Cauliflower stamping

This is a project we did in early autumn but I completely forgot to post about it - until today when I found the pictures. 
Cauliflower is just perfect for stamping because it is an enormous source of beautiful shapes. And much more interesting than potato and cabbage heart stamping.

 

 

Have you tried any veggie stamping?
I have a stamping board here: http://pinterest.com/littletreasures/stamp-it and you will love it! {Sorry. Blogger doesn't let my link work, so if you want to see it, copy and paste it}

Fringes

Just a quick hello from me! 
I am racing to catch up on time, staggering and tripping as I do but never giving up.
Another thing that lived to see the light of day. The dusky rose fringe necklace (finished last June!).

Toodles!  (or à tout à l'heure - if you feel a bit French today :)

Vintage scarves and some yarn for sale - the stash bustin' post :)

Phew! I managed to put something in  my new shop, and after all the picture taking, editing, listing writing I feel drained. In the middle of the craziness I managed to lose my favourite hook - the 1,9 mm one I cannot live without- and the irony to be bigger, I had only one of it! My house has secret spots and it likes to play hide and seek with me, hiding things I need for my work, and sometimes my work likes to wander on its own, exploring the borders of our housedom, without the knowledge of its owner, i.e. ME!

However, this is not a post where I feel sorry for myself and angry at the "house" but the intro to the things I have for sale. As I have already mentioned, I opened this shop to sell some of my stash because the humans in our household are becoming the endangered species and the yarn, needles, ribbons and other whatnots are threatening to take over :)
(My husbands says it's just an excuse so that I can fill the place with more new stuff!)

Please note that everything that is offered is absolutely new, that is to say - never used. Very well tended and taken care of. If you are interested, you are  welcome to browse the shop, although it is still not filled with everything I planned to put there, and in case of any questions do drop me a note.

Another set of lovelies

Huh! This week passed as fast as a storm! Did you notice?
Although many things were achieved both personally and professionally, I still don't feel contended. 
The weekend promises to be full and active too, so I am gathering my strength to survive it!

Another thing: I have decided to bust my stash which has risen to gigantic proportions and threatens to throw us out of the house :)
Hence, I've opened a shop for the supplies - and there'll be some interesting (cheap) stuff for sale.  Watch out for the stash -bustin' post. 

That's it for today. I leave you with another of my necklaces / bracelets.

Have a lovely weekend!  
 

Boho Babes

Today we had Eva's friend Anastasia over for a fun photo shoot and it was lovely seeing the girls pose together. Do I have to mention the giggles and goofying around? You know how girls can be when they team together. Well, in betwen the giggles, I managed to snap a few good photos for my collection. 

Post-Epiphany calmness

We've started the week with batteries all filled up to bursting, having spent an amazing  weekend filled with lots of music, good food and unforgettable customs and traditions.
 

 
The city of Ohrid was jam-packed with natives and tourists for the "catching of the cross" during the celebration of the Epiphany.

 These were the  strongest people I've ever seen, both mentally and physically,  to jump in the freezing water for the cross. The north wind that was blowing fiercely was bone piercing. 

I also didn't miss the opportunity to drop by my favourite yarn shop and buy some gorgeous angora yarn. 
I've started making a beret hat and am quite curious how it will turn out. 

 Have a great start too!

Doilies Galore - Necklace #3

 

The little piles of crocheted doilies spring to life one by one. One thing I love most is playing with colors, color blocking and experimenting. With this one I paired the earth tones with a little flame in the middle. To be honest, while I was making them, they looked like tiny potholders to me, but you don't get excited and there's no attractiveness in saying that you've made a Potholder Necklace, do you? It sounds a little bit too kitcheny to me :)

 I am not sure if I mentioned, but these are made of high quality DMC embroidery thread most of from the ones I inherited.

Toodles!

Manon Gignoux Inspiration

Manon Gignoux is a French artist who makes textile sculptures, clothes objects, makes clothes and accessories. Her choice of color is quite subtle and muted reflecting the drive and love of old objects and clothes, fascination with layers and texture, and simple forms.

The origin of her work can be traced back to the last year of her study at France's Duperre School of Applied Arts  when she made a photographic study of the clothes worn by workers in the early 20th century and where she explored "the wear and tear" on clothes. She extracted four themes from the study: "the carpenter" or the traces of alteration, the "washerwoman" or the imprint of repeated movements, "the inside-out suit" or the dynamics of (de)construction and "the woman shopkeeper" or the encounter between work clothes and everyday life and the way an object is worn to fit the body.

"Encompassing recovery, re-appropriation and aesthetic discrepancy, my raw materials are re-used clothes and objects that retain the memory of their original use and contemporary fabrics that I rework with dyes, pleats and weat.. to which I give a new function. My creations illustrate the meeting of clothes, body and decor.  The clothes I create pass on the experience of living, flattering and deforming the body. My fabric dolls, each a kind of symbolic object, represent attitudes and personalities. I play on the relationship between clothes and object, I dress objects in order to protect them and to tell their story… damaged coverings, darned, made from accumulation and colours faded by time. I also set up installations in which I associate my work with objects that I have found, re-invented and/or photographed." Manon Gignoux

http://www.manon-gignoux.com/manon_gignoux.html

Mini Doilies Necklaces

 Just a snippet of the upcoming collection of Mini Crochet Jewelries! Some of the doilies are already made, some are waiting for their turn.

In lack of time to write a decent post due to a short trip (for a wedding) I leave you with my newest pictures! Have a splendid weekend!

Cut Out + Keep and Best of Etsy

Well.. I am over the moon I tell you!
Join me for a little celebration.
My work is featured this week on Cut Out + Keep, projects I am sure you are familiar with if you follow my blog ...

...and myCork Embroidery Tutorial was chosen as the Best of 2012 tutorials on Etsy!!If I say I am smitten  - that would be an understatement!I heartily recommend you visit both site for some inspiration and amazing tutorials! 

Christmas bread seal

Today is Christmas for the Orthodox Christians! 
My best wishes to all celebrating it!! May this year be a blessed one for all!
As the tradition has it, on this day a bread with a coin inserted inside is made. It is believed that the member of the family who gets is going to have an exceptional - a blessed -  year.

Two days ago I bought myself this Christmas bread seal. When I saw it, I knew I had to have it. My grandmother had a seal similar to this. It was an exciting sight watching her take out her Christmas bread bearing the magical seal which had a spell like quality over us - the children. We felt mesmerized  - as if God himself has imprinted a special message just for us.  I distinctly remember hers having a more intricate wording (in Old Church Slavonic). I am no cryptographer but I guess the letters on mine should say something in the sense that "Christ was born". My grandmother's seal is still in the family. My aunt inherited it so I am itching to compare the two.

Христос се роди!

The Mini Flower Bag Brooch

I immensely enjoyed making this flower bag brooch working the rounds and watching it grow under my hook. It is delicate mostly due to the thread I used, its pattern and the lovely shade of pink. The brooch is a great detail for coats, sweaters, hats and bags. 

Bra wires in Interweave Crochet

Oh, boy! 
I was ecstatic when lovely Betsy Greer of Interweave Crochet  contacted me about unusual crocheted pieces she was writing an article about and inquired about my bra necklace!

 The magazine has been on the stands since the middle of December, and as I am still waiting for my copy to arrive, a friend was sweet to scan the page in question for me!

The Article

The photo shoot of the Mini Crochet Collection

Happy New Year to all my blog friends! I hope you had a blast! As I am in love with years that contain odd numbers, I feel in my bones this one will be a mind blower - in a good way - mind you :)

 So what do I have for today?
As I have previously mentioned, I am in the midst of preparing my Mini Crochet Collection.
Today I am sharing a snippet of the photo shoot. 

It.Was.Fun!