Being Creative Gallery - Autumn

OK, I realise this is getting slightly out of control. Last month I posted one of my old projects. This month, I'm not even posting my own project! But, with both children starting school again, which also includes their afternoon activities, and with my husband still being partly disabled (left wrist still in plaster cast, hopefully only three days to go!), I simply cannot find any time for crafting. I hope things will get better next month :)

However, autumn is my favourite season and I really didn't want to miss this month's project. And, since creativity runs in the family, I paid a visit to my Mum's house. Ta-dah! I'm presenting one of her latest projects, her 'dry leaves & flowers' wall - isn't it gorgeous?

She had been collecting the material for quite some time, and managed to finish the display a while ago. She's very happy with the result, and so am I! I think it's absolutely and utterly gorgeous!

Sooo, please excuse me for not really being creative this month, I promise to make something for the October gallery!

Being Creative Gallery - Travel

I'm cheating a little bit again. This project hasn't been created this month. When I saw this month's theme, however, I immediately thought of it and was absoutely determined that I wanted to post about it. It seemed so appropriate!

Our family spent four lovely days in Vienna three years ago. It was August, so at least one thing co-ordinates with the project. We brought home all sorts of souvenirs, mainly in the form of tickets and postcards. As these things often get lost I decided to put them all in one place, i.e. a huge poster, and put the whole thing on display.

Both children were delighted to help. It took us quite a while to actually start working on our little holiday project, I remember it was a gloomy late autumn day, but we sat on the floor in the middle of our living room and in our minds, we were once again taken to the lovely streets of the Austrian capital.

My boy was seven at the time, my little girl four, and they did their best to capture their memories of the unforgettable adventure.

I can't remember exactly where I'd got the idea for the poster, but I do remember being absolutely delighted at the sight of it. And so were my little ones.

We love our Vienna poster so much that it is still on display in our hallway. As we are moving house in the near future, the poster will have to move as well - it may find its new home stuck in a box with other 'artistic creations', but nevertheless it has provided us with many beautiful memories of our family trip.

Our next family destination - London, perhaps?

Stay tuned.

Being Creative Gallery - Summer

I really like this month's Being Creative theme, it provides so many different options to make something pretty! I thought for a long time about what I should make and in the end it took one extremely enjoyable bike ride with my husband for me to make my mind up.

I have been admiring blooming summer meadows for weeks now. I simply adore the colours they offer, from neutral whites and creams to vibrant pinks and violets, and the smell of fresh flowers blooming in the field cannot be compared to anything - yarrow, meadow clary, buttercups, shasta daisies, bluebells, goldenrods... oh my!

The area where I live provides us with abundance of quiet country lanes for cycling. The other day my husband and I embarked on an evening ride towards a secluded village not far away from our town. We followed the road along the edge of the forest and throughout our journey we were blessed with the sights and smells of the most gorgeous summer meadows. I inhaled every bit of the fresh air I could get and the entire time there was one thing in my mind - how could I capture this moment and make it eternal?

After we'd come home I started stitching. The image must have grown in my mind during the bike ride and this is what came out. A pretty little embroidery of a summer meadow! I wasn't entirely sure what to do with it at first but then it crossed my mind that I could not only capture the sight but also the smell so I made a little bag and filled it with lavender.

I love the smell of lavender - even though it doesn't entirely match the smell of a summer meadow it does remind me of summer and this little bag is now a faithful companion on my summer outings.

Being Creative Gallery - Ocean

Right, this is my 'Ocean'. I imagined a little red sailboat with white sails, perhaps a seagull in the distance (so far away you can't actually see one...), the sun shining (symbolised by the bright yellow frame)... pure bliss. I'd keep my sailboat close to the shore, though, I wouldn't want to be swept away by the wind to the open sea in a little nutshell like that!

I hope you'll enjoy my little collage. I really enjoyed making it!

Being Creative Gallery - Home

I have to admit, I'm cheating a little bit. These houses were not 'built' in the merry month of Maying. In fact, they were made in March, and already blogged about (shame on me!). You can read all about them here.

However, the opportunity was just too tempting as this month's theme of the Being Creative challenge was 'Home'. I thought these two houses were on the spot, as we're actually moving into a house in a few weeks' time!

Being Creative Gallery - Dessert

For this month's theme, dessert, I decided to make the actual thing, with Easter holiday conveniently asking for some baked goodies to be put on the table!

I made my absolutely favourite Easter treat, traditionally British (has to be, I've expressed my sincere love and affection for the Island often enough...) - Simnel Cake. I love the rich taste of dried fruit and marzipan, and I was brave enough to make my own marzipan this year! The absolutely wonderful recipe from an old issue of the Country Living magazine proved to be extremely helpful, of course.

This time I made twelve marzipan balls, for the twelve apostles (I followed the recipe...) instead of eleven - some recipes suggest one should leave out Judas, but, since 'he' gets eaten anyway, why bother... :)

My little girl helped with the choice of ribbons, I thought they were splendid!

And, needless to say, the cake was absolutely and utterly delicious. What you see on the pics... ancient history!

P.S.: I did manage to slightly burn the top layer, sorry about that, but luckily my little accident did not affect the taste of my masterpiece!

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!

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!