rrrauw

Fever!

rrrauw — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:30:50 +0000

Here’s a quick thumbs-up for Fever, the best shop ever for cute little dresses! I’ve got a number of their dresses, bought on trips to London, and just today two new dresses arrived via mail. I’m so happy! Their dresses are the best. Or did I say that already?

I hope summer’s nearly here. Now I have to still wear them with tights and vests. Can’t wait to wear them like this!

Here’s to happiness!

rrrauw — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:43:19 +0000

It’s time for that weekly summary of all things that made me happy. This week I can say thank you to: ROEST, who sent me this gorgeous package, it felt like Christmas or my birthday! // whoever it is that is painting these Jip & Janneke‘s in Arabic clothes all over town // Louise Manuels, mother of Lisa Manuels, who made this adorable necklace, everyday I fall in love with it even more // my colleague A. who filled the candyjar with these cool lollipops // my colleague M. who sent me to the Schielandshuis to write an article for the Stadskrant, I love assignments like these! // the people who invented Postcrossing, I love sending out cards to people I don’t know! // my boyfriend who, in his very, very busy workschedule, made time to have a nice Sundaymorning breakfast with me.

The making of raspberry-chocolate muffins

rrrauw — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:47:39 +0000

Another finished project

rrrauw — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 13:54:30 +0000

Bag for knitting needles. But it’s crochet. And this is the design, in Dutch.

Warning: a whole lotta pink!

rrrauw — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:16:02 +0000

Seriously. How cute is all this? Saw all these cute colored pens in some el-cheapo store in the city. One of them in your collection is quite allright, but all of them together is such a great cute sight! Sweet!

A weekly bundle of happiness

rrrauw — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:40:00 +0000

Here’s what made me (among other things of course, there’s plenty more where that came from!) a happy gal this week (from left to right, top to bottom): I miss the sunshine and the Indonesian light, but this special sight, ice in the harbor, is something they don’t have over there! // my lips love this delicious lipbalm from Lush, completely vegan // I’m taking a course in Illustration, it’s a lot of fun and really triggers my creativity (even more) // I bought home plenty of pretty souvenirs from Indonesia, but nothing beats wearing a little bit of home on your body every single day, these bracelets are from Lombok // my first letter to a new penpal in Singapore // HandmadeByMo sent me a pretty package once again! // Awesome, these two kawaii books I ordered online! // I had the best time learning how to make my own stamps, Kitty Darkness Designs taught me how, and Elle Aime was the perfect host once again!

Art China

rrrauw — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:05:45 +0000

This weekend, the old Santos warehouse on Katendrecht (Rotterdam, NL) hosted Art China, a Chinese art and lifestyle event. The warehouse was used for the Brazilian coffee company Santos, soon this will turn into modern apartements.

We were welcomed with delicious Chinese (oh, and Taiwanese) tea, we saw beautiful harbor-paintings by Sasja Hagens, enjoyed the space designed by K’s former colleague Dada Wang and saw an awesome projection on the wall. It was incredibly cold, but I’m glad we went!

Paperlove

rrrauw — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:47:02 +0000

In Indonesia, I saw very clearly what the paperindustry does to a country (and what palmoil does, but that’s for another time). To its (rain)forests, to be precise. It’s devestating. It made me vow to always, always, always try to use recycled paper or FSC-paper. It’s unacceptable that nature disappears and animals become extinct just because we don’t think about the stuff we use, and thus use way too much of it.

But the problem is: I love paper. Not just plain, white boring paper, but paper in general. And things people do with it to make it special or beautiful. I love beautiful postcards, envelopes, amazing calendars with great graphic design, I love beautifully illustrated magazines like Flow and I’m a total paper notebook addict (that’s my mum’s fault by the way, thank you very much!), in fact, I’m addicted to anything beautiful that you can write on. That’s why someday I really must make my dream a reality: start a little papershop. Simply because I can’t buy everything I love and keep it myself. The house would be flooded and I’d be broke.

This love for paper means that I always want to pop into any store that sells anything that vaguely resembles stationary. Oh the joy I felt when I was in Singapore’s biggest bookshop in the Takashima Shopping Centre! Not only an amazing amount of books, but a great big corner filled with amazing Asian (oh boy, kawaii!) stationary. For some reason I could control myself. I didn’t buy anything. Maybe because my brain was smart enough to remind me I was backpacking…

The backpacking was also what stopped me from buying all the beautiful things I saw in the kikki.K store at Changi Airport in Singapore. On the way to Indonesia, at the start of our trip, mind you. But whatever possessed me to not buy anything on the way back, an hour before I had to step on the plane back to Amsterdam… I will never know, and I honestly regret it to the day. Ok well maybe the fact that I was tired, in a rush, and just could not choose! The small shop is packed with such great things! I literally couldn’t choose. The notebooks are great, with great themes. The pens are beautiful. The stamps are just awesome. Everything just makes my heart jump! I’m totally in love with this stuff. So once in a while I take a look at the site, dream about having these things here in my home, and then sigh (because shipping from Australia is just way too expensive), close my laptop and keep dreaming.

Maybe one day…

But I must say: My recent experience in Indonesia has made me realise that the paper I will be selling in my future papershop must be sustainable, or as much as possible! Simply because I believe it is possible to have great stuff and not damage the earth!

PS: By the way, you can also create very nice photobooks with kikki.K!

Variations on legs

rrrauw — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:10:55 +0000

Yes, I know of the existence of Hipstamatic. Everyone is using it these days. And why blame them, even if you take a photo of a pea it still looks cool.

But here’s the thing. I don’t have an iPhone or any other device that has apps. I’m olkskool. (Or something like that.) And I like Photoshop. I like giving my photos a vintagefeel too, once in a while. I like doing that by myself, figuring out how much I have to change the red, green and blue channels to get the desired effect. It makes me proud of my own work.

But to be honest, sometimes I’m just lazy. Sometimes -now here’s a confession!- I wish I had Hipstamatic too! Because it makes it a hell of a lot easier to turn a dull photo into an awesome one! So how happy I was when my colleague shared an alternative for Hipstamatic! Hooray, now I can be lazy too! Since I’m extremely lazy today, feeling very sick and tired, and still hadn’t done a thing but stay in bed until 15.30 ‘o’ clock, I figured: Let’s try it out!

So here’s the eight variations I like the most (the first photo is the original): Aladin, Amber, Anne, Ivan, Josh, Julia, Karen and Sophie. Which one do you like the most?

Happy happy joy joy

rrrauw — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:16:30 +0000

Things that made me very happy this week: these beautiful earrings by HandmadeByMo // no more cold ears! (And yes, it looks slightly odd, but hey, sometimes comfort is more important than looks!) // snow! Cold, but so cute when cats leave their prints… // treating myself to warm soft wool (ok it’s actually a mix) from Lydia Lane and sitting on the couch with the heater ON ON ON and just knit knit knit // the very cute and warm sweater I bought in Singapore, by the Japanese label Merci Beaucoup, the collar is just awesome!