Monday Moodboard

1. NancyvdBoom 2. Stemellina 3. steinschmuckdesign 4. enchantedpond

Summer really has arrived. Weather is sunny and hot, days are long and bright. I do believe that weather is very close to peoples mood, where there is not much sun there are less smiles.

Wishing you a happy & sunny week!

See more moodboards at FleurFatale's blog!

Etsy Smiles

After 3 years selling on Etsy, a sweet convo can still put a big smile on our face, like this one:

''WOW, WOW, AND WOW! I just wanted to tell you how magnificent your work is. These necklaces are really something.......you need to be discovered by movie stars or something because I can definitely see some of these big confections around the necks of Sandra Bullock, etc!''

Great way to wake up with such a message :)

Even if sales are slow this kind of messages keep us going, how about you, what keeps you motivated beside loving to be creative?

My Friday Night Outfit

Copper Earrings with Blue Smooth Briolettes by DeerLola

Soft Hand Made Leather Mary-Jane Moccasins by spirocreations

My Blueberries Bag- Crochetted with Fabric Yarn and Leather Details by StarBags

Dress or Tunic - My Garden - Hemp linen color by isabelamyo

One of the greatest blues, artistical touches, perfect for an exibition, dinner and more...

Our Creative Space...

Busy in the urchin-factory...


After they are pinned and glued I put them on this piece of wood so that they can dry in a good way.

This piece of wood suffers a great deal in my hands. I not only use it for pieces to dry but also to hammer and drill. It is a piece of wood that we removed from our fireplace. I can't say that we upcycled it, more kind of a down cycle as it was a decorative piece. Do you have any nifty 'tools' that no one else, except you, sees value in?

You can see more workspaces at Kootoyoo's blog!

Fire of Anatolia

A while back I went to a show of Fire of Anatolia. A big dance organisation, with a mixture of all kind of traditional Turkish dances with pieces of ballet and the impact of many people doing it at the same time is amazing.



They are moving so fast that these were the only good picures I was able to take.


They don't only do shows in Turkey so make sure to go to their show if they happen to come to your town!

Flickr Favorites

1. Shabby Pink Bike Cottage Sign, 2. thrift bird frame and thrift porcelain drawers, 3. thrift enamelwares, 4. working overtime

I was looking for something totally different when I came across the chicken. I loved it so much that I just had to use it and started to look for shabby cottage. I love how some people decorate their homes in that style, although there is a line to cross that it becomes too pink and crowded.
Mum has a huge weakness for enameled old items and a love for teapots so I guess I just had to put one of those, as I grew up seeing those.

See more mosaics at ArtMind's blog, you can join the game, it's fun!

Monday Moodboard

1. lilarubyking 2. JKphotography 3. Intres 4. fleurfatale

As my mood is mostly sleepy on a monday morning I didn't have any inspiration for a moodboard. So I looked outside and saw branches, trees and a blue sky, which eventually became my moodboard, blue branches.

Wishing you a fabulous week, with sun for those who have been missing it :)

See more moodboards at FleurFatale's blog!

My Friday Night Outfit

Soft Brave Heart, a cuff by LaTouchables
L'Aventura dress by brownbunnybyiris
The Cutest Bag- Red Black White by StarBags
Vintage Ferragamo two-tone red and black slip on wedge shoes by MyMooShoes

This week I've added some spice with red details, eclectic and comfortable.

Our Creative Space...

We borrowed an old button maker of a friend. Looks interesting, right :)?

We use alot of vintage embroidery for our bags, but some pieces are damaged or stained and can't be used for that. So we wanted something to not throw those pieces away.

With some simple materials and muscle strength...

...We now have these super cute buttons.

You can see more workspaces at Kootoyoo's blog!

Another Visitor

We have had scorpio's, turtles, different kind of birds, frogs, chameleons and owls, but this was a first. A 1 meter long snake somehow managed to get into our garden. The problem is that most of our dogs are hunters and their instinct wants to kill all creatures. We have no knowledge about snakes so have no idea if it could harm the dogs out of self defence. Unfortunatly while chasing it with sticks and keeping the dogs away these are the only pictures I could take, yup that is next to a window, my bedroom window for the record :)
No harm happened and the snake was chased away quickly.


Anyone any idea what kind of snake this is, just to be prepaired for its next visit?

Flickr Favorites

1. there's a place I dream about... where the sun never goes out..., 2. Cool Balloons Underwater, 3. Impossible Dream :), 4. Guessing Game: Where is the barking dog? Icy Winter Days in Germany

Dreams... sometimes you see what you desire, other times your fears. For others it is a mixture of events and at rare occassions people see the future although it might not be a very clear message.
I often can't remember my dreams, last night I saw that it had rained very hard and streams of crystal clear water (instead of muddy) went through our garden, and every where it was clean and shiny, like washed asfalt (instead of grass and mud).
Did you have a dream lately that you remember, or a dream that you would like to share?

See more mosaics at ArtMind's blog, you can join the game, it's fun!

Monday Moodboard

1. antigoni 2. Chickslab 3. karlita 4. daimblond

Somehow I've got coral on my mind this morning. The only mood I'm in right now is sleepy as I haven't been able to sleep well the past week, guess I'm trying to wake myself up with some bright reds :)

Wishing you all a very lovely week!

See more moodboards at FleurFatale's blog!

My Friday Night Outfit

CHAMPAGNE embellished women tee shirt by lamarquisedesanges

The Hidden Side of a Bracelet...by StaroftheEast

PomPom Headband in Purple and Brown Fun Stylish Yarn by twoknit

Wristlet with a Flower Applique, Detachable Strap and Inner Pocket by peskycatdesigns

Some warm browns for a romantic dinner, chocolate desert and a great night...

Our Creative Space...

We have been busy with a new collection of bags. As all of our bags are very work intensive thus mostly higher priced, we wanted to make some simple, practical and economic purses.

These are all fresh from the oven and have yet to be photographed etc. There are already a few finished and listed. They are all made of vintage upholstery fabrics and will all be one of a kind due to the vintage materials. It has been fun to match the fabrics, straps and buttons as they are reversible.

You can see more workspaces at Kootoyoo's blog!

And for those who were curious about last week's creative space result, here it is:

Money Talk

urbancountrydesign

The main reason for selling our handmade items, although often not mentioned, is earning some money or in our case, making our income to live from.
So recieving our money safely is a very important factor when you sell online.
First that comes on mind is Paypal, but as you might know we had some issues with them, so we have been looking around to at least give another safe option to our customers, and maybe eventually even substitute Paypal.
The best option we found is MoneyBookers. I opened an account a while back but didn't add a bank account or credit card. When a few days ago someone purchased a bag and wanted to pay through MoneyBookers we finally had an excuse to make work of it.
The big bonus of MoneyBookers is the fact that they do NOT do chargebacks, which is a pain in the neck at PayPal. We now are mentioning in our shop anouncement and shop policies that we use MoneyBookers, hope many will slowly go to that direction so that Paypal changes it's attitude.

BeanyTink

Flickr Favorites

1. c a r m i n e, 2. quilters, 3. sewing and knitting, 4. Sew What

I found these all while searching for Needle if you are sensitive for needles and such don't do the same, as I came across some pretty creepy things, especially painful looking tattoo's literally and figuratively. I also found soft and pretty needle related things though and of course more the creative side which I used for this mosaic. Creativity should be painless as a matter of fact I think creating beats a painkiller :)

See more mosaics at ArtMind's blog, you can join the game, it's fun!

Monday Moodboard

1. atelierpompadour 2. lunaticart 3. enchantedpond 4. GogoKorogiannou


I love the smell of earth and grass just after the rain, when it is not too hot and not cold either. I love how the air feels fresh and clean and the world just seems like a fresh and lovely place taking a deep breath seems like a glass of energy drink then.

Wishing you all a lovely fresh week :)

See more moodboards at FleurFatale's blog!

Playing with my Camera

Remember that my old Canon got wet and that I purchased a Sony? After that a friend adviced me to put the camera in rice to dry it and as it worked my new Sony has been waiting for me unused for several months. Then a while back a good friend's wedding was finally the excuse to figure out the new camera and start using it!
After using the Sony Cybershot H-20, my old Canon Ixuss seems a toy :)

I have been playing alot lately, I love the fact that it takes instant pictures so even the energic dogs can be taken beautifully and I see details you can't see with your bare eyes.

Of course with the new luxury of a new camera I have also been playing alot with taking better pictures for our shop, I'm pretty pleased with them if I may say so :)
If anyone of you have been thinking about purchasing a new camera, I can highly advice the Sony H-20, only disadvantage is that the memory cards are different for sony, so I needed to buy a new one.

My Friday Night Outfit

Chiffon silk nunofelted Butterflies dancing scarf by IngerMaaike
Diagonal Skirt by SHIHAR
Free like a Butterfly- Vintage Embroidery, Battik and Leather Bag by StarBags
Zen Bordeaux - girl and women linen shoes by LaLaShoes

A perfect outfit for an evening on the beach, romantic and comfortable...

Our Creative Space...

Making a little bag and creating a big mess, as always...
We found the table on the street a few years ago, wonky and weird painted, but we didn't touch anything of it except the surface got a new piece of wood to make it equal, quiet a charming table it is with a story and caracter :)


One of our key words of being able to be productive is the fact that we are organized when it comes to our supplies. As time management is not our strongest point we have to be organized somewhere else! It saves so much time to not have to search constantly for something.

We are still puzzling about the bag, we'll see how it ends up...

You can see more workspaces at Kootoyoo's blog!

Sea Urchin Bride

A sweet customer has sent us some of her wedding pictures with her sea urchin jewelry!

With these kind words: 'Thank you so much! I got lots and lots of compliments on the jewelry and I felt so beautiful and special wearing it. '

With these heart warming pictures we are wishing the newly wedded couple a very happy marriage!

The bride is wearing the Romantic Flower Necklace of the Sea Urchin Collection with matching earrings, this set is not available in the shop but we can make it again :)

Flickr Favorites

1. Lonely Fish :(, 2. So Lonely, 3. lil lonely red leaf, 4. Lonely House with Red Roof

Mitsy aka Artmind, the host and creator of Flickr Favorites is from now on giving us a theme every first tuesday of the month. This week's theme is emptiness/loneliness.

I found some lonely photographs all with a red touch...

See more mosaics at ArtMind's blog, you can join the game, it's fun!