doil{il}y & shop news

my etsy banner, most probably. could change last minute

we're moving closer. every day counts. the buzz is peaceable as it has been, and i enjoy every necessary prep step towards reopening. almost rolling out the carpet for you's and fresh room to browse pretty, pretty soon! 

postcards in shop next weekend

in the meantime i ordered 'doilily' designs at moo's so i'll be offering brand new postcards to start this adventure. they've actually just gotten in and they look the part. hey-hoh to that!

inktober 2017

as you may have noticed i let myself slip into INKTOBER2017. that wasn't planned, but i did fancy ink drawing again. i sometimes feel the urge to colour in, but i restrain from it. different quality, that!

i got lost, hope to bring this one back... ☻

charcoal still huge in the academy, it may be so for a while still. i'm getting used to the material, i find out about its versatile effects and staying in a drawing longer is exhilarating. learning curve{s}! 

side step to brussels' atomium. sometimes all a girl needs is a beautiful {belgian!} vista

righto. must dash now, because life is full of surprises and the work doesn't get done under idle hands. yes, i live in riddles these days. it's the autumn coming. it's the autumn arrived.

soon, christmas! first, shop opening: next sunday, october 15th. ☺

enjoy the rest of the weekend and have a pleasant week ahead. ♥

magical mystery chore

i've been trying on some magic. trying to add some sparkle, to the otherwise straight forward task of cutting tiny booklets. see, i like function to what i make, so the magic, it needs to work.  

it sounds funny, but it ties it all in. thinking up an effective theme prooved to be a chore. vintage paper strips, a booklet stanza that holds up, lose words, poetry..... would it work any? 

christina rossetti is the kick off poet i will bring to you, in an accordeon booklet. at the very treshold of a new and darker season, she may very well be the one whispering of wind and rain... 

so all those nightly waking hours, countless scribbles on counters, coffees and teas, and portions of cake, paid off and finally got me to the stage of being satisfied again.

my tiny booklets' stories are short, so short. and some are blank even. in a fortnight they will sit snug in my shop, till you pick 'em up. ☺ 

'last chance harveys' to all amongst you who didn't enter the giveaway yet. you have exactement 6H00M left to leave word. midnight will bang the gong and tomorrow i'll update this post. 

UPDATE 02/10. THANK YOU all for playing! fate and my hand decided who'd be getting a tinyWOOLF package. congratulations, Ingrid. i'll be in touch! not long now before my etsy shop reopens!! ♥ 

goodie. enjoy another week at the mills. i'm late posting, durr. ♥ 

G I V E A W A Y

i promised a GIVEAWAY, and what you'll get here today through to october 1st is the possibility to win a package of stationery, a section of what will be revealed in its entirety and on etsy on october 15th. 

POSTCARDS, A TINY BOOKLET, MY PERPETUAL BIRTHDAY CALENDAR TO WIN

i've selected some different items that might charm your heart, or indeed, postcards that you could then send away to someone, and my perpetual calendar that will be sold in my shop too. 

work table, semi clean!

i've been working non stop behind the scenes, and am getting truly excited to reopen. i've yet a good deal of chores to be executed, but i see the woods for the trees, which is commendable. ☻ 

a few booklets examples

right. what to do if you're interested? leave your name right here below in the 'notes' section, leave word on facebook, or on instagram. no complicated way whatsoever to claim your game. 

surprise! the winner gets a little extra... 

the competition will be open till sunday october 1st, 12 midnight (CET). i will announce the winner on monday, so at least one person out there will look forward to monday. as will i. good luck, ducks! ♥ 

to have and to hold

{mostly} postcards received through the years

sending and receiving postcards from abroad, gently reminding friend or fiend of an upcoming birthday, celebrating life...  greetings don't always have to travel rapidly or virtually. you can send them easy. ☺

why write, you wonder. well. a postcard sets you apart from the crowd. you need electricity nor battery to write longhand. hackers sure aren't interested in slow messaging, so no digital aggro.

framing one card for extra effect

collecting postcards through the years can actually be fun! whether you bring together your stash haphazardly, or frame a dear card and hang it to shine on its own... it will always be admired. and not just by you. 

porcelain lady in brussels' antiques shop, just last week

to be frank, i have long hesitated to commercially produce postcards. but i rather find writing or receiving a personal message adds a highlight to anybody's busy day. somebody out there took time and effort! 

working on my quotes for doily postcards... 

my favourite postcards bring a message. as a child i dreamt of producing words on t-shirts and selling them. today i come back to the core of the idea, but i am using paper for tees. {and doilies!}. more on that later.  

cutting up butterflies... aw... ☻

vintage paper scraps also take my fancy. that isn't new, but now i'm pushing those snippets round into a pleasing design and salable one-off greeting cards. here's a sneak peek and soon they will sit in my shop. 

showing off the folds. better images to follow

the same goes for the tiny booklets. folding and unfolding is a favourite occupational hazard of mine. i have tried long and hard for idea, artful design and function to meet up somewhere in the middle.

showing off the folds. better images to follow

one style of booklets opens up accordeon like, and reveals its contents while unfolding. {the other booklet style is bound in the middle by string and can be leafed through like a proper sized book.}  

showing off the cover

both booklets have a matching, reinforced cover. both are completely unique items, and consist of either blank pastel painted pages, or come theme illustrated on scrap vintage pages. 

not an actual commercially developed booklet. purely for showing 

a blank tiny booklet may hold your own private messaging after purchase, so it becomes the tiniest personal greetings card ever. to have and to hold, or to offer as a very original gift indeed to a loved one. 

it's a try-out!

an illustrated tiny booklet comes enscribed with either a poetic line, a saying, or even a personalized {short} message which you can commission me on. this way a memento becomes even more special.  

much more on postcards, greeting cards and tiny booklets in the weeks to come. next week: GIVEAWAY 

* SHOP REOPENING OCTOBER, 14th *
♥ enjoy the weekend and have a marvellous week ahead ♥

september, i love you though

ghent, hostel den draeck, coffee and cookies break with a mate

last sunday i was in Ghent for a lovely fleamarket on a site where emperor charles was born. i left as it got crowded, soaking up september sun and admiring, not buying, a variety of knick-knacks. 

local thrift shop 

on monday i took a head start on refurbishing my etsy shop and this time i took it seriously. i didn't notice the hours passing, so i got a whole lot of adjusting done. i'm halfway, and truly happy for it. 

loukoum, carnotstraat, antwerp - yes! we brought some home

wednesday i rearranged multiple kitchen cabinets that hadn't been organised straight after the renovation and consecutively i did a whole lot of cooking. yes, i'm finding my way around at last.

michael borremans, 'poppy', 2016 - gallery zeno x, antwerp, through to october 14th

friday my neighbour friend and me took the train up to antwerp, to go see michael borremans' latest work (before it disappears into private buyers' homes). my neighbour is also michael's niece. made it extra special. 

bracket fungus in park

and saturday finds me in the academy for lesson number two in humble pie. last week my powers of observation got somewhat clouded. this week i'm just gonna have fun, whatever comes. 

this post is dedicated to a longtime lost friend who was abruptly taken to elysian fields late last week. 
the news was devestating and still is. i'm sorry, anne. you will be missed. ♥ 

enjoy the weekend, dear reader. have a pleasant week ahead and take it easy.