I thought I’d leave you for the weekend with some images from Amsterdam: Made by Hand. I hope they inspire you to come to this incredibly city. And if you are already here, then I hope to inspire you to take a wander with the book and explore some of these beautiful boutiques and studios. And if you are not in Amsterdam, then perhaps you can take a moment to wander around your own neighbourhood and get to know some of your local artisans. Whatever you do this weekend, enjoy.

For those who are staying in for the weekend, I think this awesome project to make your own book could be super fun, and it’s perfect for left over paper and fabrics. And don’t forget the blogs in the spotlight in the sidebar – if you are not able to explore outdoors, then perhaps you can explore the neighbourhood around the (blog)house. I’ve also been adding some new neighbours in my blogroll as I’ve come across them.

Thank you for all your comments and conversations this past week, it’s been fun catching up.  Have a wonderful weekend! See you next week, mes amis.

xx

Finally, the sun is out and the air is warm. It is blissful to ride my bike over bridges in the warm sunshine-filled air. I love having all the windows open in the boat and eating summer fruits on the tiny front deck while reading a book.

To celebrate the arrival of summer, I’ve gone through my amsterdam archives and picked out a selection of favourite amsterdam posts that I thought you might enjoy anew…

a meal of memories

hidden studios and secret gardens

summer rainstorm

summer weekends

my thoughts on amsterdam, after a year

a late night stroll

I’m also wrapped to let you know that I Amsterdam posted a little story about me and my book today. Click here to read it.  And I’m also super thrilled to let locals know that they are hosting a giveaway of amsterdam: made by hand on their facebook page today! To enter, you just have to post a comment on their page about what you’re most looking forward to at tomorrow’s urban arts festival. The competition ends at 4PM TODAY so that are only a couple of hours left, get in quick! Thank you I Amsterdam for spreading the word, you guys rock.

If I could enter the giveaway myself, I’d say I’m looking forward to Lotte Klaver’s drawing machine (I cannot wait to see this!) and also to see audrey wereen from label 3 making her fab bags (audrey is one of the artisans mentioned in amsterdam: made by hand, page 53!). On a personal note I’m also looking forward to meeting the lovely Anne who’s coming from Paris, and also fellow author Kate! And I’m absolutely looking forward to signing copies of my book, I hope the weather will be just as perfect as it is today so I can catch some rays while I sign.

Aaaah, June is Amsterdam. I told you it was gonna be good…

Wow, has this month flown by or what? I can’t believe it’s already time for the Urban Arts Festival!

This Saturday, June 26th between 1-6pm on the spui (the big cobblestoned square outside the American Book Center) is where you’ll find this giant outdoor atelier featuring a plethora of creative individuals displaying and creating work on-site, especially for the festival. The concept is to cross fertilize the world of design and crafts. There is a fabulous line up of artists and artisans including graphic designers, illustrators, graffiti artists, fiber artists, paper-toy designers, authors – all with an urban edge.

I’ll be there not only perusing the stalls to see what everyone is up to but also signing copies of Amsterdam: Made by Hand so if you have not yet got yourself a signed copy of the book then this is your last chance as the Urban Arts Festival wraps up my month-long book launch celebrations!

Click on the above collage to enlarge and see some of the creative people who will be there. Also check out the ABC treehouse calender for workshops scheduled for the day (just scroll down to June 26th and then click on the various event links to find out more). And for more detailed information about the festival and links to each artist, click here.

I’ll be at the book signing table at 3pm, hope to see you then!

xx

PS For those interested in Paris: Made by Hand, the American Book Center has ordered more, they should be in store now and yes of course I’m happy to sign copies as well on Saturday!

Wandering the streets of de pijp with such a lovely bunch of strangers, sharing a little slice of ‘my world’… it was all so incredibly enjoyable and rewarding, I don’t even know where to begin…

Photo credits above are as follows:
1. first two atelier photos by fellow wanderer and newcomer to amsterdam, bex radford.
2. 2 of only 3 photos I took on the day – thankfully everyone else had cameras and they took some great shots which I’m thrilled to share with you in this post.
3. the 3rd shot I took – another lovely little vignette at hilde tempelman’s shop.
4. these fab photos of sophia and lenneke are by fellow wanderer Larissa.
5. cool triptych by Dutch-born, Seattle-based linda ferrol.

photo from the front window display at van Rossum, taken by Alice, and photo of mini booklet taken by linda.

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Well, let’s start at the beginning when I lost an elderly lady, shall we? Yes it’s true, within the first couple of minutes in fact! but fellow wanderer Alice filled me in on the mystery of the missing lady during afternoon tea –  I didn’t lose her as it turned out, rather, she ditched us. I’m not too sure where she came from because I was quite certain that she was not an avid reader – or even aware – of my blog, but I think she must have been a customer at van Rossum and perhaps she thought it would be nice to go on this unique tour. However when I handed her the little map with booklet and spoke to her in English, she seemed a little perplexed. As it was, just before the rest of us headed onto the tram, she came to Alice and said very kindly that she had lived in Amsterdam for 30 years and was quite sure she would know all this already and off she went.

part of the group on the tram, on our way to de pijp,  as captured by Alice.

I thought that was quite hilarious. And I was very happy to hear that I didn’t actually lose her after all. So, with one down it was 17 of us in total  – we all hopped on the tram to begin our journey together and man, was it fun!! As most of you know, I’m not fond (to put it mildly) of being in the spotlight. Doing all these book events this past month is a really big deal for me – they are all completely out of my comfort zone. Saturday’s wander was no exception – it meant I was to lead a group of 17 around the city…! But everyone made me feel so incredibly comfortable and relaxed from the moment I met them, making this special adventure an absolute joy from beginning to end…

more incredible photos by bex.

Now I’m not going to take you through everything we did or everything we saw but instead, I’ve assembled some of the images here in this post that my fellow (very talented!) wanderers took to give you a virtual visual wander. And lucky us, those with blogs have even written fabulous posts about the wander already! So I highly recommend you visit them for a full account of our adventure. Their blog links will be at the end of this post…

photo on the left by Alice, photo on the right by Bex.

I have no idea what I’m saying here but I’m glad everyone seems so interested! This image was taken my Malwina who was carrying a gorgeous bag which she made herself, see below in the top right photo…

more great shots by Alice! here you can see us wandering and stopping into various ‘made by hand’ destinations.

Now I seem to be having no problem taking to the stage, ha! Photo on the left by Bex, on the right by Alice.

lenneke and sophia taking tea and scones, as captured by malwina.

photo on the left by Bex and afternoon tea shot by lovely Larissa.

two tiny collages I made for the booklet which I handed out to everyone at the beginning of the wander – they are photos from Amsterdam: Made by Hand, with page references to the shops we visited.

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Thank you everyone who came along, I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed yourselves and I hope to meet you again soon! Thank you to all the studios and specialty boutiques for having us, and a special thank you to my friend Rani who helped set up the afternoon tea tables as well as helped keep the group together on the wander.  A big thank you to van Rossum bookstore for hosting such a wonderful afternoon tea!! All of whom made this something I would definitely love to do again and again.

xx

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Please be sure to visit:

Lenneke from A Little Hamster to read her account of the wander (click here).

Linda from Ferrol Studio for her account here,

and Malwina’s blog post here. Thanks girls!!

In preparation for tomorrow’s wander, I have drawn a little map of the area, complete with ‘made by hand’ destinations to give to each of my fellow wanderers. Tonight I’m busy creating little booklets as a momento for our adventure- in each one I’m including some snippets of pretty papers used for the window displays along with the wander introduction and some extra little treats. Each booklet is unique and handmade, and each one can be added to  – so as my fellow wanderers collect business cards, leaflets, or even fallen leaves along the way they can attach it to this loose leaf booklet. It will be like a petit handheld moodboard from the day, hopefully something that will inspire and encourage more ‘made by hand’ wanders…

I have no idea what the weather will be like but you know what? I really don’t mind – it is going to be such a delight to wander in and out of these special hidden places that it really doesn’t matter… what better way is there to spend an afternoon?

Now I’m not going to promise I will take photos of the event but let’s hope that someone brings a camera and that they are happy to share their snaps with you here in the (blog)house next week.

Have a wonderful weekend,  mes amis!