British-Swiss mompreneur, Lizzie Crudgington, has just launched a crowdfunding campaign to help her in the final stages of producing a new story-telling app perfect for expat and multilingual families where parents travel a lot, or loved ones are absent - indeed, the closest thing you will find to story-telling in person!
Called StorySnap, the new app will allow you to create personalised children’s e-books and audiobooks with the extra-special warmth of narration by you or your loved ones.
Anyone supporting the new Kickstarter campaign, which was launched at a special breakfast event in Geneva on 6 November, will have exclusive, early access to the Beta Version of the app, which should enable them to record a selection of stories for FREE in time for Christmas (more details below).
Enter our competition to win one of two Swiss-themed coloring books being offered by Bergli Books!
Bergli Books has just launched a new publication, which is likely to prove highly popular with fans of mindful coloring, a new movement that is currently taking the publishing world by storm. With more than 100 million mindful coloring books already sold worldwide, this artistic movement has typically been dominated by digitally-designed editions printed in Asia.
However, with its hand-drawn designs featuring the landscapes and culture of Switzerland, The Big Swiss Colouring Book: For Mindful Adults and Creative Kids is the first Swiss-themed book of its kind and, as such, is likely to have huge appeal to budding artists of all ages, indeed anyone attracted to life in Switzerland!
Beni Meier and his 2015 world record-breaking pumpkin 04-10-2015 © Keystone
OK, we don't expect you to find one this big! The 2015 Swiss record for the largest pumpkin weighing in at 750kg is presented in the above photo by the tiny head peaking out from the back! The farmer responsible for this beast is again Beni Meier, from Zurich, who was unable to beat his own record for a pumpkin weighing 1,054kg which was unfortunately disqualified for having a hole in 2014. The heat wave during the summer prevented the pumpkins from gaining more weight.
The new 2016 record is a Belgium farmer, Mathias Willemijns, with a whopping 1,190.5kg pumpkin. He has dethroned our own Swiss hero by quite a few kilos. We have faith that Beni will be back next year to uphold our honor and regain top spot!
If you love the colors and selections of pumpkins that are avaiable today, then wait no longer! You can buy a great assortment and even make it to a festival as well. Most restaurants will be serving pumpkin soup around this time of year but see bottom of page for Lisa's recipe.
If you are looking for an original creative item, either as a treat for yourself or a gift for others, then The Pop-up Shop in Divonne-les-Bains is a great place to look.
Located just across the road from the Quatre Vents Tea Rooms, the shop is a popular initiative introduced by the Mairie of Divonne to showcase the work of small artisan businesses in the area. By renting the space on a monthly basis, these highly skilled creators have the opportunity to market their goods locally without the prohibitive costs of long-term shop rental fees.
This autumn the shop is featuring original vintage jewelry designed by Debbie Willis of Bede's Beads, along with an attractive range of scarves and bags produced by Lut Lemaire, a Belgian expat living near Divonne. Describing her jewelry pieces to knowitall.ch, English expat Debbie told us,
“I have been designing and making 'one-of-a-kind' Jewellery for over 10 years using vintage, semi-precious and artisanale components. I love the idea of using pieces that have been loved and treasured, adorning women for up to 2,000 years - my oldest beads currently are 1st/2nd century Bactrian Amazonite and Roman Glass from a similar period. I like to combine beads from around the world sometimes in a single necklace, some of them have travelled three continents before meeting in one of my designs!”
If you are looking for an original card on which to pass on your personal message to someone special, then take a look at the new range of hand-made cards from Groseille.
Launched by local artist, Magali Bican, this colorful series of hand-drawn cards is ideal for special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, newborn arrivals – or simple declarations of love!
As a mother of 2 young girls, Magali knows just how special it is to receive personalised gifts and messages of love and support from friends and families – so she also creates framed pictures bearing the name of your child, in the design and color of your choice.
Each time Magali produces a new card or nameplate, it has a different flower or message so you can be sure that you will not find the same card anywhere else in Geneva – or elsewhere for that matter! Unless of course you choose to have your cards professionally printed in quantity, either as a birthday invitation or birth notification, in which case, the recipients will all have the same card!
