Missus D

AN EVENING AT THE BIERGARTEN

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Wed, 30 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

It's summer, the weather has been pretty fine, what better place to be at other than the biergarten?

THE REAL TWEETERS

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:25:00 +0000

This spring and summer is turning out to be rather busy! I have so many projects on my mind, but I can't possibly execute all of them. Often times when you need a way to communicate an idea, you end up learning new techniques and methods. This spring, I learned some basic video editing. It helps that I "inherited" my husband's Sony Xperia Arc S which enables me to take decent quality videos anytime, anywhere. I hope in time, I can do more sophisticated stuff.

Tried using iMovie, but something didn't work out and I could not figure out why, so I ended up doing this on Youtube Editor which is a little basic, but it works.

Then, this is from my personal channel where I just shoot whatever I wish to share with family and friends. Nothing really sophisticated about this at all. Life in Munich. That's all. I found this little chicka-birdie. It must have fallen off its nest.

My family really like birds. And I get to hear birds the entire day tweeting their sweet hearts away. I recorded this for the audio, but decided I should show the view from my apartment too.
You've got to turn the volume up a little for this one. Birdsong is one of the most delightful things to hear in an urbanised setting. Unless, of course you're talking about the cries of mynah birds and crows. Heh heh.

Mother's Day DIY

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:12:00 +0000

No matter what age we are, I think our mothers will always enjoy our appreciation of what they have done for us. Handmade accents also help tremendously in relaying that sincerity. I was contributing on the Munikum website in relation to simple origami projects that you can do alongside that breakfast in bed and the massage voucher you got for her. :-)

The post may be in German and English, but the instructions are in English.

If you like the euro/dollar heart origami, you can find the instructions here.

Crochet Friendship Bracelet Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Sun, 06 May 2012 11:08:00 +0000

I knew I-cords could be made with a knitting nancy (or strick liesl to the Germans) and knitting needles, however I wasn't aware you could crochet an I-cord. After learning this simple tutorial by June Gilbank, I was inspired to make friendship bands with an i-cord.

So, here's a very simple and easy to make version.
Materials you need:
Cotton yarn
Gold yarn
Bead
Crochet hook
Needle

Simply do as the video instructs. :-)

Once you have reached the desired length, pull the yarn through all three hoops and tighten.

On the other end where you started, use a needle and pull the starting yarn through the other loops.

Yay!!! So I-cord is now finished. I love how the gold yarn makes a nice contrast.

So, put both ends of the yarn through the bead, and then put a knot close to each side of the bead.

Finished!

This doesn't take more than two hours to make, and is perfect to make with your friends since you can chat while you make it. :-)

Crafting Outdoors

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Thu, 03 May 2012 11:44:00 +0000

Spring has finally arrived and the whole of Munich is ecstatic! Rightly so when you have to go through six months of cold weather.

So me and the Munikum girls decided that we have to grab the opportunity to enjoy the nice weather and craft outdoors.

We will be picnicking and crafting on the 13th May (Sunday) at the Eisbach (take the 100 bus to Haus der Kunst) from 2pm onwards. For that Sunday, the theme will be origami.

By the way, I filmed and edited this Munikum teaser. It is my very first time. I always thought it would be difficult, it is time consuming but fun. I would love to make more films in the future for my personal and Munikum projects. The whole teaser was created in iMovie, and I am slowly learning more tricks. :-)

Stone Release Project. Spring 2012.

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 11:59:00 +0000

I had those stones painted quite a while back. I had previously crocheted stones, but I have been inspired by the beautiful stones painted by various artists. You could see them on my Pinterest board. Could not resist giving it a try.

My favorite style is by the Artist in the Arctic because of its simplicity and also a reminder of Aboriginal art in Australia. There is an abundance of stones in Munich to paint, and it should be really fun when the weather gets warmer and sunnier to sit out by the stone beach and "dress" those stones up!

All the stones are "hidden" at the pebble beach where the Oberföhring Stauwehr is.

View Larger Map

Project in Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:11:00 +0000

I spent the Easter holiday testing out a spring/summer public project for Munikum. Basically we wanted to use a material easily available in Munich and encourage everyone in Munich to be creatively involved in putting their artistic expression in and around the city. Stones can be found everywhere on the Isar River. So other than crocheting stones, I tried my hand at painting them too.

It was a lot of fun, as usual. These rocks will be released in the city.

Oodles of doodles

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:10:00 +0000

Every single thing I have ever designed started off as a sketch or doodle. I just went through some old sketchbooks and found some drawings that I still like, but have not really done anything further with them.

Very simply put, I need more time! It's a good sign when you look back at work you have done a few years before and still like them. I found these sample printable bookmarks I created. I must have decided not to do anything with them as bookmarks. I love the quotes, so I decided to put some of them in poster form. You can find them in my paperie store if you wish!

Missus D on Zazzle

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:59:00 +0000

How is it that I have three shops on Etsy, one on Society6 and now I come to you with news of another one?

I have a Zazzle store.

make custom gifts at Zazzle

It's not a new store. It's been around for a while but I didn't exactly build it up. My confession is that I love wearing many hats. I love graphic design and crocheting. While I love doing design, I don't exactly love the production process considering where I am right now. Our life in Munich is not a permanent thing so this is the best way to market my designs without needing physical storage space.

Zazzle and Society6 helps with that. They help put my designs on paper, mugs, iphone cases, T-shirts and so on. I love the arty feel of Society6, and the community of artists inspire me. However, Zazzle can put my design on more products. So I keep both stores.

I don't really know how to "blow my own trumpet". I'm not the best designer around, there are millions out there I consider way more creative than me. But everything I create is me. So I will go all out and carry my style with pride.

DIY Stamps

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:45:00 +0000

I have always loved stamping and was so excited to be able to attend the Etsy Handmade Night for March, we learned how to make our own stamps.

This whole stamp carving thing is just so addictive, this is what I got from one afternoon!

I was able to buy some carving tools from the night itself. I also got some cheap erasers from the Euro shop near the Hauptbahnhof in Munich. One day while passing by Idee at Karlsplatz, I spotted some inking sticks for a crazy price of just 0.48 Euros. No one passes up a good deal like this.

We such wonderful, warm and sunny days in Munich, but by Friday, it started cooling down again. So this weekend is perfect for staying at home and mulling or crafting around. My Munikum girls and I just thought of this bold idea for the city this summer. Still trying to work out the details and will share it when we know it is happening.

Now on Society6 too

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

I recently found Society6, a platform for artists and designers to sell their work. What I love about it is that designers can simply focus on the designing, while the people behind this platform does the production. I look at the kind of ink, paper, clothing they print on and I know they do care about quality. Also, the quality of the artwork produced by the designers is so high, it makes people want to stay on longer to explore the website.

It was a no brainer to decide to come on board and make my work available on this platform. On Printable Scripture, I have started selling a few prints, but they are 8"x10" pieces. Anything bigger incurs a huge shipping fee, and I get nervous about artwork being wrecked during shipping. Society6 handles all these for me, and makes my work available in so many different sizes.

Now on Society6, they are available in more sizes and on iphones, ipods, T-shirts, hoodies.
Shipping is free worldwide this week, so take the chance!

I really like the idea of inspirational words on my phones or mp3 players. Kinda like a reminder when you pick up the phone to speak love.

On the crochet side of things, I'm thinking of organising a crochet/knit mob in the city on a hot summer day. I need to get in touch with the various knitters and yarn hookers in the city and find out what they think of this idea.

Pinning and Repinning on Pinterest

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 11:04:00 +0000

[source]

I LOVE Pinterest. I just loved the concept that I could find something very interesting on the internet and categorise it on my boards. I have been hoarding so many creative DIY tutorials on Pinterest, to me, Pinterest is like my visual bookmark, a personal library cum scrapbook of sorts.

However, nothing is perfect, whilst Pinterest is a wonderful space, it is subject to a bit of abuse. And the fine print also says that we are responsible for the content we put up, which means if we are careless, we could get the pants or skirts sued off us.

So this is for a better, more civilised www, and to protect ourselves!

Personally, I have had one particular image pinned and repinned at least a thousand times without linking back to me as the source. I'm glad that people found the words on that image encouraging, and I hope more and more women are blessed by those words, but I really wish it was linked back to me! If you ever see this image floating around the internet, could you do me a kind gesture and let the pinner know where it came from? I thank you in advance. It will suffice to link back to this post itself.

When pinning, please always link back to the source!
When repinning, please always check that it is linked back to the source!

Spring Awakening: Craft Installation

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:57:00 +0000

Along with Die Rausfrauen and many in the guerilla crochet/knitting scene, I had the intention of yarn bombing this particular bridge in the Englischgarten. Unfortunately, this plan did not work since the next morning it was all gone. So I quickly proceeded with Plan B.

An important holiday in spring is Easter, and with that comes in mind Easter egg hunts. I thought, what if I leave behind crochet stones for people to find and treasure? So I left the stones in the area where I found them.

All the stones are "hidden" at the pebble beach where the Oberföhring Stauwehr is.

View Larger Map

Etsy Handmade Nights: Stamping

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:29:00 +0000

We had such a fun night designing and carving our own stamps out of Euro Shop erasers. Cheap, good and slightly dangerous. Some people had to have plasters around their fingers, but no biggie! I had a great time looking over at people's great ideas. Munich's got some creativity here, we need to keep grooming it!!

One more day to welcoming the spring with my craft installation...can't wait!

Welcoming Spring: Craft Installation

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 08:40:00 +0000

In celebration of the coming of spring, on the 21st March, I am going to do some urban craft installation! There has been a campaign by the Rausfrauen to decorate our cities by yarn bombing. I got the memo a little late, I spent some time thinking about it. At first I wanted to hang these around, with little messages that say "Smile, it's Spring!".

Then I realised that for these to have the maximum effect, I have to make quite a lot of them. Each one takes around 50 minutes, and with my busy schedule, it ain't working. So I came up with Plan B:

Pom poms! I've been smitten ever since I saw Randy Jackson wear a pom pom brooch on American Idol.

I have not seen a man carry polka dot shirts, red cardigans and pom pom brooches so well! You would have thought that it looks too feminine, but no...

Forget how nerdy I look, or my pimples; I made myself a pom pom brooch too. So here's another idea, I'm going to make more pom pom brooches for my friends to wear on our March Etsy Handmade Night . I will also turn those smiley amigurumi into brooches for some friends, and we'll rock it for spring.

I will have to figure out the location(s) for my installation soon. One of my choices is this tree right outside my apartment block. I have been y(e)arning to adorn it for quite some time already. Another location is within the English Garden itself. I will have to do a site visit and determine the suitability soon. Hoping to be able to do it at night when there are very few people and decorate the entire tree.

So yes, if you look again, those pom poms I have right now are definitely not enough. I need a lot more for maximum effect.

Did you know last summer I also crocheted rocks from the Isar and then "released" them back into the "wild"? I think I will do a bit of that later too!

Spaghetti Pesto: Italian instant noodles

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:06:00 +0000

Since living in Germany, the D household has done a 180º and opted to eat at home as much as possible. The person who cooks all the time is yours truly, since Mr. D insists he is a physicist and not a chemist. Don't ask me what chemistry has got to do with cooking.

I do love cooking, because I consider it as a creative activity, but there are days when I don't really want a fussy meal. So the choice available in that situation is instant noodles. We have the Asian version, which is the noodles that come with powdered flavour, or the Italian version, where I make spaghetti pesto.

Pesto is a must have in my household. We (by "we", we mean I) make our own pesto for the reasons that we can make them fresh without preservatives, use the best ingredients possible and customise the flavour to the way we like it. We have two different types of pesto. I love my pesto chunky, garlicky and with parsley. Mr. D has a tamer tastebud, his type of pesto has less garlic, more pinenuts and no parsley.

Here is the original recipe that Mr. D's nanna gave us:

2 cups of fresh basil leaves

1 cup parsley

1/2 cup of pine nuts (pecan or walnuts)

4 cloves garlic

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper for seasoning

Heat the pine nuts up on the over or on a frying pan until the oils start to come out. Try not to let the nuts burn.

Place all in a food processor or electric blender and process until the mixture is smooth.

When I was in Italy, we had hazelnut pesto too. So I think you can try out different kinds of nuts. We've tried walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts. The pesto should last a week or so. Add oil to prevent it from drying up.

Rome'in Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 12:28:00 +0000

Breathtaking Italy. Where do I begin?

We did what every dutiful first time visitor to Rome would do. We came, we saw, and we swooned. Then we wanted to be far from the maddening crowd. So we took daytrips, and it was the best decision we made this holiday. We went to three "communes", towns, or villages as we would understand in English.

Tivoli
We took a train from Roma Tiburtina station to Tivoli. The ride wasn't long, although the frequency of the trains are irregular. It is best to check with Trenitalia before you make your trip out. That was our mistake, which gave us less time to see Tivoli. We had wished to visit Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este, and we only had time for Villa d'Este. Please don't mind if I keep repeating the word "breathtaking", because that's the only way to describe the gardens of Villa d'Este.

There is a blog which teaches us how to get to Villa d'Este from Rome, which was quite helpful for us.

We picked a really good day to arrive in Tivoli as well, because that was the day of the carneval, and the entire town had their children decked out in costumes, they had a procession of floats with lots of confetti thrown around. It was just such a great opportunity to get into town spirit.

Orvieto
If I had a lot of reserve money in the bank, I would have bought a property in Orvieto and stay there at least two months a year.

When we got there in the day, the whole town was empty, like a ghost town. Some small shops, restaurants and tourist attractions were opened. Orvieto is just so charming, quaint and quiet. Because it is located on the top of a cliff, it has picturesque views. There is not much traffic around there, so the air is very fresh, something we missed in Rome.

We had lunch there, in Etruscan style, which is different from the food we have been eating in Rome. On the menu were food like pigeon and rabbit. There was gnocchi with hare sauce. The food was simply wonderful. The gnocchi was the best we had this whole Italian holiday.

We could only grab the 7.23pm train, which meant we stayed in Orvieto until it got dark. By 6pm, this town which we thought was a ghost town came alive. People were on the streets, eat, drinking and talking to each other. The atmosphere was laid back and relaxed, the town feels safe and friendly. Give me wireless internet and an apartment or house with views out, I think I could live there quite comfortably.

Civita di Bagnoregio
Every part of the journey to Civita di Bagnoregio was so pretty. We took a train to Orvieto, and from the bus stop just outside of the train station, we took a Cotral bus to Bagnoregio. You should study the schedule of the bus carefully because if you miss a certain bus, you might have to take a taxi or stay the night in Bagnoregio.

We got there without a map, but intuitively, we tried to walk towards a cliff edge, and thankfully we were in the right direction. These towns are so small you never really get lost anyway. We walked across the pedestrian bridge and entered the old ancient Bagnoregio, where again, there were hardly any people, this being the non peak season.

We were invited by Fabrizio (I think that's his name, but I might be wrong), who owns a bruschetteria- and in there is a 1500 year old olive press, to have some bruschetta. He toasted the bread in his wood fire oven, topped them with organic olive salsa, truffle spread, grilled eggplants and pickled zucchini. Fabrizio presses his own olive oil, and makes his own wine. He engaged us in great conversation while we ate in what used to be a stable for his family's horses. Easily the best food we ever had, and I walked out slightly tipsy. He has a BnB, in case you ever miss the bus and have to sleep something. I'm sure his hospitality might make you want to stay longer.

So, when in Rome, don't just stick to Rome!

I have to say, this trip in this part of Italy has changed my perspective on how I should be travelling through this country. It is easy to travel around, and never only stay in the city, leave the city and you always see much more!

Basketcase

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:12:00 +0000

The weather has been perfect for one thing, and that is crocheting. I came home from Hello Handmade (Hamburg) last year with three bundles of jersey yarn and never had a chance to use it because I just could not make up my mind what to make with it.

And finally I decided on a basket. For a cat. That I do not have yet. Ha! We have been dreaming of having a cat for a while. So for now, Raffi the sock monkey, owns the cat basket. When the cat comes along, they will be best friends. I got Raffi in an exchange with my friend Jessica.

So for all cat lovers out there, we've been waiting for an Egyptian mau to enter our lives.

Free style crochet

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:40:00 +0000

Took me a while but I finally got back to some serious crocheting. I love free style crocheting without any patterns.

The rock I used is pretty heavy, whenever I begin the underside of the rock, I have to juggle between holding the rock, fitting the crochet work into the rock and the hook.

Well, this rock is already spoken for. It's an overdue order for somebody. But if you would like to see more of my work, my rocks can be found here.

Wire Wrap Rings at Etsy Handmade Night

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:03:00 +0000

We had so much fun at the Munich Etsy Handmade Night last Thursday. My friend April from Raw Lux Gems offered her time and skills to teach us how to make our own wire wrap ring. She kept telling me it is easier than crocheting, but I think not, at least, if you wish to do a good job!

In the end, I got quite a few compliments on the first ring. The beads of the second ring (with gold stripes) are meaningful to me. One of my best friends gave me these beads when I was sixteen. Goodness, how long ago was that!! Now I finally find a great use for them.

We will be having more of these monthly handmade nights. As one of the organisers, I'm so excited we are able to create space and time to allow people to explore arts and crafts. Who said arts and crafts are only from primary school?

One of the interesting aspects of the night is the fact that you could hear people speaking in German, English and French! Just makes me feel that it is nights like these that bring people together. Next month will be embroidery night, should be interesting!

Genius and CopyCats

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:03:00 +0000

The topic of copying is a really hot and sensitive topic, especially for creative people. I guess it is because we pride ourselves on being creative and we make a living and build our reputation on that creativity. There are also certain ethics, perhaps written or unwritten, in the creative realm that justifies our annoyance and frustrations when someone comes and does something similar to what we do.

What I have noticed in my interaction with people from different cultures is that their perception and definition of "copying" is different. Their response towards this issue is rather different too. So here is the disclaimer that this is my take on things as an artist and designer.

Let's define copying.
First, it is copying if a person took your artwork, scan it, print it for their own purposes, commercial or non-commercial, with or without your consent, with or without giving you credit.

It is copying if someone took your work and makes an inferior version out of it.

It is copying if someone took your work with your signature style and just changed a small detail as an excuse to say it is not copied wholesale.

It is not copying if both of you were inspired by the same thing, let's say, clouds, trees, owls, birch, maps, arrows, triangles, etc. I mean, come on, you borrowed all these ideas from nature!

What I find people are worried about most of the time where it comes to copying is that the sales and profits are taken from them and that your idea is not so "original" after all.

The truth is, if your idea seems good (i.e. making money), somebody will want to do the same thing.
Honestly, that makes me upset too, especially when somebody undercuts you by offering lower prices that you know is not fair recompense for the effort put in. (That is another topic.)

Don't worry, I am not for copying!
I am totally against copying because it just goes against individual expression. The reproduction of an idea to cash in on its profitability without giving due credit to the person is pretty immoral, to be honest.

I am against copying, but I am also against the hoarding of ideas and laying claim to ideas.
Personally, I think originality is about self-expression, based on your perspective. You create a world that you imagine. Perhaps there are more people in the world who have similar imaginations of their world, how it looks and should function.

Elizabeth Gilbert (of Eat, Pray, Love fame) believes that creativity or genius does not belong to certain individuals, rather that all of us "have" a genius. Similarly, I recently read Paul Arden's "It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be" and to quote him, "They (The ideas) are out there floating by on the ether. You just have to put yourself in a frame of mind to pick them up."

I tend to agree with them, and with Paul Arden's attitude towards ideas especially. Ideas are for sharing. And sometimes, I believe it is in sharing an idea that will help make the idea even better.

Final personal note and an interesting fact.
The luxury brand sector does not have patents or copyrights on their patterns for clothes. The reason is that these things are so basic that you cannot place a patent on them. Yet they are not worried about copies affecting their profit margin, because they said (I have to find my sources again), that those who purchase fakes are not part of their target market.

I recently opened a printable shop selling christian scripture designed as typography printable posters in June 2011. When I first opened it, there were no other shops on Etsy that only sold printables in this category. By November 2011, many other shops doing something similar sprouted up. I was quite surprised and secretly honoured that they would think my idea is good. I was also a little pissed off by those who try to underprice their work. But then, I had a thought. A few thoughts indeed.

Firstly, my reason for starting this shop was for something more than about the money. It's good that people are offering a variety of styles. Secondly, I have a completely different style from these other new shops sprouting up. Surely, my clientele is different from theirs. Thirdly, I started this business with a vision that includes the quality of the work I provide. As long as the work I do is up to my standard and that I am tapping into the source of my creativity, comparison will only kill the joy I have in doing my work so far. I am having a lot of fun, and finding out who is "copying" my business model is very distracting.

Finally, we should shut down people who are copying our work, the current system on the internet of policing for one another is great. But if someone wants to draw triangles, let them do it their own way.

THIS COULD BE THE HOLOCAUST OF CREATIVITY.

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:53:00 +0000

I really wanted to spend some time sharing other things I learned from Paul Arden. It has something to do with copying... boy, is that going to be a controversial topic!

But, there is a pressing issue which I think touching on many things important to us. Free speech. Creativity. Democracy.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Of course, this could be the holocaust of creativity, but it will never kill off creativity altogether.

NO GRIT, NO PEARL.

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:22:00 +0000

Last post I said I would share about two books that have provided so much wit, wisdom and humour.
Well, they are written by the same person, Paul Arden. Many knew him as an advertising genius. He was no easy person to work with, but those did, and went through his school of hard knocks and true honesty said they got the best education they could ask for.

For all in advertising, those who wanted to be good got him as a grit that would eventually turn into a pearl, if they took in what he said. And his books provided the grit that would help all of us, creatives and non-creatives alike.

I could probably spend many blog posts sharing the gems I found in his books, but today I will simply share the first truth I learned for myself after reading both his books, "It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be" and "Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite".

Be unapologetically passionate.

With great passion comes great intensity. And sometimes, people get offended by your intensity. That's normal, that's life. Being good has got nothing to do with being nice. Although, there is nothing wrong with being nice, except when you compromise with how good you want and need to be.

Also,
No grit, no pearl.

It's a huge investment in life to find friends who don't just say nice things to you, but can be honest and give you material to produce excellence in your life. Last year, I mourned the loss of a few "friends". Well, I thought they were my friends and I knew I could have done better in many ways too. And then I announced that 2012 would be the year I learn to be a better friend. Yes, it would mean to be honest (oh dear), that means at the end of that honesty, probably only one or two people are left standing. But those left standing would probably be the best investment in your life.

Poster from here.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race.

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:13:00 +0000

Remember I shared I was going to do Project365?

Well...it was much much harder than I thought. I didn't have just one project that requires my attention every day of the year, but two. The other is #scripture365 which I am doing relatively well in.

Then there were the other goals I set, such as to push Missus D into the direction of providing patterns and kits, upgrade my products on Missus D Paperie, and to build Munikum up as a local handmade movement. Pushing yourself creatively really takes a lot of energy and I suspect I bit more than I could chew. The other part is a matter of pacing. It's only mid-January, for crying out loud. I don't think there's really a rush.

So what with the rushing about? Any results? Sure did!

So I drew up the pattern for the Bender robot eggwarmer, Cthulhu Eggwarmer, aka, Zoidberg, and the chick and egg amigurumi.

Then, to save you the hassle of looking for the right yarn, I've prepared some crochet kits. I really love the yarn supplied in these kits. Definitely great quality cotton. Doesn't that first picture of the crochet kit remind you of CMYK?

Finally, this #scripture365, which is pushing my limits and expanding my repertoire. I still have lots to improve, but I hope to see more classy, timeless designs for Christian scripture. By the way, I don't choose verses randomly. Each verse speaks and ministers to me for this particular day. You can check out my blog for the backstory for each verse.

Wow, for the seventeenth day of the day, I have achieved quite a bit! I always chide myself on the inside for procrastinating and such, but now I look back, I have been fruitful! Let's just keep going steady, I'm sure it is going to be an interesting year. It already looks to be one, considering we MIGHT have to do a seachange.

And to prove I really tried not to neglect Project365, I did try to take a few self portraits, which I am not good at. This is the best of the worst.

The next part about 2012 is self-improvement. For starters, I managed to borrow two really good books which are easy to read but packs so much wit, humour, wisdom and great advice. Will share that next post.

A Handmade Manifesto (in the making)

noreply@blogger.com (Missus D) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 11:24:00 +0000

Last year in late summer, a few of us got together and in a culmination of passionate discussion on the local creativity in Munich and what we wish to see happen in Munich, formed a local handmade movement called Munikum.

Since then, we have managed to organise two handmade markets, made many connections with designers and local public alike. Munikum is a platform for promoting local handmade designs and handmade culture, after the markets, we now have the opportunity to help host the "Etsy Handmade Nacht" (in English, "Etsy Handmade Night") from this year onwards.

As we gathered around the table enjoying dinner, we asked ourselves again, what does this handmade movement in Munich want to achieve? Why push this? I managed to find some time to sit down and think about it through writing. This is what I came up with. If you know more benefits of a handmade movement, let me know. :-) Are you involved in one in your local area? Feel free to share what your local movement does in your city.

Here goes:

Munikum is a local Handmade movement based in Munich. It started as a meeting of minds that desire to see a Handmade movement happen in Munich. We believe that the practice of making things ourselves provides many benefits to ourselves and our environment.

1. The joy of re-discovering our personal creativity.

2. Cultivating mindfulness: paying attention to the details of the present moment.

3. Stress therapy.

4. Connecting with people through creativity.

5. Appreciation for craftwork and its process- from the smallest scale (sewing, baking, knitting) to the largest scale(woodwork, construction).

6. Appreciation of local creativity- that of your friends and the city you live in. Instead of going with one style or methodology, we can see the individual styles of each person. That helps create an even more vibrant city.

7. Increase support of local artists and designers. Through encountering process ourselves, we are further able to look deeper into the work of designers and receive greater understanding into their work. This also means that we will begin to know good work when we see it!

8. Through supporting local artists and designers, you are also re-investing into the local economy, financially and culturally.

Handmade always sounds like a primitive term. And in Germany, many of us are even avoiding the work “handarbeit” simply because it doesn’t sound cool enough. No matter what the term we use, the whole idea of this movement is to get the city more involved in making something with their own hands so they can rediscover their personal creativity.

With Etsy’s immense support, we are able to bring “Etsy Handmade Nacht” to Munich, and hopefully with the craft nights, each of us can find our creative niche and make meaningful connections, face to face, with the people around the table.