Last day of sale ........

The very last day of silk sale for my regulars! Use this code and get 15% off on everything (but the items already on sale): WAIT4SILKS

Last day of silk sale!!!

The last 24 hours of silk sale starts now!!!!

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I believe that growing up in one culture and living in another one has some advantages. One of them is that you get to see the world from different perspectives. I often feel enriched that I had the privilege to grow up on Curacao, a small Caribbean island with a very strong social network and family structure.

Living in the Netherlands I do miss this warm bath, but I love living in a big city. I absolutely adore my city Rotterdam and am equally fond of other ports. I like the rawness of harbour cities, as if there was no time to cover up or to put up a face. It’s the nakedness of the cities that appeals to me the most: what you see is exactly what you will get. There is no window dressing involved. There is one thing though. I prefer to live near the ocean, no mather where I am. Till date I managed to do just that, even in our years in Mumbai, India, I could see (and smell) the sea from my flat.

Every culture, every community, has their own rules and codes. Some may be written down.  Others implied. But they are always there even, if you are not aware of them. If you are new to a culture it is not easy to get a grip on these rules. Moving to a (over)-organized place is easier. Most of the rules are probably written down and people are expected to live by them all the time. A small community with less codification will still have rules, but as most issues will sort themselves out automatically, these will not always be set in stone. Even if the rules are there, this is not a guarantee!

An interesting example is the band playing in our neighbours garden on Curacao. Growing up in the early eighties we all knew that during the months of January and February the band of the brother of one of our nearby neighbours will be practicing in their garden. The brother was one of the most celebrated “Tumba” kings of Curacao, singing one after the other marching tune for the Carnaval parades. He needed a place to practice and we got a life performance for 2 nights a week totally free of charge. A win-win situation I would say.

But then new neighbours moved to our neighbourhood. They were Dutch and highly annoyed by these evening music extravaganzas. So they complained to the police that environmental law so-and-so does not permit music to be played after whatever time etcetera. First the police did not even react. After a complaint was filed against the police they came reluctantly to check out the situation. In the meantime the new Dutch neighbours had looked up the appropriate law and insisted that the police would intervene and make the music go away.

Unfortunately for the new Dutch neighbours the situation was not resolved to their satisfaction. The police explained to the new Dutch neighbours that they would have to sit through it. It would make their lives easier if they were to try and dance on the music and maybe invite some friends over for drinks. You see, this man needed a place to practice and we would all gain from this as he will probably come up with again a great tune for the Carnaval parade. This is only during the two months a year. After February they can enjoy their poolside drinks in complete silence. This is how things were done on my island. We live and we let live.

Years have gone by and many things have changed, even on my island. But last week -as I was driving around on Curacao - my heart filled with joy because the essence of my people is still the same. I approached a crossing without traffic lights where during rush hour it is very difficult to get a chance to get on the main road. In Holland you would have to wait until the road is completely empty to take the turn, because those are the rules. But on Curacao everybody knows that this is a difficult spot and the cars are given right way, even though they didn’t have to. The rules are very clear, but are not obeyed because it worked better this way for everybody. I love how this works out, at the same time I do realize that this would not really work in a larger community. It could even create unnecessary chaos.

Since we are comparing I could not help wondering how this example would work out in Mumbai. I believe that none of the traffic rules would matter and that all cars, big and small, would just bunch up in the hope that they could make the turn before the next guy. Off course we would try to fit as many cars as possible in one lane and do keep in mind that there is no plausible reason why one could not use the left side of the road while there is no approaching traffic!

But after 10 days of shere Carnaval joy on Curacao I returned back to Holland where my other home is (and where my three men were waiting for me). As I was making my way through the airport I passed the gate where the next flight to Mumbai was being called out. I could not help but feeling a small itch at that moment. Looking at all the people standing up to get in line, part of me wished I could join them.

Home.

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!