[ Time to practise your Dutch! Below a scan of an article I wrote for the local newspaper…]
Voor de lokale buurtkrant De Jan Eef schreef ik onlangs een artikel over de nieuwste sociale onderneming van Amsterdam West: Prakken in West.
Dit artikel werd gepubliceerd in de tweede editie van De Jan Eef – De buurt van binnenuit, een initiatief van Winkelstraat Vereniging Ik geef om de Jan Eef. Uitgave: December 2014.
I can’t help giggling. Big smile on my face. Giggle-giggle-giggle-giggle-giggle. Yeah! On the streets people look at me as if I’m a mad woman.
What happened? The printer happened! Paper everywhere. All different colours and structures. Oh joy! As if you let a little girl on the loose in a candy shop. And they are making test prints of my work as we speak. What’s not to giggle? Let’s just say I’m mildly enthusiastic. This is the first time I have something I made professionally printed. And it is wowzers!
Viaviavia I ended up at a really lovely printer just outside of Amsterdam, Pantheon. René and René (jaja) both have the patience of a saint, take a layman like me by the hand and make it a party. So helpful! Pantheon also prints stuff (books, brochures, stationary and such) for pretty big names, so the first time I walked in it was kind of beyond daunting. However, the second time the excitement took over. I draw the old-fashioned way. Paper, pencil, fine liner. You know. And then…they scan! All of a sudden my work appears massively on their computer screens. STOP ME! But I mean, really: STOP ME! I could dance in the streets. And I haven’t even seen the test prints yet.
Testing some paper at the printer
But yes, I draw. And from there a little project developed. No way!? Yes way. I know, more projects. Surprisingly this is a project – beginning to ending, all stages – of which I can almost say it’s a wrap. Who knew!
Not keeping you in suspense longer than necessary: I’ve designed a couple of Christmas cards. And other cards. But taking it slow I’m first tackling this Christmas project. The cards are supposed to be fun, keep you busy and creative. Whether you’re 3 or 97. That’s all I’m giving away. It took a lot of drawing. And the drawing took a lot of time. And pain. After half an hour my hands and arms are finished, you see. For the rest of the day. From the idea all the way to the final drawing that is ready to be scanned and printed…it’s not really a piece of cake for me to finish. Not done and dusted in an hour or two. However, it’s worth it – I love it. I absolutely do!
A sneak peek
Now it’s onto the next stage. The actual printing. My very own designed and hand drawn cards *giggles a bit more* being printed! The moment my Christmas cards are finished you’ll be the first to know. And of course the first to buy them from me, too. Honestly, the best Christmas cards are underway. For now we’ll just have to wait. Patiently.
I’m going to love and leave you and continue being overwhelmed and excited. Frankly, scared too. Why did I do this again? What if I’m the only person in the world to like them? Only time will tell…but already this experience is mine forever.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I FOUND IT!!!
Yes, I did! Today, October 16th 2014 at 15.32 I found it. The aricle on minimalism I mentioned in Minimalism for the material soul. It was hidden underneath a big pile that I had named ‘to scan’. A pile I totally forgot about. Out of sight… But I found it again and the timing couldn’t be more perfect. Yesterday I started finalising the third post in my Minimalism for the material soul category. Today I found it the article.
Oh, what a glorious moment! I understand it makes your day as much as it made mine.
I’ll continue with the post now.
Months ago my friend Marge and I did a series of SkypeSpringCleaning sessions. It went like this: we both sat down with our piles of clutter. Marge on the London-side and me on the Amsterdam-side of Skype. We would show each other the clothes, articles and clutter we’d collected over time and advice each other on the Go / No Go of the showed piece. At a certain point I sighed (or exclaimed. I can’t be sure, it’s a while ago): “Oh, my poor soul! It doesn’t know where to store all these interesting articles I have so carefully collected!” To which Saving Marge replied: “Why don’t you just scan them?”
Yes indeed, why didn’t I? It was a good old fashioned Hallelujah-moment.
[ Look, it’s a piece of that scheme for beginning minimalists I mentioned in Minimalism for the material soul! ]
From that moment I started scanning as if life itself depended on it. It’s a godsend, some people might say. I just think that until that moment I always underrated the invention of the scanner. On my lovely old printer it is quite a hassle you see. It needs all my patience – tricky one for me! – but boy oh boy…don’t I love it! I collect a scan-pile and once a week I sit down to scan it all away. It is simply ideal for me. And for all you out there that love to keep articles, letters and what more, but not the physicality of it. I even scanned over 50 old cards (payment, club cards, library passes) I collected since I was 6! Which I always kept in a drawer for ‘a future project’ but so far that project never announced itself. Now they’re still awaiting this project but in all their digitality.
[ I can’t let the physical version of this gem of a club card go. Yes, I was a member of the Barbie Club. And still proud of it! ]
Today, at 15.34, I scanned the appendix on Minimalism. It’s safe, on my laptop. The paper version is to be recycled and gone for good. Slow-minimalism. That’s me letting go.
[ Blij met niks. Het rijke leven van de minimalist was the title of the LUX-section that set my minimalism-research in motion. Part of and published by the Dutch paper NRC, October 19th, 2013. ]
Confetti In Your Face 