Facebook event about the African Fabrics this week!

This week you can join the online summit organised by Quilt Africa Fabrics! For free!

For 4 days, from the 8th till the 11th of July, every day from 1PM - 4PM EST (7 - 10 pm Amsterdam time), there will be 3 speakers who will talk about their inspirations and their work with African Fabrics.

All the speakers will be live!

And I will be there too!

This coming Saturday, July 11th, at 2PM EST (8PM Amsterdam) I will show you in a short video how I make a box using a bold African print, followed by an interview with Miriam from Quilt Africa Fabrics.

The only thing you need to do is register for this Live Facebook event HERE.

If you can't watch the artists life you will be able to watch the sessions on a later time.

Hope to see you there!

Groetjes, Hilde

Spring Sale at Geckoboxes!

Since all craft markets, exhibitions and you name it have been canceled for the coming months I had to make up my mind!

I was supposed to have a stand at the Textile Festival 2020 next month and made

 quite a few boxes in different colours and sizes. As some are bigger than others and I have not really the space to keep them all hiding until next year's Festival, I decided to have a SPRING SALE at my Etsy shop!

Hop on over to my tiny WebShop and have a look around.

I ship worldwide ;)

Groetjes, Hilde 

A Box Update!

As promised: a picture of the final result of the hatboxes with their clasps and handles! 

The blue coloured leather matches beautiful with the fabric.

And on to the next deadline for my handmade boxes! 

In about 2 weeks time I will be joining the 'Wintersalon' of the Maaskoe Gallery in Rotterdam. Together with other artists I will be showing my boxes and some of my quilts and wall art! The walls and tables will be full of art and all will be for sale!

However, since we have a Parson Russell Terrier puppy my time in my studio is much less than I thought it would be! He is very interested in the cardboard pieces of the boxes... ;)

Still I managed to make a nice selection of different boxes like tea caddies,

gift boxes and boxes for all kinds of little treasures.

If you are in the area and still need some handmade Christmas presents please hop by at the 

Maaskoe Gallery and maybe you will find the perfect gift for your loved ones! 

The exhibition is on from December 14th until 29th, Thursday through Sunday 12.00 - 17.00.

Groetjes, Hilde

Back to the studio!

It's been a while since I posted last time but that doesn't mean I haven't been doing anything! My strength is coming back, physically as well as emotionally, and very important: it's starting to itch to go back into my studio and start making again!

I was lucky to have had an order to make hatboxes and slowly get back into making. First I made a sample with African fabrics which turned out really well if I may say so ;)

The front

The back/bottom with the hinges made out of fabric

Done!

After this one was approved I was asked to make 8 more with fabric provided for by 'Queen of Your Castle', a special coaching program for women to build up inner strength.

They embroidered their logo on the fabric for the lid before giving it to me. The handles and clasps will be added onto the boxes later by the client. Hope to show you a picture later!

Happy to be making again!

Cheers, Hilde

It's been a bit quite over here...

Het is de afgelopen maanden stil geweest op mijn blog. Mijn wereldje stond op zijn kop door ziekte en uiteindelijk overlijden van mijn vader. Gelukkig kon ik mijn ouders bijstaan tijdens het ziekteproces dat ruim 2 maanden duurde. 

Mijn creativiteit was ineens tot stilstand gekomen totdat ik een verzoek voor theedozen binnenkreeg van een Cottage Retreat in Ghana. Dat gaf mij precies de goede afleiding.

It's been a bit quite over here due to family circumstances. My world turned upside down when my father became ill and died shortly afterwards. Luckily I was able to be with my parents and support them these past 2 months.

My creativity was on hold, until I got a request for some tea boxes for a soon to open Cottage Retreat in Ghana. This was the perfect distraction for me.

De stoffen komen uit Helmond dus als ik in Nederland ben kan ik heerlijk fijn blijven spelen met de Afrikaanse prints.

The fabrics are made and bought in Holland and this gives me the opportunity to keep on playing with African prints when I am there.

Deze kleine doosjes (9x9 cm) zijn ook gemaakt met stof uit Nederland en zijn besteld door een winkel in Accra. Dus ondanks een lange afwezigheid heb ik toch een beetje kunnen werken.

 These small gift boxes are made with Dutch wax prints as well and are for a shop in Accra. Despite a long absence from my studio in Accra, I was able to do a bit of creative work.

Nu ben ik weer voor even terug in Accra. We gaan namelijk weer verhuizen....

Maar eerst heb ik deze dozen nog verder afgemaakt met een mooie kraal als afwerking.

I am back in Accra just for a short time only. We are going on the move again...

But first I finished these boxes with some beads for the finishing touch.

Groetjes, Hilde

Gecko Boxes Parade

Mocht je je afvragen of ik misschien ook nog doosjes maak tussen de quilttops door, dan kan ik je geruststellen: kijk maar hieronder

If you have been wondering if I still make boxes in between sewing quilt tops, then the answer is yes! Just have a look:

Tea Box with 4 compartments

Tea box with 6 compartments

Two boxes to hold postcard and letters send from around the world

De volgende dozen zijn aan de buitenkant bekleed met boekbinders linnen en decoratief papier en aan de binnenkant met een Afrikaanse print.

The following boxes are covered with bookbinders cloth and decorative papers on the outside 

and an African print on the inside.

Farewell present for a friend

And one more friend was leaving Ghana...

En als toegift:

Last but not least:

Mocht je nu zelf een doosje willen maken, kijk dan bovenaan deze pagina onder het kopje Tutorials Box Making. Daar vind je alle instructiefilmpjes waarmee je zelf aan de slag kan gaan!

If you want to make your own box check the tap Tutorials Box making at the top of this page. There you find all the instruction videos which gets you started with making boxes.

Groetjes, Hilde

Are you ready for Christmas?

Klaar voor pakjesavond en kerst!

Ready for Christmas!

De afgelopen weken heb ik weer heerlijk zitten werken in mijn studio in Accra. Terwijl buiten de roodstaart papegaaien verkoeling zochten speelde ik met de Afrikaanse stoffen en Hollands karton. Elke keer als ik weer naar Ghana vlieg, sleep ik zo'n 10 kilo aan karton mee in mijn koffer, naast kaas en drop. Dit karton is namelijk acid-free, en het lokale karton (uit China) niet.

The last couple of weeks I have been working hard in my studio in Accra. While the grey parrots are hiding from the burning sun, I am playing indoors with the African fabrics and Dutch cardboard. Every time I return to Ghana I carry a load of cardboard with me in my suitcase, and cheese of cours! This cardboard is acid-free while the local board isn't.

Dit leuke stofje zit inmiddels om een doosje heen.

This charming fabric has found its way to a box.

De hanger aan de deksel is een vogeltje van brass. Het is de zogenaamde Sankofa vogel, een Adinkra symbool uit Ghana. De betekenis is dat je ook moet kijken naar wat er in het verleden gebeurt is en daarvan te leren.

The tassel on the box is a Ghanaian Adinkra symbol made out of brass, the so called Sankofa. The meaning of this symbol is that you have to look back to your past and learn from it.

Some other boxes

De doosjes staan nu in mijn Etsy winkeltje te koop!

These boxes are on the shelves of my Etsy shop right now!

www.geckoboxes.etsy.com

Groetjes, Hilde

Another Box talk post ;)

Er zijn weer dozen gemaakt in de afgelopen weken. Heel fijn vooral als ik nog geen goed omlijnd plan heb voor een nieuwe quilt. Door de spelen met de verschillende stofdesigns ontstaat er vast wel een nieuw idee... En ondertussen maak ik een paar bestellingen af.

I have been a bit quite with blogging but busy with cardboard in the past few weeks. Especially when I have no worked out plan for a quilt, I love to play with fabric in another way. Slowly a new quilt plan will come up... At the same time I am working on some orders for boxes!

 Starting from scratch

 Looking for the final touch

 Finished!

3 Tea Boxes:

Last but not least: 

Groetjes, Hilde