beautiful garden, talented artist, fresh fruit, refashioned clothing
or if you prefer to look at everything all together... joontoon's photostream
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Thursday, July 9, 2009
beautiful garden, talented artist, fresh fruit, refashioned clothing...
beautiful garden, talented artist, fresh fruit, refashioned clothing
or if you prefer to look at everything all together... joontoon's photostream
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
the pledge
it's june 1st, a day i've been mentally preparing for the past couple of weeks. the reason today is special? it marks the first day of a 2-month long experiment for me.
i've decided to take the wardrobe refashion pledge.
the official rules as stated on the website are as follows...
1. No buying new! (handmade is excepted; So this allows for Etsy purchases etc!!) All clothing must be Recycled, Renovated, Preloved or Thrifted, or Handmade only for the term. Employment related and special needs clothing (ie sports, school), shoes and undies are excepted from the rules, although you are encouraged to have a go at making these.
2. In extreme circumstances, maybe a special event, or the worlds greatest and most amazing never to be repeated sale that you simply can not pass up, you may use the Get out of Refashionista Jail Free card. You are able to use this card once during the 2 month part of your contract; ie 1 for 2 months, 2 for 4 months etc. Of course you need to fess up on the blog and display the button!
3. You must post on the blog at least once a week to let the community know what you've been up to. This will not only give you brag points, but inspire and encorouge others! Of course you need to display the button on your blog and have copied the pledge in at least one post, and provide a link to your pledge under the button.
4. You need to be honest and admit when you've fallen off the Refashionista Wagon! Go directly to Refashionista Jail, do not pass GO and do not collect $200! Apply for parole once there.
refashioning has long been something of interest to me and i've collected several big moving boxes full of pre-loved (or not so loved) clothing in the past few years hoping that i'd one day put new life into these items and make them wearable again. once i really got into sewing though i unfortunately also really got into buying fancy new fabrics and so i created new items from scratch using new materials and those boxes have remained more or less untouched.
doing lots of thinking about consumer culture lately and having lots of interesting conversations with my awesomely driven creative and independent thinking husband i realize that i must try as best as i can to make use of the resources we have and that unfortunately the only way to change consumer culture is to avoid being a consumer of mass production whenever possible. even if that means being inconvenienced at times. so there are lots of "thinking outside the box" challenges ahead of me and i'm very much looking forward to facing them.
in addition of taking the pledge for clothing i've also promised myself that we as a family will take the spirit of no buying new! re-use! and less is more! to all aspects of life. over the next two months we will only purchase things we actually truely need or which will help enable us need less (i.e. we just spent 100 bucks on a bycicle cart to pull around the children in and will need to purchase new tires and small bits to get our bikes in running order so that we will have fewer reasons to use a car) and when we will try to purchase used items whenever possible.
i will post on the wardrobe refashion blog at least once a week about the wardrobe part of our experiment. if we make other cool discoveries or come up with cool anti-mass-consumption stuff i'll most likely post about it on our family blog.
so now here's the official part...
The Pledge
i've decided to take the wardrobe refashion pledge.
the official rules as stated on the website are as follows...
1. No buying new! (handmade is excepted; So this allows for Etsy purchases etc!!) All clothing must be Recycled, Renovated, Preloved or Thrifted, or Handmade only for the term. Employment related and special needs clothing (ie sports, school), shoes and undies are excepted from the rules, although you are encouraged to have a go at making these.
2. In extreme circumstances, maybe a special event, or the worlds greatest and most amazing never to be repeated sale that you simply can not pass up, you may use the Get out of Refashionista Jail Free card. You are able to use this card once during the 2 month part of your contract; ie 1 for 2 months, 2 for 4 months etc. Of course you need to fess up on the blog and display the button!
3. You must post on the blog at least once a week to let the community know what you've been up to. This will not only give you brag points, but inspire and encorouge others! Of course you need to display the button on your blog and have copied the pledge in at least one post, and provide a link to your pledge under the button.
4. You need to be honest and admit when you've fallen off the Refashionista Wagon! Go directly to Refashionista Jail, do not pass GO and do not collect $200! Apply for parole once there.
refashioning has long been something of interest to me and i've collected several big moving boxes full of pre-loved (or not so loved) clothing in the past few years hoping that i'd one day put new life into these items and make them wearable again. once i really got into sewing though i unfortunately also really got into buying fancy new fabrics and so i created new items from scratch using new materials and those boxes have remained more or less untouched.
doing lots of thinking about consumer culture lately and having lots of interesting conversations with my awesomely driven creative and independent thinking husband i realize that i must try as best as i can to make use of the resources we have and that unfortunately the only way to change consumer culture is to avoid being a consumer of mass production whenever possible. even if that means being inconvenienced at times. so there are lots of "thinking outside the box" challenges ahead of me and i'm very much looking forward to facing them.
in addition of taking the pledge for clothing i've also promised myself that we as a family will take the spirit of no buying new! re-use! and less is more! to all aspects of life. over the next two months we will only purchase things we actually truely need or which will help enable us need less (i.e. we just spent 100 bucks on a bycicle cart to pull around the children in and will need to purchase new tires and small bits to get our bikes in running order so that we will have fewer reasons to use a car) and when we will try to purchase used items whenever possible.
i will post on the wardrobe refashion blog at least once a week about the wardrobe part of our experiment. if we make other cool discoveries or come up with cool anti-mass-consumption stuff i'll most likely post about it on our family blog.
so now here's the official part...
I, Karoline Stephens, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed xxx.
Monday, June 29, 2009
happy hippie folks
after a couple of days of acclimating to the new situation we are now fully enjoying life so close to the woods in a nice organic quiet neighborhood.
first thing this morning right after breakfast we went on a wood hike again. mika napped in our manduca and the rest of us happily marched towards the big playground and small stream which offers endless playfun and runs through the woods right behind the play area.
joon has gained so much confidence in the past couple of days (and so have we!) so she can now ride on all the "big kid toys" on her own.
soon after we got there though a large group of ten-year-olds arrived in all their pre-puberty glory so we fled the scene and set up camp by the water instead. within minutes joon's pants got wet so we just undressed her and let her play naked. pictures of that are found here but you need to have or create a flickr account AND add "joontoons" as a friend or family. keepin' the crazy internet stalkers away from our kiddos. ;)
i'm also working on uploading lots more pictures to a public set which will be called "forest fun" but somehow the internet is done being my friend for the day. i'll letcha know as soon as everything's up.
so. happy hippie greetings from all of us to all of you! hope you're enjoying summer wherever you are!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
building, styling, riding, tarzaning, kidwearing, NIPing, picking
lots of new pictures for the loving grandparents and all others who care to keep up with our currently kinda strange life here. (hoping the upload will work. internet at this house is a bit wonky.)
as you may know we're spending a few weeks at my mom's house. we've been helping my sister move (bleh!), reorganizing two rooms in that old house and spending lots of time outside.
the girls are doing really well, they're extremely happy to be in such a wonderful place with lots of attention from family members. joon is in heaven getting to go outside whenever she feels like it and playing with all the random odds and ends she gets to discover around here. her days are filled with exploring and she's obsessed with watching "poppins" every night before bed and most mornings before starting her busy day.
today we finally took a much needed break from working on the house and went on a long hike in the woods. walking to the woods from here takes about three minutes so we'll be doing lots more hiking in the next weeks. joon loved the big playground and met a two-and-a-half-year old boy named julian who was the perfect size for her to ride the seesaw-carousel with. his dad basically looked like dave's twin, they're also german-english bilingual AND the kid attends the waldkindergarten we're hoping to send our girls to. needless to say we were pretty stoked to meet these guys and silly shy german me did not get their phone number. i regret that now but am guessing we'll run into them again some time soon.
after her nap joon got to pick this year's first tomato. yum. our garden is doing surprisingly well considering we've been really slacking at keeping it in good shape. living here has certainly helped make it easier for us to take care of it though and in another week or so we should be drowning in tomatoes.
so. off to go back outside. i'm hoping all our pictures will upload despite the annoyingly slow internet connection here.
as always though, a little tease...
as you may know we're spending a few weeks at my mom's house. we've been helping my sister move (bleh!), reorganizing two rooms in that old house and spending lots of time outside.
the girls are doing really well, they're extremely happy to be in such a wonderful place with lots of attention from family members. joon is in heaven getting to go outside whenever she feels like it and playing with all the random odds and ends she gets to discover around here. her days are filled with exploring and she's obsessed with watching "poppins" every night before bed and most mornings before starting her busy day.
today we finally took a much needed break from working on the house and went on a long hike in the woods. walking to the woods from here takes about three minutes so we'll be doing lots more hiking in the next weeks. joon loved the big playground and met a two-and-a-half-year old boy named julian who was the perfect size for her to ride the seesaw-carousel with. his dad basically looked like dave's twin, they're also german-english bilingual AND the kid attends the waldkindergarten we're hoping to send our girls to. needless to say we were pretty stoked to meet these guys and silly shy german me did not get their phone number. i regret that now but am guessing we'll run into them again some time soon.
after her nap joon got to pick this year's first tomato. yum. our garden is doing surprisingly well considering we've been really slacking at keeping it in good shape. living here has certainly helped make it easier for us to take care of it though and in another week or so we should be drowning in tomatoes.
so. off to go back outside. i'm hoping all our pictures will upload despite the annoyingly slow internet connection here.
as always though, a little tease...
Sunday, June 21, 2009
little things
spent a rainy sunday at my mom's rediscovering favorite toys from my childhood. these teeny bits and pieces saved our day for sure. joon was happy for several hours and mika, my sister and i got to hang out on a mattress covered in blankets while drinking yummy coffee and eating vegan gummybears. random but good. oh, mika of course had neither coffee nor gummybears. she got to enjoy very extended nursing sessions, tickle games and sitting practice instead.
more picture here
oh, please ignore the chaos. we're currently in the process of completely rearranging and renovating three homes in that house and it's all just gonna be a huge mess for a few more days.
please also excuse joon's filthy looking hands and dirty face. she's been helping with gardening and the combination of a constantly running nose plus yummy fresh off the tree cherries just makes for a very sticky toddler face.
more picture here
oh, please ignore the chaos. we're currently in the process of completely rearranging and renovating three homes in that house and it's all just gonna be a huge mess for a few more days.
please also excuse joon's filthy looking hands and dirty face. she's been helping with gardening and the combination of a constantly running nose plus yummy fresh off the tree cherries just makes for a very sticky toddler face.
Friday, June 12, 2009
annalie's birthday
joon's very best friend and frequent partner in crime, annalie, turned two yesterday!
we went over to the cho's house in the afternoon for lots of fun play, gift giving, extremely delicious cake and brownies, a little forest adventure and then finally very delayed but tasty pizza.
we got back home at nine thirty and were all tired but happy and had the best night sleep we've had in a loooooong time.
yay! for birthdays!! we should do more of those. wait. there's another one coming up only three days from now. how convenient. ;)
so. as always, here are lots of pictures to prove it all. and a few more added in the "crafty stuff" and "random june pictures" sets.
we went over to the cho's house in the afternoon for lots of fun play, gift giving, extremely delicious cake and brownies, a little forest adventure and then finally very delayed but tasty pizza.
we got back home at nine thirty and were all tired but happy and had the best night sleep we've had in a loooooong time.
yay! for birthdays!! we should do more of those. wait. there's another one coming up only three days from now. how convenient. ;)
so. as always, here are lots of pictures to prove it all. and a few more added in the "crafty stuff" and "random june pictures" sets.
Monday, June 8, 2009
june
the kid is about to turn two and i'm kina freaking out over it. trying not to let it surface too much but still... my baby is totally not a baby anymore. of course that's very exciting, but i'd be lying if i didn't admit to my heart breaking a little as well.
good thing we've got a super cuddly full-on baby around still! :)
soooo... we've got some new pictures to share with you on my flickr .
important note regarding pictures, there are a few new snapshots which i've decided to keep private. you CAN view them, if you create a flickr account and add me as friend or family and i add you in return. chances are i'll be adding more pictures on that private setting in the future, so if you actually know and love us in real life and aren't just some creepy internet lurker you now know what to do. ;)
lovelovelove
good thing we've got a super cuddly full-on baby around still! :)
soooo... we've got some new pictures to share with you on my flickr .
important note regarding pictures, there are a few new snapshots which i've decided to keep private. you CAN view them, if you create a flickr account and add me as friend or family and i add you in return. chances are i'll be adding more pictures on that private setting in the future, so if you actually know and love us in real life and aren't just some creepy internet lurker you now know what to do. ;)
lovelovelove
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
farm fun
lots of pictures from yesterday on flickr.
and one little preview...
yes, we have a fancy new camera. and yes, we have been taking lots of nice pictures lately. we've just honestly been too busy living life to upload them.
i promise, i will try to get that done tonight when the kids are asleep. thank you for your patience. :)
Friday, April 10, 2009
Saturday, May 17, 2008
May in Wiesbaden
Howdy everyone,
in an attempt to improve communication flow we´ve decided to start a new blog hoping that this new host will allow for easier updates.
So, what´s happening?
Well, Joon is 11 months old now, she can walk and say cat/Katze (hadduh or sometimes cattuh) and mom (mamam), she´s ridiculously smart and funny and huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge! We have so much fun watching her explore the world and learning new skills every day. We don´t have as much fun trying to nightwean and washing endless amounts of cloth diapers, but apparently sleepless nights and stink are part of the deal. And really, nothing has ever made us happier than this stinky, loud, clingy kid and the sweet loving hugs she gives us now.
Dave is well on his way to rockstardom with his new band Family Freud and several other projects that he works on. They just spent two weeks in the studio recording their first album due to be released in the fall and played their first show last night which, quite frankly, kicked ass. Check out Family Freud´s Myspace for more info coming soon.
Dave also just finished the first long stretch of german class and is now finally able to communicate well in that strange and way too complicated language of mine.
I´ve had more time to sew again and have been getting very positive feedback for my work which feels fantastic. Apparently there are things other than mommying that I´m good at. Yay!
It´s summer, we´re outside constantly, Joon´s birthday is coming up and we will have all of our immediate family together in the same place at the same time, things are just going extremely well for all of us... in short, Life is good! :)
Much love and strawberry kisses to you all...
Oh, and just in case you haven´t been there in a while, we have been updating
our Photoalbum regularly, so there´s lots of Joon to ouh and ah over there.
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