Alpine Adventures

 

Last week we spent some lovely (mostly sunny!) days in the Bavarian Alps (in Southern Germany). I had to give up my attempt at learning to ski on the first day though. Not only because I have a problem with my right knee (which hopefully be resolved soon, possibly through surgery) but also because I got ehm... a little scared. Luckily the girls didn't share my fears and they learned to ski pretty quickly.

In the picture a bottle of Apfelschorle, a fizzy apple juice kind of drink we enjoyed there. Along with many bratwursts and sauerkraut. :)

Will be back with a crafty post later this week!

Sleeping fox & co.

 

So here it is my first finished embroidery for the Hoop up! Stitch and Send Swap. I really spent a little too much time on this embroidery, considering I have another 5 embroideries to make.  I've asked myself many times why I thought it was a good idea to do the fox with about 5 different colours and without a decent plan! But here he is.

John sent the pink, blue and purple floss I used for the leafs and at first I wasn't sure what to do with those colours. But now I think it really is an essential part of the design and I love them!  I'm enjoying this swap a lot and am very much looking forward to making my next embroidery. 

I'm having a small break from this blog this coming week, so I hope to see you all back here in a week or so. The Follow the White Bunny Etsy shop will be closed too during that period from tomorrow evening on.

Dandelion fluff and Golden Apples

 

So...I'm nearly finished with this new pattern. I loved embroidering the Dandelion Fluff using two different flosses:  Dmc variegated and Dmc Color Variations. Dandelion Fluff and Apple picking reflects a feeling of late summer to me and I hope it does to most of you too! This is a very special Apple tree though because it has a golden apple. In Greek mythology  the golden apple often is a symbol for discord but in Norse mythology it was said to give to gods eternal life. Whatever it means, bunny doesn't seam too sure if she should pick it!

p.s.

During the kids' Winterbreak, the Follow the White Bunny Etsy shop will be closed (that is Saturday the 20th until the following Saturday) and I will also be taking a blog-break then!

Ye Olde Random Number Generator has spoken....

Thank you all for taking part in my Etsy-versary Giveaway! Ye Olde Random Number Generator, which is powered by two fast cycling squirrels not pictured here, has spoken. There were 40 entries and the Generator has picked no. 16 which is: AmelieandAtticus! Congratulations, please contact me so you can pick out 25 $ worth of books/and or patterns at MagpiePatterns!

New favourite stitches

Here are two of my latest favourite stitches. On the left a  (slightly wonky, it was my first) Blanket Stitch Pinwheel. I couldn't find an online 'how to' but this video tutorial for a Buttonhole Stitch Wheel  shows pretty much how it's done. And on the right on the basket a Basket Weave Stitch. A lovely fill stitch for filling ehm...baskets for example! I don't think you will need a video tutorial for that! ;) So have you learned any new stitches lately? Let me know!

P.s. don't forget to enter my giveaway (comments close tomorrow) for a chance to win $25 worth of yummy patterns!

Update: Sarah of the Handembroidery Network pointed out her tutorial of the Buttonhole Wheel. Go check it out! Thanks Sarah. :)

2nd Update: O.k. folks sorry for my ignorance but today I learned that the Buttonhole Stitch and the Blanket Stitch are actually one and the same. Sorry for the confusion. Or maybe I was the only one that was confused here. ;)

Follow the White Bunny's One Year Shop-versary Giveaway!

 

Comments are closed, winner shall be announced shortly!
A year ago I started out my Etsy shop on a whim. First I had two little water colour  paintings for sale and shortly after that my very first Embroidery Pattern (the one pictured above, it's still available). Only one pattern in the shop, it must have looked quite empty!
I'm so very grateful to all of the customers that came to my little shop and supported me, some more than once, during that first year. My heart still makes a little jump when I get a sale, it really means a lot to me that people like my designs!

As you may know, most of my patterns are also available through Magpie Patterns. Magpie Patterns offers some of the loveliest embroidery, sewing, knitting and crochet patterns and books by independent designers. For this Giveaway, Amy of Magpie Patterns has generously offered  25$ worth of patterns or books from the Magpie Patterns site to the winner of this Giveaway! (except shipping)
So get your self a nice cup of tea,  have a look around and see what Magpie Patterns has to offer, then come back to this post and tell me in the comments what you would do with your 25$  :)  I'm sure the lovely stuff you will find there will make you want to start a new project right away. As Amy says 'a work-in-progress basket' is really meant to overflow!

Only one entry per crafty person and please leave some kind of trail (blog or e-mail whatever) so I can find you if you are indeed the lucky winner. Comments will close this Saturday the 13th of February 8.00 p.m. Amsterdam time! The winner will be chosen at random from the entries.

 

  

A big BIG thank you to Amy of Magpie Patterns for sponsoring this giveaway! :)

                                   

Afternoon at the museum

Can you go to a 'real' museum with a 4 and 9 year old and actually have an enjoyable time? We spend most of our Sunday afternoon at the local Art museum (it's called Boijmans-van Beuningen) with both of the girls and it was great!

Photos of art by van Gogh, Degas and Nauman  were printed on the tickets and Luna loved looking round the museum to see if she could spot them. We found two of them, van Gogh and Degas. Strangely enough we didn't spot the large object by Bruce Nauman.. Of course there was much giggling at the nudity of some of the mythical themed paintings and the bronzes. We also did 'spot the cow' in 16 th century paintings and let the girls describe what they saw on 17th century 'still life' paintings (a lot of grapes I can tell you). Next time we visit the museum I must get them each a sketch book and pencil so they can 'copy' a painting or artwork in the museum. I'm interested in what they will choose and how their masterpiece will turn out. :)

Sunday stash #26 Darla + giveaway soon!

 

Well, maybe this can not technically be called a 'stash' anymore since I have already started cutting the fabrics to make a quilt for my youngest daughter. The majority of the fabric squares shown here are from Tanya Whelan's Darla collection (the red, pinks and greens). I've added a bit of Wendy Slotboom's Feathered Friends and a Heather Ross Far Far Away Blue Unicorn too to make this quilt a bit more fun for a 4 year old. :)

This Tuesday I will inform you all about the details of my  Shop Birthday Giveaway. It's a really good one so be sure to check back later this week!

On Fridays you will find me...

blogging on Feeling Stitchy! I will be blogging mostly on 'Especially Awesome Stitches and Techniques' and I'm sure I will find lots of inspiration in the Flickr Embroidery Group. If you want to read the super sweet introduction Feeling Stitchy founder Floresita wrote about me hop over to the Feeling Stitchy site. And hopefully later today I will be able to produce an actual blog post!

Bunny and the mysterious case of the missing transfered image

 

I'm so excited about the pattern I'm working on that I could not resist to show you a sneak peek! It will definitely be in the shop before the kids Winter Break starts in a week or two (during which my shop will be closed).

To transfer the image to my fabric (in this case an old sheet) I used DMC Embroidery Tracing Paper. Following the instructions I put the tracing paper with the coloured side (it was blue) on the fabric. On top of that I put the printed pattern and traced it with a ball point. Well, not just traced it, I had to push real hard in a paper-ripping kind of way to get anything transfered. I ended up with a not too clear transfer of my pattern and now after a day or so it's rapidly disappearing! Before they are completely gone I'm retracing the lines on the fabric with a normal grey pencil.

Meanwhile my update for the Princess and the Pea pattern is finished so if you were waiting for that head over the shoppe to purchase one! My shop is exactly one year old this month and  I'm planning an exciting giveaway. It will be so crazy good that I want to enter myself! I shall announce the giveaway on Twitter, this blog and Facebook so you make sure you follow me on one those and I will keep you informed.