Exciting new flow

Wow, it has been a while, but due to a series of wonderful and amazing events in my life. Later more about this new flow but for now the following ~> there's a new exciting project in creative development. Elle & I are currently brainstorming and working on something new which is giving us loads of energy. It's virtual,very graphic and will be built around all the things we love. More about our new flow very soon!  

Coeur Blonde Newspaper

Open publication - Free publishing - More amsterdam

One of the new things in my life is the 'Coeur Blonde Newspaper'. Together with Elle I started a mini creative summer of '12 project to spread happiness and a positive flow. The paper consists of 16 pages (tabloidsize)full of articles about the following themes: ☼ green ☼ hotspots ☼ DIY ☼ fashion ☼ body & soul ☼ food ☼ Madrid ☼ shopping ☼ collections ☼ lifestyle ☼ passions ☼ love ☼   


It was an amazing challenge to create the newspaper from scratch. Almost all the images are photo's we took during our trips and everything that's in the newspaper has got a personal touch. From the shop where we just love to buy olive oil to the secret little studio where we love to stay in Paris. We're especially proud of the lay out of the paper and the 'Collection' page which consist of collections we made out of objects.


We made a digital booklet as a sneak preview. It's in Dutch but the lay out gives you a hint of the look & feel of the paper. We're zo glad we started and finished the creative process (we had some software setbacks;-). Now is the time to market the paper and have got to say, the first week went above expectations. The reactions are really cute and are giving us a wonderful boost. It's amazing to share the things that make you happy in life with others and we hope that it brings joy to other people.


Just have a look! If you wish to order a paper, just send us an e-mail: coeurblondepaper@gmail.com.


Love,


Pip 
ps. check our FB~page! 

Changes

Gratitude Journal app

A strong urge to create

Valpor Qualquer

This post reflects the process of the Coeur Blonde Newspaper. Elle & I had a dream, wish and strong urge to create something. Amidst the social media overload we were longing for something tangible. Something to put in our love, creations and ideas and to share this with other people. It became an old fashioned medium: a newspaper. It was quite a process to take this step. Would there be people who would like (and even buy!) this newspaper? Or was it just a figment of our imagination? We soon decided to put this last thing aside: it would only slow down the flow we were in. And there was no commercial aim for the idea so it wouldn't really matter, although we were and are so hoping we can inspire people with the paper. And make them smile. Now, three months later, we're finishing the paper tomorrow! The most exciting thing is to come: the publishing. We so hope the colours will be as lovely on print as on the computer!

My innersphere

Quote of the day ~ Anaïs Nin

Things are gonna change ~ i am most happy

My mum gave me this lovely Dottie angel notebook last year. I'm a notebook collector XL and there's always a notebook in my bag! From a nice song I heard to funny thoughts, plans, creative ideas, etc. The strange thing is, I just realised I haven't really used the notebook the last couple of months. And that's a bit weird. In fact my mind has been extremely busy with a wide range of subjects. Creative things, huge decisions about the direction of my life, work, the way I want to grow as a person. I've decided to follow my heart and this means things are gonna change, big time. Exciting and scary at the same moment. 
I guess it was quite impossible to share all these thoughts on paper, I would have needed at least five notebook and perhaps the decision would have been made on a more intellectual level. Reading the stuff I wrote, analyzing it and then the decision making process. Now it all happened inside of me. And it feels lovely. And now it is time to re-use dottie angel again, because 'I am most happy'.  

I'm so happy!

Pinterest

I'm so happy! Seriously, for the first time since my flue last week I woke up all energetic again. Have been busy in the mean time with work etc but still was a bit low on energy. How I missed that, waking up happy, bubbly and all. Looking forward to a new day, with loads of adventures.  The funny thing is I only realize this after being struck by a flue. So I decided to be grateful for each day I wake up in a happy mood instead of taking this for granted. Amen!   

So exciting: a new beginning

Weekend!

My weekend has begun! So lovely. Got loads of creative plans and shopping to do (really craving for the local famous carrot cake of Delicious Food@Westerstraat ;- ) Decided to get up early to make the most out of the day. And now craving for a latte after selecting this picture I made in Cambridge last year. So funny, nowadays I love doing things all by myself, like having breakfast somewhere. I'm really looking forward to today, just strolling around, no plans or strict schedules, just going with the flow...

No stress this monday morning

When I woke up this morning I decided to do it different. No monday morning stress, a healthy breakfast, homemade latte. Let's see whether such a beginning has a positive effect on the rest of the day. Have a lovely beginning of this week!

A new adventure

D told me Picasa had a new feature concerning the borders of pictures and have got to say: I really love it. It makes the pictures softer in a way. I found out there were quite some other new options so I'm going to play with them asap. 
D & I had some really exciting ideas today so after some hard work tomorrow we'll know something more about the feasibility of our plans. Have got to say: if we're going to do it, it's going to be totally awesome, scary and hectic the coming weeks! 

http://pinterest.com/pin/96194142010984354/

Today there's a 70 % change of rain, but that's ok because it will bring us something beautiful ;-)

I enjoyed the silence but it wasn't easy...my iPhonebatical

To be honest, it was quite the thing the iPhonebatical... Confronting... very confronting. As if I had a phantom pain, missing a limb, called an iPhone. Besides the feeling that I literally missed the thing in my hands there were also some insights. That it's actually quite funny to see that wherever you are: even in a yoga studio! people are constantly busy with their phones. Because I'm normally one of them it's quite interesting to be an outsider for a weekend because things that used to be normal now look a bit hilarious. 

Like sitting next to my friends in a restaurant who are totally into their phones instead of into each other and then there's me, just enjoying being there. Looking at my friends, realizing how funny it actually looks being glued to a mobile phone while I'm actually looking at myself. If I had the iPhone with me, I would do the very same thing. Hello world! And that's the main thing I realise. That due to the urge (and I feel it quite often in one hour) to check my iPhone I'm not able to really life in the moment. 

And even though it was difficult at some times, there was an enormous mental rest. No fear of missing out on something or the inner need to immediately react on messages because 'what would the other think if I didn't react at the same time I got the message'. I mean, they would see I was online, that I actually read the message and it wouldn't be nice not to give a reaction. Seriously, how tiring! Letting these kind of thoughts rule your actions. Living a life (ok it's a bit exaggerating but just bare with me;) based on others expectations. And the interesting thing is, that it actually are your own expectations. Your thoughts of how others see you and what they expect from you. And that's quite a confronting insight...

When I opened my whats app today there were indeed>100 messages. And as I scrolled down I realized: there's no apocalypse, not worldwide, not in my circle of friends, nobody hates me because I didn't react (if this is the case, please step forward,it really helps to open up)and I realised I actually liked the iPhonebatical. So who knows I'll do this once a month. And I did make a decision I'm going to try to hold on to: to not always immediately reply. It really can wait!

Sssst... iPhonebatical

Yesterday I made a decision! To turn of my iPhone for the coming weekend (and lucky me: my weekend always begins on friday:). In this case it made the decision extra hard. But I decided to put myself to the test. I've got to confess, I have developed a bit of an iPhone addiction. And my head really got busy from checking the latest Facebook, Path (Ilove it! Just for the closest of my friends), Whatsapp etc messages. And of course I needed to check my mail every 15 minutes (you never know, you know) and play with my 'wreck this app' app, check my horoscope, take some Hipstamatics, check pins@pinterest (and no, still not on the G#jdfhdjh Pinterest list). And sometimes... I even get a phonecall. So out of the box. 

But then, after I decided to do this there was of course the other problem. I had to inform a select group of my iPhonebattical. Otherwise they might think I got kidnapped, decided to move to another country or eloped to get secretly married... After almost a day I've got to say: I absolutely love it. It's quite exciting actually! To have some kind of a connection with the outside world I do use my e-mail (on my laptop!)and that actually works quite allright. Will keep you informed because the first day it's still new and exciting, what will saturday bring...

Yin yoga

Really! Have go to say that since I moved to the East part of the city and quit my yoga school in the West part(yes I'm that lazy:)my head became quite busy again. As I wrote earlier I started doing yoga at home and that helped a bit but still it's different. I realized it's actually quite nice to just follow instructions. That there's a teacher walking around to prevent you from some ridiculous moves. I quite often get the feeling that I'm not correctly interpreting poses from the pictures in my yogabook... My conclusion: DIY is fine, but following yoga classes is absolutely better. So since this weekend, I started taking yoga lessons again! Thanks to L who introduced me to a new school and a new form: Yin yoga. Instead of slow food it's like slow yoga and it's extremely nice! OOOHMMMMMMMM.

Magnolia

Last year I had a very special afternoon under a magnolia tree. It was magic. In a way it was a little reset of my path. Since that day (my life has really changed in one year) I've got a special thing with magnolia trees. They're rather rare in Amsterdam and it's a bit to early yet so I was really surprised to come across magnolia branches in my favorite flower shop Fleurmonde in Amsterdam. I was told it's just the beginning of the season so I've still got some time to buy one (I still had some lovely flowers in my living room)so can't wait to go back to the shop. I instantly knew it would look so lovely in my new home (minor detail: I still have to find one :-). But it's meant to be that a magnolia branch will look heavenly in it.       

Yogatime!

Wow! Today my mind & body were totally craving for a yogasession. It had been a while and since I'm currently not taking yogalessons there was no other option than a DIY - session@home... In possesion of a lovely lavender coloured yoga it makes me happy even 'unfolding' the mat. And seriously, I don't know how it works, but even a short practice (15 minutes) raised my energylevel and at the same time slowed down my hysteric mind. So lovely! The recurring question remains: why am I not doing 'DIY yoga' on a regular base if it rises my spirit?! 

So!! 

Writing stuff for 

is such a nice thing to do!