publication 101 woonideeën magazine

publication 101 woonideeën magazine, originally uploaded by wood & wool stool.

My home and handmade products are featured in the current January 2010 issue of 101 Woonideeën Magazine, a Dutch interior magazine that is really creative and innovative. Thanks to my friend Nina who introduced me as a candidate "binnenkijker".

The photoshoot in September was so much fun and amazing to experience that it's a day's work for a team of four people! The photographer Louis Lemaire (look at 'mensbeeld') and his assistant Mieke Verduijn, stylist Kristel de Jong and Jeske Weel.

The production of the DIY wood & wool baby clothes hangers I did with Jeske. She never touched a crochet needle herself and was the perfect person to produce the mini course for those who want to learn crochet.

I'm very proud that my home is featured in this cool magazine with twelve pages. The very first email about the issue I received last week, was about my boots..., before I even read the issue myself.

heart tree

heart tree, originally uploaded by wood & wool stool.

Last year's homemade x-mas tree was parked in the backyard from January to last week, when I moved into the house for another christmas.

Therefore it's the greenest tree conceivable. It doesn't need frills. Just a few hearts. Merry christmas everybody!

wood & wool stool shipping day

wood & wool stool shipping day, originally uploaded by wood & wool stool.

Today I went to the post-office to send six mega boxes with stools to their several destinations. It's quite a hassle to load and unload the car and I even considered to exchange my 2CV for a 2CV-van.

Fortunately there was a place for my car just around the corner of the post-office and an old man helped me to open the heavy door. The little agency was at once filled with my boxes. I informed the lady behind the counter about the concerning shipping addresses and it felt pretty cool to send my handmade stools around the world. Today they went to Breda, Den Bosch (both in the Netherlands), Wentorf (Germany) and two to Warabi City, Saitama (above Tokyo - Japan)

It has been a super busy week but I feel satisfied now, knowing that the stools will arrive before Christmas in their new homes.

sinterklaas surprise

sinterklaas surprise, originally uploaded by wood & wool stool.

Sinterklaas is an ancient tradition in the Netherlands. We celebrate on December 5 the birthday of Sinterklaas. It's a children matter and the festivity is about Sinterklaas is showering everyone with gifts. Sint also brings a visit to all schools in our country. When children stop believing this old and holy man is bringing a steamship full of gifts from Spain, Madrid to be exact, there is an alternative way to celebrate his birthday. In primary school classmates buy presents for eachother. Determined by lot (must stay secret) they make a homemade 'surprise' with a subtle reference to the present.

My daughter Pippa made a beautiful hand mirror. She cut the shape of a mirror out of box and sticked some aluminum foil on it as reflection. For decoration she used nice pictures from fashion magazines and for the glamor effect some diamants and Romy's name in gold. She bought some eye shadow and nail polish, for make up is a magical gift when you're a 12 year old girl.

petit pan pyjama

petit pan pyjama, originally uploaded by wood & wool stool.

For the 'petit' hotelguests at hotel Villa Augustus there is great news! In the small lobby shop there are some new heavenly Petit Pan pyjama's for sale. I love the METEORES design, but the GALAXIE and HELIUM are also tremendous.

The smallest pajamas is a show model and hanging on my handmade wood & wool hanger How cute!

Isn't it a shame they are only available for 2 months - 8 years old?

Thankfully Petit Pan sells a patchwork pillow PLANETES with all the fabrics combined.

haken is hot ~ crochet is hot

Today my friend Arjanne came to visit me. She wants to learn crochet! We started with the basic technique, which seemed rather difficult if you've never touched a crochet needle. After a few hours and a lot of coffee and sighing, there was suddenly a 'piece of crochet'. Arjanne was very pleased and proud and went home with her first handmade square.

I learned to crochet at primary school when I was about 8 years old and did not like it at all. I've never crocheted until some years ago, when I made my first stool of recycled wood. I figured it would be nice to make a retro crochet cover on it; as a matter of fact the wood & wool stool was created.

Next month my home is published in a Dutch interior magazine 101 Woonideeën. It´s an article on my interior (binnenkijker ~ inside viewer) and little company and because crochet is hot I give a mini course for those who want to learn crochet.

The give away in the December issue of 101 Woonideeën is a beautiful lantern, designed by Jurianne Matter.

little square in costa nova

little square in costa nova, originally uploaded by wood & wool stool.

Last summer we traveled south with an old rented camper. To make the interior of the camper a home for some weeks, I took crocheted pillows and blankets and even a stool. During our stay in Portugal we visited the small fishing village Costa Nova, somewhere between Lisbon and Porto. This village is so photogenic with all the candy-striped houses and a perfect place for a shoot for my renewed website. So I took my fully loaded Kronan bicycle and cycled through the village, stopped at some places like this little square in Costa Nova, to make some pictures of my granny square products. Some villagers who passed the square, asked me if they could take pictures of this event.

y.

Y., originally uploaded by wood & wool stool.

"Y. es un trabajo que sorprenderá a los que esperen una continuación de Pafuera telarañas. Bebe ha.."

Finally after years of waiting for more Bebe today I received her new cd Y. Now it's playing and I've pressed the repeat button. In the summer of 2005 I was snooping around with the cd's in a FNAC store in Barcelona and was attracted by the cd cover of Bebe's cd Pafuera telarañas. When I heard the first song "men señara" I got goose pimples all over my body and knew this was My Favorite Singer! During that holiday I played the cd repeatedly and my 8 year old daughter Pippa sang the Spanish lyrics error-free after some weeks.
I wanted to know where these songs were about and I even took Spanish lessons for that reason.

Meanwhile Bebe became an actress and didn't make cd´s anymore.
I never gave up hope and last week I discovered by chance that Bebe has released a new cd and ordered one immediately. I've been waiting for years for this moment! She did it again; goose pimples and tears in my eyes. Y si, esta es mi BEBE

wood (& wool) x-mas tree

wood (& wool) x-mas tree, originally uploaded by wood & wool stool.

Although it's early November and Christmas is still far away, I've already started making a pile of my handmade x-mas trees of used wood. Since December 2007 they have become a little bit famous. The first x-mas trees were made for own use and later also for Christmas decoration at Villa Augustus. Last year there were many requests for the little wooden trees and I decided to make another collection. The tree still seems to have fans for the third year in a row. So I've been busy making x-mas trees lately. Last sunday I came into the 'Christmas spirit' (whatever that may be?) when I photographed the trees for my renewed website (in progress, almost done). So here's a litte x-mas preview for those who don't know the tree yet.

flowerday flowers

flowerday, originally uploaded by wood & wool stool.

My favorite day of the week is Thursday. At that day of the week I'm totally lost in flowers. Every week the flowers are changed and the fresh flowers are waiting in big buckets. When I arrive at my work at Villa Augustus I collect the "old" bouquets and bring them to the kitchen in the hotel. Some flowers are still very beautiful and have a second live (even if it is for just one day) in my home. I clean up the vases first and make the new bouquets for the hoteldesk and the breakfast buffet in the restaurant. There are two Tsé Tsé vases
to arrange; a medium version for the hotel lobby and a large version for the marktcafé (market cafe). The so-called April Vase is made up of glass tubes and metal fixtures. You can arrange them into various shapes and forms. To transport the vase from the sink in the kitchen to table in the lobby and the market cafe, is the dangerous part of the job. The only way is to firmly bundle the vase assembled with both hands and walk slowly to the destination. The trip to the market cafe is a pretty long journey through the garden. If I succeeded I have to re-arrange the flowers, because the tubes have to be brought back in shape again. Finally there are about twenty little vases to arrange for the rooms in the hotel and when they are standing all together on the table it's like a flower field. When I'm working on the flowers, sometimes people walk by and tell me what a great job I have and I can only admit it. Lucky me...

fermobism

a bunch of fermobs, originally uploaded by wood & wool stool.

The first time I saw a Fermob chair was years ago in Paris. In Jardin du Luxembourg I was impressed by these mostly green chairs in the park. The chairs are re-designed by Frederic Sofia and I'm the lucky owner of two pieces. In my garden the Savannah & Willow Green colored Fermob lounge chairs are so pretty. The terrace of Villa Augustus were I work is filled with all kinds of Fermobs and a few weeks ago I visited Stockholm and found a whole bunch of Aubergine colored Fermobs at the terrace of a cafe in Kungsträdgården. I'm generally suffering a kind of Chair Fetish and suppose I'm infected with Fermobism.

the 'housemartin family' property

property in gent, originally uploaded by wood & wool stool.

Yesterday we went to Gent to visit the shop owner Dicky of Huiszwaluw. This summer Dicky moved to a wonderful and huge old house in the historical center of Gent. The place where she lives with her lovely family is so great! The house consists of four floors, with extremely high ceilings and a gigantic staircase starting in the wide long hallway, with original tiled floor. Although the old and neglected property has changed into a cozy and colorful home, there's still much work to do. Nevertheless Dicky invited us to dinner and we had a delicious meal cooked in the AGA cooker by her husband Iman, in the huge unfinished but atmospheric kitchen. We were deeply impressed! Dicky knows it's a unique opportunity to buy a house like this near her lovely shop and enjoys it despite the mess of the renovation of the property. Even the tree colored with autumn berries in front of the house is perfect.

autumn market café

The shop in the market café is the best in town. Last week we did the autumn decorations for the market café at Villa Augustus. I filled a little basket with red vine and hung it with various autumn bits and pieces on the branch.