Written by AnnaDenise on Friday, January 11, 2013 at 22:12
See, January always does this to me. Somehow my brain won't understand that winter is not over after new years. Not only is it not over, it's merely the beginning of the dreaded circus of frost bitten toes, red noses, layers and layers of ugly clothes (the horror!), boots, and cracked skin. Jippee-fricking-doodle.
My mother told me that when I was born, it was 30ºc outside. Which is freaky, for March. Good thing, too, because I am pretty sure that if it were just a little less hot, I would have just stayed inside. Also, it was my grandmother's birthday that day, so at least I knew there was a party getting started somewhere around nah. 40+ people, booze, and cake. Now THAT's what I call a welcoming committee.
Anyhizzle. I stayed in today, only dragged my sorry ass outside to get said behind into the hot room (yah, it's no coincidence I like Bikram yoga. 40ºc suits me just fine, thankyouverymuch).
And that's all. I worked. That was fun.
How about you?
Written by AnnaDenise on Sunday, August 05, 2012 at 19:22
Kids, I am so stoked right now. You wouldn't even believe. I just turned this old, crappy, wooden, flea-market coffee table combo into something sweet looking.
It took me about a day to sand the ladies (by hand), shop for paint, put the primer on, and paint them (two layers) without destroying the house. Boo-yah.
PS: My mom, in response to my last post, wanted to let you know that they were not actually hippies but very normal, yet modern parents. Which is true. I'm just saying there sure was a lot of tofu and home baked bread around. ;-)
Written by AnnaDenise on Sunday, June 10, 2012 at 23:30
Last Friday it was time for our monthly workshop 'REconnect' at the new Turtlewings studio. This time we did food and watercolors. The ladies did not want their picture taken, but I took some pics of their grapefruits anyways.
Written by AnnaDenise on Friday, June 08, 2012 at 08:00
Written by AnnaDenise on Sunday, June 03, 2012 at 13:16
You know those days when everything just seems to come together? Yesterday was one of those days when fashion designer Hanna 'raori' Westergren opened her doors (and garden gate) to a very international group of creative ladies (Etsy sellers, buyers, and newbies) for our second Etsy Labs event in Belgium.
Together with Emilie 'EmAime' Danel and Johanna 'ihan.itse' Vähätalo, Hanna taught beginners and seasoned crafters how to knit 'the normal way' and 'the Scandinavian way'.
Against all odds the sun came out and we spent the day sitting in the grass drinking chai tea lattes and eating the amazing cakes Hanna had prepared, introducing ourselves to each other. It was lovely to see how even complete beginners (like yours truly) actually managed to knit quite a bit.
I even did a 'live' Etsy purchase, where I tried on some pieces of Hanna's collection and then used Etsy to purchase my very own, one of a kind raori skirt. No shipping!
A BIG thank you to Hanna for hosting, our lovely teachers, all of the amazing girls who came out to knit with us, Max for dragging his and Hanna's beautiful daughter and son with him to IKEA for the day, and of course, a great big thank you to Etsy for sponsoring this event and to Marta of Dutch Etsy for providing us with Etsy goodies!!! It was an absolute honor to help organize this event, and I think we'll be doing these kinds of things much more often.
Feel free to join the BXL Handmade Facebook group, where we'll keep you posted of new events and of fun crafty, handmade, vintage things happening in Brussels and the rest of Belgium.
Written by AnnaDenise on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 09:00
Oh boy. I've been busy, ill, and busy some more. No doubt I'll live to tell the tale and draw all about it, but for now I just need to quickly give you this update before it's too late. Which would be a shame, because it's awesome:
I'm organizing another Etsy Labs! It's on June 2nd and I won't be teaching or hosting, but I'm definitely there, making sure the thing happens! Our lovely host is Hanna ('raori') and she'll be teaching with the amazing Johanna ('ihan.itse') and Emilie ('EmAime').
Well, read all about it below.
You can click on the image to see the invite in three languages and with a little more information. You can then sign up on Facebook (here), but do it quickly, as there's only space for 30 people.
I am SO STOKED, you guys.
Written by AnnaDenise on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 00:36
Wow. Most inappropriate title ever. Yeah. I drew about kids and I drew about prostitutes. Not at the same time of course.
I probably should have split this up into two blog posts. Well. Too late now! Enjoy!
Click on the images to see a larger view.
Written by AnnaDenise on Friday, March 30, 2012 at 08:15
It's been a weird week. The weekend started off quite amazing, with the weather being fabulous and Ashwin and me finally being able to spend some time together. We walked around town all Sunday long, watching the wild parakeet colony in our neighborhood and finding the loveliest little pavilion to drink a beer - which then turned out to be a Dutch pavilion, moved from the Nieuwe Keizersgracht in Amsterdam to Wolvendael, a lovely park in Brussels.
On Tuesday, the plumbers came by to fix a recurring leak. We figured it would just be a matter of re-sealing the bath tub, yet somehow by Wednesday evening there was nothing left of our bathroom, laundry room, and hallway. If we're lucky the wonderfully restored wooden floor will remain untouched, but most likely that will have to go out as well, as will our kitchen and most of the indoor hallways. Turns out our beautiful apartment with the beautiful original wooden floors and doors, also still boasted the original plumbing from the 1930s, which had rotten all the way through, leaking and rusting away the gas pipes also. In fact, one of the gas pipes had to be fixed immediately and closed off, leaving us effectively without hot water, a shower, or ehm... well, a floor. Well, at least we still have the IKEA pictures to look at, right?
It's still unclear how long all of this will take, but do not be surprised if in a few months you'll see me pass you by on the street looking ripped. I have taken to showering and washing my hair at my Bikram studio, so the good thing is that no matter how bad my asthma will get from the dust in our apartment - I will at least look hot while dying of asphyxiation. HHopefully, I'll find a place of zen while I'm at it. Actually, I think I might have found it already. Turns out my big, badass plumbers love singing along to Shakira's 'Whenever, wherever'. We are going to become great friends, I just know it (although the starting work at 7 am-thing might become an issue later on in the relationship).
Of course, I've been drawing about my amazingly mundane (yet upsetting) adventures and my new friends in my journal, but it might take a while for the scans to get uploaded. I have things to do, places to go, cats to comfort, and hallways to vacuum clean.
Written by AnnaDenise on Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 21:41
Happy birthday to me! I turned 28 today and it was awesome.
^ Picture of Meneertje and me chilling before my family arrived (Ashwin was also in the room, but I couldn't get him to lay down on the floor to get in the frame).
(Gifts will be shown off elaborately in a future post. But right now my stomach is too full of cake and pasta and wine and tea and love).
Written by AnnaDenise on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 23:58
Finally, finally, finally I can talk about this. It's been in the works forever, but now that I got my magazines in the mail, I can share it with you!
Me and my (well, our) apartment were featured in IKEA live magazine for Belgium! Wooh!
Now, you might not know this about me, but I am personally of the opinion that going to IKEA is pretty much the best way to spend a Friday evening (I'd choose IKEA bed-testing and ice cream cone eating over drinking beer in a pub any day), even if you don't buy anything (which never seems to happen, though. It's the darn bedding section, man. With the cute Scandinavian prints).
The actual published article is in Dutch, but we did the interview in English and apparently they do all the art directing and information gathering in London and then translate it all into the local language. The result is I have an English PDF to share with you but on paper I sound totally Flemish. Which is quite funny (not the Flemish itself, but the fact that the phrasing is very uncharacteristic for me).
So, enjoy getting a sneak peek into our home. Which, in the most part, looks so cool because our landlord is an interior designer and he fixed up the place so nice that even a Klippan couch (why, yes, it is indeed the cheapest couch they sell. But quite worth every penny, tvm) looks like designer furniture. But I didn't tell IKEA that. And don't you dare tell on me either, you bunch of snitches. It was all the cool prints that really convinced them of my awesome interior design abilities, anyways.
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