bye 2011

I'm always looking for ways to wrap gifts without using any
plastic, adhesive tape. Washi tape is a great alternative,
but I'm even happier if I could do without it.

Here is one of my attempts (I used one tiny piece of washi
tape to keep the inner tissue paper together, but psst.. ;)).
I took some of my glass flowers, which were too small for my
necklaces to decorate it (yet, the person who'll get them,
could still use them to make a necklace or anything else :)).



Enjoy the last day in 2011 & the first day in 2012!
xo

season's greetings

Time flies and 2011 is coming to the end.
Although I'm not really here anymore, I don't want to miss
out sending you my seasons's greetings.



The ornament is one of the very few Christmas ornaments I
owned. I guess, the older I get, the lazier I become with
decorating. I grabbed them out only to take the photo (to
tell you the truth, I didn't even remember I own them! Geez..).
But hey, next year is a new chance, right? ;)

All my best wishes to you! xo

new chapter

When I closed my shops at the beginning of September, it was
because Etsy has done something, I was (and still am) not
agree with. I communicated my concerns clearly to them a few
times, which got ignored. I can't change Etsy's mind - which
is fine -, but I can change my own mind and so I quit Etsy.

It was quite funny. After I closed my shops, I went to the
forum. On that day Chad, Etsy's CEO, has started a thread
about how to find courage. My answer to Chad was kind of a
goodbye statement to the Etsy community. I answered him,
that it's like when you jump from the high (swinging) swing
as a kid. You simply know - you feel it, when it's time for it.

It was like that when I started on Etsy and it was again like
that when I quit Etsy. I didn't know what would happen next -
will I land safely or will I break my bones -, but I knew, I have
to do it.

Sometimes life has another plan ready for you before you even
realize it.



So here I am to start a new chapter in my life - a new chapter,
I couldn't even imagine four weeks back. For this new chapter
I will be stepping back from glasfaden for a while.

I don't know, if I will be posting here every now and then or
when I will be back again, but we'll see ;) Anyway, keep in touch, friends!

All my best wishes,
Devi xo

edit:
Haha... when I link this post to the photo on my Flickr, I saw
the previous photo and remember, what I said in my last post
"I need something chic for some (probably never occurred)
occasions". Well, it seems, I'll get lots of opportunities to wear it now!

result of a battle

Remember I told you I never finish sewing anything for myself? I don't know, either that fact - besides of the sewing related reasons I told you back then - was because of the haunting echo of my mom's words when I was a kid, whenever I wanted to try something new "but you never finished anything" or if it is simply a proof of the truth in her words. While my fabric stack as well as my ideas are growing higher and higher, my guts to start anything for myself was actually getting smaller and smaller. It brought me to no where but suffering inwardly. There is always a battle inside of me - one side of me wants to try things out, to see either my ideas would work or not, and the other side of me tries to kill it - ugh!

The past weeks I tried to embrace different words "focus on one thing at a time" and put all my worries and thoughts of anything behind - simply anything. No, I wasn't in the mood to draw or to lampwork or to felt. I wanted to sew and so I sewed, sewed and sewed. For my son, for our sofa (this project isn't finished yet, but one day it will ;)), but especially for myself.


Ok, the tunic is not to be worn together with the Marlene-style trousers - I had to crop my photo, not to make myself  look short and wide, even if I think it looked okay on the mirror (now, is that a sign of narcissism? :P) LOL

I've been wanting to make the trousers back in 1999, when I first saw it in the Burda magazine. At that time I subscribed the magazine and the 08/1999 issue was my most favorite one - even after such a long time. I own only jeans, thus I need something chic for some (probably never occurred) occasions. The fabric is a mix of wool and silk. I managed to follow everything in the pattern incl. every details, without one single alteration - which is not common for me. Needles to say, I was very proud of myself, when I finished it.

The tunic pattern was self drafted. I took my measurements and drew a simple pattern down. It's made of two parts (three with the neckline backing). It has kind of a kimono-style, straight-cut shoulder and sleeves. To be honest, the motivation to do so was because I'm still a little bit afraid of attaching sleeve-parts to the bodice - I've done it about three times for my son before, but I was always nervous and I got even more respect to do it  using single-jersey fabric. I had to alter my original pattern, because the sleeves were too big and it didn't look nice (my son said, "Mom, you looked like a general!" because of the standing sleeves LOL). I made them much smaller, so they won't stand too much - the wrinkles on the sleeves are thus part of the design ;) The slight wavy bottom part was a spontaneous action, which I'm not really satisfied with. But all together I'm pretty pleased with the result.

And now, on to the next project, as this battle is over ;)

new place

Hi, friends! It's been over two months since my last post.
I wasn't in the mood to say anything nor to show anything.
It will come back one day, I believe.

For now, I want to invite you to a new place to connect
with each other. I know, many of you have accounts on
FB and Twitter. I actually do too, but I don't really like
both. So when a few weeks ago the furor about Google+
was around, I wanted to give it a try.

I did nothing for a long while, when I finally got an account.
After lurking around for a while, I started to use it some
day ago. I think, I slowly get the hang of it and like it,
cause I can decide, whom I share my posts with - public
and/or my circle(s) and/or a single person and/or even
people, who doesn't have an account there (they'll got it
via email). The only shortcoming I'm seeing at the moment,
is that I cannot change my decision after I released the
post - the only way is to delete and re-post.

If you don't have an account yet, send me your email
address (please don't put it in the comment) and tell me who
you are (if you think, I don't know you ;) share your blog
or website or Etsy shop or how you found me, when you
just stumbled upon my blog) and I'll send you an invite.
If you already have an account and want to add me to your
circle, you can find me here. Hope, you'll join the fun (or not
haha - you can decide it for yourself!). And as I said above,
one day my mood of writing longer posts with pictures will
come back and you'll see me here again :)

surrected

Random plant parts, which I found lying on the ground on
my way home from the grocery.

Happy weekend, friends!

fauna & flora

I told my son, we should open up a pet shelter ;) One day
after Ella's visit, Franklin came to visit me. I wondered,
what would happen, if they met each other. Each of them
alone is the gentlest dog and cat, but together? Not sure
about that...


right: Franklin's waiting for me to let him out and go
back home

Last year I was excited, when I read this recipe on Etsy blog.
I went immediately to the garden, but it was too late - the
purslane were no longer looking good. So, I'm excited to see
them coming out again - I simply love edible weeds!



I also harvested the red currant and the strawberries. We
got lots of red currants this year (those in the bowl is 2/3 of
them - I left the other 1/3 to give the birds a chance to enjoy
them too). Last year the flowers fell off too early because of
the rainy weather, so only some few were left to fruit. Last
year's strawberries were bigger than this year's. Well, that's
probably my fault, cause I didn't give them fertilizer nor much
water in this dry weather (my philosophy is what survived fits
the climate and gardening should be fun, not only work - now
ask me, why I want to plant banana in my garden then LOL).



I washed and dried each berries and then put them in the
fridge. My son and I love to eat them pure and frozen
(although those strawberries from the first harvest were
turned into strawberry curd cheese - also yummm....!! :)).

weekend

We had a visitor this weekend. She had visited us once.
This time she stayed overnight. Since it's quite warm here
(we live under the roof - the heat of the house is gathered
right here and sometimes it feels like in the oven, sort of...),
it must be quite a torture for her. She slept most times. But
when she's awake, she nudged me to pet her by slipping her
nose under my elbow or brought me her toy :)


The plush ladybug (was once a lavender bag from the junk
food chain with the double yellow arch - yes, sometimes we
eat junk food ;)) is to distract her from grabbing other stuff,
as she loves anything plushy and shoes.

Hope, you had (and still have) a good weekend.

exploring

Either it was the weather lately which made me so tired all
day or I am simply old (and have to be prepared of some
off-days after working in the garden). Anyway.. two new
pieces for my art shop, from the "Exploration" series.

#1 is already in the shop and #2 is waiting in the draft to
get listed tonight. due to an accidental click is there too LOL
I love this new possibility to save a draft and today for the
first time I use the copy function :)



Hope, you are enjoying your Sunday!

bigger

I wanted to list this one in the shop last night, but was too
tired to write the description and edit the photos.
But now it is listed here.



The packaging stuff arrived yesterday. But when I ordered
them, I didn't knew I'd start bigger format. I'm not sure,
how to package this one. Probably in a tube. Have I said
it before, that I love to be back on business? Even with
all the headache-making things around the business...

*

I waited to plant out my plants till the cold snap is over.
Normally, it is around mid May. It was sunny and lovely
weather the whole time. But then, when I finally planted
them out (yesterday, not yet everything), it of course had
to rain hail. So, that's how theory and practice can fall apart.
Next time I should rather listen to my feeling instead of
following the farmer's principle, I guess ;)


This photo is old! The courgette and everything else have
been growing much, much bigger of course...

finally open

I'm late, I know. May 26th is over here in Germany, but
started late (I forgot, my son took part on the school
summer concert) I finally listed my first item in the new
shop *phew* It took me longer, because I'm new to the
subject (listing an art work). I'm sure, I overlooked several
things. But that's tomorrow's (oops, today's) story. I'm too
tired after working in the garden the whole morning. Well,
at least I made the first step. Even baby steps are great,
right? ;)



Will list the next item tomorrow night.

these days

Some of you might have noticed, that my jewelry shop
is back alive again. Just re-filled them with my expired
stock, but as I announced on my profile, I will start adding
new items in June. Even without any sales yet, it feels good
to be back in business.



Tomorrow I'm going to take photos of the first items for
my art shop and list them one by one. The past days I found
myself often stuck in bookkeeping the ideas instead of creating
itself. Sometimes creativity flow could be almost as bad as
creativity drain, no? I haven't got any idea yet, how to
photograph them, so I'll play around to figure it out. And the
packaging stuff haven't arrived yet. But I don't want to wait
any longer. I'm way excited and curious of the reactions (if
there are any LOL - it's hard to stand out on Etsy nowadays)
and alone this feeling is worth to open a fresh new shop IMO.

*

BTW.. for those of you who live in Germany, pull out your
(knit) needles and materials and be part of this action.

*

Last night I pulled out Epi's CD, which I bought three years
ago. My favorite song is the Great Eagle Dance. You could
listen to it on the right menu bar, but if you had a chance to
watch him, go for it - the music is enchanting.

*

Thank you for the peeps, who welcomes me back by putting
my items in their treasuries!
It's the little things... by wavyshell
... blue sky, bright sun ... by SoFino
Into The Forest by StemDesigns
Treasury time by tricotaria
Sunray by JKphotography

Haven't got the time to make new treasuries myself. Hopefully
in June :)

soon

A few days ago I set up a new shop on Etsy, where I plan
to sell my artwork (although I sometimes claim - not all,
but some of - my jewelry to be art too, I mean rather non-
wearable, decorative artwork - the jewelry lines will stay
at glasfaden). I'm hoping to (re)open both shops in this
month - no exact date yet, but I'll let you know. At the
moment I'm busy building stock and preparing the new
shop - making banner, writing policies, calculating
prices, etc. The banner is now uploaded. How do you like it?

I'm also reorganizing our home to optimize my work flow.
A while ago I moved my computer to the bedroom, but it
was a real no-brainer. I need a cool (or even cold) room to
be able to sleep (thus, it normally remains unheated in
winter), but I need it warm to be able to work in front of
the computer. So, I had to move my computer out of my
bedroom again. Temporarily it is in my living room (since
a few months now *cough*), but I think, I'm going to move
it back to the corridor again (my dream to have an e-piano
at that place won't be real so soon anyway).



The studio (expanded to the kitchen if needed) is now meant
for the production and the materials I need for it. My bedroom
is now the storage room for non-jewelry-related materials
(fabric, wool), ready-to-ship products and final packaging
materials.

What kind of artwork I'm making for the shop? Well, it has something to do with light and shadow is all I can say for now.
Stay tuned! :)


No, this photo has nothing to do with my work. I simply love
any kind of light reflections or shadows.

a disaster

Three days ago I was about to finish a post about the
illustration I made for the project One Thousand Wishes
after I saw it listed in the shop. I wanted to write about
my inspiration - the shoots I showed you in my last post.


wrongly titled "nasturtium" - oops!

I was writing, when my thoughts wandered to the seeds
I had in my pots now and also to the plants I grew nine
years ago. Some of the seeds I use are that old and to my
luck most of them grow! I was comparing the shape and
colors of the different shoots, when I suddenly got the
feeling, I might mixed something up.

It was so funny to watch the red roots coming out of the
seed and lifted it in the air. It looked like a little brown
monster with three red legs :) When the empty capsule
was then fell off, there come three lovely shoots. The
leaves look particularly similar to the coriander sprouts
leaves. Only the red stem make the difference (it's been
a long time since I grown my own red chard - I wonder,
if the shoot looks similar..).
[ from my dropped post ]

I quickly looked up in the paper bags, where I keep my seeds,
and double-checked it on Google. Aargh - I indeed made a
mistake! A BIG one, since I only realized it two days after Ali
listed it in the shop :( What a disaster!!



I made a new illustration right on that day - with the right
title this time (not in the shop yet, as far as I knew, so check
the shop often, if you are interested. Well I hope, it will be
listed after this disaster). While I made the first one out of
my memories, the details in the second one was based more
on observation. I'm learning from my mistake...


***


I collected the buds of the chives for cooking this morning
and while the rice was cooking, I couldn't resist to style them
for a photo.

before


after


Didn't took the time to make a photo of the dish (fried wild
rice with carrot, chive buds and scrambled egg), because
we had to hurry with lunch. My son had to catch the bus.


***


Happy Easter, friends!

overdue

Sorry for being so quiet lately. There's too much on going
and I couldn't keep up with everything.

One thing that is overdue is to tell you about a project to
support the Japanese earthquake victims: One Thousand
Wishes. The idea came from Ali from the dotted line, whom
I met via Flickr a while ago. It was a nice coincidence, since
I was looking for a way to help.

My first contribution is sold, but there are still some lovely
items there. And I just sent Ali the information for my second
contribution (yep, I'm very late!). Here's my inspiration for it.



If you purchase something from the shop, don't forget to visit
Ali's post and leave a comment there, cause she has a lovely
giveaway.


photo by the dotted line

Hey, spring!

Remember the weed I took into the house the other day?
Here's a close-up. Those fine hairs amaze me.


Meanwhile the nature has start to bloom everywhere, in-
and outside the house. I picked these flowers from the
garden.


And the hoya bella started really early this year. I hope,
the flowers will last longer than last year.


The (sun)light in the past days really helps the early blooming
everywhere. Hey, spring!

patterns

I haven't been in town just for fun for ages. So yesterday
I took my camera, went to the older part of the city and
took pictures, with patterns and textures in mind.

My first stop was Münster, the cathedral.











Later, I strolled around between the houses.









At home I saw the weeds are already all over the places
again, awake from the winter sleep. I took this one to be
a model for my drawing.

I got this maneki neko last month from a friend. She brought
it from Japan - her homeland - and said, it should bring me
luck.



I'm glad her family in Japan is fine. And so far everyone I
know are okay as well. Sending my thoughts to those in Japan.
I hope, no bigger catastrophe is coming.

If you care to help, you could donate through Paypal without
any percent cut. Etsy seems to hinder a fundraising shop this
time :(

savoy

I bought a savoy some days ago. Since my fridge was
already full, I put it in my cold loggia. Bad decision,
since I soon forgot about it. Yesterday I found it dried
already. Not longer good for cooking, but still great to
get photographed. I love the textures of savoy.


more here

a visit

I got a visit today - the cat from the neighbor house.
My neighbor is taking care of the backyard, so the house
door was wide open. The cat always try to get in whenever
she can. She meowed in front of my apartment door. I
normally don't let her come in, but today I did.

It's so fun to see, how she sneaked around, scrubbing
her chin on the floor before stepping further. When she
came to the living room and felt my son's playing carpet
under her feet, she started to make herself comfortable.
Normally I'd go away, if it was another cat. My experience
in the past taught me, that cats would scratch, if they
are at this stage (my grandma's cats did that) - one of
the reason why I'm rather a dog than a cat person ;) But
this cat is such a gentle one. Isn't she's adorable?



After a while, she look at the window and jumped to the
window sill. I wondered, what she thought, when she saw
the different view of the familiar place from above...



I then let her go out before my neighbor closed the house
door again, as he was finished with the weekly cleaning.

new old

The chairs in our kitchen (= dining room) are 14 y.o. Nothing
wrong about the age actually, but the fact that they are folding
chairs (my ex and I were students and we thought they were
practical when we had to move often). The base is made of
metal, so they squeak and my son loves to make them squeak
even louder by fidgeting - my poor ears and neighbors ;)

When I moved into this new apartment, I started to look for
chairs (and a table, as the veneer of our table starts to fall
apart) in second hand shops and at Ebay. I didn't have a
certain idea of what I was looking for. So, I bought two used
chairs from two different eras, which don't really match each
other. I always love the look of those different chairs on a
table in magazines and blogs, but I don't think it fits me. I still
love both chairs - each on its own though.

Last week I saw a lovely Danish table/chair set for 35 Euros
for buy now at Ebay and I just couldn't resist. So, now we
have a new old dining table and chairs.



I really love the chairs - so comfortable! The upholster colors
match the clover and Amy's photographs, which I yet have
to mat properly in the vintage frames and finally hang. And
the withered tulips! LOL



The table is not my favorite. The good thing is that the white
linoleum surface makes the kitchen brighter and also the
round format fits better in the room - makes it look bigger.
But if I have guests (ok, I rarely have many guests at once), it's
not practical at all. So, I will continue keeping my eyes open
for a table.

Of course, there are some flaws, as they are not new (they
were probably used in a restaurant or a canteen before - I
forgot to ask). But I don't mind at all. I'm simply happy about
the non-squeaking, comfortable chairs :D

before after

Found myself taking photos of (almost) the same objects
from (almost) the same position again and again lately.
Therefore.. here some before-after..


Feb 20th, 2011 : Feb 21st, 2011


Feb 20th, 2011 : Feb 21st, 2011


Feb 16th, 2011 : Feb 22nd, 2011

P.S. love those tulips, as I don't think I ever had some which
smell so nice before!

summer time

I skip over spring and hop directly to summer time ;)


A bit smaller than my usual flower focal necklace, as I was
trying to make it on a thinner, selfmade curved mandrel.

music meets theater

I watched them last Sunday in the theater. Nice play with
great actors (as well as musicians and singers in persons -
really great voices!).



Two of them have another performance this Sunday. Too bad, I
won't make it - hopefully next time.

from my heart

In 2002 I traveled along the East Coast of Australia with
my (at that time still) hubby and my around 2 y.o. son.
We hired a camper (an OC) in Cairns and moved along
southwards till we reach Brisbane. I liked the journey
itself and I loved the landscapes, but even if I find camping
is cool, I have to face the truth that I'm not cool at all. I am
simply a big town girl who isn't made for camping. I was
stressed out every time we had to stop overnight. At that
time the connection between my ex and me had already a
crack. Deeper than we'd realize or admit. I thought, my
stress was only because of my issue with the camping thing.
But I guess, our problem summed it up. Anyway, at the end
of that journey I was psychically rather a wrack than relaxed!

Why do I tell you this? It might be not a highlight of a holiday
in general, but I did have some good time though. The days
on the Heron Island, for example, were unforgettable. I wanted
to take a diving lesson. But as they heard, that I have never
even snorkeled before, they told me to start with that first. So
I did and I loved it. I forgot time and space, when I followed
the fishes. Probably I was a dolphin in my past life (there was
a comic about a boy named Denny - half fish, half human -
that I read as I was little and at that time I often dreamed I
could swim like a fish LOL Sorry, I wander..). We made
friends with other travelers. A (German) family had invited
us to visit them, when we reached Brisbane. And there are
some more good memories about that time.

To make long story short.. I'm sure you have read, seen and
heard about the flood in Australiam which affected some of
the places I have been. And as you know, although I'm not
a fan of seasonal items, somehow I often manage to make
a few random heart items before the Valentine's day (which
must be a leftover of the "heart-giving" tradition during my
school days). So, this time those items will go to the shop
AusDisasterRelief to help the victims. The card will make the
start. Another item will follow, I hope (won't promise anything
though..).



I don't have contact with the family in Brisbane anymore (I'm
a bad contact keeper, as you might already know ;)). I don't
know, either they are still there or not. But I hope, they are
okay, where ever they are at the moment...