Where have I been? November 2, 2008

It’s been quiet on the blog for the last few months but real life has been busy and bustling. We’ve had a summer of fabulous sunshine and Rhine swimming coupled with friends visiting, music festivals and mountains. Interspersed there have been many dinners, bbq’s, crafting, pottery and testing Japanese recipes.

In addition, some life changing events have taken place: I finished my job at the university at the end of July. After months (even years) of doubt I finally made the decision to change careers. After 2 months of job searching (a wonderful week at home and lots of the above mentioned Rhine swimming) I found a new position and have very happily transited to the pharmaceutical industry since the start of October.

Last but by no way least, there has been a very unexpected but welcome proposal on the middle of a glacier a few weeks ago followed by a very swift OF COURSE! filling life with lots of champagne,celebrations and this incredible happiness. Who would have thought this would change so much in our happy living together state …says the Dutch girl always skeptical of marriage, I guess I have to eat my words but boy, they taste sweet :-). With that comes lots of planning/organizing to be done in the next few months.

So with all that I fear the blog will suffer even more!

I had great plans of overhauling it this summer which obviously hasn’t happened and have now decided to merge the two back to my original blog. So this will see a bit more craft which will be interspersed with some more food and general ramblings. Thanks for hanging in there and look forward to sharing the experiences with you…

Family craft July 8, 2008

Crafting was something we were taught early in our family. When we were little my brother and I would often draw, paint, play with clay, garden, cook or more with my parents as it was part of their “keep them away from the tele” regime (very successful and very happy about it now). My mum would do the more artsy stuff with us and my dad was more into woodwork.

Now that they’ve both retired, they have even more time for creating things as you can see here….This stool is their last project, they were inspired an exhibition they saw last year combining origami and furniture. After much puzzeling my mum figured out how to make it was composed and my dad put it all together. As family members, we all were given one and got to pick the colours we liked.

I chose orange and yellow to match our sleeping sofa cover (yellow) and notice board (orange) in the spare room where it functions as my sewing stool. By coincidence, I still had a scrap fo fabric left that matched perfectly so made a matching pillow to sit more comfortably during long sewing sessions.

Very late but very loved… July 3, 2008

This is something I’ve been meaning to write about for ages!! What can I say, life gets in the way as usual with wonderful weather and therefore lots of BBQ’s and Rhine swimming (the local Basel sport). But tonight it’s raining so a good time to finally talk about something long overdue. Back in November Mia from One Hour Craft organized a journal swap. I was lucky enough to be partnered up with the very talented ninox from Creating Ftw! and set about making a journal for her. We both sent ours of late as we got the dates mixed up but mine arrived just in time before going to Tasmania!

I was very impressed with that it was totally handmade, love the paper and the clasp/closing is beautiful. I like how the snake kind of stares at you knowingly perhaps about what’s inside, perhaps about what you’re going to put in or perhaps just staring into space. I immediately decided it would be my travel journal and inspiration book during the Tasmania travels and it did well, however when back there was still a lot of free space. So now it’s my pottery inspiration/techniques/projects/German words book and slowly filling up with wonderful things. Check out what she did with mine for some amazing images.

Personal espresso time and a language lesson June 19, 2008

Everyone has their own rituals in the morning whilst waking up….but from the no breakfasters via the cereal and fruit people to the fry fanatics, many enjoy a lovely cup of coffee in the morning. My preference is a nice fluffy cappucchino but my brother for example prefers a strong espresso to give the day a kick start. So when he decided to move in with his girlfriend (yeah!!), I made these two personalized cups as their housewarming present. They were inspired by some cups I saw in Bon Marche on our Paris trip Iast September and I used a stamp set from Muji (bought that trip) to put their names on the spoons and “espresso” on the cups.

These are still leftover projects from my old pottery class (and there are still some more to follow) but a few weeks ago I found a new one! It’s just around the corner from my home, the teacher makes beautiful stuff and is not only intent on teaching me pottery but German as well! And it’s working really well, sometimes it’s a bit of a struggle but as the teacher also speaks English and French we generally work it out. I think it’s really a fabulous way to practice the language, learn a new skill and meet some new people. I’ve talked about this briefly before and wanted to emphasize the point as I had some comments about it in a previous post.

I guess my family has always had to learn languages. Before my brother and I were born, my parents moved from the Netherlands to France for my Dad’s job. Whilst he was working, my Mum was trying to learn the language, make friends and also find a job. She joined several courses and clubs, all in French and slowly, through cooking courses and flower identifying walks, learned the language and made friends. So I would definitely recommend anyone to join something like this. Many foreigners here often complain that it’s hard to meet the local Swiss people but I always think this is quite unfair as they often also don’t speak German or French. We can not expect everyone to speak English (well, or feel comfortable speaking it all the time) and therefore will have to make a bigger effort ourselves learning the local language. But once you do, you will find many lovely, funny, genuine and loyal friends.

Yellow goodness! June 9, 2008

Just a quick one as it’s very busy here with visitors and interviews (I’m in the process of job hunting). On top of that, last Saturday the EURO 2008 madness kicked off with the Swiss-Czech game in Basel last Saturday. Unfortunately, the host country got neither the outcome (they sadly lost) or the weather (it rained) they were hoping for. But I brightened up my days with some ART (I specifically like the ART Unlimited) and these yellow accessories. The shoes were bought in Dundee on a recent visit (you can’t help but love TK Max!) and found the matching bag last week in C&A. I’d almost fit in with the buyers/sellers/gallery people that wonder around town if it weren’t for my velo and the lack of attitude/blabla  😉

Mobile May 30, 2008

A quick pre-weekend post about a present for a friends baby. It was inspired by this post and books from this lady… I liked it a lot and was pleased to see it in full “swing” on my recent visit to Scotland. I also recently go Lotta Jansdotter her new book on prints which is beautiful and very comprehensice so am very exciting about starting that and sharing it with you soon. Off to Amsterdam in a few hours to visit my family and do a bit of shopping, have a nice weekend

No more pottery…. May 25, 2008

….at least with my current teacher. When I got back from our Tassie trip, she announced that she was closing the studio at the end of April. This was pretty sad as I really enjoy making things and she had a fabulous collection of glazes. However, I also had my issues with the class and felt there wasn’t enough actual “teaching” or constructive criticism but just a lot of playing/messing about.

Knowing I only had 4 weeks left I set up a bit of a production line and was amazed by the quantity/quality I produced. I wanted to make some bowls and plates to match the butter dish I made a while ago to complete a breakfast set. So I made 6 plates, 3 bowls in varying sizes and a sugar pot as well.

I’m really pleased how they turned out, the bowl are nice and thin at the bottom and like the fact that the plates all have different shapes/sizes even though it wasn’t meant that way (something to learn properly in the future). The glazing worked out pretty well although there are some bare spots on it (she assured me one coat would be enough….not!) but that doesn’t bother us too much and we enjoy eating breakfast (and desserts!) from them.

Wedding gift May 22, 2008

So, the rather lengthy absence started with a wedding. Our good friends Ed&Flick decided to tie the knot in the beautiful location of Brickendon, Tasmania, which made the perfect excuse for a 3 week holiday on this beautiful island and a week spent in and around Melbourne. We had a fab time (more to follow soon, I promise!!) but of course one can not come empty handed.

So I made this bowl in my big throwing class as a present for them, it’s still way to thick at the base, which made it quite a challenge to take as handluggage. However, it made it safely through Paris and Singapore to Melbourne even though we had a hairy moment at customs with the swiss delicacies including chocolates and pate. But we were honest people, declared everything and were let through without any trouble so it could reach it’s final destination.

I had a little bit of trouble letting go as it’s the biggest piece I’ve made so far and I was really pleased how the glaze turned out with dripping colour variations. It was soooo shiny! But it belongs in Oz as I’d set out to make it for them since last summer already. We enjoyed some fabulous salads from it whilst in Melbourne and I hope their life together will be filled with yummy meals (not so difficult as Flick is a stellar cook!).

Needle holder May 14, 2008

A birthday present for a knitting fanatic friend. Loosely based on this tutorial but with improvisation and changes. I loved the ribbon from the moment I saw it in Ikea almost 2 years ago and am pleased I finally found a purpose for it. Don’t make the same mistake as I did though and sew it all the way along cause I had to take the stitches out again as it only needs to be attached in a small part.

Still alive… May 6, 2008

No need to panic people….I’ve not been eaten by Tasmanian devils! Although we saw quite a few of them, they were all friendly (and enclosed) so no danger there. Also not carried of by creepy crawlies or stuck on a deserted island (unfortunately). Just had a fantastic month in Tasmania seeing great friends, enjoying the sun, sea and country side and eating lots of yummy food. Settling in has taken a bit longer then expected and life has been busy as ever full of fun-filled weekends in the snow and sun.

Then last weekend was  a bank holiday and Barry and I went back to Dundee to catch up with friends, we had a fabulous time hanging out in old haunts and meeting everyone. However, I was semi-sternly reminded that they didn’t know what I was up to due to a lack of posts and so here we are….a lot has happened both in normal and crafty life so I’ll slowly try to catch up and fill you in on my travel and projects from recent months.