Having a bad hairweek and a January giveaway!!

I have been so busy. I just didn't have time to blog. We have been decluttering and reorganizing our house. We (read I) have way too much stuff, so we brought an awful lot of things to the goodwill store ( I wasn't even allowed to bring my own stuff away and to come anywhere near to that store). And Hubby had to ride 2 times with our Renault GRAND espace filled from top to bottom. Some things went, like the neongreen pvc rainboots with stiletto heels I bought at Fiorucci's in Milan (Italy) back in '86 ( I have kept the box though). Other things are now taking new positions. Hubby finally drilled some holes to hang the rack I received as a birthday gift from my cousin. He wouldn't have this 'brocante' rack in the kitchen......but......

When he managed to get the rack onto the wall, he even styled it. Mmmm some things seem to be contagious!

And then of course there was my hair adventure.
I guess it started in Italy about 18 months ago...

At that time I was having a reddish 'coiffure'. During our stay in Venice, sun and sea made a blond out of me, again!
Well, I decided to stay that way for a while, but the lack of sun and sea out here, made it necessary to me to use some chemicals to color my hair once in a while. The results differed...last time when I experimented, probably beginning of December 2007 I had to use 3 packages of hair color shampoo (the one that lasts) until I reached a kind of yellowish blond that was acceptable. When I went to my hairdresser, to have a cut, he said: You're blond! (they just don't like it when you do these kind of things at home. I do understand that.) But it's so much cheaper to DIY your haircolor AND it saves an awful lot of time. OK there are some risks as well....
I told my hairdresser that the color was not exactly what I had in mind. So he told me that when blond is too yellow you have to make your hair a little violet. I have to say that I agreed and experienced this in earlier years myself. As my hair has been white, yellow, orange, deep red, brown, I guess black and gray were the only colors missing in my hair-experience. The hairdresser told me also that my hair would look fabulous a little more silvery, more platinum, with little purple strikes. Well I thought that after 3 packages of superblond my hair could do with a little rest, but that platinum blond sounded just like me:

This would be the new me, blond/silvery/ purple hair, woman of the world....(of course no cigarette, but this picture does reveil the reason why I started smoking once. Luckily I quit some years ago.) So when I saw a dark stripe on my head I thought it was time to go to the hairdresser again. This time I would take no risks whatsoever. Ok world, just wait for the new LiLi to arrive!
It all started quite disappointing when the boss of the salon told me that I couldn't have platinum-blondish hair and purple ends in one time. Ok it would look good when leaving the salon but when I would wash my hair, every hair would turn violet, another possibility, purple extensions, wasn't possible at this time either; they wouldn't hold onto the new colored hair. They could color my hair platinum blondish, but I had to wait for about a week until they could finish the job with purple. Well all right I would

be blond first. Ok, Saturday at 2 p.m. in a hair salon, mirrors everywhere. They put me somewhere in the middle of the salon putting the chemicals on my head, modeling my hair like a very funny little cap and I saw my hair slowly turning into....yellow, a kind of corn color. "Ehm, ehm, isn't this color just a little tiny eeny weeny bit too yellow?", I asked shy.
'You never can tell when it's still working...' I was told and so I sat there for two hours....still...yellow. Then he washed my hair, put something in it, washed it out again, gave me a massage with something else, put on a red light, rinsed the hair
again, put an amazing lot of gel into my hair and started to blow it dry. For a while I was stuck in my chair, I just couldn't open my mouth...but finally I told the hairdresser that I didn't thought that was me. That yellow hair, those tiny curls I hated every hair!! Ok, the hairdresser was honest, it definitely was too yellow, but now he was going to put another color in my hair, a silverish blond color, which would turn the yellow into white. So I would end up as a platinum blond. Ok chemicals on my head again, modeling my hair like funny looking cap again...sitting in the middle of the salon again...washing the chemicals out of my hair again, putting something onto my hair again, lamps again. Oh my, I thought I was going to take roots...Finally they uncovered my hair and started to blow again. AAAAAAAAAh this time I was even more shocked. I was as gray as a pigeon. Oh no this was definitely not ME. And it was definitely almost closing time...

Do you want to have it changed now, the hairdresser asked me, OOOH YESSSSS what do you expect?? I was going to meet Elizabeth for the first time the very next day. Couldn't face her as a person with less blond hair than my grandmother when she died at the age of 84! Well I could choose; just stay gray-headed for the weekend, or turn back into yellow-blond now...While the salon was already closed. Sorry, but that was an easy one. I just don't want to be gray yet, not before I'm about 101. So I turned blond again...I have to say a little more lemon blond. Out of 3 the last was the best color..yes I'm always
optimistic. But it turned out that I didn't want to be lemon blond for more than a few days.
So, yesterday I had a haircut and the hairdresser changed my hair from blond into a kind of auburnish-eggplantish color for free and I sat there for another three hours. I won't bother you with the process this time...but I have to say I'm happy now.
So Elizabeth is one of the few people who actually saw me with that lemon blond hair. I stopped by and look what she gave me:
oooh she is such a creative person! Thanks Elizabeth, it was so nice to meet you!!

While telling you that tiring hair story I was able to show you a part of my hair clips and hair grips on cards collection.
I think they are quite fun. And they still are cheap. I think I have never paid more than a couple of euros a card.
Do you want to start your own clip- or grip- on- card collection? I can help you getting started. Just give a comment on this post or one of the next posts in January and you are joining the free giveaway. Of course there will be a hair clip card involved, but it will be a surprise!

                                                                                                            

                   

                      




Somewhere Februari I will draw a winner.  I am still  so busy,  having  a self made inquiry for school to score. And I have organized a swap for 86 women attending a dutch home improvement internet site! I want to be more creative, the only thing I made this week is a self made present for a little baby girl: Just stick her name on one and some polka dots and lavender hearts on the other little coathanger.

I just don't have time to have a paid job!
Ok see you next time, don't forget to post a comment, remember the giveaway! Take care! LiLi

My neighbour is showing her underwear...

Hi!!

A while ago I ended my post with a cliffhanger about my neighbour showing her knickers. After that, every time something occured, so I had to postpone this post over and over again. Today finally the day has come that you are going to meet my neighbour Z. and one of her collections too.
Every time we met, Z. and I were chatting about fabrics and mother of pearl buttons and stuff, both agreeing that it was very wise not to invite your neighbours too often. But in the end we both couldn't resist tempation. So (finally) Z. invited me to come over and have a chat about her collection of old underwear.



Originally coming from Rhoon, a village near Rotterdam, Z. managed to lay hands on a pair of underpants that once belonged to I cannot remember which Bentinck count of Rhoon, just look at the embroidered initials in red.



Every piece has this kind of embroidery, mmmm we both were born in the wrong era, I guess.
Though there are signs that time was money back then; what to think of this 'quickpee-er' (translation by me)? At the turn of the 19th into the 20th century, those ladies didn't have time
put down their nickers when they went to the loo (which might have been open field as well). Z. is showing here how this garment worked....

And there is something else we have in common, we both like those things you find on the street for free. Here is one of Z. best finds ever. A triangle truck, original paint, whow!!


And she has a clock, which was merely old wood to a friend who wanted to use this as restoring material and look what she has done with it:



She just put in a classical looking alarm clock (and of course bought a spare one as well, that's my girl). We spend hours at her house, almost forgetting to drink coffee. Next time it's my turn to show some of my collections. I am looking forward to it. Thanks for inspiration Z.!
Have an inspiring weekend! Hugs, L.

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2008!

Hi Everyone!

Now on the first day of 2008 I would like to wish everybody a very happy, healthy and creative 2008! A new year full of great expectations and good intentions lies ahead of us. I hope we all work to make it a happy year. Sometimes little friendly actions can have such great impact. I know that we don't have the power to make 2008 a good year to each and everyone, but I do know that we can have influence. Helping other people, listening to them and making people laugh sometimes just can make a difference. Let's create, let's be positive, let's be so 2008!



Yesterday, I noticed that my 14-year old daughter Eva was a little disappointed that she had not appeared in my blog, yet. Ok, Eva here you are, changing 2007 into 2008 with a little help from firework. Have a very good 2008 too! You know that we are so proud of you!

I cannot help it, but I like the number 2008. 8 is my lucky number!
Hope you all have a very lucky year and that all that you want to contribute will succeed as well! Hope to share a lot with you. Love and hugs L.