Ashleyg

I just spent some money online, to, ehh, keep the economy going! The print on the left will soon be mine, can't wait..
Off course these have been all over the internet, but I still like them, because they are a bit weird and circus-y.
Take a look for more nice items in Ashleyg's Etsyshop

You grow girl!

With the beautiful sunny weather of today, I have gardening on my mind.

The house has a garden across the street, with lots of trees and bushes, a new fence and a small shed. The owner has planted some fruit trees but the rest is up to us. Ever since I first saw the website http://www.yougrowgirl.com/ I dreamt of having my own garden. So now that we finally have one, I can't wait !! But first we have to do some serious cleaning up..

Plate runner part 2

Let me start with saying: I've got them!

It turned out that the checkup took more than just the morning yesterday. So at 9 in the evening we could finally drive the 100 km's to pick up the papers and the 100 km's back home. This morning I took an early bus to the train station, and a train to the city centre. That went very smooth I must say.

After arriving at the licence registration office I took my number (again) and waited for two hours (again) to get the paperwork done (again). I was getting nervous because the people at the desk practice a very worried look when typing your stuff in the computer. But after some French mumbling from his side of the glass, I finally got it! But...it was only one plate. Almost in tears I asked where the other one was. The man gave me the strangest answer I could ever imagine:
Man: "Do you see that van outside?"
Me: "Err, yes..??"
Man: "Well, go to the man and ask him for a duplicate of your plate!"
Me: "Err...???"
Man: "That's how it works!"

So I walked to the van, gave the man my plate, paid him 10 euro's and he made me another one.

This really happened.

Another 643.267 miles to go...

Before we moved to Belgium, the boyfriend and I lived in the centre of Amsterdam. And I owned a bike and I had a job. That means total freedom: to have some money coming in every month, a bike to cruise the city and trains, trams, a car to bring you everywhere the bike can't take you.

Then we moved, and in just one week I lost all my freedom. No city, no job, no self earned money, no bike and no public transport. Of course the new house is beautiful, the village looks like a postcard and the garden is lovely in potential. BUT I AM TOTALLY STUCK HERE. We had foreseen this and reserved some of the moving money to buy me a car.

We bought a car last year (technically last year, it was the 31st of December), and we still cannot drive it! The thing in Belgium is that you pick up your own licence plates first, but in order to do that you need insurance first, and in order to get THAT you need to be registered with the city first.... aha!

Well on friday I finally completed the registration with the city, it took them almost 2 months and the last step included the mayer to fill in some scrap of paper by hand and stamp it a zillion times and then suddenly it was done. I drove to Brussels to "pick up"my plates, boy was I optimistic. I waited for 2,5 hours with a hundred others, there were only three windows and another hundred people who came in and went straight to the windows (why bother taking a number and just wait like the rest of us?). But I was still very optimistic, after all I could pick up the car, my car, later that afternoon! Well...not really. In the two months time the registration process with the city took, the date on the piece of paper that said that the car is in good condition, expired. By not even a week. The car needed to undergo an extensive check up, afterall it moved a vast distance of...well... 10 meters in the last month!

The check up takes place as we speak, let's hope the car will pass and I can drive 100 kilometres to the guy who tested the car to pick up a piece of paper, then drive 100 k's back to Brussels again this afternoon to pick up the plates. Then drive the 100 k's back with the plates to the car with the boyfriend and drive the last 100 k's with two cars. PLEASE

Spoonflower

You can actually print what you design, and order 10 yards or just buy a tiny swatch! I have seen this sort of site before, but there were always some dissapointments after submitting a design, f.e. THEY would CHOOSE a fabric to be printed, or you would have to order a minimum amount. But not with Spoonflower! I ordered a color chart, to see if my computer screen needs some finetuning, in order to submit more designs. There's one tiny little thing: shipping in US takes at least 3 (!) weeks, I'm wondering how long it takes to ship it to Belgium... we'll see!

Influenza

For the last 3 days I have been ill, the flue I think. At least the virusses LOOK better than they are!

Don't worry, be happy!

How can you not feel happy when yo see these designs? I'm fond of Jaime Hayons work because it's so positive and cheerful, almost childlike. When I feel a little down or when I am stuck in one of my designs, I just take a look on his website and within minutes I feel better, such an inspiration!

Colourful Friday: Dark blue

Like Picasso, I am experiencing a blue period at the moment. The darker the better, combined with grey and charcoal, or with a pinch of electric blue. Yesterday, as I was cleaning my closet and rearranged my clothing, I found that I own four (!) ink blue dresses, a few dark blue tops and three pairs of dark, dark denim! As they villagers would say: incroiable! (unbelieveable).

Here are a few of my favourites:

Dark blue butterfly wing, image by Tony Stone, Colour inspiration by VT Wonen (Dutch magazine), Starry, starry night, image by Getty Images, Modern Delft Blue tiles, by Hugo Kaagman.

And let there be light!

This is the first edition of the "Lamp no. 1 ", a design I did for my new label ROOM0031. The idea is that I sell products by (young and/or starting) designers from The Netherlands to shops in Belgium. Because we moved to Belgium, I had to quit my job in Amsterdam. This gave me the opportunity to start over again and I am very, very lucky that I can do what I like. Because of this luck and the gratitude I have for that, I really want to make this work!

Because I love interior and designing interior objects, I will contribute a few things to the label too.

About the lamp: it comes in a variety of colors (probabely 4-8 different) and the shade, stand and wire are in one color. The wire is covered with a cotton sleave, the stand has a glossy finish and the shade is made of chintz. Custom design and/or colors or finishes are also possible!

Winter Wonderland

The snow kept me home yesterday, the roads were too slippery and the children in the village enjoyed the day off school. Our puppy Ibu loves playing around and eating snow flakes. All the whites inspired me to do some restyling during lunch break.