It’s a beautiful sunny day today and we are enjoying the weather outside! Just some flowers photographed by Ron van Dongen to say hi all and wishing you a great Sunday!
~ Flowers ~
Leave a Comment
Home decor
~ Friday Next Amsterdam ~
A while back I visited Friday Next in Amsterdam together with Nina from Paper Stories. What a lovely shop! You can drink coffee there and have something to eat as well. We ate lunch there and would have stayed the whole day if possible! The store is packed with design furniture, accessories and lifestyle things. Everything is carefully selected. I wanted to buy the whole lot! (they also have a webshop)
~ Deyrolle Paris ~
Since I’ve read the haunting and beautiful novel Effigy by Allisa York some years ago I’ve been more than intrigued by taxidermy (I interviewed her for an online magazine where I found out what an exceptionally interesting person she is and the amount of research she’d done to accurately portray the taxidermy process). I think there is a definite beauty in the dead animal, although in itself it’s sort of a macabre thing of course. I remember being on holiday in France in the country and we stumbled upon a taxidermist who had collected a great range of stuffed animals. I seriously considered bringing a duckling back home, but then the ‘deadness’ of the animal still made more of an impression on me than it’s beauty, I just couldn’t get over the fact it had quacked once… Still, when we’re going to Paris this summer I would love to visit Deyrolle, famous for it’s taxidermie, entomology and curiosities.
{All photo’s via Deyrolle site}
~ Babongo goodies ~
A little while back I did my very first Kindred Spirits interview with Nicole Blaak, the owner of the lovely and eco-friendly webshop Babongo. Then some weeks ago Nicole asked me if she could send me some products to review and of course I was thrilled because she sells only beautiful things. Of course I’m a fan of stationary products and Babongo is the only Dutch salespoint for the beautiful stationary products of Esme Winter. Esme Winter is a ‘modern English designer’ who makes eco-friendly paper products from recycled and responsible sourced papers. She has a background in textile design and is currently working on her first textile collection. I love the abstract patterns and since I’m a paper lover the notebooks and wrapping paper are just bliss to me. Nicole also send me one of her new products: a bamboo breakfast plate in the form of a mouse, so cute! Do make sure to check out Babongo for high quality eco-friendly products and if you see something you like you can get a 10% discount on your order if you apply for the Babongo newsletter!
{Photo’s were made by me and embellished with the help of the newly released and pretty rad app ABeautifulMess by Elsie and Emma. Love their blog too! }
~ Abbey Mcculloch ~
Really like these paintings by Abbey Mcculloch, an Australian painter. Couldn’t find any site of Abbey nor any other site where you can buy her work, so she is shrouded in a little bit of mystery. I like a little bit of mystery from time to time…
~ Charleston house ~
I was totally smitten by the Charleston house of interior decorator Angie Hranowsky in the latest Lonny Magazine. Although some of the furniture pieces in the living room do not exactly coincide with my taste (lamp and side table), I love love love the couch (that couch takes guts) and colors she uses, the paintings and general feel of the place, the purple diner area and the wooden shelving. I can’t actually believe people really live like this! (You should take a peek at her portfolio!) Can you?
{I was supposed to post a blogpost on my London trip to Tate Modern, but due to a small creative emergency I didn’t find the time today. So, for now this previously prepared post will have to do..}
~ The Blank (Gallery) Wall ~
When we moved here Mister wanted everything white. So when we in fact moved, we felt like we moved to the Apple store, it was so very white we needed some shades. Now white is a good basis, don’t get me wrong, but the thing is, white is so very white. My aunt, who is an artist, said once: “my eyes need hooks and crannies to cling to.” We try to maintain a delicate balance between the serenity my Mister comes to look for when he’s home and my natural curious gaze that needs little things to marvel and wonder about. My latest design challenge is the big white wall above our couch. It’s now ‘just white’ and since we have a high ceiling everything seems to be more empty because of it. That wall needs something, but we don’t want any stuff like shelves. I wanted something different. I had this vision of all sorts of little and big paintings, drawings and posters even before I knew this kind of thing had a name: a gallery wall. So there it is: I want a gallery wall and am now contemplating which pieces go together to create a serene but interesting combination. Since it’s quite the undertaking, looking for the perfect poster etc. is not that easy, I’ve decided to keep you updated on this wall to see it’s progress. For now some inspiration!
{1. brit.co / 2. Do you fancy this / 3. The design files}
~ Some things I love #5 ~
All I think about is birdies and spring. So here are some things I love.
{ 1. Birds by Kristian Verdel / 2. Little America bird backpack Herschel via Restored / 3. Dress with bird print via Etsy / 4. Bird necklace via Bird on the Wire }
~ Meet the Tweet revisited ~
When I went to Meet the Tweet last Sunday (thanks again Nina, Rivka and Ria) it was actually one of our conversation topics: why post something about something when others have posted about that something. Is there anything you can add? I thought about that conversation while I postponed writing about MTT. You see, I was a little bit shy. Because how could I add something when so many attending had written so many good posts already? But then I remembered our conclusion: you always have something to bring to the table when it’s in your tone of voice or when it’s drenched in your particular ‘style’. And I remembered what I thought was the great positive about that Sunday: it was meeting so many talented and passionate Dutch ladies. I really was blown away by how amazing some of their products were. I have this awe for anyone with the creative gene, maybe because I lack it. So here are some examples of the talent of some of my (new) favorite creative ladies. In the little booklet Nina made all the attendees have written some quotes and blogtips. If you would like to get your hands on a copy, please do contact Nina.
{ Logo of Meet the Tweet / 2. Zonnende merel by Simone a.k.a. Miss Honeybird / 3. Card by Ocher / Baby emperor penguin by Ankepanke - isn’t it too cute? }
So I’m not going to rave about Badhu (where it all took place) which is great and really beautiful and I just know you already made plans to go there sometime, but I am going to insist you check out these talented entrepreneurs and lovely blogs right now:
- If you are searching for the perfect ring try a confetti ring by Twinklebird, I’m saving up for one!
- Do check out the incredibly versatile Carlotte at Ocher, she paints, she designs, she can do pretty much anything I think! I had a really interesting talk with her (she can be hired too to do design, branding, creative concepts).
- Love the vintage broches by Broesj! Very dangerous stuff indeed!
- Really impressed by the blog and work of Windward, lovely lady and very talented. She can be contacted for web design and such.
- Allihoppa’s blog is now among my Bloglovin Dutch bloggers to keep up with!
- Nathalie Paak is one of my favorite Dutch bloggers and she sells beautiful selfmade photo’s, cards and lifestyle items in her web shop Worldly Treasury.
- Also check MooisenMeer where publishing house buddies Suzanne and Saskia aim to inspire.
I’m very excited for the next edition!
~ Last weekend: ShowUp ~
Before I got incredibly sick (it’s okay, I’m finally feeling somewhat better, although my throat is still sore and I’m out of tissues) I went to ShowUp last weekend. Here are some of the pics I made. I loved the event and will definitely try to go again next August. Everything was really well arranged too, even up to a free coffee!
{ 2. Kolk & Kolk agenturen / 3 + 4 ENGEL / 5. Lapin & Me / 6. Important Stuff }
