Etsy Shop Tip: kawaiigoodies

Lately I've been more into stamps than ever, so with a few on my wishlist I browsed Etsy and came across this lovely shop called kawaiigoodies. And it holds so much more than just stamps: lovely fabrics, washi tapes, bento boxes, basically anything that's cute and Japanese.

The stamps I was looking for were cherryblossoms and I ended up with a whole set of them.

Here's a picture of a little try-out I did with them today.

It will come as no surprise that among all those cute stamps I found another one I fell in love with. The first thing that came to mind was to use it on the back of my letters right in front of my address, like this:

Besides stamps I got these really cute food cutters. They could make cute and tiny cookies too, or maybe marzipan decorations on cupcakes or cakes.

Because I wanted to try them out as soon as possible I decided to try it with melon. I think it will look amazing with watermelon, but this is all I had. Pretty cute, right?

I will post some more pictures when I have the time to try them out properly.

Anyway I am very happy with my new set of stamps and foot cutters and I'm very excited to have found yet another great Etsy shop. Thought I'd better not keep this to myself, hope you liked it.

Pretty Pictures

The day before yesterday our class went to FOAM, the Amsterdam photography museum, to see a large exhibition of a photography duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin. It was breathtaking!

I had seen ads on the street but was afraid I'd missed it, fortunately I still got to see it in their last week. And I even got to buy a poster.

We had to pick three pictures and do a quick write of everything that crossed our minds, later on we'd have to write a careful review on one of them. I will do that on the photo above of Antony Hegarty of Antony & the Johnsons.

I also really liked the one of Hilary Swank, which you really have to see in full size to experience the full effect and which got me a little teary-eyed myself, and this somewhat unusual one of Natalie Portman that I just couldn't pull myself away from.

It wasn't until the last room I saw this gorgeous picture of Tilda Swinton, she looks a bit alienesque, but as a portrait I find it absolutely gorgeous. And the colors! How most of it is muted grey and sepia, apart from the hair and the eyes. It's such a powerful image.

Somehow I only posted more conservative portraits, they had some pretty unconventional ones too and a whole bunch that was edited in a way that goes way beyond the usual touch ups on photoshop. But I am always really drawn to portraits that show someones personality, their whole being. I haven't found anything that can capture those intimate moments apart from photography and it got me addicted from the start.

Owl Things Considered

Considering my love for owls I really don't get why I love this next cartoon. It's supposedly shown on the BBC and everything revolves around this one owl getting killed in a different way each and every time.

But I just love the animation and the whole look of the owl, how it's feet are disconnected from it's almost heartshaped body and of course that it always seems to have a bad mood. I probably couldn't have handled it that well had the owl looked lifelike, but this is manageable. Try for yourself:

Marvelous Music

My taste in music usually leans towards calm singer/songwriters, but I also love other genres very much. A while ago I got into this blues/rock duo called The Pack A.D.

They're often compared to the White Stripes, but I think they really have their own sound. And I just can't believe they manage to produce all that sound with just the two of them.

The first song I heard was Making Gestures and it's still the one I listen to the most. Now I have to admit I haven't heard that many songs, but I'm dying to get their albums.

The music video is amazing, truly a work of art and it goes so well with the song:

I am quite addicted to it and even know how to play it myself. It made me get out my own electric guitar again. When I have some free time again I will try to practise some more bluesy songs and get my resonator fixed, but more on that later.

Rollercoaster Ride

Lately I've been thinking a lot about this blog. I've been wanting to broaden my horizon a bit. So there might be some posts in the near future unlike my previous posts. Some styles/subjects I might stick with, others might be a one time thing.

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Ever since art school started it's been one big rollercoaster ride. That combined with my new layout led to this little carnaval-themed collection of art and pictures. Hope you like it.

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200th Post

Apart from this being the first post written on my very own MacBook, it is also my 200th blog post. So I have two reasons to be excited!

It made sense to post some pictures of this latest acquisition.

Since I need to take this laptop to school a laptop cover was a necessity. And I happened to come across a very cute one that also happened to be one of the cheapest ones they had. It even matches a pair headphones I have.

As of today I pretty much installed everything that needed installing, not everything is working properly though. There seems to be a problem with the transfer from my camera, I already have a dead pixel and the whole computer spontaneously overheated while being turned off yesterday.

I really hope things will get better after this, but at least it's working and I have a very cute wallpaper installed. Fur Girl by Mark Ryden, which is one of my absolute favorite paintings. I even have plans for "Furring" up my iPod too. But more on that later...

Angus and Julia Stone

After hearing about Angus and Julia Stone a bunch of times I noticed a video on YouTube and finally I gave it a listen. Julia has that kind of eccentric voice I absolutely love and even though at first I didn't feel the same way about Angus I have now grown to love both of their songs.

Their music drives my mom absolutely crazy, but I find it very relaxing and inspiring.

And I just read they will be playing here this winter! I hope I have the time to go and am fast enough to get a ticket.

Do you also like weird voices that no one else seems to appreciate? Any artists I should know about?

A Little Project, custom bookmarks and great news!

Introduction week proved too much for me and I had to call in sick halfway through the week. While I was at home I felt like crocheting. I don't really like the cold, but at least it's an excuse to get the yarn out again. And after a whole summer without hooks or needles I was dying to pick it up again.

So I made this little creature, I'm not sure he truly is an owl, but I think he's a cute little guy.

I'm thinking of crocheting again for Etsy and I will also relist all the hats and fingerless gloves for this winter.

Speaking of Etsy as of today I have a bunch of cat, dog and even wolf silhouette bookmarks in the color of your choice. The listing shows 20 colors you can pick from.

Before now I only had two cats and had picked the colors myself, but I figured it'd be cool to get your favorite pet in your favorite color.

Other news? I now have a Mac Book for art school. Even though it was required for classes, this is also good news for my blogging! I can't wait to try it:) Pictures soon...

Owl Things Considered

Somehow I came across this Etsy shop that sold a lot of stamps and a few other items. When I read they could also do custom stamps I immediately knew I wanted one of my little owl logo.

It arrived this weekend and today my dad got me the block to stick it on. It is ready for use and I can't wait to start using it for orders.

This will look cute next to an adress on an envelope, I think. And it'll be clear that it's an order from my shop even before you open it.

With being so busy with art school I will have to find a new rhythm. I think the first few weeks will be the most draining and after that I'll be able to do more work Etsy wise. And try out that stamp properly.

Marvelous Music

Even though I often play Beth Orton's music while I paint I have to admit that I'm not always in the mood for it, however it's starting to grow on me more and more. And when I just put on one of her CDs I noticed how awesome her lyrics really are.

This falls into that category of music that you have to hear a lot to truly be able to appreciate it. And I think I just reached that stage today. I'm sure I will listen to it a lot more from now on.

Just a Little Update

Today was the first day of art school and I am exhausted.

It turned out I somehow wasn't in their admissions system, but I do still get to go there of course, since I was officially admitted.

The weather was awful and the original plans of a city tour were cancelled, but we still had to be outside a lot and got really wet and cold in the process.

Despite these issues it still was a great day. And I hope I will have my energy back in time for tomorrow's full program.

It's a lot of fun, but I'm secretly looking forward to the weekend already too...

End of an era, start of a new one...

After being at home for such a long time, I am dying to start art school. And it's only one more day away. All my stuff is packed so I'm ready to leave for introductions tomorrow.

My original plan was to get one of those custom diaries done, full of my favorite paintings and of course a Mark Ryden on the cover. However I wasn't sure if a school diary still sufficed so I decided to buy a really cheap one and customize it myself. The store had a few of my favorite colors, so I went there with my postcard collection and tried what would look best. Today I stuck it on the diary in a protective cellophane and viola, all done!

Next up is the bag I'll be using. However I might change to a big backpack later on if it turns out I need to carry a lot of stuff around. The cool thing is you can actually take out the robots and put any image you like in it.

Nerves are starting to kick in a little and I find myself pondering over what to wear on my first day and silly things like that. I'll let you know how my first day went.

Etsy Update

I've been working on a few items that can be used as either bookmarks for larger or hardcover books or worn as headbands. Here's one that I'll be listing as soon as I can:

Lovely Movies

Even though I have a Paul Auster book waiting to be read, I have not yet read anything he wrote. However I have seen the movie of his book Smoke and it immediately made it to my list of favorites.

I had recorded it on video, then our video player broke and I couldn't find the dvd anywhere, because it wasn't released in my country. However I found one a few weeks ago, an import version, but a dvd nonetheless. All that's left is trying to see if my dvd player can read this version, but I have good hope for it.

Let's just hope the movie is as great as I remember it to be...

Just a Little Update

Today I spent eating ice cream, very good ice cream I might add. I had won all the ice cream I, and up to 5 friends, could eat in half an hour. We ended up getting little portions of each and every flavor they had.

Tomorrow I'll be going into town again, this time for bubble tea and photoshoots. A girl I met on the last photography course, her Canon, my Nikon and me will be walking the streets of Amsterdam on possibly the last day of the Dutch summer. I'll be showing you some pictures, I'm sure.

This is my last weekend of freedom, although I have never been so excited to start school. I know this will be a lot of fun and I will learn a lot about a lot of things over the next four years.

Marvelous Music

When I first saw Eliza Doolittle's Pack Up video on MTV I got very excited. I immediately liked the song as well as the vibe of the whole video.

Soon after that I went on my trip to France and only got a chance to visit her website today. It looks awesome and even has a game on it. She also has a very nice blog and she seems to have a personality to match all this loveliness.

However I was sad to find out that I missed her show here in Amsterdam, turned out she was here just a few days ago. She'll be back of course, one day, and I will be there.

Giveaway Winner!

After writing down all of your entries and letting the random number generator do it's work, I am here to announce the winner of the giveaway. Everyone who joined was very enthousiastic, but the winner seemed most passionate of all:

Laura, congratulations! I hope you will enjoy this backpack very much.

Thanks for joining and I wish everybody else good luck on the next giveaway.

DO NOT FORGET TO ENTER THE US AND CANADA ONLY GIVEAWAY

New Layout!

I am very excited about my new layout! The idea in my head was slightly different(and way more complicated to arrange), but I think I incorporated the basic idea, vibe and colors. Hopefully it looks good on a Windows computer as well.

I still have to figure out how to get the fonts and colors in the posts right, but I guess I'll just have to try and see.

Don't you just love this little owl?

I'd seen it in my dad's shop a bunch of times and was always secretly admiring it. One of the last times I visited, my grandma said I could pick an owl I liked. With this one among them it was an easy choice. And it soon inspired a brand new look for this blog.

In case you were wondering, it's made of an antler. Deers shed their antlers once a year, craftsmen find them and make them into all sorts of lovely things.

Anyway, I hope you like the new look. And please don't forget to enter the giveaway today. I will announce the winner tomorrow. Good luck!

DO NOT FORGET TO ENTER THE US AND CANADA ONLY GIVEAWAY

About my Trip

It seems about time I wrote that post about my trip to France, while it's still fresh in my mind.

Whenever you go to the middle or upper regions of France it's hard to predict the type of weather you'll have, especially in the mountains it can get quite rainy. But this year, we had sunshine most of the time. And this was our view:

One of the most unexpected and lovely things I saw while I was there, were this odd couple. A goose and a swan, in love, swimming round the lake day in day out. No others in sight, just the two of them.

Of course I bought some souvenirs, including a few owls. When I spotted some among other wooden animals on this tiny little market I was very excited. One man made al these amazingly cute wooden animals, he also had bigger owls, even on small trunks, but I fell for this little fellow and the hair pin.

One of my vacation traditions is to buy a fountain pen, every year my mom and I both get one at the very same shop in France. I actually got this one earlier on in Antwerp. (Notice the little owl?!)

It's also my chance to get some amazing stationary. Below is a lovely notebook and a mini folder to keep little documents safe.

Now onto the necklaces I made during my stay. The lovely lady who runs the place with her boyfriend has this whole shed filled with supplies, including lots and lots of beads.

I made three sets of jewelry, plus a few small other things.

Apart from jewelry I made and owl out of soapstone, but more on that later.

It was an awesome trip and chances are I'd like to go there again next year.

Just a Little Update

Ever since I've been back I've been extremely busy. Art school is starting in a week and a half already. I'm looking forward to it a lot, but I still need to get a lot done before that.

However I'm also excited about getting back to blogging and have been thinking about getting a makeover. I have a clear image of it in my head, but now idea how to go about it. Maybe some of my new classmates will have some tips. Or else I'll have try by myself and see if my idea is even possible. If not I guess I'll stick with this layout, because I still like it a lot. I just thought a more original and personal one might be nice as well.

CLOSED Giveaway: US and Canada!

You may remember the amazing owl clock giveaway from a while back, when CSN was so kind to let me pick something to give to one of you. They have so many shops, including one for luggage which of course is very convenient in this time of year, now a lot of us get to go on vacations.

Now, they're back with yet another giveaway. The very lucky winner will receive this awesome Skip Hop Zoo Owl Backpack.

What you need to know/do to enter:

First off this giveaway is, unfortunately, only for US and Canadian residents.

And if you're able to enter, just leave a comment.

Earn extra entries:

+1 if you follow my blog

+3(each) if you grab one or both of my banners

To keep things a little clearer for me please leave all entries in ONE comment in which you state how many extra entries you've earned and how.

The giveaway will be open for 1 week, the winner will be announced on the 12th of August.

Good luck and thanks for joining!

Back from France

I arrived a few days ago and have been exhausted by the trip, but it was worth it. The creative workshops were a lot of fun and I've met some amazing people. I'm hoping to show some pictures soon, although I didn't take many. So it'll probably be mostly things I made and maybe some souvenirs.

One of the things I bought was a cd from this French artist named Emily Loizeau.

I really like French music, and every time I go to France I browse a cd store to get a full album from artists I know made some nice songs, and usually buy whichever one's cheapest really.

Thankfully this one was really cheap and really good and has, I kid you not, seven bonus songs. And I haven't even gotten round to using the Opendisc extras!

This was just a little vacation-music-update. More on my trip soon...