Currently on my wish list

My birthday is not nearly there yet and the moving houses has left me pretty much broke but that does not keep me from wishing, especially with a whole new house and garden to fill! And well… some of the things on my list are useful as well ;-].

BEDDING | After more than then years of sleeping under the duvet I took when I left my parents home, I finally invested in a nice and big feather ‘grown up’ duvet. So now I’m obsessing over all the beautifull duved cover sets that are out there. This one from H&M is definitely on my priority list because of the pattern and the wallet friendly price.

JEWELRY | A colleague tipped me on the lovely juwelry brand Turina. Both the paper head shaped gold plated brooch as the acorn necklace are from this great webshop based in Amsterdam. I also love the letters of the alphabet necklaces they sell; would make a nice present.

BOOKS | Since I bought an e-reader for our honeymoon to Japan I read more often again and I love it. These two books are on my book wishlist at the moment: Tsjik by Wolfgang Herndorf and De morgen loeit weer aan (the Roar of morning) by Tip Marugg.

CERAMIC CUPS | Also after Japan I dream about handmade ceramics. I was lucky enough to find a few beautiful pieces of ceramics while travelling but because of the little space left in my suitcase I have still room in my kitchen for some more. Large cups are high on my list and I really love this pair I found on Etsy.

PETS | Yes a chicken! Since the idea of moving to the country side popped into our heads more often I kept fantasizing about having eggs from our own chicks. We even came up with names already months before we actually found a house; Marilyn, Sofia and Brigitte ;-]. We have to build a henhouse first but as soon as we’re ready for them, we will go on the hunt for some feathered ladies to come live with us. Since our yard is big enough for both chickens and rabbits; rabbits are on my wish list too. Paul and me are always joking about having our own fortune-telling rabbit after we met one in Instanbul a few years ago. Can’t wait to have some rabbits jumping around here!

PLANT | Unfortunately my ‘kamerlinde’ (Sparmannia Africana) has not survived moving, it catched greenfly and all the leaves are turning yellow. Sad because I love this plant, I love how fast it grows and how beautifully the leaves are shaped. But I’m afraid I need to find a new one soon.

SLIPPERS | It’s quite hot here in the Netherlands at the moment but I’m sure I will need some warm house shoes within a few weeks. I actually already bought these fake fur and very soft ones here. Winter will not surprise me this time!

SWEATER | I don’t need many new items for my winterwardrobe but one thing is on my clothing wishlist: a warm (off)white sweater. This is a cashmere one from H&M I really like but I’m still on search for the perfect one.

What’s on your wishlist at the moment?

Urban Jungle Bloggers | Plant Selfie

The Urban Jungle Bloggers theme of this month is: who’s behind your plants?! #PLANTSELFIE. I’m not a frequent selfie maker, but I had a lot of fun making these plantselfies starring one of my oldest and largest spiderplants (Chlorophytum comosum).  I look forward to see all the plantselfies on the other green loving blogs!

Urban Jungle Bloggers is a Monthly series hosted by two bloggers: Igor from Happy Interior Blog and Judith from Joelix.com. Every month they come up with a  fun theme around ‘Urban Green’ in order to bring more green into homes and blogs. Every green loving blogger can join in. You can check the posts from other Urban Jungle bloggers here.

Growing baby plants

We moved! We found a perfect new home where we are living since last sunday. Everything is still in boxes, I can’t find a thing, it’s a total chaos but the plants are alright! I’ve moved a lot in the past few years and one of the first things I do in a new home is arrange the plants and make sure that they are in the right pot at the right place. It calms me down and it makes me feel right at home, even though everything else is not there yet. Because moving is not so much fun… It’s fun when it’s done but the moving itself I find quite stressing. A colleague said to me last week that when he really dislikes someone he always wishes that person to have to go true a moving. I thought that was a funny and at the same time a very dark thought. Anyway to calm myself down I decided to make some cuttings from my favourite plants. Because our new house is not much bigger than the old one but it has way more windowsills to fill with plants (yay!).

At the moment I’m growing a few different kinds of succulents, Pilea peperomioides (Chinese money plant), Cyperus alternifolius (umbrella plant) and a few Caladiums. Most of these are easy to make cuttings from, especially the moneyplant and the umbrella plant but the Caladium is a bit of an experiment for me so I’m curious how that will turn out!

 

 

personal | WE GOT ENGAGED!

Yes, I’m so excited and happy about this, much more than I ever though I would be. As a little girl I dreamed of becoming a veterinarian or a writer and own a house in the mountains with a horse , 3 dogs and some cats. I never dreamed of getting married, I never pictured myself in a white dress so this is not a dream come true but I couldn’t be happier about it. I’m going to marry the sweetest, kindest, funniest, most wonderful man in the world in july! YaY!

Paul proposed to me in September right after he came back from a business trip to California, saying that he waited for a perfect day with beautiful weather but that while flying home he decided that he didn’t want to wait any longer. The next day he asked me in the forest near our home where we often go for walks with Noga. It was quit romantic ;-}. He gave me a beautiful vintage ring and we celebrated the rest of the day.                                                                                       One of the best things was telling my family and friends and experiencing their happiness in the weeks after the proposal. It still has me glowing inside when I think of it.  I kind of like preparing this wedding but I also feel that it’s quite some work and a lot of decisions to make, even though we’re keeping it small and simple. So far we have found the most beautifull old little church to do the ceremony and decided we’ll throw a small party in the yard of my parents afterwards. We already picked the rings (!) and my mother and aunt are going to make my dress. And one of the best things: we’re going to Japan on honeymoon! Yes! I almost can’t believe it, going to Japan has been a really big wish of mine and I can’t wait to go there. In the meanwhile I’m trying my best not to turn into bridezilla (just kidding). And I will keep you posted on the updates and probably share some wedding related posts on the blog this year. Tips and tricks from you brides and brides to be out there are more than welcome!

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etsy finds | 6 GREAT PIECES OF SNAKE JUWELRY

This months Dancers Road animal of the month is the snake; a beautiful, mysterious creature whose appearance inspires many artists, designers, craftsmen and women. Here are some of my favourite snake juwelry pieces found on Etsy*. I think these items all make wonderful Christmas presents!

You can shop them here: necklace left upper corner, black snake necklace, black and gold brooch, red double snake necklace, golden bracelet, red blue and gold brooch.

*Etsy is an online global platform on which you can find vintage and handmade items from small creative business owners that put great love and devotion in their work and sell products made of fair materials for fair prices. You can currently find my shops there under the name Dancers Road (vintage) and Saravi (handmade items). With the ‘Etsy Finds’ blogposts I aim to help more people discover the wonderfulness on Etsy and to promote small businesses and creative entrepreneurs (such as myself) from all over the world. Why not buy your holiday gifts at small businesses that will give you personal service instead of at the big multinationals?!

 

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news | FOLLOW DANCERS ROAD ON FACEBOOK

So far my Dancers Road journey has been an adventure that started small but is growing bigger  and bigger every month. And even though I’m an old fashioned girl that embraces everything old,  I also love living in the modern world and enjoy all the communication channels that that world offers me.  It was already possible to follow along the Dancers Road journey on Etsy, Bloglovin, Pinterest and Instagram and now it’s also possible to follow us on Facebook. So follow Dancers Road on Facebook if you would like to be kept informed on Dancers Road news, markets, new products and special offers! I promise you won’t be sorry ;-}

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HEROINES | MADGE GILL

The best thing about travelling is discovering new things. While in Paris a few weeks ago I came across a magazine I hadn’t seen before called Raw Vision. I instantly bought it to read in the train back in Rotterdam because the pictures were so appealing and I’m glad I did. It’s a magazine about outsider (I highly admire self taught artists) and folk art and it had Madge Gill on the cover.

Madge Gill (1882-1961) is a well know outsider artist who made cushions, quilts, dresses and magically fascinating ink-drawings. She was born in East End of London as the daughter of an unmarried mother and an absent father. At the age of nine she was brought to an orphanage because her family couldn’t live with the embarrassment of a bastard child. She spent part of her teenage years in Canada working as a servant and babysitter. She returned to England at the age of 18, she had 3 sons and one stillborn daughter. Madge herself came close to death, and a subsequent lengthy illness resulted in the loss of her left eye, which was replaced with a glass one. From the 1930s on, Madge Gill enjoyed a reputation as a medium in her Upton Park neighbourhood. She is said to have organized séances at her home, drawing up horoscopes and offering spontaneous prophecies. Madge Gill’s works are now preserved in several public collections, including the Collection de l’Art brut in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the Aracine Collection in Lille, France.

source: www.madgegill.com & www.rawvsion.com

 

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FILM | TOAST

Yesterday I watched the film ‘Toast, a story of a boy’s hunger’, about the childhood of Nigel Slater (English food journalist and TV personality). Nigel grows up in Wolverhampton in the 1960’s, with his mother who can’t cook but who he adores and his chilly father. His mother dies of asthma quite early in the film and his father remarries their cleaninglady who is an amazing cook but not a very warm person. The stepmother is  played by Helena Bonham Carter and Nigel competes with her for his fathers attention using food, the whole film by.  I’m a great fan of Helena Bonham Carter and if this movie would have been about fixing cars then I still would have watched because she is in it. But this movie isn’t about fixing cars, it’s about a bittersweet story of becoming who you are and doing what you love.  Another great reason to watch this film besides Helena Bonham Carter and the story are the ‘vintage’ sceneries and costumes especially the over the top floral dresses the stephmother wears. The story is a little sad but it ends well (for some characters ;).

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FAUNA | ANIMAL OF THE MONTH NOVEMBER

Harry Campbell

Lara Hawthorne

One of my favourite blogs used to be Animalarium by Laura Ottina. This blog is fully dedicated to animal illustrations and featured with every blog post a different animal or a different animal theme. This wonderful blog still exists so you can still see all the beautiful and funny illustrations but unfortunately it’s not active anymore and no more posts are being made. Because I love and adore all animals (except maybe wasps and mosquitos) and because I miss the Animalarium posts I decided to make an ode to the Animalarium blog and to one georgeous animal every month.                                                                                                                                                    For this new series I proudly present to you the first Dancers Road animal of the month: the snake. A beautiful and mysterious animal that inspired so many artists from different times and places. This November you can expect a couple of posts where the snake plays a leading part, starting with this post with snake illustrations: enjoy!

illustration made by Sleepy

Philip Gudthaykudthay

Piero di Biase

Olaf Hajeck

Christian Schloe

Amelia Herbertson

fresco from Pompeii

 

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ETSY FINDS | ABSTRACT SCULPTURES

These gorgeous sculptures vary in material from marble to wood and in price from only 42 euros to 335 euro and I could absolutely picture all of these on my desk or on the desk of someone I love. They are great gifts and with Christmas coming closer, really worth taking a look at. I all found them on Etsy!

Etsy is an online global platform on which you can find vintage and handmade items from small creative business owners that put great love and devotion in their work and sell products made of fair materials for fair prices. You can currently find my shops there under the name Dancers Road (vintage) and Saravi (handmade items). With the ‘Etsy Finds’ blogposts I aim to help more people discover the wonderfulness on Etsy and to promote small businesses and creative entrepreneurs (such as myself) from all over the world. Why not buy your holiday gifts at small businesses that will give you personal service instead of at the big multinationals?!

From left to right, you can find these sculptures here: white sculpture on wood, wooden sculpture, black marble sculpture, stone and gold sculpture, stone sculpture, beige stone sculpture, black and copper sculpture, white marble sculpture.

 

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