On my desk wednesday!

I spoke too soon... we are all flu-ish here. I would loooove to be able to take this time and just stay in bed, but my 2yr old doesn't seem to agree with my plans. Sick and all he has to come downstairs to play with his new train which, by the way, goes : chooooooochoooochucuchucuchooooooo...all day. Then stops (makes stopping sound), gases up (glugluglu noise from gas being poured in), and starts again. All day long. Why haven't the batteries exhausted themselves already...why!!!!!!!!!

This is on my desk today. Ceramic beads/buttons I made. I just picked them up from the Atelier yesterday qlong with other goodies. I love how they look. Now I have to figure out a use for them... hmmmm

Snow, red and grey dots

At this very moment it is snowing. Grey and cold all day and now snow. I hope it stays actually. I'm not sure it is cold enought for that, but it would be a change. Even if it's cloudy and grey, snow ...all that white, brights up the day...and invites (more than rain) people to be outdoors playing... at least kids. Moms stay indoors preparing the hot chocolate! :)

My kid has the flu which means that mommy will probably get the flu as well soon. Caring for him, the proximity... ussually means I fall as well... Dad on the other hand, never gets sick...hmmmmmmm
I have an appointment at the hairdressers (we all have in fact, it's a family appointment) but considering Seba's health, I think it will just be me. I neeeeed to give some shape to this mass of hair falling from my head. I'm in the mood for a sorta 50s style. Above the shoulders, falling to one side... mmmhdunno yet. My hair grows so fast that I can afford to have very short hair one month, a bob next and longuish hair soon afterwards (soon, a couple of months, I'm not a freak!).

Anyway, here I leave you with a new necklace. Red and grey dots. I just love the combination of the more calm and sober grey with a touch of passionate, strong red. Some people would say that is my husband's and my description: calm and ...red.

Needle and hand felted beads with glass (greyish ones), metallic and acrylic ones (red).


And it keeps snowing...
In the shop later today!

Monday...

And here we go again. Sinterklaas is over, so at least the first phase of the dutch holidays are behind. I received yesterday a new sewing machine as a present. 0km! Now I really have to learn how to sew! I'm marvelled at all the stitches it has and how light and easy to handle it is! A whole new world! hahaha
I will spend some time today reading all your blogs and getting a bit updated. It's incredible the pace of the internet world. I "neglected" it only for a few days and my bloglines is a bout to explode with unread entries.

For now, I leave you with a new front page on Etsy (thanks for the heads up Charlotte) :

Bottom row, in the middle: Black Magic Necklace

And a new necklace just listed: Winter Night


More pics in the shops!

Have a nice week everyone!

Sinter and icy wool...

The first sinterklaas celebration day is over. I received beads, an jewellery making books, body lotions, money and a ton of candy! The one that got the best deal here is my little son. the only child in the family, gets everybody's attention...and gifts! I think we are about to own every single lego set in the catalog!

Tonight the second day (for this family is multiple days) and hopefully, more gifts!

I just added yesterday this new necklace to my shop (yes, working in between packing presents). Very simple seed like grey and white handfelted beads.
Icy wool it's called...





In the shop...

Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas was a bishop who lived somewhere between the years 200-300 in Myra, a city in then the Bizantine Empire (today Turkey). He was very good to children, always fighting for their rights (one would say today, then was feeding, clothing them, taking them out of prostitution). When he died he was made patron saint of childhood. When the muslims took over what now is Turkey, his remains were taken to Bari, in Italy (he is San Nicola de Bari, pilgrims go there eeeevery year, very famous place).
Now, apparently, when Nicola retired from his bishop career, he moved to Spain. He started then this fashion which goes on until today for every retired person in Europe to move to Spain. When you go to Spain these days you never know whether you are in Sweden, England, Germany, The Netherlands or...indeed Costa Brava or Madrid. Quite surreal, Dali would be proud.
Back then, the character of our story, took a servant or helper whatever you want to call it, Zwarte Piet: Peter the Black or something similar. Some say he was a morish servant.
Anyway, once a year, Sinter and Zwarte Piet sail from Spain to The Netherlands bringing Americo, Sinter's white horse with which Sinter will ride around the kingdom checking that children have been good.
For a month previous to the 5th of December, the actual day of gift exchange, children leave their shoes at night along with a carrot and water for Sinter's horse. In the morning they find in exchange candy, nuts, peanuts, fruits, small gifts. These derives from the middle age's custom of poor people leaving their shoes in churches at this time of the year so the rich people could put a coin in it. The fruits and nuts is a pagan custom. For those who aren't european, you have to understand that in this time of the year, everything looks dead here. Grey, cold, lifeless. Nuts and fruits (apples and pears, the last crops of the Autumn's crops) symbolized more fertile moments... in the dark and middle ages, fruits and nuts were spread on furniture, even the floor as a way of paying tribute to mother earth... and wishing reaaaaally badly the sun came out already so they wouldn't have to freeze their buts anymore and could eat something decent!

So, on the 5th (in NL and ex-colonies /6th in Belgium) Sinter comes and presents are exchanged. You are asigned one family member to whom you have to write a satiric poem about things he/she did during the past year and give a surprise, something funny.

Now, that is sort of the story. How did it go from San Nicolai to Sinterklaas... you know.. fonetics. I can tell you how it went from Sinterklaas to Santa Claus (if you say the first really fast, it kinda sounds like the second).
One upon a time (1600s) New York was New Amsterdam. The place had been populated by dutch immigrats, those running from the religious persecution in this country. There they followed their traditions, among which was...Sinterklaas. American Revolution... the english or new americans (not sure about this) took over New Amsterdam and re named it New York (see how smart this pilgrims...everybody followed the same formula to name their new territories: NEW + city from birth place which they miss like crazy). The english not being able to cope with the difficult dutch fonetics (who can!) called it Santa Claus...

OK.. long enough? There are of course several different versions of all this. This one is the one that kinda matches more historical events and I don't know... I like it better.
In this family we have Sinterklaas a couple of times: Friday with grandma, uncles, cousins, etc... saturday with parents in law, bro in law... sunday I sleep due to headache (try to follow a whole lot of dutch people speakign at the same time). Monday I go to the dentist with tooth pain after tons of candy (because it is all accompanied with candy...marzipan, chocolate, sugar coated nuts... all yum!), tuesday I go to the gym and run for hours in a futile attempt to burn a tenth of all this! :)


Here is Sinter:


And that was all for today class... we will return tomorrow :)

On my desk, wednesday

Thanks everyone for letting me know about the etsy mini...or mini etsy. :) Then it is just me or our server. The husband refuses to acknowledge that there might be anything wrong with said server or computer, which means that it is up to me to start touching stuff..pretending I know what I'm doing. Which I don't. That will scare the husband into doing something.

Ok, charms charms. When you are asked to send samples of a certain dimension for a promotional bag (200 of them, although I won't be in each one. I run out of biz cards!), you think...suuuuure. In a month? of course. And then a week before the deadline you think..and now? what am I going to make? Can't make 20 scarfs...20 brooches? 20 necklaces?? mmmh no. So, 20 charms, needlefelted, wet felted, wired and embelished by yours truly. For your bag, cell phone or even as a pendant because I made a nice hook for hanging. By the way, I need proper jewellery making tools because my fingers hurt from pushing wire!

So here: not yet embellished...



All packed and ready to be sent to headquarters in Germany.


And now, to finish attaching a million seed beads to an organza super huge nunofelted shwal/wrap/pashmina. This is for a gift for Sinterklaas.
This post is too long already, tomorrow children, a lesson on germanic traditions: Sinterklaas. Don't say this blog isn't an anthropological gem! So rich in knowledge! :)

hi!
I'm burried under what seems a million different hand felted balls, beads, wire, papers bags...and I don't know what else.
i'm making charms for the DaWanda World 2009 Promotional bags. I'm a bit late so now I'm rushing while I also work on Sinterklaas things (a sort of Santa version from germanic peoples...comes on the 5th of December with presents).

So, I will be back soon.
I still can't see pictures from Etsy... can you tell me if you see the pictures on the mini Etsy here on the right hand menu?
Thanks!

Will be back soon!