Koen Van Mechelen: the universal chicken project

Last sunday we went to see the first solo exhibition of Koen Van Mechelen. He has been fascinated by chickens all his life (he used to have pet chickens at home and could spend hours drawing them, watching them, ... ). When he decided he wanted to be an artist, it was only natural his subject was ... chickens.
He wanted to create the ideal chicken and wanted to find out where they came from .. and so started the Cosmopolitan Chicken Project where he cross-breeds chickens from all over the world to create the (im)perfect universal chicken, that carries with in itself the genes off chickens all over the world.

So here are his 9 chickens he allready created by crossbreeding different chickens from around the world: (For your information: these chickens all died a natural dead at the home of the artist)

And this is number 10, living 'live' at the museum at the moment:

The exhibition wants to stimulate the discussion about living in a multicultural world, globalization, genetic manipulation and cloning. I found it to be a different and interesting project!

Back home, this necklace was created with my new crocheting skills and some of my fav. felt and fabric:

Indian eatweekend and new items in the shop!

(picture was taken at the opening of the new school last september)
I'm a little late blogging about it but at the end of April we celebrated the 10 year existance of our little volunteer Indian 'help'organisation. For those of you who don't know it yet, i blogged about it earlier (see posts about indian project or look here). Anyway, we also will be opening another school very soon in another area of Hasanpura, Jaipur. So we could use some extra cash and decided to organise a fun indian eatweekend. It was rewarding to see how many people turned up to support us (and eat great indian food whilst doing that) and i loved eating Indian Food all weekend long:).I didn't take any pictures of the 'full house' we had, 'cause i was too busy then ( boy, do waitresses have to work hard!).
But I did manage to sneak out a little in between and go to my favourite store in Leuven: The Hexagoon.

All you crafty people would love it there: it's a small store packed of little goodies and lots of do-it-yourself ideas, and run by a very nice lady. The adress is Ravenstraat 79, 3000 Leuven (for those of you Belgian people out there):

And closer to home, I finally had some time to make enamel pieces and they will be filling the shop pretty soon.

And I've been proudly wearing my first crocheted necklace the last couple of days. The first one to sell will be in the shop very soon!

A small world and crocheting class ...

(two beautiful necklaces made by Veerle)

I went to Gent yesterday to follow a class on how to crochet jewelry. It was exciting, partly because i was finally meeting Veerle (aka nevousinstallezpas ) in 'real life'. This nice lady bought a scarf from me last year and also told me she had a blog. I've been a fan of her blog and her work ever since (it is mostly in dutch but go to the picturesgallery and you can see her beautiful work!). So when she announced she was teaching a workshop on how to crochet jewelry - I was first in line!

So yesterday was thé day - i got up very early to catch my train (all together it took me 6 hours back and forth, partly due to train delays - exhausting!) and meet Veerle. I wasn't dissapointed, she's a nice and energetic lady and I loved her class. We crocheted a bracelet and learned a lot of techniques and also, how to finish your work neatly without to many messy threads having to be tucked away! The end result is of course not as nice as her work, but i'm happy with it and I especially look forward to experimenting with it, together with my felt,fabric and beads!

And we enjoyed a small lunch on the steps near the canal, it is so good to see and feel the sun!(the lady on the right is Veerle)
Through Etsy I've not only met people from around the world, but in Belgium my network of creative people is expanding everyday and I cherish that!

Closer to home: finally good weather and tomorrow my first day at my new job starts, so I will enjoy some sun in my hammock today!

Things never stay the same ...

I have been absent from my blog to long but life got me busy. After eight years of being the head of the youthdepartment of a small city (and loving my job), i decided to finally go for it and start working part time. So with some regret in my heart, I said good bye to my colleagues on april 24th and left for a holiday in Italy the day after.

Wednesday i start my new job working only 50% (for the same city). I will miss my 'old' colleagues dearly but also look forward to getting to know my new colleagues and of course to spending more time doing creative things (and writing in this blog). I allready have a list of things that need to be done but also decided to take some time and enjoy the first warm sun here :)

Closer to home: happy, happy etsynews since my 400th item just got sold (thanks K.!)

Selvedge magazine: The inspirational work and home of Julie Arkell ...

Just got the latest Selvedge Issue in my mailbox - it was a little late but nevertheless it was very welcomed. The article that most got my attention was the one about Julie Arkell, a contemporary folk artist working in papier-mâché and mixed media.
She makes just gorgeous and magically appealing "people" (which are doll-like in their proportions),animals, bunnies, and objects.
I would love to redirect you to her website but she does not own a computer (nor a tv for that matter). But I found a website with some more of her pictures (you find more if you do a google search), and even a website that sells her little creatures:.

This is what Julie Arkell says about her own work: 'Words and phrases I hear, read and put together inspire my creatures. I use paper and glue to mould the figures. Sometimes they have wool features, doll heads, or painted faces. Their arms and legs can be papier mache or plastic, taken off old dolls and re-assembled. The clothes they wear are knitted, sewn and crocheted, with parts of their story embroidered on to them. Houses, boats, trees, chairs and prams are constructed to make up their environment.'And oooh, how I would love to go to a workshop given by Julie herself!

There is also a book written about Julie Arkell and her little creatures that inhabit her house - 'Julie Arkell - home'. Like Selvedge says 'her unmistakable creations peek from behind curtains, under chairs and gather sociably on shelves and mantels ready to whisper or giggle about you when your back is turned - not that they look mean spirited - these paper maché figures have a friendly charm matched only by that of their floral apron-clad maker'. So I just had to order this book this morning.

You want some famous fashion designers fabric?

Yes, it's that time again: twice a year the belgian designers have a stock sale of their fabric and clothes - for those of you who are from belgium (or live close) - i will give the details of most interesting ones here:

My three favourites:
Ann Demeulemeester en Haider Ackermann
When: 16 en 17 april from 10 am until 7 pm
18 april from 10 am until 6 pm
19 april from 10 am until 5 pm
Adress: populierenlaan 34, 2020 Antwerpen
My opinion: lots of clothes and a small but cheap (and very good quality) selection of fabrics.

A.F. Vandervorst:
When: 16 april from 9 am until 6 pm
17 + 18 april from 10 am until 6 pm
19 april from 11 am until 6 pm
Adress: Indiënstraat 8, 2000 Antwerpen
My opinion: I checked it out a couple of times: more clothes than fabric. I will check it out because i'm in the area one of these days but i wouldn't go there only for this stocksale due to the small selection of fabric.

My favourite fabric stock sale:
Dries Van Noten
When: 18-19-21-24-25-26 april from 1 pm until 6 pm
Adress: Godefriduskaai 36, 2000 Antwerpen
My opinion: This is my favorite one - i've been going off and on for more than fifteen years. He has a huge selection of beautiful fabrics at very reasonable prices for that quality. And if you're interested - a large selection of clothes.


Some new ones that I haven't checked out yet:

Bruno Pieters:
When: 20-21 april from 10 am until 6 pm
22 april from 11 am until 4 pm
Where: Aalmoezenierstraat 2, 2000 Antwerp (first floor)

Tim Van Steenbergen:
When: 25-26 april from 10 am until 6 pm
27 april from 10 am until 2 pm

Hilde Frunt and Sigi
When: 29-30 april and 1-6-7 may from 11 am until 6 pm
Where: Huybrechtsstraat 27, 2018 Antwerp

Annemie Verbeke
When: 17-18-19 april from 10 am until 6.30 pm
Where: Emiel Banningstraat 18, 2000 Antwerpen


Modo Bruxellae
When: 3 may from 11 am until 7 pm
4 may from 10.30 am until 6.30 pm
Where: Place du Vieux Marché aux grains 5, 1000 Brussels

Marlies Dekkers (beautiful underwear)
When: 17-18-19 april from 10 am until 6 pm
Where: Schrijnwerkersstraat 7/9, 2000 Antwerpen

Camper (the shoes!)
When: 17-18-19 april from 10 am until 6 pm
Where: Nationale Straat 33, 2000 Antwerpen


And I went to a fabric fair today and found some great stuff: some leather that was reasonably priced, some very fun fabric that is cotton on one side but plastic on the other side (and washable) and 20 big rolls of sewing thread for only 12,50$!

I can't wait until the first of may, when i will start working parttime and have more time to make some bags with it.

(Japanese) craftshopping in NYC

Of course being in NYC it was impossible NOT to shop for supplies and books. First I went Japanese craft book hunting, since it is impossible to find these books in Belgium. The first stop was the Book Off store (14 East 41st Street) where you can find a limited selection of Japanese Craft books on sale. Problem is everything is in Japanese, so I had to enlist the help of someone to actually find the craftsection. I got this very cute book on how to make dolls (for only $ 7,50) - not that I plan on making any soon, but just in case ... :)


After that we headed for Kinokuniya, a large Japanese store (across from Bryant Park) with lots of craftbooks - I could just spend hours there (and actually went back a second time to purchase some more books). These two books I bought there are just cute as a button:



And my trip just wouldn't be complete without buying some fabrics, so I went back to Purlsoho (located in Soho):


I'm allready playing with some ideas in my head as what to make with them!


And closer to home, I received a happy package in the mail: my little Forest Fawn-earrings from FigsAndGinger - they are cute as a button and, together with the beautiful pink tulips my hubby gave me, they put a big smile on my face!