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!

Summer holidays are for:

:: daydreaming in the grass (no four leaf shamrocks found, better luck next time)

:: trying on a new look (these are the glasses frames I chose in the end)

:: having coffee at the streetside cafe (while your children attend a pavement workshop)

:: enjoying all the different colours of Ljubljana (even if the weather is way too chilly for this time of year)

:: buying some pretty jewellery (I fell in love with this gorgeous labradorite stone set in silver)

:: and adding a shiny kitchen appliance to my mental wish list (I had no idea KitchenAid mixer come in all the colours of the rainbow!)...

:: :: ::   Have a nice weekend!   :: :: :: 

The last two

First I want to thank Elisa from peskycatdesigns for being my Holiday Boot Camp buddy and congratulate her for completing the goal we set out to achieve together at the end of September - by today, December 1st, she added 60 new items in her shop, so almost one a day - excellent job!

I tried to follow her tempo for a while but lost speed after my 30th item or so. I spent all my free time sewing, even through naps instead of catching up on my sleep just at the time when caughing and sniffling childen started waking me up a few times a night.

I had to reset my mind, tidy up my work space and iron a mountain of laundry - and today I finished the last two zippered pouches, making my finishing line total of 34 items.

So here they are, the two new Mia purses, made from deep chocolate brown upholstery canvas and decorated with raw slik patches and freehand machine embroidered branches.

I hope they still catch some preholiday views and hearts; I set a deadline in my shop for international orders that need to be delivered on time for Christmas - the deadline is December 5th. So far I have had good experience with La Poste regarding shipping times to US, Canada or Australia and New Zealand, but one never knows.

So hurry up! :)

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...

Flashback Friday

My summer vacation is over and I am looking forward to getting back to my sewing machine and hopefully finishing some new handbags for the coming autumn season - as soon as I get around to cleaning my work space and sorting out all the supplies that I bought recently (some pictures soon, I promise!).

But when I'm back home, I always like to remember the most fun holidays or the loveliest places I have been to. These pictures were taken in Strasbourg the first time I visited it, which was soon after meeting my husband . We later moved to Germany and Strasbourg, together with even more charming nearby town of Colmar, became a very welcome stop on the way to our French side of the family.

Just thinking about those cobbled streets and black and white timber-framed buildings, surrounded by summer flowers, makes me smile...

Link your flashback to Christopher & Tia's blog!

A giveaway reminder

"Bee happy" decorative heart by Loddelina

Don't forget, this Thursday, January 6th is the last day to enter Dionne's holiday giveaway at City Of Dionne's blog!

And you do not want to miss it, there are tons of handmade goodies, spilling over the edges of your monitor, waiting for three lucky winners. No fancy rules, all you have to do is write what handmade presents you gave your loved ones this Christmas.

The Holiday Gift Giveaway at City of Dionne

"Bee happy" decorative heart by Loddelina

Hello from Slovenia,

We arrived late last night and I just found a few moments to escape to the computer (I love visiting my hometown but always have such a busy schedule with all the errands and visits...)

If you are interested in some free handmade goodies (who isn't?), here is a link to the wonderful City of Dionne, that is hosting a big Holiday Gift Giveaway full of beautiful Etsy treasures (I am participating with a decorative heart Bee happy).

Dionne will chose three lucky winners from all the entries and send them three yummy packages full of little presents at the end of the giveaway early next year.

What a way to start a New Year!

Free shipping for Loddelina woolies!

After redoing the pictures of my Sakado backpack purse (the old ones were too dark and with too much distracting background) I've decided to offer free shipping for all Loddelina wooly handbags. I've followed Etsy's instructions and added EtsyFreeShipping tag on those items, I hope they get some exposure that way.

So if you make your holiday purchase until December 11th, these four fuzzy beauties will be sent to you without shipping costs and I will gift wrap them at no extra charge if you so desire.

Chewing gum disposal - there's nothing sticky about that!

I'm enjoying a relaxing week in France visiting my husband's family (at this point in life not having to shop for food and cook for a whole week counts as five star holiday).

Walking along the warm summer streets of Besançon with mon chéri last night I noticed the city's new dustbins and the inventive way they decided to fight chewing gum poluted pavements. They have placed these colourful "targets", printed on heavy paper, where passers-by can dispose of their chewing gums rather than throwing them on the floor or sticking them just anywhere. When one paper target is full, they simply tear it off and throw it in the bin.

What a great idea, I do hope it sticks!