Latest Forum Posts by: Bastelfan

@steffi: “Sorting” is the next problem. I’ve used those little pill boxes or regular sorting boxes. I labeled them with a small sticker and a number.

But there are also special “cases” made just for this diamond painting hobby, with little containers inside for sorting. That’s what I have.
You can also sort the stones into resealable bags.
If you cut open the little bags that come with the stones, you can reseal them with a tiny wooden clip.

It’s so much fun. It’s best to start at the top and work your way down bit by bit—that’s how I do it. And be sure to cover the rest with the protective film as you go, otherwise everything will stick together.
Or you can start with the “few” stones first.

Have fun “puzzling”!

Flooring

Hi Brita,

a warm welcome from me, too. I’m glad you found this forum. I was really impressed by how many hobbies you have—even graphic design. I think that’s really great.
I hope you have a lot of fun here, and maybe you’ll show us some of your lovely creations soon.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone

Warm regards from
Andrea

Scored tablet

We had a storm here two days ago with fallen trees, damaged roofs, and some hail. A house in this area was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Cleanup efforts are still underway. So it was pretty intense.

Fortunately, everything here remained intact. It was pretty scary—so much lightning and thunder, and torrential rain.

This weekend is supposed to be a sweltering 34 degrees (feels like 36). What’s going to happen next? No one can work without air conditioning in this heat.

Flour bag

Hi everyone,

I’ve tried diamond painting too, and I still have 3 small pictures and 1 large one lying around here that I need to finish—I just don’t know when yet.

I find it super relaxing.
There are also greeting cards made with this technique; beginners could try those first, and they’re not too big, so you can see the end in sight pretty quickly.

I ordered these pens online (they look like white colored pencils). They have a wax-like tip, which works much better for picking up the stones. You don’t need those wax pads. You can sharpen the pens normally with a pencil sharpener. I’m thrilled.

There are round and square adhesive stones. The round ones are easier to work with, since with the square ones you have to be very careful to make sure they’re glued straight against each other. With the round ones, there’s more space in between, which can be sealed. Personally, though, I didn’t do that—I just framed the picture behind glass, trimmed it to size, and that was it.

Good luck to all beginners trying out this technique.

Armchair cover

It’s a bit warmer here, too, but there are thick clouds again, and rain is on the way.
And I have to go back to work today. I still have a bit of a cough.

Despite all that, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Best regards
Andrea

Dressing bottle

List of Tables

Job cuts

I’m crocheting little flip-flop-shaped bag charms (commission)

Silo facility

The weather was fantastic again today. We were even able to sit out on the balcony again. It was so hot, though, we couldn’t stay out long.
It’s supposed to stay like this tomorrow, which is good for my mom’s birthday celebration.
I’m still on sick leave—those stupid coughing fits, still going on.

At least my kids are visiting.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

My vacation’s long over—nothing left. But I have 3 days off in October (60th birthday) and 3 days in late September/early October (craft fair).
Other than that, we’re just muddling through.

Bruchpilot

Dreamcatcher

Thanks, Christina. This cough is still bothering me.

Veronika, your blanket looks interesting in terms of color. I’m curious to see what it’ll look like when it’s finished.

Thank you all for the get-well wishes.

That’s right, Monika. I still need to finish my mom’s birthday card in the next few days, make some place cards (4 of them), and bake a cake for her little coffee gathering. All by Friday.
The cough is still bothering me despite the drops, and my whole stomach hurts from all the coughing.

Ursulapetra, your lecsó looks delicious.
Petra, wow—a pizza oven! The things people come up with. Is it only for outdoor use?

Weekend vibes or not. On the one hand, yes, but on the other hand, I have to recover from a bad cold and hope that my trouble swallowing gets better.
I’m sure each of you knows the feeling of having swallowed a piece of candy that’s stuck in your throat—that’s how I feel. So I went to the doctor today, and now I have a week “off.”

Have a great weekend, everyone!

A problem shared is a problem halved.

My UFOs are still manageable. I keep them all together in a bag inside the fabric box in my closet, and I still remember which AL that was. I don’t take notes on yarn or hook size, since I always crochet with the same hook size and cotton yarn.

Yes, that’s right—as soon as I start a new project, the other one (the UFO) gets put aside. Eventually it resurfaces, but by then I have something else to crochet, and so it continues its dark existence in the box. Someday it’ll definitely be finished. I promise.

To start with, you might want to use a larger crochet hook than specified (one size larger), since beginners tend to crochet quite tightly.

Oh my, I didn’t even notice the date.
Thanks for the info

Hey Jana,

I’d also be interested in and have time for small projects. I have Filet crochet yarn on hand. NS 1.75, right?

Best regards, Andrea

Crochet charts (different symbols stand for different types of stitches) are read in the right side rows always from right to left, and the wrong side rows (even-numbered rows) always from left to right.

Personally, I like working from crochet charts with symbols.

Thank you, and I wish you all a great weekend, too. 🌞

The vacation mood is a thing of the past—it’s back to work now. I had the day off today and spent it doing crafts and DIY projects.
It’s finally nice out. The heat really takes a toll on your mood.
Next week I have three days off, so I’ll be devoting myself to my hobbies again (crocheting, making birthday cards, crafting beaded angels).

Petra, your picture looks like something out of a fairy tale movie. Great snapshot.

I’m in the same boat. I do exactly the same thing. Summer means summer decorations and motifs, winter means Christmas trees, and fall means pumpkin decorations.

That’s right—I remember the slide rule from my school days. They came in metal and plastic, with a sliding bar and that movable transparent sliding part for reading the result. I thought it was great. Too bad it’s gone missing.
Do they even make those anymore?

That wooden coffee grinder with the crank on top—my mom used it a lot, sometimes even at the campground, since you didn’t have electricity there. As a kid, it was really fun to grind coffee with it. Later, I kept it on my kitchen cabinet as a decoration. No idea where it ended up. It’s a shame, really, about such great treasures.

Is that offset printing process still around? It involved thick white sheets of paper, and you needed that purple tracing paper that rubbed off so much and stained everything (not carbon paper). You’d type on it with a typewriter, and there you had the master for the thermal copying process— or whatever it was called.

Scrap pictures for poetry albums or similar things. I think you still see those every now and then. Decal stickers?

Exactly, Ina, I used to love doing that. Or that cat’s cradle game. Just your fingers and a long piece of string tied in a loop, and off you went. Kids today don’t even know it anymore.

There were also plastic bottles with screw caps; we’d make a hole in the cap, and once the bottle was empty, it was used as a “squirt bottle.” We’d simply fill it with water, and then we’d “write” words outside on the concrete paths. We were pretty inventive; we were never bored.

I really liked the cap guns. They’d probably be banned today. The caps came on a roll. You put them in the plastic gun, pulled the trigger, and then the little metal lever would hit the caps; it always made such nice sparks and was loud. Or we’d take a stone and tap the caps to make them spark.
Yes, I didn’t just play with dolls.

Weather-wise, here in the lowlands it’s cloudy with a bit of sun, and finally there’s a light breeze. It’s nice for airing things out, but still warm. It was already 17 degrees this morning.

I need to cool off.

Everything is always so cozy at Ina’s.
Exactly, Monika—everyone wishes they had a sister like that. I’m picturing it all right now: sitting comfortably in Ina’s garden, enjoying some delicious fruit cake. The pond is babbling nearby, and a light breeze is blowing. That’s really wonderful.

We just aren’t getting any rain here. The few drops that fall evaporate in a flash. It’s stuffy in the apartment—no relief from the heat.
This morning we opened all the windows to create a draft and cool things down a bit. But now the sun is coming out again and heating everything up. It’s not getting any cooler on the 3rd floor.

Have a wonderful Sunday anyway, everyone.
I’m enjoying my last day of vacation, because tomorrow I have to get up early again.

Best wishes
Andrea

Once upon a time, long ago, there was a woman who had a beautiful garden full of colorful flowers. 
One day, she went into the garden to check on her beautiful little pink flowers, as she did every day.
Then she heard a soft little voice singing a beautiful little song. 

The woman paused to listen and understand the words. 
She was enchanted and felt transported back to her own childhood.

For her flower fairy mother had always sung her to sleep at night.

Lost in the sound of the voice and with her thoughts in the
past, she continued strolling through her flower-filled garden. 
Then she discovered a tiny little creature under a rosebush.

"Hello, little flower elf, I haven't seen you in a long time," said the woman with a smile. 

The two chatted about old times over a little glass of blossom nectar. A lot
has happened since their last secret meeting here in the garden by the
rosebush. 

The cute little flower elf plucked a leaf from the nearest
bush, rolled it into a proper joint, and began to
smoke. The woman was shocked: Had anyone ever seen such a thing from a
flower elf?

The woman said: "The beautiful roses." They can't tolerate smoke.

To you, dear Claudia, and to your sister, I wish you all the very best, lots of strength, and that everything goes well with the rehab.

Your shirt turned out really great.

Oh, and that portable TV, called the “Junost”—I had one of those as a young girl in my first one-room apartment.

Oh yes, the good old days.

Ina speaks for all of us secretaries. That’s exactly how it was. The heavy shift key, lever for line spacing, typewriter ribbon, and so on.
As an apprentice, I got to type on those "Optima" typewriters , or sometimes on those old black ones with the round keys (when the colleague who always typed on it wasn’t there); that one was super easy to type on. As a teenager, I only had that portable typewriter at home (similar to the Erika).

We, too, initially had to shovel coal piles into buckets and down into the cellar; later came the sacks with the briquettes. As a child, I didn’t like going into the cellar in the evening to bring up coal; it was all the way back in the corner, and I was always scared there.

Does anyone still remember the good old ponytail holders, with the two little balls on them and elastic? I loved them in all colors. I still know how to use them today.
I could actually make some myself. I do have elastic cord and beads here.

Do those foldable toothbrushing cups made of plastic still exist? They were plastic rings in different sizes that stacked inside each other when folded up. The whole thing had a bottom plus a lid. Folded up, it looked like a round tin. Pulled upward, it looked a bit trapezoid-shaped, and it held water.

Warmest birthday wishes to you today—all the best, lots of happiness, and good health.🎂🍾

Warm regards from
Andrea

Here are a few more photos.

The Frauenkirche from the outside and inside. Doesn’t it look great? 

Thank you, my dears.
I even found a craft store here and managed to find some craft supplies. They had so much fluffy wool, among other things.
But I only bought two small balls of wool. Nothing else fits in my little suitcase.

Today we went on a paddle steamer ride, and we also visited the Frauenkirche—we even went up to the top of the tower. The view was magnificent.
Tomorrow we plan to visit the famous dairy shop—Pfunds Molkerei.

See you later, my hard-working little mice

Lots of love from me

Warm vacation greetings from Dresden.


Hugs, Andrea

Thank you so much, Monika.
Crocheting these patterns is really fun, and you can arrange them however you like.

So I kept using this little tabletop spin dryer for a long time, because back then, as a young girl, I didn’t have my own washing machine yet (only one in the communal laundry room). The spin dryer was great for hand-washed laundry.

My mom also kept washing with this WM66 (pulsator washing machine) for a long time, and used this tabletop spin dryer with an inflatable rubber ring alongside it. If you didn’t put the laundry in smoothly enough, it rattled like crazy. You had to hold it firmly with this lever.

Back then my grandpa rode the Berliner Roller (moped/motorcycle)

Do you still remember those plastic carry baskets for girls/women? You could snap them together at the sides to make a basket.
I recently rediscovered this basket bag in a well-known shoe store. Everything comes back eventually, just more expensive.

Yeah, exactly—that paper dress-up doll. I used to love playing with that, too.

It’s great that something like that still exists. Thanks, Veronika.

Make Your Own Quark Mask

Once upon a time, long ago, there was a woman who had a beautiful garden full of colorful flowers.
One day, she went into the garden to check on her beautiful little pink flowers, just as she did every day.
Then she heard a soft little voice singing a beautiful little song.

The woman paused to listen and understand the words.
She was enchanted and felt transported back to her own childhood.

Because her flower fairy mother had always sung her to sleep in the evenings.

Lost in the sound of the voice and with her thoughts in the
past, she continued strolling through her flower-filled garden.
There she discovered a tiny little creature under a rosebush.

“Hello, little flower elf, I haven’t seen you for a long time,” the woman said with a smile.

The two chatted about old times over a glass of flower nectar.

On Sunday, the time has finally come,

For me, it was some craft supplies and clothes (a short pajama set and thin summer pants)
Crafting is always great, and so many supplies—awesome.

Once upon a time, long ago, there was a woman who had a beautiful garden full of colorful flowers.
One day, she went into the garden to check on her beautiful little pink flowers, just as she did every day.
Then she heard a soft little voice singing a beautiful little song.

The woman paused to listen and try to make out the words.
She was enchanted and felt transported back to her own childhood.

After all, her flower fairy mother had always sung her to sleep at night.

I still have my SKT, too. pressure cooker Original GDR. I just don’t have the aluminum inserts anymore. You can still buy those rubber sealing rings now and then at Ossi markets; it’s still in good shape, not brittle. My roast always gets nice and tender in it.

I also still remember those hot mangles from my grandma. I once went along when she picked up her laundry there back then. Today you might only still see some lettering above the shop.

Online at a....n there is also a book about these “vanished things” from GDR times.

I even still have my cutlery from school days (school meals), and I love using it.

Plasters for injuries