Christmas ornaments for introverts

I know, the title sounds a bit crazy, but it reflects some of my thoughts of this period. 

In my (rare) spare time I'm dedicating myself to get my shop ready for Christmas and so I've worked on new photos of my handmade ornaments (and also prepared a coupon code to have them with a 15% discount).

My ornaments
They are little and simple ornaments. Totally my style!

Some are made of cornastarch clay (stars and snowflakes) painted by me in white. Some others are made of recycled materials. My favourite are the felt embroidered stars.

They are different but all of them are rustic, nature inspired, traditional and small.

But, the most important thing, they are not too much eye-catching.

And so I said in my mind: "Hey, they are for people like me! These ornaments are for introverts!".

What about Christmas if you are introvert?

I'm not a very "Christmas person". Oh, no, I'm not the Grinch, I'm only and introvert girl! Proud of my introversion.

You can hear introverts saying that:

• They don't like the wastefulness and the confusion of Christmas time
• They don't feel great at crowded parties (even when only close family is involved)
• They don't like to go out and spend entire afternoons looking for the right gift
• They don't like bulky home decoration which steal part of their living space

I know that, probably, introvert people during Christmas time like better to:

• spend a full afternoon at home, on the sofa, watching a good Xmas movie
• cooking alone Xmas dishes for very "private" christmas lunches / dinners
• avoid too much noisy things (like those Santa's puppets mechanically saying "OhOhOh")
• enjoy some time of rest at home, dedicating themselves to hobbies and quiet activities
• buy gifts on-line and not in real shops after hours and hours of wandering in crowded shopping centers
• decorate their nest with gentle and not too much eye-catching ornaments

And it's probably because I'm introvert that I like to make all the little and "kind" Christmas ornaments you can find in my shop.

They don't occupy too much living space. 

They don't make noise or bling-blings of any kinds. 

You can buy them on-line if you want to offer a little gift to someone special (a very selected one, I presume).

They are perfect for a quiet, resting, loner and silent Christmas time in our precious cave, ehm, nest! :)

What do you think?
Does my post sound odd, annoyng, Grinch-style? 
Is there something familiar for you in the introvert Christmas I depicted in this post?
(wait, are you introvert or extrovert? a free test for you) 

Study the topic a bit more with this posts I found recently: 

Gift guide for introverts by Untidygrace
What introverts can give during the holidays by Holley Gerth
Ideas to survive the holidays if you are introvert by IntrovertSpring

Black and charcoal: new accessories for the shop!

Recently I worked a lot with black and charcoal fabrics (+ light grey) and made new accessories for the shop! 

Not very summery colours, but probably perfect for autumn (it is very close, although here in Sicily we are having super hot summer days).

I was in the mood for sewing with some leftovers from this bag I made last March for my friends Vera [**] and also with some scraps of a beautiful Ikea fabric (colorful nature elements on black background... lovely!) [*].

I started from a tote bag, altering a bit a pattern I drew by myself two years ago. I decided to add a recessed zipper instead of placing it on top (I'm totally in this kind of zippered closure this summer!); I've also opted for a wider pocket (thanks to darts on the corners).

This is the finished bag:

More technical infos here.

You know that I like to make small things, so I used the same fabrics for a small crossbody bag, too.

Also this design is 100% by me. I've drawn the pattern for this bag three years ago and used different times with satisfaction.

I like the dimensions if the finished bag and the inner space, but also some details like the closure and the contrasting flap:

I couldn't resist and I decide to make a wallet to match with these bags!

Do you like it?

I've already written about my passion for making this kind of accessories!

All my wallets have two pockets for cards and paper money and one pocket (closed by velcro or a zipper) for coins. They often have a little strip of recycled leather for closure, as in the case of this grey wallet and of the following one, the black floral wallet:

Love the stylized flowers and the little bird on top :)

The light blue inner pockets are made of leftovers of a beautiful eco-friendly fabric (organic linen + bamboo), given to me by Manuela, the owner of Retro eco à porter, an italian organic line of clothes (you can see the fabric "in action" on her Malva top).

While making the wallet I cut the fabric for a Moleskine cahier cover, too.

It matches perfectly with other two accessories I've made in the past with this fabric and still available in the shop: a pencil case and a little pouch. They both are zippered and have recycled leather bottoms.

I'm very happy with these new items!

I don't use very often this kind of tones in my creations. I used to think that grey and black are boring, but I was wrong. They are very elegant and modern, expecially if you mix them with other colours.

Let me know which item among these is your favourite :)

[*] I can't find this beautiful fabric in italian Ikea shops anymore. I'm looking for it on-line, but I even don't know its name; if you know it, please, write it in the comments!

[**] I wasn't tired after all this sewing  and made a second bag for Vera: a tulip bag with a side band to increase to inner space. Very summery bag, thanks of its light sand fabric!

And now... rest time! :)

Simple happy things: late summer edition

Although almost all of you are probably into a very autumnal mood, here in Sicily we are enojoying the last days of mediterranean summer.

Yes, we are still wearing t-shirts and sandals. It's still summer, but fresh air and some rain here and there are announcing that autumn is coming soon.

So this edition of "simple happy things" is about late summer, like last year in october.

I've collected some photos of little beautiful things that make me happy recently and I want to share them with you.

My favourite snapshot: this tiny bird called "african stonechat" ("saltimpalo" in italian). It lives in the (still dry) fields behind my home.

Tiny (but very hot) peppers S. grew in our garden:

Acorns! S. picked them up during our last trip to Selinunte archeological park: 

If you want, you can look in my Flickr album at some snapshot I took in the western part of our region we travelled some weeks ago (Greek temples, Palermo, great panoramas from Erice ... you have to scroll down to the bottom to see them).

This acorns were green, but I wasn't enough fast in taking a photo, so now they are dry and brown.

A handmade paper rose S. brought to me after work (a colleague made it):

My first crochet-covered bottle is a good place for it, isn't it?

Books about craft bussiness on "patchwork pillowcase n.2":

Now that I'm out of work, I'm working to improve some aspects of my shop, but I'm also reading a very big novel by Ken Follett ("Winter of the world").

I'd like to listen something about your simple happy things in this period of the year. Leave a comment! :)

November in drawings: a beautiful start

I've decided to draw more this November.

An easy way to work on this purpose when you have only little time is having your journal and a pen near the bed and drawing something in 5 minutes before sleeping. Only a doodle or two is enough to nurture the artist in you :)

 

But I also like to have more time and fill a whole page with a bigger drawing project.

The first day of this month I realized this page about beautiful things in November:

 

In the scroll on top I wrote (in italian) "November is here" and on the bottom of the page I added a tagline about "November beautiful things":
- little birds coming back (like this)
- mushrooms
- chestnuts
- some rain (not everyday, of course!)
- wind (sometime it pulls up umbrellas)
- leaves falling down and making drawings on the ground
- first snow on the top of the mountains
- the moon (so beautiful in this season!)

 

In the next page I wrote some notes about my daily life and added some sketches about Macchia the cat and November wind:

 

 

 

Only black ink on white pages now, but I hope to have the time soon to paint something! I want to use my watercolor pencils again and test some acrylic colors I received as a gift in october.

In my F/W closet: handmade cardigan. And a tv show, too!

I've started to work around fall-winter clothes (for me) recently!

Now that I've learned new skills about clothes-making and I've noticed that I wear a lot all the clothes I make, hey, who will stop me?

I want to sew new things to wear at the beginnen of a new season!

In the last two weeks I worked around a cardigan. This one:

 

 

I saw the model (and its pattern) into a past issue of "La mia boutique" (plus size section), an italian magazine very similar to "Burda fashion".

 

 

I liked the gathered sides and the shoulder line. And that it looked easy to make! But I decided to alter the pattern a little, in order to make a long sleeves cardi.

 

To make it I picked up a knitted fabric I bought two years ago for only 0,50 €. It's slightly transparent and very very soft... probably not the best choice for this model! I think it needs a more "solid" jersey to have the best result.

I had to sew 7 little black snaps for the clousure, instead to use only a belt, as suggested in the magazine, because the fabric was so lightweight that it couldn't stay in its place -__-

 

Lesson learned.

 

 

Can you see how the cardigan is transparent when against the light?

 

I think I'll wear it with trousers and a black top under it. Or on a black dress.

Or (better for me, because I'm not a big fan of total black) coupled with a light blue skirt I want to make with a fabric I have in my stash (the cardi's fabric has some light blue spots).

I have a long list of clothes I want to sew (or refashion) for me.
Hope to have the time for!
In the meantime I'm watching a new italian tv show, whose title is "Refashion". You probably will imagine that I jumped on the chair when I saw its advertisement the first time! An italian tv show about sewing and refashion!!!
So exciting!!!
Although the projects in the show are really simple, I'm learning new things, thanks to the lovely and expert anchorwoman, Alessandra Impalli (her blog here).
Happy me!

Simple happy things: end of summer edition

Long time passed from my last "Simple happy thing" post: it was March and we were enjoying spring.

Now it's October and we are living a very hot fall, summer is still with us, but I know it's ending.

There are a lot of simple things that are bringing happyness in our life...

 

... a lovely cat sleeping in our garden:

 

 



... baking cookies and having fun with my image reflected in the oven's glass:

 

 

... flowers blossoming from my dad's succulents:

 

 

... last vegetables from our garden:

 

 

... dahlias and their colours:

 

 



... rainbow after the rain:

 

 

... a lot of wild herbs to cook, like last spring:

 

 

 

... a new plant (alocasia sanderiana) for our living room into an old hand-decorated pot:

 

... playing with my camera and an insect reflected on the glass:

 

 

These are some of the things that helped me to stay positive and give me happy moments at the end of the summer.

What about you?

02 OTT. 2013

02 OTT. 2013... this is what my new stamp says today!

 

 

Yes, another post about tools, after yesterday post. It's to thank S. for giving me this (totally unexpected) lovely gift :)
 

I'm so happy to have it to "write" the date into my moleskine everytime I want!
I've tested it today, early in the morning, before starting to write down some interesting notes from a book I'm reading these days.
Good way to start a day! A warm and sunny october day :)

And, together with my new stamp, I want to let you look into my moleskine's page and on my desk.

The page was white, but now, after an intense writing session, it's full of black&green words:

I often glue images I like (from magazines, etc.) on the pages, because I like to decorate the space when I write, expecially when these images say something to me.
I'm gluing a lot of birds recently, because I decided that birds are symbols of my dad for me (he was an expert of these little creatures).
I'm working a bit about this symbol, now, drawing and making collages. Believe it or no, I've almost finished a bag with birds! :)

On the desk I also have an interesting book about Palermo's churches (for study) and a pink flower my little niece gave to me as a gift (it is my new book mark).

What is on your desk today?
Have you some new tools you want to share with me?

The tulip bag - La borsa tulipano

[ITA + ENG post]

 

I made a new bag this week!

I'm still trying to jump out my confort zone (made of small things) and sewing medium/big bags, like I've started to do last august.

Although it's autumn (already!) I'm still thinking about flowers in these days (probably because lovely flowers are still surrounding me) and I tried to design a bag similar to tulip.

 

Ho cucito una nuova borsa questa settimana!

Sto di nuovo cercando di uscire dalla mia confort zone (dove le cose sono molto molto piccole) e di cucire borse medio/grandi, come ho fatto lo scorso agosto.

E nonostante sia autunno (di già!!!) sto pensando tanto ai fiori, in questo periodo (forse perché ne sono circondata, ultimamente), così ho cercato di progettare una borsa ispirata ad un tulipano.

 

So here we have the Tulip Bag / così ecco a voi la Borsa Tulipano:

 

 

It has four pleates on the top and they remind me how tulip's petals arrange themselves. Yes, probably it would be more "tulip" in red or orange, but... it's autumn, I'm enjoying soft colours right now!

 

Ha quattro pieghe in alto, che mi ricordano la disposizione dei petali dei tulipani.

Ok, sarebbe stata molto più "tulipanosa" in rosso o arancio, ma, ehy, è autunno, mi piace lavorare con colori più soft!

 

The part of the bag I like best is probably the wide double pocket inside:

La parte che mi soddisfa di più di questa borsa è forse la doppia tasca interna, molto spaziosa:

 

 

And this is a photo of the paper pattern I drew. It's ready to be used again and again to make other Tulips Bags, because I really like how it came out:

 

E, se siete curiosi del processo creativo come me, ecco una foto del cartamodello che ho disegnato mentre realizzavo la borsa:

 

 

 

Snowflake ornaments - the final post

The final post about my embroidered snowflakes has come, at last!

I wrote about them in three different places (1, 2, 3) and now I can show you how they came out.

 

 

After some reflections I finally decided to sew them as hexagons and stuff them with polyfill fibers. I made soft hexagonal snowflakes :)

 

 

The back of each ornament is made of a fabric whose colors are the same of the embroidery on the front. In this collage you can see all the hexagons, front and back:

 

I added some embroidery thread to hang them to the Xmas tree, of course.

 

The first snowflake was too big, so I haven't worked on it (saved it for future projects). But I realized a little ornament with the smaller snowflake (I like little things, you know it); it's so tiny, it looks like a younger brother:

 

 

I like all of them. It is probably my favourite 2012 craft project!

 

 

Now I decided to abandon my snowflake obession of a while.

But this project filled me with enthusiasm so much that I've started a new similar embroidery project, but it involves stars.

I'm making other ornaments, star-shaped and in only two colors (dark blue and white). Stay tuned! :)