Forgotten Jewels #9

We still have to show you how we thanked Valeria Baigacheva -our amazing silk teacher- last school year. Louka noticed while getting ready for our performances that Valeria could do with a new set of make-up bags, so we decided to make this our 2014 gift.

We did not really use a pattern; we just studied some existing make-up bags we own, until we came to these results. Inside the bags there are some separations to keep the bags a little organized.

 The logo of Artistic Performers could not be lacking. We heat pressed it on in a white-glittery vinyl.

As we did earlier for the kids gymnastics coaches we made Valeria a small aerial artist in a box.

Louka made the bun in the hair and I made the metal and fabric construction. In the background we glued some pictures of Louka and myself at practice the past year.

We also made a stamp –my first one ever!- to decorate a little card.

Meanwhile June is approaching fast so we will have to invent another thank you gift! HELP!

Forgotten Jewels #8

The first performance made her hungry to do another one.
Also mum got involved and we performed together at the Belgian Gala Dinner 2014.

A duet from Louka and Moeke...

The solo part of Louka...

The solo part of Moeke...

This performance was in may 2014. And meanwhile we are here:

We allowed Louka to register for Belgium's Got Talent 2015 but never really thought we would make it anywhere as there are a lot of registrations every year.
Nevertheless meanwhile we have done the auditions and will be on television soon. We made it in the opening images of the first episode already as you can see in the video fragment.

I realise the last couple of posts are far from being sewing-related, but the Belgium's Got Talent performance required a onesie and we needed to thank our aerial teacher for her help. These sewed items will be posted soon!

Recycled goods: our treasures

Desinfected, sandpapered and waxed; ready for usage.
A flowery tray.
A bread storage container.
A table and a chair.

Five minutes to wash the items.
Thirthy minutes to sandpaper table and chair.
Ten minutes to apply the woodwax.
TOTAL amount: 30 AED or 6 euro.

LOVE IT!

Recycled goods for sale

I love to visit the shop for recycled goods in Belgium and since I found out there is one in the Emirate of Ajman, I always wanted to visit it but I just never found the time.

Today I discovered the shop and I took some pictures for you dear readers!

Enjoy the virtual visit of 'Take My Junk' in Ajman.

Electronics.

The department of the vacuum cleaners.

Most remarkable was the department of jeans and other clothes. The pile almost reached all the way to the ceiling and if you wanted to go to the next room with more clothes you had to crawl on hands and knees over the pile through the remainders of a door. Shopping here feels like taking participating a survival parcours.

Further I saw a room full of children toys,  located next to the store's bathroom.

And lost somewhere between the old lampshades I saw these frames of a newly wed couple, apparently they did not like the frames anymore; and probably they do not like each other anymore either.

Beds for big and small.

 Plenty of slatted bases to go with beds.

Not to forget a good mattress.

Also important for a good night's rest: a decent pillow.

The screws to put the beds back together were piled up on the floor.

I bought something today and will reveil it to you as soon as it is washed (read desinfected) and ready to be shown. Anyway for a proper treasure hunt a need a couple more days.
How can one not love this country, after 10 years I still discover surrealistic gems like this!

Tin, my dear friend, you would love this place and I am sure if you would still live in the UAE you would camp out here on a regulary.

Forgotten Jewels #7

Since Louka started to train Aerial Skills it became more a passion then just a hobby; once and a while she does an aerial performance.

In May 2014 I informed you that she was practicing for some private event but I never really got to post about the actual performance afterwards. Nevertheless we have lots of pictures of that event and it eventually even made local television.

During the rehearsel:

The real performance:

She performed at the opening Ceremony of the School Olympics, in presence of Sheikh Mohammed.

A huge adventure especially when we were last minute asked to dye her hair and limbs to make her look less pale. She enjoyed the whole experience fully and did not mind the color transformation at all. She wisely said that if you perform you always have to play a role and this time her role was ‘couleur locale’.

The show cheered the Sheikh and his family and how they transformed this land of sand of sea into a rich and famous country by hard work and willpower.

The scene was sumptuous as well as the sound and visual projections. The story revealed huge respect for the rulers of the UAE and gratefulness of the Emiratis towards them.

Patriotism ruled and Louka loved being part of it.

The leading girl of the play was an Emirati pur sang and you can clearly see that Louka was just painted her fair skin was shining through.

Afterwards it was time for pictures with the choreographer, producer,…

And last but not least at all with our all-time favorite Valeria Baigacheva, the most professional aerialist and acrobatic performer on the planet

Sandstorm

This is not a picture I made myself, but one of my friends took the shot before runnig for shelter.

I only took pictures of the inside of our house after the sandstorm.

Just to set things straight, all doors and windows were closed during the storm!

We had a nice indoor weekend, because going outside was not really an option.

Forgotten Jewels #6

I already wrote about THE rugby event of the year in Dubai; although I failed to inform you that there was some kind of a garment-making-bet related to the rugby 7s this year.

After I saw the gorgeous jumpsuits my teammates purchased to support their favorite rugby nations, I got slightly jealous about the fact there were no available jumpsuits for Belgium supporters! Off course not! So I told them I would make one that would make them all jealous about not being Belgium supporters.

The creation already took shape in my mind but the actual production only happened very last minute. So there was no time left for a photo shoot.

This weekend when we went on a short family trip to the desert I decided it was time to reveal to you my Belgian jumpsuit.

Belgium above all!

Walloon Rooster on one side.

Flemish Lion on the other side.

Luckily nobody really knows about the community question in Belgium so I got no remarks or questions rand the Belgian Rugby players were just happy somebody clearly choose their side!

The fabric was purchased at Bengali Market in Ajman; it is always a pleasure to purchase 2 meter of fabric at 0.6€ /meter. The fabric needs a good wash before use but regardless of that is of superb quality.

The desert is an ideal spot to act silly and have great fun.

… and gives lovely family pictures.

Somebody send me this picture of the jumpsuit –and me- during the Dubai rugby 7s 2014, not the best pose, but the prove I really wore it during the event.

You can read more about what I did day two of this weekend on her blog:

http://celebrationoflife.org/news/celebrate-life-at-the-wadi-bih-run/

Great article for all runners among you, a running team-relay of 72 kilometers, 1000 altitude meters up and down.

Wadi Bih, the run of a lifetime.