My workspace

To reassure my Etsy Holiday Camp buddy Elisa that I am still pursuing our goal to add 60 new items in our shops by December 1st - here is a photo of my current work space:

A bit messy, with empty chocolate wrappers quickly put in the bin and bits of thread swept away...

Yesterday I listed the other wooly wristlet, a pale winter version, inspired by the latest EST challenge theme - snowflakes (you may see other entries so far HERE).

This morning we went to farmers' market with the children. I love chrysanthemum - and apparently, so does Lily.

In the afternoon I worked on some more house brooches. I was "sew" close to finishing two of them but then nap time was over and since it was another beautiful sunny afternoon I just had to take the children out again. The best choice was nearby cycling park, a place with nicely kept grass (thanks to more conscious variety of French dog owners) and paved, meandering cycling path where older children can safely burn their calories while mothers chat and keep an eye on toddlers.

More sewing tomorrow, I promise, Elisa!

And now - to bed.

Good night!

A view from my window

Last week we saw season's first snowflakes, mixed with rain...

But my suncatcher charmed the clouds away and the new week started with crisp, hardly-above-freezing cold, yet sunny weather!

I finished another wristlet today, made from charcoal grey wool cloth - cold weather makes me want to work with wooly fabrics again, but the colours are a bit too sad so I try to cheer them up with some hand embroidery.

One more wristlet is waiting by the sewing machine - I hope I can list it tomorrow, so far it doesn't feel quite finished, I have to take another look at it tomorrow by daylight to make up my mind...

Homemade play dough

Today is the first day of autumn school holidays, a week and a haf of hopefully not too cold and rainy days spent with my children. Some children workshops have been planned for next week and visits to Grandma as well, but I started preparing some crafting ideas, in case we get stuck at home with freeizing cold weather outside.

My children love to draw, unfortunatelly my youngest prefers to express herself on all other surfaces except the paper so she can never be left alone with a box of crayons. Her older brother loves to cut out things with scissors but that again becomes a dangerous tool in the hands of his sister.

So the safest occupation for both seemed the play dough, better still, play dough that they can eat (if only by accident). I first thought of salt dough - cheap to make but unfortunatelly doesn't stay fresh very long, according to some only a couple of weeks in the fridge. But yesterday I came across this wonderful post from The Mama Dramalogues blog, a source of inspiration, laughter and support...

image: The Mama Dramalogues

... - the recipe for homemade play dough. It requires some cooking but once made it will last for years and you can add food colourants and even some vanilla or peppermint extract to make it smell nice (and even more attractive for the children to eat...).

I will try it out in the next couple of days - I wonder if food colourants can be washed out of carpets, curtains and clothes...

Created by Sonja

This gorgeous pendant necklace came in the mail yesterday - made by Sonja, a blogger friend and a truly creative fellow Slovenian.

I came across Sonja's blog a while ago and couldn't get enough of the magnificent jewellery she makes out of polymer clay, not to mention the paintings and sewn goodies - you can see her work if you click around the Link Within feature at the end of her blog posts.

Sonja recently opened her Etsy shop CreatedbySonja and I was lucky enough to snatch this pretty redhead pendant - it is a glazed print transfer on polymer clay, made after one of her own mixed media portraits. And so beautifully wrapped..., I almost didn't want to open it!

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I haven't been very busy sewing these days as I play the nurse to my sniffling and caughing children - winter is here and our car is locked in ice every morning...

So here are just two recent listings, another Goga wristlet, made from mocha brown chenille, and an embroidered Mia zippered purse in grey and burnt orange.

My Day Monday

On the wings of the dragonfly

Clockwise from top left: vadjutka, AliBaliJewellery, kirevi, BlueTerracotta.

My newest listing is another Goga wristlet/clutch, this time a little more luxurious edition, made from plum purple chenille and adorned with golden lace trim and a large antiques brass dragonfly charm. My entry for this week's EST challenge, hosted by lucietales, entitled "The roaring 20's"

And then there were thee more

I finished three more house brooches last night and after taking pictures in the afternoon I listed them in my shop this evening.

The first one came out slightly smaler than the others because I make these brooches from little leftover patches of fabric - so it turned out to look more like a tiny garden shed...

The pink house needed something to make these candy colours more interesting so I added a bit of orange trim with green dots. Come in, Hansel and Gretel!

And the last one turned out to be my favourite - I will definitely make me a brooch in this delicious burnt orange colour (if I find the time, that is...).

Enjoy your Weekend!

A house to wear

Yael, a blogger friend and the sweetest person, has recenlty purchased one of my little house keychains. She told me she will not use it for keys but attach it to her handbag as an ornament. Which made me think that perhaps somebody else would prefer to wear the charm rather than keep it inside the bag...

So I scaled down my little house into a tiny, miniature cottage and added a pin in the back, introducing first ever Loddelina brooch.

The brooch measures 3.8 x 6.4cm (1.5 x 2.5") and is filled with light plant fibre stuffing, which makes it around 1.5 cm (0.6") thick. I chose the classical safety pin to attach the brooch with - it is small and flat enugh to pin the house snuggly to your clothes.

My first three house brooches come in mustard yellow, rusty red and ivory colour, with matching appliqued and embroidered doors and windows.

The mustard one even has a small fence, made from golden lace trim.

I had so much fun making these miniatures that I will add more to my shop in the next weeks!

My day Monday

Colour purple

Clockwise from top left: Clariceonline, nezoshop, AMIdesigns, ayawedding.

I found this vibrant plum purple chenille in the upholstery fabrics shop the other day and just had to try it out. The best way to use this soft, yet sturdy fabric was to make a Pupa shoulder bag but I couldn't find another fabric to match it with to make the bottom of the bag so I just reversed this one and got a slightly darker and more flat version of same chenille.

To emphasize the contrast I added some freehand machine embroidery to the bottom part and lined the bag with dark olive green cotton linen canvas. Also green are ultra suede shoulder straps, adorned with purple satin ribbon.

Happy weekend!

The weather forecast for the next couple of days says sunny and warm, with golden leaves everywhere and clear blue sky above...

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Lates listing in my shop:

Enjoy your weekend, see you on Monday!

Hungry bird and berries pouch

Lightweight wool cloth in charcoal grey;

frontside, an embroidered aqua blue branch, full of juicy orange bead berries.

In the back, a small but very hungry bird, trying to find a way to the other side.

Lined with dark olive green canvas, closes with 20 cm dove grey zipper.

The hungry bird pouch is my entry for the new European Street Team challenge.

Theme: pumpkin and autumn fruits, hosted by DinaFragola.

picture: flickr

Autumn is here

... With warm, earthy tones of brown, mustard, rusty red and burnt orange.

I like to walk past flower shops and market place florists to see how their displays change with season. Even a small town flower shop can tempt me into buying a bouquet - I would love to have one of these miniature paprika plants in my kitchen but I'm affraid the children will want to eat them...

And I just added a new messenge bag to my shop - with adjustable strap, going from front to back of the bag. The messenger in made from warm gray upholstery fabric, has a decorative flap in striped canvas and closes with an interior magnetic snap.

(The pictures need retaking, yesterday was a very dark and cloudy day...)

The challenge - And the winner is...

I want to thank you all who entered their work in this week's EST challenge, following my theme Marie Antoinette.

I had to choose among these 10 beautiful entries:

:: Marie Antoinette's never experienced romantic voyage in Africa cuff by LaTouchables,

:: a more contemporary, Kirsten Dunst's version of Marie Antoinette in sneakers by Ginaregina,

:: stunning set of knotted frozen-like lace earrings and necklace by staroftheeast,

:: amazing back-in-time pearls and cameo choker by helmitarha,

:: very clever transformation of painted porcelain plate into a necklace by Anakit,

:: nostalgic deep blue swarovski crystal necklace by LeelaBijou,

:: breathtaking antique treasure lace made into a decadent collar by lucietales,

:: soft as a cloud silk-merino-cashmere cape for those chilly nights at Versailles by nauliknits,

:: sweet rococo flowers from Marie Antoinette's country gardens by DinaFragola and

:: lovely sparkling chandeliers of Versailles earrings by gr8jewellery.

Imposible to chose the winner but one has to be named in order to select the next week's challenge theme...

So... when I think of rococo, the first thing that comes to mind are pastel coloured bouquets of flowers everywhere, wide damask crinoline skirts with flower embroidery and silk flowers, birds and butterflies, embedded in perruques and hats of Versailles ladies...

Well, everybody knows I like flowers, right?

So I chose DinaFragola's tiny flower bed necklace - congratulations, Nathalie!

Newbies

New house keychain ornaments in my shop:

Mediterranean - ebony, red and blue

Charcoal grey and brown

Yellow, purple and torquise No. 2