Oxford

Today I spent much of the day walking around Oxford taking pictures with the new camera. It has been chilly, but not bitterly cold as they are predicting for tonight. Brrrrrr, not again!!

The punts (and not pants, like I used to spell it!) look quite bored and sad. They have definitely seen better days!

The sales are still going on, but the idea of going into a clothes shop on a Saturday gives me shivers! I do like the lively colours they have used to paint the front of these buildings. 

And then, of course, we cannot forget the gargoyles!

Fashion design

I really like these two books that I took out from the library. They are so inspiring! They are so full of encouragment, crativity, ideas and innovation that I get all excited and wished I could go to college again to learn about design in general, but maybe specifically about fashion design. I have only started appreciating (and understanding) fashion design in the last few months, and I am quite happy that I have discovered it. 

Why have they drawn such horrid faces for the models though? Honestly! 

Here are a couple of pages from one of the books.  

Mmmmm, sketchbooks and drawings....

Lunch bag

You might remember that a few months back I made a lunch bag that turned out to be too small. Well, I have made another one that has turned out bigger than what I intended. What is my problem??? (rhetorical question...!). It is lovely and I will use it. I can never have enough bags!

Lovely magazines

These magazines give me so many ideas that I don't know what to do with them! These are some of the ones that I have bought recently. 

Have a laugh!

Love this ad!

Write a letter

 We all know the advantages of using the computer for communication, but we have all seemed to forget the charm of writing letters, and even more, of receiving post through the door from a loved one. How nice it is to find the instantly recognisable writing of your dear friend or family member? There is such a wonderful feeling when sitting quietly reading the handwritten lines from that special someone, there is such a connection...  

There is another side to writing letters that is important. There are lots of jobs that rely on this old means of communication. What about the stamp designers, the industry behind those that make the glue for the stamps and envelopes, the post office employees, the stationery shops, the ink makers from the ink that then is used to stamp the date and place where it was sent from, etc? I could write a PhD on the subject, but I will let you pond about it and I hope you get a postcard or a nice writing set and get yourself to writing a few words to someone you care about. Imagine the nice surprise you will give them. I guarantee you will put a smile on their face, and that is always a good thing especially if it is to someone you care about. 

Jewelry bag

I asked my mother to make me something for Christmas, rather than buying me a present. This jewelry bag for traveling is absolutely perfect for me! I love the colours, and it is so beautifully made.

She makes things very carefully...very neat and perfect.

Maybe this is the time to update my jewelry!

French acquisitions

I love my sewing box.

R. got it for me this summer in France, when I was only starting to sew and I did not even have a sewing machine. He could tell I was getting into this crafty world quite seriously and made me this lovely present. 

The material and trims I got in another French town. The shop belonged to two young women that seemed to be very good friends. They were really nice to me and you could just tell there was a really good vibe in that place. I spent a lot of time looking, overwhelmed by the colourful threads, buttons, ribbons, patterns, zippers, fabrics for cross stitching, etc. I found it really hard to make up my mind, and spent a little bit more money than what I should have, but hey!  I love looking at these things and being transported to a French summer holiday again. 

It makes me happy. 

Through the post

I always get excited when I get something I have been waiting for through the post. This parcel came on Friday, and I new I would find an assortment of fabrics inside that I had ordered through Etsy from this lovely shop.

I wanted to stretch the feeling of excitement, so I didn't open the parcel straight away. I took my boots off and put my sleepers on. I made a cup of tea, gave myself a few minutes to unwind from work, and then I was ready to open the parcel! Oh! What a happy moment! All these little bits of fabric, so many colours, so many patterns, so much variety, so many possibilities ahead, so much pleasure for my eyes and my imagination!

Next thing I did was to iron them while watching Project Catwalk. I am so into it that I am going to attempt to make a skirt sometime in the future, when I get a chance to get some fabric.

Oh! Such a wonderful feeling to have lots of inspiring projects in mind!

What I have been up to this week

So here is my latest creation. I am a little bit short on fabrics and I was totally uninspired for a little while. Then, I started embroidering this girl. She seemed lonely, so I framed her on the top with the green bias and at the bottom with the ric-rac. It then made sense to make a cushion out of this and the rest of the decoration came easily. 

It is nice an fresh, with nice colours and a happy feel. Just like spring, which is round the corner....(I like to think!)

January's drawing

This is the first drawing I make in aaaages. I might get round to making another one soon, but at least the target of making one drawing a month has been reached.

This is one of my favourite spots in the house. This is where all my books on sewing, knitting, design and drawing are. I also keep the lino, ink, watercolours, felt pens, and threads here. It is just behind the table where all my makings happen, so it is really handy. The folding table on the right is a recent addition to our furniture (it was my Nana's) and on top of it is a new colour printer.

Handkerchief

Happy Weekend to everybody!

This is a handkerchief I made a few weeks back. I love drawing little characters and then embroidering them. I also enjoy the happy bright colours.

Are you crafting this weekend? Cooking, sewing, drawing, taking photos? Go on! I bet there is something creative you could do! It hasn't got to be complicated or take too long, but spending a little time letting yourself go into a creative adventure makes wonders to the spirit. Have fun and let me know how it goes!

Her name is Pearl

Yay! The owl turns out to be a "she", and her name is Pearl. Isn't that sweet?

Thank you RxQueenAsh for your great suggestion. I was really thrilled to get your comment. Why don't you check out her blog here?

To record ideas, drawings, thoughts....

I love notebooks and sketchbooks. 

I have dozens and dozens at home, and no matter how many I have I always find new ones that can be just perfect for "that" specific project. I have started and abandoned many. It always starts with a very intense feeling of carrying out resolutions: start a visual journal, make a drawing a day, for watercolours, as scrapbook, all you can think off! And I start them, but then I lose focus because I get distracted with other projects, or I get a bit tired of it, or can't really see that it works for me. I like the idea, but it all falls through in the process.

I do however have a few notebooks that are currently "active".

The biggest of them I bought in the Tate Modern's shop a couple of years ago. Isn't the cover really nice? I will be using this one for drawing since I will be taking part on the challenge of drawing a minimum of one thing a month. This was proposed by Carina and I think it is a brilliant idea.  Can't wait to get started!

The grey and black one is one I got in Muji, one of my favourite shops. I use it to make lists of things I want to do at home, when I go to the library, to learn about the computer, etc. Otherwise I forget!

The leather one with a mustard colour cover is for quotes and inspirational ideas that I come across in books, magazines or internet. I like to read them when I feel I need to put my mind into some relaxing thinking mode.

The black one is for drawings of things I want to embroider, designs of sewing projects and to try out my handmade stamps.

The last one, which is the very, very colourful one is my latest acquisition, from Paperchase. I use this one as my journal. 

And of course, there are more notebooks kicking around the house for other purposes, but I think this is enough for this post. Congratulations if you have made it up to the last word!

Thanks for reading!

There is a blog  (Vlijtig)  I discovered fairly recently where I found a tutorial to make these cute baskets.

The creative lady that manages this blog also makes lovely stamps and other crafty staff that is certainly worthwhile checking out. I hope it inspires you as much as it has inspired me and that you get in the mood of trying this out. It is fun and easy!

The feel of the basket can be quite different depending on the fabric that you choose.

I think that this basket in my case would be more useful if it was a bit taller. Variations can always be made, but it is great to have a pattern as a starting point!

How about if you give it a try? 

Banana bread

Made Banana bread the other day for the first time to use up some bananas that were starting to look as if they needed eating soon.

The photo shows a nice looking cake, but it turned out quite awful! The inside was not fully cooked even though I followed the oven time recommended. I have to say that banana is good as a fruit, but I am now totally convinced that I do not like it in any other form.

I think I would like to try Ginger bread next.