Origins of the mission

So I’ve left my job in America to move to Belgium with my Belgian husband. Sounds romantic and oh so adventurous, right? Try living it.

Thank God I studied French in school, but hey, it’s been awhile. And half the country (that you can traverse in 3 hours, IN A CAR) also speaks Dutch (including my hubby), so I’m taking a stab at Rosetta Stone Dutch courses. All I can say is, motivation, when you’re alone ALL DAY LONG is the biggest obstacle. (My belle famille is naturally on the other side of the country in the Flemish region – I’ll explain these fun intricacies of this lovely country at a future date…)

It’s amazing how as a foreigner (weird to be on that side of the coin)… one can feel so small and insignificant…the pain at not being able to communicate sufficiently…the insecurity at no longer having the security of an important job…the isolation of not having any friends. Woe is me, I know.

So I’m going to pull myself out of this black hole of uncomfortable feelings and get back to what I do best – creating. After all, it’s an excuse to get out of the house, explore, and not reach the depths of the D-word.

Like I mentioned before, finding crafting materials has been sheer HELL.

To occupy myself and rediscover a sense of meaning, I’ve just opened my first ETSY store (working on populating it), where I’ll showcase pieces of jewelry that I’ll make with the unique items I find on the journeys highlighted in this blog.

We’ll explore my new country (all 30-thousand kilometres of it), and of course the environs (that’s French, for ‘surrounding areas’).

P.S. In Europe – that’s everything!

I live just south of Brussels (‘Bruxelles’, en francais), again in the French speaking part of the country. But I’m not kidding when I say, despite living in what’s been dubbed the land of lace, I cannot find a single store that sells lace appliqués – or fine lace, for that matter (and I’m not talking about the tourist trap kind of lace either – that you can find and will definitely not do for my Etsy store)...

I have done many, many kilomètres (and guys, these roads are a scary place for an American!), trying to find materials to get started… without one iota of luck. So I threw in the towel and ordered my getting started materials (chains, clasps, dye, etc.) in the good ol’ U-S of A. (Hasn’t arrived yet; still praying customs doesn’t make me pay an arm and a leg to get my packages!) So I’ll have the minimum of what I need to get started. Now it’s time to find the good stuff and hence, embark upon the journey of discovery (thrill? Frustration?). You can be the judge.