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Marleen Vente

I'm a chef and an artist in the applied arts (like bookbinding, felting, leatherworking, fashion and graphic design). That basically means I love making things by hand. Lots of things! Always using natural materials as much as possible. This place will showcase some of the things I made for myself and for friends. If you’d like to get in touch you can find me as @monxies on Twitter and Instagram

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The Hugging Blanket

July 22, 2022Decorations Standard

Spinning is an unusual hobby because you do not produce a final product. As beautiful and fascinating skeins of yarn can be to look at, they represent an in-between stage waiting to be crocheted, knit, woven or otherwise used to make something out of them. I suspect most people who get introduced to spinning alreadyRead more

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Felted scarf inspired by Monet’s waterlilies

November 23, 2019Wearables Standard

For Christmas 2018 I gifted my favorite aunt ‘a day spent together, making you a beautiful nuno felt scarf’. My aunt is one of those people who rarely feels chilly and will often leave her house in winter just wearing a blazer instead of a winter coat, so I knew it wouldn’t make sense toRead more

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Big book of felt samples

July 7, 2020Books, Tools Standard

Two leather binders to neatly organize my wet felting samples and their accompanying fact sheets. The challenge here was to create a ‘growing book’; I wanted to be able to flip through my samples as through the pages of a book, but also to keep adding new samples to my collection. I solved this byRead more

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The image of a loving family

February 8, 2020Decorations Standard

In 2016 I was so lucky to be be allowed to make the wedding dresses for two of my friends; the most deeply cherished project I ever did. As they welcomed their son in December 2019 I knew I wanted to give the three of them something special. This wonderful baby boy will probably seeRead more

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A delightfully quirky winter coat

December 30, 2019Wearables Standard

Pattern used: Vogue 1649. Fitted winter coat with shoulder pads, collar, lapels, flaps, side seam pockets, and left lower front drape with shaped hem. Made with aubergine wool fabric and a yellow leather trim. I left the buttons off and opted for a belt instead.Read more

Wedding guestbook reinvented

December 2, 2017Books Gallery

This is Sander & Vicky’s wedding guestbook. Inside each envelope is a card made or chosen especially for them by one of their wedding guests. Instead of writing a message in a regular guestbook during the festivities the guests wrote their message to the happy couple in advance and brought it along on the wedding day. I created this book of envelopes to hold all the card.Read more

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M’s diary / art journal

November 19, 2017Books Image

A diary/artbook made as a personalized gift for a wonderful little girl (‘M’, whose favorite color is pink, and whose favorite animals are cats, I’d been told) with the hope to support her developing her creative talents and a strong, healthy self-image.Read more

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