Day fifty five: Ms Poppy

 
The summer seems to be over, but I'm just not ready to let go. I had a tiny garden on my balcony this year featuring some pretty lush cornflowers, a few lanky poppies and a couple of 1-meter high immortelles (I had no idea they're called like this, but it certainly makes sense). The poppies didn't survive the heat well and were the first ones to wither, but just yesterday I noticed  10 tiny new sprouts in the pot ready to give it a second go. Good to know I'm not the only one who isn't prepared to give up on summer :) 
So the new addition to my linen & lace collection is dedicated to poppies - those vigorous and charming redheads brightening our days and ways throughout the summer.

Day fifty three: picking flowers

Meanwhile, I'm still developing the linen & lace collection I mentioned before. I keep adding new colour combinations. These two come straight from the fields: a sunflower and a cornflower, both sweet and simple, yet gracious and irresistible. (Poppy is next in line, I can't wait to make that one.) Alas due to my intensive language course the photos of my recent creations keep appearing here with quite a delay. For instance, the blue&white tablet case has already been sold :) and I have even sewn another one which looks very similar, just the zipper is on the long side of the bag and the lining is different. Well. One step at a time. July is on its way :)

Day fifty two: come in, come out of the rain

When I started this blog in September 2014, I never considered a target audience and didn't spend any time scheming on some crafty marketing strategy or anything close. But sometimes things evolve the way they do and we just happen to be a part of the process. It's been a while now and judging by the traffic counter (which is not very precise though...) there are quite a few of you visiting this page from all over the world. It is fantastic, I'm very glad :) And I am also a bit curious (or virwëtzeg in Luxembourgish) and I would like to get to know you. Who are you? Where do you come form? What brought you to this little corner of the worldwide web and did you find anything you like? Talk to me in the comments section below the post or drop me a line through the Contact form on the left side of this page. It would be great to hear from you :)

Day fifty: linen & lace

I've been toying with an idea of opening my own e-shop for some time now and I have finally decided to go for it. Yes! However, in order to open a shop one must have a stock, right? This seemed like a perfect occasion to start working on my own collection featuring linen and lace and inspired merely by nature around me. So here is a sneak preview: the very first set of zip pouches I created with this concept in mind.  
This is my walk in a forest: mosaics of million leaves, tender moss carpets, toughness of a tree bark and cheerful crackle of cones.

 The larger bag is originally designed as a tablet case, but there are plenty of applications for this format: for instance, why not keep all your tickets, maps and documents at one place while travelling? The smaller pouch is perfect for so many things: stationery, make-up, meds, money, candy... you name it.

Day fourty nine: a song for someone

Lately, I've been sewing things only for other people: either for sale and special orders or as gifts to friends and family. Don't get me wrong, I am sincerely happy to give these things away and nothing warms my heart more than seeing people using and enjoying my creations. However, at one point I realised that there is one person whom I have completely disregarded in this process even though I know that this person also could use something pretty this spring :) Right, the time has come to sew something nice for me (ME!) 

I had been meaning to make this linen tote for quite some time, the vision of green leaves were on my mind long before they appeared on the actual trees outside. So I sat down and made the tote, relishing every moment of giving a present to myself. Try this some time - it can be really rewarding.

I bring the spring tote to the language course every time: the size is perfect to hold all the books and materials. Happy :)

Day fourty four: sailing on inspirationships

I was reading a travel magazine on the plane. Can you believe someone has actually spent their time and energy to write an article on what sort of vacation photos should a person post on Facebook in order to make their friends envious? Wow. I might come off as old-fashioned, but last time I checked 'envy' was not among the words constituting my definition of friendship. Frankly, I find the concept of 'jealousy' dysfunctional and overrated in any relationship. Luckily, I've been blessed with friends who are on the same page with me. They are true and wise, strong and beautiful in so many ways. They inspire me with their hard work and fresh ideas, with their dreams and things they have created. To me friendship has never been about comparison or sense of superiority: it's all about learning, exploring, growing. It must be a two-way street. I believe that we meet our people at some point in our lives for a reason, and then all we have to decide is whether to stay in this particular point or move forward together. I've travelled miles by now, and I've never walked alone. Thank you. Paldies. Благодаря. Obrigada. Mulţumesc. Merci.

Day fourty one: tale of a basket

Once upon a time there was a laundry basket. It lived in a factory shop together with other baskets of various makes and sizes. Nobody could remember for sure how long it had been sitting there hoping to go to a home with actual laundry, until one day a man came into the shop together with his wife. They had arrived with a simple task in mind: to buy a laundry basket in a shop filled with baskets. However, the woman was experiencing a sudden surge of indecision and after a long while of staring and shuffling she still couldn't figure out which of the baskets she preferred. So the man took the matter in his hands and chose the one he found to be large enough and didn't mind too much. The basket was finally at home with actual laundry, but the wife kept gazing at it with great deal of suspicion. For about two years she kept wondering what it was that annoyed her so much about that poor laundry basket until one day it finally hit her: it was the awful white lining with the word "Laundry" on it. It was indeed poorly made and always slid into the basket when it was filling up. That had to go! So in no time the basket got a brand new lining made out of linen, finished with a bit of lace and comprising a string to prevent it from sliding all over the place. Once it was done, they all lived happily ever after.

Day fourty: hold the phone

I have a friend who calls me now and then from work just to say she passed my old office or heard my language somewhere and that she missed me. She keeps calling me up despite being well aware that talking on the phone gives me the creeps. And I  love her for that :) I realize that her schedule is so tight that it's either this or no communication for weeks. So I get a short 'thinking about you' call from a stuffed bus, I don't hear half of it and probably respond like an imbecile, but her trying to reach me warms my heart. We used to work together, in fact we even started on the same day and from that moment on we instinctively took care of each other the way we could and understood. When we meet, we talk for hours, and hours are never enough...

So she called again today and despite me being a total moron on the phone again we somehow managed to arrange a lunch for next week. Miss you to pieces, busy bee.

Day thirty eight: collect a whole set

Sometimes I wonder what it is about women and constant pursuit of 'matching things'. I'm not very good at this myself, mainly because I find the whole concept a bit troublesome. This might not sound very ladylike, but there are just too many fantastic things and colours in this world for me to stay consistent :) In nine times out of ten I would choose three different things over three matching ones. Or if I really like a piece of clothing (which doesn't happen too often) I'll just buy it without making a fuss over the contents of my wardrobe and chances of finding anything there that might actually go with the thing I'm about to acquire. As said before: not ladylike at all... However, when it comes to sewing there's no fuss at all. If the fabric has inspired me I'd easily make a set of matching things in a heartbeat. Maybe this is the first step towards appreciating match-making after all?

Day thirty seven: underneath the Christmas tree

Here we are. Welcome to 2015 - a year of blue goats, changing winds, and huge potential. I've been away for a while travelling and celebrating, and visiting people and places I missed to pieces. Now I'm back all refreshed and inspired and my creative spirit is getting restless after spending three weeks in glorious standby mode.
 However, before jumping into the unknown I still have a couple of projects left undocumented from last year. For instance, these simple and handy linen totes I gave as gifts to my friends and relatives. By now all the bags have reached their new owners and I hope they will find them useful. The only one left is the dwarf bag which I ended up using myself throughout Christmas and liked very much. There is something about these totes that makes them immensely comforting and reassuring: I guess it's the size and simplicity. I'll certainly make more for summer season :) We'll get there sooner or later.

Day thirty five: here to stay

When I was 5 or 6, I wanted to become a painter. Teaching seemed like fun, too, but drawing was the one and only path I was willing to pursue (right until my first drawing class at school when I was suddenly told what I was supposed to depict in my artwork. Gosh! A tree bark? Seriously?) Anyway, while I was still into art, I once drew a greeting card featuring a rather decent hill, some jumping/flying animals, gigantic flowers and a sun with a huge smile on its face (I can’t believe I still remember this). I was supposed to bring the card with me to a friend’s birthday party, but I was so overwhelmed by the success of my creation I just couldn't part with it. I might have even cried a little over it, when my mum finally suggested that I could draw another picture for my friend and keep the first one if it's so precious to me (mums rock!) 

Yet 25 years later it happened again. I made this green linen zip-pouch for the Christmas market and fell hopelessly in love with it the very instant it was finished. Somehow I managed to convince myself I'm not a child anymore (oh yeah?) and placed the pouch in a box with other things for sale thinking to myself that it would be a bit sad to let it go, so I should hope I will like the person who gets it. Imagine my surprise when people were browsing through the basket of purses, some buying a thing or two, but nobody - not a single person - even touched the green linen pouch. So this is how mental earmarking works! Finally, I gave in to my inner child: YES, I love the things I make, so why not celebrate it? The green pouch stays with me : ) 

Day thirty four: heart of Scandinavia

I'm in love! With linen :) What a remarkable material it is: so classy and sturdy, decent and predictable, just like a perfect gentleman :) I ordered 1.4x2.2 m of Avignon Linen in October and it's all gone. Working with this material is a pure pleasure since it's very neat, easy to cut and irons really well. Sounds like a dream, right? To make things even better, the same kind of fabric comes in different colourful prints. For example, the one with heart pattern I used for this project is among my favourites: it is called 'Scandic Love' and looks really lovely. This particular name is another reason why I chose this fabric for a present to a very dear and special friend of mine who is now residing in Scandinavia (Moi, moi, Anda!) She is a fantastic lady, such a brave and generous soul with terrific sense of humour and a real knack for crafting: she's making amazing things using just a crochet hook, a thread and handful of teeny-tiny pearls. I hope my parcel reaches Anda soon and I can finally tell her about this blog without risking to spoil the surprise :) 

Day thirty three: steady heartbeat

I know. Judging from the frequency of my posts it may seem that I have given up on the whole sewing idea when in fact it's the exact opposite. I've been sewing like a maniac for the past few weeks :) My creative frenzy has resulted in many nice things and it will probably take me two days to take photos of each and every item I've finished so far. The reason for this bustle is the upcoming Christmas market, which will be my first attempt to sell my creations. That means running a stand for the whole weekend with a very vague idea on how it might go, but it's certainly keeping my hands busy and mind bursting with new projects, and I must say I'm enjoying this process immensely. My living room looks like Santa's workshop with fabrics, bells and ribbons all over the place and happy me in the middle :)

Day eleven: a horse with no tail

This is a story about amazing women and somewhat unconventional animals.

Soon after becoming a proud owner of a sewing machine I came across this website: it was the first page I bookmarked in my "Sewing" folder and I keep revisiting it. The amazing lady behind this site is Dana from Austin, Texas and I truly admire her energy and way of doing things with such ease and creativity. Her tutorials are splendid as well, so I decided to make this reversible tote. It sure needs more fabric than a cosmetics bag, so I looked critically at my thinning stash of sewing materials and chose two animal-patterned pieces of fabric. This is where I must mention another wonderful woman: my friend Irina who has been an amazing help and inspiration to me since the very day I decided to buy the sewing machine. She is Mrs Crafting in our circle of friends, so she gave me a very good advice about the machine itself and provided a pile of fabrics from her collection for me to start with. Thanks a million, dear!

I specifically remembered having a piece of linen with horses which would be just perfect for my fist tote. And it was only after I had already cut it when I suddenly realized: wait a minute, those are no horses... where are the tails!? And then I leered at the other part of the bag featuring blue and orange deers and decided to go for the psychedelic zoo theme :) The result is goooood and reversible.