It has been a while since we did a “My Favourites”, so I decided that it was time for a new blog entry in that category. But – not on a new product, actually on an old one, a product, that, according to me, is perfect for spring/summer…
The product I’m talking about is the Einkaufsbeutel (Eng.Trans. Shopping Bag) by Fredsbruder, an old-school shopping bag in cotton with leather handles. Perfect for spring and summer season, with its bright and happy colours! And it hardly takes up any space at all! You see, the Fredsbruder design team have been very inventive yet again, you can actually put the little shopping bag into its “bottom” , and voilà – your bag is gone and the only thing that you have left is a little leather pocket! Perfect for weekend getaways to exotic destinations, where you don’t have room for bags, since you’ve already packed your whole summer wardrobe – am I right ladies?
We’ve had a great couple of days here at the shop – we had so much going on in the shop last Saturday that we weren’t even able to do all the little things that we do, while taking care of our customers: like producing new labels for new products, cleaning up, redecorating… There is a lot that has to be done!
The last few times that I’ve been here, I couldn’t help but notice that there’s been one item in particular that we’ve been selling a lot of – the Cotton Scarves from Blaumax! These pretty things, available in many – MANY – colours, can lighten up any “transition-coat”. And the best thing is – they’re comfortable – and cheap!
Spring is on its way. There is no doubt about that. Today when I was on my way to the shop, I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn’t instantly hit by a freezing wind, a wind which I’ve unfortunately have been hit by – one too many times during these past few months. But not today. I put on my (fake) Ray-Bans, and could actually feel the sun’s rays on my back during the entire 15-minutes-walk, from my house to the shop. It felt nice. It was like meeting an old friend, that you haven’t met in months…Exhiting!
I’ve been doing some spying today, spying on fellow “Spring:ers” like myself. It’s fun to see that people dare you step their foot outside their door again, it’s been a long Winter. I’m hoping that this is it – it feels like this could be it – but you never know… In Sweden we have this great expression: “Du ska aldrig ropa “Hej” förrän du har kommit över bäcken.” (Translation: You should never say “Hello” before you’ve crossed the river.) It means that you should be careful getting ahead of yourself. I think this expression has proved itself right way too many times this Winter…
Well, I think Berlin is on the right track. That is more than I can say about Sweden. My mother sent me a picture of our Labrador Frida, playing in the snow. Look at the height difference, comparing the dog to the snow. I must add, our dog is not very big – but come on…
The weather changed the last days: no more snow, warmer even sunshine and more and more puddles on the street, because of the melting snow. That made me thinking about Spring and redecorating our winter sales area. I threw all the winter stuff out and decorated the new FredsBruder bags and the new beautiful dutch scarves from Jago. Have you noticed the one with the birds called Boxer? Isn’t it cute?
Ahh…now the shop looks much better: bright colours, more fresh. I really couldn’t stand all this winter stuff any more.
At first, sorry for not blogging yesterday. I am sure you missed me. Already on the second day without Katrin in the shop I didn’t manage to blog, hmpf. At the moment there is so much to do: Yesterday two huge packages of new Fredsbruder bags and wallets arrived: Yeah the brand-new Spring/Summer collection is available now. But that means for me: unwrap them all, make prices, make price tags… Uff. I miss Katrin. These kinds of jobs are much faster, when there are two working on it.
And what happened just half an hour ago?! A postman came with another package: th Jago scarfs of the Spring/Summer Collection. Ufff….again more work. Why do theses kind of packages always come on the same days. Couldn’t Jago have waited a bit. At least tow days that I can finish Fredsbruder and bookkeeping. That’s another big task on my to do list!
Just wanted to give you some pics of my new breedings: Strawberries.
I followed the instructions of Deva, who gave a great pattern on flickr. I attached one berry on my jacket today and even the rain outside couldn´t tear me down
The children, visiting our shop with their mums, all start to play with them, while they are lying there as a decoration on a serving plate from kaki.koma. I think about doing some more fruits. What should I try next?
Yesterday I discovered some cherry blossoms here in Berlin. I am very happy to having dicovered thes, because the photo fits perfectly to our actual cherry blossom theme in the shop. And of course they bring out the joys of sping. Sun is shining. Dumdidum. Yeah!
Unbelievable, but true: I guess the winter is coming to it’s end. Yesterday, maybe because it was Barbaras birthday the sun was shining in Berlin, at least temporary. Everywhere you can buy tulips and spring flowers. Which brought me to the idea of changing our homedecoration from winter to spring. Gathering for inspiration I rolled some old Elle decoration journals and surfed a lot around the Internet. There I found this nice guy from Hamburg. He is master-florist and owns a shop called Himmel und Erde. He has some videos on line at you tube, but I decided to show you this:
Another great florist I know is Gregor Lersch. His shop and atelier is situated in Ahrweiler (beautiful, small town in the Rhine area). I had the pleasure to follow one of his courses once. I got it as a birthday present and I´m still remembering this great weekend as an absolutely inspiring, overwhelming experience. If you are interested in his work see some pictures under this link. He is a genius.
Hopefully! First I have to tell you: A big SORRY to bother you with this again, but that´s life. Our shop is making at least some progress in finishing but not as much as we wished it could. To be honest: Our nerves are on the edge.
The ceiling is done now, the holes for the lights are made, so today the painter is doing the last finishing on the walls, so the carpenter is able to do the wooden flooring (which one we chose you can see here). Let´s cross fingers to be able to move in March the 15th! On Monday a friend of my parents will deliver our counter-desk (an old buffet in it´s former life) and we don´t know where to put it yet, aaahhhh. And we have to finish the second step of our business plan contest, getting sick at this time is not very helpful, I can tell you. But there is light at the end of the tunnel: Having a great friend, holding my hand when I´m ill, making tea and opening the window to let in fresh air, without having to ask. And the bonus:
A beautiful bouquet of red tulips blossom up in my sleeping room. The birds a chirping outside, not only them feel the spring coming. Thanks Barbara!
(pics from Marsupialia)
