Thursday 18 June 2009

My creative space

In this week creative space I have a watercolor to paint (I went back to my old love, painting.. sometimes it's great to have a break, when you go back, you discover you have new ideas and, in my case, new style!)
Ants fighting (I discover that they live inside the bricks, in my terrace...and I've never being so happy to be just renting this flat..) You see the little red circle?
This is one of their "door". They break the mortar in little pieces and they go inside the holes of the bricks. By one side I'm amazed at their skill, by the other, not so amused to find them around biting my legs whenever I stand still, close to them.

And for last i'm going to the beach to feel the breeze and make sandcastles. How relaxing!

Check out more spaces at Kootoyoo's blog!

Wednesday 17 June 2009

Watercolor


It was about 2 years and a half since I didn't touch a brush!
Yesterday I felt like going back and...now I can't believe how could I stay so much time without painting!
It was also my daughter first watercolor painting! I'm going to store it into her "memory box" like all her first "things" she did..

Painting is like pouring over your soul on a piece of paper.
Whatever you feel, it will show.
"I've been born" reading art books and being surronded by oil colors and paintings (my mum use to teach art), and I always loved to draw. But usually I was throwing them away.
Before my 20's I start to keep them, and so now I can see the difference between periods of my life.
For example, this is a drawing I made in my early 20's. I was not happy with my life I was looking for a change.
Here is a selection of middle 20's and beginning 30's. I was absolutely happy , enjoying myself and loving my life. I used to love painting with acrilyc, laying a lots of layers to achieve a very dense and compact full color.

And that's it my last watercolor. Still colorful but more calm and serene.
(still loving my life, but I'm now more relax!) (sorry about the bad light in the picture!)

Monday 15 June 2009

Courgette+parmesan spanish tortilla

Ingredients for two:

3 eggs
1 courgette
1 onion
2 potatoes
grated parmesan
salt and pepper
olive oil

Heat 4 spoon of olive oil, dice all vegetables and poach the onion being careful not to let it get brown.
Add the potatoes and then the courgette, salt and pepper, and let it poach on low flame until you see it done.



In the meanwhile whisk eggs, parmesan and salt and pepper and then put the vegetable from the pan to the bowl with the eggs and mix well. Pour it in the same pan you poached the vegetable (which you left heating on the flame) and leave for 5 minutes, moving the pan once in a while to avoid the egg to stick on it.

Put a flat plate on top of pan, a hand on the plate, and faster as you can turn it upside down (practice before, with empty pan, to avoid spilling the hot content).

Then gently push (with a wooden spoon, if needed) the tortilla back to the pan, to cook the other side. Usually in this moment you can find loose pieces on the uncooked side, just push them under the tortilla, they will soon stick to the rest.

Let it cool for a while and then cut in pieces!

Check out more recipes at Jemma's blog!

Tuesday 9 June 2009

Blogger Award and The Wonderwall

Today checking Star of the East's beautiful blog I  found out that I received a Kreativ Blogger Award. Thank you so much Estella!
The rules of the Kreativ Blogger Award state that I have to list seven things I love.
1)My family (cat included) and friends
2)Creativity (painting, sewing, thinking)
3)Curiosity and openmindness 
4)Nature and discovering beauty everywhere
5)Milk chocolate, ice cream and sushi
6)Sleeping (Probably before the birth of my daughter, when I could sleep, I would have written something else..)
7)All kind of music on the background, depending on the mood.

And now The Wonderwall...no, I'm not talking about the old Oasis song... 
But a way to save my books from the paws of my daughter..
We have some Ikeas shelves, but too many books..and because we are renting a flat, we are not going buy "nice fornitures" until we have our own house.. 
I mean.. I love that she loves "reading" books, but I don't like that she strips sometimes pages of them...or that  she chews the cover or try to toss it in the toilet...plus, some of them, for example the Madonna's book or  Milo Manara's series (I love the way he draws)  are not suitable for a child, especially because she always ask  the name of things she sees.

So, I start to cover the library with cardboard and tape, so she can draw on it (and hopefully not on the walls!!). (The drawings you see are mine, I made them to show her that she can draw on them).
Then I found on a magazine an advertising of a perfume, similar to a mirror, where the closer you get, the better you can see yourself,..my daughter love to "kiss herself" on it (and it's safer then a real mirror)...then I sticked on the cardboard some of her fave character and later on I will put some nice picture of animals..
I left some rows open, for her books, and the top shelves for me (although I cannot find time to read, lately.. sigh!).. and although I have to admit it doesn't look very "normal"...it was the only way I found to save books and walls and making my daughter happy! 

Thursday 4 June 2009

My creative space


(There are 2 hidden heart somewhere! If you can't find them check here!)
This week creative space hosted by Kirsty is filled by:
-Sewing a phrase on a white t-shirt (left)
- Transforming a now small shirt of mine into a dress for my daughter (right) it is really easy..I just cut the sleeves and sew a sort of triangle, and along the rim I place a string of cotton, if not sewing this fabric it would be hell, because of the stretching
- Fighting ants. First they start to live in a pot in my terrace, then I start to see  few of them in the living room, searching for a nice spot to start a new home... but there's no way they are going to live there...  

These are the last dresses I made for my daughter (I always post the pict of the beginning and I notice that I forget to put the final..)
- The stripe dress, with a flower, to cover a little faded spot
- A "beach dress" very easy to make, just snipping out the sleeves (How slim was I? Sigh!)
- A pair of "save knees from falling  and grazing on little pebbled playground " trousers with 2 red little stars (those red tiny spots) from another old t-shirt

Wednesday 3 June 2009

It's dangerous...

...to peacefully sleep in my house!

Then our cat, thought it was better to go to sleep under the arm and cover of daddy...(she is not visible in the next shaked pict...but she is there somewhere)

So, because Alba promised the kitty to give some of her favorite food...she had to cover up her sleeping daddy with cat food (at least she doesn't know how to open them!)

Monday 1 June 2009

Recipe monday: Surprise fish

Ingredients: (x 2 )
2 salmon fillets
1 can green asparagus
1 spoon white flour
2 spoon of milk
4 spoon of double cream
1 egg yolk
1 box of pastry sheet
lemon juice
15 g of butter (a spoon)
salt and pepper
Cut the asparagus in little pieces, if they are fresh, cook them.
Melt the butter and add the flour, stirring until we get a smooth paste, then we add the milk and the cream. Bring to boil while stirring, add some salt and pepper and lemon juice.
Add the asparagus and stir to form a paste. Reserve.
Cut pastry into 4 rectangular pieces. Place a salmon in the middle 
Cut the shape of the pastry into a fish shape, li ving 2 cm around the fillet. Put some asparagus filling on top of the salmon and then the pastry to embrace the salmon and the filing. 
Brush pastry with egg to give a glossy finish. 
Repeat with the other "fish".
Bake in hot oven (220) for 20 minutes.

Check out more recipes in Jemma's blog!