And so another year passes by...

I hope you all have tons of fond memories of 2013.
I do. Mostly.

Instead of boring you all with yet another list of things I end up never achieving (see last years list), this year I am embracing change. I intend to "go for it". I have this strong urge to roll my sleeves up and get going.

I want to incorporate the lost wax casting method to the jewelry line. I've already done my "homework" and figured out a place where I can send my wax models and I hopefully I will also have the chance to do some casting myself.


The photos are of a custom piece I made for a friend and the last wax model I was working on in 2013.

Bad, blogger. Bad, bad blogger...

Hello!  Hmm... what happened to my very good intention to blog more regularly again? I guess live with a toddler just came in between :) This month is especially all about her, as she is about to turn 2. We just started working on our birthday present for her, a custom sandbox, which we are very excited to build for her.  There are tons of DIYs out there, here you can get a great summary via pinterest. 

Here are some pictures from yesterday. All photos done by my wonderful and very talented sister in law Eva Nilsen. 

On a different note, I have a few new summery jewelry pieces in the making, I'll be posting a preview soon. 

Hola! Hmmm.... que ha pasado con mis buenas intenciones de blogear regularmente? Supongo que nuestra vida llena de aventuras con nuestra pitufilla :) Este mes estamos especialmente dedicados a ella, ya que está apuntito de cumplir dos añitos (qué rápido ha pasado el tiempo). Acabamos de empezar nuestro trabajo en su regalo de cumpleaños: un arenero customizado para el jardín. Hay un montón de tutoriales en la web, aquí podréis ver los links de unos cuantos via pinterest. 

Aquí van algunas fotos que nos hizo mi maravillosa cuñada, que es una fotógrafa increíble: Eva Nilsen.

A parte de eso, tengo algunos diseños veraniegos en proceso de elaboración, postearé alguna foto pronto. 

2013

Every year around this time, we are filled with expectations - confident that we will finally drop those bad habits, embark in new adventures, and finally loose that extra weight before summer... 

But somehow along the year we tend to forget. So this year, rather than setting myself goals I wont accomplish, I made a list of things I'd like to see increased (or decreased) in my life. 

I'll be hanging a printout somewhere where I can see it every day. 

Todos los años en estas fechas, estamos repletos de esperanzas - seguros de que este año sí que dejaremos esas malas costumbres, que este será el año de emprender nuevas aventuras, que este será el año en el que perderemos esos kilitos antes del verano....

Pero solemos olvidarnos de esos buenos propósitos a lo largo del año. Así que este año he preferido pasar de los propósitos que luego no cumpliré, he preferido hacer una lista de cosas que quiero que aumenten (o disminuyan) en mi vida. Voy a colgar una copia en algún sitio donde la vea todos los días. 

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you all the best for the holidays, yummy food to enjoy in good company and some rest to think about all your good intentions for next year!

Os deseo a todos lo mejor para estas fiestas, que disfruteis de deliciosa comida en buena companía y que tengais unos días de descanso para pensar en todos esos buenos propósitos para el año que viene!

Version 3.0 - Versión 3.0

Well, so I just turned 30. And I don't feel bad about it at all, on the contrary: I feel amazing. Life is good. Somehow I really see it as 3.0 - like a new version of myself, a new chapter in my life. I have so many good things going on right now, both on the personal and professional level, that I feel really satisfied with what I have accomplished so far. It might not be everybody's cup of tea, but it doesn't have to be. Of course, I have days where I struggle and I can't help but feel sorry for myself. But I'm working on it. Life isn't always roses and butterflies, but, right now, I have plenty of both :)

The pic is of our Birthday escape to Rome. What a wonderful awe inspiring city!

Bueno, acabo de cumplir los 30. Y no me siento mal para nada, todo lo contrario: me siento genial. La vida está muy bien. De alguna manera de verdad que lo veo más como un 3.0 - como una nueva versíon de mi misma, un nuevo capítulo de mi vida. Tengo tantas cosas buenas en mi vida ahora mismo, tanto a nivel personal como a nivel profesional, que me siento bastante satisfecha con lo que he conseguido hasta ahora. A lo mejor a otros no les parece nada, o no les gusta, pero de eso se trata, no tiene por qué. Claro que también tengo días malos, en los que me cuestiono todo y siento pena por mi misma. Pero estoy trabajando en ello. La vida no es un camino de rosas, pero ahora mismo, tengo bastantes rosas en mi camino :) 

La foto es de nuestra escapada cumpleañera a Roma. Que cuidad más increíble!

DaWanda

So while I was completely absorbed by witnessing my daughters growth, I was approached by DaWanda, an online platform to sell "handmade" in Europe. They where working on the launch of DaWanda España, found me on the world wide web and asked me, if I wanted to be a part of their community from day one. Well, hell yes!!! It was about time for me to get back into the studio, to work on the NIMO. online presence and, a part from being a huge compliment - it was the kick in the butt that I needed so badly to get back on track! 

Click here to visit my shop

Así que mientras estuve totalmente absorbida en ver a mi hija crecer,  DaWanda un portal de ventas de cosas hechas a mano en Europa, se puso en contacto conmigo. Estaban trabajando en el lanzamiento de  DaWanda España, me encontraron en internet y me preguntaron si me apetecía formar parte de su comunidad desde el primer día. Pues, claro que sí!!! Ya me tocaba volver al estudio, y ponerme las pilas con la presencia online de NIMO. y, a parte de ser un cumplido enorme, fue la patada en el culo que necesitaba para volver!

Haz click aquí para visitar mi tienda

BAM! I'm back - BAM! He vuelto

Hello! It's been a while, I know. But I'm still here, still making jewelry. I just decided I had to spend the last 17 months raising my little baby girl. No time for blogging. Very little time to spend at the bench. But tons and tons of pictures of our little Liv Aimée. I'm so grateful for technology. I'm constantly snapping pics of her with my phone. And I have a serious instagram addiction. My username is naoliv. 

Hola! Ha pasado bastante tiempo, lo sé. Pero sigo aquí, y sigo haciendo bisutería artesanal. Simplemente decidí que tenía que pasar los últimos 17 meses dedicándome a mi pequeña pitufa. Nada de escribir blogs. He tenido muy poco tiempo para estar en el estudio trabajando. Pero tengo muchísimas fotos de nuestra pequeña Liv Aimée. Estoy tan agradecida a la tecnología. Me paso los días  haciendo fotos de ella con mi teléfono. Tengo una adicción seria a instagram. Mi usuario es naoliv.

Life

Hello.

I wanted to apologize for not posting for such a long time.
I was busy "creating life".
During the last few months I just didn't have the brains to take pictures and write blog posts.
All I had on my mind was the baby and how my life was changing.
Now she's finally here.
It's impossible to describe how she makes me feel. It's amazing.
I can spend hours (read: days and nights) watching her sleep.
Every day is a new adventure and it's almost as if time had stopped.
Happy two-week birthday, my little princess!

I'll probably keep uploading and updating my baby-blog more often. So if you're curious just head over there: 1+1=3

As soon as I feel ready for "normal" life I'll take some shots of my new studio space and I'll share some new projects I have in mind...

Simple Pleasures

Without my equipment and a growing baby belly to attend to (exercise, childbirth classes, buying all the supplies a baby needs, etc) there's not much exciting content I can offer you. So today's post is all about the simple pleasures, the tiny things that brighten up your day. In my case, it's mainly bright, colorful, fresh food :)
So there you go: a bunch of food pics to put some color in your day!
xx

A few colorful shots from the weekly "rastro" or farmer's market.
And yes, those are oranges on the piles of undies - just to prevent them from flying away in a gust of wind!

Perfect dinner: oven baked potatoes with cumin and fresh tomatoes with basil from the garden and
roughly chopped garlic - yum!

Fixing a quick lunch: pasta with a broccoli-mushroom sauce

Our staple snack and dessert: fresh strawberries from Huelva (known for its strawberry crops)

And another spanish staple: churros with hot chocolate and coffee with my oldest friend Laura,
who came to visit me and see my expanding belly! Can you believe we've been friends for just
about 20 years by now!?!?

I hope you enjoyed the pics, and if you're curious and feel like taking a peek at my baby blog, head over to 1+1=3 to see some belly shots. Have a great weekend, xx

Inspiring Work Spaces

via nice*room

It is pouring outside, has been for the last few days. As I find myself forced to stay in (here's not much to do when it's this rainy around here, trust me), I find myself yearning to get back to work, checking my email for any updates on the shipment of our belongings (including all my metalsmithing tools and supplies) and brainstorming about how to decorate the new NIMO. work space.
The studio is a closed garage space, completely separate from the rest of the house. It has a gorgeous wide glass door facing a tiny pond and the most amazing rustic tiled floor: alternate terra cota and white marble tiles, a bit like a giant chess board. This space has gone through a whole lot of transitions: a guest bedroom, my mom's painting studio, storage space, my studio when I decided to venture in the world of graphic design, back to storage space (when we moved to the US in late 2007). Now I'm visualizing a creative haven, the new NIMO. headquarters so to speak but I also want to dedicate a chunk of space for my mom's painting endeavors.
The room has a built in white table, that goes along the walls in a u-shape and a big bookcase, filled with books, old records and my photography and graphic design files.
I can't wait for the rain to stop for good this year, so we can get started on repainting (now 2 of the three outside walls are wet), putting up some more shelving and getting all our tools in place.
I have been using pinterest as a tool to keep track of all the amazing work spaces people have found on the web and I can't wait to add a little vintage feel and lots of metalsmithing tools and paint brushes to the blank white space. Here are a few of my favorite spaces so far. If you feel like seeing more or if you want to take a peek at what other inspiring images I have found on the web, click on this link to see my other boards.

via interiors porn

via WORKSPACES

via HOUSE & HOME

via Aubrey Road

via oh, hello friend

Highlights of our Daily Lives

Istán reservoir. After the first heavy rains of the winter, we ventured to a good lookout spot to see the excesss
water being released. 

Wild lavender.

Black spaghetti. No taste difference,  just a feast for the eye. 

Mikki is renovating his recording studio, while we wait for all our belongings to arrive.
The whole place had to be rewired, tiles knocked off the walls, floors need to be replaced and walls need to be painted.
Can't wait for the decorating part :)

I've been told that walking is a great exercise for my growing belly. So I try to do it along the beach. So far I haven't done it often enough though... 

When running errands in the morning Mikki and I always try to sneak in a breakfast stop.
This simple "pan tumaca" (toasted bread sprinkled with delicious olive oil and freshly blended tomatoes)
 is one of our favorite choices. 

Last time I stayed inside the car, while Mikki washed it. Ohhh, the advantages of being pregnant!

Happy weekend everybody! The weather here has suddenly turned cold, windy and rainy again. So I'll probably spend the next few days inside, browsing through pinterest for wall color and jewelry inspiration. I'm having serious withdrawal symptoms after waiting for over two month for all my jewelry tools and supplies to arrive from LA. I hope my belly still lets me get close enough to the bench, by the time everything gets here!

Little Glimpses into our new/old Home

When we decided to move back to Spain in mid July last year, little did we know of the life changing things that were going to happen in the next few months - I found out I was pregnant in mid September. 

So once we got the news, we decided that moving back in with my mom was the smartest move to make (instead of jumping head over heals into a house search). My mom lives in a beautiful old house with a huge garden overlooking a little reservoir just about 10 minutes out of town. This is the house I grew up in, and it feels amazing to know, that this is where our little girl will spend the first part of her life, too. 

The layout of the house is great for cohabiting - with bedrooms and bathrooms on both ends, enclosing the common areas such as the living room, the kitchen and the dining room. My mom was generous (or crazy) enough to move out of her quarters and to let the our little growing family use the two back bedrooms, the big bathroom and the walk in closet (a dream come true!). The second bedroom used to be my bedroom as a kid and has now the functions of a guest bedroom, living room, baby room, and yoga room :)

Anyways, today I thought I'd share a glimpse into some corners of our new-old home. 

Bedroom: antique chest of drawers, the pictures are a limited edition print of one of my teachers in
photography school, a small pic of my grandfather and a poster of the Godot Art Gallery in Prague.
The lamp is from Ikea. 

Bedroom: my side of the bed. An old photograph of my great grandmother and her kids, a "photographer"
snoopy, a love letter on a piece of wood, a vintage looking tin of Droste Cocoa, books, my beloved
macbook and a lamp from Ikea. 

Bedroom: the only downside of my love of books is that I need to put a bookshelf against each inch
of free wall space. On top is another limited edition photo a teacher of mine took, a candle, an empty
box and the cutest pair of baby shoes,  passed on from my little nephew. 

The hallway: more bookshelves!!! One of my last screen prints based on a photo I took of Mikki
on our way to San Diego, a photo collage I made when I first started photography just out of
high school and the african version of the "matryoshka" my dad brought me from Ruanda. 

Hallway: more of the same and a print I got at the Renegade Craft Fair in Los Angeles.

Hallway: my parents. 

The multi-function room: has this wonderful vintage wood sink in a corner. 

The multi-function room: with a pretty empty book shelf (we're still waiting for our
belongings to arrive, they're going through customs these days). The wonderful thing about moving
back in to your childhood home, is finding old toys. Like this cute baby and mommy bears. 

The multi-function room: this will eventually become the changing station, for now I parked
this woven crib here. We have been so lucky to get so many things passed along from
my sister in law and our nephew!

The muli-function room: between the sink and the future changing station a wooden guardian and
old toy of mine: the elephant on wheels.

The multi-function room: last but not least a huge teddy bear sitting on the bookshelf, a sake bottle
I took home after a sushi dinner in Germany and beautiful pieces of drift wood my mom brought home.