New arrival! Card range from April Rose

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April Rose

Hello lovelies,

as I mentioned in my previous post I had been collaborating with my good friend and illustrator Siobhan from April Rose on a new card range. Well, they've arrived fresh from the printers in the UK and are now available in my online shop! The range is a "Keep Calm" series that includes ten original designs in Siobhan's inimitable vintage retro style! I absolutely adore these. The cards are made from FSC certified 300 g paper and have a wonderful matte finish. Here are a few examples...

Apart from the craft-themed cards, there's one for people who love to bake, garden and more. Check them out and all the other cute items at Duni's Studio. 

As mentioned, the regular postal service from Germany to USA and Australia is still suspended, but with cards it shouldn't be a problem, because I can send those as documents. Just a heads up - there are a lot of shipping hold ups currently regardless of where you live, so expect a longer wait time. If you have any questions about these cards or shipping simply contact me at duni.buesken(at)gmx(dot)de.

For readers wondering how my sweet little cat Sumi is doing. Well, it's been touch and go for a while. She's just skin and bones now despite feeding her enriched food several times a day. The trauma of losing an eye seems to be a bit much for an 18 year old. She had been recovering in a room, which I had decked out in blankets and pillows and my heart simply soared when she finally left it on her own almost three weeks after the surgery. It's slow going, but she's learning how to navigate with one eye. Poor baby. My deep wish is that she improves daily and lives out her life as happy and comfortable as possible.

In the meantime, we have been steadily working on turning our garden into a low-maintenance one. We didn't realize when we started this project that it was going to be so time consuming! Then again, it's not like we're going anywhere what with the second wave of the pandemic sweeping through our country. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we finish the big jobs by the end of this year and maybe next year we can start on the fence construction. I admit, I'm not very adept at gardening and the big jobs mostly fall on my hubby's shoulders.

I will end this post with a picture of my handmade cat - which I had to sew twice, as the first one resembled a mouse ;-). Wishing you all a happy Sunday and stay safe wherever you may be in the world.

 

Acufactum fabrics, April Rose sneak peek & Life lately

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Hortensientraum

Dear blog friends,
just wanted to check in and say hello. We're halfway into 2020 and what an absolutely challenging year it has turned out to be. The pandemic is raging on and most of us are still self-isolating. Especially people who are naturally sociable have a hard time dealing with this. Do reach out to people whom you might feel to be suffering at home alone. Luckily we live in the digital age where it's easy to engage in "face-time" via phone. While I haven't seen any of my friends in person since March, I'm grateful they are all healthy. Same goes for my family members who live in different parts of the world. I try not to dwell on the fact that I might not see them in a very long time.

On top of everything else, we had to rush my sweet little cat to emergency surgery ten days ago. Right up to the moment she was her normal active self, the next moment she was obviously in deep pain and I discovered blood was coming out of her left eye. Turns out a tumor had been growing inside it, which couldn't be seen from the outside. Sadly, her eye had to be removed. What a traumatic experience for all of us, but especially Sumi. She is eighteen years old now, that's eighty-eight in human years, and recovery is taking longer than usual. The first few days I had to feed her by hand. I liquified some chicken with broth, but she would only eat a teaspoon. Thankfully, over the last few days she's been eating more. Also, I had to administer antibiotics. Catmoms will know how difficult this is. I tried every trick in the book. What finally worked was placing the pills in a small container with her usual dry food. Leave them in for at least 72 hours. They will take on the smell of the food.
I then cut them in half and stuck them in the tiniest piece of cooked chicken. This didn't always work on the first try, though. She's doing better today. She's walking around slowly, getting used to navigating with just one eye. My poor baby :( Needless to say I haven't slept well and I'm a bit frazzled from watching her 24/7.

Needless to say all my sewing projects are on the back burner and I'm done sewing face masks, but I couldn't resist this special request for a kid-sized mask with a Hello Kitty patch. I'm (still) a big fan myself. This really is the last one though!

I am grateful that I am able to work from home. The only times I leave the house with my mask on and keeping the required distance from other people is when I go to the post office or grocery shopping. Thankfully, the personnel and other shoppers are sticking to the guidelines. Also, for those who are wondering - I pack my products with disposable gloves on.
For those who have been waiting for newsletters/fabric updates - production has been moving slowly or even halted. At this point I can't say whether I will receive my orders this year or not.
Please bear with me!

Luckily a few fabrics from German company acufactum arrived here last week. These fabrics are all 145 cm wide (58 inches) and are certified oekotex R standard 100% cotton. These fabrics feature the most adorable, whimsical details illustrated by Daniela Drescher. You have seen the popular Pippa & Pelle summer fabric in my previous post. I know it is still early, but check out the winter version. The snow-covered cottage is so cute. And can you spot the little mouse?

Coming from acufactum later this year is the new Winter Collection featuring fluffy sheep, winter grass, cut-out ovals framing sweet children plus dots in a subtle cream, light grey and taupe colorway. I sell these fabrics in units of 25 cm (10 inches), but if you buy more I will obviously leave the fabric in one continuous piece. Btw, regular postal service to USA and Australia is still suspended, unfortunately. However, I have had success with shipments to USA using an international courier service, if you are willing to pay the increased shipping fee. Email me, if you are interested.

And last but not least, I have been collaborating with my dear friend Siobhan of April Rose Illustrations on a new post card series! After final touches have been made the designs are now off to the printers. The cards feature the inimitable style unique to April Rose products. So excited for these and can't wait to share soon! I will reveal this much...it's a Keep Calm series. Here is a sneak peak.

Thank you for reading along and I hope you enjoyed this post. And I truly hope you are taking good care of yourselves, your families and communities. Take care, until next time!

New fabric line, Handmade, Life lately & more fabric!

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Hello lovelies!

true to my new motto of "blogging without obligation" this happens to be only my second blog post this year. I admit it feels kind of weird after blogging three times per week for years. If you follow my business account on Instagram you'll find that I have been working on several projects which I'm excited to share here on the blog.
US fabric designer Tanya Whelan, who switched to a different manufacturer last year released a new collection - Janey. These fabrics have such a happy vibe and feature her signature nostalgic rose bouquets in fresh aqua, vibrant pink and red plus fun rose cameos on gingham. It took a while for these to arrive over here in Germany, but when they did I couldn't resist making a little something.

I honestly wish I could sew more, but since I'm still experiencing pain almost every day in varying intensity I can only do as much as my body will allow. As you can imagine I have seen one doctor after the other, sat for hours in stuffy waiting rooms and argued with (at least) one of them. It's frustrating, but I've vowed not to let this, whatever *this* is, become the focus of my attention. Nope.
We've had a weird summer, alternating between relatively cool, rainy days and exceptionally hot days. And two weeks in July were absolutely scorching. Every day I had to fill those water bowls that I had placed in shadow-y areas in the garden for the thirsty birds. Speaking of garden. Earlier this year we decided to turn ours into a low-maintenance one. Right now it's a pretty muddy mess - Leo loves it :) Ever seen a cat roll around in mud?
Also our upper balcony is getting a make-over! I know I mentioned this around three years ago, but you wouldn't believe how difficult it is to find and coordinate contractors. So far we've had a new balcony door and the electrical stuff installed, but the big part, the actual renovation is only going to start early next year. Still, I'm so glad we've made progress and finalized our design.

Over the summer my illustrator friend Siobhan and I collaborated on a cute new post card range!Check out these vintage style numbers cards. Coincidentally, I turned fabulous fifty this summer and I spent my birthday weekend in my favorite city Amsterdam. Too bad it was raining, but I enjoyed the scenery, the flower market and the food none the less...and how cute is that hotel kitty?

In additional fabric news, I don't know how I could have missed out on these whimsical fabrics by German company acufactum for so long. Particularly as the company headquarters is only about an hours drive from my home! These are selling really well in my shop. The delicate motifs featuring dainty girls, pretty flowers, birds, magical fairies and little mice are original illustrations by Daniela Drescher. There's also a matching range of satin ribbons. It's all so cute! I made a little zip pouch and tried my hand at stitching letters by hand.

Coming soon, hopefully beginning of October is another new fabric range, which has gained a huge following in Europe in the last ten years or so - the popular Tilda fabrics designed by Norwegian Tone Finnanger. She has published a number of craft books and is known for her sewing patterns for soft toys, home decoration and colorful quilts. Super excited to be receiving "Old Rose" this Fall.

There's some other items coming this Fall as well, but I'll keep that under wraps for now :) Take care everyone and thank you for reading along! Till next time...

New Arrivals! [ & Xmas Sale ]

Hello lovelies!           Hallo, Mädels!

I don't know about you, but as soon as Christmas is over I'm ready for something bright, cheerful and fresh! Like these gorgeous new fabrics from the Rambling Rose collection. As I mentioned on instagram I was truly surprised that these had already arrived here, since they aren't even in US stores yet and usually I get them a month later! Rambling Rose is a timeless collection of classic florals with fresh vintage appeal - perfect for aprons, kitchen accessories and patchwork projects.

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Sobald Weihnachten vorbei ist bin ich bereit für fröhlich-frische Farben...geht es euch auch so? Wie hier bei diesen wunderschönen, neuen Stoffen aus der Rambling Rose Kollektion. Wie ich schon auf Instagram erwähnte war ich wirklich überrascht, dass sie schon eingetroffen, da sie noch nicht einmal in den US-Läden zu bekommen sind! Rambling Rose ist eine zeitlose Kollektion mit nostalgischen Rosenbouquets und bezaubernden Vintage Motiven - perfekt für Schürzen, Küchenaccessoires und Patchwork-Projekte.

Cupcakes! Who doesn't love them. And these ones won't even ruin your post-Christmas diet, since they are printed on a cute A6 notebook from the April Rose range :) This would make a sweet gift for someone who loves to bake! 

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Cupcakes! Wer mag sie nicht. Und diese hier machen garantiert nicht dick, denn die süßen pastelligen Cupcake-Motive zieren dieses praktische Notizheft aus der April Rose Serie :) Nette Geschenkidee für alle Backfeen!

I totally love the Vintage style illustrations on these high-quality greeting cards from the Songbird series. They are square format and did I mention the motifs are printed on watercolor-style cardstock? I even think they would look beautiful in your home as a framed set!

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Ich liebe die Illustrationen im Vintage Stil dieser hochwertigen Grußkarten aus der Songbird Reihe. Die originellen Karten im quadratischen Format sind aus hochwertigem Karton mit einer feinen Struktur wie Aquarellpapier. Ich überlege schon sie als Set einzurahmen!

Lastly, I know some of you like to stock up on Christmas items for next year (welcome to the club) and to accomodate this I have reduced Christmas, giftbags and stickers by 15%. Check them out here!

Für Schnäppchenjäger habe ich alle weihnachtlichen Artikel von Krima & Isa im Shop mit 15% Rabatt reduziert! Schaut mal vorbei - es lohnt sich!