One click at the time

Yesterday I had my Sewing Sunday, a day all to myself to make new bags for my shop (and to completely ignore all the domestic chores). Day was a big success, I finished one hipster bag and two small zippered pouches which will be listed shortly.

I am very happy with my work but not so much about the stories I flipped throught as I read the latest issue of Time magazine during my lunch break. The story that particularly struck me was the one about famine in Somalia and images of starving children and heartbroken mothers who manage to bring their children to refugee camps only in time to watch them die. A few more flips through the pages of the same magazine and I could read the story of launching of a new McLaren road sports car for middle aged men, all 1000 of the firts series already sold for $229,000 each...

image: TIME Magazine

Back to famine. I read a while ago that Europeans throw away one third of the food we buy. We either forget about it and it goes off in the fridge or we simply buy more than we can eat. I used to be a very picky child when I was little, one who hardly ate anything. With each meal I left unfinished, some (well meaning, I am sure) adult or other would say "How dare you, when at the same time so many children in Africa are starving!" As a child I couldn't do much about it, least of all pack my unfinished meal and send it to some refugee camp in Ethiopia, then the most endangered African country.

But guess what, now I can. Not in the real sense, of course, but by clicking this button, I can help providing a cup of food for Somalia famine victims. Don't ask me how it works, but apparently it does, so I urge you to post a link to your own website, facebook profile or twitter and remember to click on it daily. One click at the time,  while you are browsing the internet on your coffee break, for example. Or while you are not finishing your sandwich.

New in my shop

I am so happy to be back at my sewing station that I already listed three new items in my shop since we came back from vacation last weekend!
Three items might not seem much but to me it is quite an achievement, considering all the unpacking, tidying the flat and a huge pile of laundry we had to take care of first (and I mean "we", thanks, honey, for helping :)

So here they are, a new Maia zippered purse (with a slightly revisited design from last autumn, there will be more to come) and two tiny house brooches. It was a lot of fun making these, especially the one with fairy lights; do you think I should make more for the coming Christmas season?

 Grey and burnt orange with creamy white lace and embroidery

There's a party next door!

Closing of the little house once I have stuffed it with soft and light plant fibre filling...

Enjoy the rest of your week, more Etsy news coming soon!

Venezia

We are back from our short visit to Venice and it is already time to pack for going back to France. 

Here are a few impressions of Venice in mid August heat - this time we decided to get a room in a small hotel and spend the night (booking the room online well in advance makes prices quite affordable). That way we could enjoy this overcrowded city in the beautiful light of late afternoon and the quiet of early morning (we were up at 6 to catch the cool morning light and still deserted streets before returning to our hotel for breakfast).

Definitely worth doing again next year...

The lazy days of summer

... are almost over for me. There is another long weekend ahead, with a short visit to nearby Venice, Italy, and then we slowly head back home to France.

My intentions to sew a bit while I am in Slovenia melted away with every sunny day spent playing with my children, walking my parents' dog (that is him in the picture, happily napping in the afternoon) and enjoying the peace and quiet of their garden. But I managed to purchase some new supplies, gather some fresh ideas and will be back behind my sewing machine soon to start working on new autumn designs.

Enjoy your weekend,
see you soon!

Slippers for Lily

My little girl turned 3 yesterday - where did that time go?!

Lily starts preschool in September and she will need slippers to wear indoors so I found these simple and comfortable leather ballet slippers with rubber soles. They are sold in many colours but her size was available only in rather pale vanilla yellow so I decided to add some colour...

I like to buy Christmas and Easter decorations after the season is over, when they are on sale for very little money, usually in large department stores that want to get rid of their outdated stock fast. One can find many interesting pieces, beads, ribbons and other adornments that can be used for many creative projects all year round.

Two flowers, cut out of thick yellow felt (once a part of Easter garland), were perfect for my makeover. I had no problem sewing them on soft leather, using a large needle and some aqua blue embroidery thread, which I simply tied in a knot on the inside of the slippers.

Et voilà!