Since I've stopped blogging regularily, I've been thinking a lot about how to move forward with everything I've built up over here.
And although I know I cannot continue to post as I have in the past, I do hope to do a few fun things in the upcoming year to celebrate the twisted form.
So for those of you who've stuck with me, thank you! I suppose it's not easy to change from a committed relationship to an open and undefined one. I'm feeling like a creepy boyfriend who only calls late at night for some booty.
Rest assured that I'm right here and will let you know where and when and how I'm ready to begin again.
Here's wishing you a fantastic, happy and healthy new year full of creativity. Wherever you are on your journey, I hope you're twisting!
*An ATC made from one of my last German bakery bags repurposed along with scraps of drawer lining from my German kitchen cupboard!
I wanted to invent the peppermint pretzel, but I got so enthusiastic with my shading that it turned out more like a wildly embroidered or yarn-bombed pretzel! (Now that my friends is an idea worth exploring...)
Would it be Christmas without pretzels? Here's a little sample of papers past, that I've been saving just for you...
All were bought at a German drug store called Müller. Surely this is enough twisty evidence to prove what an important form the pretzel is during the holidays (and always)!
Like we needed to be told!
If you're lucky enough to get a gift wrapped in twisty goodness this year, post a photo to your site and link up in the comments below or post your picture on the Studio Mailbox facebook page and win a special edition ATC!
That's right folks...a puppy pretzel. Happy Holidays xxx tj
*Wow. If you're just tuning in, I'm on a short vacation. For your enjoyment, I've gone back and dug out partial work that I never bothered to publish for whatever reason. This one is just odd...scary!
Whenever I see a pretzel, life ceases to exist while I scramble for a camera and digitally capture the twisty love. The truth is, I am having a digital pretzel buildup. Are some pretzels lesser than others? Or is every pretzel the same and it's simply a matter of capturing it's true wonder?
My goal was to provide a minimum of one pretzel a week this year. That's 52 icons of the beloved baked good that's infused throughout every city of this country. My big secret is that I need to get my butt in my files and organize all the imagery I have.
The insanity is that some pretzels seem summery while others are really wintry. Some pretzels seem rather seasonal while others are a bit boring even to me. Although the bakery pretzels are clearly the easiest to target, the pretzels in non-bakery settings are the most interesting and surprising. I could actually sub-categorize pretzels if I really sat and thought about it.
*This must have been right about the time I talked about the pretzel pipeline. Although I did mention pretzel buildup when I confessed a backlog of data, I failed to mention my seasonal problem mentioned above. So glad I could bring it to you now, can't believe we missed it... egads.
There's been quite a pause in pretzel sightings here at Studio Mailbox, but that's because I was just waiting for this very special one to come along and share with you.
Now stay with me here because I know it's not normal to choose a charity based on it's logo, but this is a very special case.
I've always admired this bold modern form. When I would see it on posters I would think of a heart with legs or a heart on crutches. But it turns out that this logo is in-officially known as the "leprosy pretzel."
All these years I have enjoyed an annual festival not fully understanding what it supported until I discovered that the DAHW is actually the German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Association and that all proceeds of their events go to support their mission.
If you're reading this it means you have a computer and internet connection. I don't know many of us who wake up concerned about leprosy. But my hope is that in a global world, those of us with more will help to protect those with far less.
Don't panic that I'm going to ask for your money. I know that life is expensive, but donating money is not necessarily what I'm talking about here. I'd just like to ask you that if you have enjoyed the previous 43 pretzels, that you would possibly do something special for this one. Go and "LIKE" the DAHW Facebook page so that you stay up to date with their excellent events and fundraisers.
For instance the annual festival in Wuerzburg is set up with stations like arts and crafts, go-karts, climbing, and bouncy houses. Each station has a little can tied down with string and you are asked to give a donation to partake in the activity. Each time a .50 coin drops into the bottom of that can, a child somewhere in the world can be inoculated for Tuberculosis.
I loved this short You-Tube video of the recent event that was hosted in May. It's very beautiful and it made me so grateful to live in Germany. Studio Mailbox is proud to fly the leprosy pretzel and pronounce the DAHW it's official charity.
Like #42, here is another twisty from Aschaffenburg but this one is a bit harder to explain.
Is this where you go when you have pretzel depression? The regulars give you that knowing look and shyly ask if you have the pretzel blues?
Is this another example of social media's influence and the use of "Facebook blue?"
Maybe it's just a pretzel trying to stand out in a world where so much twisting is going on.
I like him. And I like how much work went into this sign. Look at the electricity, the lighting. A fine example of something that can't be formulated in words, merely a feast for the eyes...
This year's Christmas pretzel comes from our local Brandstetter Bakery, Wuerzburg.
Every year in December the cafe on the marketplace brings out a set of boards that cover their little storefront converting into it's very own gingerbread house!
It's seriously too cute to believe.
And look closely: strategically tucked in between the lebkuchen and cookies are none other than our number one twisted form.
If you're lucky enough to visit Wuerzburg, Brandstetter bakery should be a definite destination on your to-do list. Why you ask? Because they make something called "Mürbe Brezen" which are an amazing cross between a dense croissant and a pretzel. De-lish.
Germans love their 40th birthdays. I've been to parties bigger than weddings. And let me tell you, if you're connected not only can you have it catered, but you can serve your guests fresh pretzels from a giant pretzel baking oven. This is no joke people. It's like an easy-bake oven on steroids.
This is the whole other level from the former little home baking kit. You've come a long way twisty.
Here she is. The hottest and trendiest pretzel sighted in all of Germany. The grand-mama of all pretzels found on the face of planet earth. This pretzel is the very one you'd get that girl who's got absolutely everything.
"Aufgebrezelt" means to get spiffed up, dressed up or dolled up. Angie Miller (seriously beautiful cool website and catalog to browse) designed this wool coat with pink collar and tiny matching bows adorning the cuffs.
My rough translation from their website:
Angie Miller designs modern, articulate, casual, sporty, light, easy to combine and comfortable to wear clothing.
Their philosophy mentions the importance of wear-ability in every weather as well as resistance to dirt. To me this means practical and fashionable. What more could you possibly want in a pretzel?
The only prohibitive news is the price. This would be the very first thing I bought if I won the German lottery. Retail €479. But then again the question really is; light gray or dark gray? Light gray or dark gray...???
