Stitches and Thrills

Last Sunday, on Swanmarket XXL in Rotterdam. Before the rain: see through all the lanes.  My cat toy eyes: selling like madness again. Cuties! (Note the matching polka dots detail: even on the doggies.)

The pretty boxes of Higher Living tea looked very appealing to me in the shop De Tuinen . Of course I couldn't choose, and as they were on a special offer I decided to try a couple of flavours. For a ginger freak like me they have an awesome selection, but also for non ginger lovers they have plenty of choice. The pretty package turned out also to have a nice print on the inside. Cute, but not really necessary. However it is a challenge to reuse the boxes.  With 4 staples, a ribbon and 4 buttons I made a sweet display for postcards.

The first 2 of my new summer hats are ready. They are made from organic cotton (Daisy Janie's Tilly collection) which I purchased at PureCoverz a few months ago. Olive The asymmetric model was already on my mind since my mum asked for a hat with a wider brim at the front (to wear when playing tennis).  Maroon They are different from last years sun hats because I decided to make these hats fully interfaced, so they will keep their shape better. The ceramic buttons from MuddyMuse give it just the finishing touch I was looking for. By the way: notice the hat stand? I made it from an old lamp , a polystyrene egg and 2 pair of nylons :)

Yeah, the ceramic beads I ordered at Muddy Muse on Etsy arrived. I am very excited about using the leave shapes on the organic summer hats I'm making. Can't wait to use them! Aren't they gorgeous?

  SOUND AND VISION BARBIE (Ama de Jong, 2012) This is my entry for the design contest by the Groninger Museum . The contest was to design a dress for Barbie, that was inspired by either Iris van Herpen or Azzedine Alaïa. Work of both designers is shown in the Groninger Museum at this moment. My main inspiration was the collection Synestesia (2010) by Iris van Herpen which focusses on mixing the senses. While I was getting inspired by those designs David Bowie was singing in my head ...blue, blue, electric blue ...: "Sound And Vision". I used the cassette tape in 3 manners: 1: I wove the bodice. It took about 20 efforts before that worked: the tape kept breaking. 2: Controlled chaos for the shoulder piece. 3: Laminated tape for head piece and hip piece. Invisible detail: one of the tapes used contained the Singles Collection of Bowie.  Shoulder object: Fan guard (thanks to my boyfriends computer supply box)  Shoes: safety pin & tiewrap. ...

Dutch Wool Diva Landelijke Spingroep Penelope Craft Small selection of my purchases. The spindle is made of reused CD's!

Last weekend was a blast at "Echt Waar Bazaar", a bazaar for makers and designers which is regularly held at In De Ruimte (Utrecht). This edition was dedicated to Dutch Etsy shops. Etsy is an American based website, or more a community, where you can buy handmade and vintage art, fashion, accessories, furniture etcetera. It's free to register. Practically all shops accept payment via PayPal, and at a growing number of Dutch shops you can also pay in Euro by bank transfer. Next to registering as a buyer, you can also sign up as an Etsy seller and start your own little web shop.                              Zsuzsanna Last weekend in Utrecht was the first Dutch Etsy Showroom . With only 30 booths this showed just a small portion of all the Dutch (design) talent on Etsy. So I was thrilled that I had the opportunity to participate with my Miss Minoes shop. As it was an early start on Saturday, so I ...