ECObloggerNL

Zelf gemaakt: babydekentje

2015-02-19T14:15:00.000+01:00

Voor mijn zoontje wilde ik graag iets moois maken.
Iets wat hij jarenlang kon gebruiken en ik altijd kon bewaren.

In de vele babywinkels zag ik veel mooie dekentjes, en wilde graag 1 van superzachte wol die mijn baby lekker warm kon houden in de kou of fijn koel in de hitte.
Maar ik vond de kleuren en patronen te saai... Dat moest ik zelf toch beter kunnen?

Maar welk patroon dan?
Hiervoor ging ik op zoek naar leuke patronen op www.newstitchaday.com
Mijn favoriete site wat betreft brei patronen vanwege de filmpjes met handige stap-voor-stap instructies.
Zo handig! Zo kan het bijna niet mislukken!

Omdat ik zelf niet kon kiezen heb ik op facebook een kleine poll gehouden welke ik moest maken.

favoriet was "the little bird stitch" en na even een proefje te hebben gemaakt was ik ook om! Dit wordt vast heel mooi!

Helaas was het me niet gelukt om het dekentje af te hebben voor de bevalling. Blijkbaar krijg je aan het eind van de 9 maanden niet alleen opgezwollen voeten maar ook dikke vingers! Ik kon die breipennen echt NIET meer vasthouden. Wat ontzettend onhandig!

Maar gelukkig nam het vocht in mijn vingers na de bevalling ook weer snel af en kreeg ik na een paar weken ook weer tijd om het dekentje af te maken.
En nu is hij eindelijk af! 12 bollen heerlijke zachte wasbare wol in mijn favoriete kleur turquoise blauw.

Ik word er zo blij van als ik het mooie dekentje over mijn zoontje Viktor leg.
En daar wordt hij ook blij van en lacht hij me weer met zijn grote glimlach tegemoet!

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

Tandenpoets training sessies - PLIE SQUATS

2015-02-09T10:30:00.000+01:00

Ik heb een gloednieuw idee om makkelijk elke dag wat te trainen om in weer in shape te raken.

Photo: Violet Sage

Want ook al vliegt de weegschaal weer terug in de stand van voor de zwangerschap (had ik sowieso nooit verwacht) feit blijft dat ik maandenlang weinig tot niks aan sport heb gedaan en mijn heupen en billen echt wel weer aan het werk mogen. (om nog maar te zwijgen over mijn buikspieren, maar die zijn echt nog non-existing)

En wanneer sta ik elke dag normaal gesproken minutenlang stil? Tijdens het tandenpoetsen! Lijkt mij een ideaal moment om even wat te trainen.

Slim toch? Mijn elektrische tandenborstel doet toch al al het poetswerk.

De oefening waar ik nu al een paar dagen mee begonnen ben zijn plie squats
Gewone squats maar dan met je benen uit elkaar. Net als een Ballerina!

Klonk als een fijne oefening waarbij je gestimuleerd wordt (net als vroeger op mijn balletles) je onderrug en je onderste buikspieren aan te spannen om een goede rechte houding aan te nemen terwijl je de squats uitvoert.
En heb ook echt het idee dat het goed werkt voor mijn heupen en binnenkant van mijn dijen. Juist daar had ik last van tijdens mijn laatste week voor ik met verlof ging en die wil ik graag weer meer op kracht krijgen.

Zie dit filmpje voor een duidelijke uitleg en wat variaties op Plie squats

Hopelijk kan ik het volhouden om er elke dag aan te denken!

Doe je ook mee?

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

Warme truien dag in Duckstad

2015-02-06T10:30:00.000+01:00

Het is vandaag weer Warme Truien Dag!
Sinds een paar jaar is het de eerste vrijdag van februari warme truien dag.
De bedoeling is dat je de verwarming een graadje lager zet en een lekker warme trui aan trekt. Zo sta je een keer stil bij je energie verbruik en leer je misschien dat een graadje lager eigenlijk ook wel prima kan.

Hoe leuk is het dat dit jaar zelfs Duckstad mee doet!

Ik zag op facebook al zoveel leuke "foto's" van het vrolijke weekblad voorbij komen.

Haha! Zo grappig!

Nog een geluk dat Donald al gewend was aan de verwarming een tikje lager door zijn werk bij oom Dagobert!

Wil je deze bijzondere editie van Donald Duck ook hebben koop 'm snel of bestel hem online via deze link: www.tijdschrift365.nl/Tijdschrift/871084154072700515

Het is wel behoorlijk koude dag vandaag (schijnbaar zelfs de koudste dag van het jaar!) dus trek een extra lekkere dikke trui aan!

Gelukkig is een onderdeel van de jaarlijkse traditie ook dat WatMooi de truien en vesten in de aanbieding heeft!
www.watmooi.nl/shop/sale

Dit zijn mijn favorieten uit de sale:

Wacht niet te lang met bestellen want anders koop ik ze!

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

Victoria Koblenko voor I'SOME

2015-02-04T10:00:00.000+01:00

Victoria Koblenko staat in de Nederlandse modewereld bekend als iemand die ALTIJD geweldige kleding door Nederlandse designers draagt. Maar wat misschien niet iedereen weet draag zij heel vaak ook duurzame kleding!
Met designers als Winde Rienstra, Studio JUX, H&M conscious... noem maar op!

En nu komt ze met een eigen collectie hele toffe eco T-shirts!

Samen met I'SOME heeft ze een limited edition collectie samengesteld met bijzondere illustraties door Joey Holthaus

I'SOME gebruikt voor hun shirts alleen ecologische materialen voor hun shirts.
Ieder T-shirt wordt in een gelimiteerde oplage van vijfhonderd stuks geproduceerd, zo wil I'SOME kunst met mode verenigen en Victoria leek hun de ideale ambassadeur!

Volgens oprichtster Petra Beil is Victoria gekozen vanwege haar krachtige uitstraling en unieke stijl. "Ze laat zien dat het leven te kort is om saaie kleding te dragen."

Nou dat klopt zeker! En ik vind de shirts super!

Deze met groene haren is mijn favoriet!

Shop de bijzondere shirts op www.isomefashion.com

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

Jojoba olie #MommyMondays

2015-02-02T13:44:00.002+01:00

Haha ik zie je al denken: "had die niet het halve jaar al een post over jojoba olie online staan?"

Ja klopt! Maar ik wil toch nog een keer benadrukken hoe geweldig jojoba olie is.

Tijdens mijn zwangerschap wilde ik natuurlijk voorkomen dat ik enorm striae zou krijgen. Daarom ging ik in de winkels kijken naar wat ik daarvoor dan volgens hun zou moeten kopen en wat er eigenlijk in al die "speciale" wondermiddelen zat...

Olie! Gewoon olie!

Maar dan wel bio, of gezuiverde olijfolie... zelfs wonderolie! (what's in a name!)

Tja... dan gebruik ik eigenlijk liever gewoon mijn favoriete flesje jojoba olie!

Dat zijn nog steeds de beste 10 Euro die ik ooit heb uitgegeven! Dat flesje is nog steeds nog lang niet leeg! En het werkte! Er zijn geen nieuwe ontstaan! (Helaas die ik al had van vóór mijn dieet is wat duidelijker geworden)

Ik had van mijn moeder wel een flesje met van die wondercrème gekregen.... maar kreeg het door mijn opgezwollen vingers en een onmogelijk onhandig pompje amper het flesje uit! Dus heb ik gewoon lekker gesmeerd met jojoba olie en die wondercrème maak ik nu wel op als dagcrème. (fijn een beetje olie, beetje hydratatie... en ik kom toch nog amper buiten dus het gure weer heeft dit jaar geen effect op mijn droge wangen)

Weer een goed voorbeeld dat je niet alles moet geloven wat de winkels je proberen aan te smeren. Kijk liever zelf eerst eens wat er eigenlijk in zit... vaak zit er "coxit aere" (gebakken lucht) in... maar dat staat natuurlijk niet tussen de ingrediënten! Haha!

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

De chocolade is op!

2015-01-31T18:28:00.000+01:00

Ik herhaal....
DE CHOCOLADE IS OP!!!

Tony Chocolonely postte gisteren op hun website wel een heel opmerkelijk bericht:
Hun voorraad traceerbare chocolade is bijna op!

Tony Chocolonely is een geweldig merk chocoladerepen dat niet alleen een percentage aan fair-trade chocolade in hun repen wil stoppen, maar ze willen ook zeker weten dat hun repen zo eerlijk en slaafvrij mogelijk zijn gemaakt.

Hiervoor gebruiken ze sinds 2012 het bean-to-bar systeem waarmee ze chocolade rechtstreeks van de boeren kopen.
Via een lokale buyer in Ghana....en daar zit nu het probleem.

De boeren hebben dit seizoen minder aan die buyer verkocht en helaas moest ook nog een deel van de beschikbare oogst vanwege de kwaliteit worden afgekeurd.
Deze twee tegenslagen en een te kleine buffervoorraad zorgt er nu voor dat de voorraad compleet traceerbare chocolade die Tony Chocolonely wil gebruiken bijna op is.

Wat nu???

Gelukkig hebben ze nog alternatieven:
Ze konden traceerbare bonen inkopen bij een coöperatie aan de Ivoorkust. Die gaan ze gebruiken voor hun melk chocoladerepen.

Daarnaast hebben ze bonen in West-Afrikaanse landen ingekocht voor de pure chocoladerepen, en ze hebben cacaopoeder uit Peru gekocht voor de Chocolademelk.

Deze twee laatste partijen zijn niet traceerbaar maar wel fair-trade gecertificeerd.

En voor de toekomst gaan ze samenwerken met een andere lokale buyer waar ze meer vertrouwen in hebben en die de oogst ook beter controleert op kwaliteit.
En voor de zekerheid gaan ze ook nog samenwerken met een tweede coöperatie in Ghana. Dat is ook goed nieuws voor de boeren, want als ze hun bonen aan buyers waar Tony Chocolonely mee samenwerkt verkopen hebben ze recht op een extra premie. Met een samenwerking met een nieuwe coöperatie betekend meer premie voor meer boeren!

Dus... snel maar eens naar de winkel voor een grote reep Tony Chocolonely melk-coffe-crunch!
Die vind ik namelijk erg LEKKÂR!!!

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

"For the workers" by Lisa Konno @ Amsterdam Fashion Week

2015-01-28T08:30:00.000+01:00

Ik wist dat dit keer fashionweek bezoeken vanwege mijn zwangerschapsverlof erg moeilijk zou gaan. Maar doordat er eigenlijk de afgelopen seizoenen steeds minder shows in het programma waren die duurzaam of eerlijk geproduceerd waren dacht ik dat ik wel een keer kon missen...

Kun je voorstellen HOE teleurgesteld ik was toen ik in het programma Lisa Konno zag staan. Die show had ik wel willen zien!

Door social media had ik haar naam pas ontdekt en was al aardig onder de indruk.
Lisa Konno is net afgestudeerd aan Artez in Arnhem met een prachtige collectie.

De materialen die ze gebruikt in haar afstudeercollectie "extended materials" zijn reststoffen uit de kledingfabrieken die normaal gesproken weggegooid worden.

One man's trash... is another man's treasure!

Ook zijn de prints die ze gebruikt gebaseerd op foto's van de ramp met de ingestorte kledingfabriek in Bangladesh. Dit alles heeft ze verwerkt in een innovatieve collectie.
Zo vestigt ze niet alleen de aandacht op de wegwerpcultuur in de modewereld en de slechte werkomstandigheden in de lage lonen landen, maar laat ze ook nieuwe technieken zien om deze materialen te kunnen gebruiken. (die gebreide items! loveit!)

Het resultaat was een prachtige show tijdens fashionweek!

Foto's @Team Peter Stigter

Ook bekende namen in de duurzame modewereld hebben haar ook al ontdekt en steunen haar werk van harte.

Zoals Mette van StrawberryEarth

en Willa van PR bureau Wgreen

Heel mooi!

Hou Lisa in de gaten!

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

2014 beste jaar uit mijn leven #ECObloggergoesNL

2015-01-26T08:30:00.000+01:00

Wat een jaar...
2014 was het beste jaar uit mijn leven!

Het begon met een fantastische bruiloft in het van Abbe museum in januari.

Foto: Michel de Heer @PowerPictures

Daarna een fantastische huwelijksreis in het donker naar Spitsbergen en Ijsland

Twee maandjes later werd ik zwanger

Foto: Corné Clemens

Toen maandenlang druk op zoek gegaan naar een nieuw huis zodat we dichter bij mijn werk in Amsterdam wonen. Eind oktober konden we eindelijk verhuizen naar ons droomhuis in Bilthoven.

En.... uiteindelijk op 4 december is onze zoon Viktor geboren!

Wat een jaar!

GEWELDIG!

Vooral moeder worden heeft mijn wereld dit jaar op z'n kop gezet.
Ik hoefde alleen al maar naar de echo te kijken en mijn hart vulde zich met zoveel liefde voor ons kindje!

Echt spectaculair dat ik nu een zoon heb!

Nu de wervelwind van mijn leven weer een beetje rustig is geworden en ik al aardig gewend begin te raken aan mijn nieuwe nestje, bijna alle dozen (in het zicht) zijn opgeruimd, half Netflix al bekeken heb en de invites voor fashionweek en de MINTfair op de modefabriek weer binnen stroomden begon de drang om te bloggen ook weer te kriebelen.

Het is nog een beetje te vroeg om zo lang bij mijn zoon weg te blijven. (voor hem, maar stiekem ook voor mij) dus ik sla een keer een seizoen over.

En ik wilde ook wat veranderen...
Zoals je misschien al ziet... schrijf ik deze blog in het Nederlands!
Eigenlijk gaan de meeste blogs op ECObloggerNL over mijn eigen zoektocht naar een duurzaam en gezond leven. Dat is dus meestal met Nederlandse producten en Nederlandse events en nieuwtjes.
En het is niet voor niks .NL!

Nou ik ga kijken hoe het me bevalt!
En hopelijk jullie ook!

Groetjes en hopelijk nog vaak tot ziens in 2015 (het volgende beste jaar van mijn leven!)
Irene

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

Jojoba oil for shiny hair #ECOweddingEDITION

2014-03-06T16:00:00.000+01:00

Like any bride I wanted to look my very best on my wedding day.
This included some new beauty routines!

Every day I would step out of the shower I would use some Jojoba oil as a leave in conditioner.
This easy and cheap method was an excellent way to make my hair long, shiny & healthy!

Jojoba oil really is some sort of miracle oil for hair and skincare!
The oil is made from the seeds of the Simmondsia chinensis plant but although it is a completely plant-based oil it is very much like sebum oils produced by oil glands below the surface of the skins of humans. That's why it's safe to use on any type of hair or skin and includes vitamins A, E, D and anti-oxidants.

Sebum is what makes your skin glow and your hair smooth and soft!
Your hair secretes sebum to keep the hair moisturized so Jojoba oil is the perfect oil for some extra support for your body in reaching shiny healthy hair.

Rubbing only a few drops into your scalp and in the ends can seal in the moisture and stop your hair from breaking or being frizzy

It can help to grow your hair as well! Sebum can sometimes clog up your follicles which can cause your hair to break or go thinner.
Jojoba oil dissolves these blockages (because they are so alike) and helps your follicle to grow stronger!

I bought my bottle many years ago at "de tuinen" (€9,99) and can probably keep using it for many years to come since you only need a drop at the time!

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

Weddingcake #ECOweddingEDITION

2014-03-06T10:31:00.001+01:00

For the weddingcake I never really had an idea of what I would like it to be.
Only thing I learned the last few years was that if we're need one, my boyfriend's mother and sister were going to make it!

For years now they're the ones that make the wedding cakes in their family.
At first I was a little skeptical about this, it seemed like such a huge effort and responsibility! Until I tasted them... JUMMM!!!

I knew it was gonna be an amazing cake, taste great, look great and definitely not the sugar bomb they can be when buying a cakeboss cake with tons of layers of fondant and icing.

But how would we want it to look like?

My boyfriend once joked he wanted a snowman cake to stay in the whole winterwedding theme.

I joked back at him that he should check out a cakepop wedding cake then...

And the rest is history!

My boyfriend actually liked them...

His mother and sister wanted to make them...

They even tried out different sized cake-tins and ways to fill and ice them....

My little nephew and I got to taste them...

And everybody was happy and eager to see the end-result. (until maybe the day before when they had to make the whole thing! It sure was a LOT OF WORK!)

And it looked and tasted amazing!

Each ball was made from lemoncake filled with a cherry and the icing was sweet but not too much!

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

Danceshoes #ECOweddingEDITION

2014-03-05T15:00:00.000+01:00

One thing a bride needs... (besides a dress)...

Are SHOES!!!

Well... Just a quick tip from me on that department.

When looking for weddingshoes, CHECK OUT THE DANCESHOES!

They have ballroom or tango dancing shoes with a choice of heel height in all colors and in all sizes!

Perfect for a girl like me with size 42! (UK8/US10)

Bought mine online... easypeasy!

Maybe not the most ECO tip on this website ever, but please forgive me for this once... it seemed like a good tip anyway!

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

Van Abbe Museum #ECOweddingEDITION

2014-03-05T09:00:00.000+01:00

We are so proud of our wedding location!

I think the van Abbe museum in Eindhoven is truly an amazing modern art museum. I'm so happy we actually got married in it!

When I was 15, one day after school, I decided to walk in the van Abbe museum on my own for the first time... and stayed inside for over 4 hours! (my mom didn't believe me when I told her where I had been... she was a little angry I was gone so long... This was before the cellphones obviously) That very evening became the youngest member of the "friends" of the museum ever.

For years I would go there almost every other weekend after my graphic printing class at the creative arts center (which was around the corner). And to avoid spending my entire afternoon there I would just check out one floor of the museum at the time (which took me an hour max.). This way I think I've seen so many of the amazing exhibitions they've had in the past and met some amazing iconic artists like Marina Abramović & Mike Kelley.

And my husband also grew up loving arts very much. One of his ancestors was the director of the beautiful Boijmans Museum in Rotterdam at the end of the 19th century. (He was the first to buy a van Gogh for a museum!)

That's why we really tried to convince the manager of the museum to allow us to use an art room for our ceremony. She told us we had to wait until the exhibition was completely finalized so that they would know whether there would be space available in a room that it would be allowed in.

Little did we know we were gonna be in SO MUCH luck with the exhibition!

As it turned out it was an exhibition about some of the best pieces from their archives!

including some of my favorite pieces!

Photos: van Abbe museum

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

Invitations #ECOweddingEDITION

2014-03-04T14:00:00.000+01:00

For the wedding invitations I first went online to look for inspiration

I was set out to find something simple and unique.

First I totally fell for this kind of blind embossed invites

I have made many engraved prints in the past and this type of invites would suit that very well!

And just like with the dress and the rings I felt like this was yet again an example of "let the material speak for itself"!

So much more you can do with a piece of paper than just add other stuff...

But unfortunately this technique was quite hard to find in the Netherlands, let alone for a small volume (we only needed 40)

And besides... they didn't seem very fun!

Then I asked an old classmate of mine if she was interested in creating pop-up invites for us. Unfortunately she was fully booked with projects for the coming weeks ahead and she couldn't fill us in her schedule! (too bad!)

So that's when I decided to arrange them myself based on a template I saw on VistaPrint.nl. By printing it ourselves we could have some control over the use of recycled paper and its quality.

I took one of my favorite pictures of us and asked a colleague/graphic designer to help me out with some of the printing quality basics it needed to have (like resolution etc...)

And turned it into this:

I liked the heart shaped line as a simple addition to the photo and it came back on the inside and in our other prints and cards as well.

While making it, at one point I had to type the text again because I wanted to change something in the background or something...

And I made the dumbest mistake any bride-to-be could make!

I forgot the date!

Ugghhh! We've send almost all our guests an invite without the date!
How dumb! I'm glad we had email addresses of almost everybody so we could send them a date immediately afterwards!
In the end they were all there on the wedding day so it turned out fine... but OMG I think I did the biggest face-palm of my life!

Well.. almost... It got so bad that the last three I had to send (to abroad) I wanted to make stickers for with the date... and typed it wrong!

I needed a break A.S.A.P!

We also made cute postage stamps of our engagement photo in Paris. Everybody loved that detail on the envelopes!

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

GOLDFABRIK #ECOweddingEDITION

2014-03-04T09:00:00.000+01:00

If you are looking for an engagement or wedding ring and also want it to be made from responsible gold...

You can do like me... and search and search and search...

Or go straight to GOLDFABRIK.nl and buy one there!

I wished this fairtrade gold webshop was around when I was searching for the perfect pair!

GOLDFABRIK is more than an online shop. It is also a studio for fairtrade goldsmithing in Amsterdam.

Because the fairtrade & fairmined gold certificate is relatively new there are not so many goldsmiths that work with it yet.

GOLDFABRIK's founder Nadine Kieft has created a way that many more artist can, and hopefully will, join her in creating fairmined gold jewelry.

(read more about fairtrade gold here)

Nadine invites designers to work in her atelier in accordance with the fairtrade standard conditions controlled by Max Havelaar. All fairtrade jewelry is hall marked with a fairtrade label stamp & on the website you can find the fairtrade & fairmined logo. This is an official logo that can only be used by fairtrade licensees.

So you can be sure the gold is great...

But the jewelry is SO beautiful as well!

And if you want you can also contact the goldsmiths for a custom piece!

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

Weddingrings #ECOweddingEDITION

2014-03-03T14:00:00.000+01:00

Wedding rings was the only easy decision we had to make! (for the wedding that is...)

We already had them!!!

When I did the proposal I went all around town looking for the perfect pair.

Quite hard, because yet again I had some criteria.

I wanted two rings, because I couldn't imagine my boyfriend wearing an engagement AND a weddingring. So only this one ring for him... Then it better suit mine too!
I wanted rings made from responsible gold. I had just made an article about green gold (<--- please read) and it seemed like such a must-have for us!
I wanted rings without diamonds. I didn't want to give diamonds to myself! And if I'm gonna wear a fairtrade dress and responsible gold rings then the diamonds sure needed to be responsible as well! But also because I have a love for crafting materials. Goldsmiths is such a beautiful profession that I was sure I could find beautiful rings without just putting a rock on it.

I went to a local goldsmith and together we came up with a preliminary design of a ring with a round stone in it

Sort of like this from "Pommelato" :

And then for my boyfriend the same ring without the stone.

I had to think about this... It seemed all wrong! If I'm gonna ask my love to marry me, my ring shouldn't be all "pretty" while his is just a plain gold ring?

So I looked a little further and went to Kameleon jewelry design shop.

They had quite an interesting collection due to the fact that their employees all are goldsmiths that were there to assist customers with the purchased collection as well as to sell their own work in the store.

And there I saw it! The perfect ring!

A ring that looked like a combination of a raw rock of gold and a smooth gold ring.

The Goldsmith told me all about the designer Riitta Hakela, that it came from Finland and was based on Finnish nature.

I think I could see that! And how perfect! My boyfriend LOVES Scandinavian nature!

So I had found the style I liked, but they didn't have a male version of it in the store.

I checked out the website and found out they had many other ones to choose from.

(also I checked with the Dutch supplier if it was made from responsible gold, which it was)

Pink = mine, Blue = his

I choose a straight ring with a few more rocky mountains in between.

I asked the store to get me one in a large size and then I was off to Paris!

How I knew the size?

You wouldn't believe it, but it was the GoedGoud bracelets that helped out!

When I received them for the ECOgoodybag Giveaway my boyfriend jokingly took one and shoved it around his ringfinger... it didn't fit but now I had an indication of how much!

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

Location, Location, Location... #ECOweddingEDITION

2014-03-03T10:00:00.000+01:00

There are so many places to get married where we live!

City halls, castles, farms, beach-clubs, restored industrial buildings or even football stadiums!

It was so hard to decide! (well, not the stadium though... SO NOT FOR US! Hahaha!)
But there was one demand on our list: (bridezilla-style)
The whole day should be on ONE location!

Because we wanted our wedding to be fun, relaxed and as sustainable as possible we dreamed of doing it all in one location nearby so we wouldn't be worried about time between the different parts of the day and it would reduce transport a lot!

While looking for a location we also found out that most locations don't allow you to hire your own catering.
So that added another item to our list of demands: organic food!

We would have been happy to arrange catering ourselves, I had already contacted "Veggie in Pumps" but we decided it was better to find a location that served organic food themselves.

So I spend hours and hours browsing the web looking for ideas...
There were plenty of choices of castles nearby...

Or farms...

One organization I liked had a new industrial building we visited. But it was near the mental institution and we saw possible junkies walking around the building... so that was a big NoNo...

And another location of them was a farm where we could have the dinner and party. I liked this place a lot because we had family parties there when I was little! (Grandma's 80th birthday etc.) But it wasn't suitable for the ceremony and also the space was too divided in two rooms so that made it too small for us.

So totally out of ideas and happening to be on the other side of town I decided, instead of going straight home, to take a detour on my bike. So I could pass by some of the scenery in a park I knew that had an organic farm and some more possible nice places to check out.

I went past:

a farm,(too rustic)
an organic garden,(not suitable)
the watermill,(too small)
organic farm (such cute piggies lying in the mud!)
pancake farm + midget golf (NO)
pre-historic open air museum (nooo)
and the park near the theater... nothing!!!

I loved the sunny bikeride but I was getting disappointed I couldn't find anything I liked...
Then I wanted to bike back home... but just before I was about to turn right I thought of taking one more detour. The next corner was the van Abbe museum! One of the worlds best modern-art museums and I love it! I've spend so many hours of my life inside the museum... but hardly any in the Karel1 museum restaurant! So I decided to check that out!

I walked in and immediately liked it! A bright space with lots of glass windows overlooking the water and the museum. They had changed it a little bit in the past few years and added a lot more plants, cute lights and some art pieces!
I could see us here!

Later I checked out their website and as it turned out they offered an organic buffet of local produce!

From the very same organic farm I passed on my bike ride!

I was convinced... but it took some time before we actually decided to go ahead and book this location. We didn't have the date yet and we really wanted to do it in one of the art rooms instead of their auditorium or workshop-space.
Once they told us we could (be the first to) use an art room we were so happy!

We got everything we wished for!

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

Mission Green Dress #ECOweddingEDITION

2014-03-02T17:00:00.000+01:00

For years and years I would check out all the fashionshows.

All of them!
I just love fashion... and after years of sewing classes I just love the perfection and tailoring so much!

But while watching shows... secretly... the big bold dresses (usually at the end) would always make me do a little check in the back of my head... would I wear it as a weddingdress?

(the one on the right was my favorite for years!)

I never dreamt of wearing a dress you see at the bridal shops. Although I've watched many episodes of "say yes to the dress" I never saw one that I actually would have wanted!

Usually wedding dresses seemed:

a): too traditional
and b): who needs those sugar coated dresses anyway?

So as years went by I created a list of demands (bridezilla mode kicking in) that my dress should definitely have.
Consisting out of only two entries though... (not too bad right?)

1) The dress should be made out of beautiful fabric ONLY (no beading, pearls or swarovski's) ZIP! None of it! The beauty should come from the fabric and tailoring only.

2) It has to be a sustainable wedding dress. For years I've been going to all the sustainable fashion shows in the Netherlands. I knew there was enough talent going around for a green wedding dress I would absolutely love and never regret! (No blood, sweat or tears on MY DRESS!)

Even got some ECO weddingdress advice from Livia Firth!

The first few designers that came to my mind were Elsien Gringhuis, Winde Rienstra and Ingrid Meijer of STAT Divisions.

All three I met as a finalist of the Amsterdam Fashion week - Green Fashion competition.

Elsien won the first edition, Ingrid was a finalist in both editions and Winde has blown me away on many more AFW shows ever since!
I immediately liked the idea of choosing between these three. I thought these would be very (green-)fashionable, perhaps within a butget I could handle and this would be a perfect occasion to get to know their work even better!

I love the craftsmanship of Winde's work. Made with such precise that I am in awwww whenever I see anything with her name on it! A true example of slow fashion!
But ultimately I decided to take her of my shortlist. I thought the silhouettes she has shown so far were not really what I was looking for and the materials like wood she uses would be very beautiful but probably quite uncomfortable to wear a whole day.

Then I looked at the photos I had of Elsien and Ingrid and tried to make a choice between them.

On the one hand I loved Elsien and tried to imagine how a weddingdress from her could look like. I was imagining the crisp white fabrics and her innovative paterning skills combined with the flowy ombre dyed silks she likes to use. I was sure I would love it... but maybe too cool/futuristic for me?

Foto: Team Peter Stigter

On the other hand I looked at the three looks Ingrid made for the 2nd edition of The Green Fashion Competition about a million times!
I loved how they looked so chic! The details looked so cool, different and so feminine all at the same time! And I could see they were crafted so skillfully from such gorgeous fabrics!
That really was all I ever wanted.
Nothing else...

So my choice was made! I emailed Ingrid if she would want to design and create a wedding dress for me.
She was really happy about this request! She told me later this was something she had always hoped for someone would ask her!

Soon after we sat down with some magazines and some pens & paper and got to work!

p.s.Yes, I know the fashion dresses are so many seasons ago... but they came from my giant stack of twitpics back when I posted every dress I liked on Twitter... (source: Style.com)

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

Setting the wedding date #ECOweddingEDITION

2014-03-02T13:00:00.000+01:00

So where to start?

Deciding which season was a good start actually

Soon after the proposal I suggested that I'd like a winter wedding.
Of course I was able to think about it before the proposal (my whole life... duh!!!)

I could imagine it would get dark early and that would create a nice atmosphere with little lights everywhere.

And... that I'd like the idea of a honeymoon in an icehotel, go dogsledding and hibernate in a cottage together.

(Read all about the honeymoon in a later post)

My husband really loves the snow, so he was easily convinced.
So season was going to be in winter!

But then I started the new job on January 1st of last year, it really became too hectic to organize it quickly.
We doubted about changing the date to the summer so we didn't have to wait very long. But quickly that felt so wrong!
We wanted to see northern lights on our honeymoon!
So we decided to wait a year and time goes so fast anyway!

I was hoping it would be on date 11-1, (11=1+1...aahhww) but as that date came closer I started to get anxious! I couldn't find the perfect combination of an ice hotel and a cottage nearby!

But my love found the solution and convinced me to go to somewhere even more special.
Spitsbergen! (also known as Svalbard)

In the winter months there is no sunlight at all!
To celebrate the return of the light in the last weekend of January they hold a lot of celebrations.
So we decided to plan our wedding date so that we could join in on the fun!

(this video convinced us both!)

So that made our date 17 or 18 January. All we needed to do was check with the location! Which one? I'll tell you all about it! (.... in a later post)

Let the countdown begin!

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

So what happened after the proposal? #ECOweddingEDITION

2014-03-01T17:00:00.000+01:00

As you may remember I was the one that proposed.

The reason why I asked wasn't because I was sick of waiting to be asked.
I just really wanted to get married before it was for any other reason than because we love each other.
Not because we bought a house or had kids but because we want to spend our lives together for ever.

But maybe there was also a part of me that wanted to make a change...take a new step in life and get started on a new chapter.

Since the proposal in april 2012 we made quite a lot of changes in our lives.
I searched (and found) a new exciting job in Amsterdam, my husband (<---Hihihi) has started (slowly) to change his company from sustainable innovation towards sustainable property development and we are planning/hoping to finally move more up north from Eindhoven in 2014.
Made new friends, planns and I lost quite some weight (again). (office-bootcamp rules!)
And who knows what else is in store for us???

And I think we were ready for this next step together.
As the wedding date approached my love even said that he was sick of calling me his girlfriend. Like it didn't suit him anymore.

The Dutch words for husband and wife actually translate to man and woman... maybe that's for a reason?

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

ECObloggerNL's - ECO wedding EDITION!

2014-03-01T13:31:00.000+01:00

Sorry I haven't been around for a while but...
I'm back! And with the best accessory I could wish for!
It goes with everything, I can wear it every day, it will last a lifetime and it will never be out of style....

A new last name!

Yes, I got married!

The love of my life said "I do" and I couldn't be happier!

Although planning and arranging was a huge effort for the both of us, I really wanted to document the process on this blog.
But unfortunately, even though I could have found some time to do it occasionally... Planning a wedding just took up all my brainspace.

The hardest part wasn't arranging everything, but deciding what to do!
If anything is possible, what to choose?
In our case it had to be a sustainable ECOwedding with lots of good food and good fun!
And of course not everything and anything was possible... but as it turned... out everything we wanted actually was!

In the coming month I'll post everything about the wedding.
How we made it the day of our lives!

Read all about it!
March = ECOwedding month!

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I'm Irene Haverkorn-Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

#FruityFridays Oranges are not the only fruit

2013-10-25T13:54:00.001+02:00

I thought it was time for a twist on the #FruityFridays theme!
How about a book instead of a recipe?

Immediately I thought about "Oranges are not the only fruit"

This is a semi autobiographical book by Jeanette Winterson about a young lesbian woman growing up in a strict religious community in the UK.

I have not read the book yet. I found a PDF of the book here but personally I prefer the real paperback version instead!
However I did watch the award winning mini-series on BBC many years ago.

Watch it here

At the time I was about the same age as the main character of maybe a little younger and I really liked the series.

Didn't really matter that I am not a lesbian, the whole idea of having to convince your mother that there are more ways to live and love than the only way she happens to know is appealing whoever you are.
Also I loved the title! Oranges are such a common fruit... but definitely not the only flavor in life!

----------------------------------

I'm Irene Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

The amount of sugar in stuff we like

2013-10-14T12:49:00.005+02:00

I saw this photo today and I just had to share!

Funny way to show how much sugar is in different kind of items!

I am very surprised!
10 cubes of sugar in a can of cola!
And almost 20 in a small bottle of Mountain Dew! (never had that before, and keeping it that way for sure!)

Of course not all kind of sugars are as bad as the others.
Fruit sugars are of course not bad at all. but still it is clear which ones have more than the others...

Like oranges! I stopped making orange juice when I learned that they are healthy but just TOO MUCH! It's beter to just eat 1 orange instead. You'll get the vitamins and the fibers as well!

Source: www.themetapicture.com

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I'm Irene Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

Kings of Indigo K.O.I. jeans brainstorm session @VONK

2013-09-29T17:48:00.006+02:00

Last week I went to an amazing event hosted by VONK

This is a series of events in which people are invited to learn about a brand and are then invited to a brainstorm session in which people are able to share their ideas

Maybe a spark (vonk) can be ignited by both the participants as well as the hosts!

This time it was about new jeans label K.O.I. (Kings of Indigo)
A sustainable jeans label founded by former Kuyichi director Tony Tonnaer.

First we got to learn more about the jeans industry by a presentation by James Veenhoff.
The founder of the House of Denim - Institute for denim, sustainability & craftsmanship.
He told us about the wasteful business a jeanslabel really is, showed us photos of blue rivers of all the indigo dye and how it's basically impossible to sell jeans for the low prices we see in the big chain stores if they are made in a responsible way for people or the planet.

If it's too good to be true...it probably is!

I've seen and met James a few times before but still he was able to tell me new information about the jeans industry! Thanks! I was very impressed (again)

Then tony Tonnaer showed us more about K.O.I. Jeans
How they are inspired by Japanese and American styles and how he has a sustainable background coming from Kuyichi but that he has chosen not to use the sustainable aspect of the KOI jeans in the marketing as much yet.
In his marketing tools he uses blue colors and never the words fair-trade but uses conscious etc.
But now after two years they find that they are well known and respected in the industry but not by the customers as much yet.

So question for us was... how to get the brand better known by customers in their marketing, PR, social media-tools etc...

First we had to choose how much percent we would like to use the sustainable aspect in our communication.

100%, 80%, 60%, 40%, 20% or 0%?

I choose the 60% group because I think the sustainable aspect is definitely very important for the customers (more and more even)
With 60% the brand can show that they're actively trying to make a responsible label but the brand also has to be about more than that!
It also has to be pretty and durable and modern and desirable etc.etc...

So 60% seemed just the right mix to me!

And I think I was right!
I ended up in a group of about 7 people who were quite on the same level at this point.

When we shop we want to get inspired, but we also want to wear pretty clothes and buy them in the main street of the citycenter.
A jeans for everybody!
One for a responsible buyer and one for a trendy boy or girl who just want a great jeans!
The sustainable aspect could be the extra nudge people need to buy THIS jeans and not by another brand even if it is slightly more expensive than the bargain chainstores.
Makes them feel good while shopping!

During the brainstorm session we had to do certain exercises that ultimately lead us to working out an idea for an elevator pitch we had to do after the brainstorm session

Our idea was:
BE A KING

Invite people to wear the KOI jeans and share their jeans and lifestyle by social media
which would be broadcast in the stores as a Polaroid wall

Also BE A KING was a call to join in and be a greater version of yourself
Be a king (= be great!)

And to promote the longer usage of your jeans was to have 1 year jeans parties
After one year you would get invited for a "birthday" party for your jeans.

"KINGSDAY" would be a great and fun day to experience the jeanslabel and you could win the special KOI jeans bike or even a visit to the factory in Italy in which you can sow your very own KOI jeans.

I really liked our ideas and I am happy to say so did Tony!
He liked how our ideas were on many different types of communication and could be used in stores, online, social media as well as for PR events.

So we did well! Yay!

Of the other pitches I also liked the idea of the 20% group
They wanted to call everybody to never wash their jeans anymore, just rinse with water, hang it out to dry and you're good to go again...

So... just wear them in the shower and post pictures of it!

Oh I could see a viral happening there! Haha great idea!

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I'm Irene Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

#FruityFridays Winterfruit recipe

2013-09-27T13:08:00.002+02:00

No... it's not winter yet!

But... I've been having winter and snow on my mind all week!

This week we finally picked a date for our wedding and I couldn't be more excited!

Wedding is going to be January 17th and our honeymoon will be to search for northern lights in the polar night of Svalbard! (Spitsbergen)

So when looking for a #FruityFridays recipe for this week's edition I decided to look up which fruits are available in January.
I found a list here and I was positively surprised!
My favorite fruits are in season!
Cranberries AND pomegranates! JUMMMMMM!!!

On http://mayihavethatrecipe.com I found and amazing recipe for a dessert using pomegranates!

Vegan Rose Water Almond Milk Pudding

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 45 mins
Serves: 6

Ingredients
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
¼ cup plus 2 tbsp corn starch
½ cup plus 2 tbsp sugar/ sweeteners
4 tbsp rose water
¾ cup raw pistachios, chopped
¾ cup pomegranate seeds or dried cranberries

Instructions
In a medium saucepan, combine almond milk, corn starch, sugar and rose water. Whisk until the corn starch and sugar are completely dissolved.
Cook at medium heat, stirring often, until it starts to thicken. Turn off heat and whisk well until thick and creamy. Let cool slightly.

In the meantime, prepare 6-6oz clear cups. Add a layer of chopped pistachios at the bottom. Spoon some of the rose water cream, add a layer of pomegranate seeds or dried cranberries, spoon some more rose water cream and top with pistachios and pomegranate seeds or cranberries.
For a creamier consistency, serve warm or at room temperature. If you like it thicker, chill in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes

This might be a good choice for our weddingdinner!
The rosewater reminds me of our trip to Cyprus as well!
Almost didn't want to post this so it wouldn't spoil any surprises!
But still about 112 days to go...(counting down the days!)
So we'll just have to wait and see!

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I'm Irene Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com

New in: @OATSHOES skin collection by @StrawberryEarth deals

2013-09-21T16:35:00.002+02:00

I bought myself the BEST birthday present ever!

I got myself a strawberry-deal at StrawberryEarth.nl to finally buy those awesome bright blue OATshoes in biodegradable leather I have eyed for a long time!
I almost can't wait for them to grow plants out of... (not yet! first I need to wear them!)

Finally they're mine!

Thanks Christiaan of OATshoes for a great service (needed some help...)
And StrawberryEarth for being my trusty OATshoes dealer once again! (2nd time)

Keep an eye on the Strawberry deals by signing up for their newsletter (here) because they sometimes have the deal you just can't resist!

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I'm Irene Dirks, from Eindhoven and have a great passion for creativity, fashion and sustainability.

This combination has grown into a love for writing for lifestyleblogs about my quest for searching for a healthy & sustainable lifestyle.

On ECObloggerNL I'll be writing about sustainable, fairtrade & organic brands, Green (fashion) events, DIY, charities, experiences and recipies with delicious healthy ingredients. Hope you like it!

For Questions regarding ECObloggerNL, press or advertising enquiries please contact me on ECObloggerNL@Gmail.com