Fase II

So with the cabinet in place we could start with Fase II, meaning cleaning everything out of the little gardenhouse, let me tell you it took 3 full days! going through everything, deciding what could go, what should stay in the new storage.

When it was finaly empty the painting started, again & again. Big thanks for my dad giving me a helping hand. And than..., what do we hang in front of the windows? what about the light? how do I want the table to look like etc. etc.

The table was quite an issue, I found a suitable one weeks ago at one of the places that sell our cards, old, used, exactly how I wanted it, but it was blue, not my colour (won't see any of that now). The issue was about the top of the table, I couldn't decide how I wanted it. Than it hit me, what are we never allowed to do but want to ever since we are at school, cut in the table! So that's what I did and I asked my kids and some other people as well to do so. Now it looks perfect.

Below you see some pictures of the previous situation and a sneak preview of what it looks now, 2 weeks later.

On Saturday I'm starting the final Fase III, the childrens playroom. All should be done before the 1st of March. Oh and yes I do work in between all this.

Fase I

I've been quiet for a while, not intentially, but at my home we needed some reorganisation. Why?, well I needed a space to give palmistry readings and I selected the little gardenhouse as a very suitable place for this. Problem was, it was full with fabrics and all kind of stuff we need to make what we make (and that is a lot).

So I needed storage and in my opinion one of the walls of our son's bedroom could be used for this. So, out with the lovely small cupboard my dad made for him years ago and in with the huge cabinet. I had to make a deal with him, he wanted a couch in return and he wanted at least the same number of cupboards (10) as I had.

So that's fase I, completed as you see below (before & after).

Cherish the chair

I'm looking, or actually I was looking for two new chairs for my ' to be' practice. I couldn't find anything out of the ordinary that was affordable. As you all know, Liefgoed loves re using the old & creating something new with it, and just as I was to give in to a quite ok possible chair I came across Project 99.

At Project 99 they keep the frames of old chairs, which they find or are being given and cover them with materials like clothing, cowhide, wallpaper, rubber and even sometimes material they find on the street. The 99 stands for 99 euro's for a chair. They also have Project 999, for couches & fauteuils.

You can imagine, I wanted to see for myself, so yesterday my little girl & I went to the Herengracht, 'cause they only are open on Sunday afternoons.  You can simply pick a frame and the material you want & they make it for you, how excellent is that! Oh and so sweet, they gave some cowhide to my daughter to make something nice of it, we did, two pieces, one for me & one for her.

Thank you!

Today we I had the privilege of giving a workshop palmistry together with my teacher & fellow student, arranged by Happinez.

It was such a joy, from the beginning to the end. First of all the location, all was arranged by De Kamers in Amersfoort. Now, you don't think of Amersfoort as first place you can find exceptional hospitality, but I must say from the warm welcome of the chamberlain Jos van Oord, the catering by Amanda (my God, YOU can cook!), the decoration, till lights & sounds done by Marco, everything was perfect.

And the students, what a nice bunch of people. So much enthusiasm & trust. It's been a pleasure to have met each one of you.

Happinez!

Probably told you before, but I'm finally finishing my palmistry study at the beginning of 2011. This coming Saturday there is a Workshop Palmistry arranged by the popular Dutch magazine Happinez, the third one in a row. And this one, I'm gonna do together with my wonderful teacher Ellen Duim & one of my top-notch fellow students Geri. Looking forward to it!

Now sometimes it's hard to see everything with the naked eye, so a magnifying-glass isn't a luxury. Thank you mom for getting me one. As Ellen suggested after reading the knitting story yesterday I should try to knit a cover for it. Such a nice suggestion Ellen, but NO! This, on the other hand, I can do.

Oh and something else, turns out that my scarf is a crochet one. Fortunately we do have knowledge of a lot other stuff.

Alexandra Brand

Today attention for Alexandra Brand. I met Alexandra two years ago as a fellow student at my palmistry study. As one can imagine with studying palmistry, the sides of us humans which we actually don't want anybody to see, were floating to the surface as well. Discussing these topics, I became more and more interested in Alexandra, the way she looked at things and her eagerness to immediately start figuring everything out. So when I learned she's a photographer and seeing her work, the picture came together. You can see her interest in the human psyche & emotions symbolically represented in almost every piece of her work.

At this moment Alexandra is giving more time to free work, exploring the depths of the human psyche. She is one of the participants of the international contest Viewbook PhotoStory 2010. A contest to which photographers are invited to submit a contemporary collection of images that convey a compelling narrative. You can see her work, negative capability, and vote on the website.

Alexandra graduated at the Royal Acadamy, The Hague in 1998. She photographed for Elle, Elle Wonen, The Colour Envelope (Akzo Nobel) & Hollands Diep. And... she is a wonderful & amazing person. Some more work from her.