October

I love autumn, so much inspiration in leaves turning gold, chestnuts on the ground, red berries on bare branches... I've recently added a few new coin purses to the shop and I want to make more autumn inspired items before Christmas takes over. Happy Autumn!

Živela jesen!

Autumn inspirations

  Japanese anemone - I love their delicate stems and simple blossoms

 Shiny, gorgeous wild chestnuts - I used to dye my hair that colour back in highschool :)

The prettiest side of rain

Autumn is here

Time to switch to warmer, more muted shades and wooly, cozy materials.

Some fabrics I have worked with before and am coming back to, like this dark grey wool cloth, meant for mens' wear and perfect for decorating with freehand embroidery and lace. Little money purse is also adorned with some embroidered ric rac trim and a wooden button.

Others I am testing out, like this upholstery canvas I purchased recently and is actually black floral jacquard on brown chenille base - I used its reverse side for more elegant look of this medium hipster bag and am quite pleased with the result.

Both items are now available in my shop.

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!

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...)

Heart in the gutter?

Beauty can be found in most unexpected of places.

I discovered this heart shaped, mason-like symbol on one of the gutter grids near our house while playing outside with my children. What could be more fun than throwing pebbles through the grid and waiting to hear the sound they make?

Happy autumn!

Autumn leaves

My oak trees are turning gold...

New Mia zipper pouch with freehand embroidered leaves in warm autumn colours on chocolate brown wool. The purse is interfaced and lined with dark khaki canvas and closes with an orange zipper.

Harvest inspiration

Two more Mia pouches are in Loddelina shop!

I love the new design, it is small enough to make in one day - my working hours are scattered between housework and two children - and I get to express myself differently with each purse.

The first one is made of cream white upholstery fabric with a patch of Ikea printed canvas that inspired me to add some embroidery & beads in the back in matching orange and aqua.

The second one was inspired by the tag "harvest" that Etsy admin sugested for the coming season - I used warm grey fabric with burnt orange silk and some cream lace. To add a seasonal touch I embroidered two trees in the front and added some olive green trim in the back.

To show that the harvest tag is really hot at the moment, Sherri from SherriConley (check out her shop for some amazing photography!), featured the orange pouch in her Harves Time treasury just minutes after Mia was listed.

Thank you, Sherri!

Treasuries by CardsAndCraft

It is always such a pleasure to have your items featured in a Treasury list and to see how they look displayed alongside with all the amazing Etsy creations. This month has been very special because lovely Claire from CardsAndCraft, London, has included Loddelina in not only one but in three of her Treasury lists!

Here are her golden, olive and orange autumn inspirations - and be sure to check out her Etsy shop, full of delicious craft supplies, all kinds of charms, beads, appliques and ribbons.

Thank you, Claire!

October gold

I love October, when it gets all sunny and warm again after the first serious rain and cold of late September.

Now, close to Halloween, the gold comes pouring down from the trees and the bright yellow and red leaves fall against the damp black asphalt. Anywhere I turn there is a picture perfect scene, the Nature posing for the last time before it puts on it's winter makeup.

Winter wonderland

Last Thursday, exactly a week ago, the weather in Bavaria suddenly turned extremely warm for this time of year. During the day the sun became almost unbearable, my children and I waited until late afternoon to go play in the sandbox and even then we were all in our sandals or barefoot.

Well, it has cooled down a bit since then...

I'm off to look for my hat and gloves!

Augsburg, this evenig

Chestnuts

I love September, even it's rainy days, because they never last long and leave the air smelling of wet leaves. The trees still haven't turned gold and red yet but here on the edge of town pavements are full of beautiful horse chestnuts that fall down in their spikey light green cradles.

I've always admired these shiny gems in beautiful shades of mahogany that feel so perfectly round and smooth in your hand - you just have to pick up a few and put them in your pocket. Unfortunately their beauty fades quickly and soon they get dry, schrivelled and dull...

The European horse chestnuts (Aesculus hippocastanum) are not edible like their forest cousins, European sweet chestnuts (Castanea sativa). The nuts of these trees, also called Spanish chestnutst, are smaller and look like squirrel's ears with little hairs on top. In Europe, autumn is the time for selling roasted chestnuts in the streets, and towns (like my hometown Ljubljana) are full of little wooden huts, where vendors keep themselves warm by poking the coals in their tin ovens and spend their days folding paper cups and making horizontal cuts in nuts, so the shell opens wide once they are done. I used to love picking chestnuts in the woods and eating them roasted or cooked, allthough the most delicious, and the largest chestnuts that are also sold in the streets of Europe, are called maroni and come from Italy. They even have their own Facebook page, if you can believe that!