About: Suzanne Marije

New additions of my spring/summer 2011 collection are being added to XOXII | shop every day. And I thought it might be fun to make and publish a wallpaper design inspired to this new collection for you to use.

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I also made this cute valentines day inspired wallpaper with a February calendar.

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• download: 1152×864
• download: 1280×1024
• download: 1600×1200

Pick the wallpaper you like and download it in your screen size. If your screen dimensions are not listed please let me know in the comments and I’ll put one op in your size.

What kind of wallpapers do you use on your screen?

designs by XOXII | Suzanne Marije are licenced under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported licentie.

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and thoughts about Valentines day.

I find that we should love one another every minute we can. And maybe some people need a day to let them realize to share love. I personally try to love and think about the people around me as many times as I can, even if it’s just a small thought, email, phone call of gift. I do not need a day for that.

I do think it has been exploited and made in to a very commercial thing. But don’t forget Valentines Day became associated with romance and love at the end of the 14th century around Geoffrey Chaucer (writer of the The Canterbury Tales) when the tradition of courtly love became popular, this means the time when the lover accepted the independence of his mistress and tries to make himself worthy of her by acting bravely and honorably.

Now it’s time to select a winner…. See the video below for the result

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Still not able to see the video you can watch it on YouTube Here

Winner please send your address to info @ xoxii.nl.
I’ll do my utmost best to get it to you in time for Valentines day!

Hello my name is Suzanne Marije and I am a Coffee addict….. As you may know or might have noticed. I love Coffee! So I wanted to share the basics, my favorites and some tips about coffee.

There has been written a lot about coffee and that’s not strange since it is the third most popular drink in the world. The drinks that are the most popular are water and tea. It’s a popular drink not just because it tastes good, but also because of its caffeine content. Caffeine has a stimulating effect on humans it restores alertness and gives you a energy boost.

Me & Coffee So coffee is THE drink in my life, a day without coffee is a day with a headache. Seriously, I have grumpy days when I don’t have coffee and YES that might be a bit disturbing but I already slowed down on the caffeine intake. I used to drink about 8 to 10 cups of coffee a day, once in a while even more. Now I have brought it down to  about 4 to 6 a day MAX. I really enjoy my coffee. Trough the day these are the moments I sit back and read my emails, catch up with friends, watch some videos or a TV show and read up on some articles or a book. These moments come with coffee and it’s a good match.

A small piece of history. It’s widely accepted that coffee originated from an Ethiopian area termed Kingdom of Kaffa , which is located in Africa. It is also established that the name of the place Kaffa was the initial derivation of coffee’s names, due to their resemblance and relativity. From that there, coffee gradually made its path to other countries in the 15th century, coffee was traded in Europe and because of the efforts of  “coffee traders”, coffee became part of a lot of peoples lives across the world. And the rest of this is history.

Ways of Coffee. You can drink your coffee a whole lot of different ways. Just pay a visit to Starbucks and you will be amazed. Some of my favorite ways to drink my coffee are

1. Simple Dark roast coffee: Just a simple cup of coffee from a dark roast blend. For me the best way to start the day!
2. Cappuccino Throughout the day I love a cappuccino, or two. To sit back and really enjoy. A cappuccino is made with 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, and 1/3 frothed milk (the foam layer)
3. Basic Espresso : A single shot to keep me awake or when in a hurry, just to get that extra kick. “The Italian tradition is to ceremoniously drink the espresso “solo” in a single gulp to enjoy the fullest espresso flavor while the beverage is at its peak of freshness. It is fairly common in Italy to add sugar to the espresso. Italian aficionados will tell you that the true test of a superb espresso is that the sugar must be able to sit on the surface of the crema for 30 seconds before sinking!” (source)

Coffee and Beauty. Coffee is also used in beauty tricks and tips. One of them is to exfoliate with coffee grounds in order to reduce the appearance of cellulite. The caffeine in coffee helps the process. I found this coffee DIY Sugar and Coffee scrub written by Serena from beautylab.nl (dutch) It works great, but it got a bit messy in the shower. So maybe a soap bar like the one below in my Etsy finds might help with keeping it a clean shower session.
DIY Refreshing Face Lotion. Make a extra strong large cup of coffee, let it cool off a few minutes, pour the cup of coffee into an ice tray and put it in the freezer. When frozen take out the coffee ice cubes and wipe them around your face. This makes a great tonic and will be a big refreshment to your skin.
Add some extra shine to dark hair. If you have dark hair and want to restore a beautiful gloss and bring out the red and brown highlights. Make a strong cup of coffee and let it cool off. Spray it with a small spray bottle evenly all over your hair, then style gently with a comb and that’s it.

Fun Coffee Facts:

• Espresso has 1/3 of the caffeine of a regular cup of coffee.
• It was the Dutch who literally brought the coffee plant to the rest of the world. They brought the first coffee plant from Mocha in Yemen to Holland in 1616. Their first cultivation was in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1658
• Caffeine is on the International Olympic Committee list of prohibited substances. Athletes who test positive for more than 12 micrograms of caffeine per milliliter of urine may be banned from the Olympic Games. This level may be reached after drinking about 5 cups of coffee. Ouch! Any coffee athletics out there?
• Dark roasted coffees actually have LESS caffeine than medium roasts. The longer a coffee is roasted, the more caffeine burns off during the process.
• There was a law in Turkey that said that a woman could divorce her husband if he didn’t supply her with a daily supply of coffee!

Below some great coffee finds I came across on Etsy. Enjoy
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So do you like coffee? And if you do, how do you prefer to drink it?

I want to show you the “beauty” products I use daily. I used to switch around a lot with products and try new things all the time. Now I’m so happy to have found some products that work great for me. At this point I only need to find a perfect day and night cream, because I still have not found the perfect ones for me. And I do still switch with my mascara. But the rest of the products I have been using for quite a while now and I am so happy that I found them.

First this NIVEA Creme. This is the small version of 30ml I carry it around everywhere. Especially in the winter when its cold outside I can use some extra hydration. I use it on my hand and face on dry spots.

Then one of my latest favorites. This GOSH Velvet Touch line perfector. I use it as a base for my foundation and eyeshadow and it is sooo soft. It’s hard to describe how soft but it really feels like silky velvet on my skin. Perfect base and I am very very happy with this product. I got it at my local drugstore i think for about €8 or €9 euro’s

I am a big fan of Mineral Make Up. And I love to shop over at Everyday Minerals. They they have gourgeous pigments, great products I also use everyday. I got this Long Handled Kabuki Brush $12.00 together with a Foundation Brush $9.00 and a  Everyday Eye Shadow Brush $7.00. These brushes are amazingly soft and the best I have had ever. Also the price is great and very affordable.

This is my favorite Eau De Toilette WHITE MUSK from The Body Shop! I use this everyday. My boyfriend tells me it also smells a bit like Zwitsal when I wear it. I love it and it costs €15 and the perfume costs  €25. I got a great deal with my last bottle it only cost me €9 on SALE and it came with two samples and a shower sponge.

And the last but not least the Catrice Liquid Eye Liner. It may not be the best and I must say I have not tried a whole lo of different eye liners yet. But it does the job perfectly for me. I got if for €2,49 at my local drugstore.

So these are my favorite everyday products. I do still try all kinds of new products and I love testing new things. It’s always hard for me to get past the beauty section in stores without buying something new to try.

What beauty product(s) do you use everyday?!

NOTE: All the products above are bought by me, they are my favorites and I use them everyday. I have not been sponsored by any of the above brands.

Valentines day is coming up. And I want to share a red hot and full of passion treasury with you. To me red can be romantic and lovely but also full of heat and sexiness. I think this treasury below represents all of them.
From left to right, top to bottom the following items are listed:

1:Letterpress Note Card Set 2:Leather Bow Earrings 3:Crocheted Red hearts 4:Vintage Red Walkables 5:Glitter Platform PeepToe Pumps 6:Red Valentine’s Day message in a bottle 7:Dollhouse Miniature Raspberry cake 8:Sexy Red Periodic Table wine gift bag 9:CHERRY lip tint 10:Low Cut Body Knit Dress 11:Lunch Love Notes 12:Gemma Ruby Red Valentines lingerie 13:NEW Frilly Bag in Red 14:Red Hot Red Hi-Gloss LipGloss 15:FOX 14x18inch recycled felt pillow 16:red typewriter

Don’t forget to participate in the Valentinesday give away… here

Please let me know what you think of this treasury and leave a comment.

Every Sunday is a treasury day, a great time to just sit back and take a look at some gorgeous items. That I have personally selected for you. All treasuries are made with a theme or combination of colors in mind. So if you have any suggestions for a theme, color or list of specific items you would like to see please contact me and maybe I will make a treasury with that theme next Sunday.

note: all treasuries contain items which are being sold on etsy.com | I myself own a shop on etsy.com and I am very happy to promote other sellers, that make beautiful (mostly) handmade items. Sellers do not ask or pay me to include there items in any treasury. All treasuries are handpicked by me and contain items that I like or fit perfect within the theme or color choices. I hope they may inspire you!