28.7.10

Help the planet with Appeltaart....








.....one baby step at the time.


It might be a small gesture,
but maybe together,
you and me,
can make a little difference.


My small company Appeltaart and I,
think it is time to donate in
small projects around the world.
Appeltaart has joined PIFWORLD today .


From every print you'll buy,
there will be a 10 euro donation
to a charity of Appeltaart's choice.
At the moment donations will be for :
Go on, have a look!
They can use all our support.


To celebrate this Appeltaart event,
I made a unique screen print,
for sale in my shop,
but I, and so we, will donate the full amount paid for this print
to the midwifery program.

(KIVA will be one of our charities too)






50 by 65 cm
unique print
signed



27.7.10

(click to enlarge and print)







Here you go,
a recipe for clotted cream.
In Holland we don't have double cream,
I guess, we just reduce the cream mixture a bit more.

Bon appetit!

26.7.10

(click to enlarge and print)






This time I chose for a national favorite,
not Dutch,
but British.
My home from home.
They're probably a million ways to make scones,
but since my mummy is a mama,
I didn't learn it from her.
I need to rely on recipes.
You don't need an electric mixer,
you could use your hands of course to make the dough.
(I'll bet the Women's Institute would never ever recommend to use a machine!)

A perfect reason to make scones is
to use up all those homemade jars of Jam.
You don't want to get stuck with those,
right?


Have a Bliss monday!
x Guusje



24.7.10

ZOOlifant





The very best part in our big renovation has began,
decorating!
We had to change rooms again,
so forget everything you've seen so far!
I won't reveal the rooms yet,
but I made a new print for upstairs.
Of course I made some for the shop too.








Every single color is printed separate.
a bit of work,
but so rewarding to see the print taking shape.
I love screen printing.
I just can not believe, I will ever stop.
It's my true passion.









Only 5 screen prints are available in my shop!
Size 50 by 65 cm









Have a lovely SUN-day
x Guusje








23.7.10

Dog biscuits & kitchen tables




In England,
my dear friend B always had fig cookies in her tin.
She served them with a cup of white PG tips.
Bless the days we were endlessly discussing the pleasures of life
and our brand new experiences being a parent.


Back to the biscuits....
I love their taste,
but you must agree,
they do look like dog biscuits.








I am making lots of recipes from:
It's just the book for me.
If you are Dutch and love to bake,
go and buy a copy today.
You won't regret.

When we went to the recycle store on tuesday,
we picked up a new highchair for toddlers
and a new kitchen table.
Of course we had to paint the table.
It didn't come in this bright ocean green.
I think it suits our house very well!








If you really, really would love the recipe for these cookies,
please ask and I will write it down for you.









Have a great weekend everyone!
x Guusje

18.7.10

Weekend and stuff







We were having an Italian sunday over here.
My kids love Italian food.
We made large pizza's and fed, besides our family, the neighbors too.
For dessert 'the girl next door' served Pavlova with summer fruits.
(My very very favorite)

For a change,
I made this very lovely
'Crostada di fichi'
Fig tart.
For the first time,
from 'Jamie's Italy'.
Thanks universe for sending Jamie,
his food is just perfect to feed families and friends.







A big hit.

Lovely texture,
a very intense taste without being too much.
You can feed lost and lots
because of the 'small' portions.
Perfect to share in our little community.
The recipe calls for fresh figs,
I used dried ones which I soaked.
I added a dollop of home made fig jam on top of the figs,
just before it went in the oven.
I reduced the amount of sugar in the frangipane,
I like it a little less sweet.

The recipe can be found HERE.















In the rest of my spare time,
I tried to sew a bit more.
I screen printed some fabric on friday,
and it was calling my name at the kitchen table all day.

I made a shopper XL
I quickly have to make another one,
for me!
I ♥ her














Have a lovely monday!
X Guusje




17.7.10



Family life






Poppy is making the natural progress from being spoon-fed,
to finger foods to holding her own spoon.
She made it very clear,
she's also ready for more wholesome hearty meals.
At nighttime this is no problem,
she'll eat what we are having.
(Poppy being nr.3 we're surely getting used to saltless food)
During the day,
this means I'll have to start cooking special foods again.

I secretly enjoy making baby / toddler meals,
popsicles , smoothies and all things 'food unspoiled' children love to eat!







This is her favorite spoon,
perfect for tiny hands to hold.

Easy Peasy Recipe:

Cook Millet for 20 minutes
Add very finely chopped tomato
Add very finely chopped Basil
A spoonful of greek Yoghurt on top

She loves it!







All baby / toddler mums out there,
Please share your favorites!
I would love to hear all about them.
Have a good weekend,
x Guusje



14.7.10

Corner View: 'Me'



This is Me, sucking in her tummy to look slimmer!



About Me:

Me discovered recently,
she likes to sew.



Me doesn't like to do dishes.

Me does like watching telly especially when the kids are asleep.

Me walks with bare feet
and at night time
her feet are so dirty,
she have to clean them with a hard bathroom sponge
to get rid of the dirt.




Me likes to garden,
but leaves the rubbish laying around for her love to pick up.
The love of Me, does not like that.
but hey,
Me is Me.

Enough about MeMe..
Up to all the other Me's in the world!




11.7.10

New Produce



What is happening in Appeltaart's tree?





We are growing hand sewed & hand printed bags.






I am busy designing new prints for my own little textile label.
They will be ready in autumn.
I'm so excited.
All designs will be printed on organic fabric,
and home sewed by me, Mrs. Appeltaart.






In the meantime,
I'm practicing my sewing skills,
exploring bag sizes,
contacting organic textile suppliers
and
playing around with water based ink colors.






I'm modeling too!







All these bags,
printed on front and back,
big, little and small,
are now for sale in my shop.






They are waiting to be carried around,
holding wallets, little notebooks
and
maybe even nappies too.






And maybe,
one day,
walking around town,
Mrs. Appeltaart spots one of her bags,
or even two.
Wouldn't that be super cool?







So pop in store,
and make your Applepie score!






Have a great week, every one!
x Guusje


8.7.10

Thursday: Market Day


Thursday means:


Breakfast Coffee & cake with the Parrots




Fruits & Veggies
all over the place




Of course Dutch hard cheese







And today,
Thursday meant:
making
Jam




Fig Vanilla
&
Strawberry Lemon




Ran out of pots
for the apricots....




Today is a fun day!



7.7.10

(Click to enlarge)






enjoy

4.7.10

How to make a shapeless fun dress

Daan & I were talking home made dresses this morning.

I'll share my 'Big Cheat dress' with you all.
For the ones who actually can't sew.
(like me!!!)

This is the front



This is the back


First of all,
Go and find yourself two similar cot sheets.
Mine, for instance, have these nice frills to them.
You can have embroidered ones,
colored ones, whatever you like.



Prewash and Iron them.
I screen printed mine of course, no surprise there.
I sewed the sides together,
stop for room for armpits.
I made a little A-line.

Then I made the upper part.
If you look carefully at the first picture,
you see exactly what I did.

I decided how wide the upper front had to be by holding one sheet in front of me.
I ironed some folds and sewed
(I don't do needles/ patterns or any other professional things)

The backside I did almost nothing,
I just pulled a cord through the already exciting end.
And made, just like the front,
a little a line.

You do see what I mean?
(I probably won't be asked to become a teacher in this life, sorry !)



If you put your dress on, you will see that it doesn't make any sense in front.
That's when I understood why these little breast lines come in.
So I made those too.
You can see one under my hand (click to enlarge).
I think it's 6 cm long.
(The top photo shows them as well)



Make a little pocket or not.
and after a whole day wearing,
you will look like this if you look in the glass shed door:
(I know for sure, it looks better 3 D)




Great for nighttime too,
if you are not brave enough to walk around in a shapeless cheat sheet dress!




The best part about this dress is it will take no effort at all to make,
because you don't have to worry at all about the inside.
You will recycle the beautiful stitches made in,
hopefully not the worst,
sweatshops around the world.

One of my neighbors made a compliment about my dress.
I didn't even tell her I made it myself.
So go on,
find yourself the most beautiful bed linen in your closet,
before your toddler pukes on it!