Spotlight: Webshop Sweet and Lovely

Hi friends! Every now and then I come across this incredibly cute webshop that I just have to share this link with everyone I know. I always love buying something original and handmade. That way you have a unique piece and the artist is the one that gets paid. Not some company! So that makes it totally worh it! Even if you pay just a bit more right? Well the webshop Sweet and Lovely, by the talented Kate Gabrielle, offers all sorts of cuteness. From prints and accesories, to templates for your blog. I have purchased some prints from Kate and it all went really smoothly. My favourite items from the shop are Kate's lovely artpieces. I have this piece on my desk right now. In a frame:

But this one is a favourite too!

She has also created some fun kits, like the slumber party kit. It includes a mix tape, microwave popcorn, friendship bracelets and much more fun. How cute is that?!

I will post more of these links soon, maybe a good start for your christmas shopping (wait,...what.. did I say christmas? yikes) And it's alot more fun to share a cute webshop than to keep it to myself! And FYI, these opinions are all my own. Kate Gabrielle, the owner of the shop, doesn't even know I am writing this! Happy shopping everyone!

Keep calm....

Hi friends! Wow, it is really monday and almost mid november already. Can you believe it? It's like I blinked my eyes and it's two weeks later. But worry not, worry not. I am still here! Hahaha.

Life has been a bit busy lately. I actually joined the gym (GASP). I now work out twice a week. I am quite proud of myself for going, even when the weather is shitty and it's cold outside and I just want to sit at home with a cup of tea and a good book. Yep, I still go and sweat my butt off in the gym, yay me! And then when I get home I eat some cookies... maybe not the best to 'celebrate' working out.
Saturday I visited a dear friend who lives in the city of Woerden. Had to travel for about two hours, which is alot for a Dutchie! But it was great to see her, and the city is quite nice. Look at the town hall for example.

The city centre also had a lovely baking/cooking store where I bought a baking book (Peggy Porschen's book  Boutigue Baking), a cupcake plunger thingy (so you can add a filling inside the cupcake) and a cake pop scoop. All in the cutest pastel colours. I am a sucker for pastel!
Aaaaand did anyone see the Hobbit fan event last week??!! Oh boy, it's every fans best night ever. And I wasn't even there live. Just watching on my laptop. For those who have no clue what I am talking about. Peter Jackson, the director of The Hobbit hosted a live event for all the fans. In cinemas across the globe there were actors and fans, for exclusive clips and a Q&A. It was awesome. Mostly because of these two most delightful gentelman. They make me so happy: Richard Armitage and Orlando Bloom.

Well, there you go. A little update on the Even Sweeter Dreams front! I will be back sooner rather than later! And a giveaway is on the horizon too. I mean, I have 200 followers!! If that isn't worth a giveaway, I don't know what is, right?! Have a lovely day everyone!

Hello November!

Hi everyone! Can you believe it is November already?? Winter is almost here (well sort of anyway). I am not a fan of the colder weather. I love the sunny fall and winter days, but they are rare unfortunately. Mostly the days are cold, windy and grey. Bah. On those days I just want to sit at home under a blanket and with some tea while watching an episode of The Walking Dead. Baking also helps my mood! The heat of the oven and the smell of freshly baked goods. Just the other day I made coconut/lime cucpakes with a swirl of lime merinque. Alot of fun! And they tunred out to be pretty darn good too.

And last week I was baking for a high tea at my aunt's house. I made a carrot/pisctachio cake and a chocolate cake. They didn't last for long at the high tea!

Later on we added some sandwhiches and other small bites. It was really nice. The cupcake napkins and cute teaboxes (the little boxes you see on the table) added to the prettyness of the table. The cakestands are mine as well, I love collecting those! Just before we started, me , my sister and my two cousins took some pictures together.

We all think the so called duckface look is too funny, so we had fun with that on the right picture haha. My sister is the one on the far left with my cousins in the middle. I am (as I am sure you know) the shorty there haha. It was alot of fun, and not the last time we will have our own high tea. Have a good weekend everyone!

Happy Halloween!

Hi friends! A happy Halloween to you all! Do you all get dressed up? Or maybe your kids? Here in Holland we don't really celebrate this event. Only a few kids go trick or treating, but it's not really a big happening here. I would love it be bigger than it is, get dressed up and such. Any excuse to dress up is great to me haha. Some friends did some pumpkin craving, and I made some pumpkin strudel, a lovely meal. To me pumpkin and Halloween go together. Or maybe it should be fall and pumpkin?! I hope you have a wonderful day, have fun trick or treating!

{Pics} Best of Austria

Hi friends! Hope you are doing well. Today we had one of the worst storms in Holland since 1990. Trees have been ripped out the damage is great. Luckily I didn't have to go outside today, even the trains were all delayed or cancelled all together. As I type this, the weather is alot better and the wind isn't so powerful anymore. We just had some hailstones, rain and thunder as well. Kinda crazy! Fall is defenitely here! On another note, I still have so many pictures to share from my trip to Austria, that I thought to make a 'best of' post with just the best of the best pics haha. So get ready for some mountains, lakes and animals!

A small mountain lake in Bregenzer Wald

The pretty town of Feldkirch

A happy pig, at the Wildpark in Feldkirch

So many looong trees!

Beautiful deer at the Wildpark in Feldkirch

Castle at Liechtenstein

A pretty village in Switzerland called Maienfeld, near the Liechtenstein border

Castle and wineranks at Liechtenstein

Kopsee, name of the lake, so beautiful!

Impressive mountains near Kopsee

Lunersee at 2000 meters, very high and very beautiful

The view on the other side of the Lunersee

{Crafting/DIY} Make your own wall art

Hi friends! The weekend is here! That's a perfect time to get your craft on. Recently I have been loving this: making my own wall art. I have (or had) an empty white wall and was so bored with it. I like colour and pictures/drawings. So I decided to make my own art. I am not a great painter and I can't draw to save my life, so I got my favourite magazines ( for the Dutchies: Flow magazine is great) and started cutting and scrapping. With the end result being these three pieces!

I must say that the middle one is my favourite. What you need to create your own?
An empty canvas
Paint in your colour of choice
Magazine clippings
Coloured paper
Ribbon
Small embellishments like buttons/glitter
Glue
Sciccors

I got an emty canvas and painted the sides with a pastel colour. Then cut out some coloured paper as a background. Or a flowery paper like in the middle canvas. I then looked for some cute clippings or drawings and glued them to the colourful background. I added small embellishments, like buttons on the rabbit's coat. As a final touch I glued ribbon to the canvas, to make it look like a frame. And taaadaa, your very own wall art! Have fun with this everyone! And a great weekend to you.

Day at the zoo

Hi all!! Can you believe it's wednesday already? Time flies when you're busy. Yesterday the weather was so nice, 20 degrees Celcius with a lovely sunshine. The perfect fall day! Me and my parents decided to go to the zoo in Rotterdam called Blijdorp. As most of you may know, I love going to the zoo! It has been a while since we last visited the Rotterdam zoo, about 7 years since our last visit. They had some new animals, like a polar bear and some babies. A baby giraffe was born as well as a baby elephant. So cute! The newly opened butterfly hall was also very nice. A very large hall with lots of flowers and butterflies. There was also a big aquarium, with sharks! Quite impressive. We stayed untill closingtime, we even ate an icecream on this sunny octoberday. Let's hope the weather stays this nice! For now, some pics of the zoo!