No. three

I have a confession to make: I almost kept this little purse for myself :)

But, at the end, I decided to put it in my shop. So here she is, a small money purse in vibrant red, plum purple and turquoise striped canvas, lined with cheerful print and adorned with teal blue zipper & button.

New in my shop - small zippered money purse

As soon as we adjusted our clocks to summer time, my mind switched as well and now I have sea, sun and sand in my head all day long.

To let some of the summer spirit out I created these two zippered purses in fresh colour combination of navy blue, white, sand and red. The zippered money purse is a little smaller than my other zippered pouches, only 15 cm (6") wide on top, 11 cm (4.3") tall and measures 3 x 12 cm (1.2 x 4.7") on the bottom. It fits in the palm of your hand and can store anything from gadgets, cash & cards or makeup.

The first two purses will be availabe in my shop later tonight and there are more to come in the next few days!

Summer time

Tonight we move clocks one hour forward, which will take an hour away from my already short sleep (the children woke us up at six today, not caring at all that it was Saturday...).

image: PurdyPrints

It might take me a week to get used to the new daylight saving time and to stop being late for my appointments but I don't mind - to me, pushing the hour hand forward is a welcome sign of changing seasons, longer and warmer evenings and, oops, brighter mornings, when children wake up with the first rays of sun...

Oh, well, one can't have everything - I will just have to remember to close the window shutters every night!

Enjoy your Sunday!

New in the neighbourhood

It has been a while since I added new tiny houses to my shop but a few days ago two of the brooches got sold and I had to make some more - so here they are, four new homes in the neighbourhood.

Remember this Gaston's drawing?

And while I was sewing away, sprig arrived - days are suddenly getting sunny and much warmer and trees in the park are full of bird song. I couldn't find any flowers poking out of the ground on this high altitude to take nice pictures of so I made my houses even more cheerful instead...

:: :: ::

Happy spring!

Hearts for Japan

Were you wondering where all the decorative hearts from my shop have gone?

I have donated them to Europe for Charity, a special European Street Team Etsy shop in my humble effort to make a contribution to Japan relief.

You will find my remaining 4 hearts here, together with other amazing handmade items, donated by fellow Etsyians.

Thank you!

Free as a bird

Here she is, LEELOU, a new small cross body satchel from Loddelina.

This bag is a smaller version of my Luna messenger, with adjustable strap and a zippered pocket, hidden under the front flap that closes with a magnetic snap.

You might remember the colours and the bird embroidery from one of my previous designs, a Pupa shoulder bag, made from black denim, gold yellow jacquard and with a cherry red shoulder strap.

The bag is now available in my shop. Happy weekend!

What is taking so long ?!

If any of you were wondering where those promised new bags are, here's a more detailed description of my very slow bag making process...

I am working on a new design, a smaller version of Luna messenger bag and things just keep coming in the way. I will not bore you with details but rather list the work stages of my latest bag that stretch over the past 5 (!) days:

Stage 1

evening after the children have gone to bed

duration : 2h 30

Designing the new bag, matching the fabrics, buttons, trims, zippers (at the end I decided to partly revisit my previous design, Free as a bird Pupa shoulder bag). Drawing the pattern and making notes of all additional ideas.

Stage 2

two evenings later

duration: 1h

Cutting the main fabric, lining and interfacing. Fusing the interfacing (since my iron was still hot from having ironed the laundry).

Stage 3

short break while my little one naps

duration: 45 min

Sewing the golden mustard jacquard pieces onto black denim, freehand machine embroidery on the flap.

Stage 4

last night

duration: 1h

Finishing the flap, sewing the front zippered pocket, swivel hook band and interior pocket

Stage 5

today

Not much longer now... I have to put exterior and interior parts of the bag together, insert the flap and adjustable strap and the new satchel will be ready for photo shoot tomorrow...

Thing that is keeping me awake in the evening (when I wouldn't mind going to bed at nine) is the new coffee machine we bought last weekend to replace the broken one. It makes delicious expresso and I like to pour mine in a small bowl, adding lots of milk froth and a cube of cane sugar. Mmmmm...

PS:

Thank you all for participating in jaebumfangirl's giveaway to win my zippered pouch. Over 350 responses in two days, I am impressed!

There is still time to participate, giveaway ends 21st of March.

Yey, a giveaway!

I know I just posted My Monday this morning but there is some exciting news I needed to share with you toute de suite:

Alexa from Jaebumfangirl blog is hosting a Loddelina giveaway - a perfect opportunity to win my LOVEly zippered pouch All you need is love!

This small but roomy purse is fully lined, made from natural coloured linen and adorned with red and gold hearts jacquard and has a freehand machine embroidered message.

So hurry up over to Jaebumfangirl and good luck!

My day Monday

Here is a freshly picked bouquet of spring to brighten up your week:

clockwise from top left: littleBstudio, ScatteredStardust, Baymut, vadjutka

Unfortunatelly I had no time to sew last week because I was so occupied with getting our busy family life on track after the long winter break - hopefully I will be able to finish those bags I promised by the end of this week.

But the good news is spring is just around the corner (though you couldn't tell by still soundly asleep vegetation here on 900 m altitude). Days are getting longer and it is a real joy having our walk to school on a sunny morning, filled with bird song.

Have a creative week everyone!

I'm back

It was fun spending two weeks in Slovenia but I missed sewing a lot so I am looking forward to having some time to sort through all the new supplies I bought (plus I had a lovely package waiting for me with some amazing ribbons I had ordered just before I left).

I also brought with me boxes of yummy comfort food that I can't find here in France but reminds me of home. Like pumpkin seed oil, pickled cucumbres (I find french ones too sour), wind dried prosciutto or pršut as we call it on the Slovenian side of Karst and some special grains and other little things I use in my everyday cooking.

But first the house needs to be tidied, fridge restocked and children need to resume their daily routine (which gets challenged each time we are on vacation :).

I will have something new to show you by the end of this week - I was thinking of a smaller version of Luna messenger, everyday satchel for those who prefer a smaller cross body bag...

See you soon!

Winter impressions

The weather these days has been cold and windy, there is a promise of new snow in the air.

In spite of freezing temperatures, my parents' garden offers many interesting sights:

snowdrops waiting to open in the next sunny spell,

lifeless branches that will turn into a summer explosion of foliage,

frozen air bubbles in a water filled garden bucket

and my favourite, delicate lace on dried hortensia blossoms.