Leben&Art am Duvendahl opening 15.12.2012

Today was a great day for our friends Rosemarie & Markus and us and of course all of the other sellers of "Leben&Art am Duvendahl" in Stelle (near Hamburg), because it was the opening of the lovely community store.

Many people were coming to the opening on 15. December 2012 and were enjoying the program with percussion session, Santa Claus, live music and beverages.

The old "Shoes, Kids & Fashion" store in Harburger Str. 1, 21435 Stelle is history. 

Now Stelle has a new store for adults and kids with many handmade things on 195 m² of retail space. I only can say, "Shopping can be lovely".

You are invited to visit "Shoes, Kids & Fashion" were you also can find Marapulai shoes, shoes and clothing for children, women`s fashion and accesoires. 

And the other seller shop like Die Schatzinsel für Kinder, Jellikidz, Die Seifenkiste, Unikat-Manufaktur, Farbenfroh-und-co, Carlotta Queen und Michael Tschauder Fotografie.

We wish all of the sellers good luck and much success! 



"Leben&Art am Duvendahl"
Am Osterfeld 75,  21435 Stelle
Open: Mo. - Fr. 10 - 18 and Sa. 10 - 14

Tel: 04174 66 91 464
Cell phone: 0171 4932294



A few impressions of the opening.

Today Marapulai is @ Jimdo Advent Calendar

Hohoho!
For all who want to win a pair of handmade, stylish Marapulai shoes! 

Look what is in the Jimdo Advent calendar today!

CHRISTMAS SALE at Marapulai

Because today is such a great DATE 12.12.12 

we decided to give you the next 12 days 
till Christmas a SPECIAL OFFER.

If you WRITE in our GUESTBOOK on our website or LIKE our Facebook FANPAGE, 

 we will give you 15% DISCOUNT on all shoes on our Online Shop or our
Dawanda Shop !!

Only for our german online stores.
So go for it!  :-)

*******************

Da so ein tolles Datum ist, der 12.12.12, haben wir beschlossen, euch die nächsten 12 Tage bis Weihnachten ein besonderes Angebot zu machen.

Wenn ihr in unser Gästebuch auf unserer website ​​schreibt oder unsere Facebook FANPAGE liked, geben wir euch 15% Rabatt auf alle Schuhe in unserem Online Shop oder unseren Dawanda Shop!

Nur für deutsche Online-Shops.
Also nichts wie los! :-)

HoHoHo!! Marapulai at the Jimdo Advent calender

Der Dezember 2012 fängt morgen an und damit auch die kommende Weihnachtszeit! Um euch die Vorweihnachtszeit zu verschönern, guckt doch einmal beim Jimdo Adventskalender 2012 herein! Hinter einem der Türchen verbirgt sich auch was von Marapulai.

Freut euch schon drauf!! Hier gibt es den Kalender und weitere Infos.

***

The December 2012 starts tomorrow and with it the upcoming holiday season! To embellish you the festive season, just have a look at Jimdo´s Advent calendar 2012! Behind one of the doors also hides something from Marapulai.

Rejoice on it already! Here is the calendar and more information.

Jimdo Team:

"Wie in den letzten beiden Jahren möchten wir euch auch 2012 wieder die Vorweihnachtszeit mit einem schönen Adventskalender und tollen Überraschungen jeden Tag versüßen! Ihr dürft gespannt sein, was für kleine und größere Extras dieses Jahr hinter den Türchen auf euch warten. Einfach jeden Tag auf das Türchen des Tages klicken und zur Verlosung kommen! Wie genau es funktioniert und wie ihr mitmachen könnt, das lest ihr unterhalb der Türchen...Das Jimdo-Team drückt euch Teilnehmern die Daumen und wünscht eine schöne Adventszeit. Viel Spaß!"

***

Jimdo Team:

"Your friends at Jimdo will be giving away gifts every day until December 24th. The gifts for this year's giveaway have been provided by Jimdo shop owners from all around the world. We want to thank everyone who is participating for helping us spread warmth and joy during this special time of the year.

We're so proud to have the best community on the web, and we want to give something back to all of you! Thanks for using Jimdo."

New Marapulai Shoes Flyer

If you want to share our Flyer you are pleased to do that! :-)

Just have a look on our Dawanda online Shop!

IndonesiaKreatif interviewed Marapulai

 

We were interviewed by Indonesiankreatif about our idea and background story for the preparations of PPKI (Indonesia Creative Products Week) 2012 to be held on 21.-25. November 2012 in Epiwalk, Jakarta. 

 

The article about Marapulai you find in the segment "Creativepreneur", where are also more stories about successful, unique and innovative entrepreneurs from Indonesia.

 

You can read the complete article here.

 

If you want to, please leave a comment, what you are thinking about!

Monday Urban Moments - Art in Bali

After a week in Bali I have many impressions of the handkrafted things on that indonesian island. Which I want to share with you. When you drive throuh the countryside, everywhere you can see things we don´t have in germany. Whether at the beachside or on the hills in direction to Ubud, on every traffic circle is a high statue. 

Unbelievable what art can do to make a city look nicer. From history of Hindiusm saga, every statue stands for a story. And Bali makes a statement, that it is a hindu island. The monuments are about 12 meters high. Maybe we should take a few ideas from Bali to make our Countryside nicer. What do you think?

Monday Urban Moments - Meeting "Andra and the Backbone"

Today´s Monday Urban Moments is special, because Ilham has met the Indonesian rockband "Andra and the Backbone" in their recording studio in Gandaria, Jakarta and in the band-office in Pondok Indah, Jakarta.

They met for the preparations for the first Marapulai Clothing order of the rock band "Andra and the Backbone" for their Germany and Europe tour "Rock for good" next year in May and June 2013. We vest the band with Marapulai shoes. The concert organizer is the PPI Hamburg, an Indonesian student organization.

The members of the band "Andra and the Backbone" are: 

Guitarist: Andra Junaidi,  Guitarist: Stevie Morley,  Vocalist: Dedy Lisan

Photographer: Gun Nadi
Cameraman: M Dien Nur Nirwan

Band: YouTube Channel

Thanks for meeting you guys!

Marapulai was at Leben&Art exhibition

Last Sunday we were at the new exhibition Leben&Art at Burg Seevetal with our Marapulai shoes. There were about 35 sellers with kids shoes, leather accessories, small wool animals, sweet chocolate, paintings, photographer and much more. And although it was one of the late last hot summer days, visitors were coming to join us. We had a nice and entertaining day; meeting customers, other handicraft businesses and friends. 

Organizer Rosemarie Darboven said "Leben&Art is a common, new project on the southern outskirts of Hamburg, an exhibition by people for people. An event that is still growing and lives of our and your enthusiasm."

Monday Urban Moments - Marapulai @NGADUide12

Today we report of the NGADUide#12, which was held on 7th September 2012 in Bandung, Indonesia. The Topic "Opportunities and Culture in Europe" - Opportunities in the European market.

Because the Talkshow presents Muhammad Ilham Nirwan, Marapulai Clothing and Björn Waßmann, Global Management student and a friend of us.

Here a few snapshots of the event.

NGADUide - A place to chat about world business and to share experiences and inspiration. 

Monday Urban Moments - Ride a motorcycle in Jakarta

For a new Monday topic I choose motorcycling in Jakarta, because it was really an experience for me. I never ever drove on a motorcycle before, well let´s say I was afraid and always had the possibility to get a car in Germany. :-) But in Indonesia the problem is the traffic jam. If you drive with a car, you need so much longer for a route than with a motorcycle. And that´s why... Ilham requested that I just try it, to sit on the motorcycle with him.

There we go!

You see some impressions, how it is to be on the street with a bike. In Indonesia to wear a helmet is an obligation. Don´t wonder, I need a scarf on my nose and mouth, because there is so many waste gas. In the raining season you have also the problem of flooded roads and holes in the asphalt. But you cannot go fast anyway, like you see on the speedo it´s about 30 km/h. So, maybe take a break and have something to drink in front of this small colourful shop?!  

In the end... I survived a 4,5 hours (one way) trip!  And like to go again! ;-)

New shoe sizes for Marapulai

If you already looked into our Marapulai online shop and like to have a pair Marapulai shoes, but you missed the small shoe sizes like 37 or big sizes like 47... then we have news for you now!

Here you can see, that we are right now working on the shoe lasts for more shoe sizes. The shoe lasts are made of wood and plastic. Let´s see in the next weeks, which shoe prototypes we made with this shapes.

Monday Urban Moments - Indonesian Food

The Indonesian cuisine is one of the varied and best of the world. Here are a few pics of our meals, when we were in Indonesia.  The first menu is „Bakso“, a soup with meat or fish balls. As dessert Ilham eats "es campur" (Indonesian for "mixed ice"), which is the traditional ice and an alternative to modern ice cream. 

In the right picture you see a mixed menu with “ayam goreng” (fried chicken) with “tempeh” (a traditional fried soybean product), also „tahu“, a fried Tofu and „lontong“, rice steamed in banana leaves. Like you can see there are a spoon and a fork, that´s how an Indonesian meal commonly is eaten.

You are wondering, why there is something pink on the plate? Yes, it is pink “krupuk” a special kind of shrimp crackers. The egg is topped with „sambal“, a hot chili-based saucewith garlic and onions.  Last but not least there is „mie goreng“, Indonesian for fried noodles with „ayam goreng” (fried chicken) and as a drink a lemon ice tea.

And that´s how happy you can be to eat the real indonesian food after a long time in germany. :-) Ilham is eating "nasi timbel" served on bamboo leaves. I´m drinking a "jus jeruk", a fresh orange juice. Almost every day I tried an other fresh juice. Fruit juices are very popular, there are so many, like guava (jus jambu), mango (jus mangga), soursop (jus sirsak), pineapple (jus nanas) and so much more. 

It is so delicious! Try to cook it!

Bon appetite!

Selamat makan!

Monday Urban Moments - Transportation

When you are on the way through Jakarta, you see really weird and funny transportation variations. Here in Germany you think, you always need a car for transporting a washing machine?! No you don´t, but if you try this in Germany, I think you have to pay.

In Indonesia, no one says, it is impossible to carry anything on a motorcycle.

And for animals of course you need a bigger vehicle. A pick up car is enough, just like you can see here a cow and three buffaloes.  Just watch and enjoy!

More equipment for Marapulai manufactory

More equipment...  To emboss our brand logo into the leather, we have bought a second hand embossing machine for our manufactory. The embossing dies are made of brass, because it is very durable and the contours are very clean.

Marapulai embossing equipment. Photos by Marapulai

 

Here you can see some pictures of our embossing machine, the embossing dies and an embossing example on leather. Now we can start with the manufacture of new hand-made shoe prototypes and the matching Marapulai logo embossed in leather.

Monday Urban Moments - Highcycling

We want to show you more about the place, where Ilham comes from and where Marapulai´s second foothold is, so we now just start the series "Monday - Urban Moments". Ilham is currently there for three months and is giving us a few impressions of the streets of Indonesia.

A highcycler in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo by Marapulai.

It´s a high cycler in the middle of Jakarta. Unbelievable! 
Ilham was talking to him. The guy is an a high cycle club and 
they made the cycles by themselves.

Marapulai will be in Dawanda Lovebook Winter 12/13

There are good news to tell. In the last week we were asked to present our Marapulai shoes in the Dawanda Press book "Dawanda Lovebook Winter 12/13". And we are so happy to have the opportunity to be on board. More information will be given, when it´s finished.

Cover for Dawanda Lovebook Winter 12/13 by Hellicopter

Here is the future cover for Winter 12/13 made by Helke of Hellicopter. She won at the Dawanda lovebook cover competition. And we think it´s a great picture! We are so curious about the new one!

The last "Dawanda Lovebook Summer 2012" you can download on the Dawanda press portal. Just keep your eyes open for upcoming news.

Cover of Dawanda Lovebook Summer 2012

Building up an own homeindustrie

Today I will write about the last two to three weeks of Ilham´s adventure to build up an own homeindustrie in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

First of all we have to explain, that for designers it´s really needful to have an own home industry. Because it´s depending on the other homeindustrie and the shoemaker there, how long you it takes till your new prototypes are manufactured. And this can take long. You have to wait until they finished other orders and push yours between. Mostly priority is not the prototypes.

Also the distance between Ilham´s place and the other homeindustrie was very far. He has to stay there over night to discuss and show all the details personally, whats the designers imagination. Here Since a short distance makes the working easier. Especially in Jakarta, where you need maybe two hours for a drive, which you normally you can do in 20 minutes, if there is no "macet", means traffic jam.




The best what can happen was at this time was, that Ilham´s family has an empty "ruko", which is a working, retail and living space / house. And we can use it. It just has to be cleaned a bit and need some furnishing and equipment. Thank you mama & papa & family!

So and that´s where we started to think about... to begin!

Let´s go!

First thing is to find a shoemaker for making the pattern and sewing. So Ilham searches two employees and gladly found Odie and Diyan. They are now working in our working room, two men for making the shoe prototypes. Welcome guys!

Marapulai Clothing want to pay faire salary and want to have good working conditions. So we pay Odie for pattern sewing and Diyan as sewing assistent more than the standard of living. Their working day is 8 hours like normal. In addition, they can both stay for free in the empty house. There is a ground floor for working and a first floor for living. Good thing is they don´t have to pay rent and no long commute.

In general the minimum wage for employees in factories is around 1,3 million IDR (approx. 113 Euro). But for the life you need about 2 million IDR (approx. 175 Euro). Most of the factory workers live with their parents, because they cannot afford to pay rent. For this salary, the workers must often work very long, usually more than half a day. But we don´t want to be like this, we want to have good conditions in every part.

So the first day of working, it´s still a bit empty in the room, but next days more working furniture is coming. They are sewing on a "brother" deep sewing machine for sewing applications on leather.

Searching the second hand sewing machines for shoe leather was a challenge. Which is a good one, which is stable, durable and in good condition. So here are a view impressions, how it looks like, in the second hand shops.

After deciding between them, Ilham has to transport a sewing machine. But he was with his motorcycle, so it has to fit on it. In Indonesia it´s totally normal to drive like this. :-)

And more things of need Ilham bought, almost transportet the same way. Some the high sewing machine is coming today. We will see how it works and what we can tell you next week.

Make the world colorful with Washi Tape

To make the world colorful with Washi Tape we use it here for nice things to colour our life. So we use it for labeling our shoes in the show shelf.

Or we use Masking Tape also called Washi Tape to decorate our packages more nicer.
This tape is made of japanese rice paper, so easy to cut and tear, but it´s stable, too. Perfect!
 

It´s for creative people, who want to make an easy, fast and beautiful handcraftet coloured design. So let´s get it on: we colour our life and the life of your customers.

 You can get it for example at nauli online shop, where we get it.
 They have really nice colours. Have a look...

So we hope you will also colour your life and make someone a joy. 

Go fot it!

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First User Meeting at Jimdo Hamburg

On Tuesday evening, 06.12.2012, we had been with many others as Jimdo, our website and online store provider, invited into their office. It was really nice meeting with the team and with the other users.
 

It was super tasty finger food, freshly prepared and grilled by Sam (the own Jimdo cook). And the good Hamburg drinks Astra and Fritz-Kola should not be missed. ;-)

We took a lot of inspiration, motivation and feel-good feeling.

Thank you for that.

 

Modelling and rendering of a new design

Modelling and rendering of a new shoe design with forms of gypsum

If you are interested in, how Ilham is doing his shoe model, before the prototype is done. 

Here you can see it. A few pictures showing the process.

Ilham at work, smoothing the first crude form.

First crude form of gypsum.

Finished form of gypsum.

Taping the form for designing.

 

Taped form.

Design the form for a new shoe model.

 

  

Taking a picture of the gypsum form and then rendering by photoshop. These are example colours.