summer joy/ Sommerfreuden

It has been very quiet here during the last weeks. Sorry - I really miss blogging but I just couldn't find the time. At least I spent a little time at the sewing machine and made a pillow case from an old shirt. I had been keeping the shirt although it shrunk, because I liked the fabric. I thought I could use it somehow and then I saw these great pillow cases on Neike's pretty blog "Hauptsache Weiss". It is really easy and quick and so clever because you already have buttons in place.

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Es war sehr ruhig hier in den letzten Wochen. Tut mir leid. Ich habe das bloggen auch sehr vermisst, aber einfach keine Zeit gefunden. Wenigstens hatte ich ein bisschen Zeit fuer eine kleine Naeherei und hab dieses kleine Kissen genaeht. Der Stoff stammt von einer Bluse, die mir eingelaufen ist. Ich hatte sie schon einige Zeit in meinem Stoffschrank liegen, in der Hoffnung irgendwann einen neuen Zweck fuer sie zu finden, da mir der Stoff so gefiel. Dann habe ich bei Neike im Blog "Hauptsache Weiss" ihre schoenen Hemd-Kissen gesehen. Es ist wirklich total einfach und schnell zu machen. Und so praktisch, dass die Knopfleiste zum Verschluss wird.

Here in California it is already really summerly. We have to water our garden regularly. Below you can see my girls helping with it. And if you have ever wondered how our house might look like, voila. It's what I would call a Spanish inspired "Ranch Style" ("Ranch Style" being the classic sixties bungalow that you see so often around here). Since we are only renting this place there are many things that I would change, but it surely has its charm. Although is looks pretty small from the outside, it is spacious which I really enjoy.

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Hier in Kalifornien ist es schon sehr sommerlich. Wir muessen unseren Garten regelmaessig waessern. Unten seht Ihr meine Maedels beim Giessen. Und falls Ihr Euch jemals gefragt habe, wie unser Haus aussieht, voila. Ich wuerde es als Spanisch inspirierten "Ranch Style" bezeichnen ("Ranch Style" sind die klassischen 60er Jahre Bungalows, die man hier ueberall sieht). Da wir das Haus nur mieten, gibt es viele Dinge die ich aendern wuerde, aber es hat auch seinen Charme. Es sieht von aussen kleiner aus als es tatsaechlich ist. Wir haben viel Platz, was ich wirklich zu schaetzen weiss.

One of my favorite summer salads: baby spinach with goat cheese, pomegranate seeds and raspberry vinaigrette. And some rustic German bread on the side.

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Einer meiner liebsten Sommersalate: Spinat mit Ziegenkaese, Granatapfelkernen und Himbeeressig-Vinaigrette. Und dazu schoen deutsches Koernerbrot.

Enjoy the last days of May!

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Geniesst die letzten Maitage!

mariasimoneidejhs

travel pillow No. 2

Hello, here I am again. Quickly before I have to pick up my older daughter from school, I wanted to share with you the travel pillow I just made for my mother-in law .

Below you see all the steps in pictures. I used freezer paper for the template. It is so simple. 

You can find a step-by-step how to here: angry chicken

Happy Monday!

mariasimoneidejhs

Hello again...

It took me some time to return to my blog and write a couple of lines. I had a bad cold and then my whole family had it and I had to pamper everyone.

Now I am finally almost back to my old self. I even made a new pillow case.

During the summer I went on a little treasure hunt in my grandparent's cellar and discovered (next to wine bottles dating back to the 60ies) unbelievably cool 70ies draperies in bright pink and orange. I was really surprised about my grandmother's bold choice. How cool was she? I wish I had pictures of their house in the 70ies.

I will now make more pillow cases for me and to sell on etsy. I think they look just great. 

Also I hung my new print that I bought from sfgirlbybay and just love it. 

By the way the tall red lamp is another find from my grandparents cellar.

Have a sweet Halloween week.

mariasimoneidejhs

busy weekend

Finally I was able to cut out some time from my busy weekend to sew a couple of small items.

The first thing I made is this travel pillow for my mother's upcoming birthday. My parents love to travel and also my Mom loves browns and enjoys the softness of wool. I used a very soft almost velvetlike wool cloth and stitched in a modern design on the front.

Then I made some Gingham-felt hearts and keychains for my etsy store. 

I am planning on making more the coming weeks. But first I have to finish my advent calendar project: A German custom is to have Advent calendars for the 24 days before Christmas. You can now find chocolate calendars even here in the US. In our family it's tradition to give one small gift each of the 24 days leading to Christmas. 

Since I have two daughters this sums up to 48 gifts - meaning buy them, wrap them and somehow display them. This is why I started to sew little drawstring bags in order to skip the wrapping and display part for all times. Yesterday I managed to sew 12 bags. Only 36 to go... ;-)

I will show you as soon as I am done with the first calendar. 

Have a splendid week.

mariasimoneidejhs