Shopping in Mumbai

In the blog post “shopping and eating in Mumbai” we did not get past the eating part of the trip, but I still would like to share with you how all this started.

When I started making travel accessories, back in 2007, I could dig into my huge collection of silks and other fabrics and just let the creativity flow freely. I already told you, I could not get enough of the Indian silks! I kept buying them as a mad woman resulting in me leaving BOM for ROT after three years with 20 boxes of fabrics added to the 5 I already had. I was unable to transform all this silk into little travel bags and jewelry pouches within a reasonable time. At the same time everywhere I went to sell my bags there were all these ladies trying to persuade me into selling them pieces of my fabics (which I brought with me as a props to pimp my stand).

So I started thinking…..

Just say (for arguments sake) that I am suffering from a addiction to buying great silks, but I am unable to process them in my current business, why not turn the fabric buying fettish into a second business? I am not hurting anyone, am I? I get to buy as much as I want of the most beautiful silks more often then now because they will stay with me for a while (in which time I will cherish them as my children) and after a while they will all find new homes with nice families. If I am lucky I get to adopt a piece that remains unsold. This sounded like a win-win situation to me!

I started out with a pilot last year, just to see if there are more addicts out there that fall for the stuff I fall for. The great respond I got encouraged me to take the shopping trip last October to Mumbai. I gave myself only one restriction (two actually if you count the finances too) and that is to only buy silk of the best quality, that I have never seen anywhere else before that is a treat to my senses (I know this sound as three variables, but it is more of a three-in-one package. In theory I could encounter a silk, that I have not seen anywhere else before, that is of top quality. But if I find so horribly hideous that it assults my senses, that would not be a treat, you see.)

Having lived in Mumbai I knew exactly when en where to go. October is a good month because of the abundance of silk fairs all over town. As all the Mumbaikars are getting ready for festival season silks will be bought and garments will be made.

I had a great trip and the result is visible in my Etsy shop. So far my win-win situation is working out for me. I just need to find an excuse to go more often!

TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!!!

And that is why I offer everybody 20% off on everything in my silk shop. Only today for the coming 24 hours!!!!

use this coupon code: HAPPYTOME

Yay me!

Shopping (and eating) in Mumbai

I always wait for some time before I write something after a trip to India. I tend to repeat myself and have to let it all sink in before I can put pen to paper.

I really wanted to go in October or November because there will be silk fairs and expo's all over town. The amount of material one can get is great and the quality superb. Many of the silk fairs have shops and weavers attending from all over India, giving me the opportunity to browse through enormous amounts of silks, brocades and cotton silks.

This time my trip was different because I took a friend. I normally enjoy plunging myself in Bombay life all by myself, going to all the fairs every day and meeting my friends in between for lunch, dinner and more. Having someone along that is new to India forced mo to add some sightseeing elements to my trip, and I actually enjoyed that (I hope she enjoyed me talking all the time about everything she should see, do or - most importantly, eat).

Ipad hoesje met Delfts blauwe tegeltjes!

Het blijkt leuk om Nederlandse items te maken. Ik ben de laatste maanden zo druk bezig geweest met de nieuwe stofjes die ik uit India heb meegenomen, dat ik minder tasjes heb gemaakt dan ik graag had gewild.

Maar een paar weken terug vroeg iemand mij een speciaal ipad tasje te maken. Iets Nederlands, in duidelijke kleuren. Een franje mocht wel, maar niet te wuft. Het moest ook praktisch worden: een ipad hoes, mooi maar stevig. En het moet tegen een stootje kunnen.

Op dat moment zat ik met mijn hoofd in "silk heaven" en moest ik echt effe met mijn beide benen op de grond om deze ipad hoes te produceren.

Maar dit is het resultaat! In stevig katoen met blauwe tegeltjes, gevoerd met oranje boerenbont. Niet wuft, wel praktisch en natuurlijk wasbaar.

Wat vind jij?

As Christmas is approaching I have to share some of the new Christmas stuff I got on my last shopping trip to Mumbai. I have some cool ribbons, dupioni silk in Christmas colors an SUPERB silk brocades!!!! I am adding a few pics, but check them out for yourself. My favorite of today is this silk brocade in green en red with small trees on it. Enjoy!

My India is great !

A good friend of mine - we met when I was living in Mumbai - used to have an extreme hate-love relationship with India. She loved big parts of it, but hated an equally big part. She was for example totally crazy about the yoga, but hated the cramped Mumbai traffic. She craved the food, but could not handle it too well. She loved the individual persons, but hated the crowds.

One never knew if on one particular day the she had a good or a bad India day. It all depended on the most current experience. The extremities of her reactions never changed during her years in Mumbai. Her approach to India used to make us - the friends - smile in silence. Although I initially had many of the reactions my friend had, after some time, as I learned to understand India better, life in Mumbai became more predictable.

But my friend took India on head first, and even though she hurt herself many times while doing so, she never closed her heart. I truly believe that the only way to "get" it is to open your heart and leave your baggage at home. This is not easy, but once you do it there is no way back.

It has been three years that she left India. And while I was preparing for my fabric shopping trip to Mumbai last month I came across a shopping bag that she gifted me when she left.

The text on it says it all, really.

Indeed my India is great, and I am sure hers is too.

The Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

I can vividly recall the moment I first saw the cliffs of Moher.

We were visiting Ireland for three weeks, and having been in Cork, Kerry and Limerick we arrived in the Burren where we stayed at a great B & B. We were kid-less back then, and were planning walks and off course a visit to the famous Cliffs of Moher. Much to my surprise we met so many families with kids both at the Cliffs aswell as during the walks (going much faster than we were by the way).

Standing at the edge (my husband-to-be a few steps behind me because of vertigo), I felt a deep feeling of humility seeing those huge steep walls rising from the Atlantic ocean, that not one man touched to make. It is such an amazing feeling to realize that we men, are not as important as we want to be. Quite liberating!

The Cliffs of Moher are located at the south-western edge of The Burren area near Doolin, which is located in County Clare, Republic of Ireland. In 2006 Ireland applied succesfully for a Unesco Geopark protection status. This is what the Unesco site has to say about the cliffs and the Burren area:

"The Burren & Cliffs of Moher Geopark is a unique glacio-karst landscape located on Ireland's west coast between the cities of Limerick and Galway, with magnificent Atlantic coastal landforms, unique floral diversity, fascinating archaeology; all set in a landscape managed by traditional farming practices, and amid a thriving culture of Irish music, dance, food and sport."

Honestly, there is not much to say about the cliffs: they are nearly 700 ft (214 m) high for a distance of about four miles (8 km.). But this knowledge does not prepare you enough for the sight. Both the view of the cliffs of Moher, as the view from the cliffs are amazing and breathtaking.

Yes, if you have vertigo issues the Cliffs are a bit of a liability, and you might want to step back from the edge a bit, but if you can get yourself past that O-my-god-I-am-going-to-fall-and-break-my-neck point I promise you it is worth the trouble.

Why take your kids there?

For one simple reason.

Because it is the easiest way to explain to them that there is more to life than television and video games. That there are things on this earth that are (literally) bigger than us, and that the beach is not the only natural feature that we can enjoy fully as humans.

They will feel the connection (and you too)!


for more information:
Cliffs of Moher site
The Burren national Park
discover Ireland
Unesco on the Cliffs of Moher