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 four: searching for a spark

One of those mornings when I woke up with Bruce Springsteen in my head singing "I ain't noting but tired... man, I'm just tired and bored with myself", I realised I can't go on like this. I MUST sew something or I will snap. I had just scheduled lunch with my friend Olga who had her birthday a month ago, so I couldn't resist making a little gift for her. Olga is an amazing lady blessed with lovely smile, sharp mind and courageous heart. She also was the one who introduced me to Dobet Gnahoré - a singer from Côte d'Ivoire. Olga knew her from the time she spent in Zambia and suggested I should go to her concert in Luxembourg in 2012. I did and I am still so happy and thankful for it. I remember myself crying like a baby in this concert. Dobet's music is so powerful, gentle and tough at the same time, I had this feeling of a dam being broken inside my heart and all the trapped streams were suddenly free to run wherever they pleased. She saved me from burn-out and exhaustion then. So I listened to her CD* again that very morning which started with me being "tired and bored with myself" and felt the life flowing back into my veins. Thank you :)

*One of my favourite songs from the album "Djekpa La You".

Day fifty one: threads and puzzles

Oh, I love doing jigsaw puzzles. For me there is no activity as calming and meditative as this, and some say it's also beneficial for one's memory and coordination. Recently, I discovered these magnificent puzzles inspired by the paintings of a Korean artist Sung Sam Park - there is a whole series of them, all depicting beautiful sceneries. I have already done a flower market in Paris and a channel view of Venice, and I hope to get my hands on the next one soon. 

The only problem is I cannot stop until I'm done. It takes a great deal of self-control to stretch one puzzle throughout a week :) And once a puzzle is finished I usually leave it on a table for a couple of days before putting it back in the box. So... since my living room table is still covered in Venice, I really had no choice but to include it in my latest make-up bag photo shoot.

Day thirty two: 96th birthday

Today is the National Day of the Republic of Latvia: the 96th birthday of my country. Lately, I think quite a lot about my home country, the place I come from and places I might be going to, the importance of culture I understand and feel part of and general sense of belonging on top of it all. I feel how these topics become more essential with every year I spend abroad and I might be coming closer to the point where I figure it all out. Or not :) 
While waiting for this moral epiphany to occur, I'm taking part in the birthday celebrations from a distance by sending my love and sewing this lovely make-up bag in the colours of Latvian flag. Cheers!
Daudz baltu dieniņu, Laimiņa, dodi...

Day thirty: red cheeks and air balloons

I made this zip-pouch a while ago, only didn't have a chance to post any photos. In fact, this was the very first scrap bag I made: the apple fabric is just too lively and juicy to let any bit go unnoticed. Since we were blessed with yet another sunny afternoon, I immediately took the bag out on the balcony to make a couple of photos. After spending a quarter of an hour stretching, turning, bending, and kneeling I suddenly heard a strange puffing noise. Instinctively I glanced up and there it was: a hot air balloon just above my head! What a beautiful world... full of wonders, apples and balloons :)

Day twenty eight: come play with me

So this is where I used the last scrap of the fabric with a giraffe pattern. I'm getting very fond of these striped cosmetics bags: they don't require a lot of fabric, so I can easily use up all the leftovers from other projects, plus they are quite easy to make, still the result looks both, pretty and smart. The basis is the same wonderful easy cosmetics bag pattern I've been using all this time, it just takes a bit more time and hustle to cut the main fabric pieces into strips and to stitch them back together. Nevertheless, I like this technique a lot and there are more scrap bags on the way.

Day twenty five: an apple a day

Yes, I'm back to sewing Deby's makeup bags since I really like making those and I also got incredibly inspired by the bunch of colourful zippers I received as a gift from my mother-in-law. Apparently, she found them on sale in a small shop in Latvia for EUR 0.14 a piece which is simply a dream come true for me who otherwise would have to buy them for 2 euros or more.

In other news: autumn is here and so are the local apples and pears - juicy, healthy and lovely. One of the [extremely few] reasons to wait for autumn every year. Fruit and colours... how lucky we are, the autumn package includes these two items :)

Day twenty four: two cups of tea

I always start my day with a cup of tea and I like to end it with one as well. Sometimes it's just fascinating to look back on the day and realise how many different and amazing things have happened in between the two cups. Holding the warm mug just filled with sweet-scented infusion brings me joy and promise of a new morning and helps to regain the peace of mind at the end of a long day. I need this more in the dark months of the year - that's time when the tea shelf in our kitchen cupboard suddenly gets really packed  :) 
However, if you are not much of a teaholic yourself, but still would like to keep a small tea collection just in case one of your teaholic friends comes over, I guess you could easily store it (the tea collection, not your friend!) in a sweet bag like this one. 

Day twenty three: owls and foxes

How about two birthdays every year? Yes, please :) Since we do celebrate our name days, I feel like having a 1.5 birthdays every year, but I still wouldn't mind having one more day to embrace all the love and joy in the world (oh yeah, I'm a birthday spirit, a huge fan of flowers, gifts and surprises, both give and take). But these things happen! For instance, one of my friends is officially entitled to celebrate her birthday two days in a row since she was born on one day, but her birth certificate states it was the next one - as unbelievable as it may seem, a  bureaucratic mix-up can eventually lead to something good. This friend of mine has a soft spot for owls and foxes. Since the 'double birthday' is coming up, I went into the fabric shop hoping to find something foxy or owly there and imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this adorable fabric featuring both animals and an occasional hedgehog :) Splendid! And after sewing a cosmetics bag I still have enough fabric left over to make a smaller bag or a pencil case for the birthday girl's daughter.

Day seventeen: who's gonna drive you home tonight?

I got my driver's licence when I was 26 and I really considered it a big achievement, since my first attempt in the age of 18 was a complete disaster. Basically, it took me 8 years to get over it, but I did thanks to my amazing driving instructor Vladimir who really deserves a monument somewhere because he managed to pull me out of the 'ditch' my first instructor had left me in and it turned out I am capable of driving after all :) 
Now I'm a proud owner of a 10 years old Citroen and I'm totally cool with that, but I won't deny that fast cars excite me a well (from afar of course). I'm a huge fan of Formula 1. Just this weekend all the petrol-heads will be turning towards Singapore and I will be keeping fingers crossed for my team.

Day fifteen: serious business

A while ago, I promised to make a toiletries bag for my husband and today just seemed like a perfect day to keep the promise.
OK, no time for flowers and bunnies - let's get down to serious business. I decided to use a piece of leatherette for this project, hoping the end-result will be masculine enough. The material is very stubborn, but thankfully I am too :) It took me quite a while, but I made it work. Here we go.

Day six: send me a postcard

A postcard - what a marvellous invention and what a thrill it is to find one in my letterbox! My friends travel a great deal and spoil me with lovely cards from all over the world. I have tried to figure out the magic of postcards and I soon realised that since I'm not dealing well with the concept of globalization and digitalization, something as simple as a photograph with a personal handwritten message makes me believe there is still hope :) It means so much that a person has thought about me for a little while in between their adventures and is willing to share their happy moments with me. And I most gladly do the same (after spending half an hour at the postcard stand and buying far too many cards, but it's just so hard to chose!) I display the most recent cards on the cork board in my kitchen and later on they all go in a shoebox - not too glamorous, I know, but I'm determined to come up with some sort of crafty postcard storage solution in near future.

Day five: taste of blueberries

Have you ever wondered if it is possible to organize your stationary that is otherwise scattered all over the place and be able to actually find a thing you need just when you need it? I'm sure there are plenty solutions, but here is one of them - a lovely pouch large enough to hold all the essentials.

So it's day five and I'm still into Deby's cosmetics bags: the pattern is perfect for a beginner like myself and I love the outcome every time, so I decided to continue with them for the whole week. I fancy this one very much. Blue is another colour which I absolutely adore, it dominates my wardrobe and I often cannot resist the temptation to combine it with my greens. But not this time: today it's all about blueberries, cornflowers and Indian summer blues.

Day four: pocketful of grasshopers

I have a confession to make: I am a greenaholic. Green is my favourite colour and it never leaves me indifferent, whether I see it in nature or in interior, and fabric shops are no exception. The lovely boutique I have discovered even has a separate stall bursting in all shades of green: sea, forest and mint, bottle, moss and olive... oh my... I found a little corner of a meadow in the box of fat quarters and it melted my heart instantly. So here goes another make-up bag. This one is complemented with a tiny inside pocket just for fun, I thought a grasshopper might find it useful.

Day three: bed of roses

I had a feeling this pattern might work for a cosmetics bag, but I could never imagine a result as charming as this. It amazes me every time how a fabric comes to life when used for the right purpose and this just confirms my suspicion that one must be a genuine visionary to become a professional dressmaker or designer. And a hopeless romantic :) 
Even the bag itself exudes romance, don't you think? The size is just perfect for slipping in a couple of toiletries to grab with you when packing for a last-minute getaway to an exotic island with your sweetheart or heading for a classy week-end in Paris with your best friend.  

Bon voyage!

Day two: ladybug's treat

After a relatively successful test-drive and a short visit to the local fabrics shop I was eager to make another cosmetics bag. This one is a birthday present for a very special friend of mine - the bug, that's how she often refers to herself - and this should keep all entomologists awake because she's indeed one of a kind :)

Hand-made gifts have always been my hobby-horse, but let's be honest: it takes time, skill and a great deal of inspiration to come up with something original in the right moment. All that in combination with my stubborn determination to offer a gift with both, sentimental value and practical use often results in a creative headache. But no hassle here this time: the idea practically fell into my hands just along with a perfect fat quarter of a vibrant fabric featuring birds, which is as good as it gets since my friend is very much into birdwatching and learning their names in at least 4 languages. I'm certain that this cute bag will be a sound travel companion wherever the bug chooses to go or fly.

Day one: spindle ballet

In true spirit of upcoming International Sewing Month I accepted the creative challenge of sewing something every day. Being well aware of my limited needle-spinning capacity (due to lack of experience, not that there has ever been a shortage of ideas on my part...) it was clear I shouldn't set the bar too high and begin with something easy and practical. 

By a chance I came across Deby's cosmetics bag: the pattern was free and instructions seemed pretty straightforward, so I decided to give it a try. 
Click below for more pictures.