New blog, and my first own blog design

Some of you may noticed my absence for weeks. Well, fact is: since Christmas I have been sick more or less all the time. But I also was busy with my second blog.

I am a very crafty person, and I love all things handmade, all kind of crafts. But since I'm a mom, I deeply got into designing and sewing children's clothing and accessories, toys, nice and useful stuff. Suddenly I realised how many things for babies and toddlers didn't meet my expectations at all. I didn't want to buy some of these things I didn't like, just because nothing else was available. So I started to make things of my own. Things made of wood and fabric, be it cotton or wool, natural fibers. I have a sketchbook full of ideas and designs, and I have a fabric stash ready to be used up. OK, the only problem is time. (I still have family duties and lot of housework to do, not to mention a garden...)

My label "Babelina & Button" was born. In December I attended at a local Christmas fair with a lot of my "products", shopping cats covers, wooden hangers, hair clip holders, pacifier bags, girl's dresses, soft toys etc. And even though people here are not so keen on handmade stuff, I could sell some things.

I set up a special blog with a shop for my new "boutique", and I even made my own blog design - the first ever! I am so amazed, my head sometimes is buzzing with all the new ideas that I have, and I wish the day would have more than just 24 hours...

Please understand that my teddies will have to wait a little bit in the meantime. I will not give them up, they are part of my life, but I will try to expand my business and find more buyer, thus being able to contribute to our family's income.

If you are interested in seeing my new blog (even if it's only available in German), you're most welcome, I'd love to see you there!


Ich poste nicht mehr so häufig, denn seit Weihnachten war ich mehr oder weniger immer krank. Aber ich war auch sehr beschäftigt, denn ich habe einen neuen Blog.


Ich war schon immer sehr kreativ und handwerklich begabt. Seit ich aber Mutter bin, habe ich begonnen, mich eingehend mit dem Entwerfen und Nähen von Kinderkleidern und Accessoires, Spielsachen etc. zu befassen. Eine neue Welt! Denn plötzlich musste ich realisieren, dass viele der angebotenen Artikel nicht meinen Vorstellungen entsprachen. So begann ich sie selber zu machen, aus Holz oder Stoff aus natürlichen Fasern. Es sollten Schöne und nützliche Sachen sein, die Bestand haben. Mittlerweile habe ich unzählige Entwürfe und Projekte. Ok, das einzige Problem ist die Zeit. (Ich habe ja auch noch Pflichten gegenüber meiner Familie, ganz zu schweigen vom Garten.)


So enstand mein Label "Babelina & Button". Im Dezember nahm ich an einem lokalen Weihnachtsmarkt teil, im Angebot Einkaufswagen-Polster, Schnuller-Taschen, Kleider, Kleiderbügel, Stofftiere und vieles mehr. Die Teddies müssen ein bisschen zurücktreten. Aber aufgeben werde ich das Bärenmachen nicht!


Für mein kleines Lädchen habe ich auch einen eigenen Blog mit integriertem Shop aufgesetzt und dazu sogar mein eigenes Blog-Design gemacht - mein erstes überhaupt! Ich würde mich freuen, wenn Ihr dort mal reinschaut.

Pouch for pacifiers and other small things

All women or mothers know the problem: pacifiers or other small things normally hide deep down on the bottom of big handbags or diaper bags. Recently I saw a pouch shaped like a triangular pyramid (a tetrahedron, to be precise), and I tried out to make one myself. I didn't have a pattern, but it was not difficult. Here is the result, and I produced many of them for my new label "Babelina & Button" and for my new Etsy shop. 

The most difficult part was the lining - I didn't want the seams to show, so the bag is really neatly lined. The short zipper is very handy, and a small strap helps opening and closing it.

With a metal clip on a longer strap the pouch can be fixed on the lining of a handbag, on a handbag handle, on the handle of a pram... 

And there are so many possibilities to combine lovely cotton prints with colourful zippers to create bunches of pouches for all kind of kids!

If you would like to have on of these, please contact me!

Tea-candle cards

To fill my stand at the upcoming Christmas fair, I made some tea-candle cards. These are great, as they are easy to make and you have unlimited possibilities to decorate them, and you can easily vary the size.

I used some tea-candle of an average size, this means: the smaller ones (about 1.5 inches), most are even scented and coloured.
The bigger cards contain 3 of them. The smaller cards are not proper cards - they just have one big candle.

When I was shopping, I found some bathing tabs with natural healing essences - almost the same size of the big candles. I had to modify the pattern for the card only slightly.

I printed all the saying myself, as my stamps usually are in English, and I realised that, even though everyone speaks at least a little bit English, people here in Switzerland normally prefer German texts on Christmas cards.

I think these are great small gifts, something that doesn't cost much and are perfect to give someone you just want to say "Merry Christmas" - instead of the same "flat" cards you write each year. And I had so much fun making them - I hope I can sell some of them. Otherwise I have to give them all to my neighbours, to my husand's cousins...

What a Hoot - owl fabric * Stoff mit Eulen

Actually, I have some fabrics in my stash at home. Some. Well, to be honest, I have quite many, but to be honest: can a crafter ever have enough of his favourite material? No. (Wink.) And there are so many cute, beautiful, fantastic designs!
Last saturday, I went to Zurich with my DH and little Alba. There are, however, only two fabric shops left in this whole big city, and both are not what I would call "heaven on earth". I'm demanding, I know.

But look what I found: the cutest colourful owls! First, I only intended to buy the fabric with the bigger print, as I had in mind to make a bib with sleeves for Alba. But my DH insisted that I also took a piece of the smaller print. Isn't he great?

I hope to start a project with this lovely fabric very soon. Of course, as fabrics are sooo expensive in Switzerland, is has to bee something very, very nice.

Kürzlich war ich mit meiner Familie in Zürich. Und da lacht mich doch dieser tolle Stoff von Exclusively Quilters aus einem Schaufenster an! Nun habe ich ja wirklich schon ein paar Stoffe zu Hause. Ein paar. Ich bin stoffsüchtig, aber diese Sucht tut ja niemandem weh. Zum Glück war mein Göga auch ganz begeistert davon und hat geduldig mit der Kleinen draussen auf der Strasse gewartet, bis ich meine Stücke gekauft habe. (Manchmal ist es unmöglich mit Alba in ein Geschäft zu gehen, weil sie alles anfassen möchte und unzufrieden wird, weil sie nicht kann - plärr!) Aber diese bunten Eulen sind auch wirklich zu süss, und ich freue mich schon daraus, etwas Tolles aus diesem Stoff zu nähen!