Flickr Favorites and Bonsais

1. Dandelion, 2. 朝の光, 3. Big bird, 4. Bonsai Portrait 5

This week's Flickr Favorites is inspired by a bonsai, which started with the Bonsai of AnnaRubyKing. You can admire more mosaics at ArtMind's blog and join the fun!

Now talking about AnnaRubyKing, I won her giveaway last week, yaaay! I always have admired her work, she makes fabulous jewelry too! The giveaway was hosted by The Spotted Duck, and look what Anna has sent me :D

My favorite piece, the piece I choose, the Bonsai ACEO, such gorgeous details, love it!



Adorable buttons, with feathers, birds and butterflies.

Gorgeous postcards, I sure will save one for my self of each and will send the other 3 with much difficulty :) She also included perfect envelopes with gocco prints, ahhh feels like my birthday already! Thank you so much Anna for these goodies and Shelley for hosting this great giveaway!

The Swap Fun Continues

If you read our previous post, you have seen that we are having a swap, if you would like to join, you are still welcome to contact us with your address!



The first bunch will be sent today, and the second bunch will be sent tomorrow or wednesday. Can't wait to see your goodies :)

Let's Swap

One of the coolest things about buying on Etsy, is afterwards, getting the parcel!
Many sellers do their best with the packaging and make cute, ribboned and adorned little parcels, but what ever the case, getting a little bubble mailer is so exciting, that you would want it every day.
Of course, buying something every day for the thrill of the little package, is not possible in these meagre times, so we decided to propose a swap, just for the fun of it!

We will send a pair of urchin beads as pictured to anybody that send us her adress, and in return you can send us... anything! The value of what you send is not important, it may be something you thrifted in the flea market for 5 cents, or something you made, or what ever, as long as you think that we would be happy with it. Only, please, no jewelry or jewelry supplies, since we are allready till our armpits in those. Vintage supplies, or in fact, anything vintage, is very welcome, though...:)
The moment that you send us your address (through Etsy's conversations or email), we will send you the beads, and if you do the same, we hope to get many little parcels! We will show in this blog everything we get :)))

Black & White

One of the strongest color combinations, and never out of fashion must be Black and White. With these colorless colors you never can go wrong! The past few weeks we have been working with these Japanese fabrics, it started with a patchwork cushion, then a bag and now also jewelry; from one thing comes the other.

These pieces will be listed in the coming few days in our shop!

And here is the bag, the yoyo's made by hand and with a vibrant pink background to make them pop. The braided straps make the bag lovely detailed and comfortable.



And this piece is were it all started, hundreds of folded (and 5 times ironed) triangles are sewed in a circle shape to become a pretty japenese inspired cushion.

This cushion is available in our giftshop, more black and white pieces are coming soon!

Flickr Favorites and Tagged

1. chemistry again, 2. Remember Formentera... (4), 3. Gingerbread detail, 4. satie

This week's Flickr Favorites where inspired by Psarokokalo's beautiful dog, Satie.

Visit ArtMind's blog to join the fun and admire more beautiful mosaics!

And we have been tagged by Chichiboulie a few weeks back, so it is time to do that. It is a little interview with myself :)
So here we go:

What is your current obsession?
Uhmm, I think it would be finding very interesting sea urchins and other treasures on the beach.

What are you wearing today?
I'm still in my Pj's, actually it is an old slip of my grandmother, I have about 5 of them and they are oh so comfortable, I had a sexy Grandma as they are all pretty and lacey :)

What's for dinner?
It's still early but I think I'll make a meal salad with spinach pasta, letuce, chicken and corn, yummm.

What would you eat for your last meal?
Pepper steak, medium to well done, with lots of chips *drools*

What's the last thing you bought?
I purchased a glasscase of my dear friend Renate who just opened a second shop on Etsy, Kreativling.

What are you listening to right now?
There is not much music in our house, mostly because of the dogs, they make enough sounds. But I love to have some hard music in the car, just the radio.

What is your favorite ice-cream flavour?
Strawberry and Lemon. I love chocolate but I hate chocolate ice cream.

What do you think of the person who tagged you?
Gretchen definitly has a great sense of humor, I always enjoy reading her stories at her blog. She must be a very loving person with 3 kids and a big kid (her husband) to take care of :)

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
Oh that's a hard one... I think it would be close to the beach where we find the urchins so I could look for them every day!

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
New York, never been there and would love to see it!

Which language do you want to learn?
Spanish, I speak 3 languages very well, but not my mother's mothertongue, such a shame...

What's your favorite quote (for now)?
'Life is a bitch and then you die.' It might sound negative but it isn't, just it is a fact that life can be often hard and that we'll all die in the end :)

What is your favorite colour?
I hate these favorite questions, as I often don't have a favorite. For example red is a beautiful color but I would never wear red, and never ever would want a red car. I love to wear neutral colors, but I do love vibrant colors for my paintings and such.

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
I have some clothes I love to wear more than others, but don't really have a favorite.

What is your dream job?
What I'm doing right now, making jewelry and accessories, it would be great if we would have some contracts with more shops.

If you could invent any useful invention, what would it be?
A cleaning robot! Ahhh.... *dreams*

If you had £100 (165$) now, what would you spend it on?
Bags or clothes.

Do you admire any one's style?
Misha Barton and Natalie Portman, they both are about my age and I love (mostly) what they wear.

Describe your personal style?
Comfortable, neutral with a different flair.

What are you going to do after this?
Taking pictures of new jewelry we've made last night.

What are your favourite movies?
Leon (with Jean Reno and Natalie portman), any movie with Morgan Freeman, any movie with Julia Roberts, Lord of the rings (all 3 in a row is the best way to go), Matrix (the first one was the best), As Good as it get's (with Jack Nickolson), The Mothman Prophecies (with Richard Gere) and many many more...

What's your favorite fruit?
I got a bad habbit from mum, we hardly eat any fruit although we love it, favorite is kiwi, strawberries and bananas.

What inspires you?
Nature, materials, movies and life.

Your favorite book ?
Harry Potter :D, Lord of the Rings, The time traveler's wife, and anything exciting :)

Do you collect something ?
Too many things actually, I have a big collection of picture frames, bags, lizards (of wood and metal), stamps and foreign money (the classics), magnets, and many more...

Are you a home body or do you prefer to be out?
I love to stay at home, but also love to be outside. When I'm home all day I need an hour outside, and all day outside is also not perfect.

Do you have any pets?
We have 15 dogs, life with them is wonderful although it can be hard and a great commitment. We never had dogs untill 7 years ago, it started with one and well in 5 years they became 15, by finding them adorable abandoned on the street. They are thankful, need alot of love, food and sleep :)

Are you a country girl or City Vamp?
I used to live in Amsterdam and I still love cities but I now love to live in a quiter place surrounded with nature.

I hope you enjoyed this little interview, I'm tagging:
JealousyDesign, PeskyCatDesigns, SigMosaics, Vadjutka, PetitPlat, Psarokokalo, TwoLeftHands and FleurFatale.

The rules :
1. Respond and rework; answer the question on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own.
2. Tag eight other people.

Little Sister: Dreams

We all have some things in our favorites, that we know we won't ever be able to buy, but would love to have. Unfortunatly we won't be able to buy it before the magical lottery ticket arrives...
Mine is this gorgeous bed of attiladesign.
Send me the link of your dream Etsy item and I'll post them here, looking forward to see what you would looove to have!

BinkaMinka's dream item would be this chandelier of ChandiDesign, including the horse :) Would look great with my bed, don't you think?

DeerLola's favorite is this Circles Table by michaelarras:

This Map covered decoupage chair by Bombus is Babongo's favorite:

Vadjutka couldn't choose only one dream favorite, first this table of madteapartyfurniture: 'Would be perfect in my future bigger flat's hall'


And the second one is this Custom Bomb Blossom Corset Dress of rubypearl:




IngerMaaike would love to have this original art work of rdirenna:




PlainBananas is in love with this vintage dress from the shop of TimelessVixenVintage:



Kraplap: ''This mask, of Zmudjak, is to die for'':



LeelaBijou: ''A thing I´d love to own if I had the money is this gorgeous Silk Organza Couture Wedding Gown of NicolasDesigns '':



PeskyCatDesigns: ''I would like to own every skirt by Aliaison! If I hit lotto the first one I would buy is the one'':



Kreativlink: ''It's not even that expensive but .. I first need the spacious house by the sea, with furniture that fits :D''-White Matte Bottle Collection by sarapaloma



Psarokokalo loves this Big Boss lamp:


BlueTerracotta loves everything from dolangeiman but this one is her favorite:

IraGrant's favorite is this Honeycomb dress by emilyryan:


Alatvian: ''If I would have enough money to buy everything I wish I would buy many many supplies for new creations, f. e., torch, kiln and other supplies and tutorials to make lampwork beads like these by SFDglassbeads.'':

New Bags New Milestones

We have been busy with making bags lately, our new love is using vintage materials like upcycling curtains and table cloths from the early 40's. The results are in the shop.

Nice thing is that they will stay unique due to the materials, and old things get a second life!

And we reached a lovely milestone again, we passed the 10 000 hearts, yaaay! Thank you to all the ones who gave their heart, we really appreciate it :)

Flickr Favorites with lots of Turtles

1. Sea Turtle, 2. The turtle within, 3. Maui Sea Turtle, 4. Half Submerged Turtle


This week's Flickr Favorites are inspired by the turtle who was blocking the road a few days ago. She wasn't afraid at all and didn't hide in her shell instead she was fighting hard to get away and eventually peed on my hand (I am assuming she is a girl due to her stuborness LOL)! More mosaics can be find on ArtMind's Blog!
And a totally different topic, we have entered a photo contest, we would really appreciate your votes, you can vote on Timothy Adam's blog!

Little Sister: Best Pictures

We went to the beach yesterday, with the thought that we can allow ourselves to go someplaces beside on sundays, beeing our own boss. Of course pleasure was not the only reason, we were busy with finding sea urchins and other treasures too. On the way back we came across some wild donkey's, in the middle of the road. Untill mum could take out the camera they where already a little further away, but isn't this amazing?
I would love to see a picture you took, during your vacation or a road trip, only thing is, it has to be something special. Send me your picture and story behind the picture through Etsy's conversations or email!

Vadjutka: ''On the picture you see the very-very highlight of my Turkey trip: volcano Erciyes (hight 3700 m). It is very special for me, because that was the very first high mountain I ever climbed up. I am a very urban girl, and in Hungary the highest mountain is 1000 m high (but I have never been there before my trip to Turkey). So I wasn't a trekking person at all, and it was EXTREMLY hard for me to go up there, but I could do it. After that I changed my idea of what we call „hard” and „difficult”. It was a trip that really changed something. (More volcano and Turkey pics here).

IngerMaaike: ''Not one specific image I can choose, but an overview of the trip we made through the mountain region to the west of where we live. Rugged, empty, and unimaginable colors!'':

Babongo: ''This picture is taken in Luang Prabang, Laos. The whole trip to Laos was special, because we met so many lovely, warm people, which is why I love to travel, because of the people you meet, so different in many ways yet so much the same in what they want from life. One of the highlights of this trip was learning how to weave traditionally. I loved it so much. The silk is dyed by hand, the dyes are made from plants and bark straight from the forest. ''

MKaae: ''The pictures were taken in Nara...a historical city not fra from Kyoto. We just stumpled upon this scene where a genuine geisha says goodbye to her "customer". Luckily we had our camera ready! It is very rare you get to see the geishas and if you are a man and want to meet with one it is extremely expensive.''

ArtMind: ''It's not easy for me to choose a favorite picture as I have way too many of them! This is one of them, although I'm afraid of snails, I love this picture. They are beautiful animals, I only get itchy when I see the slimy trail they leave behind. :)''


SwiedeBie: ''It is taken in Ko Phi Phi Island, Thailand. My husband and I were on holiday, and there, I took interest in this particular shop that did Bamboo tattoos. What is the meaning? The name derives from the tool they use - Bamboo, for tattoo-ing. Some prisoners in Thailand use the bamboo (with seperate sharp pen like tip with a little hole that lets the ink runs through) and pigment inks to design and draw tattoos onto their fellow inmates, as the tattoo technical tools are banned in prisons. The artist who did the tattoo on my shoulder blade is a convict. It is not as painful as the usual machinery tattoo pen. He uses a technique called the prick and poke dot technique. Amazing with how meticulous and neat job he did.''

Kreativlink: ''The 400 years old olive tree we've visited in Cyprus. It may not be the oldest, nor the biggest olive tree that there is. But for me it's a very special one because after all the trees I've hugged already, there finally was one that hugged me :)''



Kraplap: ''Last year I made a trip with hubby and my dad to Friesland to see the places from my youth there. At the end of the trip we visited the graveyard where my Friesian grandparents are buried, because my dad keeps it clean twice a year. It was such a lovely peaceful quiet place with all these old graves and the old church, standing a little higher. Standing there I felt somehow my "Friesian" roots, more than in all the places from my youth we visited that day. They had changed too much or were very different as I remembered them. But this quiet place was there today just like it was 50 years ago. I loved it !''

Birribe: ''I have many lovely travel photos and memories. I found this solitude little house in Cambodja. We very visiting the floating village outside Siem reap. It´s a whole village built on pillars in the lake. This building was such a contrast to the other crowded parts. They told it´s a retreat for monks. It´s exciting thinking spending a time there just meditate.''


Jealousydesign: ''I could choose a photo from any of my vacations both from other countries and from here in Sweden but the place that is most special to me is where I live. Since we moved here this place is the most special for me. Have never felt so “home” anywhere before and I can never get tired of the nature around me…''