Easter bunnies

Hope these bunnies cheer you up! I've sewn four before I got bored (in pure Gemini style) and now that they've been received, I can show them. For once my Easter envoys will not be late! Due to lack of time, I wasn't able to send to all the persons I would have liked to but I've sent so many packages out for Christmas that I'm choosing to forgive myself :)

I was in Oslo/Norway for a few days last week. Mainly to bring 30 (thirty) frozen dinners to H. who had a major health problem and one of its effects was an internal bleeding in one leg, hence not being able to walk without pain. Now the only thing he has to do in the evening is to warm the oven :)

But also, it was a delight to see again the cat-boys after 6 weeks. Those little devils are just unique!

My flight from Warsaw was at 6 am... that meant leaving home at 4 am! Thank you Wizzair!! I couldn't sleep on the plane and when I looked out at one moment, we were already flying over Sweden's south-western coast. For fun, I took this picture because I was curious if H. would be able to find out where exactly that was and yup! We found out by comparing the picture with Google Earth and the funny thing is that of all the places I could photograph, this is the one spot where we spent a week-end with fellow translators from many countries, staying at one of them's house by the fjord not far from the little village of Lysekil. Isn't technology amazing nowadays?

On Saturday, H. could walk a little bit so we drove to see the new jumping tower on the Holmenkollen hill. Just a 5 minutes drive from the center and the view from up there rarely disappoints, in every season it has its charm. Splendid in the summer sun, but equally interesting with a thick winter mist...

We were not allowed to stop though. The World Biathlon Cup (or whatever it's really called) was held since a few days so the organizers put fences to block cars from stopping. You want to see, you have to pay. Norwegians start to find it outrageous that they have to pay outrageous prices (55 usd, if I remember well) just to see events which once were part of their life. What makes them angry is having to pay even for standing in the woods to see the skiers! Ah but, your favorite Polish reporter managed to take a picture of a biathlonist with its riffle on the back...

... and a picture of the new jumping tower, big deal for the Norwegians. It was inaugurated in early March, replacing the old wooden tower, one of Oslo's landmarks. It is seen from faaaaar away. I am not sure, but I have the feeling the old one was more easy to see.
The new one has funny sides aimed to protect the jumpers from the wind, I think...

Then we drove down again to Akerbrygge, a central spot in Oslo. I was surprised to see new modern ferries which connect the town with nearby places around the fjord, mainly used by people commuting to work and sometimes by tourists.

Once industrial, these buildings were transformed into a modern place with many shops, offices, a cinema, and lots and lots of places to eat. All that extremely expensive, of course. I love the place though! Lovely modern architecture and very peaceful even when it's very crowded.

Lots of very, very expensive apartments, too... Probably the most expensive in town.

On the other hand, Oslo's Town Hall (where the Nobel Peace Prize is delivered) looked sad... it's much nicer in the warmer season with flower banks around!

Almost Easter

Homespun Elegance - Spring Patches

stitched on 36ct hand-dyed linen with overdyes of my choice

with some funny knots for the tails and green rafia with green beads for the bows in the corners

 
Here is the little pillow I sent to Christina (no blog) for the Easter exchange (http://holidayexchanges.blogspot.com). It was pure fun to stitch!


I know I surprised some with my decision to make my blog private... I'll try to explain the reasons in a free moment but really, if I were to sum it up in one word, it would be difficult. A general frustration about handcrafts at the moment (I'll explain later this week) combined with not wanting to share private stuff with the whole world...

I'll see how that works for me but in the meantime, I was trying to send invites to those I think followed my blog... what makes blogging great is making new friends around the world, sharing, learning, inspiring and getting inspired... BUT as this moment in my life, I am _not_ coping with all the little elements that are composing my life. Preparing my flat for sale, preparing to buy a new flat in a different town, plane commuting every few weeks between Poland and Norway, worrying about H. whose health was seriously in danger recently (almost fine now!) and work - a loooot of work, because after several thin years, my branch of activity seems to finally pick up... I just needed I felt the need to make my blog a bit more private... and focus on what I see I can focus on for the coming months. I wish there was a way to invite all interested stitchers without closing the blog completely. There should be an option where a person could send an e-mail to get an invite but Blogger didn't think of that !
I think I was feeling so overwhelmed with everything happening lately  that I closed in my shell and didn't update my blog... hope this move will make it change! :)

Thanks for reading! :)

Yesterday was Monday

And since my Tuesday is even more miserable than some other days lately (the crisis having a huge impact on my business), this evening I refuse to worry more and I'll blog about - yesterday :)
(I need to pay my yearly tax till the end of the month, don't have the money for it, but I can still expect a miracle, such as winning a million on the lotto, meeting a zillionaire or having a bag of banknotes fall on my head from way above)

Lucy and Melissa - I will email you tomorrow. I know I'm late!!

We'll start the Monday tour with a lookie at the bunny I made for Lucy during the week-end. Hope you like it! And thank you to all others who played!! (BTW, what's the name of this traditional Easter plant in English and in French)? They just started selling bunches of them in the streets and I couldn't resist stuffing the little pocket with a few cut branches, replacing the green raffia that was supposed to ressemble grass.

The rabbit is a pattern I got at Pattern-Mart.com but I chose to not do it "primitive" in style. Instead, I used Tilda fabric for both the bunny and the pocket, adding a gold wire hanger, black pins for the eyes and Tilda ribbon, again, for the bow. I'm thinking of doing a couple more for family for Easter. All hand-sewed, I've yet to buy a sewing machine.

Then, in the early evening, I participated in a course about making pisankis decorated with wax. Oh that was fun, pure fun. Here are the pisankis we made (7 ladies of very varied age):

I would even venture to say that making them is as pleasant as cross-stitching! I'm really hooked and hope to make many of them next year for gifties. I don't really have time to do it this year - just dying the eggs and preparing them takes a lot of time. Painting with wax takes just a few minutes, really.

Here is the fantastic woman who taught us the technique. She was so incredibly friendly and knowledgeable, the whole session started with a long description about various traditions, regional patterns, preparing the eggs, different techniques of decorating them. We only made the wax version, but we learned another technique in case we'd like to have a hand at it at home. Oh I'm just so happy I decided to fork out the money for the course.

I have to say though that decorating the pisankis is definitely easier for people who can draw and/or paint. Me, whether I draw a cat, a cow or a dinosaur, you wouldn't know. So I'll publicly admit that the result of my work is satisfactory enough for me, but the other ladies made real wonders. My eggs were really... I can't find a good word ;-). Here are the 3 eggs I made during the course, trust me, they look much better on this picture than they do in real! LOL

The basic procedure was as follows: we had a little tea-light burner each, in it we had bee wax with white pigment, and then we dripped a special tool (basically the blunt end of a pin that is mounted on a wooden stick). The whole trick is to learn when the wax/pigment mix is too hot, too cold, because the wax won't draw well. It's really relatively easy to learn after the first try.

The eggs are dyed by keeping them 5-10 minutes in heated water with the dye. The multicolor version which we didn't do require much more work. Basically you need to dye and wax-paing the eggs several times, but it's quite a complex procedure.

The girl to my left studies architecture and she made very regular patterns, simple decorations, but straight, delicate lines:

The person in the background made real gems. She never made pisankis before, but she was obviously gifted for drawing. She also created very original designs. Our teacher said she's ready to have her work sold. She wasn't very open though, I regret I didn't take pictures of her work.

And just before leaving my building, I checked my mailbox and see what dear Harmien sent me!!

He's cute beyond words!!

Ra-ra-ra, I see I didn't upload a picture of the cute bunny notebook and orange skein of Caron Impressions... Thank you so much again, Harmien, for thinking of me!!

Sometimes Mondays are much better than Tuesdays :).