Classy and cute; cases for the Nintendo DS Lite

Posted on Thursday, 20 August 2009 by Sara

I’ll just come right out and admit it; I love accessories, almost as much as whatever it is I am accessorizing. This week I got it into my head that I want to carry my Nintendo DS Lite (a white one) in a stylish case, so that it is a bit protected and looks a bit less like a children’s toy. I love original handmade stuff, and also import stuff that is not so common here, so I looked and looked and looked around the net, and here is what I found:

First stop: Etsy, the online marketplace of handmade goods by extremely talented crafters. There are several sellers here that sell some great cases, some with customization options.

Angeliz makes these cute DS cases which have room for your DS (Phat, Lite or i) and 6 games. The case is made of two different fabrics and closes with Velcro. The price is $22,00.

SiamSquare makes a more purse like case, with a handle. This case also has room for a DS (Lite or i) and 6 games, though in this case the games are stored inside the case. Three different fabric designs are used, and the case closes with Velcro. Price is $28,00 and customization options (fabric choices) are available.

Janis13 makes a very different case, this felt Gameboy pouch. It is the color and size of an old school b/w Gameboy, and fits a DS (Lite, i) very nicely. Other colors are also available. This pouch, which closes with a zipper, can also be made for the DS Phat for an extra $2. The price for this great and original case is $14,00.

SmileRecipe makes these cute Gadget Travel Cases that fit a DS (Lite, i) and 4 games perfectly. The fabric is from Japan, and she has some lovely unique cases up for sale. The cases close with Velcro, and cost $15,00.

Little Mary Moo makes this cute case from denim. It fits a DS (Lite, maybe i) quite snugly. It closes with velcro, and costs $13,00.

Dawanda is like Etsy, but aimed at the European market. There are a lot less sellers, but one really stands out, and that is:

Liflette makes these gorgeous DS covers for the DS lite and i, with room for six games in the case and a gorgeous leather wrap-around closing. If it weren’t white I would’ve gotten it! They sell for €19,50.

Of course, not only crafters make beautiful cases, so do professional companies. Especially Japan has many beautiful and unique cases, which are unfortunately hard to get here. A selection:

Fabrix is a professional company that makes all it’s products by hand. They sell (amongst iPhone, iPod, camera and laptop sleeves) a pouch for the DS lite and DSi in various fabric choices. The case has room for two games and a Velcro closing. It sells for $28,90.

Vis-a-vis, a Japanese company, makes this beautiful case made from kimono fabric. It slips onto your DS Lite, and can be left on while playing. They released it in 2007, and though it seems they are still selling it, I have not been able to find anyplace that sells it and ships it internationally (on a site I can understand). If anyone does, please let me know!

Kakai makes this simple canvas cover that attaches to your DS lite, and stays on during play. It doesn’t offer much protection, but it does help to individualize your DS. $8,99 at Renchi.

Keys Factory makes this faux-leather cover for the DS. Like the previous two covers, it attached to your DS lite to stay on during play. The only thing I find dubious about this case is that you are supposed to stick it to your DS with adhesive pads. As I like to switch cases now and then, this seems like bad solution, especially compared to the Vis-a-Vis case. $19,40 at Renchi.

Well, that’s about the best case I could find after browsing the web. If you know of any more, do not hesitate to let me know!

For the love of reading

Posted on Wednesday, 19 August 2009 by Sara

280532292_847057026a Reading has always been one of my hobbies. During the years I have always read, sometimes a lot, sometimes not as much. When I finished high school I started buying all the books I read, as opposed to borrowing them from the library or friends. I feel this gives me the opportunity to read on my own time and pace.
I never really read book reviews, because most books reviewed weren’t really the type I like, or because the reviewers hates books for reasons I find exceptable. Also, I like to form my own opinion and not be led by a review.
So, when I joined the LibraryThing website in 2006 it was merely to catalog my collection, and not for the ‘social’ aspect of the website. I didn’t participate in the forums on the website, nor did I look at the automatically generated recommendations before I had fully cataloged my collection, because I somehow felt I was ‘cheating’.

Back in April I finished my LibraryThing catalog. I had also started tracking my buys and reads on the site. There are several fields on the book details page for this, but more importantly, there are several forum topics for this. There are topics where members posts whatever books they are reading, or have finished, and also which books they have bought. Also, since the arrival of collections on the website (collections are basically a set of books you can include or exclude from your library, enabling the creation of wishlists), there are charts of the books that are most being read, and are wished for the most. This gives a good overview of what’s popular at the moment.

Because LibaryThing is a social network, you can attach value to what certain users say or recommend. If a user has many books in common with you, you can attach a higher value to his opinion and vice versa. All the comments and recommendation really led me to many new books, some of which I might never have picked up if not for the recommendations in LibraryThing.

Some of these books are The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and Freakonomics by Steven Levitt. Some other books I stumbled upon through the internet are The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Cambell and A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr..

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am pleasantly surprised by the good suggested reading that I am finding on the internet these days, yay for the internet (the people on the internet)!

Permin Vierlande – Weekend 7

Posted on Tuesday, 4 August 2009 by Sara

I got some stitching done this weekend and was able to finish the third big motif, and start a small bit on the fourth. I think this finished one might be my favourtite, I love all the swirls. My estimate is that it took me about 7 hours to stitch all this, bringing the total to 50 hours so far.

The great book haul of our England trip

Posted on Monday, 3 August 2009 by Sara

There are several reasons why I love traveling to England. The lovely landscape, the weather (not too hot), the heritage, the museums, the language… and the books. I read mostly English books, and while they are readily available in the Netherlands, they are often twice as expensive as the recommended retail price in England. Also, I love medieval history, and I can find much more books on that subject in England than here. So anytime I travel to England, I have a long list of books I want to get, and I find even more.

On our last trip I packed light on purpose. We flew with Easy Jet, which means they are very strickt with the allowed 20kg per person, but also that the carry-on lugagge can be as heavy as you want. So, I took a bag with me that fit the exact measurements, and during the trip I loaded it full. In the end we got 42 new books. Twelve of those books were guidebooks, bought at the attractions, but the other 30 were real books…. :D.

Anyway, all my books were dutifuly entered into LibraryThing, so you can see them here.

Vacation time! South of England in the summertime

Posted on Sunday, 2 August 2009 by Sara

We just returned from a great trip to the south of England. We flew into the London-Luton airport from Amsterdam. We had rented a car and picked up a brand new Ford Focus and drove off.

We first went to St. Albans, a short drive from Luton. We visited the cathedral there and had lunch. Afterwards we started on a hellish drive on the M-roads around London, to Canterbury. We got there in streaming rain, and after a bit found our hotel. After checking in we went to the city to check it out.

The next day we visited Canterbury, where we visited St. Augustine’s Abbey, the Canterbury Cathedral, the Museum of Canterbury and of course shopped a bit in the city. In the evening we had a lovely waterside dinner in the courtyard of a 16th century weavers’ house.

On our third day we drove from Canterbury to Battle. There we visited the Battle Abbey, built on the site of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. After our visit there we went to Pevensey Castle, where William the Conqueror and his armies set foot on land in 1066. We spent the night in a lovely B&B near Battle.

The next day we had a hellish drive from Battle to Portland, which was more queing than driving. We stopped for lunch at the Netley Abbey, the largest Cistercian Monastery ruins in England, which were completely deserted.

The hotel was on a high point of Portland, so we had a great view. Over the following two days we explored the Jurassic Coast. We visited West Bay, which had impressive cliffs, we sought and found fossils on fossil beach, we did a walk around Lulworth Cove, visiting Fossil Forrest and we explored Corfe Castle.

Then we drove on to Bath, but we stopped at Glastonbury Abbey, and saw the site of King Arthur’s tomb (no, it was really him, I swear ;)). In Bath we stayed in a luxurious hotel, from where we took the bus into town. We visited Bath Abbey, the Royal Crescent, the Museum for East Asian Art and of course the Roman Baths.

The last stop on our trip was Oxford, where we stayed on the edge of town, and on the way we visited Stonehenge and Old Sarum. Oxford was a bit too busy for our liking (many many school kids from Italy, Spain and France), but the Bodleian Library was beautiful and so were the colleges. We went to the cinema twice (Harry Potter 6 and Ice Age 3) and visited many bookstores, of which Blackwell was the most impressive and my favourite. We also visited the University Museum of Natural History and the attached Pitt Rivers Museum.

All in all it were jam-packed days, but we had a great time, and for us it was a perfect trip. See the slideshow of pics below.

In between stitch – Stained glass needle book

Posted on Saturday, 1 August 2009 by Sara

On our recent trip to England I bought more cross stitch souvenirs from the same design company as the Tudor Rose bookmark I bought last year. This time I got two bookmarks, a scissor keep and a needle book. I started stitching the needle book and in about a week I finished it. So, here it is :D The scissor keep is matching, and I am regretful that I didn’t get any more matching items. Ah well, a good reason to return (or order online ;)).