Thursday 31 January 2013

Again on jewelry making

Although I'm not really interested in making and wearing jewelry (I usually wear only a pair of earrings and a ring S. gave me some birthdays ago), I recently enjoyed some super quick and easy craft-time around this theme.
 
I had a lot of fun with my first attempt (asimmetrical earrings) and the fun is much more now that I have with me crocheted supplies by AuntFran and corn starch dough pendants by mum (+me).
 
Two days ago I was a bit tired, but looking for some ways to express my creativity. I was needing something super quick and satisfying... and I found it! :)
I fixed two twin marbled pendants I made with mum in white+black+green (smaller than mum's pendants) to two earring hooks I've recently bought here and, five minutes later, I finished these:
 
 
I love them :)
I like they aren't identical, I like the colors and most of all I like that they are unique pieces: I'm the unique woman in the world who can wear this earrings.
Eh, eh... the magic of crafting!!! :)
 
Recently I've started to upload in my shop some handmade jewels I made with the things mum and AuntFran gave me. They are necklaces and earrings.
You can already find them in the shop, but I'm writing a post about them tomorrow (maybe!), because now I have to cook something for dinner!
Bye!

Sunday 27 January 2013

Spotted Photo Theme - Critters!

I'm working to a photographic project in these days, browsing through my folders and tidying them up.
Doing this, I noticed I have so many photos I haven't posted here (or on Flickr)! Most of them are from the past, from that period I haven't started to blog yet.
I was wondering about what to do with them here in my blog, when Hanna gave me the idea I was looking for!
So I joined her in her lovely "game" called "spotted photo theme"!
 
 
Hanna will choose a theme monthly and we will post photos we took in the past around that subject! Isn't a great idea?
 
Let's start today with the theme "Critters"!
Hanna posted amazing photos of Smilla the cat, one of the protagonists of her blog and life.
I haven't a pet here in my new sicilian home, but my life is full of lovely critters the same and they keep me company day after day.
Animals and little creatures are a big part of my life :)
 
 
Dad's tortoises - I took this photo 7 years ago. Now these two tiny creatures are bigger: they became voracious grass eaters!
I like the take photos when they finish hibernation and start to move around covered by mud. Dad owns 6 turtles and I love all of them, especially Felice!
 
 
Mila, AuntFran's dog - the queen of the home, a bit noisy and irritable, but funny!
 
 
Birds - S. and I are going on feeding the birds who live around our house and we enjoy the sight of a lot of robins (like last year), sparrows, blackcaps, stonechats and other beautiful birds!
 
 
Sheeps - They are everywhere here in Sicily! In this photo you can see part of my father-in-law's herd four years ago.
 
 
Insects - I have no problems with insects (with the exception of beetles and hornets... they are scary!!!). Some of them are so lovely!!!
I love what tiny insects can do in their little life.
In the photo you can see the nest made by a particular species of wasp: we call it "vespa vasaia" (= potter wasp), because she makes beautiful nests like this with mud. Amazing!
Photo taken 7 years ago in my parents' garden!
 
 
My handmade creatures - You probably know I really like to create little animals! In the photo you can see Oscar the dog, born last october. They live with me in my home: it is slowly becaming a sort of handmade zoo :))
If you're interested, here there are all the softies I made recently and here all is about animals in my blog!
 
It's enough for today!
I'm going to cook for a sunday lunch with the whole family today!
I really enjoyed this theme and can't wait to post photos about the second one! :)
Uh, if you have time... read here for two amazing photos taken by my dad this winter (a robin, a rabbit).
 
 
 
 
 
 

Friday 25 January 2013

Something about me - Sunshine award

I (this blog) received a "Sunshine award" by the lovely girl who writes "Un, due, tre... terra", an italian blog about living a greener life (thank you!!!)
 
To be in the game I have to answer to 10 questions, so I'm doing it.
In english and in italian, to give fun to all my readers in the world :)
(Last time I wrote a similar post, but totally in italian)
 
1) Colore preferito?
Verde, anche se amo molto anche il marrone e il viola
1) Favourite color:
Green, but I love brown and violet, too
 
 
2) Animale preferito?
Volpe, ovviamente. Non lo sapevate? :)
2) Favourite animal:
Foxes, of course!!!


3) Numero preferito?
I numeri pari in generale, ma anche i numeri primi, per essere così "fuori dal coro"
3) Favourite number:
even-numbers and prime numbers

4) Drink preferito non alcolico?
Succo d'arancia
4) Favourite non-alcoholic drink:
Orange juice

5) Preferisci fb o twitter?
Twitter! Ma non "uso" nessuno dei due
5) Facebook or Twitter?
Twitter is the best! But I'm not on it, and not even on facebook.

6) La tua passione?
Cucito! Ma davvero?
6) Your main passion:
Sewing! Surprised? :P
 

7) Preferisci ricevere o fare regali?
Entrambi, specialmente quando in qualche modo c'entrano dei regali fatti a mano
7) To give or to receive gifts?
Both, especially when they involve handmade in some ways

8) Modello preferito?
Ma chi se ne frega! C'ho il mio bellissimo omo!!!
8) Favourite model:
S. (my lovely man) :))
 

9) Giorno preferito della settimana?
Lunedì, quando un'altra bella settimana inizia!
9) Favourite day of the week:
Monday: another amazing week starts!!!
10) Fiore preferito?
Solo uno? Adesso che è gennaio dico il giacinto
10) Favourite flower:
Only one flower? uhm.. It's january and I say... hyacint!
 
 
 
The game says I have to give the prize to other 10 blogs I like. Uhm, ok, but I'm choosing only five blogs (hope it's not a problem). They are:
5) PetitFraise

Follow this link to read this game's rules!
 
 
 

 

Tuesday 22 January 2013

One year later... I finished my violet skirt!

Last January I saw a lovely wool fabric in my favourite sewing shop here and I started to sew a skirt for me.
In March I had to admit the failure: the skirt came out so full of problems that I couldn't wear it :(

 
I gave up: this project stayed abandoned in a closet till last week, when I finally found the courage (and the patience!) to give it a second chance.
And after some cut-here / sew-there / rip-these-seams etc... I finished it!!! :)
 
 
I'm so proud of myself and so happy to have a new skirt for winter in my wardrobe (the unique "skirt for winter" to be honest! I'm a bad girl, I know!).
 

I like the fabric!
It's a bit "furry" and imitates a knitted cloth, althought it isn't.
I love the violet+grey+white+black mix in it!
It's a strong and warm fabric with wool fibers, perfect for winter, but its thickness is what probably gave me all that problems last year: I think it isn't the ideal fabric for a beginner in clothes making (I suppose starting with a simple flat fabric is the best choice!).

This a more complex skirt than the one I made in summer ("poppy skirt").

Poppy skirt is made on a super simple design: it hasn't darts, zipper and lining, but only an elastic band on the waist.
My new violet skirt is different, it has darts, closes by a zipper, has a "belt" on the waist line closed with a button and lining (in lighter violet).
 
 
A basic skirt: an A-line model for everyday outfits.
 
Now I know I can make this kind of skirts for me.
I've just bought a velvety fabric in a lovely sky blue to make another one! Not sure if I'll start it this winter or next year (I'm a bit busy with no-sewing things at the moment).
Finishing this one is enough for me now. I made it, I won!!! Eh eh :)

Sunday 20 January 2013

Help for Sandra

Yesterday I read Sandra's story here.
She recently lost his husband to cancer and now she's in big financial troubles. Her life (and her 5 five years old son, too) depends totally on her Etsy shop, where she sells lovely and colorful pottery.
 
Some of her Etsy friends decided to help her in this sad moment and organized a raffle to collect some money. The raffle offers 50 prizes donated by other Etsy members.
This is what I like more about Etsy: reciprocity and mutual help!
 
The first ten prizes are ready for you in Raffle day 1 and Raffle day 2! Follow the links to sign up. It's funny and you're asked to offer only 5$!
 
Of course you can help Sandra also by purchasing an item from her shop.
I really like her rings, like this one in turquoise:
 
 
But also this unconventional soap dish is amazing:
 
These are only two exemples of what she makes. She is an artist! :)

Friday 18 January 2013

2012 in review: numbers!

After my return to home I finished to answer to Reverb 2012 prompts in my moleskine (started last december) and this really helped me to review my 2012.
But it's not enough for me, because, you probably know, I want to see numbers, especially when I'm thinking to what I made with my hands and what I've accomplished.
 
So I looked in my Flickr sets (a very helpful tool to take note of your achievements) and I noticed I had a very productive year, although I was thinking the contrary.
 
 
You can click the links before to go the my flickr folders: in almost all the photos' description I wrote the link to the related post in this blog, if you're interested in some projects.
 
For me and my friends I made...
- 5 t-shirts
- 2 refashioned t-shirts
- 1 skirt
- 2 neckwarmers
- 2 crocheted basket with recycled t-shirt yarn
- 1 crocheted bear (Mr. Buh)
- 1 fabric dog (Oscar)
- 11 snowflake ornaments
- 1 embroidered tablecloth for my kitchen
- 1 patchwork "thing" for my bathroom
- started to make jewelry
- a shirt for my niece (not documented)
- a bag for a woman I know
- a small pouch for mum (not documented)
- refashioned 3 skirts for my mother-in-law (not documented)
 For my shop I made...
- 14 bags (*___*)
- 5 brooches
- 5 fabric bracelets
- 3 moleskine covers
- 17 decorative stars
- 4 pairs of slippers
- 4 coin purses
 
And I also know that:
- I experimented with painting, drawing and collage
- I wrote 2 tutorials (fabric bows and fabric peonies)
- I sold 40 items
- I took and edited hundreds of photos, for me, my shop, my blog
- I wrote 140 posts for this blog (!!!) and 1 guest post for Pam
- I've been interviewed by Diane
 
I'm pleased, yes, I am :)

Friday 11 January 2013

Ups, I've forgotten the owl!!!

In the post about what I made with corn starch dough I shared photos about some (so tiny) creatures I gave birth to: 2 snails, a bird, a fish.
But I've forgotten the owl!!!


I hope it will forgive me, since I'm writing a blog post expressly for it! :)
 
Isn't it cute?
It's a guardian owl. It sits on a picture's frame in my home, near to our bedroom, and monitors what happens, expecially at night.
 
 
It looks like a serious one, but has a funny thing hidden in it: I left "my" initials on its "behind" :P
 
 
Ih, ih, ih! :)
Sometimes I feel like I'm a mad scientist/inventor, who gives birth to all the creatures he needs! :)

Wednesday 9 January 2013

A totally unexpected gift in the mail

When I came back home last saturday I found a super lovely gift in the mail box. I opened the envelope and inside there was a beautiful handmade card:
 
 
It has a "festive" decoration made with stamps.
Love love love that Dala horse!
I immediatly recognized in it the stamp Fanie handcarved during Dala horse craft-a-long (I had the same idea but with different results).
 
But this card is not from Fanie but from Pam!
Lovely woman :)
She made it to send me a beautiful gift, hidden inside the card:
 
 
It's a danish woven paper basket!!! For me!!!
And in a color I really like!!!
 
This gift warmed my heart up and brought some joy in a quite difficult day (you know... saying goodbye to  my family, my home, my belove Po valley, travelling almost all day...).
Thank you, Pam, my friend, for your sweet gift!
 
I received some gifts at Christmas. Some are bought in the shops, some handmade. And in my opinion nothing is precious as a handmade gift.
This little paper basket is now in the group of my favourite Xmas gifts this year, together with this photo book and this pendant!
 
If you want to make one for you or for a person you love, follow Pam's tutorial!
I'm going to try this week! I'm not used to work with paper, but experimenting new crafts is always a good thing!
 

Tuesday 8 January 2013

Corn starch dough tutorial

For those people who asked me more about corn starch dough (also known as "maize dough" or "pasta di mais" in italian) after reading my previous posts (1 and 2) about it...
 
... these are some things I made with mum during these holidays with this surprising dough:
 
 
They are pendants and small figurines of animals I like (and a tiny house and some beads). You can see them better in my Flickr album here.
 
Working with it is super funny and simple, a great idea to keep the children busy too! You can made almost anything with this dough: you can find a lot on the web, for example writing "pasta di mais" in google images.
 
I took some photos while mum was preparing the dough, so I can explain you a bit how to do if you want to make it for you (Pam, I know you want! :P).
A sort of tutorial, in my not-so-technical style (sorry!).
 
 
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup (we used a yogurt pot) of corn starch
- 1 cup of vinyl glue
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
- 1 tabelspoon of liquid vaseline (vaseline oil) 
 
PROCEDURE:
- mix glue+vaseline+lemon in an old pot/pan
- add corn starch and blend it very well to the liquids (no clots, please!)
- put the pot on your kitchen's burner (low fire) and go on blending till the dough will thicken and separate itself from the pot
- turn the fire off, remove the dough with your hands (some people suggest to massage your hands with some moisturizer before) and start knead till the dough will be cold.
- save the dough in plastic wrap (it lasts 3-4 weeks if well closed into the wrap)
 
With this method you will have white dough (mat or translucent, it depends of the quality of the glue you use).
But the funny thing is that you can colour it simply adding some drops of tempera paint (add it to the dough and knead it till the tempera is totally absorbed).
You can even mix two coloured dough to have the color you want (example: mix some yellow dough and some blue dough to have green).
 
DRYING OF YOUR MASTERPIECES
after shaping your corn starch dough into something (pendants, animal, little bowls...) you have to wait 1-2 days for the drying.
Simply place your masterpieces on a fabric cloth and... wait! :)
No oven or other cooking methods; and this is good!
After the drying the dough will be strong and smooth.
 
DECORATING and FINISHING
When the dough is dry you can decorate it with drawings and paint.
Mum made some beautiful pendants adding some flowers or lines+dots with tempera paint on the dry surface. I painted some snowflakes (I know, I'm obsessed!) and a mountain landscape.
And don't forget to embellish your masterpieces with some transparent varnish to protect them!
 
I hope this post is clear.
You can also look at this video to see all the passages (in italian, but intuitive for all, I think).
 
Please, let me know if you try!!! :)

Monday 7 January 2013

Silvia, the little artist

We're at home in Sicily again!!!
:)
We spent a lovely holiday in the north and now I'm ready for the new year!
 
I have a long list of posts to write (first of all a tutorial about corn starch dough and all the thing I made with it in mum's company during these days), tons of amazing photos to edit and order in my folders and on Flickr and some ideas to plan my 2013 (planning is one of my words for this year).
 
But today a quik post to show you something (oh, so sweet!) dad found when I was still at home:
 
 
A work of art I made when I was a child!
 
I can't remember the precise moment when I realized it, but I was probably 6 or 7 years old (I can say it looking at the signature I proudly left on the back).
In that period I used to recycle some wooden pieces my grandpa (a talented and self-taught artisan who liked to work on wood) decided to throw away.
Recycling was already in my nature, eh eh :) [*]
And also my love for drawing little scenes with birds, too! This little work of art is not so different from this one (astonishing!).
I love this kind of treasures and how deeply they say things about me!
 
[*] When I recycle my materials I always try to turn problems into opportunities and this is a habit I had also when I was a child: look how I used a hole to make an expressive eye in the smallest bird!
 

Tuesday 1 January 2013

A photo book ("my creative family" serie)

Happy new year!!! :)
I hope you have spent this magic night in good company.
I did!
My sweet friends were with me and S. :)
And we saw together amazing fireworks!

I'm opening the year of my blog with a post about "my creative family". I want to show you what my brother gave me as a Christmas gift: a handmade photographic book about handmade clothes into a handmade case :)
A 100% handmade gift, ah ah (and I love it!).


He realized it together with her girlfriend and some other creative friends: among them a girl who designs and sews the clothes worn in the photos (her name in the last photo - back cover of the book).

On the photo they wrote by hands funny things in english (so you can read it, you're lucky! :P). A lovely project!
Every kind of self-publishing really excites me!

This is my favourite page:


I really like the message in the back cover ("because a handmade thing is definitely handsome"):


Yes, It's true!

This little book (printed at home in ten copies) is saved into a fabric case closed by a zipper: Costanza made it and my sister-in-law decorated it with that heart with a cross.
This is probably one of the best gifts I received this year!
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