answering so many Questions!
If you love her Doll clothing but don't have a waldorf doll to put them on, check out my etsy shop and find the right one for yourself and your kids. Feel free to contact me for any custom work, too!

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve: Disneyworld 2010, part 3

2011-02-06T08:20:00.047+01:00

hey there,
This is the three part of our Walt Disney World vacation, and there are going to be four parts, and then maybe a post with some of the things that didn't really fit anywhere else. You can go back and read part one and part two. This weeks post covers the first four days of December and a praise to Disney's guest relations and lost and found services. Enjoy!

Click to view day ten album

Dec. 1st: Wishes
December 1st found us at Disney Downtown in the morning - we got most of our shopping done at World of Disney (I got a very cool hat!) and we went to Wolfgang Puck Express for lunch - they took our dining credits :-) It was so nice to eat off real plates again and to use cutlery that wasn't made of plastic.
The kids (and of course, us) played for a couple of hours at Disney Quest and went back to the hotel for a nap. We actually had plans for the night for once...
We made it to the magic Kingdom with a bit of time to spare before the Parade - we looked at the character houses in Toontown and Dorian took his first ride on a roller coaster, Goofy's barnstormer. We found a great spot in front of the castle for the Electrical Parade, next to THE sweetest gay couple I've ever seen. One of the guys used to work at WDW and we got talking - he was at the lost children department and told us a bit about the inner workings.
The kids were completely mesmerised by the parade and I loved it, too - just the music got a bit annoying after the tenth repetition...
We saw the "Wishes" firework at 8 pm and this is by far the best firework I've seen in my life. I love the way this is set to music, just perfect.

Click to view day eleven album

Dec. 2nd: Some thing's missing
Let me say this up front: I'm not very proud of my reaction, 'kay? And I used to think that I keep my head in an emergency...
The day started off nice enough - we made it in time to the magic kingdom to get in early with the extra magic hour. Only when we got to the entrance I noticed that my wallet was gone. I knew I'd had it when we where at the hotel because I used my key card to pay for breakfast, so there was no chance that I had accidentally left it in our room. I started panicking, Chris went back to check if I'd lost it on the way to the bus and I got in line at the guest relations counter - I knew that I'd have to cancel my credit card if the wallet didn't show up right away.
Chris went into the park with Dorian and we agreed on a meeting point.
After that, I pretty much went to pieces. I started crying, and everyone in the queue was so nice to me! One lady even gave me 20$ so I could enjoy the rest of my vacation. I didn't want to take it, but she just stuffed it in Lilith's pocket.
Guest relations helped me sort out the credit card and key card mess and got me a day pass for WDW so I could go in and join my husband and son. We had a nice enough time at the magic Kingdom - we finally had that pineapple float everybody is talking about - and went back to the hotel for a nap. We headed out pretty late to go to Epcot in the evening to see the illuminations. It was really impressive, but the Wishes are still my favourite firework. The sidewalk and fountain lightart in Epcot is stunning. I've never seen anything like that...

Interlude: Guest relations and Lost and Found at WDW
If you can't live without the experience of having your wallet stolen, do it at WDW ;-) The guy at Guest relations went out of his way to help me cancel my credit card and ATM card, he even called my austrian bank to do so.
My wallet was found the next day (minus credit card and room key) - I'm so glad that I didn't have to retake my drivers licence!
As nice as everybody was, I still don't recommend it :-)

Click to view day twelve album

Dec. 3rd: Animal Kingdom
The kids had been so great the last couple of days and everything had worked so well that we ignored the feeling that it was time for another rest day. That was not the smartest plan...
The kids where pretty grumpy for most of the day, but we managed OK after a while. The Safari was great and the kids loved seing the animals - the jungle trail was pretty impressive, too!
We had the most fattening breakfast EVER in animal Kingdom. The muffin and chocolate shake where so rich, we shared them four ways and the kids didn't want to eat the chocolate lolipop that came with it afterwards...
We had fun banging the drums, we went to the lion king show where we learned that giraffes go "baaaa" like sheep and I got to ride the Expedition Everest coaster while Chris went to see the Nemo show with the kids. We ended up on the playground, where the kids finally started having fun - and I had a chance to go see the bugs life show inside the tree of life.
I love the look of Animal Kingdom - theres such an incredible amount of detail! The kids didn't really dig that park too much, but there wasn't so much for them to do.

I went back to Epcot after the kids were in bed. I skipped the Illuminations this time, got some chinese food and went on Mission Space six times in a row. So Much FUN!

Click to view day thirteen album

Dec. 4th: Pause and unwind
After a somewhat stressful day at Animal Kingdom the day before, Chris took off by himself to the Hollywood studios and Blizzard Beach. We met for lunch at the earl of sandwitch and I went to the JoAnn store a bit later where I spent the 20$ the nice lady gave to me :-) I would probably have spent 100$ or more if I'd had them...
I got a great set of pretty tissue paper that I want to use for my window stars and a box of mini candy canes :-)
I really wanted to make it in time for the christmas tree lighting at the hotel, but we ended up being a couple of minutes late.

So much for the third part of our Florida adventure - the next part will be up next sunday!

Silent saturday

2011-02-05T08:28:00.006+01:00

Monday Makers: CraftsWithHeart

2011-01-31T10:00:00.001+01:00

Hello everyone,
Its Monday - time for another feature! This week I had a chance to talk to the lovely Diane of CraftsWithHeart who shares some behind the scenes info with us! If you read all the way to the end, there's a little surprise waiting for you!

Vee: Hello there! Its great that you found the time for this interview! Can you tell me a bit about you?
My Etsy shop is CraftsWithHeart which is filled with top-quality handmade fashions for Waldorf dolls in natural fabrics. I was featured in several Gymbofriends Treasury lists in 2010.
My Facebook site is Craftswithheart Dressler.
I have been sewing doll clothes for well over 20 years. I've progressed from Barbie, to Cabbage Patch, American Girl and Bitty Baby, to my current favorite love, the Waldorf dolls! I was encouraged to start sewing for these precious dolls by a terrific customer with four little girls after they gave up their Bitty Baby dolls in favor of Waldorfs. It was great advice!

This is great - where can I find your beautiful work?
My etsy shop is here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CraftsWithHeart
And here is my facebook page: Craftswithheart Dressler

What does your day look like?
I have not held a day job since I left my administrative assistant position 24 years ago when we had our first son. We then had another son and I have always been a stay-at-home mom with sewing as my past time, passion and passport to the world of little girls. Both of our sons are engaged to be married this year, so maybe I'll be blessed with a granddaughter some day.
My days start late, i.e., I really don't do mornings; and end late, often 2 or 3 a.m. After getting up, I go out for a little air and some lunch, run a few errands, and then it's sewing the rest of the day and evening. This holds pretty true for all seven days of the week.

Do you have any Tips that you want to share with other artists?
My tips would be to enjoy what you are doing and enjoy the interaction with your customers. Stay current in your area of expertise. A Facebook page for your business and activity on Facebook pages related to your area are probably the best ways to be “found”. Don't get discouraged. It's amazing what even one sale can do for your enthusiasm. Photography is my weakness, and I hope to improve there. It really is as important as we always hear from the well-schooled Etsians.

Do you want to offer a discount for our lovely readers?
I'd like to offer a 25% discount for the month of February for any order generated from this blog. The buyer should indicate "Veelana" when they purchase and WAIT for the discounted invoice I'll send to their email address.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! I really like doing these features - if you, or someone you know should be a Monday Maker on this blog, contact me! I would love to talk to you!

Vee

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve: Disney world 2010, part 2

2011-01-30T11:12:00.000+01:00

Hello there,
here is the second part of our vacation, where we moved to our Disney hotel and the total Disney immersion begins...
You can go back and read the first part here Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve: Disney world 2010 part 1

Nov. 27th: Jedi training

click to view day six album

after a last breakfast at our old hotel very early in the morning, we went to the POP century hotel to get our "key to the world" cards. We got a room all the way in the back of the 80s building, which is a good 10 minutes walk from the entrance, food court and bus station. And we really didn't want to walk that much with tired children in the evening...
Not that I mind walking - we did a lot of walking! We just didn't want to do this on top of everything. The hotel staff was very nice about it and promised us a better room the next day, when the thanksgiving crowd left - and they would even take care of our luggage.
So, after checking in and taking our key cards we used the shuttle bus to the Hollywood Studios. We had originally planned to just walk around and take in the sights, since this was going to be a day with a high crowd level. We really didn't expect it, but there were still spots available in the Jedi training academy! Of course Dorian wanted to go. we got a spot for later that morning and went on to do some other things that weren't too crowded. The kids loved the clubhouse Disney show and we spent our first dining credit on a sandwich, chips, muffin and bottled water deal which kept us fed for the next part of the day. We realized that eating all the food we'd get would be a big challenge...

Dorian got very intense about the Jedi training. He got scared at first ("mom, I don't want to, I don't think I can beat Darth Vader") and then he had to go to the bathroom (again!) because he got so excited - and he did so well! He fought Darth Maul and actually poked him in the foot...

We had planned to go back to the hotel for a late nap, but since the kids were still really happy, we decided against it and instead watched the BlockPartyBash parade (kind of an idealized love parade), did the lights and sounds movie tour, saw Kermit and Miss Piggy in 3D and stayed long enough to watch the Osborne Family Lights dance. I was absolutely overwhelmed! There was even fake snow - at a temperature of 25°C...

Needless to say that we fell asleep as soon as we hit our pillows.

click to view day seven album

Nov. 28th: M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E
We actually managed to be in front of the Magic Kingdom for the opening ceremony - we saw Mickey and his friends arrive with the Train, all the dancing and the kids loved it! (We did, too :-)) While I enjoyed the rides Dorian is still too short for (most of them, actually - he's just short of the 40" that are necessary) and got wet on Splash mountain, Chris went to the country bear jamboree with the kids. They started their pin trading adventure and Dorian initiated his first English conversation with a staff member ("where is woody? Where is Jesse?") we finally got to meet some characters (Mary Poppins was really good - She even had a British accent!) and went back to the hotel in the late afternoon - just in time to test the swimming pool before bedtime.

We made a big mistake that day - we buckled when the kids wanted to get a lollipop. We never buy them stuff like that - but since we were on vacation and it was included in the meal plan we figured it would probably be OK. NO. They ended up fighting over that fragging thing, Lilith ate about a third of it by chewing it off, she put the lolly in my hair whenever she sat on my shoulders and drizzled red food coloring, sugar and spit on herself and me. And she wasn't allowed to hug winnie the poo. Well, she could have hugged him, but she would have needed to give the sugary treat to someone else (that thing simply wasn't allowed anywhere near a characters clothing) and she was not willing to do that.
I had to wash about an inch of sugar from my hair after that...

Interlude: A word about dining credits
since we went to WDW during the off season, we got a nice deal at the hotel - they gave us the quick service dining plan for free! We had no idea if this would be a lot of food or very little, but we found out as soon as we bought the first meal that it would be near impossible to eat all of it. The quick service dining plan entitled us to two meals (main course, drink and dessert) and two snacks per person over the age of three. So we had to eat six meal credits and six snacks every day. We managed about half of that. (but we brought our own bottled water)

Nov. 29th: A day off

click to view day eight album

Chris got up really early to hit the parks alone - Dorian had a pretty bad cough and I wanted us to take a day off. So I stayed at the hotel, walking around, checking out the shop and generally lazing around. The kids loved the change of pace and Chris got to go on all the wild rides - he did three of the four parks in one day.

Once the kids where asleep, we switched places. My husband stayed with the kids and I want to the magic Kingdom. So much fun! I did space mountain and Buzz lightyear and I had dinner without anyone stealing my fries! The veggie burger in tomorrowland is excellent! Can you tell that I haven't had a night out in a while?

Click to view day nine album

Nov. 30th: Epcot
I didn't think that Epcot had that much to offer for little kids , but I didn't account for the Innovations! exhibits. The kids loved it there - and I got the chance to do Soarin', test track and Mission Space while Chris waited in line to meet Mickey, Donald, Pluto, Goofy and Minnie. We did the little boat tour together and saw some amazing hydroponic plants and a couple of hidden Mickeys. I got the kids back just in time for dinner - and we all watched "glee" cuddling in our hotel bed.
The kids were doing so well so far, we really didn't want to push them too hard. It was good to have so much time - we saw WDW at our own pace and we had no pressure. Resting days where so important - and going home early wasn't a problem either.

Thank you so much for coming here! The next part will be up next sunday - hopefully :-)
Vee

Silent saturday

2011-01-29T08:27:00.005+01:00

Top Ten Tuesday

2011-01-25T08:50:00.028+01:00

Hello There,
as most people who know me in RL know, I am a regular bookworm. When I was 15 I went through 8-10 Books per week. I started reading english books to slow down a bit, but that doesn't work anymore...
Having kids takes care of that, though - and running an online store, too :-) Anyway, here are 10 books I really recommend - in no particular order:

Dave Duncan: A man of his word (a very awesome series about a stableboy who does everything in his power to save his queen - because he promised, with an equaly awesome prequel series)
George R.R. Martin: A game of thrones (This is the most stunning and complex piece of historic fantasy I've ever read. It is incredible!)
Patrick Rothfuss: The Kingkiller Chronicles (So far, only the first part is out, but the second part is on its way)
J.R.R. Tolkien: Lord of the Rings (Do I really need a Reason?)
Susan Cooper: The Dark Is Rising sequence (I think this was one of the first fantasy books I've ever read - and its a sweet not quite young adult series of five novels about children in our world who have to discover old treasures to fight off the dark)
Robert A. Heinlein: Stranger in a strange world (I would actually recommend reading all of his work, but thats my favourite!)
Joe Haldeman: The long Habit of living
Terry Pratchett (with Neil Gaiman): Good Omens (I highly recommend all of Pratchetts discworld novels, too, but this one is one of the most hillarious books I know)
Orson Scott Card: Speaker of the Dead (this is actually a sequel to Enders Game, but I preferred it - not as many tortured children. I don't subscribe to Cards religious, social and political views, but most of his books are awesome anyway)
Frank Herbert: Dune (Its a classic. 'Nuff said)

Monday Makers: QuietudeQuilts

2011-01-24T08:11:00.047+01:00

Time for another feature! Today Kelsey from QuietudeQuilts talks about her work andtells us some behind the scenes stories!

QuietudeQuilts

Vee: Hello there! Its great that you found the time for this interview! Can you tell me a bit about you?
My husband Jonathan makes all the beautiful doll furniture for Quietude Quilts, and I (Kelsey) create all the doll quilts and other sewn items. We both work full time Boston, Jonathan is a structural engineer, and I teach and work at a college, and sewing and woodworking are favorite hobbies. After we got married two years ago and I first had a living room that was all my own and not shared with roommates, I started quilting right away. The first year I made several large quilts for gifts for family members and friends, and last January we started Quietude Quilts, which developed into primarily a doll bedding accessory shop within our first few months.

Your Doll Quilts are very cool, how did you get into that?
I was always drawn to quilts while growing up because both of my grandmothers were quilters, and one even did all her patchwork by hand. I machine piece and quilt, but do enjoy the handwork of stitching the binding edges of my quilts. I made a couple doll quilts for the fun of finishing a smaller project, then discovered how much moms and their daughters (and sons!) love cute bedding for their dolls. My husband’s aunt first commissioned him to make a doll bed for his cousin, and we’ve made and mailed hundreds of doll beds since, all across the United States and Canada, and even as far as Hong Kong. We’ve also really enjoyed entering the market of newborn photography props and love the beautiful photos we receive back from professional photographers (some of which can be seen on our facebook page).

This is great - where can I find your beautiful work?
here is our etsy shop: www.QuietudeQuilts.etsy.com
you can follow us on facebook: www.facebook.com/QuietudeQuilts

What does your day look like?
We both work full time, so our craft time is in the evenings and weekends. After work I complete and package anything ordered the previous day, then work on new doll bedding sets and with new fabric. I quilt many doll quilts at once in a very full day every few weeks, so I’m daily I’m usually making ruffle pillow shams, throw pillows, and pillow inserts to accompany the quilts, hand binding doll quilts, or designing new bedding accessories. We accept custom orders as well which often inspire new items for our shop. Jonathan spends a few hours several times a week crafting doll beds and making custom photographer prop beds. On Thursdays we package up each week’s doll beds for mailing on Fridays. I love sewing every day and get restless if I don’t have a chance to!

Do you have any tips for other artisans/crafters?
We’ve learned so much from our customers, so be sure to really pay attention to what your target customers like and are looking for. We didn’t anticipate or plan that Quietude Quilts would become a doll shop but really followed our customers and our talents and capabilities, and are so happily surprised with the results and love the many friends we’ve made in our first year. Thank you so much, everyone, for your support!

Do you want to offer a promo code/give away something to the blog readers?
Your readers can enjoy coupon code VEELANA0211 for 10% off their first purchase of quilts or bedding at www.QuietudeQuilts.etsy.com. Beds are excluded and the coupon expires 2/28/11. Thank you!

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all these questions! If you need a doll to sleep under those fantastic quilts, take a look at my store, I'm sure you'll find something!

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve

2011-01-23T09:23:00.002+01:00

Hello there,
you might have read that w all went to Disney world for our vacation late November/early December. I have promised to post pictures for a while now - here is part I with a recap of the first part of our vacation.

Nov. 22nd: Travel day
the kids were absolutely awesome - we had about 20 hours of air travel/transfers and we Lilith whined for about 20min when she was tired and couldn't go to sleep. That was IT! I brought a bunch of toys and coloring books and whatnot, but it wasn't necessary - the airline (I highly recommend Lufthansa if you travel with kids!) provided us with tons of things to do for the kids, they brought us candy and the kids could watch cartoons. Still - I was really impressed!

Click to wiew day two album

Nov, 23rd: Jet Lag
We kept the kids up in the evening to get them to sleep a bit longer and it somewhat worked - Lilith woke up at 4 am. which is pretty good considering that this would be ten o' clock for her in our own timezone. I got up with her and we ended up watching cartoons. Dorian joined us a couple of hours later - we let Chris sleep in a little. We all felt pretty tired that day, so we ended up just doing some grocery shopping and hanging out at the hotel pool.
We tried to find a nice, regular Mall to get some shopping done, but the Mall we ended up in was by far too expensive for our taste. The second mall we found made a dumpster look organized and friendly, so we didn't really shop there either.
The biggest surprise of the day was the breakfast. Our kids are fairly picky when it comes to food - we didn't really expect them to eat a lot on the first couple of days until they got really hungry. But they ate EVERYTHING that was available there. Eggs, sausage, waffles, cereal - Dorian even drank OJ, something he never does at home! I think we where almost able to roll them to our room!

Nov 24th: Downtown Disney

Click to view day three album

We decided to get our Disney tickets today, so we went to Downtown Disney. Dorian was in a pretty bad mood - until we got to the world of Disney store. After browsing through a room full of Star Wars and Toy Story Merchandise for over two hours (Chris got the tickets in the meantime), he was totally fine and in the mood for some adventures (of course, he didn't really want to leave the store...). We played at the LEGO shop for a while and ended up going to Disney Quest. We had fun there, but weren't too excited about coming back and wanted to leave fairly early. Luckily a cast member showed us the way to the fourth floor that we had missed before for some reason. And the fourth floor is where they have the Kids arcade... Dorian and Lilith would have stayed there for hours...

Click to view day four album

Nov. 25th: Thanksgiving
Apparently going swimming isn't a thanksgiving tradition - we had Blizzard Beach almost to ourselves when we went there. The Kids loved going on the kiddie slides and Dorian even went on one for grown ups, too - we had a great time! A lot of people told us that our kids would still be too small to enjoy WDW - But I have to say that there's a lot of stuff that you simply don't see or do without little kids. The Kiddie pool at Blizzard Beach is absolutely amazing!

We went to Whole Foods to get some Turkey&Stuffing and were surprised that they closed at 3pm - and we arrived at 2:45, just in time to get what was left over. We had dinner back at the hotel and watched football - but my husband claimed that my turkey tasted better :-)

Nov. 26th: Black Friday

click to view day five album

We had heard about Black Friday back home and we were glad that we'd have a chance to experience it close up. Chris got up sometime before 6am - but he was way too late for the great offers! We went to the Florida Mall, that we finally found and admired the sleeping people all around that had been shopping for hours already. We took advantage of some great offers (50% off at baby gap, 20% off at the Disney store) bought tons of things and went back to Bubbalous Bodacious Barbecue. This is one of those places where the iced tea is the only vegetarian choice...

I'll be back with more vacation fun next Sunday!
Vee

Silent saturday

2011-01-22T08:22:00.004+01:00

Etsy changed its policy - is that a good thing?

2011-01-19T10:00:00.109+01:00

The change in etsys policy has launched a big debate on the blogpost it was released with. It seams to be a "I don't want to be offended" vs. "Artistic Freedom" discussion - and since I love to add my five cent to pretty much everything, I thought I might as well do it here on my blog :-)

Disclaimer:
I love the internet. I am a complete sucker for freedom of expression and speach and I have a fairly accepting sense of humor, so please keep this in mind while reading. I am not here to offend anyone, I just cant keep my mouth from running away with me :-)

Let's all be friends!

So, after a lot of bad publicity etsy got for having someone sell "hateful and demeaning" cards, it was decided that the policy needed to be changed - especially the section with the prohibited items. To me, it is fairly clear that etsy had to do something to keep a lot of people from leaving or boykoting etsy, and they have every right to do so. Its a privately owned company, if they only want to allow art made by lefthanded people, they can change their policy so everything has to be made with the left hand - it has nothing to do with constitutional rights AT ALL.
They didn't do that. Here is a quote from the original article:

For those of you who don't want to read the full text of the policies, I'll summarize the big changes. We no longer allow items or listings that promote, support or glorify hatred toward or otherwise demean people based upon race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, disability, or sexual orientation; including items or content that promote organizations with such views.

We also looked at our policies around violence and illegal activity and we have revised those, too. The revised policy now prohibits items or listings that promote or support illegal activity or instruct others to engage in illegal activity and items or listings that promote, support or glorify acts of violence or harm towards self or others.

Sounds good, right? I mean, nobody wants to be bombarded with hateful craft when they open up their browser. And Kids could see that stuff, too! So lets just remove everything that is demeaning and we're all set, aren't we awesome? Etsy should be a place where people feel welcome, a place to sell nice handmade things...

But...

I picked a non-etsy seller on purpose

it's not that easy. It never is. The wording of this section is so vague that it can mean pretty much anything. And the slope they are getting on here is oh so slippery!
I looked at the shop that apparently started it all. You can buy weird greeting cards there that congratulate people to all kind of awkward situations - rape, death, AIDS, Down Syndrom and yes, they are pretty bad taste in my opinion. I have to admit that I actually laughed at some of them - A card that has two white guys shaking hands that reads "Congratulations, you're white" is hillarious. Its social criticism at its best and in no way racist - unless you plan to be offended anyway.

My main problem is that I have no clue where this ends. Can bacon be labled as offensive and demeaning to muslims? There is a website (not an etsy shop - I didn't want to use something that could be tagged as offensive...) that sells absolutely hillarious "Feet for Jesus-fish" - you can stick them to other peoples cars. This is absolutely offensive to creationists - no question about it! But it's still funny...

I have no idea how this will play out - the TOU as they were weren't enforced much. Will it be any different now? I don't think so. I think this is a way for etsy to be able to ban any listings that give them bad press - and even if I don't like that, it simply had to be done. So, I don't like the changes that where made, but etsy had every right to do it and it was probably a necessary business-wise

Wow - I forgot how long winded I get if you let me! Thanks for sticking with me to the end of this rather long post!

Vee

Top Ten Tuesday

2011-01-18T08:53:00.000+01:00

I will share a top ten list on tuesdays - this week, I thought it would be fun to feature the top ten girls names in my country, Austria.

Lena
Leonie
Sarah
Anna
Julia
Sabrina
Melanie
Sophie
Laura
Magdalena

My first name is still vary high on the list and it has been in there for about 25 years A quarter of a century! Sarah was really out of fashion when my mom named me, I had a fairly unique name.
What about you? Are there any names on the list that you love/hate? Is your name on the top ten list?

Monday Makers: Looking for people to feature!

2011-01-17T08:35:00.000+01:00

Hello there,
in the past I have done a couple of features for some etsy teammates. I loved doing them and would like to do this as a regular thing. Now I'm looking for some people to feature on my Monday Makers Feature.

Who can get featured?

Almost anyone.
I want to focus on Children right now, so toymakers, dressmakers and all childrelated crafters/bloggers are on the top on my list
This blog is family friendly, so nothing too adult - but if you're selling or trying so sell something, you could be here.
Even if you don't sell anything - do you have a blog and something to say?
Are you a hobby crafter, a great scrapbooker - do you have a cause you're promoting?

Scary! Someone klimbed into my mothers apartment!

2011-01-16T23:15:00.001+01:00

My mom had a huge scare this morning! She just called me tonight - no idea why she didn't call earlier...
My mom lives in an old peoples home even though she still works - she said she wanted to move there when it's still her decicion.
She got up at 6am this morning because she couldn't sleep anymore, so she opened her bedroom window to let in some fresh air and went into the living room to play on her computer.
When she got tired again an hour or so later and she wanted to go back to bed - but she noticed something in the corner of her bedroom that wasn't supposed to be there - and then she noticed that it was a human that was hiding! In her fracking Bedroom! She went back to her livingroom, pressed her emergency button and started shrieking.

The guy got really scared, looked into her livingroom, saw my mom there and ran off - back the way he came, through the window. My mom ran off and locked the door - she wanted a nice, solid door between herself and that guy.
The police isn't even investigating - nothing was taken and the guy vanished - he only left a footprint on the windowsil...

As far as I can tell over the phone, my mom seems to be doing all right - she's now trying toget a second floor appartment in the same building.

send some nice thoughts her way, please? If you leave a comment here, I will send them to her. Her name is Barbara.
Vee

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve

2011-01-16T10:02:00.001+01:00

Every sunday I will try to talk about those little family moments, traditions or stories that I want to remember - just like a scrapbook! This week I looked out of the window and noticed that there's something I really miss...

Snow

Hello there,
We had the weirdest weather this winter so far. It got really cold at the end of november and we had tons of snow in december - right up until the 23rd when it got warm, started raining and on christmas eve, nothing was left but a couple of grey heaps of slush and a lot of little pebbles.

And now... Its the middle of january and we had 15°C yesterday. As much as I like being able to go out in a sweater instead of a coat, this also means I don't get to do or see any of this:

Catch snowflakes with my tounge and tell my kids to try to do the same
I love the taste of snow! I know there shouldn't be any taste to snow - after all, it's just water! - but there totally is! Same with icicles: If you are lucky enough to find a place where clean icicles form (I would definately not recommend eating the stuff that grows on the bottom of you car... *Uagh*), just lick an icicle to get taken back to your childhood...

Make snowangels
I don't know why I always do that - every time I make a snow angel, my jacket, sweater and shirt ride up far enough to to let a strip of naked skin hit the snow! It is soooo cold! But I still enjoy making them - and taking snow out of the back of your pants isn't all that bad if you know you'll be home soon and you have a dry pair of pants to look forward to!

See Vienna all clean and pretty
I know that most people hate snow in the city because of the way it looks after a couple of days, all grey and slushy - but I love the way the city looks when the snow is really fresh and white.

Make fake animal footprints in the snow with my son
so far I can fake birdprints with a twig, dog prints with my fingers, human baby footprints with my fist and traktor tracks with my feet. Do you have any more ideas?

Make a miniture snowman on our balcony
I love making an army of mini snowmen on our balcony - we give them colorful scarves and hats and they get spoons and forks - and when my son and husband make them, little painted sticks as lightsabers to fight each other...

Go tobbogganing
Living in Austria and not being able to downhill ski is something very, bery rare and almost frowned upon - I think it counts as a bit of a disability... Well, I don't ski. I've never learned it (not growing up in Austria may have played its part in that). My husband didn't go skiing in a very long time. But we love tobbogganing! And pulling the kids on their sleigh! Last year, my husband got to take Dorian on their Ski trip from work - and they took the sleigh and went down one of the coolestsledding hills I know - it takes about twenty minutes to go all the way down and you get to go up on the skilift, too!

Come home from playing in the snow
When we are all frozen and wet,we go home to a warm bath and a hot cup of cocoa - and then we all huddle together on the couch. Sometimes we watch a movie, sometimes we read books - that just depends on our mood.

What do you like or dislike about snow? Is there ritual for coming home in you family? I am going to try to make this blog more interactive this year - I would love to hear from you!

Silent saturday

2011-01-15T07:47:00.000+01:00

What will YOU do to increase the peace? A Question and a give-away...

2011-01-10T01:03:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone,
I have a question for you all. Dreaming Monet has posted a heart breaking/heart warming post today on her Blog. She challenges us to do a little thing to increase the peace on this planet - in your country, your city or maybe even just in your family. She also has a 50$ give away to her store :-)

So, here is what I want to do:
I want to make a quilt for a blind person. I have this Idea that I could use fabrics with different textures instead of colours to make it a thing of beauty.
I want to use knitted squares, fuzzy fabric, raicoat fabric, organza, fake fur - all the weird and fantastic stuff I love to buy and never really have any use for.
I want someone else to enjoy it - but I don't know many blind people...
And this is where I need YOUR help - do you know someone who would enjoy a quilt like that?
There are two things that I ask of you, though - leave a comment at this post and tell me what you will do to increase the peace and friendship on this planet. The winner will also be asked to help with the shipping charges, if its at all possible for them.

So, read the original post, think of something to do, post your comment and tell me about someone who deserves a quilt like that. The person does not have to be completely blind - if you can think of someone else who should have it, tell me so!

Vee

Ready for success in 2011!

2011-01-06T15:21:00.000+01:00

Happy (belated) new Year, everyone!
Here is a list of plans I have for this year:

Blog at least once a week
I will use 52 weeks of blogging as a starting point again, but I might not follow it completely. I love this book and most of the Blog prompts are absolutely fantastic, especiall if you have a bit of a writers block. But it was suggested that I might want to re-brand this blog into more of a family than a design blog, so...
*deep breath*
honestly, I have no idea what I should do with this blog. I actually like the mix I have on it right now - I will start again with my feature friday and the picture for silent saturday will be back, too. Other than that? I currently am a bit clueless as to what to write...

Do a scrapped project 365
I did really well with this last year, thanks to the fantastic stuff at weeds and wildflowers and somewhat good the year before. I will try to do a double sided LO every week with 7 pictures - I don't care if every day has its own or not. I will continue to take a picture of my family (with me in it, too!) every month. I treasure the ones I have and really want more!

Sell some Dolls
I will have a finacially rough year - so I really need to get this business going! My plans include online advertising, regional marketing (I did quite well on a local christkindlmarket) and lots and lots of cross promoting.

What are YOUR big plans for 2011?

Wow, I've been a bad, bad blogger!

2010-12-31T09:51:00.000+01:00

I hope everyone had peaceful holidays and a couple of days to relax - I have been insanely busy since we came back - I'm soooo sorry, I know I promised pictures...

here's one for you :-)

2010-11-19T21:39:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone,
We will be leaving for our vacation on monday - almost three weeks in florida! I will continue my usual schedule after I'm back - if I get the chance, I'll post about our vacation from our hotel room :-)

Silent saturday

2010-11-13T05:30:00.002+01:00

Feature Friday - Jessica Van Den and bespoke

2010-11-12T00:39:00.004+01:00

Featured Artisan today:

Jessica van Den

Until September 2008, Jessica Van Den wasn't crafty at all. That changed when she was given a novel about a woman who owned a yarn store in New York. It inspired her to start knitting - and it all went from there! She now works at her jewellery business and her blogs full-time, as well as launching *bespoke*

Please tell me more about *bespoke*

*bespoke* - a lovely little zine all about handmade, vintage, photography, art, micro-business, eco-friendly goodness and much more – all in a sweet little A5 sized package that you can take anywhere!

Issue 1 of *bespoke* features gorgeous photos and artwork; interviews with a number of successful full-time crafters - including a feature on those who use upcycled/recycled materials in their work; an interview with Liss Winnel from the blog Daydream Lily; a Summer Lovin' feature of handmade products; cherish - stories and photographs of cherished handmade and vintage items; vintage crafts - this issue it's macrame, and much more!

*bespoke* is for those who live and love a creative, crafty life - and especially for those who sell their craft as a hobby or business!

That sounds great! Where can I find it?

http://bespokezine.com/products-page

can I read your blog, follow you on twitter or like you on facebook?

http://facebook.com/bespokezine

http://EpheriellDesigns.com (blog)

http://twitter.com/jessvanden

How did you get the idea for your zine?

I love blogging, but I really wanted to create something tangible - and hence *bespoke* was born! A lot of folk are doing e-zines recently, but I wanted to make a print magazine that would last. When I put the idea out there, I was happily amazed by the positive response, and I ran with it!

What does your day look like?

Well, currently I work all day, every day, with the occasional ½ day off here and there. I’m a night-owl, so I tend to wake up around 9, and hop straight onto my computer – usually I’ll do this in bed, with my laptop, and my husband Nick will bring me a cup of tea. During this time, I’ll respond to any urgent e-mails; re-list items that have sold and send thank-you’s to my customers; check my blogs for stats and comments, catch up with my online friends on twitter and forums; and write down any orders that have come in.

f I have jewellery orders to make, I’ll then start work around 10:30 or so, and work through until all the orders are complete. I generally hop on the laptop briefly every hour or so to keep on top of e-mails, and give my fingers a rest from filing, sanding, polishing, bending and engraving!

I’ll pack my orders and drive to the post-office by about 4pm, and then come home, have dinner, and get back on the computer until bedtime. I usually try to have at least an hour or so off in the evening to just hang out with Nick, watch some DVD’s or read a bit of my latest SF novel (I’ve always been a sucker for a good science fiction story!). I head to bed around 12 or so. I also usually try to devote most of one day on the weekend to working on and scheduling blog posts, when my inbox is a little quieter!

Do you have any tips for other artisans/crafters?
Just do it! Don't dither around trying to get everything perfect before you start – you won't. Just launch yourself out there, keep working hard on making more awesome work, and keep sharing it.

Selling online, the absolute key is your photography. Learn how to take clear, captivating and enticing product shots. Never, ever use a flash! Have a consistent background and look to your photography – and stick to it.

Join twitter, and use it. This is, hands down, the best thing I've ever done for my business – let alone my sanity! I have made so many friends (and sales) through twitter, and there is no way I could have launched *bespoke* so successfully if it wasn't for the power of twitter and the connections I've made. It even landed me a radio interview (http://epherielldesigns.com/hello-radio)!

Mostly – have fun and keep creating! And take time off – this is something I'm terrible at, but I always feel refreshed for taking a break. It can be really hard to do when you are busy, but you have to realise that no-one is going to tell you it's your 'day off' – you have to make it happen. I got really sick for a day a while back (Nick said he knew I was really ill because I didn't even get on my laptop) and it made me realise that the world will not implode if I'm away from the computer for a day.

Thank you so much for the great interview! Be sure to head over to http://bespokezine.com right away!

Silent saturday

2010-11-06T23:31:00.003+01:00

Feature Friday - Duo Fiberworks

2010-11-05T00:32:00.000+01:00

Hello there,
Its time for another friday feature! And this time, there's a nice reward waiting for you at the end!

Featured Artisan today:

Katie Startzman of Duo Fiberworks

What is it you're making and how did you get into it?

I left my job at a educational nonprofit when my second son was born. I had been knitting for a while, but was inspired to make toys for my older son as well as figures for the nature table we did together.

I could not find patterns for the things I wanted to make so I started designing toys. I like the smooth, even look of knitting that has been felted and the sturdy, non-holey characteristics of felted knitting seemed to work well for toys. I put together a collection of knitted and felted toy patterns in 2008 and am still working to design toys and little things for our home.

It is extremely satisfying to figure out a new design and it constantly challenges and rewards me to work with yarn and needles to make new things.

In 2007 my twin sister Laura and I began our blog, Duo Fiberworks to chronicle our creative projects. We were/are both stay-at-home moms and sometimes our creative side got lost or pushed aside. We wanted to record our inspirations and projects, remember what was important to our creative selves and participate in the online craft community. We haven't always blogged frequently, but our blog is something we always come back to and it's really great to share such a project.

Where can I find your creations?
http://www.hedgehoglane.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/duofiberworks

Can I be your fan on facebook, read your blog or follow you on twitter?

Duo Fiberworks

Katie on Twitter

Duo Fiberworks on Facebook

What does your day look like?

Laura and I each have two young boys and we homeschool them. During the week, I get up early to get some work done before the kiddos are up. We do our homeschool lessons right after breakfast. Some days, we do something fun with other homeschool families but either way, we try to spend time outside after lunch, whether it's looking for minnows at a local creek, an excursion to our local farmer's market or just working in our family's garden. We are fortunate to live in Berea, Kentucky, an artsy, progressive community with a strong community of artists and craftspeople. It's good for us and good for our kids to be around creative folks on a regular basis.

Any tips for other artisans/crafters?

When beginning a crafting business, I think it's hard to get started and to identify your own aesthetic. But as you make projects that please you, you will develop it. When I look at my knitting patterns now, I see that I generally like bright colors, simple shapes and things that are not aggressively cutesy.

Also, I am a very thrifty person, but I buy the best materials I can afford, it's not a place to scrimp.

Find friends to share in your creative pursuits. My weekly stitching and knitting group is a great way to stay connected and inspired. It also provides accountability for finishing projects!

We explore all kinds of creative things that are interesting to us, I don't define myself solely as a knitter. In addition to being a skilled fiber artist, Laura is an experienced natural dyer and I am learning to carve Swedish-style wooden spoons. We still thrill at learning new things!

Do you want to give away something to the blog readers?

I am currently putting up a free knitting pattern for a toy or gift every Wednesday for the next month. I have already up two, Little Birds, chubby knitted songbirds, and the S.S. Guppy, a knitted and felted sailboat.

Thank you so much for the great interview and for the free patterns, too!

Stress free Holiday preparation - a dream come true!

2010-11-02T06:44:00.002+01:00

You haven't missed last weeks installment, I have! I'm really sorry - I promise to get back on track NOW :-)
This weeks post will focus on Kids and teens, who are fairly easy to shop for. Last week has all about the guys - you can go back and read it here: Stressless Holidays, part II

Hello there,
things have been crazy busy here with making my husbands present, preparing for our vacation and organizing a Halloween party for some preschoolers. Now that Halloween is over, I hope I'll manage to get back on track with creating for my etsy store (some window stars - its the perfect season!) and especially with blogging.
This week focuses on something fairly easy - shopping for kids!

Chocolate Frosted Donut
harvestmoonbyhand

Step Three: Do this NOW!

wrapping supplies
Go and take a look at the wrapping paper, gift tags and bows you have. Do you need any more? No need to get out and buy some now, but take a look at your supplies and make a note of what you can pick up on your next shopping trip.

Mark the kids on your list

If the kids on your list are your own, you probably already have a very good idea of what they want. My advice for Kids presents - decide on one (or two - depends on your budget, too, of course!) bigger thing(s) that they'll get.

If you need more packages under the tree, use small and inexpensive things to add to the count. Here are my favourites:

crocheted Brown Bear
yarrow1

age appropriate craft supplies: Crayons and large paper, stickers, acrylic paint, stretched canvas (fairly cheap and makes a BIG Present) fabric paint...
Cute socks (with separated toes, maybe), T-shirts
Gift certificates for you TIME: Dinner and a movie with your teenager, shopping trip, Vouchers for favourite meals, I'm sure you can think of more things :-)
Books are always good! Picture books for toddlers, chewable books for babies, novels for young readers
Accessories for Dolls! Bed, clothing,a mini quilt - there is so much awesome stuff out there!

If the kids are NOT your own, please talk to the parents! I know there are some things I do not want people to give my kids and it helps to avoid needlessly spent money :-)

Extra credit:

Are you crafting anything for the holidays?
If you want to give handmade (by yourself) this year, you have probably started already. If it is at all possible, finish something this week and wrap it - even if it is something very small, just so you can see some progress

On the Go Crayon Roll
by ItsMyFavorite

What if...

there are no kids on your list?
take a look at your list again and write down what you want to get the person if you already know. Is there stuff you can finish this week? Do it! Wrap it up, put a name tag on it and put it in a place where you can find it again.

Budget

I know this is the hardest part for some people - it helps to realize that less presents mean less stuff to put away for your kids and that they appreciate their gifts more if there are less of them. That said - I tend to go overboard, too ;-)

Whats next?

Custom Waldorf style doll
veelana

next week we will do the (in my opinion) easiest group - girls on your list! Fun to shop for, easy to create for and you probably already have a decent idea what you could get them.

Did you know?

Waldorf Dolls make great gifts! There are so many makers of Waldorf dolls out there that make so many different dolls - I'm sure you'll find one to suit you and your kids! If you want a custom doll, NOW is the time to order! It takes time to make a doll, but it can still be done!

Keep creating,
Vee

Feature Friday - bigyellowchair

2010-10-29T06:30:00.000+02:00

It's friday - and I'm happy to present a family of artisans next. Featured Artisan of the day:
BigYellowChair

The Big Yellow Chair team is made up of Carl Connett (me), my wife Amber, and our children. We’ve always had some sort of creative projects going, but Big Yellow Chair became our official creative outlet in 2008. Our first Big Yellow Chair products have been art mobiles. For my day job, I run a database programming business called Extra Mile Data.

Where can I find your products?
www.bigyellowchair.etsy.com

Can I look you up on facebook?
Yes please - http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Big-Yellow-Chair/108979157273

What is it you're making and how did you get into it?
I saw my first large-scale kinetic sculpture soon after engineering school and was captured by the movement and how it interacted with the environment. A decade later, I discovered Alexander Calder and mobiles. It wasn’t until I had a family, though, that I tried making something kinetic myself.

We have a picture of Amber and me painting a large-scale wooden sculpture in the front yard, with our first son at 18 months old, “helping” us paint. When he was 5 years old, he drew an airport scene with crayon that became the pictures for the pieces of my first mobile. At age 8, he provided some drawings that were the inspiration for the pieces of the Space Mobile (our first Big Yellow Chair product), while Amber provided the whimsical design of the wires. I did the production work and everybody in the family helped with assembly. We’ve had other children along the way, and they also take part in discussions about what we make and how it should look.

What does your day look like?
Currently, we’re a home-schooling family with young children and I run my programming business from my home office, so we’re all together much of the time. That allows us to have a lot of creative discussions during the week, but it is still difficult to find time to produce. During peak periods of working on the mobiles, I set aside parts of specific days during the week that I can devote to production.

Any tips for other artisans/crafters?
We had an unexpected opportunity pop up in August. An artist friend suggested that we submit one of our mobiles (an exploded view of a mobile phone) for the “Art from Found Objects” exhibition at the Monmouth Museum in New Jersey. The mobile was accepted and we made our way to the opening reception in September. We received a lot of encouragement by the other artists at the opening, and the exhibition will give us a month to share our art with the public outside the Etsy shop. So my suggestion is to look for, and invest in, other kinds of opportunities beyond Etsy.

Thank you for sharing your story with us!

Silent saturday

2010-10-23T00:00:00.002+02:00

Feature Friday - FlimsyKitten

2010-10-22T13:58:00.001+02:00

Featured Artist today:

FlimsyKitten

I am Rachael Smith! I'm 25, live in Leicester, UK and I've been
working as a freelance illustrator for just under two years now, it's
taken a long time to get where I am but things are finally starting to
take off!
I work weekends in a bar, but mainly because I enjoy it; it's a nice
social place to be when you have a job that means you're locked up in
your studio for most of the week! Monday to Friday, and usually a
couple of hours Saturday and Sunday, you'll find me in my studio.

What is it you're making and how did you get into it?
I mainly draw, although I do make craft items - as you've seen in my
shop! But drawing, and drawing for children especially, is where most
of my passion lies.
At the moment my biggest project for a client is illustrating a
chidren's novel - so I'll be doing the front cover and inside, black
and white illustrations, which so far has been tremendous fun. I have
lots of personal projects on the go too - I'm always dreaming up ideas
for children's picture books in the hopes that I'll catch a publishers
eye someday. Actually, at the time of writing I have a meeting with a
children's literary agent next week who is interested in my work - so
who knows!!

Great - where can I buy your stuff?
My Etsy shop is here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/FlimsyKitten
At the moment it's mostly plushies and original sketches in there but
I try to put different things in all the time.
I also have a Mysoti shop with all my super-cute t shirt designs in:
http://www.mysoti.com/mysoti/designer/RachaelSmith

Can I follow you on Facebook/Twitter? Do you have a blog?
My website: www.rachaelsmith.org
My illustration blog: http://rachaelsmithillustration.blogspot.com/
My Flimsy the Kitten blog (updated daily):
http://www.flimsythekitten.blogspot.com/
My facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=119879204731563&ref=ts
My Twitter: @rachael_

What does your day look like?
Well, I wake up at around 8 and feed my hamster :) Then I'll head to
the studio and upload a new Flimsy to the Flimsy blog. Then I'll look
at my (usually horrendously long) list of things to do and choose what
to prioritise. I try to balance doing work with marketing, so I might
work a few hours on a project and then work on a new editorial
postcard to send in a mailout - for example. If I've sold anything on
the shops then I'll package that up to take down to the post office
when I have a minute. I usually try to spend a little time on personal
projects such as my new children's book idea, or thinking about what
my portfolio needs. I'll come home between 5 and 6, spend a little
time with the boyfriend and maybe do a little bit of sewing if we
watch a film or whatever. The work never stops, hehe!

Do you have any advice for other artist/Crafters?
If you want to make a living from your art/craft then my advice would
be to do it as a hobby first. Also make sure it's what you REALLY want
to do before you start making sacrifices, because unless you're
extremely lucky - you'll have to be very patient waiting for people to
catch on to what you do. You might also have to spend a little money
on getting yourself a website, sending out promo material - that's on
top of the money you'll need for art materials, a space to work etc
etc. So it's best to plan these things. Having said that there is
NOTHING like the feeling of setting up on your own and getting
clients. Getting paid for what you love doing is just brilliant, and I
know I wouldn't be happier doing anything else.

Any other questions you want to answer?
Um, my hamster's name is Genevieve - in case anyone was wondering.

Thank you for sharing your story with us!

Now You Too Can Have a stressless holiday!

2010-10-22T01:14:00.004+02:00

Are you always putting off getting your holiday preparations done until the last moment? This year, you can just work along with me to get things done early! This is the second installment of my "get ready for the holidays" series here on my blog. You can still go and read last weeks installment right here. This week: The Dudes on your list.

Mens Foaming Shower Scrub
by opheliasapothecary

Hello there,
I'm sitting here all cuddled up in my blanket and I feel halfway human again after taking some cough medicine and a paracetamol, so I'll tell you what I've been up to :-)
My husband is currently in germany, visiting THE largest european games fair and I get to stay home sick with two sick little kids. Yay! Luckily, he didn't get sick - one of us has to go and buy all those fantastic new games that come out there...
So, I'm using the time alone (or at least, without him) to get started on my husbands Christmas present. I'm not telling you what it is - sorry hun, no peeking!
I don't know about you, but presents for guys are the hardest ones every year, especially for my husband. So I decided that this week, we'll focus on the guys. I found yome nice things on etsy, but I'm sure you can come up with more! But lets keep this organized:

Step two (do this NOW):

Add to your list
You probably remembered some more people that need to go on there during the last week. Add them.

split your list

The Dude Scarf, by iWunder

now, go over your list again and split it into people that will get actual presents and those that will just get a little something.

Mark your list
Mark all the Guys on the "Presents" list. How many guys do you have on there? How many of those will get something you have to make? In my casee, that is only my husband. We still have time to make something biggish, especially if there are only one or two guys on there. Here are some things you could make or buy for a dude:

Food gifts: Spicy chilli oil, BBQ spice mixes, a mountain of cupcakes, spiced rum
Crafted gifts: Scarves, hats, gloves, cuddly socks, Quilted blanket (maybe sports themed?)
Bought gifts: Adventure vouchers - rafting, bungee jump - Board games,

I stay away from books and DVDs - we end up giving those to eachother ALL THE TIME. If you see no danger of that happening, here are my top three books to give to a guy at the moment: Anything written by Terry Pratchett, A Game of Thrones by GRR Martin and Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss They are all fantasy books, but all three authors stand out as especially awesome :-D start crafting something that your husband/dad/best friend will get. Don't start baking yet, that might be a bit too soon ;-)

Custom Cufflinks by jubilantwares

Extra credit

Are your christmas cards designed yet? If you had fun with this, why don't you make a calendar? The girls over at Weeds and Wildflowers are having a fun calendar design challenge where you design one page and get everyone elses page, too!

What if...

you and your partner decided not to give eachother anything for the holidays? Make something anyway. Don't spend a lot of money on it, but maybe make a bunch of his favourite cookies and wrap them up nicely.

Budget

I'm not going to tell you how much you can spend on presents and materials, but you should definately take a look at your finances to see how much you can afford to spend. If money is tight, go over your crafting supplies to see what you could make that will not cost you anything that might still make a nice gift. I will give you ideas for your "little something" list in one of the next installments that will not cost you much.

So, what's next?

Next week, we will focus on presents for kids and teens - fun to shop for! You're doing great! Keep up - we'll get it right this time!

Keep creating,
Vee

And did you know...

that my dolls are now available with wool stuffing? I use 100% clean carded sheeps wool from germany

Silent saturday

2010-10-16T00:00:00.001+02:00

Feature Friday - hacafracek

2010-10-15T13:37:00.002+02:00

Time for another feature! Featured Artisan today:

hacafracek

When I was quite young I would make my own doll clothes as my family didn't have a lot of money. my mother taught me to sew as her mother taught her. that was where it started, eventually I figured, if I can design doll clothes, why couldn't I design real live people clothes. The first thing I made from scratch (no store bought pattern) was a pair of aprons for my sister and her husband... i believe I was 13 or 14. Then I expanded into making crazy and bizarre punk rocker style skirts for myself as a teen (I was a bit of a wild child). It progressed from there into pants, tops (none that I've made to sell just yet), hoodies (also none for sale... yet), bags and now tutus as well. I have fun simply and purely creating with no pressures of making everything uniform, or making a dozen of the exact same thing.

Where can I find your creations?
I have an etsy shop here: http://hacafracek.etsy.com

Can I follow you on Facebook/Twitter?
I have a group on facebook that I will sometimes give sneak peaks of items to come and updates. Anyone can join, just type into the search bar on facebook: hacafracek and you will see: "HACAFRÁČEK (hatz-ah-frah-check): a clothing thingy" come up as a group.
I also have a twitter account: http://twitter.com/Hacafracek

What is it you're making and how did you get into it?

I am actually a paramedic (EMT) in British Columbia and am also studying full time to get into Medical School (I'm still two years away, it's a bit of a haul). I've been in the medical field for over five years now and I love helping and supporting people in their true hour of need. I feel privileged as a paramedic to have that opportunity to represent hope for that 10% of the population that find themselves in a medical/trauma emergency. So where does Hacafracek and all my sewing come into this? Studying sciences full time, living out of a bag most of the time and off of student loans, and then spending "days off" in an ambulance or in a hospital... well the lifestyle begs for a cheery artistic outlet. Having several generations of seamstresses and sewers behind me, the passion and knack for design is in my genes. I've been sewing for a very long time, longer then my medical career for certain, and in hopes of helping with school and helping with nerves I've decided to make a little side business of it.

What does your day look like?
depends on the day. day type 1: school, study, school, study, maybe find time to eat, volunteer, school, study, pass out, do it all again next day.

day type 2: study, pager goes off, take off in ambulance, do that thing that paramedics do, paperwork, study, maybe sleep.

Day type 3: just sew and sew and sew... and maybe hang out in a fabric store daydreaming for a couple hours; and possibly have my wonderfully talented man lovingly take photos of my creations.

Any tips for other artisans/crafters?
Ignore the traditional "rules", make your own and just create.

Thank you for sharing your story with us!

Veelana's Design

lets try this again...

Top ten tuesday best boardgames for families / Brettspiele für Familien

Spielefest 2011

Boys Don’t Play With Dolls. Or Do They?

Boys Don’t Play With Dolls. Or Do They? by Picklebum

Boys and Dolls “My son plays with dolls. Will it make him Soft or Gay?” by Easy Peasy Kids

His first (written) word!

Top Tip Tuesday Toys for Boys

Last moments of fall

Handmade for Boys Part II/ Handgemachtes für Burschen, Teil II

Silent Saturday - Laminating my heart out...

Reader Question: handmade for boys?

not so good...

NaBloPoMo

top ten tuesday - why should you buy Handmade? 10 Gründe diesen Winter handgemachtes zu verschenken

Mommy, can we go visit Mars?

Space Sunday/Weltraumsonntag (good for untalented crafters and lazy people, too :-))

Silent Saturday

October Challenge

Monday Makers/Montagsmacher

Cutest spooks ever! Niedliche Halloween Gesellschaft

Nice Halloween Party!

Hello, Wien! Fall fun at the pumpkin festival! Kreischende kleine Kinder beim Kürbisfest

Veelana's Design goes german/Veelanas Design jetzt auch auf deutsch!

First "Homeschooling" experience

Something's Coming to Veelana's Design.../Bald gibt's eine Überraschung bei Veelanas Design

How angry birds can help your kids physical fitness - and I'm not talking about their thumbs! Wie angry Birds die Motorik deiner Kinder verbessern kann - und ich meine nicht die Daumen!

and the winner is:

Give away time! /Zeit für ein Giveaway! CLOSED

Lets talk about Storm, then. / Dann lasst uns doch mal über Storm reden.

I just realized I never showed you this...

50 Things I Am Not Allowed To Do At Hogwarts

50 Things I Am Not Allowed To Do At Hogwarts

Aurelie' s amazing adventures/ Aurelies aufregende Abenteuer

Introducing Aurelie

Veelana's Design is going Bilingual!/ Veelanas Design wird zweisprachig!

15 day "five a day" challenge, day six

I see you - Oe-l nga-ti kam‹ei›e

tuesday Treasury

Silent saturday

Behind the scenes: the making of a bunting baby

15 day "five a day" challenge, day five

Really, Photobucket?

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve: Free-range Vacation on a Farm

Silent saturday

15 day "five a day" challenge, day four

15 day "five a day" challenge, day three

15 day "five a day" challenge

Team Umizoomi, ready for action!

Silent saturday

This is completely embarrassing...

Monday Makers: Art of Felt

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve: Disney world 2010, part 4

Silent saturday

15 day "five a day" challenge

Monday Makers: BabyfishDesigns

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve: Disneyworld 2010, part 3

Silent saturday

Monday Makers: CraftsWithHeart

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve: Disney world 2010, part 2

Silent saturday

Top Ten Tuesday

Monday Makers: QuietudeQuilts

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve

Silent saturday

Etsy changed its policy - is that a good thing?

Top Ten Tuesday

Monday Makers: Looking for people to feature!

Scary! Someone klimbed into my mothers apartment!

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments in time I want to preserve

Silent saturday

What will YOU do to increase the peace? A Question and a give-away...

Ready for success in 2011!

Wow, I've been a bad, bad blogger!

Silent saturday

Feature Friday - Jessica Van Den and *bespoke*

Silent saturday

Feature Friday - Duo Fiberworks

Stress free Holiday preparation - a dream come true!

Feature Friday - Jessica Van Den and bespoke

Chocolate Frosted Donut
harvestmoonbyhand

crocheted Brown Bear
yarrow1

On the Go Crayon Roll
by ItsMyFavorite

Mens Foaming Shower Scrub
by opheliasapothecary