You can wear this black hat in three possible ways.

In my Spanish blog I dedicated this hat to the paintress Maruja Mallo

This black hat is supplied as a kit with three possibilities to wear it.

It is made of crochet with elastic acrylic yarn.

Its colour isn't uniform, some strings nicely shimmer a bit, though it's barely noticeable.

As in the picture to the right of this text you can wear it in its more simple form.

Or you can add the delivered pompom brooch.

Or you can opt for a more sophisticated way :

Onto one side you fix the brooch with the very beautiful natural feathers. (cruelty-free)

This brooch contains black rooster feathers, sequins and some beads.

All of it sewn onto a piece of felt.

The three parts are independent but are sold together for the attractive price of the kit.

Combine them as you wish to, depending on the moment.

Click here for more information or to buy it

Click here to see other options.

You can now discover the secret of the Banke hotel in Paris

L'hôtel Banke (9è arrondissement), rue La Fayette 20, 75009 Paris, Métro Chaussée d'Antin La Fayette, 75009 Paris.

This hotel hides a secret : it used to be an old diamond bank.

At the beginning of the 20th century, La Banque Suisse Française used to have their headquarters here.

Jordi Clos, the actual owner of the hotel, owns a private collection of etnic jewelry and the hotel still has the sumptuous vault.

During the famous "Journées du Patrimoine" (this month on 19th & 20th septembre 2015) you have the chance to discover it all.

Put your mind at rest and make up your own stories

Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, The Frog Prince, Rapunzel, The Goose-Girl and many other wonderful stories that the Brothers Grimm gathered and redefined.

They were translated in more than 100 languages.
Walt Disney got inspired by them. So did Hitler who abused the folk tales as propaganda.

Some original version of the stories were very cruel and violent. I remember how at times during my childhood I got quite frightened and occasionally they caused a nightmare.

Later on the Brothers Grimm adapted the most cruel versions and replaced them with softer versions.

During the 20th century psychologists reaffirmed the value of the tales.

The Brothers Grimm were helped and stimulated by the rise of romanticism during the 19th century.

Because of the death of their father and their grandfather they got very close to each other. Jacob was an introspective person while Wilhelm was more outgoing.

All landscape photos presented in this blog post are from German photographer Kilian Schönberger.

"I think there is is a deep longing for tranquil naturalness among people in our technology-driven environment" says Schönberger. I can't agree more with him.

"Put your mind at rest and make up your own stories", he continues. Looking at his shots I'm sure he does.

It's hard to believe that the man is colourblind.


"I recognized that I could turn this so-called disadvantage into a strength" he writes

Fragment from "The Girl without hands" :

"The father became alarmed, and promised to obey him.
So he went to the girl and said, my child, if I do not cut off both your hands, the devil will carry me away, and in my terror I have promised to do it..." Click here to read the whole story

Wilhelm Grimm (left) and Jacob Grimm (right) in an 1855 painting by Elisabeth Jerichau.Baumann