My 49th country...
My 49th county is Myanmar! To learn more about this unique, beautiful country visit our travel blog TheXtraSuitcase.com.
I guess my 50th needs to be a very special country. Anyone care to guess what country it will be? Our next 4 trips are all countries we have been to so I do not know what it will be.
I am completely in love with the elephant. This is a new phase since moving to Asia. And the number one thing on my "bucket list" is to ride one. Soon, I hope.
Made this quick little pair of earrings in honor of the elephant.
and I found this adorable pillow in Bangkok
to go in the elephant room (our guest room).
With the elephant border!
Told you I was obsessed with them. I know you are thinking how cliche - elephant decor in Asia. But it makes me happy!
What image makes you happy?
January/February Edition
It is always a THRILL to be published in the fabulous Stampington family of magazines. I actually found out on Christmas Day from a blog friend - Merry Christmas to me - what a GREAT present!!
I was waiting to post it on my blog as I wanted to see the magazine first. BUT, with the move, the mail is very mixed up and delayed........so I thought I would just share the photos I took before I sent it off to Somerset Studio.
In Brussels, I bought a delightful old book, Les Douze Filles de Le Reine Mab, at a flea market. The images were very whimsical and inspired me to create a variety of chartreuse collages. For the cover (above), I layered several pieces of patterned paper and stitched on top of it. In the circle, I placed a piece of text from the book and a photo of the queen and covered it with ice resin.
The book was dated 1920. When I looked up the translation of the title, I learned that Queen Mab was a fairy from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
I paid 8 Euros ($11.50). It was a bargain, as I saw it on-line for $65. For the inside pages of my folder, I selected four images I liked and layered them with text from the book along with patterned paper.
Collette
I colored on top of the collages with watercolor crayons and painted over the colors with a wet paintbrush. I stitched around the edge using chartreuse thread. I glued the collages onto pages I had from an old photo album from Poland.
La Sauterelle
I added mica and ephemera: vintage lace, leaves, and buttons.
Janine
Minnie
On the inside of the cover I glued the table of contents from the book. And highlighted those “daughters” I featured.
The very last page is patterned paper, text, and a piece from the cover of the back of the original book.
I can't wait to see which image made the magazine - maybe more than one??
I have one last Brussels “flea market find” post. I was hoping to close out all of my Brussels posts in 2011, but with the move and the holidays I had one stray…….but oh so fun and worth posting.
On Dec 22nd we went to one of our favorite restaurants for the last time for lunch. In that neighborhood is a “petite rien" – a treasure trove of a shop…….like a big, BIG thrift shop. They have one big room with nothing but books. And one section of old books at very good prices. Plus the money goes to charity.
There was a big wooden box filled with cigar bands. I don’t collect them per se, but have used them in cards and they sell very well.
The ENTIRE “lot” was 15 euros ($19 USD)
I started to sweat……you know the feeling, when you find a real treasure at a great price. BUT HOW ON EARTH WILL I GET IT TO SINGAPORE? Our shipment was gone. We were down to three suitcases. This "find" would fill one whole suitcase. WHO CARES…….mail it! The hubby rolls his eyes and walks out of the room to read his blackberry, thinking......
"she knows better than to buy it"
Ha! Me know better? The man behind the register handed me a sack……as I told him I did not want the wooden box as it was too heavy to carry on the tram. I started shoving the boxes and envelopes of labels in the bag before the hubby sees how many are actually there. I call him for money to pay……..he hands me a 20 and does not say a word. This is why I love him : )
There are THOUSANDS of cigar bands. What a collection! There are ten boxes filled and many envelopes stuffed full. I am sure it is would be worth quite a bit of money to a collector.
....there were lovely ladies
........and a playful jester
....and ducks and birds
and matching sets (cigar box label included with this one) .....
big ones (the small one shown is a normal sized one)
You name it - I have it!
Oh by the way….if you are still wondering how I got them to Singapore…....six days before we were schedule to fly out, we discovered that embassy staff are able to ship DPO to DPO FREE. WOAHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Bye Bye Brussels.....
we will miss you terribly.....
no more belgian waffles
no more belgian "frites"
No more croque Monsieur
no more Speculoos McFlurries
Today is our last day in Brussels. The last 4 years (and 3 months) have been awesome! An experience we never imaged would happen to us. We felt we made the most of our time here, visiting so many countries and making many new wonderful friends from around the globe.
We spent our last two days doing our favorite thing....eating! We wanted to make sure we had all of our special Belgian foods one last time. Chocolate would also be on this list - but we all know you can get chocolate anywhere in the world.
I cried twice today - once when M&D and baby ajax stopped by to say goodbye - and the second time when the taxi pulled away to take us to the airport.
We will truely miss Brussels and Europe - but hold on to you hats as we embark upon a whole new experience in Asia. Stay tuned......lots of new posts to come.
Happy New Year to everyone.
I am completely infatuated with the merry-go round at the Brussels Christmas market. I can't find any information on the history of it. Unfortunately, it is for children only : (
I guess this guy could be scary for children.
A flying mechanical man.
I love the ostrich.
The horse with wings is also a favorite.
Nothing says Christmas like a bowl of ice cream! From our favorite ice cream shop - Comus & Gasterea. I had a scoop of Speculoos and a scoop of Carmel and sale (salt). D had three pepper and balsamic flavor.
Two things we will miss in Brussels - the Christmas Market and C&G ice cream!
All went smoothly on day one of the move. It called for 80% chance of rain but by 10:00 the sun came out. The lift they use to move the boxes and furniture is interesting. I have never seen one used in the US, but I have never lived in a major city before.
The crew has been great - they are friendly and are doing a very good job wrapping everything. They also seem conscientious as to how they box our items.
Once everything is prepped and sorted for them, there is not much left for us to do......here I am in a pile of boxes with my Somerset Life Magazine!
They put boxes into boxes, then into crates. We have 1000 pounds that will be air-shipped to Singapore and approximately 1000 pounds that will be sea-shipped to my mom's for storage - most of this being winter clothes and shoes. We do not know the total of the sea-ship to Singapore, we will find this out today, but it can't go over 6,200. If it does, we have to pay per pound.
I like the photo below - it shows how crazy our street can be. The man in the middle of the street is making deliveries to the building across from us as traffic piles up behind him.
Keep your fingers crossed for no rain today!
I know.... I said the last one was my last one...but this really is the LAST one as the movers come on Monday! I was tired of packing and needed a break so I wandered to the flea market.
Aren't these purple crystal beads beautiful? From the looks of the clasp, they are pretty old. Paid 6 euros.
I am not a huge fan of old pearls, but I wanted the clasp on this one. The pearls are actually pretty nice - they are very heavy. Paid: 5 euros.
The stack below - 11 euros plus the plate at the end (from 20 euros). The rosary is made of real beads not plastic ones. The black and clear glass beads are very nice, they are strung on a chain.
This one deserves a close up. Looks like three of the rhinestones were replace with yellow ones. That center hole is crying out for a design using resin.
This pin is very well made and I think really old. I paid 4 euros.
Look at how the clasp is designed, with a push pin end.
I found another of these crazy cases. No one responded in the last post as to what they are - do you know? This one had old gauze and a small piece of linen. I really think they are like miniature shrines. Isn't it odd how you find a piece you have NEVER seen then the next week you find a second one? Guess they are out there but my eye never picked up on it before. Paid: 3 euros (from 6 euros).
Old letters - 5 euros. It was a much bigger stack than what I am showing.
I love this photo that was with this stack of letters. The man is sitting at a desk writing. Are these the letters he wrote? I think so. I see a collage and story with these.
My bargain at 50 cent euro.
An old book of sheet music. I used this for my Christmas cards. Paid: 5 euro.
An old cookie tin for 6 euro.
I liked the shape of this one. It was taller than most.
A pretty plate. I paid 11 euros with the jewelry grouping in the begining.
I needed a few more old small spoons. Paid: 5 euro (down from 6). Nothing super special, just cheap.
I have no idea why, but the flea was very crowded and I have mentioned before, that the vendors do not haggle when there are a lot of people around....so no great deals today. I did get a few vendors to go down on a couple items. A good farewell trip!
Kim's challenge this week over at TT was to use the theme "celebrate the upcoming holidays". Since today is Sinterklaas Day, I thought I would use an image from my vintage postcard collection. I used three of Kim's textures on it: believe (how appropriate), cinnamon and her brand new one - look up.
Sinterklaas is a Dutch tradition that is celebrated in Belgium, the Netherlands and Northern France. He traditionally arrives in the Netherlands each year in mid-November by steamboat from Spain (where he lives the rest of the year). But he does not visit the children until the eve of Dec 5th.
On this night, children put their shoes next to the fireplace along with a carrot or some hay, and a bowl of water "for Sinterklaas' horse". They must sing a special song before going to bed. They also leave a letter to Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet (his helper), to let them know what they would like. If they do this, the next day they will find sweets or a present in their shoes.
Traditional treats Sinterklaas leaves include hot chocolate, mandarin oranges, letter-shaped pastry filled with almond paste or chocolate letter (the first letter of the child's name), speculoos, chocolate coins and marzipan figures of Sinterklaas. It is clear that our tradition of Santa Claus stems from this.
While researching Sinterklaas, I read the following - the word “cookie” is from the Netherlands. The Dutch word is "koekje," and means "little cake." The Dutch brought the "koekjes" to America in the 17th century and the word became "cookie."
The first cookies were created by accident. Cooks used a small amount of cake batter to test their oven temperature before baking a large cake. A little bit of sugar was added and it became a cookie! Before long, special cookies were being made for the Dutch’s favorite holiday -- Sinterklaas. These cookies are called Speculoos. Oh my very very favorite Belgian treat!
Here is the recipe – I have not tried it yet as the ones I buy in the store are so yummy - why bother baking?
Dutch Speculaas (Speculoos in Belgium) Cookies
1 cup margarine (or butter)
1 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Cream margarine. Add sugar, spices. Cream until fluffy.
2. Add extract and 3 tablespoons milk, beat to blend.
3. Add flour and baking powder, a little at a time, blending well.
4. Cover dough lightly; chill for 3 hours or more.
5. Mold cookies in traditional speculaas molds or use a cookie cutter
6. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 10-15 min.
Please let me know if you try the recipe and stop by to see what others are celebrating over at TT.
Monday was a good day at the flea market. It was cold and no one was there so the vendors were willing to negotiate {a little}. And the big news .......the hubby actually tagged along with me! This is a rarity!
I paid 18 euros ($24.35) for the five pieces below. The vendor wanted 35 euros ($47.36) to start. We were stuck on 20 vs 18 but he finally gave in! I do love to negotiate. To me it is half the fun of the purchase. The hubby hates this part.
Oh so pretty!
I plan to put an image and text with the one below and cover with ice resin.
When we were negotiating, the vendor kept showing me this tag saying the one piece was 15 euros to start with - right! They NEVER write prices on anything - it was from the store he got it from.
This will make a pretty focal for a necklace - with some text behind the red window.
I liked this piece - not sure what it is. A match holder? Do you know?
Here is a view with the lid open. It is only 2.5 x 1.5 but deep - 3/4 an inch. It was stamped Depose, which I thought was a manufacturer but it just means restricted or copyright in French.
Isn't this a great piece? Again - no idea what it is - guesses are welcome.
It had a little clasp on the side you push to open. There was also a hinge at the bottom, but that was broken - but it still opened and shut perfectly. Notice the piece of paper folder in the bottom?
I opened it and it had a newspaper clipping of a soldier. No dates and the paper was in French.
And one of my most favorite books I have purchased here in Brussels - an almanac and petite encyclopedia from 1896. I paid 3 euros ($4). The vendor would not go down. A women - very unusual as all of the vendors at this flea are men.
The pages are so interesting and diverse. Most are B&W but there are a handful of colored pages. This one is very art Nouveau. It looks like it could be by Toulouse Lautrec.
Really - this one too.
I bought the book for collages but I am not sure I can cut it. I looked it up on-line and there were a few books priced between 30 and 40 euros ($40 - $54). Maybe I should use copies! There are so many fascinating images, like the engraved B&W pictures below of beds.
and several maps
and a calendar to make notes
There is even a section that shows all the kings and queens of that year. King Leopold II of Belgium and......
Queen Victoria of England. The hubby was having fun reading this one!
I also picked up this book for 2 euros ($2.70). The colors on the cover are so beautiful and vivid.
It is dated 1889.
The back cover.
And the pages have Marie at the top.
I picked up these two pieces of china - I thought it would be fun to display jewelry bits and pieces waiting to be used.
They are from England and are made by a company called Empire. According to the mark on the bottom - they were made in February of 1950 - so not too old.
I paid 8 euros ($10.80) for the two plus the serving utensil below.
Even though the handle is rusted, I liked it.
My mind was racing as to what I could make out of it....
Have you noticed all the beautiful paper I used as the backdrop to my items? I found an old stack of handwritten letters and documents as we were leaving - 5 euros for the stack dated from 1894 to 1910. Lovely!
This one was for the construction of a house with prices. Note the WC (toilet) for 30 euros.
I have a feeling this may be my last flea market for my life in Europe......if it was, it certainly was a good one - with the hubby and all!
Welcome to my blog! I love creating mixed media cards, art, and jewelry. This blog is a place for me to share my creations, my collections, and what inspires me (travel, art, photography). The hubby and I travel often and I love collecting and sharing unique finds from the countries we visit. We are currently living in Montreal, Quebec.
You can see my art and articles in the following magazines:
