to a new and very happy year!

.

i made my annual account

and it was almost as awful as i thought it would turn out

but your orders (especially around Christmas time) 

put a silver lining to an otherwise disastrous calculation

but i guess this is what working freelance is about

you have to wait if it takes off or stop it

not stopping yet

maybe the new year gets better

.

found a sleepy lady bug in the TINY BOUQUET #28 NEW YEARS EVE

this certainly means best of luck

the flowery wall painting is the only pretty thing

in this suburb i live in

and it fades away more each time i walk by

.

a little package from TI made me very happy

next to a wonderful smelling tiny wreath 

there is a small vintage stamp saying "gold"

it´s so lovely - thank you so so much!

.

BUCKWHEAT BUTTER COOKIES with white chocolate

.

i´m so lucky to have met all those lovely and kind people

with a little help of this blog in 2012

so this makes up for a financially bumpy road

thank you for all your support

you are the best!

this morning i finished the last orders and put them in the mail
such a busy week
with so many surprises in my mailbox
some waiting under the tiny pine Christmas tree
some opend right away - like RIKEs wonderful package
a tiny tree to stamp my wrapping paper and a wreath stamp (she knows me so well...)
thank you all - i´m over the moon!!!
.
can´t wait to open this beautiful little box from OLGA
presents for my sisters and myself
.
finally got to make JULIEs berberis candy
it´s delicious
(thank you for the recipe and the ingredients)
. 
whoever designed this fun moon cookie cutter
is a great artist, it´s my favorite
.
now i want to wish everybody a lovely Christmas time
may it be merry and bright
i´m going to white torture my sisters with my Holiday samplers now
(since i started to watch Homeland a few days ago i know how it´s done
additionally i´ll turn up the radiators real high - they are not used to this warmth
since they have to heat with coal)
for making me buy my own Christmas gifts
.
some things i liked:

CHOCOLATE SEALED CAKES

a FLORISTS HOME
a CARVEN JACKET (not available in my size...)
DECEMBER ROSES (Saipua again - can´t help it)
Rike´s HANDMADE post

have you seen the wreaths over at SAIPUA - aren´t they most beautiful?!
HERE is a tutorial

now the one from the last post has to go to therapy because of self esteem issues

.

got a lovely surprise package form NINA

(will show you what´s actually in there some other time)

but the bees wax candle alone made me very happy with its lovely smell

(also: golden raffia and a wooden mold with a squirrel looking like a monkey)

.
she also found a recipe for tiny SNOWBALLS
the big ones are from MILAS DELI
very delicious and both gone in an instant
.

and i have to thank you for your orders

yesterday i had to tape my fingers to bear a few hours of filing

next to a wood burning stove

having quite some trouble to get the workshop warm

since someone forgot to fire it up in time...

.

my work area looks kind of weird

it´s kind of makeshift but awesome

since i work standing not sitting

and W built it with all kinds of found things
.
the sun comes out
and makes my vintage glass walnuts shimmer golden in the light
.
have a lovely advent weekend everybody
.
two gift guides i like: 
EVENCLEVELAND

MISS MOSS

today, a year ago, my grandmother died

the way she always wanted, almost in an INSTANT

gone so fast

.

now my goal is to always make her the most beautiful WREATH (in her opinion)

on the whole graveyard

this one turned out a bit too monutonous for my liking

made of her favorite berries, cuttings from her yew tree (poisonous, but soft and easy to work with)

and some flowers i dried after shooting them in a VASE

(a good excuse for being a severe flower hoarder)

next time i need to get a bit more adventurous

.

a quite unusal christmassy picture of her

dressed up as St. Mary

although at that time she was kind of a wild tomboy

with a even wilder nickname - Waldl

playing the guitar, winning ski races and all
.
we miss her very much
there is so much i want to show her
.
since we gathered so many twigs and berries
i made an other wreath - for the living
don´t know where to put it yet
.
 either my mum gets it or i find a place in my flat for it
there´s not much room left
since i went overboard with all the decorations
that was what i wanted to do when it happend last year
and i think she would have liked it
.
cold and snowy






 

now i´m - allowed to listen to tacky Christmas songs
and decorate the kitchen (birch wreath inspired by NINA)
.
since it´s getting quite cold
i try really hard to lure the little black ones into the house
but they are not very adventurous
even though they do not like the snow
.
it´s also time to make a (lot of) wish(es)
so here we go:
these BOOTS in black

this COAT in olive and this CARDIGAN

and since i´m literally living in those since October i might get another of these JUMPERS 
(looks good in "tan", doesn´t it)

a MEMOIR by Grace Coddington

the Sprouted Kitchen COOKBOOK

i admit it  - i do love FRIENDS

the BOOK about the Makers Project

i wish W could make this BRACELET for myself

time to come up with ideas and actually make some furniture for my bedroom and kitchen

(all i know so far is that brass and marble should be involved)
a festive KINFOLK magazine (already arrived thanks to a...)
the BLANKET from Zierrat und Gold
CHRISTMAS CARDS by Hanna Konola (swapped last year, put up now) - also JOULUKALENTERI
a closet full of these WIRE HANGERS
meals shared with sisters and friends
to be continued
probably
...
.
have a nice first Sunday in Advent

such a busy weekend, keeping me still busy

it was so nice to meet some of you in a quite beautiful surroundig

.

a sweet girl asked me to make her a BEATEN BRACELET in silver

and it turned out so pretty i decided to put it in the shop, too

.

it´s still ever so grey and dreary

so the picture of a  lovely little surprise form JULIE turned out really dull

though it made me very happy and i can´t wait to put it to use

when making her berberis caramel candy

thank you so much!

.

those cookie cutters need a bit of scrubbing to get rid of the rust

and i´m afraid the dog is a German sheep dog

who needs a bit of pink icing to get rid of its brown past

he can peacefully retire here

the bunnies are really fun, too

.

also some custom made FESTIVE PENDANTS

i´ll do whatever you wish for :)

it´s pretty neat when all those tiny pieces are stored away

in MUJI soap and pill boxes for a Christmas design market tomorrow

so in case you´re in Regensburg stop by at DILLYDALLY and say hello

i´d love to meet you

.

since i´m not used to real life contact to customers (only digital)

to guzzy myself up and make me presentable

i even tried to pluck my eyebrows with a pair of tweezers i normally use to douse candles

well...

.

when i read the description of this piece by Martin Margiela for H&M

"oversized cashmere sweater" i thought "i want to go to there (yes, i really like 30 Rock)"

and this must be an interesting fact for those rheumatic ladies out there:

i was this close to start sweating in there 

and i was only wearing two undershirts and one woolen kidney cozy under it

so i´m keeping it

(isn´t this TABLECLOTH awesome?!)

.

a little something for a friend who´s cat just died

TINY BOUQUET #27 MOURNING CATS

yes, those two are quite hideous... but maybe they have a cheering effect

.

also i´m waiting for not so dark weather to take pictures

of some nice things i got

some ladys were so nice this week
and put lovely post up saying kind things about WSAKE:
ALMA wünscht sich was
JULIE is happy about a lot of mail in her postbox
TINE is in a Christmassy mood
and a golden LIGONMAG
 you are the sweetest and i say thank you with the last hydrangea in the garden
. 
just when i was thinking about coming up with some minimalistic lamp ideas
for my apartement
i found this quite contrasting floral chandelier on the fleamarket
but maybe living with both styles is the golden way
to deal with any kind of mood
.
here are some things i found and liked this week:
 a lovely HAT from Wiksten i don´t have time to knit right now
looking for gifts at BASTIS RIKE and in MY WHITE ROOM

(two gift guides with awesome things: ALMA and TINE)
and an other magazine: ARTIG & FEIN

.
KISS ME






 

my days are spent quite boring lately (well, actualy almost always...)

after hopping out of my cosy bed

there is a lot of work at the computer and never getting done enough

.

feeding the cats

and petting one of them - she loves it very much now

walking between my feet which makes getting along rather complicated

she´s very pretty with her single white whisker

.

then i feed myself

almost burned those QUINCE SCONES

which made sense after my mother filled the whole house with smoke

since apparently something got stuck in the chimney

(not so cosy in my bed this night due to wide open windows to get the burnt smell out)

.

finally the BLACK AND WHITE CHRISTMASCARDS arrived

looking good and ready to send out

.

have a nice Sunday night!

we just put quite a few merry little things in the shop

- find all of them in the CHRISTMAS SECTION -

lots of cards, FESTIVE PENDANTS (embossed with kind words), TINY GARLANDS (made of iron twine and vintage glass beads)

and i dug deep in my archive of printed goods

and decided to offer a little COOKBOOK on Christmas sweets and a whole bunch of greeting cards

i printed back in art school

it´s a semi-automatic silkscreen print

meaning after a lot of fiddling and adjustments and putting in the paper by hand

you push a button and the screen + squeegee do the printing on their own

even though i became allergic to the chemicals involved i LOVED printing

so i have quite a bit of boxes full of prints i thought i would share with you

.

the BLACK AND WHITE CHRISTMAS CARDS do still give me a bit of grief

they arrived yesterday from the printer

their edges fringed and awful but they are going to be reprinted and should be ready by 15.11.

now i have to come up with an idea for a thousand greeting cards

i probably cut them into tiny gifttags

and ideas?

.

take a look at the lovely ZIERRAT UND GOLD gathering

there are amazing pictures to find at those places: NINA, JULIE and SUSANNE

i wish i could have been there...

my sisters say my moodswings are my most annoying habits

meaning me getting into a bad temper

so i try to avoid things making me angry

like watching political discussions and reading articles on some topics

they make me want to roll around on the floor kicking and screaming sometimes...

.

but i think they are okay with me getting angry this morning reading Sarahs post on SAIPUA

women´s rights always get me started... 

so i try to listening not to closely to news on Mitt Romney´s campain

.

also i thought of one of my professors saying in the first lesson

places to study graphic design for girls are a waste (at least two thirds of the class being girls!)

because we would all become mothers at some point

and then we would stop working anyway

like this would be our fault if we would choose to go this way

when really it is all about money - more money for men

becoming a mother and stopping working for a bit 

(there are still not that many and affordable oportunities for childcare for small children) 

equals no career in a lot of cases

it´s not like we can wait until we´re at the peak of our career in our late forties

get a young husband and start popping out those babies

.

the most disturbing scene in Mad Men for me 

was after Peggy had fired a guy making an offensive drawing of Joan 

she told her now everybody thinks she´s just another humourless bitch

it´s still like that - we´re meant to laugh about it

when this business isn´t funny for sure

.

grewing up my sisters and me were always told girls could do anything

(my dad thinking they could do it even better)

and with parents splitting housework and child care equaly

it is kind of hard to step out in the real world

and i actually sometimes do not know what to do

so probably starting to sing like those awesome girls is a good start:

YOU DON`T OWN ME

.

also: an arrangement for my grandmothers grave

and another guest at the cat food station

very much respected by those felines

these pictures seem grey

but that´s just because of this sometimes quite foggy weather

actually they´re kind of really happy

also my last post wasn´t meant to be sad

but about something not so good turning into something really nice

(i did forget to mention that it never seemed to be dangerous

three inflamated vertebras causing all kinds of trouble)

.

if you´re looking really closely you´ll see were this shipment is going

Nina, also known as FRÄULEIN TEXT came up with the wonderful ZIERRAT UND GOLD

and a few things from WSAKE are part of it

her SPACE is so beautiful and we´re so very happy about it

.

two cats - heartshaped with a tail

on the hunt for their favorite treat

they are both neutered now

caught in the trap without noticing, being very brave

little girl was ruffled the first time by a human being in her life yesterday

purring like a tiny engine standing on tiptoes

.

TINY BOUQUET #26 LAST BLOOM looks a bit eastery

picked those flowers right before they were crushed by the first snow

.

some amazing jewellery finds over at MISS MOSS - amongst them WSAKE

thank you so much, Diana

actually next to really loving designing and working on jewellery and all things metal

and being really stubborn and therefor preferring working on my own

pain was a big reason for coming up with WSAKE

.

i know out there people suffer from far more excruciating pain

and probably most of them don´t get any help

i don´t wail, but pain was a really big part of my life a few years back and it still is

pain is a sucker

it really is

sucks quite a bit right out of you

very tiring for body and mind

.

i don´t need any help now putting on socks and tights and underpants

cutting food or getting out of the bath tub

i don´t spend hours lying face down on a sitting ball where the only things you can do is cross stitch and read

i don´t try to sleep kneeling or don´t sit down ever

i don´t need to breath and struggle through huge fit, constantly moving to not feel so much

i don´t need heavy pain killers anymore

.

a lot of people told me i had to fight this

and i know that there are a lot of diseases where you have to turn your body into a war zone

i totally respect that

but i can´t fight a body that tries its best to function and just can´t

you don´t work against the pain you breath with it

and also you should sometimes act quickly to avoid recording too many pain memories

this is nothing to rush, you don´t jump out of it that easily

.

actually i felt kind of strong during the peek of the pain

when it started to get easier due to medication

tiredness hit from being so brave and not crying all the time

and there came pressure to really get going now

with whatever

now that it´s better, almost good

.

i still can´t do a "regular" job and that is okay

i don´t mourne for time lost or opportunities missed out

never did

somehow it still happens for a reason - it´s still my way

and i´ve learned so much

about what might be good for my body, about getting help

about the miracles of physiotheraphy (really, those guys are my heros - i wrote so quite often but i happily do so every day)

 and - of course - medication

i feel like i´ve grown, don´t know where, don´t know what

.

and i know i should do something that makes me happy

and for me that is making jewellery with my father right now

and somehow it will work out

i really try to be sure

.

TINY BOUQUET #25 SWEET DECAY

my neighbour likes decorating her house 

but compared to quite hideous santas climbing the walls come christmas time

this illuminated goose is actually kind of pretty

even my grandmother looked forward to its appereance at the end of each october

look how beautiful SLIDE BRACELETS, RIBBON BRACELETS, BEATEN BRACELETS

and DANCING BOWLS look at ATELIER SOLARSHOP in Antwerp, Belgium

we are so happy to have found such a nice place for them

amongst so many great artists and designers

.

the actually really delicate FAKE CRYSTAL RING looking quite bombastic

in the new BRIGITTE - he´s very happy there

.

planning on adding a few christmassy things to the shop at the beginning of November

cards, garlands and merry little pendants (for little money, too)

.

hope you all hab a lovely weekend

mine was full of fog, QUINCE JAM and brass dust

thought i was done with the cold

but the cold wasn´t done with me

almost got a bit panicky thinking this is never going to end

still coughing and sneezing along

.

read a nice interview with florist Thierry Boutemy in the new edition of THE PLANT

he says he is inspired by cuckoo clocks

there are a few in this house and i´m going to look very closely at them now

.

vintage twine and heart shaped cookie cutters from the flea market

and quince making the apartment smell wonderful

and a nice compote

.

went out a bit to get some fresh air to get healthy soon

took a walk by the river and made the TINY BOUQUET #24 PRETTY SICK (added some redundant pictures of it)

turnes out everything down there is covered in dog poo

so i took a few steps down into the river to get my rain boots clean again

.

W made me a flower storing device

now you can´t see it anymore

to many geraniums on it wintering in my hallway

.

made PUMPKIN BREAD

it turned out way to sweet for me 

(so sweet i had to lay down after having a slice, but maybe that was the old again)

even though i had already halved the sugar

so in case you want to give it a try to, use even less

was a bit under the weather the last days

but i wasn´t too sick to read a bit
eating cold grapes from the fridge enjoying the autumn sun on my bed

Sorrows of an American by Siri Hustvedt - for my English Reading group

i really like it and found a few lines that went great with my angora sweater:

On one of our dates, Marit wore a shaggy pink sweater that shed like a collie in Spring. 

I must have held her close when we said good bye, because on the following morning, 

I discovered taht my jacket was all but pink from clinging fibers.

that is when he realises he is in love with her

nice

i would be able to recreate that exact moment

.

TINY BOUQUET #23 NEEDLES

using the SMALL CAN VASE

this is for a very lovely girl

TINY BOUQUET #22 FOR OLGA

i used the tiniest vase - inspired by her equally TINY WOODEN CUPS

to thank her for the most beautiful things coming all the way from Russia

look at these beautiful drawings

making it easier to say good bye to blackberry season

(K called my consumption beyond all measure)

last thing i made with them was spelt flat bread with cream cheese covered with blackberries, sprinkled with brown sugar

.

there were many more of HER BEAUTIFUL LITTLE THINGS in the envelop

finding their place all over the flat now

. 

playing around with a CAN VASE and some pink fall leaves

.

watching one of those evil looking little kittens have his daily dose of milk

.

tiny striped cucumbers

.

apropriate sneakers for a silver smiths daughter

a bit on gardening and PIN rings

. 

things i´ve learned so far: 

- patience is the number one virtue in a garden 

now i always get the smaller flower pot available to become even more patient

- it takes up to 20 years to graft mistle toe onto an apple tree 

and many more years until this little parasite gets little berries himself

- you can get those berries to use for grafting on a garden dump

not any garden dump, a cemetery one

which is also a good source for miniature thujas and ceders around chistmas time

to grow an eerie looking dollhouse wood with

and to get the weirdest collection of strange single tulips in springtime

- wisdom from the chief gardener -

who already did an amazing job unraveling 4 cubic meters of Virginia creeper

until there were only those two twines left adorning the house

. 

can´t wait what he comes up with in Spring

when we try to get a rockery hidden under ivy and spruce tree stumps back to shape 

. 

W made a Pin number star shaped punch for our PIN RING 

and now we´re thinking about the option to actually get an important number engraved inside the ring

the design is one of his from the 70s

and he wanted to adorn it with a bit of a secret

. 

got a huge apple crop? 

make the APPLE MARMALADE CANDY 

one of the best sweet things i ever tasted 

sent half of it to E but it got lost in the mail

.

got those lovely vintage hanging baskets for my birthday back in May

now i finally got to teach myself how to macramee those strings

it´s a fun and quite easy thing to do

.

what do we think of Lana Del Reys pink angora sweater?

almost choked on the fuzz

but it is kind of hot - temperature wise

a big THANK YOU

 said with a huge bouquet of PLANT JEWELS

and a tray of cookies (eaten)

for a lovely post about WSAKE on DESIGNSPONGE (!!!)

we are so very honoured and happy to find ourselves on one of our favorite sites

thank you again, Kate!

.

also an amazing mention of the THREE DOTS NECKLACES in the new edition of NIDO

WOW

(there is only one left in light grey - so if you had your eyes on this one, hurry up!)

.

a very happy CAN VASE

the sun comes out still ever so bright and warm

but it´s fall now for sure

.

i´m getting a few things ready for next year

heirloom tomatoe seeds from this years plants

the only vegetables that turned out great so far

there will be no pumpkin or squash again i think

although this little striped one is pretty cute - but the harvest consisted of only five of those

.

the first shipment of bulbs from the Netherlands

hopefully they like it here in my garden

this is something to look forward all winter

.

there are lots of things planed for the garden for those years to come

a bed of limelight and pink wood hydrangeas already planted

i probably have to nominate my grandmothers friend chief gardener

since he has the patience and - hopefully - time

to tend to all those elaborate things

.

the FLORAL POSTCARDS can now be found in the lovely shop BABONGO

full to the brim of ecofriendly things

wedding weekend

(not me!)

i just wanted to make a NOT SO TINY BOUQUET #21 FALL BRIDE (or PRIDE, works both ways)

for a dear friend of mine who got married this Saturday

.

wanted to wear those blue shoes

(shown with heart shaped cat food for the lovely occasion)

but i couldn´t walk in them so i choose some old ones

but still my feet hurt so much that fun night

i spent quite some time standing on a little rolling pin yesterday

to get rid of those cramps

.

also i made an almost not recognizable BUXUS heart

(does anyone in the Regensburg area need lots and lots of little cuttings by the way?!)

and spend quite some time looking at those almost black dahlias

(was almost tempted to plant some of these pettishly beauties - not ready yet for this care intensive plants though)

.

and a picture of me showing off the bouquet with W "hiding" behind the window.

.

a few minutes after finishing the crocheted bead spread

i read this sentence in Elizabeth Von Arnims "Elizabeth and her German Garden":

"... and all forms of needlework of the fancy order 

are inventions of the evil one for keeping the foolish from applying their heart to wisdom."

indeed i sometimes do needlework to sort of numb myself

and just make with out thinking only counting the stiches
and i ain´t very wise for sure...

there´s a little rainstorm coming up

temperature dropping

leaves whirling from the apple tree

.

i miss having my sisters around

spend the last three weeks with at least one of them

don´t like to prepare breakfast porridge for one person

going to sleep alone

at least the cats are back after spending a couple of days at the neighbors

a little one sneaked into my bedroom and then freaked out

bouncing off the walls, trying to jump through a closed window

finally diving through the staircase

he got at least seven lives

since i found him napping peacefully in the garden a few minutes later

.

my grandmother loved her Virginia creeper - especially those berries

so i made a simple wreath for her grave

looking pretty even dried 

and when the days grow colder it hopefully attracts lots of hungry birds

to keep her company a bit

.

also some PLANT JEWELS

it was really fun to collect all those precious little things

we used for them

(the tiny blue hydrangea is already planted in my garden)

and the RIBBON BRACELET