Hello 2010!

Wow, another year has passed... and what a year it was.
So much has happened in 2009, happy things, sad things, eventful things, difficult things, scary things. I can't say that '09 has been an easy year with a break up, a move and one of the most diffucult decisions right at the end. I might write about this one day, when I'm ready.

I'm definitely looking forward to 2010 and started the year in an amazing way. Through my job I got in touch with a fellow Dutchy, who's daughter works for ID&T, the company who has been organising 'Sensation' for years.


Image credit: Sensation

It's a Dutch organisation which puts on some massive events, such as Sensation. I have been to Sensation before, in 2002 in the Amsterdam Arena. I absolutely loved it back then, but didn't think that I'd ever go again because the tickets are quite expensive. Anyway, I'm drifting off... the girl who works for ID&T lives in Holland whilst her parents have been here for 28 years. During my work Christmas dinner we got talking about this and he thought it wouldn't be a problem to get us free tickets... he text his daughter et voila... free DELUXE tickets to Sensation! It was amazing, the show was spectacular and like last time I was excited to see everyone dressed in white, it's really something special. At midnight they had a sensational show with fireworks and the famous Sensation megamix, I had the best NYE ever!

The only negative was that I got a throat infection the day before NYE. I'm still fighting it and it's probably a good thing that I have a few days to myself (i.e. nobody to talk to) before going back to work. I've been keeping myself busy with...


reading magazines


decorating my apartment


looking after a friend's vegies in my kitchen


baking a pear upside-down cake

I'd like to say thanks to everyone for visiting my blog and the ink & spindle blog, for supporting our little business, for sharing their handmade creations, for visiting us at shows and for being our dedicated fans.

Happy New Year everyone, cheers to a great 2010!

Happy Holidays...

Making...

Christmas is slowly (actually not that slowly) creeping up on us and since I've moved, I haven't really had the time to shop for a Christmas tree that fits my tiny apartment. I still wanted to create a somewhat festive atmosphere and when I was browsing blogs on Friday I found this.

The one in the link is made of old jumpers but I didn't have any of those... What we did have in the studio was scraps of 100% wool felt and they were perfect for this wreath!

Here's the result... it's not as fancy as the one I found, but it's pretty Christmas-sy!

Melbourne Design Market no.3

Done n dusted... already!
The market was good, although, we feel like it wasn't as busy as previous times... but still good :) Our lovely ex-intern Jane came to help us in the morning, and Lou and Theresa were there in the afternoon. We also got a visit from the lovely JacRan... who brought us yummie treats.

Pocket Carnival & Rabbit and the Duck were part of our stall and it was heaps of fun hanging out with them. Penny also made some yummie goodness. We were spoilt!

I'm retreating to my couch to drug myself with medicine to scare off this cold that I can feel coming...

Only one more event to go. Our Open Studio on the 19th of December and then we'll be closing our doors for a well deserved Chrissy break!

I'll leave you with some pictures...







For more pictures, go to my flickr page.

New beginnings...

I think it's time for me to tell you about the latest development in my life. Lara blogged about hers, and like her, I have moved house too.

About a month ago I found a cute little apartment in Kensington and it was just perfect. New house, new beginnings. It hasn't been an easy time, but it is really nice to have my own space where I can be by myself. The other thing that's so great is that I now live within walking distance from the studio, Lara & Teegs... it's fun to be a Kensi local!

lounge room

I was lucky to 'know' the girl who lived here before and to know that she was moving out. She had been in the apartment for 12 years! The apartment needed a bit of a make over and the landlord was really really great about this. He let me choose my own paint colour and have a feature wall. Once he was done with painting he thought the carpet looked 'shocking' (his words) so he sent me out to find floorboards and get some quotes. As you can see, the floorboards are in and I'm loving them! It's great when you get to pick your own paint colour and floor... it's very common in Holland to do whatever you want to a rental place, but here in Australia they're not that flexible... I consider myself very lucky!

the original kitchen... how cute

Things are slowly happening, pictures are put up and furniture bought or recycled. It's so much fun!

Pretty pretty...

Blog posts seem to happen less frequent... but I'm still here... after a somewhat challenging period in my personal life... but more on that when I feel like writing it down.

We tend to blog over at Ink & Spindle and I usually don't really feel like copying a blog post, even though they're fabulous (dare I say so myself).

Here's something new though.. and also fabulous! As I was reading through my blog feeds I was scrolling down looking at pictures on Kim's blog and at first I scrolled over it until I somehow scrolled back because something caught my eye...

Picture from Udessi's blog

I love the black delft in the background and am also completely in love with the jewelry...

... wondering if I should make something similar in the form of a pin board... that would be nice too!

A pretty bit of upholstery...

I didn't mean to disappear, but somehow it has almost been a month since I last blogged. Things have been a little bit hectic around here, with 4 birthdays to be celebrated (Lara, myself, Teegs & Ink & Spindle's). A big thanks to everyone who came to our birthday party on Saturday, we had a fab time! Check I&S's blog for party pics and stories.

As for the pretty bit...
One of my friends found this blog last week and sent it to me... Isn't it fabulous?


Picture taken by Vanessa Lockyer

Visit Vanessa's blog to see the full 'before' and 'after' shots.