A tropical corner

You probably know Frangipani flower and/or its lovely fragrance, used for perfumes and other cosmetics.

It is native to tropical parts of the world, but a couple of years ago we discovered it can live also here in Sicily, where weather is very warm.

The plant is lovely, so elegant, green and with lovely flowers!

So we started to look for one to grow in our garden or in a vase... and we found it!!! We have now 6 plants, to be precise! :)

 

This is the firt one to blossom:

 

 

A tropical corner near the front door!

Coming home after work and be received by these beauty, oh, it's priceless! I think they will grow and give us amazing flowers like these for all the hot sicilian summer :)

 

Evergreens: white+blue

White+blue is a lovely color combo, a sort of evergreen used in a lot of products, from clothes to home accessories.

 

But my favourite use of this combo is in ceramic art.

I've always been fond of white and blue dutch pottery, that inspired Pam to make this lovely embroidery pattern (and look here for white&blue dutch houses made of ceramic... aren't they super cute?).

I recently discovered that this color combo is a tradition also for sicilian ceramic (here a piece realized in the city of Caltagirone), but here in Italy white and blue are often mixed with other colors, like yellow and coral red.

 

So, with all these amazing inspirations around white&blue pottery, I couldn't resist in making something for me with corn starch clay in these tones.

Well, to be honest, mum made the "ceramic" part of the work (two beads) and I put together a pair of earrings with the beads and some supplies we bought together during her last visit here.

 

 

A classic but fresh look I really like. I'm wearing my new earrings right now and I love them. They will be with me all the summer, I'm sure! :)

Accepting the unexpected

Some unexpected things happened in the making of my pendants.

 

I knew that corn starch clay becomes a bit darken during the drying process.

I saw it when I made all that pendants with mum last Christmas holidays.

 

But, hey, I couldn't imagine that my mint pendants...

 

 

... could became "caledon green":

 

 

No words for this! °___°

I think it's a problem of my tempera colors, because I haven't seen a strong transformation like this before!

 

Aniway, these pendants haven't the color I was looking for, but I like them the same. Pam said that "caledon green" gives them a vintage look and I like it! :)

 

Another unexpected thing happened to my pendants when I was vernishing them. The supersoft vintage paintbrush mum gave me for this purpose... uhm, it's probably "too vintage"... it started to leave the color of its bristles (brown) on the pendants' surface!

I was so disappointed!

But I changed my mind soon, because I noticed that the brown patina draws attention to the stamped flowers: now their petals are more visible, thanks to this "brown incident" :)

 

Sometime accidents give you beautiful gifts!

Spring tops by me

I'm very late, I know, but a lot of things prevented me from uploading my new handmade t-shirts in Spring top sew along photo pool till today!

It went wrong this year, but I'm happy the same, because I have three new me-made clothes to wear and also because I've learned new things making them and I can say that my sewing skills really improved! :)

 

The first top I made is this one in blue:

 

I've cut the fabric (a very fresh and confortable cotton jersey) using a pattern into an old issue of "La mia boutique" (an italian sewing magazine) and altering it a bit. I like the color, but I'm expecially in love with raglan sleeves.

 

Making it, I used for the first time twin needles:

 

 

They give to your sewing a professional look. You have to try to understand how they work good!!!

I finished the neckline following this Megan Nielsen's tutorial and I'm really glad about the result :)

 

Then I started a more simple project: this sleeveless top in black+green jersey. I selfdrafted it, helped by a top I refashioned last year and perfectly fits on me:

 

 

The fabric is so fresh, elastic and lightweight... I can't stop to wear this top! Also because I like the mix of black and green very much!

 



The last one is another raglan sleeves t-shirt (I really like how the first one came out, so I decided to make another one):

 

 

This cotton jersey is my favourite. I used a part of it last year, to make a (so tiny!!!) t-shirt for my niece C.

I like stripes and colors, perfect for casual look days! :)

 

That' all!

Now I'm working on a skirt and some handmade jewels. See you soon!!!

Adding green to my life

After a very long time, I finally had some time for creativity! A couple of happy hours I spent playing like a kid with all was capturing my brain.

Reinvigoraiting! :)

A lot of minutes passed with corn starch clay (I recently knew it's also called "cold porcelain").

Mum gave me a small ready block in april and it's still fresh and soft.

I coloured part of it in green, using a drop (of blue tempera color) and a drop of green.

 

Green is my favourite color, but I haven't explored it very much in my creative life, so I decided to work around this color as much as possible, this year.

I've recently developed a passion for mint green (this little bag has a big part in this for sure!) and I think I've obtained it with my mix:

 

 

With the help of the back of a paint brush I realized some tiny rings, very similar to some candies I used to eat when I was a child, inspired by this Portia's tutorial. I don't want to make a so complex thing, but I like the idea to have mint candies in my jewelry in some ways.

 

Then I experimented with my vintage buttons to impress flowers and abstract decorations into the clay.

 

 

I've also darkened a bit the clay, making its color more similar to emerald green, another tone of green I really like.

 

Now my works are drying:

 

 

I made 7 "candies", 1 rectangular pendant, 2 small pendants with a flower (for earrings?), 1 big pendant with a flower (for a necklace?) and 3 in darker green with circles and dots.

Mum would be proud of me! :)

Can't wait to cover them with the transparent varnish and then put them together in new one-of-a-kind jewels!

 

Another thing I want to do with the clay is making tiny baskets. I'm not sure about the color to use for them. Maybe royal blue?

Pinterest!

Oh yes, I joined Pinterest at last!!!
I'm here: http://pinterest.com/madamerenard/
You can follow me, if you like it, and I'll follow you!

My boards are still almost empty, but I'm filling them day after day. The web is so full of inspirations and I can't let them go!

Beautiful sight

My new camera is an amazing toy!

It offers a lot of options and possibilities that my old one hasn't and I even couldn't imagine before experimenting with it.

Although I haven't found how to use the self-timer already (!!!) I had fun fun fun making more complicated things like panoramic photos like this one of Taormina's ancient theatre.

Almost 360° photos °___°

So exciting!

 

We visited Taormina, a famous town in Sicily, when mum&dad were here.

We enjoyed this beautiful sight of ancient ruins, Mount Etna emetting smoke and deep blue sea in a very sunny sunday.

Sometimes I feel very lucky to live here in Sicily :)

I published more photos of Taormina (+ Castelmola village) in my flickr album...

old churches, details noticed on the main street, sculptures and other things that make me happy :)