We Don’t Need Earth Day

Posted by on Apr 18, 2012 in Blog, Everything Green | 1 comment Earth day is coming up this weekend and I actually couldn’t care less about it. Do we really need a theme or a specific day to celebrate earth? Common sense please! While on the one hand, it’s nice to raise some awareness to stop malicious destruction of our planet. Because it seems like the majority hasn’t heard how we (the ones on top of the food chain) kill our own and only...
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My Latest Upcycled Projects

Posted by on Mar 30, 2012 in Blog, Everything Green, Upcycling & DIY | 3 comments The last couple of days have been filled with picking up scrap wood at construction sites, building stuff, painting and getting ready for my next shows. I am so excited about all the cute stuff I made and that will (hopefully) find a new home this weekend. Here’s a slide show of some of the things I made this week from scrap to upcycled home...
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About Suburbia, My Undies & Saving Money

Posted by on Feb 29, 2012 in Blog, Everything Green, Living & Design | 11 comments It’s this season again and my laundry can’t wait to smell the fresh spring air! If there’s one thing I really like about Texas, then it’s the short winters and the free clothes’ dryer. Even though we live in suburbia (which I can’t stand, I think I’ve said it before?! Counting the days to leave…) and there’s a homeowners’ association...
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Can I Call A Blog Post “Miscellaneous”?

Posted by on Feb 27, 2012 in Art, Art Marketing, Blog, Everything Green, Food, Ideas & Inspiration, Living & Design, Upcycling & DIY | 1 comment It’s my blog, I can call it whatever I like! This is a little visual review of random things I did, that kept me busy in the last couple of weeks, days… Here’s a sneak-peak into the life of Franziska! Enjoy Can you change the color of your leather boots? Hell yes you can! Will they last? I don’t know but I painted my boots from purple to brown to glossy black: I made...
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Mardi Gras, King Cake & Things That Can Go Wrong

Posted by on Feb 24, 2012 in Blog, Food | 0 comments I was lucky to be teaching a cooking class on Mardi Gras! Of course, I made some classics like Chicken & Sausage Gumbo, Crawfish Etouffée, Jambalaya and Bananas Foster. I think everything turned out really good and my hubby was happy I brought some leftovers home for him to try. I am always prepared that something might go wrong during (or before) a class but luckily I am a pretty...
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Because I am REALLY Bored, I started a 2nd Blog…

Posted by on Feb 10, 2012 in Ideas & Inspiration | 13 comments …and no, I am not bored, not at all! I just had a big aha-moment recently. And because after an aha-moment there needs to be some kind of action, I took action and started documenting my progress in my new blog. Is there a better journal than a blog? That way I can share my experience and document my progress. It’s more for myself than anything but if I inspire someone else, why...
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New Addiction For Artists, Creatives & Visuals: PINTEREST!

Posted by on Jan 26, 2012 in Blog, Ideas & Inspiration, Living & Design | 23 comments Who’s tried it yet? Do you have an account? Yes, there’s another forum on the market and I am usually the one who watches the benefits first and analyzes its pros and cons. Kinda like facebook. I was on facebook when they just started and I had 5 friends for 1 1/2 years. How often did I use it? Not at all! If you have just 5 friends who post as much as you do, you can imagine how much...
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Where Do You Buy Your Gifts?

Posted by on Jan 23, 2012 in Art, Art Marketing, Blog | 6 comments We all do it. I am no exception, I do it, too. We all buy gifts. There’s only a few people on this planet who do not make gifts to others. Some gifts are free (like a smile), some are hand- or home-made but most of us actually buy them. Not all gifts are useful, pretty or thoughtful. I got gifts in my life that actually made me more mad than anything. Yes, gifts can do that, too. Especially...
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Days Like These…

Posted by on Jan 19, 2012 in Blog, Food, Living & Design | 1 comment Today’s one of those days when nothing exciting seemed to happen. But when I look back, a ton of stuff happened, why not share? Thursdays and Fridays are my hubby’s days off and so am I -thank goodness I am self-employed! In the morning the best news in a long time came in: my parents are coming to visit in March, woohoooo!! First time since I moved here from Germany 4 years ago....
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A Fast Clears Body AND Mind

Posted by on Jan 10, 2012 in Blog, Food | 4 comments Again a week has passed and you haven’t seen me much around! There is always a reason why I am not around for a couple of days, so let me explain… I have been sooooo B U S Y !!! Ok, I admit, I have been busy with myself, my thoughts, with work on my upcycling projects, tax, cleaning, removing the tree and then finally, I started a fast. And no, it’s not because a new year...
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Stylish Winter Decoration On A Budget

Posted by on Nov 14, 2011 in Blog, Upcycling & DIY | 6 comments When it comes to decorating the house, I am always in favor of change! I usually change the decoration every couple of weeks, rearrange furniture, artwork and just love to move things around. And sometimes, I do a little too much and the house looks a little cluttered with all the pretty things I like to put on display. Then I know it’s time to get started again and clean up, remove some...
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Upcycling Project: Upholstering a Garage Sale Find

Posted by on Nov 11, 2011 in Blog, Upcycling & DIY | 14 comments My latest garage sale find: a new chair for my studio. Well, not new but used -kind of new for me. My friend Elisabeth had a garage sale and while I decided to come by and give her some support, I immediately fell in love with this chair. I tried it on (sat in it) and it was so comfy that I had to have it. The office chair I have been using almost fell apart and I needed three pillows to not hit...
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Where Does An Artist Feel At Home?

Posted by on Oct 20, 2011 in Blog, Ideas & Inspiration | 11 comments One week after our trip to the West Coast, I am still digesting all the information intake and the impressions we swallowed along the way. We started our trip in San Francisco where we stayed for a week. Then we took our rental car, a silver 2011 Jeep Wrangler, and drove to Crater Lake. We have met so many people who live in Oregon who have never been there. Seriously? And then we met a retired...
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A Creative Mind Living In A Fake Bubble

Posted by on Jul 27, 2011 in Blog, Ideas & Inspiration | 10 comments Most of you know that before I moved to McKinney in Texas, I traveled the world, lived in exciting places like Germany, England, Switzerland, New Orleans and worldwide at sea. Some of them seemed less exciting but they all had something to offer for my needs. McKinney was voted #5 “Best Places to Live in the US” by Money Magazine in 2010. The criteria chosen: - unemployment rate...
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How to Make Your Guest Room Inviting

Posted by on Jun 28, 2011 in Blog, Living & Design | 17 comments After I have renovated our bedroom, it was time to have a look at our guest room. It’s quite a dark place because it has only one window to the North, so when I painted it first, I used a bright yellow to lighten it up a bit. The furniture I used in there ranged from dark to light wood. And above all, I mostly used it to store stuff that I don’t use much or not at all -ok, I threw my...
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How To Choose Artwork For A Bedroom

Posted by on Jun 24, 2011 in Blog, Living & Design | 10 comments Last week, I decided to give our bedroom a make-over. Here are some pictures how it looks like now: My husband chose the wall color long time before I moved in and even though I like brighter colors better, I thought it was a calming and nice choice for a bedroom. So, I decided to keep it and not repaint it. I chose to put only few artwork into the room because it’s the place where I get...
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How Living in New Orleans Changed my Life

Posted by on Jun 16, 2011 in Blog, Ideas & Inspiration | 7 comments After a week of no blogging, I missed you all! But I spent some great time away visiting my former home-town (was for two years) New Orleans. Love it or hate it, there’s no compromise on this place. I moved to NOLA in 1999, my second job after my 3-year chef’s apprenticeship in Germany. Being an apprentice in a male-dominated profession in Germany is not much fun and there is...
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Why Should You Surround Yourself With Artwork?

Posted by on Jun 5, 2011 in Art, Blog | 14 comments Did you ever wonder why people buy artwork? Did you wonder why some spend millions on one piece and others a few pennies but treasure it more than their bank account? There are many different types of personalities and their motives differ from one another in many ways. Recently, I wrote about why art is a great investment, so I don’t want to delve into this subject in this post. There are...
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Why Art Is A Great Investment

Posted by on Apr 28, 2011 in Art, Blog | 11 comments There are countless reasons why people buy art. To name a few: - to make profit - as a family investment to pass it to the next generation - to beautify your home - to take a trip down memory lane, sentimental reasons - to make a statement (banks, offices, public buildings) - as a status symbol and reflection of your own personality - because some people just like colors, sculptures or...
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Laptops and Lederhosen

Posted by on Feb 16, 2011 in Blog, Ideas & Inspiration | 7 comments You may be wondering: why did she choose this title? Well, let me explain.. Life is a process, life is not stagnant, everything flows but yet you have a heritage and your background influences the way you think and the way you make decisions. I am from Germany and I have moved to the US in 2008. Before that, I have lived in New Orleans, England, Switzerland, back in Germany and at sea (on cruise...
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Recycable And Creative Gift-Wrapping

Posted by on Dec 17, 2010 in Blog, Everything Green, Upcycling & DIY | 0 comments Don’t throw it away, use it to wrap gifts! Every time I walk up to the trash can with something to throw away, I double check first if I am be able to reuse it in some way. And yes, most of the paper gets recycled in our household. But besides old paper here’s a list of items you can use to wrap your gifts: - the easiest way is to reuse old wrapping paper from last year, just make...
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