Summertime = Flea market time

Pink rose ring (in my shop now)

I found some real cute doll furniture on a flea market, I already had the little cupboards, but could now supplement my collection with a cute heart chair and an even more cute rocking chair :-)

You see I could not wait to use them in my pictures, they give the perfect vintage look I want!

I am really pity I can't do more thrifting... Summertime is the ideal time for flea markets, but when I go with the kids they get bored after 10 minutes, ... while I could stay there for hours!

Minna from Karuski alos blogged about her flea market finds, go here to read about it!

And as you see, I am halfway pimping my felted cats! I hope to make much more these days, (thinking of the fairs I am going to attend :-) It's fun making them, I will give them each a name, if you have suggestions, just drop them in your comment :-)

flickr favorites

1. you & me stamps, 2. IMG_2293, 3. ooak254, 4. hydrangea cards

It's time for Flick favorites again,

I don't have a theme, I think I never have a theme, I just put together some awesome pics.

It reminds me of my previous life as graphic designer.

Oh, how I like to mix and match these pictures, there is no job, there is no purpose, just put togheter some beauties and make them even more beautiful in this mosaic!

Go to Artmind's blog to find more Flickr favs!

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 :-)