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Look at this massive amount of snail mail that was waiting for me when I got home from vacation. That sure was a happy day.



RECEIVED

From Bien:
A couple of weeks ago Bieneke asked me to do a little swap. Of course I was in! These lovely items are what she sent me: a pen, three handmade magnets, a little owl pendant, knitted panels and a beautiful little book that says 'notes from Elisse'. Such a fun package!






From Jolien:
Another letter from one of my penpals. She included a little origami bird, three small balloons and cute colourful pearls for a sewing project :)




From Saar:
Saar wrote a really long letter - like she usually does, and which I like a lot! - about all kinds of things. She always includes goodies, and this time that was a feather, a little button, a teeny tiny coloring page and the best (+ BIO!) parfum ever! (Also approved by Mr. Boyfriend)




From Elizabeth
Elizabeth asked me to do a swap and this is what she put together. Isn't that owl amazing? I think so. Those stickers are adorable. Thank you Ely!




From Mary
This sweet letter came from Mary, all the way from the US. I loved it all: her beautiful handwriting, the stories she told me, the owl drawing she made herself, all the cute things she included. Thank you so much Mary!




♥ ♥ ♥




From Marlou
Marlou sent me a letter on the cutest stationery and she included - oh dear - owl tissues. I must say I think they're too pretty to use... But I probably will, while watching a Disney movie or something. :)


From Elise:
A letter I got from a dear friend while I was in the Czech Republic. She was on camp with the youth movement at the time and included the most adorable letter from one of the kids. Haha.






That's it for now! You'll have to wait til next week to see what I sent out :)

As you can see here I did a 'my day in photos' once before, which I really liked.

Here's what I did on Wednesday.

7am - 8am
I got up really early to get to the train station by bike. The sun was already shining so bright, yay!


9am - 11:15am
While I was on my way to Amsterdam by train, I listened to some music and occasionally fell back asleep.
Random music I like at the moment.






11:30am
I met Marlou, who was my guide for the day. (she did a great job, even though we got lost now and then) We went to Waterlooplein for their flea market, but it wasn't too spectacular. I did see this amazing collection of cameras though!




12am
After that we grabbed a bite at Bagels & Beans. My first Bagel ever, and boy was it a goodie?! I think I've discovered my new favorite food.


1pm
We went to FOAM (which is the Amsterdam photography museum) and saw some amazing photographs. Marlou and I really liked the exposition by Erik Kessels about photo albums.

image by Marlou

2:30pm
On our way to no man's land I spotted a lazy cat. She was probably having trouble with the heat as well.


2:45pm
We got hungry again and got frozen yoghurt at Frozz (also a first timer!). Mine was coconut with mango & passion fruit. Great combo!


3:15pm - 5:20pm
We walked around a bit more, I was thrilled getting to see the channels and Marlou made a mega touristic picture of me (that's a must, right?). We went to 'de 9 straatjes', where we wandered around. Those cosy, tiny streets, the amazing weather and the nice company made it a wonderful afternoon :)

photo by Marlou



5:40pm
We got dinner at Wok to Walk and ate it at Vondelpark. We told each other stories, relaxed, enjoyed the shadow & our meals, and discovered how photogenic we really are.




8pm
Before hopping back on the train, we visited Art Unlimited (Twee van de Kaart) where I bought these cute postcards. <3




8:30pm
Marlou took her train back home, and a few minutes later I did too. It was a good day, a very good day.


You are kindly invited to check out Marlou's post about Amsterdam as well :)

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A few weeks ago I made a whole bunch of apple cinnamon cupcakes. They were delicious and because of that I'll share the recipe with you.
// Enkele weken geleden maakte ik de allerlekkerste appel-kaneel cupcakes. Ik deel het recept hier met jullie, te lekker om niet te proberen!



Things you'll need: (for about 20 cupcakes)
for the batter
» 230 gr. self-raising flour
» 125 gr. butter (at room temperature)
» 250 gr. granulated sugar
» 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
» 4 eggs
» 100 ml. milk (at room temperature)
» a pinch of salt

for the filling
» 2 apples (or 3 or 4)
» cinnamon

for the frosting/butter cream
» 200 gr. butter (at room temperature)
» 10 ml. milk (at room temperature)
» 175 gr. powdered sugar
» 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or a vanilla pod)

Benodigdheden (voor ongeveer 20 cupcakes)
voor het cupcakebeslag
» 230 gr. zelfrijzende bloem
» 125 gr. boter (op kamertemperatuur)
» 250 gr. kristalsuiker
» 1 theelepel vanille-extract
» 4 eieren
» 100 ml. melk (op kamertemperatuur)
» een snuifje zout

voor de vulling
» 2 appels (of 3, of 4)
» kaneel

voor de frosting/botercrème
» 200 gr. boter (op kamertemperatuur)
» 10 ml. melk (op kamertemperatuur)
» 175 gr. poedersuiker
» 2 theelepels vanille-extract (of een vanillestokje)

Let's get started! // Hoe? Zo!



1. First of all, preheat your oven at 175°C.
Mix the butter; then add the sugar, vanilla extract and eggs and mix for approximately 3 minutes.
Sift the self-raising flour and the salt in a bowl, add the milk to the bowl and mix it into a whole.

// Eerst en vooral: verwarm je oven voor op 175°C.
Mix de boter totdat ze zacht is. Voeg dan de suiker, het vanille-extract en de eieren toe en mix ongeveer 3 minuten.
Zeef de zelfrijzende bloem en het zout in een kom en voeg dit samen met de melk toe aan het mengsel. Meng tot één geheel.



2. Cut the apples in tiny pieces, sprinkle with cinnamon (generously, yes indeed!).
// Snij de appels in kleine stukjes en besprenkel met kaneel (dat mag veel zijn ja!).



3. Add the chopped apples & cinnamon to your mixture.
// Voeg de stukjes appel & kaneel toe aan het mengsel. Meng tot het één geheel is.



4. Divide the batter in muffin tins (only 1/2 full) and put them in the oven. Now wait 15 to 20 minutes. To check if they are ready, use a skewer.
// Verdeel het beslag in vormpjes (best maar voor de helft vullen) en zet in de oven. Wacht 15 tot 20 minuten. Gebruik een satéstokje om te testen of ze klaar zijn.



5. Take the muffins out of the oven and let them cool.
// Haal de muffins uit de oven en laat ze afkoelen.

In the meantime, you can make the frosting. Add the butter in a bowl and mix for approximately 3 minutes. Then add the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla pod to the mixture and mix it for another 2 minutes. Use a pastry bag to put some of the buttercream on top of the cupcakes.
// Ondertussen kan je de frosting maken. Doe de boter in een kom en mix 3 minuten (totdat de boter zacht is). Voeg dan het poedersuiker, de melk en het vanillastokje (enfin, de inhoud) toe en mix opnieuw 2 minuten. Als het één geheel is geworden, kan je het in een spuitzakje doen en op de afgekoelde cupcakes spuiten.



6. As a finishing touch, sprinkle some cinnamon over the cupcakes.
// Om af te werken kan je wat kaneel over de cupcakes sprenkelen.



Yumyum!
//Et voilà, laat het smaken! Om duimen en vingers af te likken, zal ik het u zeggen!

The recipe is based on this one, but adjusted by my mum and me.

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From now on all snail mail related posts will go online on Sunday. Yes, that is correct, from now on you'll get a snail mail update every Sunday. ♥ Yay!

Please click the "»" link, because this will be a very image heavy post!



I let my good friend Rafflecopter pick out the winners for the giveaway and he picked out this girl for the strawberry keychain and this girl for the owl keychain. Yay! I've already sent you an e-mail, so don't hesitate in answerring it :)

I'll be back later this weekend with a huuuuge snail mail update!

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My vacation in the Czech Republic was AWESOME. I'm super duper tired now so first I need to catch up some sleep, cuddle with my boyfriend and party some more. See you soon!



P.S. The giveaway ends tomorrow, so if you want to participate you better hurry!

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I've made two more stamps to add to my collection. (And yay for my new ink pads!)

A little cat (or maybe it looks more like a fox?)

inspired by tistemie

Ooooooooooooooowl

inspired by this stencil

What do you think? Do you have any ideas for other stamps I could make? I definitely want to make some button stamps and other sewing related ones, like I've seen here.
P.S. Don't forget to join the giveaway!

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It had been a long time since I made something from scratch. But since I also (like every other female sewing blogger living in Belgium) got (actually, it was a gift from my mom ♥) Mme Zsazsa's book, I no longer had an excuse.

So I present to you, the mushroom skirt! Look at those little mushrooms. I'm in love with the fabric.


Please excuse me for the weird picture. The red top is actually a dress, that's why it's all frumpy..


I had to include these silly jumping pictures. Having photoshoots with my sister, always much fun (insert sarcasm ;) )


P.S. Don't forget to join the giveaway!


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Most of the day today I'll be sitting on the bus, watching landscapes passing by, occasionally reading a book or playing a game, listening to some music, sleeping, etc.
After that I'll be enjoying myself in the Czech Republic, more exactly in a little village called Karst, not too far away from Prague! We have a lot of activities planned there: we're gonna go rafting, bobsleighing, paintballing and visiting Prague of course!

But don't worry, I've got a few posts planned in for you. I'll be back the 20th of July with the winner of the giveaway :)

Enjoy your holidays, see you in 12 days!

p.s. Mail and snail mail will not be answered until the 19th of July! After that I'll reply asap :)

P.S. Don't forget to join the giveaway!

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SENT

To Fab:
I actually found out about Fabrizia's blog because of her awesome stationery sets, and then I fell in love with all the beautiful mail she sends and receives, so I wanted to be a part of it! Here's the first letter I sent to her.
p.s. I drew my own cats, with a little help from my cat stamp. Aren't they cute? Shall I post some pictures of them?






to Saar:
Because she sent me a(n awesome!) cat themed letter, I couldn't not include these cute cat stickers and illustration. And now that I had discovered I wasn't thát bad at drawing, I made another portrait of my cats!




to Marijke:
For a friend that deserved a little boost during the exams.



Oh yeah, pretty much all the illustrations I add in with my letters come from this board on Pinterest.

RECEIVED

From Jolien:
Another super fun package filled with joy! That handmade birthday card is so cute! Clever idea! In the bird envelope I found handmade iron-on patches: one owl and one moustache! Definitely will be using those! Thank you Jolien!


From Saar:
She sent the letter in an awesome recycled watermelon seeds bag. She also included some lollies (yum), two adorable split pens (cupcakes!) and a cat bag she got as a birth gift from a friend. Oh my I was so excited opening this one! Thank you Saar!






From Jos:
I won a giveaway from Jos and am now the proud owner of the book 'Tirza' by Arnon Grunberg. I'll start reading it next week while 'enjoying' the bus ride to the Czech Republic!


P.S. Don't forget to join the giveaway!


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