Mr. and Mrs. Fox

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And yet another cake topper. These foxes would be wonderful for an Autumn wedding I reckon, but they’d also fit a wedding that takes place in a forest (I tend to get very romantical when it comes to fantasizing about weddings). I’m not even sure it’s permitted to marry in a forest in The Netherlands, but customers from the U.S. often e-mail me the most fabulous wedding locations, is that because of the hugeness of the country or is their government just less keen on silly little rules like ours? Eitherway, they will appear in the shop and since I finally got rid of that evil slow holiday rythm, the shop will open again the upcoming week!

08/16/2011: Shop is open again!

Vavavooom

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The hallway in our home was one of those places that bugged me. Like the word already says: it’s a space you come across a dozen times, but not immediately important enough to give the highest priority when it comes to decorating. Still, it bugged me. It just needed that bit of Vavavoom…you feelin’ me? So I decided to paint it. Not the whole space, ‘cause I’m a major coward when it comes to painting walls in different colours (let alone a whole room in one) but just one wall to start with (and probably leave it to).

To cut things short: I hated the result at first. Because of the 80s tinted glass in the wall, our hallway is a bit dark and as the paint hadn’t dried yet (I was a tiny bit hasty with my judgement about the result) it seemed the green became a bit greyish and dark, definitely not the result I had in mind.

That evening I annoyed my followers on Twitter with my doubts (luckily they reacted very sympathetic and advised me to sleep over it and Let-It-Dry-First!!), slept over it, worked a day, came home and all of a sudden the wall looked a lot better (ergo: it had dried). I love it now! To complement the lot, I painted one of my vintage West-Germany vases fluor pink (I added a primer and two layers of spray coating and it’s still not entirely pink, which definitely increased my respect for professional painters) and we mounted the vintage flower chandelier. Now I love to cross this space. In fact, if it wasn’t so draughty, I’d be transferring the telly there.

(When we switch the light on Cornelis appears. Cornelis de Graeff was mayor of Amsterdam somewhere in the 17th century. Design by Nicolette Brunklaus.)

Some new stuff

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I’m working on new designs and I’ve learned that that process can be a very happy one, but also a very frustrating one. Frustrating when I’m not satisfied at all with a design (even after making a couple of prototypes) and when I feel like I’m spilling precious time with sketching, trying and not-be-satisfied with the result. What I did learn is that this process is inevitable if you want to keep renewing and offering new cool things to your customers (and, of course, defy yourself to try something new).

The making of this new cake topper fortunately was a happy one. So happy that I even made a tiny little felt hat for the groom, which took about as much time as making the whole owlette. But I’m not complaining, I love the result. Another very happy aspect of new products is crowning them with some nice photos (and for this project, fold origami hearts to decorate it with)!

Overall I’m learning a lot about myself and the creative process (and that creativeness isn’t a very easy to direct flow). If you like these two, I can already make them for you. You can contact me at info[at]ohmarie.nl. They will also appear in the shop once I open it again (which will probably be somewhere in August..this year ;-))

[Photographing] in Ghent

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(The owner of the dog above must have been at the point to call the police ‘cause some strange couple kept staring at his window.)

I love the grandeur and charm of Belgium cities Antwerp and Ghent. We’ve traveled to those cities a hundred times, but they can’t bore me. I love the kind and polite people of Belgium and their gentle Flemish (which makes Dutch sound so loud and pushy, myself very much included since I have the most loud voice on this side of the globe). After this intro it’s kinda needless to explain we stayed there last week for some shopping, strolling and eating. At Zappa in Antwerp I found the most fab red peeptoe shoes that my poor feet can handle and we paid Habitat a visit: look at this To Dribble For tableware by Ella Doran! (For the love of my marriage, Molly and everything else I hold dear I restrained myself from buying it, by the way.)

The weather was kind to us and I accidentally booked a suite instead of a room at the hotel (which turned out to be no more expensive but was twice as much fun!) so for three days we could pretend we had an apartment in Ghent (without a kitchen that is, but who needs a kitchen when he owns an apartment in Ghent?! ;-))

(Renowned wallpaper shop Priem in Ghent, owned by two (in the meanwhile) very old sisters. The last times we visited Ghent they were on holiday leave, but this time we were lucky! When you visit Ghent be sure you don’t miss out on the Priem experience!)

There was, of course, also time for some serious thrifting and I scored an amazing (hopefully working and hopefully not to noisy) cuckoo clock for 9 euros. I just need to ask my Love if he wants to mount it for me (pretty please with sugar on top?) and once that has happened, I’ll show it here!

Soo, that’s what I’ve been up to last couple of days. Now I have to get to the less fun part of a mini-break: tyding up the suitcases. And give Molly some serious TLC, for she has missed us as much I as we missed her (we hope)…!

[Dreaming]

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Playing with Lightroom.
Listening to the American Recordings by Johnny Cash.
(Sad songs about cowboys in prison and loved ones leaving on eveningtrains.
A lot of people left on eveningtrains in those days, at least according to his songs!)
Reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt.
(Almost finished it and already regretting that.)
Trying to keep the Begonia’s alive (I think I won’t win the battle this time).

Oh Sunday, sweet, quiet Sunday, I love you so.