Busy holidays!

It's calm here on my blog lately...
But absolutely not here at home!
Although the weather is absolutely not like summer, we do enjoy this vacation time...
The kids have been experimenting with cooking almost every day, the result is that I have to put myself on a diet now, for some days...:-)(and that I have been cleaning the kitchen every day!)

a handfull of beads on my desk , completely by accident an awesome colorcombo

There is always a littlebit of time left over to play (in my case creating). And as I am more into textile accessories these days, I enjoyed making linen flowers, felting pebbles, felting cat brooches...

Cat heads awaitening to be embellished like these.

I am attending two craft fairs in August and I have the feeling I have to stock up a bit. I am really excited about it, at the craftfair in maastricht I will meet up with lots of EST friends!!!

And now a glimpse of my latest makings:

(Find more pictures on Flickr.)

Purple Linen Trio (available in my shop.)

Polkadot challenge

Dots, is the theme of the EST challenge hosted by Staroftheeast.

Find the other entries here.

ingredients:

- felted balls with little seed beads sewn on them

- ethiopean silver beads

- a beautiful big resin bead with little wooden dots

gathered on a copper chain with a toggle clasp closure on the front.

The necklace measures 44 cm.

available in my shop

Inspired by Africa

Some days ago I blogged about the etnic roots of my eldest. But we do have some other genes in the house. Our second daughter Meron is from Ethiopean origin.
Unluckily we don't know anything about her parents or family. That s a hard nut to crack for her. You really can't imagine how one feels knowing nothing, but just nothing about her roots.

She has been found as an orphan in Jimma, Ethiopea and there, most of the people are Oromo,
she has indeed the Oromo physical features.
The Oromo represent one of the largest Cushitic-speaking groups inhabiting the Horn of Africa. Their physical features, culture, language and other evidences unequivocally point to the fact that they are indigenous to this part of Africa.
The Oromo people are the largest ethnic grouping in Ethiopia. About 95% are settled agriculturalists and nomadic pastoralists, practising archaic farming methods and living at subsistence level. A few live in the urban centres. They are dominated by the minority tribal group, the Amhara, who have controlled the country almost continually for the past 100 years.
Find more about the Oromo people in Ethiopea here.

So I found some beautiful pictures from Ethiopean Oromo women and girls adorned with the most beautiful clothes and jewelry. I let me inspire by the colors and materials and made this long copper necklace and a pair of earrings. Both are available in my shop.

Harara Earrings

Jimma Necklace

summer is here!

Summer vacation has started, the last days of June and first week of July were so wonderfull,
as we are used to grey rainy weather here in Belgium, now it was like we were in the south of France, yep, that hot!
Eating outside, children playing in the swimming pool from morning til eve, warm evenings outside on the terrace with a glass of cava, and picnics and BBQ's with friends and neighbours.
Most of those picnics or BBQ's are improvised and that's how I like them the most, unprepared, just see what's left over in the fridge: tomatoes, lettuce, greek cheese, olives, dried tomatoes ,
and home baked bread dipping in olive oil! mmmmmm.

My lovely gang of 4 gathered around the picnic-bag!

We have an expression for that in Belgium: "Living as god In France"

And creative work is still going on, as it is a little bit slower these days, children are home and , I have to admit , that hot weather makes me really lazy.
A lovely customer ordered my Donna Necklace and asked for matching earrings.
I like that colorcombo a lot: Lilac, purple and warm terracotta red and I have the feeling these warm colors fit perfect with this summer weather!

Cherry time

We are lucky to have a little monkey in the house who picks the cherries from the highest branch!

And today I just want to show some new creations. They are already in my shop!
(click on the pictures to go to the shop) !
And I will soon blog about what inspired me to create them :-)

creative workspace and a little help from my friend....

Gorgeous weather these days, hot days and cool nights,.... I hope it lasts....
What else to do then work outside with Merino wool, water, soap, and cool linen.

After the (belated) birthday party (of Mies) yesterday, I needed a little break and drove to a shop where I had my eye on some gorgeous linen, I bought it with 50% off, long live the sales!!!

can't wait to make flowers of them, to make perfect summer accessories!

you can find my linen flower (and silk) creations here.

Hop over to Kotoyoo's blog to find more creative spaces!

etnic roots

As I was looking for inspiration for the EST challenge, Kraplap told me I could also let me inspire by the traditional clothing of the countrys were my adopted kids were born.
She did not have to ask me twice, I admire the etnic roots of my kids!Flower Hmong
My eldest daughter Maia Dinh Thi Phuong is born in Hoa Bhin in Vietnam, situated in the mountains not far from Hanoi. As most of the Vietnamese have the ethny Khin, my daughter was originated from the Hmong, a minority Ethny who live in the mountains. I am very proud of that :-)

Noted most among their many crafts, their embroidery is stunning. The H'mong are among few people left in the world who, for the most part, still make their own clothes independently. Even if they buy the yarn at a local market, they still typically weave and embroider the fabric themselves. Many H'mong, though, still cultivate and dye, using local indigo plants, the cotton and hemp from which they make their clothing. From newborns to the recently deceased, the H'mong are dressed in finery. Other noteworthy crafts include the silversmithing and bronze making of jewelry. Indeed silver acts as a bona fide currency for them.

The eaarings are already available in my shop.

Find some beautiful pictures of the Hmong in this gallery of Dutch photographer Rob Oudshoorn.