Being Creative Gallery - Garden

Ta-Dah moment today! This is what I've decided to make for my Garden project. I embellished my black pashmina with some crochet Japanese flowers - I really do like it now!

The idea has not 'grown in my garden' as we'd say in Slovenian but I'm ever so sorry - I can't quite remember where I've got the inspiration! If anyone recognizes the design please let me know. I think it was one of those crafty German magazines but I'm not sure which one.

It was my Mum who told me about this lovely scarf she'd seen when browsing through magazines at the local library. I went there to check it myself and absolutely loved the idea. Coincidentally, it was the time when I'd just learnt how to make these lovely flowers (thank you so much, Lucy!) so I had to put them to use somehow!

I'm not very much into black but this pashmina has now become part of my 'favourite range'!

Check the work of some more 'Being Creative' participants over at Julia's!

Dear Emma

New favourites! Can you tell why? Aren't these utterly gorgeous? I think they are, anyway!

I've already told you about my latest passion - houses! And once I start I can't seem to be able to stop... Soooo, this pretty little purse came in the post a couple of weeks ago, accompanied by...

... this very pretty key ring! As a surprise gift! Aren't I one lucky girl :)

After that I was hooked. I just had to have a commision piece made: this breathtaking What-Not Bag! It's a very useful little thing, I keep my crochet in it and the bag is well-admired by all. This last picture has been taken from the Etsy webpage, I thought it looked much better than my feeble attempts of trying to present it at its best...

Do visit this pretty little shop on Etsy, it's a feast for the eyes!

P.S.: You can check the website as well, enjoy!

Weekly Gratitude

Hey, friends, on this rainy Monday afternoon I'm grateful for:

- the lovely presents I got for my nameday (last Friday, the Feast of Annunciation)
- the vibrant green colour of our future bedroom walls
- the 'Sleeping Beauty' on our sofa - my daughter has just fallen asleep as she's a bit tired due to the time switch (Summer Time as of this past weekend!)
- my boy having excelled at his English dictation...
- the fact that the weather forecast for the past weekend was all wrong - we were to get some snow, which, luckily, we didn't!

So, once again,

HELLO, SPRING!

Essential Oxygen

After having purchased my very first pair of Oxygen shoes I think I'm in love. They're very comfortable and the colours are absolutely stunning! I totally adore my apple green Mary-Janes and don't really have any intentions of spending any more money any time soon (even though they're very sensibly priced) but there are some lovely examples in their shop which I wouldn't mind seeing in my wardrobe...

- lilac Colognes

- purple Lisbons

- red Dresdens

. . .
. . .
. . .

P.S.: And speaking of wishlists, isn't this an absolutely and utterly and totally adorable must-have (in Rose)?

Another Outfit

I seem to be very fond of 'Outfit Variations' recently... What can I say, there are several favourite items in my wardrobe and they come to the surface rather often : ) ... Or, as it is sometimes the case (like, almost always), the said favourite things just lie around in my bedroom and they're the first thing I put my fingers on in the morning...

Anyway, I'm wearing:

- boots - Humanic (I do love these boots but I hope nevertheless that 'boots-appropriate weather' is slowly ending!)
- tights - no idea
- skirt - Mango, hand-me-down from ex-colleague
- cardi - H&M
- shirt - Playlife
- hankie - Cath Kidston 'Britannia'
- skinny leather belt - H&M
- corsages - jysk

We've had a full day of sunshine today!

Bracelets

Right, time for another crafting post. I made these bracelets a while ago but I've been so busy crocheting these days that I've just managed to get round and take some pictures! Not of my crochet goodness yet, no, only the bracelets... So here they are:

(1) The Button Bracelet

I got the inspiration for this pretty little piece in blogland somewhere when I was Googling Julie Arkell. I'm terribly sorry but I've been unable to find that exact link - it was Ms Arkell running a workshop somewhere and her wrist was adorned with a cute little bracelet made of buttons. I went through my button box and was really disappointed at first (I thought my buttons were sooo boring!) but after playing with sizes and colours and threads I totally love the result now!

(2) Felt Handsewn Bracelet

This one was hugely inspired by The Most Gorgeous Bracelet Ever Seen - I should use the word copied, actually, not inspired, as I did my best to make an almost replica of the thing. The artist behind it, Lynsey Walters, must be one of the most talented and artistic people in the world!

(3) The Bunting Bracelet

Well, this was just a really sad attempt at a bunting bracelet - I'd been playing with the idea to make one but when I did it just wasn't quite what I'd expected - so I used it for what it was - bunting!

Which one would you pick as your favourite?

Weekly Gratitude

This week I'm grateful for:

- the arrival of spring - at long last!
- the difficult times I'm going through right now because I have faith that things will get better eventually
- my crocheted scarves - I'm working on No. 4 at the moment! (will show you soon...)
- my new colourful spring socks
- my children's artistic talent

Praying For Japan

Floral Inspiration

What an absolutely gorgeous outfit, don't you think? I came across this image in the Marie Claire magazine (Jan/Feb 2011) and I was totally smitten - the pattern! the colours! the styling! Oh my!!!

This is where I got the idea for Day Five of my Capsule Wardrobe Challenge - the possibilities are endless!

Eccentric Is Good Part II.

Another take on this outfit.

I'm wearing:

- wellies & welliesocks - Hunter
- tights - Polzela (local brand)
- petticoat - local shop (cheap dress turned into skirt)
- tunic - local boutique
- belt - TopShop
- scarf - local boutique
- beret - Seeberger
- corsage - jysk
- coat - local boutique
- pompom scarf - Tait&Style
- all sorts of handmade bracelets & brooches

Until tomorrow, then!

Three Things

I haven't done this post in a while. Three pretty things that have made my heart & soul enormously happy in the last days.

- a bouquet of white tulips, smelling of spring!

- an absolutely stunningly breathtakingly adorable kitchen towel from Pip Studio, my Mum bought it for me :)

- more houses! - a vintage pencil case my Mum crocheted for me when I was eight years old! I've only recently re-discovered it in my living room drawer but I remember it so well! I used it in my second year of primary school and loved it to bits. Isn't it amazing?

What makes you happy these days?

Eccentric Is Good

An old outfit picture I've come across in my photo folder (well, from about a fortnight ago). This is what I wear outdoors these days - my tweedie coat with lots of colourful brooches, my Scottish pom-pom scarf, the pink beret, bright red wellies (when it's raining, and it's been raining all day today) and the CK book bag - to match the wellies, of course. I feel like an eccentric English folk artist...

The above picture was taken on a sunny winter day on (almost) top of the Castle Hill in our capital.

Weekly Gratitude

This week I'm grateful for:

- the fact that the area where we live is not so very much prone to natural disasters even though we never know what's in store for us (and my heart goes out to the Japanese people who continue to stand strong)
- the health and happiness of my family
- the breezy spring on our doorstep
- fewer layers of outer wear
- my new friend M.!

A Break From Crafting

I don't usually post over the weekend but after all these crafting posts I thought I might take a break and post an outfit again.

Another very casual one, but I really, really like it.

I'm wearing:

- boots - local shoe store, no longer existing
- jeans - Levi's 501
- shirt - Playlife
- cardi - Zara
- skinny leather belt - H&M
- corsages - jysk
- hankie - Cath Kidston 'Britannia'

Spring is on its way!

Brooches

And continuing my crafting posts... it's time for brooches! I've made several in the last weeks, as you can see, and the inspiration came from all over the place. Here they are:

- these pretty crochet flowers were inspired by - of course - Lucy from Attic24. This is what she made some time ago - gorgeous!

- Liberty Tana Lawn flowers, hand-sewn by me; inspired by a lovely brooch seen on a friend...

- the above design is most probably known to English craft lovers. Inspired by a fabulous lady called Julie Arkell! As seen here.

I just looove these colours!!!

- the above image comes from the Marie Claire Idees magazine (Jan/Feb 2011); after I'd seen it I immediately came up with my own idea for a similar design:

You can take a look inside!

My two little treasures!

- last but not least: my cherished Pride & Prejudice pin and gorgeous Scottish landscape pendant-turned-into-brooch from another very talented lady, Aileen!

My tweedie coat lapel is getting quite heavy at this point...

Being Creative

How exciting!

Julia, a very talented artist, has created an online monthly project to inspire creativity in both herself and others. Doesn't this sound fun? I'm in, of course!

The basics of the project are as follows:

Each month she will post up a theme and the participants will have the whole month to create work in any medium we wish. We will then have the opportunity to share our work with the rest of the group via a monthly Gallery that Julia will post at the end of each month on her blog and a Flickr Group.

If you wish to take part do visit Julia's blog or click on the tab on the right to find out in more detail how this project works, to see the list of Julia's monthly themes for this year and sign up as a participant.

I've already done all of this.
What are you waiting for?

The theme for March is Garden.

Go on, be creative!

Owls

Houses, owls... whatever comes in handy... :). I made this door hanger the other day after being inspired by a similar one from Rice (no longer available, I'm afraid, I can only link you to their page in general), owned by my dear SIL - she got it as a present some time ago. I'd always admired it and then it dawned on me I could make one myself! Sooo, another ta-dah!

I found an old wooden hoop in my Christmas ornaments box, wrapped some Liberty Tana Lawn around it, made a pretty little felt owl (I checked Etsy for some general owl inspiration, but no particular seller), added some felt flowers and satin ribbons and buttons and wooden beads, and out came one sweet owl door hanger!

My boy was rather impressed with the little blue owl and politely asked if I could make one for him as well, pretty please thank you very much Mummy dearest. Why, of course I could. In the end he decided for a white one, as he's a big Harry Potter fan and we came to the conclusion (after a very serious mother and son talk) that I could make him his very own Hedwig. I'm afraid the breed is not quite correct but my Harry is happy and if he's happy I'm happy!

Hedwig's background is another one of my 'masterpieces'. Later!

Houses Part Two (And Three. And Four...)

OK, on with my crafting posts! The image below caught my eye when I was browsing through Marie Claire Ideas magazine (French edition, Jan/Feb 2011). I fell in love with the pretty house purse on the left. I couldn't quite work out its size but then I figured out I was limited by the size of my cream thick felt patch anyway so I made a lovely little coin/card purse to use when I go out for a cup of coffee with my friends.

... Mine turned out like this: ta-dah!

I used felt for the house, the roof and the door, I hand-embroidered some pretty flowers, sewed on a large wooden button, and found some scraps of Liberty Tana Lawn and some old lace for the windows. The green check ribbon is (almost vintage) Laura Ashley. I love my little house purse, if you don't mind my saying so! A very chic thing to pull out of your handbag...

But, this was not enough, of course. After googling around on the internet I spotted this sweet little needle case at Cath Kidston. I could have ordered it, of course, but why spend money and wait endless days for the postman to arrive when one can be creative? I made a tiny little version I keep in my crochet purse in case I should need a needle (doesn't this sound just splendid?) whilst crocheting (and finishing a project) out of home.

Next stop for my inspiration was Lucy's blog. To be quite honest with you, she's my continuous source of inspiration anyway. On a daily basis, would you believe it (more of that to come in the following days). I just can't help myself, I absolutely adore her colourful crafty blog!

Some time ago Lucy made a house keyring which (of course) I fell madly in love with. Had to make one for myself, simply had to.

Another ta-dah...

Isn't it pretty? And to make matters more interesting, I adorned the back side as well - there's a sweet little apple tree growing in the back garden!

I love my house keyring so much that I really wanted to make another little house in the same manner. I found this old notebook lying around and embellished it with my pretty house. Needless to say, it has now turned into my favourite notebook ever. Ever!

Alright then, let this be enough houses for today. Can you see this slowly developing into my obsession? Hopefully not. There will be other projects on display, promise. Soon. Very soon.

Stay tuned...

Mother & Daughter Art

Well, here it is. The very first in a long up-coming series of crafting posts!

The other day I decided to make a collage. As with most of my crafting, I'd been hugely inspired by images I came across on Etsy. You see, at this point in my life I am rather partial to anything featuring a house. One day I'll explain why but I'll let it rest for now. I typed 'houses' into the Etsy Search and got some lovely images that were absolutely delightful to look at. One in particular caught my eye and I decided to give it a go. Let me stress at this point that none of my crafting is meant to copy other people's ideas in any inappropriate way (I'm not mass-producing and selling anything, I make one example of the thing for my own pleasure, and I'll always add a link to where I've got the idea).

So, when I saw this pretty image I got the urge to play with paper. I sat down in front of my computer and cut and glued and drew...

My little girl, in the meantime, was sitting at our dining table doing (almost) the same thing. Only that she didn't have a computer screen in front of her. She relied solely on her imagination. And talent, might I add... This is what she made:

What can I say? Except that I'm one proud mama...

Weekly Gratitude

This week I'm grateful for:

- the lovely and warm sunshine coming through my window (even though the outside temperature is still very very low)
- the absolutely gorgeous purse that came in the post this morning - remember the wishlist?
- the fact that we live in peace, with so much fighting in the world going on
- the 'crochet circle' my friend and I have started on Sundays when we meet for a drink after church (we've been getting together for years, but the two of us have only just discovered our love of crochet and the fact that we can help each other with some useful advice!)
- the beginning of lent, starting on Wednesday - time of reflection and self-restriction, very useful from time to time!