Every year, Swiss Post’s Christmas special stamps prove highly popular – and, in 2020, they come with an extra special treat. You can add an extra touch of festivity to your Christmas mail this year. Every sheet of stamps comes with numerous stickers that match the stamp and can be affixed to letters or parcels. What could be better than adding some special decorative flair to your mail at Christmas? The special stamps themselves are dedicated to wintry moments. They are the result of a competition that requested charming illustrations full of atmosphere. They depict situations that are familiar to us all during the winter months. With their warm and welcoming designs, you can almost smell the mulled wine and Christmas biscuits and see the flickering lanterns in front of you. But the motifs are broad enough to be used through the whole of winter and not just at Christmas. Link to Christmas stamps
50 years ago, homosexual and transgender people in New York made a stand against the police for the first time, in a series of demonstrations that would become known as the Stonewall riots.
Whether you are a lover of designer brands and need to find almost-new items, or are interested in renting a piece of jewelry or evening wear, this is the place to go! The online website has photos of each item and there is a QR code you can scan to visually "try on" certain necklaces! We caught up with Giji Gya Obradovic from Downtown Uptown Geneva.
Why did you start?
My husband, Christophe, and I created DOWNTOWN UPTOWN 7 years ago. Our aim is to offer a space in Geneva with a range of men and women's fashion that promotes better buying, greater awareness of slow fashion, avoidance of fast fashion and protection of garment workers and our environment. In addition, we give a second life to clothes and we enact sustainable fashion for our customers. How? If you purchase from us, you leave the boutique being a responsible consumer! You can walk the talk.
We enact our principles not just in the merchandise we provide (recycled or ethically sourced), but in every step of our day-today business and supply chains, by minimising our impact and promoting good practices. All our furniture is second-hand, we reuse paper & cotton price tickets and shopping bags, use sustainable hangers, have recycled and forest-friendly shop bags and paper, sort and recycle our waste, use ecological cleaning products & use fairtrade organic coffee grains for our customers (no capsules nor throw away cups). We only source ethical brands for new stock and we attend the UN Business and Human Rights forum each year.
What has been the inspiration?
Have you been working on this idea forever, or was it something that came to you recently?
Our inspiration is our principle of ethical fashion, value and sustainability. By value, we mean quality, attitude and method, also behaviour, that is, bringing back the importance of enacting responsibly in fashion. Responsibility to reduce consumerism, to stop fast fashion, to ensure the rights of garment & accessory workers and to minimise impact on the environment.
Kathryn Adams proudly shows off her latest novel
We are not a stranger to Kathryn Adams as we published an article about her first novel in 2019 at this link. The first in the series, Death in Grondère, is so well written but she had already planted the seed to the second one, Summer Shadows in Grondère. It has just been released and is available at many Swiss outlets; see links at bottom of article. Kathryn has very generously offered 5 lucky knowitall.ch readers the chance to win a copy! We asked Kathryn to answer a few questions to set the backdrop...
Is this a sequel to Death in Grondère?
Summer Shadows in Grondère follows directly on from Death in Grondère and ties up some loose ends. The same characters (and a few new ones) return for another adventure in the Swiss Alps where they find themselves enveloped in murder and intrigue once again
What is the inspiration behind this new book?
Switzerland! My intention with this book was to showcase my adopted country in its summer colors. I enjoyed writing it over the summer, walking in the mountains to make sure I was accurate to the season as it progressed. I had some wonderful ‘research days’ hiking with friends, including Lindsay, who continues to inspire my character Poppy.
Have you been working on this idea forever, or was it something that came to you recently?
Death in Grondère was with me for a very long time but Summer Shadows in Grondère took shape very quickly: the plot emerged as I was writing Death in Grondère which allowed me to plant some clues.
What is the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?
Covid-19 lockdown was a bit of a hiccup. I had planned an Easter launch but I just had to let it go and tell myself the world had more important things to worry about. Like everyone else, I have had to adapt to this strange situation we find ourselves in: I ditched the idea of a decent review or marketing period and any sort of formal launch because if I wait I’ll miss the summer market. So it’s all happening in one go.
Claudia Von Boch is a ceramist who recently stopped giving courses to adults and children in the Pully area and works on her sculptures full time in Italy. We were impressed at how creative the quarantine has made her. After initially cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning, followed by doing jigsaw puzzles and then yoga, she got a brilliant idea! She designed and created a 3D ceramic jigsaw puzzle Mandala for her wall of 300 separate porcelain individually-crafted pieces! She kept a photo journal and shared it with her readers.
Here are just a few of the stages for your pleasure... more at the bottom of this article.
Tell us of your history
I have been doing ceramics since the age of 10, in Argentina where I lived for 23 years. I worked on and off with clay in different studios until I moved to Switzerland. I then decided to do an art school specializing in ceramics. While exhibiting my work, I also taught ceramics for 25 years in my studio in Pully. But last year I stopped teaching to concentrate just on my sculpture (see below for 2 examples). Now I work from my atelier in Italy where I spend a good part of the year.
The new stamps from the Swiss Post Office were released a few weeks ago. It is so exciting to see what they have come up with. We love the new beer ones shown above. What fun it would be to use for a party invitation! It doesn't cost anything to order stamps via the website as you pay the face value and postage is free!
When ordering, make sure you choose the ones that say: non oblitéré. Otherwise, you will receive stamps that have the postmark on the day of issue. Some stamps are offered as "autocollant" for peel-off stickers; or "gommé" for the kind you need to moisten.
Would you like to learn more about the art of brewing beer? Then take part in the Post Office's competition to possibly win 2 tickets for a guided beer tour in Bern on 20 November 2019 or a sheet of “The art of brewing” stamps worth Fr. 8.-! Deadline is 31 October 2019 so hurry and click on this direct link to the entry page in English.
Here is another new set that is beautiful and could be used for a wedding invitation.
