Give away!

Give away!, originally uploaded by ivy style33.

Hello once again : )
Here I am as promised!...see?...I did not disappear ;-)
The give away I mentioned earlier this morning has started and is running since about an hour over at City of Dionne's blog. Dionne and I have been organising it together for quite some time!
She keeps a lovely blog, filled with beautiful pictures she takes herself, as much as delightful illusrtations! So, pay her a visit, enter the contest and have lots of fun!

Here are some details:

-> There'll be one lucky winner, to be announced on Sunday.
-> There are three items offered from my Etsy shop, so that the winner can have a
choice, I thought that would be nice, right? :)
-> All you have to do is go here and leave a comment by saying: a) what makes you feel at peace and b) which one of the three items you would like to win
-> 1) The five hearts mobile from handcut pieces of vintage leather &
contemporary wallpaper
-> 2) The set of six mini cards, decorated also with the same pieces of leather in icy
white, grey & earthy yellow
-> 3) The handmade, vintage, ceramic vase in shades of beige & grey, decorated
with golden stripes , which originates from Germany and is numbered on its
bottom.

So, schnelle, schnelle, schnelle! - as we say for "quick" here in Germany, do go and enter!
I hope you enjoy and of course good luck for winning!

The other two products, that will not be chosen on the first place, will be availiable on a give away organised shortly here. I will keep you informed!

Vintage wallpaper...

...a giant, wooden wishbone
...a mini shelf with a small glass vase and candleholder collection
...and blossoming branches collected on a sunny Sunday afternoon...

It's not much...but it means the world to me.
I like styling that evolves and grows with the inhabitants of a place...aka "organic" styling...

All have an important meaning for a reason...

->The wallpaper from Albert Van Luit (1965) was a very lucky and unique find years ago ( among with a few other rolls), in the attic of one of Athen's oldest wallpaper shops.
I got inspired after returning from my first trip to Amsterdam about a year ago and rolled it out, as a piece of art.

-> The wooden wish bone was found in our garden by my father and given to me, after saying how much I liked it.

-> All of these are "standing" above the couch that my partner had chosen many years ago, before we met and which I could have also chosen myself.

-> The milky glass candleholder (on the left on the shelf) was my first lucky win on Ebay when I came to Germany (1 euro!)

-> The golden/honey coloured vase is another vintage, lucky find from DDR.

-> The blossoming branches are the ones collected today on a sunny afternoon walk, ones that I was longing for since months...


What simple things mean the world to you?...which simple gestures, actions, activities, objects?
Which of them were part of this weekend?...did you find beauty in life's joyful simplicities?....If yes, which ones?...If no, which ones would you like to live, encounter in the upcoming days and near future?

Be sure to be positive today . . .

...investing time into being positive towards ourselves, our lives and others is an attitude certainly to pay back....
...life brings us what we give to it....
...it couldn't be clearer than that....
...so the choice is up to us (as always!)

....spend time on being judgemental and critical or...
...spread out some positiveness out there?

I take the second, thank you.... : )

Crafting.....

Saturday afternoon found me crafting at Ikea's new fantastic restaurant - lounge in Wiesbaden Wallau. It is not only the closest to me Ikea shop at the moment, but also the one that I prefer the most, among the other ones in the area ( Frankfurt, Hannau). So, there I was, having  packed all my supplies, materials and equipment in my 100% cotton - 0% plastic shopping bag from H&M Home and planned to get crafty somewhere else than the Penthouse, as a motivator to socialize at the same time and of course get inspired. And...what is more inspiring than being in a wonderfully decorated space, which design you know you can afford? It is only one of the reasons I adore Ikea! BUT, this post is going to be not a tribute to Ikea ( a next one will be)  but an introduction to the new stuff I happily handcrafted this weekend....soothing my soul, satisfying my creativity and enforcing my new Etsy shop. Here is a taste:

These handmade delights can be found both at Etsy and Papernstich.  Come on with me for a visit....and hop here and here!
Enjoy....and / und viel Späß!

Wallpaper crazy!

By now I can declare myself as....wallpaper addicted! Ever since these vintage, wallpaper rolls came my way....the notion of the word has a whole new meaning to me. Not that I wasn't fond of wallpaper before used in decoration, as much as in creative crafty ways, but I simply started appreciating the whole concept a bit more.  

Any way, to make a long story short....these vintage rolls I 'm talking about are original, stamped and handsigned pieces of 1965 Albert Van Luit wallpaper, an American company that seemed to have a glorious name back in the good old times. I also checked their current stock, but to my disappointment  found nothing similar to these glorious pieces. ( Thank God for brands like Ferm Living!)


They hold names such as India, Renaissance, Borgese Damask and all of them have golden accents in their designs. Originallly I would consider something like that to be too glamorous for my kind of minimal, low and neutral toned style,  but I was surprised to see how well they work together with natural materials such as here or creating a more modern contemporary look like here. Both pictures are from The Penthouse.


Another reason that they fancinate me is the story that lies behind their discovery....in the dusty attic of an old wallpaper shop, in the very center of Athens....forgotten.... I really have no rememberance of how I ended up up there. I have the impression that I 'm driven by a special force when it comes to discovering and revealing similar things.

I have been returning to the same store now and then during my visits in Athens, but must admit that the prices were higher up, due to the fact, as the owner said, that there is currently a lot of demand as stylists, decorators and  theater people have been finding their supplies there. Oh well, the man is still kind enough to give me a reduction, since I never leave with less than three rolls in my shopping bag!

Some of these were meant to be sold under the vintage category in my Etsy shop, but it was too hard for me to let them go. So, I decided to get crafty and play with them a little, while producing things handmade for my shop. This is how I came up with the " Christmas - and not only! - ornaments", currently listed and availiable in newivystyle's shop. Don't be confused by the name, it is my shop, ivy style33's shop! 

Hope the following pictures will serve as much as an eye candy to you, as they do to me! 

Wishes for a great weekend : )