I am very excited to announce another rather exclusive event that will be held in Amsterdam this month in celebration of the worldwide release of Amsterdam: Made by Hand…

With many thanks to boekhandel van Rossum , I’ll be taking 15 willing participants on one of my favourite wanders in the book on Saturday, June 19. yeah!! We will start at van Rossum bookstore, hop on the tram to de pijp and wander through the pretty backstreets to visit with some of the boutiques and studios featured in wander 10 (page 150). This is your chance to meet the artisans and shop owners directly through me, get a glimpse at what is on their worktables, buy little handmade, one-of-a-kind treasures (there will be many temptations!!) and be inspired. Along the way I’ll take you into some of my other secret boutique stops (that are not in the book!).

After that, we will head back to van Rossum bookstore and enjoy some afternooon tea out in the courtyard…

Excited? me too! If you would like to join this exclusive wander, please reserve your place by letting me know a.s.a.p by sending me an email as there are only a limited number of places left. We will rendez vous out the front of van Rossum at 2pm on Saturday, June 19 and I estimate the wander to be around 2 hours. For those who can’t make the wander but would like to join us for afternoon tea, we can meet you back at van Rossum at around 4pm.

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What? join me on an exclusive wander to visit some of the boutiques featured in Amsterdam: Made by Hand.

Where? meet me at van Rossum bookstore, Beethovenstraat 32 | 1077 JH Amsterdam | Tel.: 020-4707077

When? Saturday, June 19 at 2pm.

Cost? free! except you need to pay for your own tram ride.

Please note: this wander is only available for 15 people so to reserve your place you need to send me an email and I will send you a reply to confirm your reservation. This event is “first come first served” so be sure to reserve your place pronto.

…nikole’s gorgeous home recently featured on design*sponge (you already know how much I adore nikole’s blog and her spoons, I can never get enough of her beautiful work)…

… marie’s stunning necklaces – which she is kindly offering one as a giveaway on her blog, le voyage créatif! Make sure you write a comment on her giveaway post here.

…and fanny’s inspiring world, complete with pissenlits, poisson d’avril, and voiles d’été. Her blog, les contours du silence is one of my “blogs in the spotlight” this past week.

Enjoy!

xx

A moment ago, while I was zooming back from the fabulously quaint English Bookshop, I thought it might be nice to give a little blog shout out to the local bookstores who have all been helping to publicise the release of my new book this month.  Each of these stores have offered their windows to display my book as well as allow the use of their beautiful book-filled spaces to accommodate Amsterdam: Made by Hand enthusiasts for exclusive events. I am very grateful. As all new authors know, it’s a tough slog to get your book out there.

So, thank you to the American Book Center, The English Bookshop, and boekhandel van Rossum for your time, support and assistance in getting my book “out there on the streets”.

And thank you  to all the bookstores and boutiques around the world who continue to stock Paris: Made by Hand as well as place orders for Amsterdam: Made by Hand.

You’re. all. awesome.

xx

PS I’ll be sharing details of the next event with you momentarily…
PPS I have a strong urge for producing black & white images all of a sudden.

I’m still recovering from all the attention at Saturday’s book launch. It was a great success, I was (and am still) overwhelmed by the number of people who came along and the amount of books I signed.  I was so very nervous before the event, so many “what if’s” were running through my head. But as soon as I sat down at the signing table, all the nerves went away as I spent the next hour signing my little heart out and happily chatting away. Thank you so much to all who attended – you really made me feel like a star…

So would you like a re-cap of the launch? Okay, well, here is how it went: French Boy and I arrived at about 2:30pm. We went off to buy some flowers for the table, by then I was super anxious. It was a very hot day – quite unusual for Amsterdam so I was sure that everyone who had planned to come to the launch would instead, go to the beach. I had no idea if there would be any music, or if the nibbles would arrive in time, or if my publisher had made her flight. Yes that’s right, my publisher from New York! It was the first time I was going to meet her face to face – we have worked on 2 books together and have been in close contact via email for more than 2 years, and Saturday marked our first ever meeting.

Once French Boy and I came back to the American Book Center with the flowers, everything started coming together – within minutes of each other, 2 friends (who didn’t know each other at all) turned up with instruments! Arun (who is a freelance journalist here in Amsterdam and had recently interviewed me for an article in the June issue of Time Out – more about that soon) brought his guitar and Simone (who plays with one of my fave local bands,  Point Quiet) brought her violin. They decided to play together so off they went to find a little quiet alley to do some quick practice and then came back just in time for the first arrival of guests. Their music was INCREDIBLE. It was exactly what I had hoped for and envisioned, and as soon as they started playing I was filled with happiness. Thank you Arun and Simone!

Then came my dear friends Yvette and Sophie from Aan de Amstel with their absolutely gorgeous nibbles which were letter-shaped pastries spelling out “amsterdam made by hand” and “pia jane bijkerk”…

Aren’t they clever? They also made little savoury biscuits that said “pia!” on each one, it was really amazing. Thank you so much Yvette and Sophie!!

All the while I was signing books and when I did dare to look up from the table I noticed a long line going all the way back, I couldn’t believe it! There were so many people. I was thrilled to see familiar faces amongst the unfamiliar too – friends, local shop owners and designers, everyone made me feel very special. And everyone adored the barbara munsel dress I was wearing:  On the Thursday evening before the signing, Barbara came to Amsterdam to help fit a dress for me at YDU (which, as some of you already know,  is one of the stores featured in the book). The dress we picked suited me to a tee  – I’ll be sure to take a pic of it in it’s entirety so you can all get a good look at it, I’m completely in love with it, thank you barbara!!

Low and behold my publisher Angela and her husband Rea were sneakily standing in line, waiting to say hello, I was so happy to see them. We chatted for a bit and then I got back to the table to sign books and meet guests. What a rush, I was really on top of the world at that stage…

And throughout the whole afternoon, good friends & talented photographers Alan Jensen and Cath Conroy snapped photographs. You guys rock, thank you!!

I received incredible gifts as well, all of which I want to share with you here in the (blog)house in coming days. I’m overwhelmed by the generosity and encouragement I received on the day, I just cannot thank each of you enough…

Here is a little detail of my shoes and a gorgeous shot of one of my dearest friends and loyal fan,  Marie.

Thank you to the American Book Center for hosting the official book launch and for lending me your front window.

I’ll be back later to let you know about the other two events in Amsterdam that I’ll be a part of in celebration of the release of the book this month. For now though, I need some quiet time to catch my breath.

xx

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all photographs by Alan Jensen.