I will talk and TNT will listen

/1 Reactie/in /door

Gee, I hate to admit it, but that whole TNT fiasco really suppressed me this week. I’m thankful for all your kind BOO! at TNT comments (there’s a discrepancy in that sentence, but you know what I mean don’t ya?), at least we’re not alone in this one.
It’s just that… just thinking about the whole situation makes me so angry. Still trying to figure something out, but it won’t be simple I’m afraid.

But…since this blog isn’t called “Planet Frustrated” I’ll stop whining. There are, simply, much bigger problems than stupid postal problems in life. Or, even better, more beautiful things to write about. I changed the table setting into a more Springy themed one. Found the embroidered tablecloth crammed and filthy in a dark corner of a thriftshop (took a lot of persuasiveness to touch it ;-)). A lot of Vanish Oxi, a gentle wash and some TLC brought her back to all her floral glory. (I’m getting more poetic by the day, wait ’till I turn 30!)

Trying hard to look at the bright side, hope you’ll manage to do the same!

How TNT almost killed my little business

/17 Reacties/in /door
That title sounds a bit dramatic, but unfortunately it could be true. I visited the post office today and found out that TNT (who’s responsible for the Dutch Postal Services) raised the price for sending an international package with about 100%. Instead of paying € 10,45 ($ 13.53) for a package to ship to the U.S. (or any other international destination), it would now cost me (hold on tight) € 17,10 ($ 22.14)!

This shop means the world to me. But how can I ever ask my clients to pay more for shipment than they pay for my products? It’s outragious and it’s unfair. I almost bursted into tears there in that same postoffice. Now I have to figure out how to solve this big problem. And even though I like to approach these kind of things like a challenge, I’m so very frustrated by the fact that this effects mostly small websites and that companies like TNT couldn’t care less what happens to those who work so hard to do something they love most. The only thing I can do now is take it out on the new TNT 2011 rates index. I think I’m gonna burn it or something ;-)

I’ll figure this out, I’m sure. I’m not a religious person, but what do they say about God opening a window if he closes a door? There will be a solution and I won’t let TNT surpress my good mood. If someone has the same problem, please share. Even just to boo at TNT, be my guest!

Up with birds

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Changed the hysterical Christmas branch in something…less hysterical.
My dear aunt made the cute little wooden birdhouses for the dinner table with Christmas, the birds flew over and I guess they liked the spot, ‘cause they’ve never leaved since.

Have a lovely weekend!

The first studio shot

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Cat is meowing for attention (hard to ignore)
Trying to fight a food ramble that’s lasting for over a day now (cold outside means hungry inside)
Love is still at his work
Need to clean the bathroom

But the only thing I want to do is curl up at the couch and watch Law&Order all night. Eat everything that’s eatable from the fridge. Or listen to Tori Amos and surf the internet. Or make some new items for the shop. Everything but boring housekeeping stuff.

But duty and conscience are calling.

“Get off that lazy bum and do something girl.”

Alright alright then. I’ll leave you with the first shot of my (almost finished) studio. I made the photo at the break of Boxing Day. The sun shined so beautiful through the curtains (look at the wonderful shadow the two mounted heads cast at the right). And I would love to stay and talk about my endless search for a proper whiteboard (ended up at Ikea of course).

But duty is calling. See you soon! xx

Changing the Season decorations

/5 Reacties/in , /door
It’s so funny how almost everybody, after celebrating the holidays, sighs “The first thing I did was getting rid of all those decorations in our home, out with the tree, in the tidy and space again.” I did exactly the same. At once, mostly right after Christmas, I get fed up with everything holiday-related in our home. I often wondered why, because I love this season and Christmas should last longer than two days in my opinion. That brought me to the following theory.

I’m often a bit cranky when I realise those cosy Christmas days are over already. That we have to wait another year (a long, blank year, with Summer heat and who knows what else) before we can cuddle up and celebrate again. So I guess that discontent makes me take it out on the decorations. It’s just like real-life. When you’re not feeling well, you mostly take it out on the ones you love. For you know they’ll forgive you for doing that (well..most of the time ;-)).

But there’s glimmer at the horizon (oh my, I’m getting poetic too!). Tidying up does not mean there’s no room for new colourful, gleeful home decor. So after banning the Christmasornaments to the attic (for which I hope they will forgive me), I started to make a garland for the stripped lampshade in the kitchen.

I used pompoms I bought ages ago at Hema and some big wooden beads and threaded them to a long piece of fishing wire. I added some felted toadstools and some plastic animals for a whimsical touch. To attach the animals to the garland, I wrapped a piece of wire around their bellies and threaded some beads and plastic flowers to those too. The end of the wire can be used to attach them to the garland. It’s easy and fun and it will make you smile everytime you pass by. And isn’t that exactly what we need after leaving the holidays behind us and start on our journey through another new year?