Small Xmas project I: Lavender hearts /Weihnachtsprojekt I: Lavendelherzen

This year I managed to harvest my lavender in time - and I got a whole tray full of the wonderful smelling blossoms to let dry. I did cut up some of the flower stalks as well, as their scent of lavender is just as strong as the blossoms themselves.

Last time when visiting Stockholm, I bought a handprinted linen kitchen towel at 'Svensk Hemslöjd' (a Swedish domestic art & craft shop), with just the right size of red hearts on it. So I cut the hearts out, with a small seam allowance, and sewed them up with a red linen fabric for backing.

When the blossoms and stalks were all dry, I just had to fill them into the fabric hearts and close the opening with a few handstitches.

Finally, I decorated the front with flower motives from a machine lace fabric and some white vintage buttons.



(German summary: Heuer habe ich es geschafft, rechtzeitig meinen Lavendel zu ernten und zu trocknen. Dann habe ich ihn in rote Leinenstoffherzen gefüllt, die ich aus einem handgedruckten Geschirrhandtuch ausgeschnitten und genäht habe.)

Recycling stationery/Papierwaren, recycled

At this time of year, I find pleasure in recycling all kinds of paper that falls into my hands while cleaning up and sorting out.



My daughter's beautiful dolphin calendar and another one, with angels, will get new lives as gift bags and matching greeting cards - and some of the Christmas cards look almost even better when decorated with punched stars, sewn sequins and beads, then glued to black or white card stock.



A pile of one-side-printed work sheets from school is chopped up and held together with a buldog paper clip to serve as a note pad - and old envelopes will be closed lengthwise and serve as seed bags later on this year.



Reading Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord's lovely blog and homepage and following her YouTube-tutorials on recycling one-side-printed paper into small books of all sorts, we will have plenty of pages to fill with thoughts, words and drawings throughout the year!

Maybe this will be the year where we all will put even more efforts in sustainability and recycling - it's important and it's inspiring: please read more on this matter at the blog 'A sustainable life', written by Elizabeth, Jude, Julochka and Rayfamily.

(German summary: Es gibt unzählige Möglichkeiten, einseitig bedrucktes Papier zu recyclen - eine davon ist, kleine Bücher daraus zu machen, wie es Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord in ihrem Blog und auf YouTube anschaulich erklärt! Notizblöcke, kleine Sackerl und Billets sind andere Optionen.

Vielleicht wird dies' das Jahr, wo wir alle nach mehr Wiederverwertung und Nachhaltigkeit streben werden ... mehr dazu auch auf diesem Blog.)

Two necklaces

When my Mum visited me this summer, she brought a carneol necklace with her and asked me to change it - she wanted it longer and mixed up with some other beads.

As her birthday is coming up soon, I spent today re-making the necklace by mixing the carneols with apple corals, which irregular surface I find to be of an interesting contrast to the the polished carneols.

I also added a magnetic closure for comfortable opening and closing. As there were still carneols left after the re-make, I used them for a bracelet and some ear-drops to make the set complete.


It's been quite a time since I made some necklaces, so I felt inspired to do one for myself as well. And it was all there, in my stash, just waiting for me to put it together!

(Consisting of clear and frosted vintage glass beads, some Indian strass beads, some exotic organic beads, a couple of silver metal plates and a Sterling silver closure.)