Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The sweetest dog on earth!

Okay, they snore (a lot), drool and aren't the most handsome dogs on earth but if you get to know the french bulldog you will fall in love with this type of dog instantly. They are funny, crazy, devoted and so sweet. We had one, unfortunately he died a few years ago. We still miss him. 
Here some french bulldog art and pics of our Max.










Friday, February 24, 2012

PiP Studio!












Wow I just love PiP Studio! First I fell in love with their wallpapers (I bought the pink roses and dots for my daughter). But now I am also crazy about the tableware. It's all about colors, little birds and flowers, with a little Chinese look.
PiP Studio is a Dutch company and their motto is: 

" Happy products for happy people. "

It sure makes me happy!
I know what to ask for my birthday. Too bad it's in October. Have to wait a few more months...


Bisou Mandy








Thursday, February 23, 2012

Romantic Paris








 I found these pictures from Paris at 500px.com.
Feeling the french vibe?

bisou Mandy

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Let's get spoiled!






Some of my buys of today:

Chance by Chanel fragrance.
Yes yes I got the Swatch! The purple one and it was a present from my husband.
Nike sports clothing. Yep going to play some tennis soon...
Spending money does make you happy. ;-)

Have a nice weekend!

Friday, February 17, 2012

Bye bye lovely winter!

I love living in IJburg... 
It's a special place during summer when everyone is enjoying the water 
and little boats are sailing. 
But the winters are even more special when it's possible to skate 
on the ice in your backyard. 

It's such a beautiful place!











The vintage look I created with snapseed.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Happy Valentine!








Because tomorrow it's Valentine I want to share these nice illustrations with you.

Waiting for love by J. Gabrowski
Sweet lovers by Seol

Enjoy your day!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Lovely Risotto





I love the beautiful taste of a good Risotto.  And you can make lots of different versions of it. I like it with mushrooms but the one we made yesterday was also very nice.

Ingredients;
1 litre vegetable bouillon (put on low fire)
olive oil 
1/2 shallot ( or 1 little shallot) cut thin
1 stalk of celery cut thin
300 g risotto rice
seasalt & black pepper
1 1/4 dl white wine
little piece of butter
parmesan cheese
300 g green peas
some fresh mint, only the leaves chopped
some parsley, only the leaves chopped
buffel mozarella
pancetta 


Fry the shallot with the celery in olive oil for 10 minutes on a low fire. Keep on stirring so they become soft but won't change color. Then increase the fire and put in the rice and some salt. Keep stirring for 2 minutes so the rice will absorb all the beautiful flavors. Put in the wine and keep stirring until the wine is absorbed. Then each minute put in a soup-ladle of bouillon, and when it's fully absorbed then put in a new one. And keep on stirring! This takes at least 17 minutes but as long as the rice is 'al dente'. 

When the risotto is almost ready fry some butter and put in the beans and herbs with some water, for 4 minutes. Fry separately some pancetta.

Mix the risotto with the bean mix, butter and parmesan. Let it rest for two minutes and cover the pan with the lid. When serving put a chunck of mozzarella on top and sprinkle some pancetta and olive oil to finish it.



Bon appetit!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

(S)watches!





Swatch newest collection is called the touch collection. 
Look at all the beautiful colors. 
I would like to have one of these....

Monday, February 6, 2012

Flemish painters from the Hermitage

Last week we had a day at the office in the Hermitage in Amsterdam. This beautiful building used to be a shelter for elderly people. In 2009 the building was totally rebuild and this new Museum was born.
It shows some nice and interesting exhibitions like this time: Rubens, Van Dijck & Jordaens. You should visit!



   Descent from the Cross by 
Peter Paul Rubens, 
around 1618

      Venus and Adonis by Peter Paul Rubens, 
around 1614

   Familieportret by Anthonie van Dijck,
around 1619

    The gathering from water and earth, 
by Peter Paul Rubens and Frans Snijders, 
around 1620

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Winter Art with Snapseed Drama

Winter is such a great season and IJburg is the ideal place to shoot some nice pictures. IJburg is an artificial island in lake IJsselmeer, so lots of water. And as you can see winter and water made some nice art this weekend. I edited the pictures with one simple click in Snapseed. I choose the drama layer because it gives your pictures an instant boost.











Friday, February 3, 2012

Lovely dresses and beautiful colors















My baby daughter's room. I just love the bright colors and the little dresses. Actually it isn't really a room, but a devided part of our own bedroom. The dresser was second hand. We painted it orange and replaced the knobs. The letters are from thin mdf with fabric on it. The rear side of the closet we pimped with some Pip roses wallpaper, which I love. In the last frame some birds hanging in the mosquito net.