Barbie's over for Martini's

Barbie's at the party, heels falling in Dirty Martini's

I've been having such a great time at work, in the shop, my day time job.

I've been reading.. ,

..Cathy Reed Weber's story about "The Golden Ball", which is fantastic! (Cathy, I'll mail you!)

Some of my best friends are gone skiing in Schladming, Austria.

And my ginger haired Barbie doll is hilarious.. (her name is Gingy by the way)

Gingy's hair, ( just used a little of the 'Unsharp Mask' filter in PhotoShop, 0.7% level/88 exposure)

I'm dancing.. so, catch you later!

And remember: "Be proud"

50 years of Barbie and Cathy Weber's Story

As this year is the 50th anniversary of Barbie, I went to the toy store and bought my first Barbie. Don't get me wrong here, I hate everything about that doll which I love also.
I took these photos with my camera and I must say that the model I've used was very easy to work with.

My first Barbie, Top Model Barbie with ginger hair.

Barbie not shy to the camera lens.

All right, you're pretty!

And to get back to work after a week of vacation, these trims that arrrived at the shop made me happy to get back at work!

Lovely trims in lovely colors

I'm reading Cathy Weber's "The Golden Ball" story tonight which she send me.
I'm looking for a good story to make illustrations for, and who knows what will happen if those two collide?
I'm gonna read it and after that meditate and let the images come, this way I only have to redraw them on paper.

OK, off to the drawing board, and then straight to bed with Cathy's story.. I'm tired, but happy!

Bye, and remember: "Great things are achieved by working together."

Who googles, who finds

I love these things I've googled today:



Richard Scary's illustrations



Sylvanian Families



Colorful seventies carpets from Flickr group 1970


Bye now, and remember: 'Who googles, Who finds'

Lavishly topped and delicately glazed

Lavishly topped and delicately glazed
Originally uploaded by Be the HBIC.

I'm having way too much fun with the Gee, That Food Looks Terrible on Flickr..

Imagine looking at over more than 2000 pictures of vintage food recipes and home & living styles. And commenting on almost every single picture, because they're just so great, funny and hilarious! I want to turn this into a job! If only I could..

Anyway.. I'm back to the Photophlow BETA version!

And remember: 'Don't forget the green peas!'

Here are some more great food horribles from my favorites Charm and Poise

Goodbye Facebook, welcome back Blogger!

So I've closed my Facebook account today, after a week of doubts, I've made this decision based on respect for private and personal freedom. I'm not sure if FB can give me this freedom. So, back to blogging.. and some Twitter. :)

Here's a funny but also realistic approach to this situation at Carrot Blog.

I'm making my second dolls dress this week. So far so good, had some troubles with necklines and arm lines.. Which are quite difficult to get right, because it's all about details and finishing touches. A dress may look totally sad if the hemlines are not done properly. And I'm putting most of my time in these details.


The second dolls dress, Humpty Dumpty fabric and mint green broderie Anglaise.

Also, I've cut the patterns and fabric out for a dolls jacket. In a favorite fabric of mine, which I've just bought this week. I think it's so sunny and summer like.. I love it! Can't wait to put this dolls jacket together. (This will be my first time putting sleeves into something!)



Patterns all ready cut, ready to be stitched and a bit manipulated.


The sunny fabric with daisies on..


I'm watching two Woody Allen movies later this evening.
September and Shadows and fog. I'm looking forward to those!




And for dinner I'm making Nigella's easy tomato/bacon with parsley (and I'm adding some mushrooms, onion and a potato to this dish to give it a full dinner touch). I watched Nigella make this simple dish yesterday evening on television, and I woke up with this dish this morning.. so I had to make it! :)

Bye now, and remember: "Feel free"

New Pearls Arrivals at the shoppe

The new pearls collection arrived at the shop today. Here's a sneak preview of what Spring and Summer has to offer.


beautiful striped ceramic pearls, quite big!

pastel colored pearls in ceramic


Lots of darker colors this Spring/Summer, combining wood with ceramic for that 'Bohemian Summer Feeling', which we all love by the way! :)

Green and petrol ceramic pearls, with a dash of white

More ceramic pearls in caramel and dark coffee.

Wonderful turquoise/green and mustardy/brown ceramic pearls.

Oh I can't wait to make necklaces with those beauties..

Bye now, and remember: 'Keep it together and make something lovely.'

Making a dress with mom

Today was a very special day, my mom learned me how to make a dress. I bought the Burda pattern (8308) for making dolls dresses and pants. But on my own it was a little to hard, I've never made a dress before. And my mom is the best teacher.. she can draw her own patterns, she has experience with sewing for more than 50 years. So.. the best!


My mom showing me how to precisely cut a pattern.



With good scissors and precise measuring, half the work is allready done.



The difficult parts of the pattern.



The pieces of the upper part of the dress.



After the upper part of the dress, the skirt.



Sewing with the Husqvarna, my mom showing me how to do curved lines.



My mom loves UFO's candy.. Me too! I brought a whole bag for her (and me).



The fringing of the dress, how it should look inside.



And a pincushion I brought her, Chinese style.

Bye now, I'm making my famous Sauce Bologna tonight.. with lots of red wine and fresh veggies.. delicious!


And remember: 'Make your mother happy!'

Lullism, the Art of Memory

Here are the investigators, from left to right: Digibudi, Vicky V, Shaun


Always cary a notepad while investigating!







I'm learning all about ancient symbols, some of them are so beautiful. Some of them remind me of emoticons we use on the Internet. And some of them are just hilarious, but all of them are interesting to me.


I'm making a studie about a strange Renaissance science about the Art of Memory.



A lot of Latin names are in a way also symbols for remembering certain knowledge.

A word can be much more than just a word, the way the font is designed and the way certain letters are shaped can reveal hidden secrets or knowledge. In those days some information had to be hidden, because it would against the law to talk about some of that knowledge. Especially during the period between Medieval and Renaissance. Dangerous times! A bit like now actually. :)



This girl ain't precisely ancient or Medieval but the clean lines are inspired by those old symbols.



A bit of photoshop.



I love these little drawings, they remind me of cartoons.


Very beautiful, human life compared with a tree.

People are very important in the Medieval universe.. They seem to rule everything, even the sun and moon :)



Wonderful symbols, ordinary on first view, but look closer and find a world of inspiration.



One of my favorites, old Christian symbols. Not because they're Christian, but because they can be read like a word and seen as a symbol.

Bye now, I'm back to the library..


And remember: Remember!