Monday's Musical Delight - Playlist #20 The Best Songs of 2013

As the last days of the year are speeding by, and work, plans, and New Year's resolutions are fighting for my attention, I feel like there is only one thing that really matters: a list of my favourite songs from the past year. Sometimes I feel like this year happened so fast, it hardly seems to have happened at all. I'm not saying 2013 wasn't great for me: I got my Bachelor's degree, visited Rock Werchter again with one of my closest friends, made some fantastic trips to Budapest and London - and these are just the "big" events! It just feels so weird, like these things could have happened two weeks ago, or, just as easily, 5 years ago. I guess I'm just not good at tracking time.

When it comes to music, however, it's a completely different story. I know exactly when I heard a song for the first time, in what context, what I was doing, and how it made me feel. To me, all these songs give me a certain outline to remember and place the things that have happened. I'm not going to ramble on about what I felt about every song, and I didn't place them in any particular order either. I just hope you'll enjoy them, and I wish you all the best for the next year!

Lots of love,

Lisa

PS: What was your favourite song from 2013? 

Weekly Inspiration Post - A Simple Wish

The design of the set that we want to show you this week contains some nice bright colors which really stand out. Each bracelet is available in different colors in our webshop. We think the blue matches perfectly with the sweet pink tassel here, but of course there are many more options!

Two of these bracelets, A Simple Wish and If I Could Have One Wish, are part of our Wish Collection. Remember that you can win three bracelets of our Wish Collection when you enter our Giveaway, which lasts until January 2nd!

The third bracelet in this set is a turquoise version of Delicate as Stone.

Love, 

Lisa and Ivanna

Giveaway! Win our new Wish collection :)

Yay! Our long expected New Year’s Wish Giveaway is finally here!

You can win the lovely set below, containing all three of our Wish bracelets, in the colours of your choice! The retail value of the prize is €17,85, and we will pay for any shipping costs ourselves. In order to enter this giveaway, you simply log in to the Rafflecopter widget below, and choose which actions you wish to perform (like our page on Facebook, pin the picture above on Pinterest, Tweet about this giveaway, follow us through Bloglovin, and/or favourite our Etsy shop). All of these are optional, and will increae you chances to win. The only thing that you HAVE TO do, is to comment on this post in the comment section below. Do not forget to actually DO these things, instead of just saying that you will ;) * You can enter this promotion from today, December 26, to Januari 2 2014. The winner will be selected randomly through Rafflecopter, within 24 hours after the close of the event, and will be notified both through the blog and e-mail. Any other terms and conditions can be found in the Rafflecopter widget.

Good luck! 

Lisa & Ivanna 

PS: For example, if you choose to like us on Facebook, you have to actually do this. If we see that the winner has not done all the things he/she claimed to do, we will have to disqualify this person, and select a new winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom - Christmas thought

First of all: a very merry Christmas to you all! Are you all stuffed? We sure are! We keep telling ourselves every year that Christmas isn't about food, and we really shouldn't eat that much, but somehow that thought gets completely overshadowed by the copious amounts of food, only to enter our thoughts again when it's already too late.. But we both had a great day anyway, and we hope you had too. So, to get off the subject of food, let'stake a moment to ponder what Christmas is really all about? To us, that would be love, generosity, and togetherness, and who can put those things better into words than John Lennon?

What do you think Christmas is about?

Love,

Lisa & Ivanna

PS: Talking about generosity... Don't forget to check out our little surprise tomorrow!

Monday's Musical Delight - Playlist #19: Christmas songs

Last night, I had a little discussion on Christmas songs with a friend of mine. He told me he wanted to buy some new Christmas CDs, and I just couldn't believe someone would voluntarily listen to them - let alone spend money on them! But today I realised I don't actually dislike Christmas songs in general, I just don't like the bad ones. Hence, I made you a little playlist with my personal favourite Christmas songs, to prove to you I'm not a total Grinch. I hope you'll enjoy them, and have a wonderful few days!

Happy holidays!

xx Lisa 

PS: Don't forget to keep an eye on the blog; something special is bound to happen! :)

Weekly Inspiration Post - Christmas Cherry Red

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.. and so is our jewelry! The warm cherry red colors together with the shiny star charm in this jewelry are perfectly suitable for Christmas. Also the cute wish charm adds a nice symbol to this set.

What is your Christmas wish? Or do you have any wishes for the new year?

This set contains a white version of Wish Upon A Star, a lilac tourmalin version of Royal Princess, a red jasper version of Royal Princess and a pink wax cord version of If I Could Have One Wish.

xx

Lisa and Ivanna

Fridays Fabulous Photos - Merry Christmas

Christmas is almost upon us and we are already very much in the mood. We love the cozyness of Christmas lights and other decorations, which you can find all around town. We love visiting Christmas markets, meeting with family and friends and eating good food. When decorationg the Christmas tree we instantly get in the cozy mood and we catch ourselves singing along with all the Christmas carols on the radio (OK, maybe I have to speak for myself here, not sure if Lisa is having the same rituals as I do, especially with the Christmas carols).

We want to wish you a Merry Christmas and we hope you have some very lovely and special days together with your loved ones. 

What are your plans for Christmas?

Love,

Ivanna

lights, reindeer, presents, lantern

Wednesday Words of Wisdom - C.S. Lewis

We found this quote to be quite appropriate for the coming end of the year. With the end of every year, most people make New Years resolutions, and they aim to improve themselves, or their lives, in the coming year. To do this, sacrifices must sometimes be made, giving up time to practice an instrument for instance. But as C.S. Lewis reminds us here, the things we get back are far better than the things we have had to leave behind.

Lisa & Ivanna

Monday's Musical Delight - Playlist #18: Slightly sentimental

As I was putting this playlist together - which is basically just a handful of songs I've been listening to the last few days - I noticed how awfully sentimental they all are! So, despite my extreme cheerfulness, I do seem to listen to a lot of depressing songs. I sure hope this is not a bad omen or anything. I do not intend to put anyone in a bad mood either, but since they're all so wonderful, I'd like to share them with you anyway. I hope you'll enjoy them!

Lisa

Weekly Inspiration - Lovely Eclectic

To be very honest with you, we're not entirely sure what to make of this combination. When we took this picture, we thought the combination of colours and structures looked absolutely perfect together - and we're still convinced that they do! But we can't really tell you why this combination looks good. When discussing this issue, Lisa claimed it reminded her of pirates, obviously because of the skull, but also because of the combination of different styles. On a similar note, Ivanna called it bohemian, because it reminded her of nomads and adventurers. Either way, we think it is a lovely, eclectic combination, and a perfect example of how you can mix and match our items! 

What do you think of this combination? 

Lisa & Ivanna 

Apologies and announcement

Dear readers, we want to offer you our humble apologies for the lack of Fabulous Photos last Friday. The last few days have been so incrediby busy, we simply forgot to post. First of all, we spent our Friday night together, eating sushi and partying at a Fratellis concert. Which isn't much of an excuse, but we felt like we needed some actual non-work-related fun :p And secondly - and most importantly - we have been working very hard on a giveaway! We are still working on the details, but keep your eyes open - we'll keep you posted!

Lots of love,

Lisa & Ivanna

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom - Deborah Smith

This week's Words of Wisdom are from the novel Alice At Heart by Deborah Smith. We used this quote for our new wishbone bracelets, which are part of our Wish collection. For this collection, we were inspired by the concept of wishing, and even though we do not actually believe anything you wish for will eventually come true, we do believe hoping and wishing is an import part of human nature. And, to be honest, what's the point of wishing if you don't believe in your own wish?

xx Lisa & Ivanna

Monday's Musical Delight - Playlist #17: A Little Louder

I'm not a naturally productive person to begin with, and every winter, this seems to get a bit worse. Maybe it's the bad weather, or maybe the short days, but I just don't seem to get anything done. In a desperate attempt to shake off these winter blues I decided to listen to to some loud music in order to get myself back on my feet. And I'll tell you something: I think it is actually helping - I'm bursting with energy! Midnight may not be the ideal moment for an energy rush, but hey, it's better than nothing, right? So, for anyone who needs a bit of energy to get started this week, or to blow off some steam: some delightfully loud songs. Enjoy! And don't forget to turn the volume up ;)

Lisa

Pure and Natural

Yesterday we proudly showed you the new bracelets that we introduced to our webshop, including the two versions of Ojibwa Princess. In this set we used the chestnut brown version and combined it with two other beautiful, natural coloured bracelets. This makes the set look very pure. You instantly visualise a native American girl living in the mountain forests and vast plains, and she could be wearing this jewelry! Earlier we have posted a Fridays Fabulous Photos called Spirit of Nature, and these photos perfectly fit the thought behind this set.

This set contains a brown version of Greek Goddess, a green aventurine version of Royal Princess and a chestnut brown version of Ojibwa Princess.

xx Lisa and Ivanna

Even more new bracelets!

After our little Wish Collection, we have some more new items in our Etsy shop:

- Misty Mountains: a soft pastel bracelet with glass and gemstone beads. As we mentioned in our Friday's Fabulous Photos post a few weeks ago, we desperately wanted to make something inspired by mist, and this is the result! What do you think?

- Ojibwa Princess: With the story of Hanging Cloud in mind, we wanted to make something that captured the native American look. Hanging Cloud was important woman in the famous Ojibwa tribe (one of the largest groups of Native Americans in the North of Mexico). She was the daughter of chief Beautifying Bird and a full warrior - the only woman allowed to ever become one. She defended her village after her father died and therefore she is legendary among the tribes of the Northern Plains. We made the bracelets a bit more playful with colourful tassels to express femininity, whereas the thick suede emphasises her strength.

We still have loads of materials and drawings, so even more new items will be added soon!

Love,
Lisa and Ivanna

Lustrous Greens

Looking at the bracelets we've been making these last few months, it is remarkable how much more colourful they are compared to our older items. Our main idea has always been to capture nature in our colours and textures, and this often resulted in pale and nude shades. We still really like these natural tones, but - as we mentioned before - we do feel we need to add a bit more colour. And who says bright colours aren't natural? Below you can find a collage of pictures in blue and green hues, which are very popular at the moment (both in fashion and interior). We both adore this palet, and we are happily expanding our collection with gems and beads in these lustrous hues

What is your favourite colour? Do your prefer pastels or bright colours, or something entirely different?

Lisa & Ivanna

flowers, greenhouse, door, forest path

Roald Dahl

Last week, we said that we are often inspired by Dr. Seuss's incredible quotes, and how childish that actually is. Well, we have a confession to make: we are also greatly affected by the words of Roald Dahl - especially quotes from his children's books, for which we both have a soft spot. The quote below can be found in his novel The Minpins (1991). In this book, the main character, Little Billy, is forbidden by his mother to go through the garden gate to the Forest of Sin. Obviously, he does it decides to do it anyway, and finds all kinds of wonderful things beyond the gate.

We love this book, and especially this fragment from it, because it's só true: as long as you open your eyes, and watch the world with a fresh look and an open mind, you will discover the most wonderful things - often in places where you didn't expect it!

Love,

Lisa & Ivanna

Monday's Musical Delight - Playlist #16: Cheesy Lovesongs

We missed last week's Musical Delight, because we were incredibly busy with our shop, but now that everything is either online or on iets way, we are back on track! Since I had a wonderful day with my boyfriend today, I'm in the mood for some really cheesy lovesongs :p What's your favourite lovesong?

xx Lisa

New "Wish" Collection

Yesterday we proudly presented our Wish Collection! Today we are very excited to show you our first Weekly Inspiration Post with one of our new bracelets being part of a lovely set. It's great to find that our new bracelets are perfectly matchable with bracelets that we created before. From now on there are many more options for combining bright and cheerful colors with more neutral and natural tones. This really completes the jewelry and gives that 'final touch'. 

This set contains a turquoise version of Delicate as Stone, a white jade version of Greek Goddess , a cherry red version of Wish Upon a Star and a pink version of If I Could Have One Wish.

xx Lisa and Ivanna