Saturday, March 23, 2013

Busy bee


I'm very busy knitting and photographing my necklaces and hope to open my Etsy shop next week! I'll keep you all updated of course.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Flora II


Some pictures I took in the studio of my plants. Partly inspired by Karl Blossfeldt and partly inspired by Erwin Olaf about whom I might do a post in the future.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Portrait project


I've never really been into photographing people (except when they are on a stage) but this morning I felt like snapping my boy and me in a clean, direct way. I got rather enthusiastic, and so did others! So I've got already 12 people lined up to photograph in the same way. So exciting!!

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Project Living Room

It's about a year ago that I moved in with my boy and still there are many many house improving projects on my list. Some time ago I managed to cross one off!

I've been inspired by Maiedae to fix up our art display above the couch. There used to be an Ikea print of a take out of Gustav Klimts Sea Serpents II, which I think is kind of tacky (though I really love Klimt, don't get me wrong!). But I wanted something more special. So seeing the lovely playful artwork Maiedae put together, I thought I wanted something like that too.

Before



After



I really love how it looks! Most pictures and frames I got from thrift stores in Amsterdam and my boys hometown. A few I already had laying (or hanging) around and some of the pictures are postcards I gathered when traveling through Europe a few years ago. And Freddy Mercury is on display too, this can't get any better.

I just gathered a lot and then laid it out on the couch to find a composition I liked. After that I transferred it to the wall, beginning with the largest piece and working my way to the outsides.




Also we got a new couch from Ikea, which is so so lovely! We hardly used to hang out there before, because the old couch was so crappy. Now we love this corner. Before:




More home improvement stories coming up!



Friday, March 15, 2013

Just a day at the studio











































































And there it just happened, my first outfit-post on the blog! Hi there, this is me. I'm working in my upstairs studio and suddenly saw this post happen when I looked to my left in the mirror.
I've been rocking a more free style with long skirts and lots of dangling bracelets. And of course with one of my own necklaces - the yellow knitted one is of my own making. I'm working hard on my Etsy shop, knitting and photographing. It's loads of fun!


Skirt - thrifted at the Noordermarkt; shoes - Sacha still love these!; hat - thrifted; crocheted top - H&M but a few years ago; shirt - black shirt? I don't know man!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

New succulents

Last friday I went to the garden center with my dad and we had the best day. I bought a few new succulents for my studio and lots of seeds for the balcony. Here are some pictures from the garden center and my new succulents. 
































 

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

City gardening - winter

I'm declaring it's spring in Amsterdam! We had a very sunny day yesterday and the day before, so it was time to look outside my kitchen door and fix the balcony. I thought it would be fun to do a series during the year, to compare my plants, plans and ideas about the balcony. Now it's all gray and empty, so you can see in the pictures below. I have loads of plans and am going to the garden centre this friday with my dad, so I needed to formalize my ideas. 
Since I just got a Wacom Bamboo tablet for my birthday from my boy (what!! I'm still amazed!!) I figured I could draw my ideas. Mind you, I can't draw, not in real life and certainly not on a tablet I'm just learning to use. But I like the results!


Herbs:
1: thyme, last years died, but I've already planted new ones
2: sage, last years died also, but I hope it'll regrow
3: rosemary, I have a lovely plant left over from last year
4: chives, is regrowing from last years mess
5: parsley
6: basil

Other herbs I'm growing can be seen here. I don't know yet where I will put them. I'm probably going to add more hanging baskets on the railing.

Flowers:
7: morning glory and black-eyed Susan
8: clematis, I only have one now, thinking about adding another for some more flowers
9: beans! I'm thinking about using chicken wire as a support to grow them on


Around this black obstacle in the middle of the balcony I want to grow some more black-eyed Susans. With chicken wire I'm going to create a form on which the Susan can climb. 


So here is how it's looking now. Almost no plants, all empty and gray, except for the blue berry plant I found at my supermarket. I'm very excited about this plant, I hope it will survive and give me blue berries from next year on!

































This weekend I'm probably going to paint the concrete. We bought paint for it last year, but of course found no time to paint. I think this is the right time, when there aren't too many plants.

Also; I'm a very lucky girl, blessed with a little platform outside our attic rooms. Last year I build two planters there so I could grow more vegetables. I will post about my plans there soon (think tomatoes, lettuce, carrots etc!)