'Lol met wol!' / Filling holes

My new old brown woollen sweater! Well, it actually never had any holes in it, but I figured it could use some happiness. I played around with Woolfiller today at the opening of the Design days in Het Paleis. It's meant to repair holes in woollen clothing, but the possibilities are endless, as the carpet in the first photo shows. I bought a little DIY-kit to continue at home. I may have to sneak into my husband's wardrobe too... This fun short video shows how to use Woolfiller. Order your own kit through Heleen Klopper's website - yes, you can choose the colours yourself. Oh, and once you're there, don't forget to become a member of the Woolfiller Fanclub!

Design Nu!

On June 17/18/19 the Design days are organized in Het Paleis (Boterdiep 111) in Groningen, with sustainable design as a main topic. The programme consists of workshops, lectures, a story night and two exhibitions. We set up part of one of the exhibitions tonight. The Design days, including the exhibitions are 'officially' opened at 13.00 hrs tomorrow.

I know it's going to be 23 degrees, but if you plan on coming and you've got a woollen sweater with holes in it, be sure to dive into your wardrobe and bring it along. Heleen Klopper will be there showing her Woolfiller and you'll get a chance to give your sweater a second life! I'll show you my sweater one of these days!

more letters!

Exactly 16 years ago, at the age of 16 (going on 17), I packed two suitcases bigger than myself and got on an airplane for the first time to spend one year in the US as an exchange student. I lived abroad several times since then and have always written letters to my number 1 fans: my grandparents. Not only did I inherit their 1940s love letters (see earlier posts) after they moved to heaven, I also received grandpa's folder full of correspondence between them and me. Again, letters were numbered, and again (although not so many) corners of envelopes are missing. The pictures above are taken of letters dated 1994. These are just appetizers; I will be showing you a main course soon!

in your hands

Friday's publication (have a look at a not so yellow one here) was the last of the series of 5. Looking back I realise I especially liked the fact that pictures of these 'antique' letters didn't remain floating around in cyberspace, but that they were actually printed on paper. A medium that's about to become just as antique? It's just so wonderful, being able to hold something in your hands, to keep it under your pillow, to smell someone's perfume, to listen to the sound of crisping paper, to notice ink stains caused by tears... Hmm, and you can't really cut stamps out of the corners of emails, now can you?!

P.S.: thanks to you all for your kind reactions!

grass*conference

Yesterday (I keep promoting this Beatles song...) we attended the world's first and only 'grass*conference, organized byYvette van der Aa. Yvette loves to play with words, is fond of wonder and amazement, of connecting and connections, of sincerely meeting people and of sharing. She combined these ingredients together with her talents into her 'mobiele verwonderwinkel', freely translated as 'mobile amazement store'. At the conference, everyone shared food, stories and blankets as well as recipes for amazement.

The 3rd image shows the invitation to the conference, two amazement-recipes that I got to bring home, as well as a button saying "Nice that I'm here!" I also recieve Yvette's PROEFabonnement, a handmade package full of inspiration sent out to several of her 'fans'. And, wow I'm honoured, my business card was enclosed in the 'bonus supplement' of the abonnement, together with a little story about how she and I met.

P.S.: don't you love the light in the 2nd photo? The flowers look like they have a shadow on the roof!

decisions

Thursday's publication showed some treasures I found while reading through the letters. A hair pin... Did grandma forget to take it with her? 65 Years later, her decision to leave the pin inside the envelope has resulted in beautiful rust prints. The little twig once was a part of a corsage grandpa wore to the 10-year anniversary party of his brother's soccer club. Again, 65 years old and again, with prints on each side of the fold in the sheet of paper. Sigh... (P.S.: Here's a better version of this photo.)

the latest news is hidden in the PS's...

Yesterday's publication in [nrc next] was about continually longing for each other and about counting down until the next moment my grandparents would see each other again. Several letters contain little drawn calenders: pieces of art to me! When reading the letters I clearly got the feeling that, no matter how many letters one would write to the other, it never filled up the emptiness of not being able to physically be together...

In one letter, grandpa wrote: "I also carefully read your comments in the PS's at the bottom (of your letter), since this is generally where the latest news is hidden". A subtle phrase, yet so true that I decided to turn it into a stamp. A statement to be used in your agenda/diary, in order to remind you (and myself!) of the beauty that lies in details, of the importance of regularly pushing the 'pause button' or in other words, to be aware.

The stamp says: "The latest news is hidden in the PS's." (In de PS'jes schuilt het meeste nieuws.) You can buy a brooch model of the stamp in my shop.

Have a look at the digital version of yesterday's photo here.

treasure-chest

This is my grandpa's 'war-chest', in which he kept clothes, supplies and belongings. I've been keeping the letter collection in it ever since it was handed over to me. On the inside of the lid, grandpa wrote the dates of his participation days in the war with a pencil. During these so called 'May days' in 1940, he was a part of the 13th battery of the anti-aircraft artillery who's mission it was to defend airport Ypenburg near The Hague. My grandma lived in the north of the Netherlands. She was a teacher.

They wrote each other letters every two or three days, sometimes every day. Many corners of the envelopes are missing, as grandpa collected stamps. I love the soft colours, the 'W' that coincidently shows up three times, the folds, the tears, the way the paper feels... Click here to see a digital version of the photo that was published in yesterday's paper.

nrc next

Yesterday in [nrc next]: the first photo of a series of five, taken of the collection of love letters that my grandparents wrote to each other just before and during WWII. Each day of this week a photo will be published, so I'm going to run out and get today's paper in a minute! (P.S.: Have a look here for a much nicer version of this photo...)