heodeza

Bits of navy from the past few months

2012-02-02T10:10:00.001+01:00

Bits of grey from the past few months

2012-02-01T10:10:00.000+01:00

Bits of peach from the past few months

2012-01-31T10:10:00.000+01:00

wonderful wallpaper week 14

2012-01-30T21:44:00.003+01:00

Lucky Seven, by James Godman

Archive:
week 13
week 12
week 11
week 10
week 9
week 8
week 7
week 6
week 5
week 4
week 3
week 2
week 1

Bits of pink from the past few months

2012-01-30T10:10:00.000+01:00

Bits of blue from the past few months

2012-01-29T09:00:00.003+01:00

Bits of green from the past few months

2012-01-28T09:00:00.002+01:00

Bits of yellow from the past few months

2012-01-27T10:10:00.004+01:00

Bits of red from the past few months

2012-01-26T22:20:00.006+01:00

Jus du jour

2012-01-24T21:12:00.003+01:00

I haven't made any fresh juices for a while... I should really get back to it.
This one was from last year.

wonderful wallpaper week 13

2012-01-23T20:37:00.004+01:00

Talking birds, by James Gulliver Hancock

Archive:
week 12
week 11
week 10
week 9
week 8
week 7
week 6
week 5
week 4
week 3
week 2
week 1

Hug

2012-01-19T20:50:00.009+01:00

I had a pretty tough day. But it was all okay because I knew my favourite geek in the whole world (pictured here tracking planes with our iPad ♥) would hug me the second I came home and I would feel a thousand times better.

And I was right.

Hyacints in bloom

2012-01-18T14:00:00.003+01:00

These pretty little things have started blooming and smell delicious!

New little corner

2012-01-17T21:53:00.006+01:00

The living room felt a little dark after we took the christmas 'tree' down and so I decided to keep some of the fairy lights in a vase. I propped them together with the origami ball (I've taken the lights out since the other day; I was a bit frightened of the potential fire hazard) on the pretty stool we bought the other day.
The little pompons date from then. I can't get myself to throw them away just yet.

P.S. I've had a lot of visitors from Israel today, thanks to the lovely Ronit and this post (for those of you (just like me) who are not fluent in Hebrew, here's the google translate version).

Hi everyone! Welcome!

:-)

wonderful wallpaper week 12

2012-01-16T18:30:00.003+01:00

Entry hall wallpaper by Hollis Brown Thornton

Are you sick of my weekly iPhone wallpaper posts yet?
I'm really enjoying the novelty of a new background every week, and I get rather excited choosing something new every Monday. So unless you beg me to stop, I'm going to keep on going for a little longer I think.

:-)

Archive:
week 11
week 10
week 9
week 8
week 7
week 6
week 5
week 4
week 3
week 2
week 1

Macarons

2012-01-15T15:38:00.004+01:00

My brother made us a whole box of these mouthwatering macarons for Christmas. Dark chocolate ones and salted butter caramel ones. They're so delicious (and pretty!) we've had to pace ourselves not to eat them all in one go. We have just a few left and I doubt they'll survive the weekend.

Origami

2012-01-14T17:52:00.006+01:00

After seeing this pretty lamp (via) I put myself to the test and tried to make one of my own. Once I had found instructions on how to fold the pieces it was just a matter of folding. And folding. And some more. And then putting all the pieces together with great satisfaction. :-)

This time last year...

2012-01-11T18:31:00.007+01:00

This time last year I was sewing hundreds and hundreds of colourful circles to make garlands for our engagement party.

And yes, our windows were incredibly dirty. Even if we don't clean them super often, it's not usually that bad. :-) This was in the middle of the whole getting-our-old-leaky-windows-changed process which lasted several days but was very successful; since then we haven't had a drop of water coming in during stormy rainfalls.

wonderful wallpaper week 11

2012-01-09T20:32:00.005+01:00

Monster by Yasmeen Ismail

Archive:
week 10
week 9
week 8
week 7
week 6
week 5
week 4
week 3
week 2
week 1

Hyacints

2012-01-08T09:45:00.003+01:00

DIY pearly and colourful bracelets

2012-01-07T15:21:00.005+01:00

If you're also taking down all Christmas decorations this weekend and if you happen to have some pearly garland, don't toss it away! Here's a perfect DIY to recycle some of it into colourful bracelets you'll be able to wear all year long.

My mum and I were inspired to make these during the holidays, after seeing these beauties a few months ago.

We used:

simple bracelets
a bit of pearl garland (any repetitive chain of small pearls or crystals would do too)
a glue gun
some colourful embroidery thread

Gather your material.
Glue your pearly garland on the bracelet. We noticed that the final result is more sturdy if you place a little bit of glue under each and every pearl.
Put a dot of glue to hold the beginning of your thread.
Circle with the thread around each pearl. Do two or three rounds depending on how thick you want the colourful part to be (we did three rounds each time). When you've gone around the whole bracelet, make a little not and secure the end of the thread with a dot of hot glue.

I've been pairing mine with other bracelets from my collection...

Red onion pizza

2012-01-04T19:10:00.010+01:00

My mum makes the most delicious red onion pizza.

Colourful zipers

2012-01-03T21:03:00.004+01:00

I bought lots of zippers and some pleather at the fabric market in November... and used them to make lots of colourful little presents for Christmas.

(I followed the same technique as for this little pouch. It was my very first time working with pleather, and everything went very smoothly. Much more so than I had anticipated!)

wonderful wallpaper week 10

2012-01-02T17:49:00.003+01:00

Shanghai, by Philippe Constantinesco

Archive:
week 9

week 8
week 7
week 6
week 5
week 4
week 3
week 2
week 1

Happy 2012!

2012-01-01T16:59:00.004+01:00

Happy New Year everyone!

We woke up to this amazing sight this morning... not a bad way to start an exciting new year, right?

Holidays

2011-12-30T11:46:00.006+01:00

Hi everyone!
It's been slightly quiet here lately, as we've been enjoying a wonderful holiday with family and friends in Switzerland. We've been skiing a bit, eating lots, and having a beautiful time all together.
Earlier this week we spent an afternoon in a picture-perfect scenery in the alps. It was wonderful to climb up to see the sun, as everywhere else on the plateau, things looked more like... this.

wonderful wallpaper week 9

2011-12-27T10:04:00.005+01:00

This week's wallpaper is a shot taken by my brother with the new disposable camera we've been having fun with over the holidays.

Archive:
week 8
week 7
week 6
week 5
week 4
week 3
week 2
week 1

25

2011-12-25T07:00:00.000+01:00

Fremantle (Australia), in the city center.

24

2011-12-24T07:00:00.001+01:00

Stockholm (Sweden), in Gamla stan.

23

2011-12-23T07:00:00.001+01:00

Fremantle (Australia), at Kakulas Sisters

22

2011-12-22T07:00:00.000+01:00

Fremantle (Australia), not far from the Roundhouse

Paper 'popcorn' garland

2011-12-21T19:00:00.000+01:00

I made a popcorn-inspired garland. With white circles, scalloped rounds and little red 'cranberry' spots.

21

2011-12-21T07:00:00.000+01:00

Maastricht (The Netherlands), not far from the natural history museum.

20

2011-12-20T07:00:00.000+01:00

Stockholm (Sweden), in Östermalm.

wonderful wallpaper week 8

2011-12-19T21:27:00.004+01:00

Pine by Thom Stoodley

Archive:
week 7
week 6
week 5
week 4
week 3
week 2
week 1

19

2011-12-19T07:00:00.001+01:00

Alberobello (Italy), in the UNESCO World Heritage listed village.

Homemade snowflakes

2011-12-18T16:14:00.004+01:00

Still no snow over here. So here are my semi-tacky plastic snowflakes!

:-)

I saw some of these online a little while ago, but I don't remember where...
It takes some dexterity to place the little Hama beads in the right place on the spiky board, and some imagination to create numerous different shapes that will actually stick together, but it was a lot of fun and I really like the result.

If you wanted to try it out but didn't feel like making up the shapes yourself (which is half of the fun if you ask me, but everyone is different), you could look at the models provided here and here (or you could of course also just copy the ones I've made above. Some of them are sturdier than other, and it was a bit of a challenge sometimes to get them off the prickly board, but they all ended up holding just fine!).
I saw transparent Hama beads at the toy store. And glow in the dark ones. Pretty tempting!!

P.S. I think I'll need different colours anyways to be able to make something like this and like this.

18

2011-12-18T07:00:00.000+01:00

Stockholm (Sweden), at the Vasa museum restaurant.

17

2011-12-17T07:00:00.001+01:00

Lübeck (Germany), during a boat tour around the city.

Brussels in December

2011-12-16T20:48:00.010+01:00

Some more photos of our lovely weekend in Brussels last week.

16

2011-12-16T07:00:00.003+01:00

Stockholm (Sweden), on Gamla stan.

15

2011-12-15T07:00:00.000+01:00

Stockholm (Sweden), in Södermalm

Some adorable Christmas cheer

2011-12-14T19:05:00.007+01:00

Awww... what cuties!

If you want to giggle some more, here's another one. Slightly more tacky yet hilarious. And just so you know, Mart has totally mastered the cat voice, and can sing the whole song just like that... i love it!

14

2011-12-14T07:00:00.002+01:00

Brussels (Belgium), in the city center

13

2011-12-13T07:00:00.004+01:00

Stockholm (Sweden), in Gamla stan.

wonderful wallpaper week 7

2011-12-12T19:10:00.004+01:00

I live alone by Lauren Gentry

Head over here to see more of Lauren's sweet illustrations. I particularly like these ones. And this little video.
I admire people who transform simple lines and shapes into something classy and beautiful.

Archive:
week 6
week 5
week 4
week 3
week 2
week 1

12

2011-12-12T07:00:00.001+01:00

Les Marécottes (Switzerland), on the ski slopes.

A weekend in Brussels

2011-12-11T20:52:00.007+01:00

11

2011-12-11T07:00:00.001+01:00

Polignano a Mare (Italy), in the tiny little streets of the old town.

10

2011-12-10T07:00:00.002+01:00

Valkenburg (The Netherlands), on our way back to the station.

9

2011-12-09T07:00:00.003+01:00

Lübeck (Germany), during a boat tour around the city.

8

2011-12-08T07:00:00.001+01:00

London (UK), in the city center (?)

7

2011-12-07T07:00:00.002+01:00

Stockholm (Sweden), in the city center.

Sinterklaas goodies

2011-12-06T10:10:00.003+01:00

Yesterday it was Sinterklaas here in the Netherlands.
Just like last year and the year before, I made little presents for my colleagues. This time I baked them biscuits and packed them in pretty jars.

I used empty jam jars and sprayed the outside of the lid with black paint.
And I made little pompoms following this tutorial: so easy and quick! And nice and wintery...

6

2011-12-06T07:00:00.000+01:00

Hornchurch (UK), in the churchyard.

wonderful wallpaper week 6

2011-12-05T19:09:00.003+01:00

World, by Judy Kaufmann

This adorable wallpaper gives my iPhone a slight air of leopard for this week, and I love it!

I urge you to go and have a look at Judy's other prints on her website... there are so many pretty and clever pieces. I find these ones especially pretty and these ones just so lovable.

5

2011-12-05T07:00:00.002+01:00

Zierikzee (The Netherlands), in the new harbour.

Congratulations to whitney, who got randomly picked as the lucky winner of my celebratory giveaway!
Thank you all for your sweet comments; it was really nice to read your kind words...
Whitney, as soon as I have your address, I'll send you your little surprise.
:-)

This was fun!
Maybe I won't wait another whole two years before the next one.

Just a few hours left!

2011-12-04T13:50:00.003+01:00

For those of you who haven't done so yet, it's your last chance to enter my giveaway!
:-)
Just a few more hours and then I will draw the lucky winner.

4

2011-12-04T07:00:00.002+01:00

Torre Guaceto (Italy), on the way to the beach.

3

2011-12-03T07:00:00.002+01:00

Zurich (Switzerland), at the Freitag flagship store.

◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ happy birthday dear claire! ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌

P.S. if you haven't yet commented on my giveaway post, you should.
the draw will take place tomorrow!

2

2011-12-02T17:58:00.005+01:00

Sydney (Australia), at Danks Street Depot.

1

2011-12-01T20:11:00.004+01:00

This is what I wrote two years ago exactly:

"For years and years my mum made my brothers and I the coolest Advent calendars, with pretty pictures building up through the days, coded hunts through the house, yummy surprises and funny toys. It was so thrilling that some of our neighbor kids use to come early to our house before going to school to participate in the daily excitement.

So, to keep with the tradition and to make every day until Christmas a little special, I’ve decided to have a calendar of my own, with photos taken in the past years, in the Netherlands, where we live, but also in Australia, Switzerland, the UK, Italy and America when we were traveling…"

I still feel exactly the same 730 days later and would like to offer you a third round of my advent calendar, with numbers gathered around the world in the past year or so. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Here is number one.

Lecce (Italy), in the city centre.

P.S. we have just heard the most wonderful news from our friends who have welcomed a beautiful little boy into the world this afternoon.
Félicitations! We are over the moon!
♥

Celebratory giveaway!

2011-11-29T20:57:00.010+01:00

I can almost not believe it... this blog is turning two today!

To celebrate, and to thank you for coming back to this space again and again, I would like to send one of you a little surprise package. A giveaway! My first one ever. Yeepee!

So, it works as follow: leave a comment under this post (you don't need to have a blog of your own or even to sign in; you can just leave an anonymous comment in which you clearly state your name), and I will pick one person out at random, whom I will send something exciting and homemade to. The draw will take place on Sunday 4 December.

I know most of you never comment (and that's absolutely fine, don't get me wrong), but here's your chance to let me know you're here, and to maybe receive an sweet little present from me!

The giveaway is now closed. Thank you for participating!

wonderful wallpaper week 5

2011-11-28T18:45:00.003+01:00

05 by Martin Draax

Archive:
week 4
week 3
week 2
week 1

Floating in the cold sunset

2011-11-27T22:41:00.005+01:00

Just like a soap bubble.

2011-11-26T21:59:00.002+01:00

It's not really the right season anymore, but I'm trying to make them last as long as possible. I have just a few left. And I love them.

Anne, thank you so much for sending them again. I have been enjoying them tremendously!!

Cold weather

2011-11-24T21:39:00.006+01:00

I quite like my cold-weather clothes and so I don't mind the temperatures we have currently over here in the Netherlands (it really hasn't rained much this fall, so it's been surprisingly bearable), but when seeing this photo just then, I really wished it was nice and warm for a little while.

Usually autumn and winter are ok, because we know we'll be flying to the southern hemisphere early in the new year, and we just hang on until then to see the sun... but this year we'll have to deal with the dreary weather all the way through as we are staying on the cold side of the planet for the whole season. Better get used to it and embrace the ugg boots and scarves then!

P.S. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving over here, but today I am especially aware of how wonderfully lucky I am. I definitely tend to take things for granted a little too much, and it's nice to stop and think about it all from time to time.

Remembering Paris

2011-11-22T20:48:00.004+01:00

We went to a second hand shop on Saturday and got this big puzzle with a picture of Paris. We're making it, remembering our special weekend there last year...
It's not exactly Mart's favourite thing in the world (the puzzling part, not the thinking-of-last-year part!) but he's been a good sport and has come to sit with me for a bit every time I get to it.
Ah, the things you do for the one you love...

♥

wonderful wallpaper week 4

2011-11-21T21:43:00.005+01:00

The Ice-Breaker by Francesco Bongiorni

Archive:
week 3
week 2
week 1

7 years today

2011-11-20T16:46:00.004+01:00

Today we celebrated 7 years of love with a cozy brunch at home.
I can't believe it's one year already since our magical weekend in Paris. Time flies!

Soft flowers

2011-11-18T19:39:00.003+01:00

Little dancers

2011-11-17T20:07:00.005+01:00

These little ladies who were dancing in the sunset the other day are now on their way to Switzerland, where they will go and live in a talented little dancer's bedroom.

I made them with the same wall-sticker material as these, these and these.

wonderful wallpaper week 3

2011-11-14T17:37:00.005+01:00

Lolephant by Nick Deakin

Archive:
week 2
week 1

At the park

2011-11-12T21:41:00.005+01:00

Having a lovely weekend with mum, who is visiting for a few days.

special day

2011-11-10T20:03:00.003+01:00

... in one year exactly.

Little city creature

2011-11-08T19:35:00.004+01:00

Here's the latest addition to my collection of little city creatures.

wonderful wallpaper week 2

2011-11-07T19:44:00.005+01:00

What's in my mind? and Remember, by Luciano Lozano

Here's this week's wallpaper!
Well, there are two this time. Two matching pictures. One for the lock screen and one for the home wallpaper.

Another quiet weekend

2011-11-06T18:50:00.005+01:00

Sore throats, sleep-ins, a bit of shopping, some super duper bathroom cleaning, a lovely dinner out, some old shows of Louis Theroux, lit candles, a delicious saffron risotto... that's our weekend in a few words.

Blue & red

2011-11-02T21:59:00.004+01:00

Pretty paper popsicles

2011-11-01T21:48:00.006+01:00

After coming across this beautiful post a few weeks ago, I knew just what I wanted to send our friend Celina for her birthday. As she was turning 6 and because she's a very clever girl, I wanted to make the game a little more difficult than the basic 12-pair one. I therefore printed everything twice and 'pimped' half of the popsicles to increase diversity.
I made a little pocket to store it all (the jar idea was so cute but not as practical to post to Denmark), et voila!

It was a lot of fun to make, and very easy. I'd definitely recommend it for a cute and colourful present!

wonderful wallpaper week 1

2011-10-31T21:13:00.010+01:00

Azure Explosions by Alex Mathers

I've been thinking of getting the new iPhone 4S for a few days. I have to say I'd be sad to let the old design go (I really like the soft curves of my 3GS) but it'd be nice to have a really fast phone again...
While I think about it (and try to convince myself that I really don't need to spend all this money) I thought I'd spice up my current phone a bit with some pretty wallpapers. Maybe that will do the trick and I won't feel like giving it away after all.

This idea came to me when reading Claire's post today. After a few minutes of clicking through the website, I realised that there were so many backgrounds I liked that there was no way I could ever decide for just one - this is why I've decided to change mine every week.

I'll show you which one I've chosen every Monday from now on, until I a) decide to get the iPhone 4S anyway, b) find a perfect background that I can't bear to take away, c) bore you to death with weeks and weeks of iPhone background updates. :-)

Sunday walk

2011-10-30T21:06:00.004+01:00

Quiet

2011-10-28T22:27:00.004+02:00

It's been a little quiet over here lately, but I'm still here.

♥

Gold cups

2011-10-26T20:05:00.003+02:00

I made more of these. They look cute on our window sill.

An afternoon at the zoo

2011-10-23T18:31:00.004+02:00

With friends, gorillas, lions, giraffes, rhinos, meercats, hippos, hyenas, owls, and lots more!

Grape jello

2011-10-21T20:27:00.003+02:00

Hmmm: grape jello. It's one of these things you cannot find in Europe, or only in very specialised shops. I still have a small batch, brought back from Canada, the US and Australia. I always buy some when I can and then I treasure it for months before making it. Lucky it doesn't go bad!

Cloudy goodness

2011-10-19T19:00:00.002+02:00

My friend had her birthday a few weeks ago, and I printed her this cloudy top.
Happy birthday Morgane!

Prickly beauty

2011-10-18T21:38:00.003+02:00

Such a good weekend

2011-10-17T19:18:00.004+02:00

I haven't been on here much in the past few days; I was too busy having a wonderful time with my mum and one of my brothers who were visiting us. Amongst all the things we did together, we spent a beautiful sunny day in Utrecht, where we saw the most beautiful flowers...

fellow fellow

2011-10-10T17:19:00.003+02:00

Photo from here.

Remember Claire, my wonderfully talented friend from this neck of the woods?
She recently moved to Singapore and just opened a new online shop where she sells the most beautiful screen-printed paper goods. I couldn't resist ordering a few things (amongst which the fabulous feathers you can see above) and can't wait to see them all in real life soon.

Machinarium

2011-10-06T22:36:00.006+02:00

All photos from here.

I've been playing a lot of this wonderfully captivating game in the past few days. I've played so much that I actually just finished it.

And I have to say I'm a little sad... I wish there was more! :-)
It's such a lovely adventure, full of weird little creatures, lots of mind-puzzles and very sweet moments. I can't even begin to imagine how much work was put into making this game. The drawings are amazing, the mini-games are great and very varied, and the sounds effect complete it all perfectly. I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to anyone.

(Just know that if you're stuck, you can unlock the hint book, which will help you get through tough times. I wasn't aware of that in the beginning and got a little frustrated at times!)

P.S. I played it on the iPad (careful: apparently it only works on the iPad 2!) but I just saw on their website that it's possible to download it for computers too.

Red red red

2011-10-03T22:59:00.003+02:00

Some red photos from my blog over the past 20-something months... time flies!

A golden ring

2011-10-01T20:23:00.005+02:00

We received beautiful news from Australia today. News with a sparkly golden ring. And very big smiles all around...

To celebrate the wonderful announcement, and because I had wanted to do something like this since seeing these, I made this golden ring glass today.

Popovers

2011-09-27T19:54:00.003+02:00

The day we left New York three summers ago our friends took us to this funny place where we had our first popovers ever. We left the city with two small bags of 'diy' popovers and kind of forgot we had them until recently.
We tried making them on the weekend and it worked like a charm.
I find they taste a little too eggy but Mart likes them a lot.

Oh, I almost forgot! On Sunday Mart and I celebrated our 2500th day together.
I recently turned 10000 days (but no one's counting really), which means I've spent pretty much a quarter of my life with my red head... pretty amazing, huh? :-)

P.S. No, I don't spend my nights counting meaningful days in my life. :-)
I happened to put some dates in this app, and it did all the calculations for me.

Happy sunflowers

2011-09-26T19:03:00.004+02:00

For a few days already, our living room has been brightened up by a huge bouquet of sunflowers we received from our friend Teresa. They are so bright and happy; I love them!

Joanna's birthday present

2011-09-21T19:56:00.004+02:00

My friend Joanna had her birthday a few days ago and I made her a little necklace (very much inspired by not tuesday - I love what she does and will definitely go and have a look at her pieces in person next time I'm in Fremantle).

The first two photos were taken by Joanna and her boyfriend on a sunny weekend in Poland. She's such a cutie, isn't she?
And the bottom two are photos of the necklace I made for myself with the left over beads. I just had to have one too! :-)

Green

2011-09-19T23:04:00.003+02:00

In Italy and at home...

Rainy Sunday afternoon?

2011-09-18T20:55:00.003+02:00

Rainy Sunday afternoon?
Yes... but... We turned it into a comfy movie time with lots of pillows and a great movie. Lovely!

And to top it all, I just realised today that the new season of Project Runway has started again. I totally missed the boat as this happened in July already but I'm more than happy to watch lots of episodes in one go to catch up.

Happy birthday Teresa!

2011-09-15T21:56:00.002+02:00

Happy birthday dearest Teresa!
We will have the celebration you deserve as soon as things get back to normal. Promise!

Plants, sand and sea

2011-09-14T21:23:00.005+02:00

The sky on our last day in Puglia was slightly overcast, but it was still deliciously warm. We headed back to the beach at Torre Guaceto, which was much quieter than on our first visit. The fact that it was Monday morning probably explains why the amount of locals sunbathing and swimming around was drastically lower than on the weekend.

I got out of the car to take a few photos of the vegetation... I absolutely love those prickly pears and cacti. I think it's because they belong to warm climes. And I like warm climes. Very, very much so. :-)

I couldn't end this series on our wonderful time in Puglia without telling you about Perla di Puglia. After all, this is the number one reason why we decided to go to this corner of the world for a long weekend.
This beautiful and brand new bed & breakfast (with fantastic modern rooms, a big crystal clear swimming pool and incredible breakfasts) is ran by my dear friend Laura and her husband Melvin. They are about to round off their first season (which was so successful they hardly could believe it!) and are already taking their first bookings for next year. I strongly recommend you to have a look at the photos of their beautiful property here. I dare you to resist snatching a room for a long weekend or a sunny week next summer!

And just to taunt you a little more: Brindisi airport is just a 20-minutes drive away and has cheap flights to pretty much anywhere in Europe. There you go. :-)

P.S. It's Joanna's birthday today - happy birthday beautiful!!
I'll show you what I made for her once my little present reaches her in Poland.