these months

It’s been such a long time since i last blogged. I mean, really blogged. Done some posts on diy and decoration, but it’s a long time ago that i wrote something about, well… my life. And now i do not want to wait any longer, so here’s a recap of the time between last summer and today. Or actually, it’s about three years, 2009-2012.

Some of my readers might know i’m educated to be an art therapist. Since April 2009 i’ve worked at a mental health clinic. I’ve worked with teenagers and adolescents with mental issues and/or addiction. It was a great job, to be able to use my creativity to help people and coach them in discovering their own creative abilities. During my education i always dreamed of such a job. I enjoyed working in a multidisciplinary team and come up with therapeutic programs. But for some reason i kept feeling that it wasn’t really what i wanted to do. Other ideas came to mind and sort of got in the way of my job. The other way around as well, as my job got in the way of developing my ideas to start an independent business. This actually started about six months after i got my art therapy job. I tried to ignore this for quite some time. There were periods of time that i succeeded in that, but there were also times that i couldn’t help myself from daydreaming about crafts, coffee, design, illustration, further education, moving to London or Berlin and so much other stuff. I felt so restless. My mind was occupied with all these thoughts, hopes and dreams and i couldn’t control in which direction they went. One day i wanted to be an art therapy research person and the other day i wanted to move to Berlin and open a craft café. And when i made up my mind, i had no clue what so ever on where to start. So when i decided to quit my job and move to Berlin, i had no idea what to do next. I got cold feet. And when Mr D and i got together (yay! best thing that ever happened to me!), it was really comfortable to change my mind, not move to an other country and keep my job as an art therapist. And another year went by. The first couple of months were really nice. I could focus on my job again. I felt so happy with my choice. And then Mr D went to live in Berlin for six months.

I mean… WHAT!?

Berlin… of all places, was where he went. And so did i. Twice a month for the weekend. And between those weekends, i missed my Mr and i missed my Berlin. But how great a chance this was for my dude and how happy i was (and still am) for him to have that opportunity. But i can still feel, to this day, something deep down in me saying: it should have been me going to Berlin. Do not get me wrong. I do not regret my choice of staying in the Netherlands and keeping my job. I am just a little more envious than i’d like to be. It’s not a pretty emotion, i’d rather not have it and just be happy for someone, especially Mr D. But lets face it. I’m human. Ugly it is, but it did help me with a future choice i wanted to make. It made me realise i was not happy with where i was and that something had to change.

And so i decided it was time to conclude that my art therapy job was not for me. It’s a wonderful and fulfilling job to work with people who are (temporarily) not able to see joy in their life. It is beautiful to see how art and creativity can give them a little joy that everybody deserves. Truly blessed, i felt, having the opportunity to do just that. And still, i felt i had to quit my job, get another (less mentally tiring) job and meanwhile work on my indie business ideas. So i resigned. And since September last year i am no longer working as an art therapist.

I worked a while as a barista at Simon Levelt Cafe in Rotterdam, the company where i worked in Utrecht during my time as a student. When the cafe in Rotterdam closed its doors, i got another barista job with a company that had many good barista’s working. I learned a lot. And then a co-worker from Mr D’s Berlin job, told us her cousin was opening a new cafe in Utrecht, my old town. A good coffee shop/lunchroom where young artists can expose their work and where unemployed people get the chance to build up working experience. So it’s a social-creativity-cafe. Sounds like my bag doesn’t it? So i emailed that co-workers cousin and explained what weird combination of experience and interests i have.

I got a phone call an hour later. We arranged to meet at his cafe in Amsterdam. A couple more meetings followed and in December 2012 i signed a contract to become the new manager of Coffeemania Utrecht. I’m working for Coffeemania since January now. We hope to open the cafe next month. I am busy finding and training barista’s. Looking for a good cook. Contacting all sorts of people, organizations and companies. Thinking about how to run the cafe. It’s so exciting! What a chance for me to develop more skills i might need in the future. How great to work with a good and fair company, with beautiful products, meeting new people and using all of my abilities. Right now, this is the perfect job for me. I am happy with my choice. It was a good thing to do.

I don’t know whether i will someday have my indie business. My guess is yes. Right now, running a business as if it’s my own is very satisfying.
And about leaving the Netherlands? Who knows? We might one day. We can, but don’t have to. We are free to go or to stay. Have a cup of coffee in the meantime.

If you want to know how Coffeemania Utrecht is developing, check out our page on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

I hope to check in here more often than the last couple of months. See you soon lovelies!

XO Jeau

What’s in my christmas tree

It’s been ages since my last post. I’ve been really busy with one of the goals on my 30 things before 31 list. I will soon tell you more about this. For now, i wanted to share my latest obsession with you:

my christmas tree.

Growing up, we always had a christmas tree. I remember buying trees with my dad and decorating it with my mom. I could hang my favourite ornaments on the branches. There were trumpets and angels and glitter and colours. I loved it. When i moved out of my parents house and into several student homes and apartments, i never got one anymore. This year however, celebrating christmas with my mr D, we thought it was time for new family traditions. So we got our first tree! And a beautiful tree it is! I really enjoyed picking out a tree, new favourite ornaments, decorating and making new memories. Here’s my tree.

I love it so much and i want to stay home all day to look at it. My new favourite ornaments are a fawn, mushroom, strawberry and a turquoise fish. And i love our colour theme (blue, turquoise, hot pink and a little touch of red and yellow). One of my blog pals told me this tree is typically Dutch. It’s a real tree and it’s not trimmed to perfection. It’s just the tree. It grew like this and like this, it is now in my living room. I want to keep it forever, but Mr D doesn’t agree on keeping it throughout the year.

What’s your favourite christmas decoration? I hope you’ll have a great christmas!

XO Jeau

10 bits of awesomeness ~ diy

Here’s 10 gorgeous ideas to diy (or just dream to diy). Found through Pinterest. Click on the photo’s to go to the source. Some may be older, but they’re still awesome. And new-ish to me.

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1. Pretty paper birds on Style Me Pretty. I’d like these birds in my craftroom.

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2. Glitter creatures by Martha Stewart. I could use some shiny cutesies in my typecase!

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3. Doily tracing by One Pearl Button. Maybe trace this on fabric and create lacy patterns?

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4. Fancy up plain porcelain from More Design Please. My boy has brought some boring plates, cups and teapots. They could use some fancying up.

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5. Herb garden from Not Just A Housewife. I need this. One thing though, all herbs I got in the past died. I could use a tutorial on how to keep them alive. I know they need water.

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6. Make a painting with lights by Jones Design Company. I love the colorcombo.

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7. Knitted herringbone cowl tutorial by the Purl Bee. I’m knitting this in blue leftover yarn.

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8. Transfer pictures onto fabric from A Beautiful Mess. This is just so cute.

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9. Yarn from an old T-shirt by Let Birds Fly.

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10. Embroidery by Freckled Nest. Design your own handstitching. Aaaaand stitch your own handwriting! Awesome.

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I sure feel like getting crafty with these cool ideas! One thing to do it myself first though…. tidy up the craftroom.
Do you have things you have to do before you can do the things you actually want?

XO Jeau

happy birthday mr D!

Yesterday we celebrated David’s 29th birthday. I baked cakes for tea.

It was a good day.

Happy birthday sweetheart!

xo Jeau

have a cuppa

While at work as a barista i am often asked:

Lots of people enjoy a good cup of coffee, but are a little overwhelmed by the choices before them. They order a macchiato and are surprised to get a tiny cup with strong coffee and too little milk for their liking, or vice versa. What’s the difference between an espresso macchiato and a latte macchiato? And which coffee’s got the least milk in it? The largest amount of foam?

So i thought, let’s take a look at coffee today. These are just the basics, no variations on recipes from different chains or small local coffee shops.

Let’s take a look at different espressi with milk.

From left to right: Espresso Macchiato - Cappuccino – Caffè Latte – Latte Macchiato.

Now, let’s look at them close up.

Did you know that the Italian word ‘macchiato’ actually means ‘spotted’? An espresso macchiato is a spotted espresso. Spotted with milk.

The foam is created by steam, which creates tiny air bubbles, giving it a velvety texture. Although cocoa can look and taste sort of nice, it destroys the foam and is often used to mask that the foam is actually not that good (see those large bubbles in mine? not so good… oops).
The pouring of the milk in the espresso mixes the liquid and creates a beautiful color. Latte art is painting or drawing while pouring in the milk and creating cool images. Really awesome. Great latte art doesn’t guarantee that the coffee is good though. Taste does.

A caffè latte, aka latte, is made with slightly ‘thinner’ milk, i.e. milk with less foam (my foam was actually a little too thick). The little amount of foam makes a caffè latte less strong than a cappuccino. The thin, *slightly foamy* milk allows the barista to create more detailed latte art, which is fun.

Last but not least, the latte macchiato. As said before, ‘macchiato’ means spotted. Where a caffè macchiato is a spotted espresso, a latte macchiato can be thought of as a spotted milk. Thick foamy milk is poured in a glass. The milk separates from the foam and sinks to the bottom. Next an espresso is carefully poured on top of the milk, and sits between the foam and milk, resulting in beautiful layers.

Let’s look at the different beverages all together once more.

See the different layers? Different amounts, different colors, different tastes. Yummy coffee.

Enjoy your next cup! Which one are you gonna have?

xo Jeau

ps. one more thing

This post was made possible by Simon Lévelt.

Rosie Gamgee-Cotton

Rosie Cotton becomes Samwise Gamgee’s little hobbit wife at the end of The Lord Of The Rings. She’s an adorable little hobbit and for some weird reason i thought of her when knitting this pattern.

Design by Veera Välimäki

It took me over a year to finish it. I’ve put it aside lots of times to knit something else or sew or cook or blog or draw or, o yeah, work. Anyways, it’s finally finished! And here’s the result of my knitting. Check out my project here.

(check out that blurry iPhone picture with my messy craftroom in the background. *blush*)

About the pattern, it’s a real easy one, very suitable for beginners, but also a nice one to relax with for die hards. Techniques used are: knit, purl, knitting in the round, increasing, picking up stitches. That’s about it.

Now on to my next project, a man-cardigan:

Design by Josh Bennett

Happy knitting!
xo Jeau

draw the line

Yesterday i had a good friend over for dinner. We talked about the joys of our childhood and the talents that we had and might still have. About dreaming of how to fully develop our talents and making a living out of them. About how we believe that God has given us these talents and how we doubt that He wants us to use them.

I was born with a pencil in my hand. For as long as i can remember, i was always drawing pictures. Asking my family: ‘what shall i draw next?’ or ‘daddy, can you draw me a horse? a rabit? a cat? dog? anything?’ I remember drawing a series of Ariel, the little mermaid. I drew her from example in my stickerbook and made a mobile from all the different drawings.

I remember wanting to teach my best friend how to draw. I didn’t understand why her hand just wouldn’t do what i wanted. I guess i wanted her to draw more than she did.

Anyways, i haven’t drawn much the last couple of years. Not for fun that is. When i went to art school, drawing became ‘work’ i guess. I let the passion slip away from me. Not that i didn’t enjoy it anymore, but it got harder and harder to motivate myself into doing it. My 365 days project was something with what i hoped to overcome this and start enjoying it again. Turned out this didn’t actually work for me. I guess for me it is important to be relaxed about it. To just draw when i want, and not draw when i don’t. I don’t have to draw, i can. Having said that, i wanted to draw the other day. I felt this sudden urge to just do it. A little voice in the back of my head tried to tell me: it won’t be as good as you want, it won’t be good enough, nobody is going to like your drawings. But i decided to ignore this little voice and start drawing anyway. So i did. First i drew my shoes. Then i drew flowers. I don’t really know whether the drawings turned out well enough for my liking. I guess they are good enough b/c they made me draw again. I created them, they’re part of me and they’re part of my drawing process (spoken like a true art-therapist). I hope i will enjoy drawing as much as i did as a child once again. I hope i can let you share in my joy.

What did you enjoy as a child? Do you still enjoy this? Have you lost your childhood joy? Is there a way that you could get it back again?

Love,
Jeau