Karlita's shop

Facebookfanpage and a little giveaway

2011-11-16T10:11:00.000+01:00

Dear Readers,

As you have noticed, I don't have the time to update this blog regularly. But recently I started a facebookfanpage. I will keep that one updated with the latest news and I'll post promotions exclusive to my facebookaudience.

In fact, I'm having a little give-away over there right now. So I would like to invite you to ‘like’ me over there and as a little thank you 5 people will be chosen at random from the ‘likes’ of Karlita/Lettershop on december 1st. Each winner can choose one item of their choice from my collection and i will send it to them. Here is the link to the facebookpage: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Karlita-Lettershop/255239421195548. I will post the winners there on December first.

So hop on over and take action ...

ps feel free to invite all your friends who might be interested to become a fan as well - you would be doing me a great favour :)

Stocksales fall 2011: A.F. Vandevorst

2011-10-15T06:52:00.001+01:00

Stocksales fall 2011: ANN DE MEULEMEESTER and HAIDER ACKERMANN

2011-10-08T12:35:00.001+01:00

Stocksales fall 2011: DRIES VAN NOTEN

2011-10-04T09:27:00.004+01:00

I just got word of the dates for the stocksale of DRIES VAN NOTEN - for fabric I have found this one to be the best!

What?
Sales of fabric (lots of it) and clothes for men and women

When?
wednesday 19 october from 1 pm until 6 pm (usually very busy on the first day)
thursday 20 october from 1 pm until 6 pm
friday 21 october from 1 pm until 6 pm
saturday 22 october from 10 am until 5 pm
sunday 23 october from 10 am until 5 pm

Where?
Godefriduskaai 36
2000 Antwerpen
(very close to the MAS)

CASH ONLY!

As soon as i receive the other dates from the other designers, i'll post them here!

A little preview for the upcoming new jewelry line for sewing fans!

2011-09-05T07:46:00.001+01:00

I have a little obession with wooden spools, especially the vintage ones. They are displayed in the little atelier with my collection of ribbons on them. So it was a treat to find little wooden spools that could be used for jewelry - nothing more fun than wearing wooden spools with happy colours, right? These are not vintage but i love them anyway and they can be decorated with any colour (that I have in stock).

There are two ring designs: standing up tall or laying flat - see picture on top of this post and the one here below.

And one necklace design: the little wooden spool is put on a sterling silver necklace but i treaded the silver necklace with the same colour (or a contrasting one) for an extra detail.

Soon to be in my karlita shop.

And back to Copenhagen, the picture below was the first thing you saw when entering our hotel - hotel 27 in Copenhagen.

It was a fun hotel - good breakfast + a complimentary little buffet at night (and since we are not very big eaters that was just perfect).

And to end this post - the view in Copenhagen looking down :)

A scarf from Copenhagen or from Karlita?

2011-08-31T19:09:00.000+01:00

We are back home from Copenhagen and we had fun! But, as they say in Dutch 'beautiful songs never last long' so here we are again, ready go back to work. Maybe i'll tell some more about Copenhagen later but for now i just wanted to share my new personal project :)

On sunday we walked all the way to the Zoo (it was all the way since it was over an hours walk). My hubby loves the zoo - so most holidays we try to visit the local one. Anyway, i noticed this beautiful simple blue and white striped scarf but shops are closed on sunday. So i took a picture to remember to come back and than later decided i could just as well make it myself!

Found a beautiful yarnshop very close to the hotel and got started! It's looking good so far in my humble opinion:) Didn't go for regular stripes but instead decided on some more seemingly random ones (but in fact, calculated ones).

Oh and i love city-art at unexpected places - here it was to cover ugly rebuilding going on in the city:

Fun with Lo-Mob on my iphone

2011-08-23T19:27:00.000+01:00

I'm still having fun discovering things on my iphone (that i have had for the past two or three years!). A before picture of my friend Lies at lunch in Cinecitta yesterday:

And after i played with Lo-Mob:

I also just discovered that the people that were behind my friend on the left in the original picture have dissapeared automatically in the edited picture. What an amazing app that is!

Hipstamatic

2011-08-21T08:27:00.006+01:00

Holiday is over and yes, i thoroughly enjoyed my computerbreak and yes, i closed all my shops. But now it's back to business as usual, and i'm happy and energized to go back to 'work'.

Although it has been on my iphone for a long time, i never used the Hipstamatic App but i've discovered it yesterday and had fun taking pics. I'm toying with the idea of taking a fun picture daily as to keep a visual track of my life .

These are some pics i took yesterday when we went out for drinks with our best friends:
Isolde

Johan

hubby Marc

yours truly, picture taken by hubby.

A picture of the Panamarenko statue at our favourite summer café. I love this creative artist, he has an incredible mind.

two best friends walking in the city.

And my regular view this morning, checking all the shops:

Enjoy your sunday!

Blue Caravan newsletter and bikram yoga

2011-07-09T04:21:00.006+01:00

It was a fun surprise yesterday to see my necklace was featured in the newsletter from Blue Caravan:
A little holiday week this week so finally a bit more time for just creating, mostly experimenting with the combination of felt and typewriter keys. A blogpost will (hopefully) follow soon!

On another note, went back to yoga yesterday after a 6 week break (when i was mostly occupied by work and little travelbreaks), boy was that a hard class! bikram yoga is yoga practised in a hot environment (40 degrees celsius) and it consist of 26 challenging poses, always in the same order for a duration of 90 minutes. It just clicked with me and i'm loving it. The only disadvantage is that it's in Antwerp which is some distance and takes up much time.

In about a week and a half my official summer vacation starts, i'll have three weeks off from my job. Hubby and i will go for a couple of days to Budapest, Hungary. I'm still deciding wether to close shops for those three weeks or stay open but not take custom orders, just sell and ship :). When i've decided, i'll let you know.

And for all of you little holidayers out there - have a good and sunny one!

The exquisite typewriter key collection

2011-03-30T14:08:00.005+01:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know my new exquisite typewriter key collection has been listed in the Lettershop. After i made myself a similar necklace (see post here) and receiving a bunch of compliments, it was time to make some for the shop. I have to admit i was tempted to keep them all, as they are right up my alley :)

I did however make myself a black bamboo necklace with red coral - the bamboo looks like treebranches. And i'll make myself another long typewriter key necklace with coral and onyx. A girl has got to wear her own stuff, right?!

Karlita from Russia with red boots o:)

2011-03-24T19:55:00.005+01:00

Just a quick note to say that i'm very happy to be featured today in the Fashion newsletter that Etsy sends out twice a week. It's just a little funny my scarf is mentioned under Russia - since last i looked, i'm from Belgium?!

Oh, and i had a relaxing and inspiring day in Antwerp yesterday - didn't make it to the museum as the weather was just to nice to be inside, so i'll have to go back for that another time. I did however find the perfect pair of red boots:

Pearlnecklace and a little visit to Antwerp?

2011-03-20T17:59:00.006+01:00

Yes, i know, if i keep blogging at this rate, there will be about 6 blogposts by the end of 2011 :). But you never know, i might get back into bloggingmood!

And anyway, i have not been up to much creative wise - making a couple of necklaces, a couple of scarfs and experimenting a little with making necklaces for myself. Below is a little compilation of a necklace i made yesterday (didn't have anything to wear on the dress so i made it about an hour before i had to leave for dinner with our best friends). I quite like the combination of the preppy pearls with the red cinnabarbead and the typewriter key pendant.
The sun is peeping out today and the weather prediction has been all sunny for the next days - so spring is definitely around the corner and i can't wait!

I have been travelling by train quite a lot for work lately and i love it (even though there are almost always delays) and i have been wanting to visit Julija's shop for a long time in Antwerp + the fashionmuseum has a new exhibition about knitwear in fashion - so i might take some time for myself, take the train and go visit Antwerp this week on my day off.

Hope you all have a happy sunny week!

a new year, a new me/you?

2011-01-17T06:27:00.003+01:00

As you can see from the time that has passed since my last blogpost, i have been taking things easy. And i plan to do that for the rest of januari, for starters. The last months were very busy and at the end of 2010 i felt satisfied and happy but also a little tired :).

What to wish for in 2011? Reading most of the blogs it would have to be having more time and many more hours in a day. However i don't want to wish for longer days anymore. It would only make my to do list longer and i would end up working more hours and still feeling that i am in need of more time. No, my resolution for this year is not to want (to do) so much and be happy with the things i accomplish each day. You know, be done with crossing off 9 things on your list, only to feel stressed you didn't cross of the 10th!

And it's important to resolve to keep your resolutions. So in januari i'm only doing what i can - taking things a little easier in the shops. I do ship packages almost everyday but it takes me a little longer to do custom orders, answer convo's (i always felt i need to answer within a couple of hours, even if it's right before bedtime) and my shops will see new items, just not everyday. And i have to say, it is a great feeling to be more relaxed about that (even though sometimes it is a struggle to keep me from putting pressure on myself! something about teaching an old dog new tricks .... not that i'm that old :).

And what else to wish for in 2011? 2010 was a beautiful year - if 2011 can be the same, with good health and hapiness for the people i love dearly and for myself - i will be very happy! And that is what i wish for everyone - good health, happiness all around and let's all not put so much pressure on ourselves and just try to enjoy life - we've only got one! And maybe get some more of the feeling below:

Wishing everyone a merry christmas ...

2010-12-24T13:17:00.004+01:00

I just wanted to wish all my readers a merry christmas - hope you have the opportunity to celebrate it with your loved ones.

Kunstkaai saturday 18 + sunday 19 december

2010-12-11T06:32:00.002+01:00

Just to let you know i will be attending the 'kunstkaai' next weekend (saturday 18 and sunday 19 december) in Diest for those of you that live close and want to see my work (or me :) live. It's the first edition of a art, design and handworkmarkt.

The market is open on saturday 18th december from 11 am until 9 o'clock at night and on sunday from 11 am until 6 pm - it is at the Kaai & Zoutstraat in Diest.

Which products will definitely be there? All my products from the lettershop and karlitshop on etsy since i will be closing those shops during next weekend. Depending on how much time i have, i might bring some of my sterlings silver jewelry from the belgian karlitashop. If however there is something specific you would like me to bring, just let me know and i'll take it with me.

Just for once, i'll also post this information in Dutch:

beste bloglezers, als jullie mijn creaties (of mij :) eens live willen zien - zaterdag 18 en zondag 19 december vinden jullie mij op de kunstkaai, een kunst-, design- en handwerkmarkt in Diest. Op zaterdag van 11u tot 21u en op zondag van 11u tot 18u. Welke producten zal ik alvast meenemen? Alles van mijn karlitashop en lettershop op etsy vermits ik deze winkels voor het weekend zal sluiten. Wil je echter graag bepaalde producten van mijn Belgische karlitashop live zien, stuur me dan even een berichtje en dan neem ik deze mee.

It's time for some X-mas shopping!!!

2010-12-04T12:44:00.005+01:00

Ok, christmas is getting closer and what can be more fun than shopping for christmaspresents - well, if you can do it comfortably sitting at home that is - not waiting in an endless que in a store!

So here are some tried and tested gifts by yours truly - all bought online:

A keecie wallet: if you are fond of cats and red, like me, you will love this whimsical wallet. It fits perfectly for your eurobanknotes and it's lightweight. You can find it at mamzel. My atelier is slowly starting to look like a little farm. My latest addition is the adorable deer, which i bought at Klevering but i don't see it in their store at the moment. But they sell it at this webshop.
And my rabbit lights up the room everytime i look at it - it was bred at Loulechien :). Where i also found a beautiful penholder (is that a good english word?) to keep my crochethooks in: And what to think of these beautiful stamps?

And last but not least, i walk to the postoffice most days of the week - so of course bags of different sizes are needed to carry the packages. By now i have quite the little beautiful collection and people in the street ask me all the time where i found these happy bags. Well, they are from Lamerelle (where you can also buy online), i bought mine at Loulechien.

Happy (shopping) weekend everyone. For me the weekend will be filled with making typewriter key jewelry and scarfs (what's new?) and off making little packages so me and my bag can take another walk to the PO on monday!

One to watch: Forbrydelsen - The killing

2010-11-28T07:35:00.003+01:00

Forbrydelsen is another must see series if you are a fan of suspense and you would like to watch a different kind of crimeseries!

The storyline goes as follows: 'The brutal murder of a young girl launches an extended police investigation. Detective Sarah Lund is supposed to leave for a new life in Sweden, but can't bring herself to leave the case behind. The girl's parents and friends struggle to cope with their loss. Troels Hartmann is campaigning to be mayor of Copenhagen, but struggles when links are revealed between city hall and the murder. Over a time span of twenty days, suspect upon suspect is sought out as violence and political pressures cast their shadows over the hunt for the killer.'

So far, it's sounds like an ordinary police investigation but it has twenty episodes, each of an hour, each of a different day in the investigation. You can watch a little preview here but unfortunately in german (i prefer the original danish version with subtitles). What i liked about the series was that it did not only show the investigation into the death but also how the murder affected the family, how they show the influence of influential people in a society, ... . Maybe the only dissapointment i had was a little bit in the ending, but i think that is how you recognize a very good crimebook or show - they managed to build such a suspense that no ending could match it (although, don't get me wrong, it is not a bad ending).

Unfortunately, i have not found the dvd for sale on amazon, so i can't give you a link on where to buy it. But in Belgium i know you can get it in the Media Markt or the Fnac.

Anyway, i just bought series 2 and i'm filled with anticipation to watch it!

Black friday, cyber monday, coupon code, dawanda christmasspecial and a birthday ...

2010-11-25T17:29:00.005+01:00

Well, if you put them all together, i just have to give a little discount in the next couple of days! If i was younger i would give my age as a discount but unfortunately at 37, that is not an valid option for me :).

So if you buy in my etsy lettershop or my etsy karlitashop from now until monday midnight and use the code happyday, you will get a 12% discount on all your purchases (excluding the shipping costs).

So get some christmaspresents early or just treat yourself (i am personally a big fan of the last one :). This discount will be valid in my lettershop and in my karlita shop on etsy, just don't forget to put 'happyday' in the couponcode at the checkout (it will immediately show the discount)!

Also, from november 25th until december 6th, i'm participating in the dawanda x-mas special: every day another category will have a 12% discount, so on the days it's jewelry or accesories, you're in luck for my shop:). And usually the last one or two days all categories are discounted.

So happy x-mas hunting everyone!

ps i'm only announcing this on my blog here, as a little thanks to my readers!

Blue Caravan - Contemporary handmade, fair trade & ethical products, warmed by independent designers, artists and artisans.

2010-11-24T11:19:00.005+01:00

A while ago i was contacted by Blue Caravan to see wether i was interested in selling on their website. I took a peek at the site and loved it's design and it's purpose. To use their own words (since it tells the story very well) 'Bluecaravan supports and promotes direct trade. We support ethical production both locally and overseas. We love fairtrade and sweat-free certification. We believe that objects ‘warmed’ by designers, artists and artisans have a quality like no other… and that ‘ethical’ is no longer a choice separated from style and design. Bluecaravan is a venue for buyers and sellers of all things independently designed and ethically made. It’s about lovely, interesting and edgy products - beautifully finished, made with heart, and bought directly from the designer/maker.

And since they are Australian-based and i have a lot of Australian customers, i opened up shop a couple of weeks ago. And this week my necklace was featured in their newsletter: You can find my shop on Blue Caravan here.

And closer to home, i've been experimenting with a new ringdesign with a base in wood. I'm wearing it right now, to see how it holds up and than they might find their way into the shops (in different colours).

New design reversible scarf + double felted scarfs back in stock

2010-11-20T08:27:00.003+01:00

I have been working almost round the clock these days, not only to stock up on all my typewriter key jewelry but on making new double felted reversible scarfs, since they were all sold.
And a new design reversible scarf was also born and i love it. Can you say that if you made it yourself? Anyway, i do! And it's a great feeling if you make something that feels just right.
The scarfs are fun and you basically get two scarfs for the price of one since they look very different on each side. The scarfs pictured in this post allready found there way into the etsy-karlita-shop and as soon as i find the time i will list the other ones i allready made + make some different colourdesigns.

STOCKSALES - vente modo sales 19 and 20 november

2010-11-14T08:38:00.006+01:00

Just letting you know ...

(just click on the second image to see the information larger)

You can find more info here: modobrussels (and scroll down a bit)

Well, you never know when it may rain

2010-11-09T21:56:00.003+01:00

... inside!

New kitchen and fun kitchenware!!

2010-11-09T08:22:00.003+01:00

A while back i blogged about the process of having a new kitchen installed and promised to show you pictures when it was finished. For the past couple of weeks, the kitchen has been in use and we love it! As one tends to think at that point is 'why didn't we do this sooner?' for the comfort is so much higher.
The best thing about it, is the 'quooker' - as i'm a big teadrinker, i love the fact that you open the tap and boiling water comes out! Not to mention it cuts the time to boil an egg or cook pasta in half (just put boiling water in the cookingpan, put it on the inductionfire and bam, it boils! no more waiting for water to boil!).

And since we have lots more cabinets, there is some empty space in my cupboards (no worries, i'm sure that will fill up in no time). We bought our kitchen in the keukenboutique, a great family-run business with big emphasis on personal service. We might go back when we redo our bathroom.

And to stay in the theme of kitchen and kitchenware. A couple of months ago i fell in love with the new marimekkocollection of porcelain - black and white + polkadots - what's not to love? I couldn't find it around here, so searched for it online and discovered the finnish design shop - also great service, beautiful products and sometimes free shipping for orders over 100 euro. I did need some bowls to go with my plates and cups, and in Ikea i found the perfect ones.

So yes, i am a happy little camper in my new kitchen!

One to watch: North & South (BBC)

2010-11-03T09:18:00.005+01:00

For all of you who love pride and prejudice (i'm sure there are many as we all remember Colin Firth as the excellent Mr Darcy) - this BBC production will steal your heart as well.

"North and South is a powerful adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's feisty and passionate novel, set across the social divides in the changing world of Victorian industrial society. Margaret Hale is one of literature's most original heroines: a southerner from a country vicarage newly settled in the industrial northern town of Milton. In the shock of her move, she misjudges charismatic cotton mill-owner John Thornton, whose strength of purpose and passion are a match for her own pride and wilfulness. When the workers of Milton call a strike, Margaret takes their side, and the two are brought into deeper conflict. As events spiral out of control, Margaret - to her surprise - begins to fall in love with Thornton..."

You will love this one, i promise! And well, just like Pride and Prejudice has Colin Firth, with North & South we can enjoy the dark, handsome Richard Armitage, who's not only nice to look at but to listen to as well. I must admit i am a little smitten ... :o)

You can get it (=the dvd, not the guy) for a steal at amazon.co.uk !

Swing it !!!

2010-11-01T10:39:00.006+01:00

There has been a fun project on the inner citycircle of Hasselt since mid september: Swing it - all different kind of artists were asked to make a swing that will invite people to socialize more (either by talking about it or using it :).

These are some of my favourites:
Just a happy face on the swing ...

Doesn't this make cleaning easy and fun?

Who's the best?

For the business man!

I just love this one!

This one also has to be a favourite among many crafters :)

But this one just might hurt a bit!

This one says that if you feel the need to vandalize these swings, please don't! And than they provide you with an emailadress where they will give you something to do other than vandalizing!

You can swing away in Hasselt until mid november!

One to watch: In treatment

2010-10-27T07:23:00.003+01:00

We just started watching In treatment season two, and once again it exceeds my expectations! The plot is so clever and so good! Is is a show about a psychotherapist, 53-year-old Dr. Paul Weston, and his weekly sessions with patients, including one with his own therapist at the end of the week. Dr. Paul Weston is played by Gabriel Byrne, a favorite of mine. He is not a perfect therapist, he's very human and that adds to the dept of the show. Ha ha, can you notice, i am a fan!

Here's the trailer of season 1:
You can find it on Amazon of course but for you belgian people out there, they also have the series in the Media Markt.

I might be doing a series of 'one to watch' - i love watching movies and series while i'm creating and i would like to share my favorites with you!

a crossover from karlita to the lettershop

2010-10-20T12:54:00.003+01:00

well, since both shops are mine, it's no surprise there will be little crossovers! And the first one has been born: textile brooches and rings with typewriter keys. I love them so i'll be picking one of each for myself and the rest you will find in the shops in the next couple of days.Happy wednesday everyone, here it is!

STOCKSALES FALL 2010 - lijst van stockverkopen najaar 2010

2010-10-13T15:38:00.007+01:00

An update of the upcoming designer stocksales. I don't have much time at the moment, so it will be just a list - but than, that's all you need right?!

First A.F. Vandevorst:
There will also be a huge stocksale from designerboutiques in the Fashionmuseum of Hasselt on october 23th. You can find more info here. Don't forget to visit the fascinating expo DEVOUT/DIVINE on religion and fashion - and take a little peek in the museumshop where you can find some real Karlitas :)
Than there are some more stocksales in Antwerp:

- Anna Heylen on october 19,20,21,22,23 from 1 to 6 pm, the adress is Maison Anna Heylen – Lombardenstraat 16 – 2000 Antwerpen.

- Bruno Pieters - you find the info below
And don't forget the ones i allready blogged about (you can also find them by clicking the label stocksales on the right), but to make things easy, i'm repeating them here:

Ann Demeulemeester and Haider Ackermann. I have not been to their stocksales in a while, but from what i remember they have mostly clothes and some fabric. While only a small selection of fabric, in the past it was very good quality for a very reasonable price.

Dries van Noten:It's my favourite one where there is always lots of beautiful,high quality fabric for a very reasonable price.

Happy hunting everyone!!!

The lettershop is born ...

2010-10-11T08:20:00.004+01:00

I had it in my head for quite a while but this weekend a new little baby was born: the lettershop. Those who know me well, know i'm in love with little booklets, magazines, ... i collect just about anything (beautiful) that has to do with letters, print, wooden stamps... . So a shop with jewelry in that theme could not be helped! Since i have only limited notion of designing a logo, i had to keep it simple but the result feels just right for my liking:And low and behold, i had my first sale yesterday (and no, it was not from someone i know!).
Some examples of what you can find in the shop (so far):

I'm also happy that my karlitashop on etsy will have a firmer identity now too: only textile and felted jewelry and accesories, no more mix of all sorts of things (but i will let the letterpressjewelry fade out of the shop).

STOCKSALES FALL 2010: Ann Demeulemeester and Haider Ackermann

2010-10-08T17:45:00.004+01:00

I promised to keep you updated on the stocksales fall 2010 as soon as they came in. Well, here's the next one:
Ann Demeulemeester and Haider Ackermann. I have not been to their stocksales in a while, but from what i remember they have mostly clothes and some fabric. While only a small selection of fabric, in the past it was very good quality for a very reasonable price.

Don't forget the stocksales from Dries Van Noten - you find that information HERE.

15% discovery sale on Dawanda ...

2010-10-05T04:04:00.004+01:00

made me reach a milestone: 2000 sales at the moment, isn't that a magical number? It was thanks to the German Dawanda who put one of my items in the Dawanda newsletter!
It made the shop be on top of some the most popular lists - for a while though, this will surely go away again, so i captured the moment:)
You can still get a good 15% discount on any shops you have not bought from previously on Dawanda until october 10th (including mine).

STOCKSALES FALL 2010: Dries Van Noten and kitchenwork in progress

2010-10-01T03:20:00.009+01:00

Soon there will be stocksales from our Belgian designers again. The first one is Dries van Noten:It's my favourite one where there is always lots of beautiful,high quality fabric for a very reasonable price.

I will post the dates from other designer stocksales as soon as i know them.

Closer to home: a large part of the kitchen is installed. Here's a first peak:

happy saturday ...

2010-09-26T10:27:00.005+01:00

Yes, it was! I have been eying an ipad ever since it became available here in Belgium - but since i didn't 'need' it, I restrained myself from buying it. I did try to convince hubby he really needed one, but unfortunately that didn't work - despite my best efforts :). So yesterday I just decided to go ahead and now one is in my possesion, yay!Of course i had to make a temporary sleeve for it so i have some more time to search a really cool one. I love this fabric - it was a little sample for upholstery fabric and i padded it so the ipad is safe in it's little house.
And another yay: they start building the kitchen tomorrow. Right now it looks kind of empty:And to end things today, a new design of scarf will be in the Etsy shop soon - it resembles the coral scarf but it is wider and only has 'coral' on one side:
Let's hope sunday will be as happy - even though it is quite grey outside!

A scarf, brooches and a new kitchen ...

2010-09-24T10:13:00.005+01:00

Remember the scarf from a few blogposts ago? It's finished and i've allready taken it out to town :)
And some new brooches wil hit the shops soon:
At the moment things are quite busy at the house since we are going to get a new kitchen next week. I'm very excited and can't wait! This is a before picture of the old kitchen (we were only supposed to keep this one a year, but somehow it stayed for six!):

see you in C-mine!

2010-09-12T19:23:00.007+01:00

Today hubby and I went to Genk (the city i work parttime for) to visit the opening of C-mine. The new cultural center has opened in the old buildings of the coalmine that used to be there but closed a long time ago.
Everything was restored in it's original condition, but at the same time it had a modern feel to it - i loved it! (could not resist sitting in the chair - it definitely felt like it used to be an important/impressive job working all the buttons :)

And the text on the window - had to capture it for this blog: It says (in Dutch): creativity is letting yourself make mistakes, art is knowing which mistakes to keep. Isn't that so true?

And of course, the visit could not be complete without a visit to the see mine shop (it's a pop-up store, only open until the end of december). I would love to have a shop in this environment (although i can imagine it can get a little cold in wintertime). Don't you love the delicate display contrasting with the heavy machinery?And these are my little presents to self: (and maybe i'll go back for seconds!)

So if you are in the neighbourhood, i highly recommend a visit.

Fridaynights are the best ...

2010-09-10T20:49:00.004+01:00

Don't you just love quiet fridaynights, with the promise of the whole weekend ahead? I do! So hubby and i are enjoying a nice glass of bubbles (in my grandmother's champagneglasses)
and working on a little scarf for myself. I'm hoping Kim Clijsters will win her match at the US open tonight (and hoping to stay awake to see it!).

Happy weekend everyone!

the pantone hotel in Brussels

2010-09-08T11:44:00.006+01:00

Two weekends ago my friend and i went for a girlsweekend to Brussels.

Just wanted to share the Pantone hotel we stayed in. It is very recently renovated hotel in the area of the Louisalaan in Brussels - all in the colours of Pantone - therefore the name of the hotel of course. As you can see from the pictures, the theme is very well excuted - down to the different colours of the sugar :). And the hotel was not expensive at all (we paid 59 euro for the room, excluding breakfast).

We did a fun mix of (window)shopping and visiting places. Since my friend had not been in Brussels for many years, we of course had to stop by one of our 'national symbols' which is Manneken Pis. .

In two weekends hubby and I will be in Brussels again for a weekend break and i'm allready looking forward to it. I'll try and blog than too + include some nice tips for restaurants and shops.

As for now, september has been very busy so far and it will stay that way for a while. So you won't see to many new things appear in the shops (although some items just need to be photographed and listed).

small cash register key collection on Karlita

2010-08-25T10:38:00.008+01:00

Just listed a small collection of cashregister key jewelry on karlita. It's a very limited stock (more than on the pictures here though), mostly just unique pieces - so like them, buy them.
- The cigarettes/tobacco cufflinks are inspired by the series Mad Men where they smoke like crazy (and drink too);
- The black 'drugs' necklace - no, they did not officially sell drugs back in those days in the states, but for all you non-native english speakers, drugs are also medicines (which can be drug-like anyway);
- and the $30 necklace can be a perfect gift for a 30th birthday.

If you don't speak dutch, you can also find a small collection in my dawanda shop. In the future you will hopefully also be able to buy them from my belgium shop as i'm eagerly awaiting the possibility to make that shop multilingual (english and german, besides dutch).

Or if you like to see them in person, and you don't live far from Hasselt, just pay a visit to the Fashion Museum there (and you can visit the beautiful divine/devout exhibition at the same time)!

go with the ... FLOW (magazine)

2010-08-23T08:58:00.006+01:00

I discovered this beautiful new magazine FLOW a couple of months ago - it is a beautifully designed magazine with gorgeous little extras in every issue:
- a little notebook
- a birthdaycalendar (that you can take out and assemble):
- and lots of other sweet 'bonusses'.
And i also thoroughly enjoy the good articles in it, so what's not to love? Oh, one thing actually - i would like to buy the previous issues that i missed but that seems to be impossible if you don't live in the Netherlands.

Unfortunately for most of you guys, the magazie is in Dutch but if you want to grab some of the little extra's, you can go to the downloads page and download lots of fun stuff - just click on the different 'drawers' to see what cute little things are behind it!

Elvis lives ...

2010-08-16T09:26:00.004+01:00

and so does Karlita :o).

I found this little note this weekend in my mailbox. We live in the center of a small city and on weekends, i guess some drunk and partypeople pass our house in the middle of the night. Sometimes that is not so funny (being loud) but this note made me smile on sundaymorning!

I have been enjoying a long break on the computer and maybe a little break of creating in general. These are the last days of my summer holiday and i'm back in high gear - making scarfs and necklaces for fall and wintertime. So expect some updates in the shops. The first one has been taken care of - you find these scarfs in the etsyshop as of now.

Will i be blogging more often? I will definitely try but i intend to keep it fun and blog when i want to or when i (think) i have something to say :). I definitely don't want it ending up on my to do list anymore because that just takes the fun away.

On our summerbreak we went to Sweden with friends and had a great time (even though the weather could at times have been better). Stockholm gets a high score for being a beautiful and fun city!

stocksales spring 2010 Antwerp (and Hasselt)

2010-04-14T15:04:00.007+01:00

It's that time of the year again: stocksales!

We start off this saturday april 17th in the fashionmuseum of Hasselt where you can find some stocksales from boutiques in Hasselt and from Michael Verheyden. And for 4 euro you can combine it with a visit to their current exhibition of Ultramegalore, about the topmodel Hannelore Knuts. You can find more info here.

Next week the Antwerp stocksales start. Below you find the details of some of them (the ones that also sell fabric, not only clothing):

A.F. Vandevorst
Indiëstraat 8 – 2000 Antwerpen

wednesday 21 april 2010 from 09.00 – 18.00
thursday 22 april 2010 from 10.00 – 18.00
friday 23 april 2010 from 10.00 – 19.00
saturday 24 april 2010 from 11.00 – 18.00

Ann Demeulemeester & Haider Ackermann
Populierenlaan 32 - 2020 Antwerpen
(clothes and fabric)

wednesday 21 april 2010 from 10.00 – 19.00
thursday 22 april 2010 from 10.00 – 18.00
friday 23 april 2010 from 10.00 – 18.00
saturday 24 april 2010 from 10.00 – 17.00

My favourite:
Dries Van Noten
Godefriduskaai 36 - 2000 Antwerpen

wednesday 21 april 2010 from 13.00 - 18.00
thursday 22 april 2010 from 13.00 - 18.00
friday 23 april 2010 from 13.00 - 18.00
saturday 24 april 2010 from 10.00 - 17.00
sunday 25 april 2010 from 10.00 - 17.00

Christian Wijnants en Pelican Avenue
Marnixplaats 7 - 2000 Antwerpen

thursday 22 april 2010 from 10.00 - 19.00
friday 23 april 2010 from 10.00 - 19.00
saturday 24 april 2010 from 10.00 - 19.00

Tim Van Steenbergen
Sint Michielskaai 8-9 - 2000 Antwerpen

wednesday 21 april 2010 from 10.00 - 18.00
thursday 22 april 2010 from 10.00 - 18.00
friday 23 april 2010 from 10.00 - 18.00
saturday 24 april 2010 from 10.00 - 18.00
sunday 25 april 2010 from 10.00 - 18.00

For those of you who will go shopping, happy hunting!

I am in love with ...

2010-04-07T08:56:00.005+01:00

my new chopping boards from Koziol. Of course i don't use them much as chopping board (they are to nice for that), i use them to eat breakfast or anything small in between meals. Like these yummie blueberries that i bought yesterday - still early in the season so a little overpriced but i could not resist! I got mine from the Donum, but i'm sure you'll find many local stores carrying this brand. If you speak german, you can also buy them direct from their website (i mean the chopping boards of course, not the blueberries :o)

And just like that ...

2010-04-04T16:31:00.007+01:00

Some new designs finally found their way into the shops, so I also want to show them here. First of all my new typewriter key - brooches combined with semi-precious stones:
You can find them in my dawandashop and soon also in the karlitashop.

Yesterday it was fun making new Happy Mood necklaces - they make me happy with those sparkling colours: Also in my belgian karlitashop, where you can find the old Happy Mood collection on sale as well.

And last but not least there is an addition to my textile jewelry so new necklaces have found there way into my etsy and dawanda shop (more to follow):

AND JUST LIKE THAT ... my blogging break is over! I did enjoy spending more time in the non-virtual world but lately i felt myself longing to start blogging again, so here i am!

Soon to come: upcoming stocksales from famous Belgian designers.

a little blogging break

2010-01-26T17:32:00.003+01:00

It probably does not come as a surprise but i'm on a little blogging break! Christmas has been so hectic for me and it has taken me until now to catch up on everything that i didn't have time for during that period. So now i want some ME-time - go shopping, hang out with friends and family, make some healthy food, work out, hang out ... oh you now, all those little pleasures that make life worthwhile :)

In a couple of weeks hubby and i are leaving for India - visiting the project we volunteer in. If you want to see what our project is all about (it's mostly about children and education but also about health and a women's handmade project), go take a look at the site and watch the youtube movies that two of our volunteers made. I'm superexited to go!

2010 ...

2009-12-31T16:05:00.004+01:00

In about 8 hours it will be a fresh year here ... so i just want to wish everyone a happy, healthy and creative 2010!

I know it has been a while since i last blogged, first the christmasrush kept me very busy, especially on Dawanda and now i'm just enjoying a couple of days of (almost) no computer and (almost) no creative work, together with my dearest hubby. He bought himself a 'projector screen' (if that is how you call it in English) and even though i was sceptical of it first, i'm now as much an addict as he is - we have spent a lot of our holiday in the attic watching a lot of Spooks (which is one of the best BBC series from recent years) in a cinema-like atmosphere and we now moved on to Battlestar Galactica and In treatment.

Enjoy the last hours of 2009 and make a happy start of 2010!

Oeps ...

2009-11-23T10:03:00.007+01:00

... we've been back from Istanbul for almost two weeks and i haven't even blogged (i did in my head though, does that count?). The weather was not always great but we had fun because what can go wrong when you go with your favourite friends?
Drank lots of apple tea
loved it so much, i bought my own.
Found this place just magical:
It is called Basilica Cistern and it was build in 532 to hold drinking water. Enjoyed a soapy massage at a hammam (sorry, no pics were allowed). Istanbul is a very modern city, i did however missed finding nice little neighbourhoods with lovely shops, or maybe i just didn't find them. So the shopper in me was a bit dissapointed!

Back home I've been (besides a million other things) creating a new line of necklaces with felt and resin. I so loved making all the different colourcombinations, since i'm a colouraddict :) Some of them allready found their way into the etsy shop and the karlita shop. Have a happy and creative week everyone!

Free worldwide shipping in the etsy shop until november 10th!

2009-10-29T16:28:00.004+01:00

Life has kept me so crazy busy that this blog has been very quiet. And things are not about to change since I'm leaving for Istanbul, Turkey on saturday for a little citytrip with friends. I'm so looking forward to it, to just walking around, visiting beautiful places, hanging out with dear friends, eating and drinking and of course, or hopefully, some supplyshopping :). To celebrate i'm having free worldwide shipping in the etsy shop until november 10th.

Oh, and i just listed my all time favourite cufflinks on dawanda, i have not seen these keys before in that combination:

Monday Moodboard

2009-10-19T07:09:00.003+01:00

The monday moodboard is a feature by the European Streetteam. It wants to show blogreaders which talented artists are part of our team. So here is my first moodboard:

Cat Brooch by Fleurfatale, Angel wings from Meltemsem, Grape bracelet by Exoticflavour, Bowshoulder Tote by Helisengezer

Happy Monday everyone!! I'm sure it will be a happy monday for me since i have all day to experiment with felt, yay!

Feature in Knack Weekend !!!

2009-10-14T17:07:00.007+01:00

When i heard my weekly Knack and Knack Weekend (a big belgian magazine for all you non-belgians) fall in my mailbox today, i ran to get it as quick as i could ... my belgian site had a small feature in it, thanks to Tiany from Belmodo Tv! It is a very well known magazine here so of course you can understand i'm happy as can be :)

And a new line of necklaces is born since i got to play around with felt the last couple of days, after a long time of not playing, just making things - there is a difference you know. I was inspired by candycane and by the masai people of Kenia (from my visit a couple of years ago).

So yes, a happy wednesday all together!

Stocksales in Antwerp this fall (2009) - stockverkoop in Antwerpen

2009-10-10T05:12:00.007+01:00

I've been receiving lots of emails asking when the stocksales are in Antwerp, so here they are:
My all time favourite: Dries Van Noten, he always has a massive fabric and clothes sales
when?
21-22-23 october from 1 pm until 6 pm
24 and 25 october from 10 am until 5 pm
where?
Godefriduskaai 36, 2000 Antwerp

Ann Demeulemeester and Haider Ackermann
when?
21 october from 10 am until 7 pm
22 and 23 october from 10 am until 6 pm
24 october from 10 am until 5 pm
where?
BVBA 32
Populierenlaan 34
2020 Antwerp

AFVandevorst
When?
21 october from 9 am until 6 pm
22 and 23 october from 10 am until 6 pm
24 october from 11 am until 6 pm
Where?
Indiëstraat 8, 2000 Antwerp

Those are the ones i know off for now, if i get more, i'll add them here!

A zebra longing to be a giraffe ...

2009-10-05T13:25:00.006+01:00

My most inspiring workshop during the Textileweekend must have been this one: 'doe eens gek, hang een beest om je nek' - literally translated as 'be crazy, and hang an animal around your neck'. It was given by Felieke Van Der Leest, who is very well known for her beautiful and fun creatons. They told us we all had to bring an animal - i brought a zebra and a deer. But i had visions in advance of a zebra with red textile, so that was my animal of choice.This little zebra was so unhappy because he so wanted to be born as a giraffe, that's why i gave him a long neck (even though in the process i had to chop his head off for a while but i rescued him later :).
The rest of the weekend was good, not excellent but still very well worth it. I'll def. go back next year.

Have an inspiring week everyone!

Textielweekend Tilburg

2009-09-29T19:05:00.009+01:00

If you don't know what to do next weekend and you don't live to far from Tilburg (in the Netherlands), why not visit the Textileweekend in the Textilemuseum there?

I'm going and so looking forward to it - taking a couple of classes (two about felting and one about crocheting around animals.) And there is also a market where designers sell their creations and a market (scroll down a bit on the link) where suppliers of crafty materials show their stuff.

So i hope to see you there ...

the young Victoria

2009-09-26T21:15:00.004+01:00

Tonight i went to the movies - a girls night out since we were going to watch 'the young Victoria' and our hubbies would not be pursuaded to acompany us (the idea of a romantic costume movie I think, was too much for them :).

I so thoroughly enjoyed the movie, Emily Blunt (remember her from The Devil wears Prada as the catty and ambitious Emily) was magnificent in her role - so go see for yourself, if you haven't allready!

Very close to home I'm keeping myself busy making 80 scarfs for a wholesale order...

shopping in Barcelona ....

2009-09-18T18:54:00.008+01:00

As promised, my account of shopping in Barcelona - be prepared for a lot of pictures as i did do quite a bit of shopping (and i'm not even telling everything here :).

The neighbourhood Gracia was one of my fav., lot's of little stores with people selling own handmade stuff (even did some etsy-promoting there, convincing them to start up a store). Bought myself a fun bag in blue, red and white in Ven y cogelo (which means come and get it). Don't have a picture of the bag at the moment, just the empty space of where it was!In the same street was this cute little store with lots of jewelry: Mon de mones. Bought some great ecological shoes in Nagore. I do have a picture of them...And another one ... and another one ... :) I recommend visiting Gracia on a saturday because of the ambiance.

Another fun district to shop and hang out is El Born, i did not take many pictures there - too busy shopping, sorry! But this store was on my favourites list: ivoandco - proof are the pictures below! And there's also a Korres store, which has some of the best beautyproducts!
A store not to be missed, in the district Eixample is Vincon, OMG i would love to live in this house (couldn't take pictures inside, so you can't see how beautiful it is) - sooooo stunning and i would love to empty out the store, only my bancaccount doesn't allow that! It's in the same street as la pedrera and casa battlo. La pedrera has a great museumstore where i got these engenious things - don't know how to call them because you can them use to put your glass on, as wall art, as table art (which i did) or even as a rug in the shower.
They are all individual pieces that you can piece together whichever way you want. i just got one box (again, my bancaccount) but you can get them in different shapes, colours ... . To end my shopping trip here, we stopped by a mujistore (go to the NYC one each time i'm there) and got this fun elastic ball, so next time i need an elastic band, i know where to look! Okay, i hope that was shopping enough for you guys :o)

Gaudi's Barcelona - what an inspiration

2009-09-09T04:58:00.006+01:00

Back from Barcelona - what a great and relaxing city. Although ... so much to visit, to shop, to eat, to drink ... and only a couple of days to do it. But a visit to Gaudi's genius casa Battlo and casa Mila was high on our agenda. Casa Battlo is the most impressive of the two (to me anyway). I remember visiting Barcelona about 12 years ago with my mom when this house was not open to the public yet, we got the doorman to let us take a little peek in the hallway. Gaudi's buildings are so modern, still today, even though they were build at the beginning of the last century. I love the fairytale style (although i'm not sure that's how architects would describe it, that's how i feel) but when you learn more, you realise everything he designs, he designs for adding comfort in the house. For example, most rooms or windows had little holes you could adjust so enough air could flow through the house. Or he builds the house around a central open staircase so you have natural lighting everywere in the house.(this is how i saw my friend Inge a lot this trip, always taking pictures :) (as you can see from the pictures, Gaudi does not like straight lines, you cannot find a straight line easily in his work)(this is a picture of the laundry room, i loved their little projection of the laundry) (there are no ugly chimneys on the rooftop, only these gorgeous ones - and the fact that they are rounded is not only aesthetic but it makes the air flow better!)
I'm sure i'm not explaining it all so well, so you'll just have to go and see for yourself :) And if you do, Parc Guell is also such a fairytale parc, we did not have time to visit it this time but i highly recommend it!.

We flew with Vueling, a big low cost airline from Spain and were very happy with it. And stayed in Hotel Barcelona Cathedral, which was not only a beautiful hotel (the pictures below prove that!) but also very central but quiet at night and very accomodating to their guests.

Next i'll tell you a bit about the nice (handmade) stores we visited, a girl after all can't go anywhere without doing some shopping :)

Barcelona here i come!!

2009-09-02T16:44:00.005+01:00

I love Barcelona. New York City will always come first but Barcelona is a close second up till now. The last visit dates from four years ago but the day after tomorrow my pal Inge and I hop on an airplane and head for this beautiful city.
We'll def. visit some Gaudi things since my friend has never been there and i just cannot get enough of Gaudi's brilliance! Casa Batllo is on my list for sure! And of course i want to do a bit of (supply)shopping. Oh well, just four days of pure relaxing!! We have a hotel in the center with a pool on top, what more can you ask for!

Anyway, more about that later! I have decided to join the twitter community and you can follow what i'm up to here. I will announce some special promo's there regularly so feel free to 'follow me'.

And last but not least, my other pal Wendy just launched her online shop with cute kids (and adults who stay kids) stuff - i'll show you some of the beautiful stuff that's allready mine now, later but for now here's the link to her shop.

And to end - still free shipping in the etsyshop until my return on september 8th!

It's all about feelings ...

2009-08-26T16:16:00.009+01:00

I had my eye on Artminds 'feelings' for a long time now - but couldn't decide which one i want since there are so many i'm drawn to! But last sunday I finally made up my mind, contacted her and went to visit on monday (she lives only 5 minutes by bike). I chose the feelings Free, Curious and Mean :). Don't you love how they look in my livingroom (remember the spot from my last blogpost?)And it was just my luck that Mitsy (aka Artmind) was running a promo and i got a free set of postcards with every feeling i bought (and it still runs until september first so hop on over to her shop).Last but not least, Mitsy gave me two pendants (yes, she is a sweetheart) and i made my own necklace for it (since i prefer the silver over the black cotton). One of them is the feeling mean again, but please don't think I'm mean now :)- to me this feeling represents a sweet, goodhumoured little devil, like we all can be sometimes, no???I'm happy to own a little part of this beautiful project, i know mitsy has poured her heart into designing them and it really shows!

Oh, and i've been meaning to show you my cat-ring - i love the movement on the cat. Had it for a while but didn't get around taking a picture of it. It's from studio halo.

A dinnertable and a dear portret

2009-08-23T10:30:00.004+01:00

We had some dear friends of ours over for dinner last night, my hubby was the cook and i was in charge of setting the dinnertable. I still haven't found a tablecloth that is square and fits our table so it was improvisation but i was quite smug with the result - simple but fun.
The napkins are my all time favourite, from Iitala. You can see more beautiful products of the Taika line here.
The last picture is of a drawing that is very close to my heart since it was made by my mom when she was very young. I love how elegant and feminine the women looks in it. The lamp in front is very, very expensive and costs a whole of 3 euro's in Ikea :)

Oh, and free worldwide shipping today and tomorrow in my etsy shop!!

What a wonderful world in Maastricht!!!

2009-08-22T06:20:00.006+01:00

Okay, i'm probably the last to blog about it, and i have to admit my pictures are just really not good. But i still want to blog about the wonderful time we had at the Craftparking in Maastricht!!!What was wonderful about it? Well, it was generally just a very succesfull and busy fair (the reason i only took some hurried pictures, it was just to busy). Nice atmosphere, lots of folk walking around, well organised ...

But that was not what made the event so happy for me (although it helped). No, that must be meeting some of my European friends from Etsy and go to dinner afterwards! Below you find some pictures of some of them, but i did not manage to get them all. Ha, to be honest, if you want to read a better review, check out Mitsy's blog or Greet's - they did a much better job! And if you want more backgroundinfo on the building, hop on over to Petronella's blog! And last but not least, the boyfriend of Leela (who by the way came all the way from the Canary Islands and had to take three trains and two planes to get there! Just to meet us all!), made a great youtube video - you can see us live in action here.
Veerle selling her lovely creationsVeerle and me were boothbuddies :)PetronellaMitsy's 99 feelings with Mitsy's friend in the pictureLeela + boyfriend who made the video!Kerrin, who is leaving us and going back to New Zealand soonGreet with her hubby

So yes, last sunday was a good day! This sunday there is another edition of the Beparkte Oplage, i was supposed to attend but something came up and I will not be there - just so you know!

Craftparking in Maastricht

2009-08-12T06:45:00.006+01:00

Just a little post to let you know i still live on this planet :o). Naples and the Amalfi coast was great - we did quite a bit of walking and a lot of stairs since most of the little villages are connected by stairs. And eat lots of pizza and pasta! It was so relaxing that when i came home (and had another week and a half of work) I kept on relaxing! So not much has happened in the shops.But now i'm a busy bee again - next sunday there is a big craftmarket in Maastricht - for more details check the site of crafparking itself. So besides going back to work in 'the real world', lots has to be done before sunday. So this blog will stay quiet for a bit longer. Can't wait for sunday though, i'll meet some other sellers from etsy live for the first time ... so exciting! A big report will follow of course ...

In the meantime, this is what i've been working on: little felt pouches with leather:And a new style of pendant for my typewriter key necklaces:

Good promotions during my holiday!!!

2009-07-15T07:57:00.006+01:00

Finally, we're leaving for Naples and the Amalfi Coast, Italy - I'm really longing for it this time, just doing nothing besides well ... enjoying ourselves!

To make it fun in the shops, I'm running some promo's during my absence (to make up for not being able to ship during that time).

In the etsyshop it is free shipping worldwide + a very large 'christmas in july' salesection! (so combine both and get a double promo: salesprice + free shipping)

In the dawandashop i'm giving free shipping worldwide with any purchases over 20 euro's in total. There you can also find a salessection.

Same for the belgian karlita-site - free shipping within europe + new items in the 'koopjeshoek' (=salescorner).

See you in two weeks!

Vitrine in Gent ...

2009-07-05T20:12:00.009+01:00

Last weekend we hopped on a train to Ghent to visit the last day of 'Vitrine' - a fashionwalk througout the city - different designers created a little world of their own in the shopwindows. To be honest, i was a bit dissapointed - there were not many windowhops that made my heart beat faster, but this one did...The shop is owned by Elisabeth Leenknegt, who is a silversmith, designer and glass artist in the heart and soul. She comes from a family of passionate glassartist so its no wonder she makes and designs jewelry out of hand-forged silver and mouth-blown glass. Her creations are characterized by a playful design and a great amount of colouring. Humour is the main ingredient of her work. This piece was my favourite: on the picture it is Elisabeth Leenknegt - the designer and owner of the shop, showing off her creations :). Go take a look at her funky website! And it was a nice way to walk around in Ghent - we stumbled upon a little live concert by classical musicians - those little unexpected things are what i love in a city!I found a great journal by Sukie in this shop 'huiszwaluw'(actually there were many more things i wanted to own but a girl can't buy it all, can she?).I'm allready using it to write, research and illustrate the things i want to make.And these rings were pretty darn cute too - i saw a similar thing last year at the jewelry exhibition in Mons. It's literrally sawn out of the porcelain plate! They are made by the 'vlijtige liesjes '.

We have this nice widget on our beloved applecomputer that counts down the days to our next vacation - 12 days, 2 hours and 17 minutes and then we are outta here - off to Naples and the Amalfi Coast for 10 days! Yay!!

Just having fun making things ...

2009-07-01T22:03:00.004+01:00

Dawanda discovery sale 15% off - extended until tuesday

2009-06-28T07:38:00.008+01:00

I'm participating in the Dawanda discovery sale that will run until tuesday 30th of june - if you buy in participating shops you have never bought before (on Dawanda), you get an automatic 15% discount when checking-out. So check it out, i'm participating :)

Dawanda has been good to me in the last couple of months, so good I discovered this: So hop on over to my shop there :o)

It was fun ...

2009-06-22T07:38:00.006+01:00

... at the beparkte oplage yesterday. Many creative people, good buyers who could appreciate handmake work (which is always fun, isn't it?:) and a nice atmosphere. This is what my stall looked like: My very friendly neighbor had a XL clothesline so I could hang all my scarfs on it. It was a pretty sight because there is quite a bit of wind (it was colder inside then it was outside) and that made the scarfs move the whole time.
My fav. booth was the one were they sold these totally adorable brooches. Unfortunately I seemed to have misplaced their card, so i cannot give you a link to their website (but i gave them my card so hopefully they'll read this and let me know!).And there was one other Hasselos there (=Hasselos= slang for a person from Hasselt). She makes beautiful kids clothes and here website is somethingstrange.(on the picture here you see her sister, who i went to Thailand with two years ago, small world huh!).

I had so much fun that i'm going back for the next editions on august 23th and october 18th. So i hope to see you there ....

Visit me at 'de beparkte oplage'

2009-06-15T18:58:00.007+01:00

If you want to see my products and me live in action (and you live in or around Antwerp), come visit me at the next edition of the Beparkte Oplage in Antwerp next sunday June 21th!You find the details about what, when and where there here.
The typewriter felt collection is also slowly being listed in the etsy shop:

A little sneak preview ...

2009-06-11T19:15:00.003+01:00

... of a new, limited jewelry line soon to be in the Etsy shop. It's made with two of my fav. materials: old typewriter rings and felt. Even though the ring hadn't completely dried yet, i could not resist wearing it and showing it here ...

It's almost all about ducks ...

2009-06-07T18:39:00.006+01:00

Last weekend we were walking around in my hometown Hasselt and noticed a big yellow duck in the water of the canal (and i had my camera with me). Did some research and found it it is the big start of a campaign to bring more art into the public sphere. Don't know much about that but looking at the duck just made me smile. I like those unexpected things in life, especially happy ones!Closer to home, but from a far-away place, is my mouse-pad ... you guessed right (or not) also a little duckling. It's from Tucano, an italian company, but i bought it in NYC. And this afternoon i did some well needed cleaning and sorting in my little workroom and also finally got around to hanging up my new inspirational flags, from a big chinese warehouse on Broadway, in ... NYC of course...
Hope they bring me some inspiration, they sure brighten up my atelier and my mood :)

In her shoes - modemuseum hasselt

2009-05-30T07:37:00.007+01:00

Yesterday was the official opening of the new exhibition 'in her shoes' in the fashionmuseum of Hasselt. As you probably have guessed, it's all about shoes! I did not take many pictures this time, but if you are an avid shoe fan, you'll love this exhibition. These blue shoes were custom made by Manolo Blahnik for Carrie in the Sex and the city movie:And how original idea to make boots out of plaster, although i don't know how healthy they would be if you had actually broken something :o)But of course, looking at this make me most happy - my jewelry in the museumshop!On the way home i took a picture of a poster that hangs on the wall opposite of the main church in hasselt, it gives a direct message from God to us and it says: 'i have been waiting a long time for you - God' - and i like the humor in it (that's something you usually don't see in our belgian churches).And very close to home - i cute my hair short! Went to the hairdresser and said she could do what she wanted and this is the result - i love it! I was actually winking at my hubby who was at work but was very curious to know HOW short it was (my hair was a lot longer before, to over my shoulders), so i send him a picture (and he loves it!).

New necklaces in the shop

2009-05-26T06:48:00.007+01:00

I'm having a workweek off - don't have to go into the real world to work but want to stay mostly at home trying my hand on new things.But first i had to make a lot of typewriter key rings and necklaces for the fashionmuseum shop in Hasselt - i was very happy to hear they wanted my typewriter key collection back for the next exhibition (which will be 'in her shoes' - opening saturday 30th of may).

But than i could finally play with my new beads:I'm very happy with how the necklaces turned out - they are listed in the Dawanda shop and the Karlita shop - but if you see something you like and you want me to post it on Etsy, let me know and i'll be happy to do that for you.Sterling silver necklace with coral flowerSterling silver necklace with coral flower and big rose quartzHuge purple agate stone with coral flower and coral pearlsHuge agate stone with aventurine stones (i made one like this for myself)Sterling silver and pink coral necklace with a freshwaterpearl

Oh, and still 6 more days left of the FREE SHIPPING in my etsy shop!

The sound of music in the central station of Antwerp

2009-05-17T20:16:00.004+01:00

I just came home from a long meeting for my indian organisation to find a message from my american hostsister Janet in my mailbox with a link to this video on youtube.

It made me happy on two fronts: the video with the happy song from the past and the unexpected surprise for the travellers. And that my sister and I, thanks to the virtual world, are still in touch and that ... 17 years after my being an exchange student in her american home!

Paperfashion Momu

2009-05-13T09:00:00.009+01:00

Yesterday was a good day - there are these days when you just feel energized and good ... I took an early train to Antwerp to go to some shops to get supplies and to visit the PaperFashion exhibition at the Momu. Walking from the shops to the museum i came across a big poem written by the current citypoem on the wall:That's what i love about walking around in a city (instead of busses, subways,...), you stumble upon these fun things you normally wouldn't see.
Like this window by Wouters&Hendrix (two jewelrydesigners), which is utterly useless but fun and energizing at the same time:
But back to the exhibition - it is one of the better ones I have seen there - learned a lot and just thoroughly enjoyed it. Like, did you know that the paperdress (see pic above) was first (in modern times anyway) used by the Scott Paper Company in 1966 as a promotion for their new line of paper towels en toiletry. If you bought sometime from the new line, you got a discount coupon to postorder a paper dress. After a couple of months, they allready sold half a million dresses!And of course lots of companies and even politians jumped at this success and used paper dresses for promotion of their products or persons!
The exhibition also explored how moderndaydesigners use paper in their fashion. Like Hussein Chalayan for instance with his airmail dress from 1999: you could send this as a gift to someone (in the airmailenvelop) and write a personal message on the paperdress, that way - even though you were not physically present when the receiver wore the dress - in a way you were because she was wearing your message on her dress!Or what to think of this runwayshow from 2007 by Jum Nakao who made a collection all from paper (gorgeous clothes) and the models destroyed the clothes (which took 700 hours to make) at the end of the show! I don't want to spoil all the fun for those of you who will visit the expo but there is lots more to see! So if you are in the area - don't forget to visit! (it runs until august 16th).

And closer to home - I have so many things i want to make but so little time. But did manage to make two new necklaces last monday, i'm quite fond of them! They are made with a wooden flower bead i brought home from sweet New York and with either sterling silver and pearls or with jade. And hopefully this afternoon can be a quiet creating sort of afternoon!!

New York City, part 2 ETSY!

2009-05-09T11:16:00.008+01:00

Finally, I have been going to NYC for three years in a row now (and many more to come, if it's up to me!) but never made it to the Etsy-offices, although it had been on my wish list each time. But this time we made it! Partly thanks to a message from Liz, the etsy admin for international who send me a convo to welcome me to NY.

The Etsy offices are located in Brooklyn on a very boring street to be honest (but there is a rumor they might be moving to a nicer location?) but still, i was excited! We took the elevator to the sixth floor and by the big handmade sculpture in the hallway i knew i came to the right place.
Liz was very welcoming and showed me around - it is obvious also in their officespace that etsy has grown a lot in a short time - they made offices of each and every available space. It was messy and crowded but for me, a girl who has worked in a youthdepartment for 8 years, it felt very fun and energizing (it had a big chiro and scouts feel to it!) Oh and see the guy sitting in the common/lunch/meeting room (picture below), if i remember correctly he's working on a shipping option for Europe (so Liz and I cheered him on a bit!)Ha ha, and funny detail - to take the elevator down you had to press the up-button. Yes, liz said, it's handmade all the way :)

Not so funny was walking in Battery Park that morning, where we saw this big plane circling around the statue of liberty and coming very close to the high buildings again and again. The plane was accompanied by and F-16. Of course the first thought that goes through your mind is that it is a kidnapped plane. I made a scary picture (but that is how it looked for real): When we walked a little bit further into the financial district we noticed lots and lots of nicely dressed office people standing all outside. Of course i couldn't keep my curiosity in check any longer and asked why everyone was outside (i could not imagine that they were all on a coffee break :). Well, there had been a massive evacution.
The day after, we read in the newspaper that the government wanted to take a picture of the airforce one plane with the statue of liberty. You can read more about it in this article or watch it on tape. I think it was a bit inconsiderate of the US-government to all those people that witnessed 9/11 and must have been thinking it was happening all over again! And to be honest, i was a bit scared at first too.

New York City, part 1

2009-05-04T17:32:00.008+01:00

Back from an exhausting but oh so energizing trip to the big apple (yes, both at the same time!). After an 8 hour flight we managed to get to the hotel (once again the Washington Square hotel in Greenwich Village) and after a quick 'freshen up' we stepped outside to get a bite to eat. And there it happened ... just a few steps away from the hotel ... came this very elegant lady walking towards us. Mom and i said to eachother what a very beautiful dress she had on. She also had a big hat on her head (hey, it's manhattan) and when we came closer ... it was SJP or Sarah Jessica Parker (with her son)! Now, i'm not big on being a fan of famous people but if I had to choose one gal, it would be her! She looked even more beautiful (and younger) in person. So my holiday got off to a very good start, let me tell you. We didn't take pictures, i would have felt stupid doing that. So you'll have to take my word for it :)(these pictures i found on the net, just to get an idea how close we were:)

After a good nights sleep, we were ready to conquer the city (if it can be conquered). First stop was the Guggenheim museum, unfortunately a couple of floors were closed due to a new exhibition they are getting ready for, it's about Frank Lloyd Wright). But i enjoy just looking at the beautiful building with its smooth lines, inside and out.

The Guggenheim is close to Central Park so we went for a walk there. It was sunday and 31 degrees celsius, so most of the city was walking, jogging, sitting and laying in the sun there - which made the park feel very much alive. Unfortunately, i forgot to take pictures of the people and just made some shots of the park itself. Once again, you'll have to take my word for it :o). It was also the blooming season for the japanese flowertrees - gorgeous!

Part two, next to come: visiting .... ETSY-OFFICES!!!

I have allready been working hard to fill my Dawanda store again. Today i listed some necklaces, in the next days there will be more to come, including of course typewriter key rings and some new typewriter key items ...

New York City, here we come again ...

2009-04-22T20:02:00.006+01:00

Yay, we're visiting New York City next week - those of you who read my blog regularly know this city and i just click!! So, even though there's lots to tell (about my colourtype for instance :) - it i'll have to keep until we get back!

Shops stay open of course, but the next shipping date will be may fourth.

stocksales from famous designers - stockverkoop stoffen!

2009-04-14T05:58:00.009+01:00

As usual I'm posting the dates and places for the stocksales that the belgian designers have of their fabric and clothes (twice a year) - for those of you who are from belgium (or live close) - i will give the details of most interesting ones here:

My three favourites:
Ann Demeulemeester en Haider Ackermann
When: 22 en 23 april from 10 am until 7 pm
24 april from 10 am until 6 pm
25 april from 10 am until 5 pm
Where: populierenlaan 34, 2020 Antwerpen
My opinion: lots of clothes and a small but cheap (and very good quality) selection of fabrics.

A.F. Vandervorst:
When: 22 april from 9 am until 6 pm
23 april from 10 am until 6 pm
24 april from 10 am until 7 pm
25 april from 11 am until 6 pm
Where: Indiënstraat 8, 2000 Antwerpen
My opinion: I checked it out a couple of times: more clothes than fabric (but the fabric is quite cheap).

My favourite fabric stock sale:
Dries Van Noten
When: 22-23-24 april from 1 pm until 6 pm
25-26 april from 10 am until 5 pm
Where: Godefriduskaai 36, 2000 Antwerpen
My opinion: This is my favorite one - i've been going off and on for more than fifteen years. He has a huge selection of beautiful fabrics at very reasonable prices for that quality. And if you're interested - a large selection of clothes.

Some new ones that I haven't checked out yet:

Anna Heylen:
16-17-18-22-23-24-25 april from 1 pm until 6 pm
Where: Lombaardenstraat 16, 2000 Antwerp

Tim Van Steenbergen:
When: 16-17-18-23-24 april from 10 am until 6 pm
27 april from 10 am until 2 pm
Where: Arsenaalstraat 3 (rooftop), 2000 Antwerpen

Bruno Pieters:
When: 16 + 23 april 10 am until 6 pm
17+ 24 april 10 am until 4 pm
18 + 25april from 11 am until 4 pm
Where: Aalmoezenierstraat 2, 2000 Antwerp

Veronique Branquinho:
when: 23-24-25 april from 10 am until 6 pm
where: Hessenplein 2, 2000 Antwerp

If i get notified of any other stocksales from designers, i'll also post it here(in this post).
I'm hoping i'll be able to go, since i'm leaving for NYC in two weeks (yay!) and it's quite busy in the weeks before. This wednesday my best buddy Isolde and i will participate in a colourworkshop to see which colours suit us best - i'll def. be taking pics and write a report here. But for now (since we don't know which will be 'our' colours) - a black and white picture:

And since i'm leaving for a weeks holiday soon, i'm trying to do multiple updates on the shops in the next two weeks so they are well stocked, some with the familiar items but some new. Here are some:(on karlita)

(two necklaces and the scarf you find in the etsyshop)(in the dawandashop)

New collections in the shops ...

2009-04-07T08:53:00.006+01:00

Desperately needed some creative time - i had not had to much of it lately, so i cleared my schedule yesterday (at least most of it) and got creative :).
Since the sun was shining and i bought some new porcelain beads - Happy Mood necklaces just had to be made! I love the colours and i'm def. also keeping one for myself. You find a selection in the etsyshop and in the karlitashop. And some are waiting to be photographed and listed - it is so time consuming to do that but oh so necessary of course ...

A new collection of 'Letterpress' necklaces are in all my shops. So far there are only the letters A,,E,J,K,S and M. It was a bit of a financial risk to buy the whole alfabet but as soon as i have sold some necklaces (and see that they are liked), i will try to own the whole alfabet for sure!Anyway, i just loved the vintage look of these letters, they look a lot like the old alphabet that was used in printing, don't you think???

To me they are a modern interpretation of the Carrie necklace from Sex In the City - remember, my fav. show ever in my fav. city in the world!!!

Last weekend my hubby and I tackled some more keys with our big machine. Unfortunately it was a frustrating experience since these keys seemed to be very delicate and melt if to hot (one even caught fire!), as you can see from the pictures. Oh well, the ones that succeeded, are beautiful!

Having fun with Vistaprint ...

2009-04-04T08:21:00.006+01:00

I discovered vistaprint a while back - i have known it for a while but never played with it. But after investigating it a bit more, i realised you can make your own businesscards, postcards and adresslabels for little money (just sign up for their newsletter to get their free deals). You need to play a bit with adding and leaving out things in your order because even with their free products, they can add quite a bit of costs at the end (+ VAT). But you only pay an upload for a picture once (and sometimes you get it for free), so once you have it you can f.e. order 140 adreslabels for 4 euro's or 100 postcards for 6,5 euro - ok, their postcards are not always cut perfectly sharp, but for that price - i'm happy! (oh, and i always choose the slowest way of shipping, i found out they usually ship within a week anyway!)Last wednesday my sweet buddy Lies came over to my house to play with pictures of her little son (my godson) and we created beautiful thank you cards:Isn't he as cute as a button?
And in the Dawanda shop there is a batch of new necklaces - the K, A, S, E - they are usually gone quite fast, so interested? Hop on over to my store there. It is funny how every website has its own customers: etsy is 95% US, dawanda 95% german and my dutch website, not suprising of course, mostly Belgian or Dutch customers!

Easter came early this year .. and i'm loving it!

2009-03-24T17:11:00.007+01:00

Today i received a big package in the mail and wondered what it was. But than i saw the sender and i realised: Easter comes early this year!!! Yes, i participated in the Secreat Easter Bunny from the EST-team (look at our blog here). It's like the Secret Santa from last december.
The package was from Mkaae, a Danish designer who makes some serious pretty stuff. Anyway, this was in the package: some yummie chocolate and a box ...
And in the box ... a beautiful flower ring (i can never resist a good flower) - it fits me perfectly!. Thanks Malene!!And now i'm off to enjoy a nice cup of tea with some yummie chocolates, and than i'll be packing my secret easter bunny gift, just in time for the deadline of tomorrow.(oh, and i just bought the huge vase yesterday, doesn't it give the room a very spring feeling with the fresh tulips???)

Limited 'baroque' necklaces and typewriter key earrings ...

2009-03-22T20:00:00.007+01:00

I experimented some more to make necklaces with these acrylic pendants and with some tassles I bought two years ago in Marrakech. Don't you just love the curls and design of the acrylic pendant? I do, that's why i'm keeping this one:And the other ones will be in the etsy shop soon - i'm just pondering wether to retake some pictures ...
the one with the blue tassel
as you know, i'm a big fan of olivegreenand i can never resist a good burgundy red!

And in the Dawanda shop some new clip-on earrings will be listed tomorrow or so. It will be X Y earrings (female - male you know :).

And yay, my felted scarf got featured on the Etsy Trends blog:

Love from Holland and some happy polkadots

2009-03-18T14:30:00.005+01:00

I've been having a touch of winterblues lately - so I cannot wait for spring and summer to come around... I decided to treat myself and just do what i want today. I wasn't going to do anything for Karlita - just for Karla. But a girl just can't help herself so soon I found myself in the little atelier experimenting with fabrics and jewelry:o).

The first necklace is made with the same red and white polkadot fabric as the scarf from a couple of posts ago (btw, thanks for all your nice comments on it!).
I'm not buzzzzzing with joy over the necklace yet, it's just not perfect! It's stuffed with some polyfill but since it has to bend a lot to get around your neckl, it has some 'bends and pleads' in it.And the second is made with lovely fabric that is plastified. Is that a correct word? The google translator couldn't find it, but i'm sure you know what i mean... It depicts an old holland scene with a couple exchanging a tender kiss - so sweet!
So after all, it turned out to be a good, fun sort of day ...

Spring is in the air ... and in the house

2009-03-15T18:24:00.007+01:00

Spring is in the air so hubby and i want to start doing (and buying) things for the house again. We are in need of more lighting, a nice comfy chair and some fun things, ... and we want to have our little city garden designed (but more about that later).

So we allready bought some small things, and feeling very content with them and with ourselfs :o). We bought this magazineholder at the donum, one of my fav. interiordesignstores, we had been looking for ages to find one we both liked: Maybe my favourite is this fun coatrack - is that the correct word? The thing you hang your coats on... This is a vinyl sticker that resembles old typical coatracks you find a lot in belgium. We still need to put some black nails in the walls so you can actually hang something on them :) This coatrack is made by Nr5, a collective of 5 creative young people, each with their design-specialty. They have a small store in Hasselt and i love to peep in the window to see what they come up with.
At last but not least, we have been living in our house for 5 years and never replaced the ugly '15' at our frontdoor.Yes, yours truly and her hubby can be very lazy that way. But anyway - we found some nice outdoorstickers at a hobbystore for 2 euros and now we have a better '15':And maybe even more important, it will make sure the postman will find our mailbox better - everytime we have 'replacement'postman, he has trouble finding the mailbox!

Oh, and we have been looking for the chairs and the lighting. I love this classic Eames Lounge chair but 1. hubby doesn't sit comfy in it and 2. it has a pretty steep pricetag ... So let's keep on dreaming for now (ha, probably for a long time) ...

New design for summer scarfs ...

2009-03-10T09:05:00.004+01:00

My felted scarfs are perfect to wear in fall, winter and autumn. Actually they are perfect for the in between season since they are not so thick that they are too warm but since it's made of wool, it gives warmth to your neck. I wear my felted scarfs most in those seasons, and on sweaters in the harsh wintertimes.

But so I wanted to make a scarf for the summertime (and the warmer spring days), so i came up with the idea of recreating the effect of my felted scarfs on cotton fabric (since i still have quite some fabrics laying around in the cupboard, and i would love to buy some more, since i loooooovvve fabrics :). It is quite a bit of work to make, and with all the short curls, it's not the easiest to sew but i thought it was kind of funky different... ... but what do you think? I would appreciate some feedback on my idea, you can be harsh :)

And on another note, my mom called me this weekend and said she thought that a minister of the government, Veerle Heeren, was wearing my necklace on a picture in the newspaper. And yes indeed, she was ... that is so much fun to see :). It is a happy mood necklace and you find them here in my dutch website.

Kunst tegen kanker - art against cancer

2009-03-03T14:55:00.006+01:00

My sister-in-law Heidi, who had cancer about two years ago but luckily recovered very well, has been active in the belgian team for Roparun. Roparun is the longest non-stop relay race in the world for people with cancer: it's not only a unique running event but it also has a unique goal: "Aiming to add life to the days that remain, when no more days can be added to life"

Anyway, she has been very active in searching for funds and has started to collect work of artists (they donate their art for free) that is currently being auctioned on this site . The proceeds will go to the 'kom op tegen kanker'. This year the funds will go to the treatment of children who have cancer.
If you are dutch and want to read more, you can read this article in 'het belang van limburg'.

Now, i know that most of you guys probably cannot participate in this auction, but i do have quite a big belgian audience so hey guys, you can!! You can bid online until april 19 and then there is a live auction in Zonhoven. Of course i donated a little 'verwenpakket Karlita' (=spoil yourself package) to the auction (just scroll down quite a bit on the site to find it). If you win, you can choose 1 scarf, 1 necklace, 1 ring and 1 brooch of your choice on my flemish website. And i also created two scarfs especially for this cause, the 'lotgenotensjaal' on karlita.be. For each sold scarf, i will donate 10 euro to the cause.

This is a picture of Heidi with a 'lotgenoten'scarf:

ps if you are wondering: the first picture is a collection of ceramic tiles that were made by kids from an elementary class in Zonhoven - it's also up for auction!

What's not to love ...

2009-02-23T08:05:00.005+01:00

... about this sweet little cat of mine in the sink? She is the cutest (not little really, more big and fat but oh so adorable) - and - more important ... no chance to do the dishes today!Yes, that's our Tsuki - the noisy, talkative one that can not resist any cuddling!

A small feature in Grande travel magazine!!

2009-02-13T19:41:00.005+01:00

Remember i blogged about my trip to Marrakech with a friend last september? Well, we met a Flemish journalist and a photographer there by accident and got to talking. The journalist, Gert, interviewed me about my tips about how to buy in Marrakech (and how to bargain:). And the photographer, Peter, took some pictures - this is one of my friend and me (but you only see my back here): And yesterday i was in a magazine store and what did I see, the citytrip magazine of Grande (a very well known mag. in belgium) with on the cover 'shopping in Marrakech'. I suddenly remembered and couldn't resist a peak in the magazine - and to my surprise: an interview with yours truly about how to buy as a berber! Yeay, and they also mentioned my flemish website *thank you so much Gert!*

And coincidence, coincidence - i just started making little fabric necklaces with the fabric beads I brought home from that trip. Each one is unique and it's only a limited collection. Find them in one of my shops!

Super Stories in Hasselt

2009-02-07T16:29:00.009+01:00

Okay, i apologize in advance for this long post but there is a lot to tell :). But i'll 'lighten it up' with lots of pictures!

First of all, i'm very happy to have gotten the chance to sell my creations in the museumshop of the Fashionmuseum in Hasselt again - especially since it's a triënnale 'Super Stories' in Hasselt (which will get a lot of exposure). So here are some pictures of my creations in the shop (next to creations from Ted Noten en Linde Hermans - which kind of makes me proud :). Typewriter keys rings in the windowshop ...
Felted flowernecklaces ... Porcelain flower necklaces ...
And last but not least: the scarfs!

But of course that's not all there is to see :o) 'Super Stories' is spread over 4 museums but my two favourite exhibitions were at the Fashion Museum and the Z33. The one in the Jenevermuseum can definitely be missed, unless of course you want to drink some Juniper :). I did take some pictures to give you an impression but it's really worth a visit!
This picture was taken in the Fashion Museum and it's from Linde Hermans, a designer who uses fairytales (amongst other) as an inspiration to make designs that tell a story. This one is the story 'red shoes' by Hans Christian Andersen (and the tale is told on the shoeboxes).
The Z33, which is located on the site of the beguinages, houses an exhibition that wants to generate interesting confrontations between artists and designers, in which the ‘object’ plays a central role. Me, i just loved some of the objects. Like this one: These are urchins made out of thick felted wool threads - it's by Christien Meindersma. Unfortunately her website is under construction, but you can read a nice interview with here. I want to own one of those!!!! Oh, and of course the urchin poufs immediately made me think of .... Star and her beautiful sea urchin jewelry (of which i own a beautiful pair of earrings!).
And there was also a little room with all kinds of witty expressions on the wall (related to art) - sweet and cute, like this one: It says: 'Kurt the rabbit finds it quite nice, that art does not have to be pretty - oh well, i guess it loses some in the translation...

So after visiting the three museums with my mom in the afternoon, hubby and i went to the official opening in the Cultureel Centrum at night - the exhibition there had some things i just loved, like this radiator by William Cobbing (i had to refrain myself from not sitting on this persons lap :), but other things i couldn't care for at all. The opening was fun though, lot's of cava and little bites to eat and lot's of people to watch - what's not to love (maybe the headache in the morning?).
Oh, and Spike is loving my boots so much (remember this post?) that apparently it doesn't matter whether my feet are in the boots or not ...
Yes, yesterday was a good day!

Ne vous installez pas ...

2009-02-05T07:33:00.008+01:00

I have been a fan of Veerle's creations from Nevousinstallezpas for a while now, but since a couple of weeks I finally own one of them! Don't ask me why it took me so long - probably cause i couldn't decide which one to choose so she made me a custom order in some of my fav. colours (i have many :). I love it that the necklace, although it has a closure with a crocheted bead, really has no 'ugly ending' - the ending can be worn on the front or the side. And yes, good news for all you non-flemish people, Veerle has her own etsy store since last week - so let's all go there and make her happy :). I'm sure she takes custom orders, and if you want to look at her past creations, look here (just click on the year, and you get the pics)!

On another note - I think going to the postoffice has to be a fun walk so i got myself this bag a while ago. It is by la marelle and i just found out they also have a webshop (i got mine in the Hexagoon in Leuven). Or you can buy it in this webshop.

Have a happy thursday everyone!

(ps i went to the fashion museum yesterday to build up my collection in the shop - pics and a report will follow!)

Photographs by Selina de Maeyer - I'm so proud

2009-02-01T22:11:00.006+01:00

Some things in life just happen by happy accident - and this is one! One of my colleagues at work happens to be a photographer in his spare time and wanted to use my jewelry for a shoot today. I told him that if the photographs were ready by next wednesday i could use them in the museum shop of the fashion museum of Hasselt (a new exhibition is opening friday and they wanted my creations again in the shop - happy me!). He couldn't make that deadline, but he knew a young photographer that wanted some more exposure - we emailed, i shipped my products and boom, here are the pictures she took (and i will definitely use them):

So please go look at her amazing pictures on her site and if you ever need a photographer ... .

And if you are in the neighboorhood, you can always visit the triënnale 'super stories' in Hasselt. But i'll blog about that separately later!

Have a good week everyone!!

I so want to wear these boots today ...

2009-01-25T10:36:00.003+01:00

But how can i chase this little sweetheart away???
No, it will have to be different boots today! :)

Sales in my Etsy shop!!! (and a kind of big decision is finally made ...)

2009-01-11T21:21:00.005+01:00

Well, my friends at the European Street Team on Etsy know i have been poundering about wether to keep mixing my non-textile jewelry with my textile items in my etsyshop. Up until now, the balance always swung in the 'keep it' direction but i've finally decided tonight to seperate them in the future. Mostly because i feel they get kind of lost in all the other listings.

So I might be opening another shop on Etsy soon with my non-textile jewelry (have to think of a name first - if you have any suggestions, feel free to share them with me:). But for now, the first step is putting the jewelry items on sale!! You can find them in the sale section of my shop. They will be on sale until januari 31th, by which time i will try to decide wether or not to open a second shop!

Here's a selection of what is on sale:

San Pedro De Atacama - even for non-nature folks!

2009-01-09T22:06:00.006+01:00

So, i totally forgot to blog about San Pedro De Atacama in Chile and it's so worth visiting it, even if you - like me - prefer big cities, this nature will blow you away...

Sometimes pictures speak louder than a thousand words and in this case they do: One morning we drove to the Salar de Atacama, a salt lake where you can see flamingos. Just strangly beautiful and serene! And salt wherever you look!That night we took an excursion to Valle de la Muerte and Valle de la Luna (you can do this by yourself but than you won't see so much of the dunes (or run in them :). First we went to Valle de la Muerte (valley of the death) where we ran down the dunes and we were about the only ones there - that was an impressive feeling!
After that we went to Valle de la Luna, famous for it's impressive sunset - it was beautiful but a little crowded! And doesn't this remind you of the moon (not that i've ever been there!) - that's why it's called 'valley of the moon':)
For the last visit in San Pedro De Atacama we had to get up at 4 a.m. and drive up a mountain to watch the El Tatio Geysers come alive (and it was freezing: minus 10 degrees celsius - during the day it would be 30 degrees celsius):
Isn't it impressive? Ok, and just to prove i was there (and was cold):

Yes, chile is beautiful!!! and I'm a little more a nature girl now :)

A beautiful surprise in my mailbox ...

2009-01-01T19:51:00.005+01:00

I had to work the last two days of 2008 - not fun, especially since hubby didn't have to work. But, tuesday when I came home, I found a little present from Veerle, aka NeVousInstallezPas in my mailbox. And in it was this beautiful pin: So today, the first day of 2009, i wore it all day (and allready got many compliments on it)! Thank you so much Veerle, for this unexpected but very loved package in the mail! And thank you Etsy, where I got to know Veerle as a buyer first (and maybe a seller soon???!!). Yes, the online crafting community - it is a beautiful and heartwarming thing at times ...
Recently I have found the joy of making jewelry again, so i have added some new additions to my karlita site, all partly made from beads brought home from my journeys abroad:
Necklaces with Thai Amulets that are supposed to be powerful consecrate holy items which bring good fortune in life and protection from all dangers.

Necklaces made from Maroccon felt and resin beads.

Necklaces made with some Hill Tribe silver from Thailand.

Remember, if you see something there that you like, just let me know and i can transfer it to Etsy or vice versa.

I wish you all a merry (belated) Christmas!

2008-12-26T22:02:00.004+01:00

Ok, as usual I'm a little late with the wishes (don't know if it counts, but in my heart and my head, i was wishing it yesterday, i'm only writing it today :).
So here are some of my christmas decorations. I love the way the moose look when the candlelight is on at night!
And just to be early: i hope you all have a great new years eve and that 2009 may just be splendid in every way!

Welcome into the world Little Boris!!

2008-12-17T09:12:00.006+01:00

Just wanted to let you know I'm the proud and happy godmother of Boris, a little fellow that came into the world december 7th. He's the son of Lies, one of my sweetest and funniest friends, and her 'partner in crime' Bart.
Boris means warrior and of course, when I saw this little sword i could not resist. Don't worry, it's made out of foam - so no harm can be done to other little warriors, and anyway, I don't think he'll be picking it up soon :):) But doesn't he look very impressive?
This is another one of my favorite pictures - notice the T-shirt!!!(it says: 'it's my party and i cry if i want too!)

Oh, and the card was made by Wendy from MyFavoriteThings, in coöperation with Lies.

On another note, since it was my birthday a couple of days earlier - Lies got me this mushroom light for my little atelier. It's adorable!!
I'm slowly going in vacation mode (stores will stay open but i will make more time to do other things besides creating). And first order of business was reorganising and cleaning out my atelier (isn't it always?). It's not finished yet, but here are some 'after pictures' of my workdesk (not very sharp images, since it was still dark outside).

Surprise the Secret Santa herself ...

2008-12-07T09:25:00.007+01:00

The European Street Team of Etsy organised a secret santa: people that participated send a secret gift to someone from the team, and receive a secret gift from someone in our team. Just something to celebrate the X-mas season among friends.

Anyway, of course someone had to do all the work, and this was Artmind: she send out numerous questionnaires to the people of the team that wanted to participate and than spend hours trying to match the people. So some members of the team decided to conspire together and send her little gifts. To make the surprise bigger, they send the gifts to me and I tried to meet her on Saint Nicolas in our favourite coffeeplace Boon.

Well, off i went with the sack of Saint-Nicolas. I did make sure i was there first, and after we had our coffee... i surprised her with all the presents... (she hides behind the sack, feeling a little embarrased for getting them since she didn't feel it was necessary. Well Mitsy: maybe not necessary, but oh so much fun!!!!!! And very well deserved!!)

And surprised she was. She opened all the presents, and I had my camera ready. These are some of the presents she received:

A beautiful cat brooch from Fleurfatale

A gorgeous necklace from Anna, all the glasbeads are handmade!

Another handmade fishbead from glasfaden - i'm stunned just looking at them (i once took a short class on making handmade glass beads, so i know how difficult this must be!). A piece of art!!

And a beautiful custom made journal from Kreativlink, on the front it has the little artmind poppet, isn't that cute??!!

I didn't take pictures of all the individual gifts (although they were all gorgeous and worth taking pictures off, i just got distracted by Mitsy unwrapping them all :). But this is a picture of all the gifts together.
And i had so much fun seeing here unwrap all those beautiful items. It felt a bit like Saint Nicholas for me too, and actually some of the EST members were so sweet to put in a little something for me in the package as well - Thanks so much guys (or girls actually) - that really was unnecessary but needless to say, I loved it :)!

The story behind the @-sign

2008-12-02T07:41:00.007+01:00

One of the ladies that attented a mamzel evening was curious and wanted to know why there was an @-sign on typewriter machines that were supposed to be decades old?? Well, that was a good question so Kim, the owner of mamzel, wanted to know (and make sure the machine wére decades old!). My hubby looked it up and it turned out that the @-sign (or monkey's tail, as they say in dutch) was allready used in the 16th (!) century in italy - and was found in economic documents from Venetian sellers. In that time it was used as an abreviation for 'amphora (= greek jar) that was used as a measuring tool. From that meaning it appeared on the typewriter machines in the 19th century.

I thought that was an interesting story of how we use very old things in a modern way and forget about the old meaning (if someone had asked me a couple of days ago, i would have thought the @-sign would have been invented for the emailadress - silly me).

By the way, i've made and listed many new typewriter keys rings on my dutch site, since they are selling well ànd i'm having a promo on flavourites - one of the little items on the homepage on the upper bar (or how do you call it) is ... my @-ring!

Oh, and I'm working like crazy to make new scarfs. I have some beautiful new colours, as you can see on this picture: