Creative Mission - Part 1

I'm on creative mission, I've decided to make a few terrariums!  How did I come up with this, you wonder... well, it started out when I wanted 1-2 new decorations for a shelf in my living room.  I checked the stores, didn't really like the prices I was seeing, and to be honest the decorations weren't even really what I wanted.  I like unique and sort-of eclectic, so maybe I was just looking in the wrong places.  One day while skimming through Pinterest I saw an image of a terrarium collection.  I kept thinking about the idea, and realized, hey, I want that in my house, what a great idea for an indoor decoration! 

Then the creative mission started, I decided to make my own!  Why... it's fun and also because I didn't want to pay the prices for the few I had seen in the stores.  (And to be honest they weren't even that nice.)  Being that I am frugal, and there is high risk that this project might not work out, I decided to buy the vases from local second-hand shops (aka kringloop). 

This turned out to be an interesting experience in itself.  I even managed to embarrass myself on a couple of occasions... like following people into a warehouse when it turns out the store wasn't even open that day or at another shop asking if I could take a look around their warehouse and shop when the actual store was around the corner.  And even at one second-hand shop I had to turn in my purse, which happened to have my husbands passport in there, oops, luckily nothing was taken out!

The 1st & 3rd second hand shop I went to were a bust.  Sure, I saw some incredible finds, but just not what I was looking for.  The 2nd store, now they had a decent collection of vases, ones I could actually work with.  They're shapes aren't as unusual as I would like, but that's because I'm paying roughly €2 per vase versus €20-€50 I had seen at normal stores.  In the end I've ended up with 1 fish bowl and 2 flower vases from the second-hand shop.  I wanted something a little bigger, so I still went back to a discount shop and picked up a tall vase (I had been pricing vases all over town, from flower to fish shops.  And then seeing the size of the vase was dramatically different than the others, I decided to toss in a glass vase that had been collecting dust in my shed.  At this point, I was out a total of less than €10 and have 5 vases that need to be washed and filled!

In a follow up post, I'll be sure to show you some of the great things I stumbled upon at the second-hand shops (things not really relevant to my terrarium project).  And besides clear glass vases, I was also looking for thick books with unusual bindings to help stack the smaller vases and either rocks or figurines to go inside the terrariums... I didn't find either but I'll skim the second hand shops again in a couple weeks. 

Hope you enjoy my project, there will be more posts to come!!!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica 

Wordless Wednesday #81

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Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

GLOW 2013

We managed to see GLOW before it wrapped up on the 16th... some how schedules aligned and the weather fairly cooperated!  We were able to make it an extra special night by teaming up with friends & their kids and getting dinner reservations at the local soccer stadium.  What does soccer and GLOW have to do with each other?  Well, this year one of the light shows was presented at the PSV stadium, and because we ate there we were allowed to use special seats, avoiding the crowds, getting a private view, and we could watch the show repeatedly (the kids did)!  And we also fulfilled our daughters wish of visiting the inside of the stadium (the points are rolling in).
Besides the large soccer themed light show at the stadium, we were able to hit up 5 other displays before the kids collapsed.  The way the event route was set up this year not so many displays were located within child walking distance of our apartment.  So in order to see the group favorite at the end of the night we all hoped in my husbands SUV and drove to where the dragon/sea monster was situated.  There were quite a few attractions we would have liked to have seen but between the weather, distance, and hour, we had to end the night.  Needless to say the dinner and VIP show at the stadium pleased everyone enough it didn't matter.  As always I have pics for you, please excuse the quality, this year I only had my phone on me.  And don't forget to check out last year's post also (GLOW 2012).

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

GLOW Eindhoven

For those of you living in or around the Eindhoven area, GLOW is back!!!  GLOW is a huge event that combines light & art, there are displays throughout the center of town.  Displays range from actual pieces you can interact with to projections on towering buildings.  If you can find time to visit, GLOW runs November 9th-16th from 6:30PM-11PM.
 

We made out first attempt to visit on opening night with our family.  Our big mistake was arriving 45min early!  It was pouring with rain, we had 3 kids ranging from 4-12 yrs old with us, and it was freezing.  Some of the displays were delayed because of the rain and we just couldn't bare the weather conditions any longer and headed back home.  Luckily we have the rest of the week to get back out after sunset to take in the spectacular views.
 

Last year we participated in GLOW off. which was a fun way of unofficially joining in the event.  We projected a film of our silhouettes on the window of our apartment (center of town) and voilá, we had our on display.  And apparently this year our film has made it to GLOW off. again, and can be viewed at the Cultureel Buurtcentrum on Oranjestraat (not part of the official route, but close by)!
 

Once I actually get to the route & our entry, I'll be sure to snap a lot of pics and post them back here for you to enjoy!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Lichtjesroute

Every autumn our town hosts "Lichtjesroute" (Route of Lights).  It is exactly what it says, it's a route you can follow via car, bike, or even on foot with lots of light displays on the side of the road.  The event begins on September 18th, marking the liberation of Eindhoven during World War II.  Our daughter went last year on bike for the first time, and she talked about it all year.  So of course when the event rolled around again we were sure to take her.  But somehow she's ended up going about 4 times this year, every time a new reason... last time I wasn't on the bike... last time Dad wasn't with... well my cousin hasn't seen it... I'm sure our daughter could come up with more reasons!  I can only imagine how impressed our 4 yr old would be with Christmas light displays in The States.  Who knows, maybe one day we'll make it there around that time of year.  But as for now she can just keep enjoying Lichtjesroute.  My husband put together a quick collage of pics from his phone to give you an idea of what the displays look like.  And if any of you are in the Eindhoven area, the event goes on until the 13th of October.

Wordless Wednesday #67

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Live Graffiti

There's always something interesting going on in Eindhoven, today we happened upon a live graffiti session!  I happened to be a big fan of graffiti, as long as it's not destroying something.  I've posted in the past about sticker graffiti around town, and my Instagram account even features a couple pieces near my house.  From the 14th - 23rd, Eindhoven is hosting E-Moves, it's an urban festival spread throughout town, featuring everything from break dancing to BMX bikes.  We witnessed just a bit of the street art event... would have liked to stick around but it was lunch time and we were hungry.  There were multiple empty canvases set up, and even a few already in use.  It still amazes me that a large white canvas can come to life so quickly.  As usual I snapped a couple pics for you, and if you're in the Eindhoven area you should pop over to Dynamo and check out the street art below on the square.

Wordless Wednesday #57

 

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Spring Displays

Even if the weather doesn't feel like spring at least the stores remind us!  The florist, Bergflora, across the street from our apartment always has great window displays.  Along with unique vases, pots, plants, flowers, & gifts, they go above and beyond just the generalization of florist.  As soon as spring rolled around they changed the displays in the two large store windows.  There are neon green sheep and endless colorful eggs.  And besides these eye catchers they've also added the cutest display of owls & chickens.  Something about these little decorations made me want to stop and take a picture, so while out on one of many dog walks I was sure to get a picture for you (and me).  Just something to perk up your day and remind you it's spring!  The little owls are so cute I might just have to stop in and see how much they cost! 
(Please excuse the reflection and the fact my hands/phone are photo-bombing the pics, even a photo editor couldn't help these shots, but I tried!  It's not easy taking pics when your dog is trying to jump on everyone that passes!)

Wordless Wednesday #41

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Wordless Wednesday #39

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Art For Sale

Since the economy took a turn for the worst a few years back it's become quite obvious that a lot of stores & companies are struggling to survive.  Across the street from where I live is a great corner spot for a shop, but thanks to the economy nothing seems to be surviving in this location.  Maybe it's such a prime spot that no one can afford the rent???  Anyway, over the years it has hosted many shops like a bed store, teak furniture shop, temporary design outlet, and the latest, an art shop called Cobra Art Company.  I must admit, the art shop has been my favorite so far.  Why, because it was like having an art gallery across the street.  I found out that all of the artists are Dutch, so no imports.  It was fascinating, eye popping, and worthy of such a popular corner.  There were many bold pieces, ones I would love to have purchased except they were quite pricey (over €1000 per piece).  After realizing there was no way I could afford one of these unique pieces, I started wondering what normal people actually can.  This made me realize there was little chance this store would survive.  But it turns out this art isn't meant for normal consumers like me, it's meant for businesses and designers to resell.  I crossed my fingers hoping the high end furniture store next door would pull in the big spenders and the right companies keeping the store alive but unfortunately it didn't happen.  According to our neighborhood bulletin the art shop was a trial for 3 months, if it was successful it would stick around longer.  Well, 3 months is over and this passed week the company swept through the shop and cleared out the colorful collection of portraits and uniquely staged scenes.  I'm sad to see it go, I truly enjoyed watching the collection rotate.  Once again it was like visiting an art museum without having to actually pay to visit.  Apparently Cobra is quite a large company and has many dealers and displays, too bad they couldn't afford to liven up our street corner any longer!

PhotoFunia

Just a quick tip for anyone who enjoys playing with photos, it's called PhotoFunia!  It's a fun app, that you can download for free.  I don't manipulate many photos, but if I do, I tend to use Picasa and then add just a boost or something simple.  But on occasion it's fun to go a step further.  This app allows you to apply all types of pictures (mostly human faces) to around 298 options of photo fun.  I've included one original picture to show you what you can do with the app, and I've also included a few other fun ones we have made.  (Wow, so far I've used the word fun, 5 times!)

Wordless Wednesday #30

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GLOW off.

Besides the official GLOW taking place in Eindhoven, there was the unofficial GLOW off.  This is where amateurs make their own venues and display them during the last day of GLOW.  Us and some friends decided we wanted to make our own film so that we too could participate.  One weekend we set up a make shift studio in a friends backyard.  This including white sheets hung between ladders for a backdrop... an iPhone for filming... a few props inc. a wind machine... and a computer program to turn our images into silhouettes.  Again I'll reiterate we're amateurs.  Living downtown gave us the prime location to display what we created.  So after an afternoon of filming and some 10 odd hours of editing on the computer (thanks Mike) we had a short film to air.  To be honest, I expected loads of people standing outside of our apartment watching the film we were airing on to our front window.  But we only had a few passerby's.  Sure the larger light displays in town were nice, but we were easily comparable to the smaller ones.  Needless to say we had fun and made a night of it!  Unfortunately I didn't get the best photos but I do have the movie for you!  The film could have used a bit more tweaking but we had already put enough time into the one night project.  The photo I included above gives you an idea of what the movie looked like displayed on our window.  The funniest part of the entire night was when the neighbors above us couldn't figure out why there were people outside taking pictures and pointing... maybe we should have warned them, oops!

 

GLOW

Living in a large city definitely has its perks, as in there is always something interesting taking place.  Right now Eindhoven is hosting GLOW.  It's an incredible display of art projected around the city onto a variety of buildings.  Besides just light shows, there are also many odes to artificial light and its capabilities.  GLOW brings people from all over... once the sun sets hordes of people wander around the city gazing up at the displays. 

 

It's also a great opportunity for photographers, so besides crowds oohing and awing, there are also tons of people running around with cameras and tripods.  Since we live in the center it would be pure lazy if we didn't step out our door and participate.  One evening after dinner I realized my husband would be late and there was still around an hour before my daughters bedtime, so we bundled up and headed into the crowds.  At first my daughter was impressed with the street lights, she's not often out after dark.  But when we actually neared the displays she was overly impressed.

Some of the displays combine poetry & lights, some music & lights, and others, just art & lights, each one interesting in it's own aspect.  We saw around 7 displays and my favorite this year has to be the garden of lights on the Wilhelminaplein.  My daughters favorite has to be the display on the cathedral, she told her dad all about the people dancing on the building (what she didn't realize was that it was a conductor and parts of an orchestra, but I will not burst her bubble).
 

Sometimes the displays are too artsy for me, I remember last year watching one (a combo of poetry and light) waiting for something to happen but that was it... someone reading text to dramatic music as it flashed by on a wall.  This year they also displayed and read text, but the words were projected over a huge building giving it more of an affect.  If you're in the Eindhoven area, I recommend joining in the fun.  It's free, it's interesting, why not take advantage of it.  GLOW runs from November 10th-17th.  I didn't get the best photos, I was using our small camera at night, but I wasn't there for the pictures anyway.