Woodworking

On Tuesday I went with a friend to Izmir, a city of about 6 million people and the place we usually go for our supplies and IKEA. It is about 3-4 hours to drive so back and forth take 6-8 hours, not something you do often.
We had a long shopping list for IKEA, and just today we discovered that we wrote the wrong numbers and that I bought the wrong cabinets so I will be going again in a few days.

But beside IKEA we also went to some woodworkers as we wanted some wooden feet for ottomans and  such. Among the many wood shops there was one that was quite special.

It was old school, entirely hand made woodworking with only hand tools.

The place was tiny but very organized and fascinating.

Compared to the work their prices are very reasonable so maybe one day soon we can commission something from them as it is so special.

It is these kind of old fashioned treasure shops that I love from cities in Turkey, you never know when you'll find one :)

BEE Up

Roxana Villa of Illuminated Perfume has written an article on Etsy's blog, Holistic Beekeeping. She then came with a great idea to make a team event of it. Alot of members of the Artisans Gallery Team have been making honey-bee related treasuries and items. Besides that there is a blog it forward, and this is my contribution.

While thinking what to write about bees I remembered Wudwerx, who I met just a few days before on Etsy's forums. I loved his Bee Hotels right away and knew he would have a nice story behind his work.

Beside that these Bee Hotels are gorgeous and are an amazing decoration, Mike explained me how he started and how they function:
''The idea for Bee Hotels came from my parents who run a plant nursery. They had seen articles by the Royal Horticultural Society on habitats for solitary bees, and suggested I try making some. With a little research and designing, my Bee Hotels were born! I decided to make a whole range, to not only attract solitary bees, but other insects too.The Bee Hotels are designed for 2 types of solitary bees: Mason bees and Leafcutter bees. Solitary (or non swarming bees ) are great for your garden. They are not aggressive so are very unlikely to sting you, and they also do an excellent job of pollinating the flowers in your garden, leading to better fruit yields. They use the tubes of the Bee Hotel to nest in. The bees lay an egg in the the tube then build a wall in front of it. The Mason bees build a mud wall and the Leafcutters cut a piece of leaf to fit and then stick it in place. They then do the same over and over again until the tube is full. When the young bees have hatched they break through the walls and escape into your garden to pollinate it.''



''The Bee Hotels are also used by garden spiders and Ladybirds, both of which are really beneficial for your garden, by eating insects and flies that may damage your plants. These Bee Hotels have been designed to enhance any garden, and to help bring it to life. I hope you can find the right one for your garden! ''
Check Mike's Wudwerx shop to discover gorgeous wood work and of course Bee Hotels.

I also wanted to show you what we have made for the theme:

Tomorrow the Blog chain with continue with an article on IlluminatedPerfume's blog.

Blog it Forward Image by Roxana Villa of Illuminated Perfume

A little peek in our home

We wanted to show you today a special piece of our kitchen, other ways a standard Ikea kitchen, but to camouflage the aspirator, we used an antique mantel piece.


This wooden mantel is much older than the house, at least fifty years, but it blends wonderfully in the local architecture of the house with all the blond pine wood.




It is scroll saw, with the Islamic five point star in the center and vines and leaves at the sides.

The ceramics on top are mostly from Kütahya (the florals) and Cappadocia (the small tan bowls).

It is a lovely piece of folks art, all done with hand tools.

These type of mantel pieces are meant to be placed lower on the wall, above the hearth. We couldn't find decent pictures on the net, only two quite blurred ones, included to give you an idea.

The traditional Turkish living room includes a hearth, where the woman cooks, sitting on her heels. Usually, in that kind of houses, that still can be found in many rural places, there is no kitchen or indoor pluming.

The room is multi functional, being sitting and dinner room during the day. Meals are eaten sitting cross legged on the floor, around a very large round tray. At night, bedding is pulled from under the settees and beds are made on the floor for the family.