My creative space

During the last month I was one day sorting out my fabrics, when I realize I have a sort of "Diogenes syndrome"!

I mean, I have tons of fabrics, that years ago I decided to store, thinking: "I'm going to keep that, I'm sure I'll use it in future".. but then the poor fabric stash got forgotten and kept growing with every clothes I was discarding from my wardrobe...(I usually keep buttons and fabric).

I decided to do something with it..and I sew few flower brooches.

Now, I have to finish the back of the brooches in order to use them.

So, this is my weekly creative space!To read more creative spaces, check out Kyrsty's blog!

Watercolor

Finally I could scan one of my watercolor painting! I made it during my daughter's afternoon sleep, (the only "free crafting time" this summer!) and I enjoyed it a lot.

Summer

Summer. Summer's almost gone..in a week my daughter will start kindergarten and hubby is back to work...

I can only watch the picture of the places we've been... and remember the sounds, the smell and the taste of those beautiful days...

...and the little natural treasure I collect..

..and prepare for another wonderful season!

Back to "usual" life

Last week I went back from a lovely time in Italy, visiting family and friends.. and now..back to normal life, but I needed another week to get back to the usual routine!How hard it is, after a holiday!

We went to visit Juliet house, in Verona, (yes, the Romeo's lover!), which is really beautiful and well conserved. (I imagined Juliet leaning on the terrace -quite high, by the way- with Romeo sending her a silent kiss..)

Verona is a lovely city, and fast to visit. Along some very old buildings, there is the Arena, standing up from ancient roman times, actually still used during summer time for opera concerts and tv musical shows.. and Piazza delle Erbe, with the frescoes still visible on the top of the medieval buildings..
..but my daughter preferred chasing birds and screaming delighted at them..

..and this geko was the new friend my cat made, waiting for us at home! I love the shape of her/his "hands"! Reminds me a picture I made few years ago!

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!

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!)

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!

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! 

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

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!)

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!

My creative space

This week I'm on "customing T-shirts" once again! I started to transform this old and large t-shirt in a dress for my daughter..

Stripes (like flowers) are always coming back in fashion, so I advice you to never throw them away..

In this other shirt, I so far covered a  stain that would not go away..(brown on white stripe.. couldn't have been on a black one?Grunf!) so for now I just placed a brooch on it..and voilà!

This year I've seen a lot of red+ dark stripes...

And last on my list.. I 'm going to make more of those superyummy hazelnut and Nutella bisquits! (And then I complain about baby fat ;D)

 Recipe:

1 egg yolk

180 gr white flour

100 gr. sugar cane

100 gr. soft butter 

1 teaspoon yeast

fresh lemon peel

ground hazelnut

Mix the flour  and  sugar, then add the egg, lemon peel, yeast, soft butter in pieces, and ground hazelnuts.

Knead well with hands until you have a ball, cover it with cling film and put it in the fridge for half an hour.

While you wait, switch on the oven at 180· and then take the dough and roll it 1 cm. thick with a rolling pin and cut it in shapes. 

Put it in the oven for 15 minutes, and when they are cool, spread some nutella on one of them, top with another bisquit and then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

To see more creative spaces...check out Kirsty! 

Relax!

Today is one of those days where I really need to look at my bonsai and relaaaaax!

Customized t-shirt

This is the (once completely white) t-shirt after I add some pieces of beautiful paisley fabric,

and other cut in the same shape. Some cotton threads, beads, and plain stitching.

The picture are not so good...because the sky is quite dark today..looks like is going  to rain..but is still very hot and damp...not exactly "park or walk time"... (but at least is ... sewing time!)

My creative space

Today's creative space is filled with:

- Another ("vintage"and plain white) t-shirt to customize. At first I followed the shape of the collar to  stitch some violet thread, then I put some green beads, but at the end I realize I prefer to have more color to play with, so I'm going to "unstitch" some of the green beads to add some turquoise  ... and then I will add some paisley shaped cut fabric, with more beads and stitching.... 

-I 'm hoping I will finally finish this necklace (I must have started to make it about one month ago...*bowing head in shame*)

- Long walks into the hot weather with friends and our toddlers ... to try to eliminate some of the (still there) after  pregnancy (21 month ago!!) fat who doesn't want to go away... 

Anyway...for more creative spaces...click Kirsty!

"Pointing fingers" weekend

The habit of pointing fingers to ask "what's that" is going on everyday, but during the weekend it's been like ... multiplied! Here, just some of the moments..

A walk, that usually last 10/15 minutes, suddenly turned into 40 minutes!Grass, plants , trees , flowers , ants , a shiny Harley Davidson...

..and then we discovered that some clever duck had 8 little yellow fluffy ducklings!(this happened in another pond, not the "last weekend pond", in this one, one day I spotted a couple sneaking off eggs...and there have not been ducklings in 2 years time) we knew they were about to be born, because we sow her sitting for a lot of days, half a mile far from the pond..
...and then we met some nice friendly ponies..Alba was looking at them with an expression that perhaps  "was wondering why they were not 20 cm long" , like on tv...but after a while she was screaming in delight (not so much the poor ponies..she can make deafings ultrasounds!)

And indeend, if you look closer, with "children eyes", even a normal spot of wild grass can be beautiful!

Forget about bad weather..

So, yesterday afternoon the weather had a dejavù and it suddenly turned into a winter day. (mist, rain, cold air, gray sky), but thankfully in the morning I had an "illumination" and I bought those jelly stuff to stick on the (ahem, dirty) window.. and I gained 20 full mintutes of stitching with one eye...(one eye to watch the fabric, one eye to watch Alba, in case she would decide to taste them)..

And then among books reading, towers building, and  peek-a-boo playing, watching Pocoyo's vidoes, cake making is an must on rainy days..

We even pick up strawberries from one of my paintings!

...while we were waiting for this cake to be ready! (Almond and apricot tart) (Sorry about the bad picture..I was drooling and couldn't focuse properly!)

And the day quickly filled up...did I say it was a dull rainy day? Oh, I forgot about it ..

My creative space

With the hot season approaching..it's getting hard to find time to craft...(blame it to the time I spend in the park with my daughter), but somehow..I try to force myself to find little moments to: "customize" another t-shirt,by breaking up the all turquoise flower who were already machine sewed, with a bit of contrasting violet and cream...
 

... and attaching the velcro closure and the back to this almost finished necklace...

To see more (a lot more, I always post in late, due to the different meridian) check out Kootoyoo 's blog!