5 new (to me) amazing zines to read

More than three years have gone from my last post about zines! 

Can you believe it?

I was addicted to zines reading in the past and, though I still love this kind of self-expression form, I haven't bought (and reviewed) one in years.

I was surfing Etsy some days ago and I had the idea to look for some zines that appeal to me (you know, I need something to read this summer, expecially because I've recently discovered that I love to read near the sea).

I found a lot of new (to me) zines I like. 

Five of them are amazing, in my opinion, for their topic, or the style, or the quality of the illustrations.

I haven't bought them yet, because I'm still doing some researches, but I decided to tell you something about them, just to spread the zine love :)

These zines are about some of my favourite topics:

• plants
• cats
• being a woman
• being an introvert

Want to know something more? I'm introducing them to you!

1. Winter wild, a zine about plants life in winter, by Kriski

I love the topic, but most of all, the style of drawing and lettering. So tidy and organized, but funny and modern.

The colours too are lovely, among my favourites!

And it's a big zine: 20 pages to look and read!

Kristyna Baczynsky, the author, says in the description: this book is a blend of writing, research, drawings and comics about ten different plant specimens; all drawn in detail for identification. An illustrated selection of historical, scientific and mythological facts.

It sounds good!

2. Self love zine, by LollieWorley

First of all, you can download it in .pdf, if you like!

Very good! Expecially for people who don't like to waste paper and like eco-friendly solutions like these.

The topic is amazing: self-love, a thing a lot of people need to work on.

Inside it has a cut&paste style I really like: it gives to the zine a handmade look, very well arranged here.

3. Illustrated women in history, by Apalelandscape

The one with the most professional look in this selection.

It looks so well organized and rich in text! It's more similar to a printed book than to a zine, but I appreciate it the same, because I like to read other women's stories and to be inspired by them!

21 biographies of talented women inside!

And (shame on me!) I know only a few of them.

4. Cat state of mind, by Nathalie Moore

I love cats! Not only mine, all cats!

And I also do my best, here and then, to draw their lovely faces and tails and paws, but I'm not so good in cats' drawing! -___- 

(I go on and go on filling my Moleskine with flowers!)

So it's very interesting for me that in this zine there are 20 pages of doodles about cats' world to be inspired by. And the title is quite funny for all people who know cats and do their best to read into their mysterious minds.

The author is Nathalie Moore (click to go on her blog).

5. Creativity for introverts, by BusyWeekends

This one is part of a serie of zines dedicated to creativity into the life of introvert people (like me). You can start from here or from other zines of the serie.

Great idea + cut&paste style I love + very interesting topic.

Don't you think they are lovely?

All these zines have english text.

I'd really like to found interesting zines in italian, too, but I haven't found nothing remarkable yet. Zine making is not common in Italy, probably because we have been too busy in making different kinds of art for centuries, ahaha :)

Let me know in the comments if you know italian good zines

AND/OR

if you have zines to suggest me (you know what I like to read: crafts, books, nature, art, eco-friendly life, travelling, growing as a woman).

Simple happy things - July 2015

Last year I worked on a little project and documented every single day of July (I've called it "July in 31 photos").

Not the same, this year. 

July is very hot, I feel like I'm very down on batteries and I am not doing special things to capture with my camera (although I think that there's something special for us everyday and that happyness is hidden into simple things). 

But of course I took some snapshots here and there.

They make a sort of visual diary of this month. Simple things in my life.

Critters around the house...

A super secret project I can't wait to share with you...

Some hard and satisfying work at the sewing machine...

(completed this month: 5 bags + 2 wallets + 1 moleskine cover)

(bags 1 e 2 uploaded in my esty shop)

Summer yumminess...

Important birthdays and lovely birthday gifts by the kids...

Testing new tools (rivets!)...

My embroidered fox as a work of art

I wrote a long summer list of things to do at the beginning of June and I wrote the word "done!" beside a lot of my aims this week. 

Very proud of my self and my productivity!

The funniest thing in the list was to give a purpose to a little work of cross stitch I finished last year: it's a  fox face, important for me because foxes are a sort of totem for me.

I could make a soft key-chain, like I did with other little squares of embroidered fabric (here the tutorial, if you're interested), but I was in the mood for something different: my will was to transform that little piece of embroidery in a work of art, something I can display in my studio and see everyday.

I'm going to write something about the process soon (I've taken a lot of snapshots while working on this projects that I can write a tutorial), but today I'm showing you how cute my fox is.

I've arranged it on a square of recycled carboard and finished the back with a square of red faux felt. Then I added a cord to hang it on my studio's walls, but I decided soon to like best a different solution: I found the way to make it stand-up on one of my bookcase's shelves, near Carina and Lucia.

This isn't the only one fox who lives in this part of the home, because there is also Felix the fox paper doll near the door!

Love this tiny piece of art in my studio! :)

Sicilian spring

Sicilian sunny spring is here!

Mount Etna is still covered by snow and smoking, but the sky is blue blue blue and the fields are green and yellow.

So many yellow flowers everywhere!

They are the home of tiny snails sometimes!

Animals are happy and needs some snuggles.

Others give birth to their children, because spring is the time for love and new families.

April is probably my favourite month.

I'm happy to be and april girl. I'm turning 38 the next week (on wednesdey) and I hope the day will be sunny and warm.

I work at school as a teacher everyday. I teach italian, history and geography (+ legislation of tourism some afternoons).

I'm busy and often tired, so I'm neglecting a bit this blog and my creative journey (my list of things to try is growing, waiting for some free time).

But I'm still taking pictures to document my life.

I reach my school by feet and I'm noticing here and there some wild flowers I like. They are very small but strong. Some of them look like orchids.

My life is full of beautiful things and today I can't resist in show you some of them.

Happy Sunday!!!

5 Pinterest boards to follow: modern rustic style

Since my madness for Pinterest is growing day after day, I decided to share with you some amazing boards to follow. 
Beauty and great ideas are things you can't hide, you have to show them to other people!

I've grouped the boards I like into some themes and today I'm suggesting you 5 of them about modern rustic style.

It's a style I really like, I feel like it's for me.

It speaks about nature, simple life and pleasures, animal and plants, life outdoor, wood and natural materials and textures, pale colours with some bright accents now and then, minimalist decorations, love for traditional shapes.

I think it's my style.

Modern rustic is not country, shabby or retro. It's all about a simple rural life  and about enjoying the simple things Mother Nature offers us.

I'm collecting inspirations about this style in my Pinterest board "Rustic+romantic":

If you like this style and you are finding some inspirations to give it a space in your life, take a glance to the following 5 boards.

Rustic, love it by Sara Pacciarella
Beautiful images about outdoor living, gardening, cottages, rustic home decor.

Rustic modern by Danielle Colding
Inpirations about modern rustic interior design. Love this minimal and rustic living room!

Go outside by Jenny Frith
All about spending time outdoor, in the wild nature, and enjoying it! This board remembers me how much I miss camping and other adventures I was used to in the past.

Adèle By Adreamofleaves
This board is about a woman who loves modern rustic style and uses it in her life. Clothes, jewels, furniture and more.

Modern botanics journal by Modern botanics 
Botanic inspirations for a minimalistic design.

If you have boards like these to share with me, please, leave me the link in the comments.
I'm constantly looking for some modern rustic eye candies to look at! :)

Cross stitch: hate or love?

I've developed a strange obsession for cross stitch recently and I don't know if I hate or I love it.

I hate the fact that you have to count all the squares, because, you know, I like free embroidery, without rules and patterns.

But the final result, so minimal and rustic/old style, is beautiful to me. I really like it! So, uhm, although I hate to do cross stitch I'm going on stitching because I like the final result. So odd!

I'm constantly pinning cross stitch patterns, expecially when my favourite themes (nature, flowers, animals) are involved. Nordic / scandinavian style is always welcome for my embroidery, too!

These are my latest cross stitch works.

I embroidered small scraps of fabric and mixed them to other materials to make small accessories for my shop.

Take a look!

Fox wallet (my favourite!):

Owl wallet:

Nordic Moleskine cover:

Scandinavian Moleskine cover (sold):

Do you like cross stitch?

My cats sleep on damask

My cats sleep on damask. Velvety damask. 
They are very lucky cats!

This is Carotina (Macchia's child) yesterday in the afternoon sleeping on the damask pillow I made for my cats. 

I've placed it between the glass door and the shutter of the kitchen while I was tidying up after a family lunch.

He had a very good sleep, I suppose. 

When he woke up this was his face:

So satisfied by his nap!!! :)

The pillow is a novelty for Macchia and Carotina.

We needed a pillow to insert into the "kennel for cats" we bought in a shop some days ago. 

Winter is coming and, although sicilian weather is mild even in winter, nights can be very chilly and windy and wet for our cats who live their wild life mostly outdoor. 

We bought a very practical plastic kennel to offer them a dry and warm refuge, but it hadn't a pillow (and all people know how much cats love to sleep on pillows!). So I made it by myself recycling some upholstery damask and other materials.

I'm happy when I can make things I need using my hands and skills, saving money and recycling materials I already have.

Here are some snapshots I took while making the pillow.

I sewed together three different pieces of old upholstery damask to make a rectangle. They are yellow, but one has a pattern of green leaves.

Then I stuffed the almost ready pillow with other recycled fabrics (you can see one of the sample I've used on the left of my sewing machine).

I can't use these fabrics for my bags and accessories, because they are too lightweight and soft. And transparent, too (they are for decorative curtains making, I suppose).

But they are perfect for stuffing a pillow :)

Then I closed the open side with pins and sewed.

This is the pillow in its place, into the bottom of the kennel:

I'm happy this project is ecological, 100% made of recycled materials.

And I'm happy my cats immediatly appreciated the pilow I made for them. They look very pleased to have a confortable place for sleeping :)

(I'm in love with this little cat and his green eyes)

Cross stitch part III: the pink cat pencil case

This is my third project with the cross stitch silhouettes I embroidered this summer, after the pincushion with a red deer and the little snowman ornament.

What to do with a pink cat?

Something for a little girl, of course. And a little girl probably started school recently, so... a pencil case! Good idea!

I decided to use the cat on the flap (closed by a metalli snap) and to go on and stronger with pink making a fuchsia case. I also tested a new (to me) kind of pencil cases (vertical), inspired by these clutches by Ithinksew.

Quite satisfied by the final result.

I think some little girls would love to bring it at school.

It's available in my shop!

I hope you are having a happy Sunday.

Here in Sicily it's raining and I'm sewing new things for the shop (bags and accessories). I had a storm of new ideas the last days, after tidying up one of my fabric boxes.

I'm cooking yummy veggies, too, and working around the house (I feel like it will never ready and finished).

Yes, I'm having a quite Sunday at home. Very happy :)

Happy nostalgia

I'm looking back to my holidays today and I'm into a happy+nostalgic mood.

Yes, it's possible. 

Human feelings are so complex that happiness and nostalgia can walk together.

I'm looking to all the photos I took during our holiday at mum's home in the north and I feel so grateful for those happy days together with my friends and family! 

My batteries plenty recharged. I did all the things I love best (not only drawing and embroidery, of course!) and reconnected with the real me.

We explored the country by bycicle several times and enjoyed nature and ancient monuments.

We stayed in the garden, a lot. 

Picked up vegetables and fruit and cooked them. Discovered new (to me) species my brother is growning (did you know purple basil?). Fed the turtles everyday.

I've read a couple of novels and learned something new about nature thanks to my brother's books about trees and plants. I love to have good books near the bed!

We made some works for mum with dad's tools and found them very beautiful in the backlight.

And at the end of our days there two special ones got married :)

You can say we did nothing special this summer.

Yes, we haven't explored the world and hadn't great adventures to tell you.

But we enjoyed all that little things that speak special words to our hearts. This is important to me :)

Other photos on flickr!

Baby cats are cute

Macchia's baby is growing.

And it's a super cute cat. It behaves like a 2 years old child: it likes to explore, jump, touch, taste things with its mouth, play with mum.

I'm spending a lot of time watching what it's doing these days.

I felt in love this summer... with a little cute cat :)

July in 31 photos - days 19-31

Hello August!

I can't believe you are here! 

(already?)

The start of the new month is the perfect occasion to look all my July photos and make some considerations about my "July in 31 photos" project and the month I had.

But first of all I want to publish here all the photos I haven't shared with my readers: they are about days 19-31.

Day 19: in Licata with special friends for a feast+concert. The streets were decorated with thiese colorful umbrellas. Great idea!
I took other beautiful photos of the concert, the harbour (my favourite of this bunch) and umbrellas at night.

Day 20: Sunday. Rest day + sewing. I designed a t-shirt pattern with the help of a t-shirt I have in my closet.

Day 21: We bought some elegant clothes for S. because this summer we are invited to 3 weddings.

Day 22: a very ugly photos for probably the most exciting moment of this month: the firts time we've seen Macchia's baby out of his/her "cave".

Day 23: Today mom sent me this photo of a giant flower born from a succulent plant dad bought some weeks before his death. I decided to publish it for this day, because it's too beautiful!!!

Day 24: Today I received a sad new: a lovely friends has lost her husband after years and years of life together. I've been sad all the day and decided to take a photo of a dalia flower in my garden to dedicate to this man recently died and to my friend.

Day 25: Cutting magazines! I saved some images for future collages and some other to paste into my moleskine journal. That girl on the bike... oh, she's me (I haven't blond hair and I'm not so thin, but I feel like this image is speaking about me).

Day 26: First wedding of the season! I like my green dress, all made of lace!
And I like my man into elegant clothes.

Day 27: trying to make a mat for my sewing machine using my braid od t-shirt yarn. After a quiet start, somthing went wrong :(

Day 28: Macchia's baby started to walk in our garden. Oh, I'm in love!!!

Day 29: Beautiful colors in the veggies I cook almost everyday. Love veggies!

Day 30: Sleeping with mum (probably my favourite photo of the month)

Day 31: I made pesto with the basil we are growing in our garden. What a smell!