Tidbits : Flickr Favourites

The beauty of wood

My mosaic for Mitsy (aka ArtMind on Etsy) is this week dedicated to the beauty of wood. I could not resist to put some buttons in ! You can see this week's flickr mosaics on her blog

Buttons : Present from Greet

I got some lovely goodies from several people on the Craftparking Fair in Maastricht. That was a very nice surprise ! For me, as a serious case of button addiction, the buttons I got from Greet (aka fleurfatale on Etsy) were the supreme highlight. And to test my camera again (and myself to check if I still remember how to do all its settings) I took some pics of the buttons.
These bows are really buttons !
An interesting old button made from some very early plastic; I still have to determine what it is.

Tidbits : Treasuries from the Schlei

Beautiful radiant fossil
My camera died on me 2 days ago, no idea what's wrong. Somehow, he made all pictures very dark and unsharp. I always use the autofocus and never studied the thing further. I looked on the internet and found the instruction booklet for my camera on line. After some fidling around, I think I got it. Using the functions and not the autofocus made the pictures I took not so dark anymore and some were reasonably sharp. So, I hope I remember what I did ....
Fossil that looks like a mouth ?
I found some treasuries along the Schlei in the last couple of weeks. They were my camera test models. So, here they are !
Fossilized sea urchin



No idea what this is, but there are lots of fossils !

Tidbits : Craftparking Maastricht 2

(pictures taken by my hubby before the fair started; he was more interested in the building than in the market ....)
I am back from the Craftparking fair in Maastricht and it was awesome !!!! I have never seen so many visitors; I had no time to sit or to visit all the other participants. I have a soar throat from all the talking in Dutch, English, German and French; it was pretty difficult to switch between the languages, so that when I started to get tired it became a very nice european mix language "fredugerglish" (maybe an idea for the EU ???). But the BEST OF ALL was to meet all my European Street Team friends from Etsy ! Greet, Kim, Mitsy, Karla, Veerle, Maria, Nathalie, Kerrin, Vanessa, Ina, Nicole, Bai; and of course all these etsy widowers and orphins.... Later I found out that I missed Maartje and that there were two other Etsy members in the participants too. Sorry Maartje for not passing by and saying hi to you. I think I had not laughed and talked so much as last sunday, especially after all my intestine problems it was fantastic ! And the funny thing was that, although we had never seen each other in real life, I had the idea of meeting old friends that I already knew for a very long time.

(1. AINSI Ateliers; 2. Q4; 3. AINSI Ateliers; 4. 16-08-2009 at 10.45 am; not many signs of a fair yet.)
The market was in an old cement factory built in 1927 by Peutz; a construction out of steel and concrete at the south of Maastricht centre to the foot of the Sint Pietersberg along the river Maas. It offers now facilities for artistic amateurs and professionals; there are lots of workshops for artists and offices for creative companies. It was the perfect place for this craft market !

(1. Buitengoed Slavante; 2. Slavante op een oude ansichtskaart)

After the market we walked a little higher on the Sint Pietersberg to the Slavante Restaurant, a beautiful old building with a gorgeous view over the river Maas, where we had a lovely evening together; I loved the Limburgs zuurvlees. Finally, little Peggy started to feel ok again, She suffered a bit from the heat, all the people and the noise (there was quite some echo in the factory). But at Slavante she found the road to the kitchen very quick... It was a great evening among "old" new friends, and it was fantastic to say goodbye to Kerrin in such a personal way. I want to thank Mitsy for all her organisation; she did the best of jobs !
(my own stand before the visitors arrived)

Tidbits : Craftparking Maastricht 1

(my new business card; address etc. on the back)
I will be attending the Craftparking fair in Maastricht this Sunday, 16th of August !
We will drive to The Netherlands on Saturday, stay with my father, and drive to Maastricht on Sunday. It's a very international carft fair, not only crafters from The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, but also from Portugal and Spain ! And a lot of my European Street Team friends from Etsy ! I am so excited to meet them in the non-virtual life.
So, everybody who has the opportunity, come and visit us; it will be great fun !!!!!

Challenge : Overview 4

The European street team of Etsy organizes weekly challenges in order to stimulate its members to create other things as usual.
I enjoy these challenges very much; so here again an overview of my entries in the last 14 challenges:



Caffeine Molecule
Challenge by binkaminka: Insomnia


Chocolate Molecule
Challenge by Leelabijou: Inspired by a Movie ("Chocolat")


Cute Birdie Brooch
Challenge by carmenesque: Birds


Serotonin Molecule
Challenge by antigoni: La vita e bella

Baby's Breath
Challenge by alatvian: Cheap and Gorgeous


Black Orchid
Challenge by vilte: Wild versus Elegant


The Audrey Hepburn Pouch that never was ...
Challenge by meltemsem: Audrey Hepburn


Pastel Silk Pouch
Challenge by AmandaYuDesign: Pastel Color

Kraplap Bodice in Jade-Green
Challenge by kraplap: Traditional Costume

Checkmate Bracelet
Challenge by StormsHandicrafts: Checkmate

Dots Messenger Bag
Challenge by staroftheeast: Dots

Retro Flower Messenger Bag - Green
Challenge by iragrant: The colours which make you happy

Square Dot Messenger Bag
Challenge by LaTouchables: The Hidden Site

Honeycomb Amulet Bag
Challenge by steinschmuckdesign: Mystic