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…

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.

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  😉

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!).

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.

Set of two…. January 14, 2008

…bowls that I glazed last year in matching colours.  I used a combination of two glazes in different variations. They didn’t quite turn out as expected but even better! Part of that is that something seems to have changed since my teacher got her kiln fixed, the glazes are more shiny and they react a bit different. I think that’s where the little black/grey/sparkly bits have come from – at least that’s my very non-scientific description- don’t ask me about which elements react with each other to form what colour I’m still trying to learn that.

Pinky pottery January 5, 2008

These little beauties came out of the kiln last year (we’re still in Tasmania). I’m specially chuffed with the little white detail and the handle on the shaped bowl. I had thought of using it as a gravy/sauce bowl but didn’t make a lip so it pours pretty bad. but it looks very pretty with pickled onions when having fondue.

Hot feet January 1, 2008

Here’s one I made last year as we’re still enjoying our extended holiday in Tasmania!

We have a big bed. When moving here we decided to splurg and go for a 200×220 bed which is great but as the days are getting shorter and it was getting colder it’s harder to heat….and who wants to get into a big cold bed…not me. So we bought a hot water bottle/ but this was a bit hard and plasticy so now I made this cover with some pieces of felt I was given as a sinterklaas present. Now the feet are nice and warm and happy with their soft bed companion.

Cambodian warmth October 11, 2007

The blog has been quiet for a while but life is just whizzing past me at the moment. I was in Paris the last weekend of September for the world cup rugby. Well, thats what I told Barry but the shopping, eating and culture were a big draw too :-). Then I spent last weekend with my brother walking in Kiental, tomorrow I’m off to the lake district for a girly weekend with my friends from Dundee and the last weekend of October we’re off to Berlin to visit Barry’s brother!

 

As you can understand, I’m not crafting so much in the mean time but I did manage to finish this bedspread I’ve been wanting to make for years! I bought this piece of silk fabric whilst traveling in Cambodia in 2005. It was a bit of an impulse buy spending our last Riel (their currency) before heading into Thailand. I’ve carried it with me since then as I love the colours but couldn’t decide what to do with it. I felt it was a shame to cut it, plus it wasn’t really enough to make anything big out of. So with autumn well and truly here, the nights are getting colder but it’s still too warm for the winter duvet. So I lined the edges with some orange cotton to make it a little bigger and sewed it together with batting in between.

 

I’m very pleased with the result! Not only have I finally found a use for it, the colors brighten and warm up the room. Specially early in the morning when the sun shines in and sparkles off the gold threads reminding me of the beautiful temples in South East Asia. Bring on autumn and winter cause I have my blanket to keep me warm!

Celebtrating 1st August in style! August 1, 2007

A non-crafty post but anyway….happy 1st August!! Also known as Swiss National Day, and we have been celebrating in style. In Basel, they have the customary huge fireworks display on the 31st July instead of the 1st so we could sleep in on our day off 🙂 So last night, we wandered along the Rhine, found ourselves a nice spot across from Les Trois Rois and waited for the fireworks to start. The council put on a fantastic show including dinghy races, skydivers landing in the water right in front of us, sparklers flying off into the air wired to helium balloons. Then at 23.15 a huge display of stunning fireworks with lots of variations. Very nice!

Then today, we had a lazy day with some cooking, a bike ride to France to buy Marie Claire Idées for a friend and then….the highlight of my day off….the first swim in the Rhine! When I moved here last October my colleagues were telling me about this. Every summer, when the water warms up people walk upstream, get into the Rhine and float down the current. I’ve been looking forward to this for the last 10 month and have been eagerly waiting till we could jump in! But after a promising April it hasn’t warmed up and the water has been pretty cold (16°C) and I didn’t fancy freezing. So today we finally we took the plunge: after being warm from the cycling, we bought ourselves a fishbag, stuffed our clothes in it, took a deep breath and jumped in! It was cold at first but it quickly warmed up and we enjoyed the ride. We went up and down twice (takes about 15 min) whilst floating past beautiful buildings, dried up in the sun and ate icecream. I’m totally hooked and will definitely be doing it again soon…probably tomorrow at lunchtime!