All silks are beautiful, but some silks are more beautiful than others

After each shopping trip I come home with one favorite.
One silk that is by far the most beautiful of all.
The silk that makes you forget all other silks.
The one silk that makes your whole trip worth while.
The one and only that makes your previous favorite silk seem like a dirty (and smelly) wash cloth.

This time this is the one, my new love:

Needless to say that it is by far the most expensive one and that I will probably end up not selling it at all, but that is ok. 

The silks are finally here!!!

Yes indeed!

After neglecting you for several months, we have to catch up. Since my last post I have travelled to India to hand pick new silks. This time I had a very special travel mate, my 8-year old son Maurits. He has been persisting for more then a year that he would like to come, but I was not convinced that he would enjoy the silk shopping part of the trip. I was reluctant because We could not afford spending all our time in malls and swimming pools.

But, honestly, I have to say that I was blown away by his patience, perseverance and good taste. And all this is apart from being excellent company! So this time we travelled together (plane, car, riksja), we ate together (coconut, biryani, palak paneer, pani puri, and more...), and we shopped together (silks, elephants and everything in between). For 10 full days we enjoyed and inhaled Mumbai to the fullest and yes, we did do malls and swimming pools too.

Today, after more then 2,5 months, our silks finally arrived. I needed the help of all the neighborhood kids (including my own)  to get all the silk inside. But they now have excellent crates to play in!

So stay tuned for new beauties to appear in my shop soon.......

(Pictures are a courtesy of Eric Fecken)

 

Etsylokaal actie #etsylokaal

Etsy wordt in Nederland steeds populairder. Sinds ik mijn winkeltje heb geopend op Etsy - nu bijna 4 jaar geleden - is het aantal winkels verveelvoudigd. Het is werkelijk een genot om te zien hoeveel leuke creatieve dingen er worden gemaakt. Sommige gadget wil ik gelijk hebben en van andere wou ik dat ik het had bedacht.

Het leuke van browsen op Etsy dat het mij een aantal keer overkwam dat ik geheel onder de indruk was van een leuke winkel, om er vervolgens achter te komen dat mijn collega zowat bij mij om de hoek woonde.

En daarom is Etsylokaal een leuk initiatief, geinicieerd door Annabel Thomas (waar je terecht kunt voor de leukste tweedehands items). Koop eens iets leuks dat niet in batches van 1000 in een ver oosters land is gemaakt, maar bij jou in het dorp! En als extraatje wordt je bestelling geheel gratis bezorgd!

Dus koop local en wordt ook nog eens beloond met gratis verzendkosten. Hier vind je alle Nederlandse winkels de die hele maand juni met deze actie meedoen: http://etsylokaal.tumblr.com/

Gebruik om de gratis verzending te krijgen de coupon code: ETSYLOKAAL

Happy shopping!!!

Monique

Leuke snorre kussen van Studio Soetwaer (Nicole Kloosterman) uit Heilo

discount on neon velvet silks in May

During the month of may I will be offering a 10 % discount on all the neon velvet silks in my shop. These silks are incredibly beautiful and versatile. As you are all into redecorating your homes think of these vibrant colors! check out all the silks on sale here.

 Green neon blue pink yellow Indian extravaganza

Orange blue two tone polka dots India silk brocade 

Neon orange green pink velvet retro circles

Please do not use coupon codes on these silk items!

Think Pink ! October - Breast Cancer Awareness month

We know it is there, we can see it all around us. The celebrities reach the news,  but there are many more woman who deal with breast cancer or the fear of having breast cancer every single day.

The truth is that this particular kind if cancer is one of most "treatable" kinds, if you are diagnosed in time. The clue to all this, ladies, is that we have to be aware of our own body and notice changes in it. If the changes are there, and you are not relaxed about it, please do not tell yourselves that it is probably nothing and it will go away. If it is cancer it will not just go away. It never leaves by itself with other woman, why should you be an exception?

Let us inform ourselves well and when in doubt go for a check up.

Life is great and we owe it to ourselves and our families to take good care of ourselves (and outlive at least a few of them).




Especially for the breast cancer awareness month I made a special listing of all shades of pink raw silk from India.

As I want to do my bit, the whole month of october this special listing will be available in my Etsy silk shop.

I pledge to donate $ 10,00 for every  set of pink silks I sell to Pink Ribbon (you will have to take my word for it, but I will keep track of the proceeds on my blog!!)




pink raw silk set $ 30,00


I leave you with a few useful links. Live life now!

American Cancer Society: The importance of detecting breast cancer early
Pink Ribbon Holland
Pink Ribbon Shop
Breast Cancer Research

Big silk sale in my online shop!

I am back home and have made arrangements to have my silks shipped to me. This will take a few weeks to happen.

As we are all waiting for these new sweeties, I am offering you up to 30% discount on my current collection. This offer can be used till August 31st!!

Silk brocades from India | Silks by Umf

This is the scheme:

Order a minumum of $ 30,00 and get 15% discount.
Coupon code: SILKMANIA30
Order a minumum of $ 50,00 and get 20% discount.
Coupon code: SILKMANIA50

Order a minumum of $ 150,00 and get 30% 
discount. Coupon code: SILKMANIA150

See you soon in my shop! 

Farewell Mumbai

My trip to Mumbai has come to an end. It has been a short week of intensely shopping and finding the right silks. I am exhausted, but extremely happy with my finds. It has been too short because there is always more I could see and more exhibitions to visit.

In between of all that I try to find the time to see all my friends and catch up with them. This is not an easy task because traveling in Mumbai requires very specific skills. If you are going to a specific part of town, it is best to do everything there at once. A trip from the largest shopping area in town to where I was staying can take up to 2,5 hours while it is only about 30 km. This is not a problem as long as you plan your trips accordingly.

Thank you my friends for just being that and thank you Mumbai for welcoming back as a daughter.