Feeling blue…with here and there a spot of color

/9 Reacties/in /door

There’s much going on in my life at the moment, a lot of happy things, but unfortunately a couple of sad things too. Sometimes it seems like things happen all at the same time and I can’t seem to find the time to give them a place in my head and get on with my daily routine. Lack of time pressures me and the most annoying thing of it all is that it blocks my “creative flow” as I would like to call it. Today, I read this post (in Dutch) at Ingrid’s lovely blog about what and what not to share on your blog…and I think she’s right: there’s so much sorrow in the world, let’s share the good things in life at this creative community, just so we can feel better after reading them. So..next post I’ll be my happy self again, I promise! ;-)

The beautiful fabric cranes on the left are made by Victoria of FreeRangeBaby. Check out her shop here!

My best friends wedding

/2 Reacties/in /door
My best friend is getting married and she gave me the honour of making the ringcushions for her Big Day. She likes plain and simple designs and I made them matching the wedding invitation. It feels very special to make something for friends for such an imporant day of their life. When the bride-to-be unwrapped them she cried “They would also be perfect to decorate the Christmastree!”
That’s why I love her so much :-)

Cheburaska and some final conclusions

/2 Reacties/in /door
Reading back my posts, it feels like I didn’t had a good time in Saint Petersburg. But I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. We had loads of fun with the good friends that travelled along with us and travelling into a country like Russia is what I would call an experience. You have to been there to understand why some things work the way they work in certain countries.

So..I came to the final conclusion that travelling into Russia was quite an experience. Saint Petersburg is famous for The Hermitage, but I found the remains of the old Sovjet Union the most interesting aspects of our visit, as well as learning more about the turning point in Russia’s history: the fall of the Russian Empire and the upcoming of Communism. If you travel to Saint Petersburg, be sure to pay a visit to Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line of the Saint Petersburg metro. Eat dinner at The Idiot or at La Strada (if you have cravings for Italian food underneath a wonderful glass cupola).

Last but not least, no travelling without taking home some souvenirs! I bought the most cute Cheburashka-matryoshka doll at this Souvenir Market. Read this post at Diana’s blog to learn more about this sweet little vintage creature. Warning: if you decide to watch the YouTube animation, you probably won’t get the Cheburashka-themesong off your head for a long, long time. But watch it anyway..it’s sweet.

Dolls dolls dolls

/0 Reacties/in /door

If you write about Russia, you must write about Matryoshka’s. Though St. Petersburg isn’t very much of a shopping city, the amount of Matryoshka’s you can choose from is humongous. I photographed these (unfortunately a bit blurry) in a shop called “Northwest” at the English Embankment (nice clean toilets! no pushy shopkeepers! ;-)), but bought mine at the Souvenir Market near the Church of the Saviour of the Spilled Blood (which by the way made it into my top 10 of most-intricate church names).

More about my Russian souvenirs soon, they are well worth writing about and I can’t wait to photograph them in a nice setting.

This museum doesn’t do extinction

/1 Reactie/in /door
This is definitely one of the most weird museums I’ve ever visited, but maybe I just have not been exposed to much weirdness in my life.
I walked through the Zoological Museum of Saint Petersburg with a mixture of fascination and disgust. The museum contains one of the biggest collections of – to put it straight – stuffed animals. Imagine rows and rows of brightly luminated showcases with dead animals.
It’s bizarre.
Apart from that, I think it’s very old-fashioned to teach people (children) about nature with dead animals. And I couldn’t get my head around the fact that all those animals have been killed for the purpose of education.
I think I’ll stick to the felt taxidermy animals. They are way animal-friendlier and less morbid. Maybe one day I can fill a museum with my collection.