Star of the East

Monday Moodboard

2012-02-13T09:38:00.000+02:00

1. PamelaAngus 2. ChoochMagooz 3. DailyReflections 4. evihan

A calm monday morning... before the after-weekend rush begins :)

Wishing you a creative Monday!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Finally!

2012-02-12T15:13:00.000+02:00

Finally the pictures I have been promising for 2 weeks!
You can see here my mother's old bedroom, it is not her room anymore :) The wall you see here on the left connects to the wall to our sewing room, and that wall is now gone.

Just breaking a wall seems like a little operation, but eventually is alot of work, mess and brings some complications.

About 60 large bags of garbage came out of it.

The entire house was in dust and a huge mess as we had to empty two rooms at once (the sewing room and my mother's room).

And that all to break a little wall...

Extra detail number one: two rooms becoming one, means two doors, which means less wall, so one door had to go.

Detail number 2: the ceilings are entirely different, one is white and the other is woodworked.

The first problem is almost solved, one door is gone.

And plastered.
Also an electrician has fixed the electricity as some lines were going through that wall.

The floors are connected with tiles, luckely both rooms have the same tiles.

Then we painted the wooden ceiling white, which makes the room much lighter and the difference of the two ceilings not so obvious.

After also painting the walls, we could finally collect all the stuff of the house back to the sewing room.

In the mean time we also had to arrange my mothers room, the whole house has been put upside down to say the least but we will spare you all the details and will only show you the sewing room :) The other side of the closed door had to be painted as well and alot of things had to change in the entire house.

Organizing and reorganizing...

And we now have a spacious sewing room...

A comfortable chair for knitting and going through books etc.

A place to iron the fabrics.

Anyone wants some vintage kilims?

2012-02-11T21:09:00.000+02:00

After our renovation we are now cleaning up the house. We came across these pieces of vintage kilims.

They are hand woven and pretty old, some bags or something else fun could be made out of it but it is not really our style, so we are looking for someone who would love these!

There are 10 pieces and they are almost 2 kilo's together, shipping is for you (should be around 20$) and it is yours! We can also split it in 2 or more if more people are interested!
Just leave a comment with a place where we can contact you, we hope to find a new home for these!
We washed them so they are completly clean and ready to use in your creative project :)

Our Creative Space...

2012-02-09T08:50:00.000+02:00

I've been having some fun with a piece of driftwood!

I bought a clock but the wood was to thick for it so I had to carve it out, long live the Dremel :)

Making a clock did not come up with finding the wood but actually happened when I saw these amazing brass door numbers at a hardware store (you can find amazing supplies there!).

I love how it turned out!

You can see more pictures and details about it in our Giftshop.

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2012-02-06T08:23:00.000+02:00

1. P8ButtonArt 2. LaMarmota 3. stellacreations 4. PenyBall

Aaaah I couldn't keep my promise, I still owe you some pictures! The thing is we started to sew in our new room right away, and I don't want to see you the mess :) But I will take pictures these days, and will show you the progress and result of our renovation.

Wishing you a creative Monday!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2012-02-02T14:00:00.000+02:00

Now that our new sewing room is ready we are finally able to make new bags!
Our favorite projects are those which involve only vintage materials, except for the thread we use to sew the bags, 100% upcycled, such a thrill!

Vintage embroideries, vintage lace and doilies...

Vintage fabrics, and upcycled leather, gathering them from all kind of places and secret hidden spaces and eventually putting them together to get a second life in an even better way then their first is such an exciting thing to do. And the biggest fun will be seeing the results ofcourse.

Speaking of results, we will show you our sewing room this weekend, promise!
See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2012-01-30T09:03:00.000+02:00

1. Xulani 2. lessandmore 3. BagsByTravelher 4. EugeniaTransylvania

Still busy organizing our sewing room! Can't wait to show you the results, but want to make it spick and span before I take final pictures :)

Have a fabulous Monday everyone!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2012-01-26T12:35:00.000+02:00

I while back I showed you our work space and told you it is a mess. You all said that it didn't look like a mess.

The thing is our workspace is light and large and you all got carried away by that :) If you look up closely it really is a clutter...

But within the clutter new collections are born, and I can't wait to the rain to stop so that I can take decent pictures of these necklaces, very happy with the results!

Our real project the past couple of weeks was a large renovation in our house. First in the living room and now we also have a much larger sewing room, which totally made the house upside down. Things are finally getting into place and soon we will show you the steps and end result of our new sewing room1

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Hunters and Gatherers

2012-01-25T14:50:00.000+02:00

January and February are the stormy months here, so we go to the beach to collect the urchins that have been stranded after the storms. We never ever take living urchins out of the water.

You can see at the color of the water that it is winter. In summer it is turqoise.

We have a different 'adress' for all the things that we collect: urchins, driftwood, limpets and other shells have all their very specific little bay.

I love that the way in which the forest meets the sea.

The last kilometer or so, the tracks are always under water.

You cannot see how deep the ruts are, so it is with great trepidation that we drive in. If the car gets stuck we are on our own here.

Finally, here is the sea. We've made it.

Monday Moodboard

2012-01-23T08:15:00.000+02:00

1. warmandsoft 2. frenchfelt 3. daimblond 4. Akamatra

By now most of you are probebly tired of all the hearts and redness, but romance is required these times so here another way of romance :)
Wishing you a fabulous monday!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2012-01-19T16:22:00.001+02:00

A bit of nostalgia this week with my old barbies from the attic. It is so much fun to give them a new life in something totally different.

Barbie arms + driftwood, and a weird metal piece from the beach, some glue, drilling and a crazy girl and this came out of it :)

I love it, and am sure that some might find it weird but weird was also a target so that is alright.
You can see here more details about the Rain Prayer Tree.

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2012-01-16T08:14:00.000+02:00

1. Myartspace 2. SatyrikonLab 3. magalerie 4. annawoz

We are in the middle of a renovation, which means working guys around the house, a total mess, lots of dust and frustrations. Breaking walls here, adding walls there, and hopefully soon we will have a larger sewing room and a clean and tidy home again :)
Because of all these hectic times I haven't been commenting on your moodboards, I will be a good girl again from next week on :)!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Monday Moodboard

2012-01-09T08:00:00.001+02:00

1. EvgeniyaMaslakova 2. DUEALBERI 3. mycherrytree 4. annakrycz

Here I am again with yet another 'special day'. But well you have to give your man some heads up so that he has time to buy you something pretty ;) Valentine's day is already here in about 1 month, so poke him from time to time with your dreams...

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Some Mess and Fur

2012-01-07T12:49:00.000+02:00

We have been a bit busy lately, between a renovation in the house and Christmas we both have neglected our blog and cleaning up our mess in our work space.

The more space you have the more mess you can make :) I think we are having our personal record at the moment, hopefully it will be a bit better in a few days.

And a fun picture from behind the scene. We always take our pictures outside, with some admiring eyes on us all the time :)

Monday Moodboard

2012-01-02T08:25:00.000+02:00

1. BlueTimes 2. psarokokalo 3. QueenAndEye 4. Fingerprince

I hope you all had a great start for the New Year, Happy New Year to everyone :)

Monday Moodboard

2011-12-26T08:35:00.000+02:00

1. HandmadePrints4u 2. daimblond 3. ArtGlamourSligo 4. magalerie

New Year is quickly approaching, next week's moodboards will be in 2012.
Time flies...

Have a great monday everyone!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

The Box Maker

2011-12-23T14:36:00.002+02:00

Last week we were two days in Izmir, Turkey's third biggest city where we go twice a year to buy supplies.
Besides our regular stuff we were looking for big boxes to package our bags in. A small cartonage factory, or office supplier.

Who ever we asked told us that we had to go to Istanbul for boxes. We couldn't imagine that in a city of five million we wouldn't be able to find them.
Finally, somebody knew somebody who gave us directions: 'Go till the end of the ruins and you will see a kind of street. Turn there in and you will find the box maker'.

So we walked along the grecian ruins of old Smyrna, where the archeological digging is still a work in progress.

The remnants of a ottoman cemetery.

The cuppolas of an historical hammam.

And here it is. In a 'kind of street', the entrance of his establishment, for those in the know!

No effort has been spared to make the place cozy, organic, shabby-chic-sans-chic and very special.

Missing in the pictures is the lonesome black chicken picking at the droppings from the cages.

But the guy does make boxes and was able to help us.

This bizarre entourage has nothing to do with poverty, mind you. We have met many business owners with the same reticence to invest in their business.

If asked he would say that he can do his work here fine and that his customers would think that he charges too much if he went to a better spot. Or something along those lines.

And we? We loved the dreamlike quality of the enterprise, loved it!

Monday Moodboards

2011-12-19T11:07:00.000+02:00

1. Baymut 2. DinaFragola 3. eljuks 4. ZenzPhotography

For all who are dreaming of a white Christmas :)
A blogpost about my trip and our supply shopping trip will come soon!

Have a great monday everyone!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Monday Moodboard

2011-12-12T08:00:00.001+02:00

1. starrybluesky 2. stephmel 3. trotalo 4. ARTISANIEeurope

When you see this, I'll be in Amsterdam. For the moment I'm still in Marmaris, thankfully blogger allows me to program this beforehand to avoid dissapointment :)
I'll be away for just a few days, hopefully I'll be back with tons of supplies and inspiration!

Have a great monday everyone!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2011-12-08T14:13:00.000+02:00

I've been making some applique to adorn a bag. I will show you how I do it. I've seen this method in blogs but using freezer paper. Freezer paper is only available in the States, as far as I know, so I use iron-on interfacing, the thinnest, non woven kind, that is transparent enough to trace the pattern on.

Trace the pattern on the glue-y side and put it glue side up on the right side of the fabric.

Machine stitch all around the shape. I've reduced the pressure of the presser foot to very light. That allows me to turn the small piece of fabric very easily under the presser foot with my left hand. The feeding dogs are up. You have great control over the stitching this way.

Cut around the shape with a very small seam allowance.

Make a slit in the interfacing. Don't cut into your fabric!

And turn it inside out. If the shape is tiny, tweezers will help you here.

Iron on the back.The interfacing will adhere to your shape, making appliquing a breeze.

Do the same with all the pieces of your design.

For the skinny stams I used a very old method, from the time before Clover had those smart pants bias makers.
Insert a big needle on your iron board cover or a piece of batting. Insert in and out twice, with the middle part of the needle that is out of the fabric beeing the desired bias tape width.

Pull with tweezers a strip of fabric through your 'bias maker', ironing as you go. Spray starch will help you.
Have fun!

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-12-05T08:44:00.000+02:00

1. ManniaTitta 2. mouhoxlab 3. proiect44 4. cartonBois

This week I wanted to point you out the auction the EuropeanStreetTeam is having on our team's blog. It is a handmade babet blanket. The squares are made by different team members, and the blanket is put together by Baahar. She and 2 other members are also running our team's charity shop. So if you still have some Christmas shopping to do, it is great to both get presents and help a good cause.
You can see more details on the auction here, and the team's charity shop is here.

Have a 'good' Monday everyone!

Our Creative Space...

2011-12-01T13:22:00.000+02:00

Wile creating you always aim to make something beautiful. To make something beautiful you often go through different stages and tools untill you finally have the end result. We usually show the pretty side of our creative space but today I'll show you some ugly and weird details.

I'm sure that everyone who creates often, has some weird tools and places that look battered and ugly, but the thing is those are just perfect as they are, they have been used for a long time and you know what you can expect from it :)

I'll just let your imagination guess what these details are :)

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Secret Santa

2011-11-30T12:50:00.000+02:00

One of the teams we are member of on Etsy organized a Secret Santa swap. I feel so very lucky that AnnaRubyKing is my Secret Santa! I'm a huge fan of both her artwork and her jewelry.

I feel incredibly spoiled, the only luxerious problem will be that mum wants too, so a fight is waiting for us :)

She also sent us a piece of her beautiful printed fabrics, with starfish!

Cards, tags and a beautiful original piece of artwork, getting green aren't you? :)

Thank you so very much Anna, I couldn't wait till Christmas to open your package, but it felt like Christmas today :) Also a special thank you to Maria who organized and matched the Secret Santa's.

Monday Moodboard

2011-11-28T08:00:00.000+02:00

1. viltalakim 2. psarokokalo 3. kaleda 4. DinaFragola

No need to have a real tree to get in the Christmas feeling, their are so many substitutes for trees!
Have a great (cyber) monday everyone!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Not forgotten :)

2011-11-27T09:19:00.000+02:00

Before you start to think that we have abandoned our blog, here we are to safe it :)
We simply forgot to make a creative space post, by the time we did remember it was late and dark, we will make it up with you this week!
In the mean time, Cyber Monday is tomorrow, hope you'll have a super fun time surfing online from shop to shop, buy Handmade to support small businesses and independent artists!
If you were thinking about buying from us for Christmas, this week will be the best week to be sure it arrives in time :) Have a wonderful Sunday!

Monday Moodboard

2011-11-21T08:00:00.001+02:00

1. TeaJennys 2. Varm 3. katinytis 4. StemellinaSupplies

For those who don't want to have the regular Christmas decoration, here is a different way to celebrate this time of year :)
Have a great monday everyone!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2011-11-17T11:26:00.000+02:00

I'm still having fun with soldering, and becoming more confidend to make more difficult pieces. These are the pieces I am working on right now.

Wood, glass, metal, stone, all come together, I hope they will become as I hope.

Pebbles and tiles with metal tails will become fun necklaces.

Not to forget, to my mother's dissaproval, I'm making a huge mess too :)

In the mean time mum hasn't been sitting still either, these two bags are my favorites that she has been making lately, love the natural touch of wood and linen. Both took her days to finish, a true labour of love.

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-11-14T08:00:00.001+02:00

1. azulado 2. PamelaAngus 3. FrejaToys 4. JKphotography

I know it seems to be too early to think about Christmas, but actually only 40 days left and the deadline to purchase things online is quickly approaching!

Have a great monday everyone!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Giveaway winners!

2011-11-13T21:46:00.000+02:00

So sorry everyone, sometimes we are really like two headless chickens :)
With a little delay, these two ladies are the winners:
Annuk and Mari

Please contact us with your address and favorite scarf, incase you both have the same favorite the first one who contacts us will get that one :) Congrats!

Our Creative Space...

2011-11-10T13:45:00.001+02:00

Thanks to a 5 day national holiday here every shop and everything was closed these past days. Which gave me the time and inspiration to finally learn to solder. The materials and tools were waiting for me for years and with a great tutorial I've been having super much fun.

Here some previews of what I've been making. Everything needs to be cleaned, waxed and cleaned again and then I can finish the pieces, but I am too excited to wait for that so here they all are in their current state.

I spray painted a large piece of driftwood slightly white. Below it will hang the crystals, to become a cloud with rain drops, all with found or vintage materials.

A beach tile has become a pendant.

This will also become a wall hanging, with large corals, all found on the beach.

The red corals are farmed bamboo coral, and not in any danger, just for those who wonder :) And will become super fun necklaces.

My mum wanted a walnut boat for ages, finally it could be made, and look how super cute it is. The sailis a piece of vintage doily, which we made a border for with wire inside to keep it in a perfect shape.

And finally two sea urchin ornaments, to decorate your house all year long.
I will soon show the results when they are completly finished with better pictures!
p.s. Today is the last day that you can enter our giveaway!

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-11-07T08:00:00.001+02:00

1. oneperfectday 2. LeelaBijou 3. HappyFallout 4. skrynka

Summers are long here, and our autumn has just started. Leaves are falling, i day time it is still very warm but nights are lovely cool and you can snuggle your blanket, it is just perfect. One of my favorite things in these times are trying to find leaves which only have there skeletons left, I find them amazing. These all remind me of that!

Wishing you a fabulous Monday!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2011-11-03T12:49:00.000+02:00

An other manipulated fabric bag made with smocked gingham.

Using gingham makes the smocking very easy. I also like the clean and structured look that it creates.

And here it is : the Granny Smith bag, fresh as the apple. Will be available soon in our bagshop.
Our giveaway is still going, incase you have missed it :)

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-10-31T09:44:00.000+02:00

1. AntigoniCreations 2. HappyFallout 3. andrea0503 4. CraftUnicat

I'm not entirely awake yet, so I can't give you a good explanation why I made a geometrical mosaic this week :)

Wishing you a fabulous Monday!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Giveaway!

2011-10-30T13:50:00.000+02:00

Last thursday, we went to the local market. We don't do that very often since it got so tourist oriented.
Pazar (where the bazar comes from) is the turkish word for market. It is also the word for sunday, what was traditionally the market day before the republic changed the rest day from the islamitic friday to the european sunday.
So, sunday is not the market day anymore, but today we invite you to come with us and admire the oyas (needle lace and crochetted lace) we found.

We purchased several oyas, and two will be for two lucky winners! Just leave a comment in this post, 2 winners will be picked at November 10. Anyone can join, 1 comment is enough :)

We've known this 'auntie' as long as we live here and she hasn't changed at all in fifteen years. She wears the traditional şalvar and headdress of the region and her hands are hennaed.
She has a small stand at the market where she sells her oyas. While she waits for customers she keeps working at them. Handmade at it's best!

We purchased several oyas, and two will be for two lucky winners! Just leave a comment in this post, 2 winners will be picked at November 10. Anyone can join, 1 comment is enough :)

The ones you can win have both needle lace (made by hand) you can use it as a scarf, bind it around your waist or cut it and make something entirely different of it.

Our Creative Space...

2011-10-27T14:07:00.000+03:00

Have been making hexagon flowers for a new bag. They are really easy: cut hexagons in two sizes, one about double size of the other.

Pin one large hexagon on a small one, good sides together, matching the corners and folding the extra fabric of the large one to one side. Stitch five sides and turn.

Close the sixth side by hand, give the puffing fabric a turn and stitch the center in place.
Would make a great effect in a quilt interpersed with regular hexagons. Although easy they do they alot of time, but hopefully it will be worth the result :)

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-10-24T08:00:00.001+03:00

1. stephmel 2. lessandmore 3. ReComputing 4. FiligreeCreations

Today we have no electricity from 7am till 5pm, this is now the 4th day in the past 10 days as they are working on the general lines in this area. No electricity means no light, no internet, no cooking, and lots more. So this moodboards is programmed the day before so that you atleast don't have any Monday Moodboards withdrawals :)

Have an enlighting Monday everyone!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2011-10-20T15:35:00.000+03:00

Manupulating fabric has often many steps to make it interesting.

Many steps make it look like it is not going to turn into something attractive.

But slowly when you come to the end it become something totally different, and with some extra work you have a unique one of a kind bag, completly made out of repurposed fabrics.
Will be available in our bagshop soon!

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-10-17T08:00:00.002+03:00

1. Lindecise 2. marinatea84 3. Intres 4. greengrass2

Autumn colors and falling leaves, warmness but weather cooling down...

Wishing you a wonderful Monday!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2011-10-13T16:01:00.000+03:00

Busy in the shell lab, filling tiny tiny bottle with mini mini shells. Restocking the A piece of the Ocean with me Necklace.

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-10-10T10:00:00.000+03:00

1. thegretest 2. psarokokalo 3. SilentRoses 4. krize

We had a wonderful storm and rain yesterday, everything looks greener and fresher again. With every thunder the doggies come closer to us, they are such heroes :)

We also wanted to thank you for all your kind comments for Ufo, it helped us alot, thank you so much everyone!

Wishing you a wonderful monday, with sun for those who had alot of rain and with rain for those who have enough of the sun!
RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Goodbye Ufo

2011-10-09T11:02:00.000+03:00

After 6 months of struggeling to safe our Ufo, we have put him to sleep on wednesday. We will spare you his last pictures, although we managed to let him gain weight he looked horrible. All his muscles were dying, and for the last 10 days he could barrely walk without falling and slipping, like Bambi on ice.

It was heartbreaking to see him so ill, and although we tried everything he was only getting worse.

A few months ago he was diagnosed with myositis eosinophilica, an anti-imune illness before that we thought it was a problem with his teeth. His blood tests and x-rays came out normal. He got steroids after that, but it didn't help. When he finally started to get wounds all over his body and had a hard time to get up and walk, we decided to make an end of his sufferings.

It is weird to see him in these pictures as we have seen him boney and ill for so many months, he was such a beautiful dog. His mother Daisy and brother Leo are still with us.

The rest of the furry family have been quiet and have been eating not much since that day, we are all grieving...

Monday Moodboard

2011-10-03T09:37:00.000+03:00

1. Varm 2. MatkirschPhoto 3. aarghh 4. EarthLab

I somehow managed to catch a flu. Spent most of the time in bed this weekend and still not feeling superb, so here a moodboard with socks (first time after months that I have worn them!), a pillow, fluffy clouds and a bacteria brooch.
Wishing you all a healthy Monday!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2011-09-29T14:05:00.000+03:00

I've been playing with vintage scraps again, it really makes me happy.

Look at the stack of bright pancakes!

All it takes is perseverance.

And slowly a bag begins to form.

I would love to have the space to teach workshops. I so miss the contact with other crafters in real life.

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-09-26T08:00:00.002+03:00

1. lilarubyking 2. ArtMind 3. karoart 4. JaneBoFelt

Some magic and texture this week...
Wishing you all a magical Monday!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space... Lazy Nine Patch

2011-09-22T14:56:00.000+03:00

In the spirit of reducing my mountain of scraps, I've been doing some nine patches that may or may not become a bag. The nine patch is of course, pretty straitforward, but I'm not a quilter, so I googled to see if there was an easier way to do it. All the tutorials I saw envolved lots of pinning and ironing the seams in between. I like to be practical, or lazy, if you want, so I developed a way to do it with NO backstitching, NO pinning and NO ironing in between.

Lay your squares at the side of your sewing machine in the way you want it. I put the stitch length at 1.8. That makes tiny, tiny stitches, so that you won't need to backstitch. The numbers on the squares indicates the order of sewing them together.

Chainstitch squares 1-2, 3-4 and 5-6 together. DONT SEPARATE THE SQUARES.

Then, again chainstitch nrs 7,8 and 9 to squares 2,4 and 6. Again, DONT SEPARATE THE SQUARES.

Lay again your block on the table and fold row 1-2-7 on top of the middle row. Hold it at both sides and you will see that the tread between the squares acts like pins would do and the seams alternate and nestle almost on their own

Repeat with the other rows. If you had the seams in the upper fabric going down in the previous row, coax them now gently up in this row.

This is the result.

And the back, Now iron!

As I said before, I am not a quilter, so maybe there are lots of folks doing it this way, but I haven't seen it explained so on line, so I wanted to share it with you. I use only reclaimed scraps,soft and slippery, but it took me less than two minutes to put the block together. If you use crisp quilting cotton I bet that you can do it in a minute!

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-09-19T08:00:00.001+03:00

1. Kitty016 2. regularhome 3. fleurfatale 4. AngelPearls

No need to be sad about coming winter, winter is nice too and besides spring is right around the corner :)

Wishing you all a lovely Monday!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!
Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2011-09-15T14:05:00.000+03:00

Two delicious smocked purses are in the making. Mum did the smocking and now it is time to turn them in to purses.

They are both made with Gingham which gives a super effect!
We also had a little visitor, sitting calmly on our sewing machines cable, a praying mantis. It was safely put outside after this picture :)

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-09-12T10:20:00.000+03:00

1. zsbekefi 2. marabaradesign 3. ValsPlay 4. kovale

Some random beauties in great colors, to start your week a beautiful way!
Have a great monday everyone!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2011-09-08T11:55:00.001+03:00

Just like with our bags, this week we have made some jewelry with vintage embroidery. Little pieces are enough to make some sunny necklaces.

We are also busy with a special custom order, a mother and her 3 children, will be represented with sea urchins and maybe a turtle. The nice thing of custom orders is beside the fact of trying new things you also get to hear great stories.

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-09-05T08:00:00.000+03:00

1. sunshineartdesign 2. creairtive 3. lamarquisedesanges 4. zsbekefi

Some classic black and white's this week.

Wishing you a fabulous monday!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Some Mistakes are for the Better

2011-09-04T17:48:00.001+03:00

Remember that piece of smocking mum made for hours and eventually found out that she did it wrong?
After 3 months of waiting for inspiration to strike without letting all that work go to waste, we finally turned it in one of our most favorite bags uptill now!

We removed all the thread from the smocking, as it stayed for so long in keeps its shape. Then we used a sticky interface so that it will stay that way, no matter what. The best part of it are the amazing natural driftwood handles, we just love it :)

You can see more pictures and information of this bag in our shop.

Our Creative Space...

2011-09-01T13:48:00.000+03:00

As Estella told you last week, I am in a patchwork roll.
The accuquilt gadget is to blame, partially, since it makes a feast of the cutting part.

And I am determined to reduce our five ginormous baskets of scraps to one. Don't know if a life time is enough to manage that, but I try.

This time, cathedral window quilting combined with clever folding has resulted in one of the most beautiful bags that we have done to date!

It is now available in our bagshop!

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-08-29T10:18:00.000+03:00

1. LouisestArt 2. lottalosten 3. anniejewelry 4. MatkirschPhoto

While Irene is storming through at the other side of the ocean it is hard not to think about greys and blues.
Hope that you all are safe over there!

We are also featured in this week's Keep it Weird on Etsy which was also inspired by Irene and storms, with our Missing the Sound of the Ocean Bag.

Wishing you a fabulous monday!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2011-08-25T16:31:00.000+03:00

Mum is in a patchwork frenzy. We have millions of small vintage fabrics, pieces of doilies, trims and other yummy materials which can be perfectly used for these kind of bags. Here is the first but more will be coming. Keep an eye on our bagshop and you'll slowly see appear some one of a kind patchwork delights :)

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-08-22T10:25:00.000+03:00

1. lePetitFoyer 2. lil3birdy 3. vendeghang 4. GufoLab

As I still would prefer to be in the Dreamworld, I've created a dreamy collage at the virtual world to enjoy in the real world :)

Wishing you a fabulous monday!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2011-08-18T11:06:00.000+03:00

Another day in our urchin garden. These flower pendants will all be one of a kind, and you will be able to pick your own from our garden :)

We have made them with vintage enamel flowers, white filigree and a matching sea urchin in the centres.

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-08-15T10:15:00.000+03:00

1. Kirschbits 2. subrosa123 3. Deconfetti 4. martice

A cheerful moodboard to wake you all up in a cheerful way this Monday :)

Wishing you a fabulous monday!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2011-08-11T15:30:00.000+03:00

As always we have many projects at hand, but we will show you the two latest ones.

Mum has been crochetting squares around vintage flowers. They will eventually become a bag, the backside will be with plain squares.

Each square is blocked to get the good shape, and after connecting them they are blocked again, this gives the bag a better shape. The bag will be nicely cream with a bit of pop of color.

In the mean time I wanted to used the small piece of scale fabric that was left of our mermaid bags project.

We first thought about a small cluth. But then I thought it would be fun to make a fish out of it, with the scales ready that should be fun.

After drawing the shape, cutting a tail from a silver piece of fake leather the fish was almost ready to swim.

It has a zipper on the top, and fish shaped chain as strap to wear it across your body, a real show stopper! It has a bubble patterned fabric as lining, definetly a one of a kind, soon in our bagshop!

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

The Button Family

2011-08-10T08:29:00.002+03:00

It all begun with this bag, that I have showed you before. It is an adorable pouch portreting a dutch peasant family and all the little heads, including the cat!, are made with buttons.
I had never seen such buttons before, but I started looking for them, and they appear to have been quite popular in the States around 1900.

And like this goes with buttons, it is addictive, and I got myself a small collection :)

This one left is part of a series, I've seen them on Ebay for high prices, but I got mine for much less! I would love to know where this button family thing comes from. Searching on Google only brings up family trees of real Button families!

These are bridge tally cards, probably picturing the actual players.

This one is very different , but I love it too: Missis, will yer please sew me a shirt on this button?
Well of course, the beginning is already there !!

This bunch I bought on Etsy very recently: several cats and dogs, people and blank ones to make my own button family!!
Hop over to Kraplap's blog to enjoy even more button facts!

Monday Moodboard

2011-08-08T11:43:00.000+03:00

1. lovelytrifles 2. PetitPlat 3. ShebboDesign 4. starrybluesky

Having a VERY hard time with waking up today, hence my late Monday Moodboard and lots and lots of coffee :)

Wishing you a fabulous monday!

RULES: Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

School is Cool

2011-08-06T12:06:00.000+03:00

With all the Back to School and Geometry that is going on on Etsy, I finally made some jewelry with an old wooden ruler. I had it planned for atleast a year and am glad I finally did it.

Not all may agree with me when I say that school and above all geometry is cool, but there are plenty of us who do have a weak spot for shapes and numbers. Geometry lovers, geeks, teachers, students, architects, and many more will love these necklaces!

All will be one of a kind or in a very limited edition as they are all made with vintage materials.

You can find them in our shop.

Our Creative Space...

2011-08-04T12:21:00.000+03:00

This week we have been having alot of frustration with our sewing machine. It is not even 2 years old and costed a small fortune so that makes it even more frustrating.

I called the dealer and explained the problem, I didn't want it to sent it to him as it was just back from the service, with his help I fixed it (luckely I have years of machine repair experience from our old sewing machine).

Anyway we are still not happy with its performans and are thinking about changing it with another model, as the fun goes away when you are constantly breaking needles and fighting the machine in general. Anyone happy with a Bernina machine and could give us advice about which model would be good?

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-08-01T09:44:00.000+03:00

1. BlueTerracotta 2. moonandlion 3. thespottedsparrow 4. littlellama

Weather is hot, bees are buzzing and it is time to start the new week!

Wishing you a fabulous monday!

Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it! Please only add your link if the mosaic features Team mates!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Butterflies

2011-07-30T12:09:00.001+03:00

As promised in the previous post, here are the results of our butterfly experiments!

The spoons are 'unheaded' and have vintage finds as heads, to prevent scary looking insects we used a vintage watch face, vintage rhinestone and a large vintage rose.

The wings are all made with vintage fabrics and lace, and as you know the bodies are vintage silverware, recycling at its best :)
The butterflies will be listed in the coming days in our giftshop.

Our Creative Space...

2011-07-28T12:06:00.000+03:00

Mariposa : Any insect of the family lepidoptera.
This is all the information to be had about butterflies in this spanish encyclopedie from 1934. But what it lacks in the info department is made good by this beautiful litho.
It was all we needed for our new project involving old silverware that may be from 1934 as well!

Wire, lace, gauze and old findings put together will give us some very special lepidoptera indeed...

The old silverware have amazing details. We'll show you the end results soon!

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-07-25T08:00:00.001+03:00

1. sunshineartdesign 2. ArtGlamourSligo 3. Mirthquake 4. birribe

For those who are staying at home like we do, during the Summer, here some goodies to make your home even better!

Wishing you a fabulous monday!

Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2011-07-21T13:22:00.000+03:00

Busy in the sea urchin garden :)

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Acting Silly

2011-07-20T15:03:00.000+03:00

Life is so much more fun when you act silly and of course with furry love :)

Monday Moodboard

2011-07-18T08:00:00.002+03:00

1. MyMonography 2. magalerie 3. artreasury 4. moonandlion

With Summer comes vacations and travels, all those who are going to have a little escape, Bon Voyage :)

Wishing you a fabulous monday!

Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Boiled Brains

2011-07-15T12:40:00.001+03:00

We did know that it was thursday yesterday, but because of the heat we totally forgot Our Creative Space, sorry for that but we are blaming the heat and boiled brains :)
The heat didn't stop us creating though and to make up with you we wanted to show you our two newest bags, freshly made and soon available in our bagshop.
The first is made for this week's challenge of the EuropeanStreetTeam with the theme Circus.
The second is a super cute pouch all made with vintage and recycled materials.

P.S. Estella's title for this post is by the way also the name of a turkish very popular soup, 'kelle paça', which main ingredient is exactly that, boiled brains, of the sheep, in that case.

It is usually consumed in the night or early morning, specially after a heavy drinking and it is supposed to help prevent a hangover. I don't know why. Maybe it makes you puke??

If you insist, I can give you the recipe.

Monday Moodboard

2011-07-11T09:39:00.000+03:00

1. artwatercolor 2. karmologyclinic 3. MyMonography 4. Manufactapaper

It is extremly hot here the last few days, shadow can only be found at night and going outside is not so smart these days. I've made a sunny moodboard for those who can use some sun!

Wishing you a fabulous monday!

Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space... + Birthday

2011-07-07T14:19:00.000+03:00

Not much creativity going on today, as it is my birthday :) But I did wanted to show you the finished result of last weeks project, before we will be extremly busy with eating cheesecake :)

(picture from Giedrecraftideas)

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-07-04T08:00:00.002+03:00

1. ARTinVENICE 2. skrynka 3. nauli 4. harlechcottagecrafts

Another Nautical selection, I can't help it! I just love the sea and everything that comes with it.
I did make it blue, white and red for all who are celebrating their country, happy Fourth of July!

Wishing you a fabulous monday!

Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2011-06-30T13:18:00.000+03:00

Mum has been busy with another way of manupulating fabric.

Cut, fold and iron, cut fold and iron, and that dozens of time, would be better in winter time to warm up :)

When one row is finished everything gets stiched up to secure it, before starting on a new row.

But the result is wonderful!

The Mermaids Tail Bag is slowly getting in to shape, just a few finishing touches left before it will be up and running in our bagshop.

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-06-27T11:53:00.001+03:00

1. vadjutka 2. PeshtemalShop 3. MyMonography 4. milkysupplies

Sunny blue sky, for many months to come, if anyone is having too much rain, you are welcome to sent it our way :)

Wishing you a fabulous monday!

Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Update on Ufo

2011-06-25T11:43:00.001+03:00

For those who were wondering how Ufo is doing, here is an update. He still gets canned food, as he still can't chew normally. And he gets a huge amount of love, hugs and kisses. He has also become a lap dog on the age of 7, and with the size for two laps he is extremly hot and heavy, but I can't say no to his sad eyes.

And isn't love the best medicine?

Our Creative Space...

2011-06-23T10:58:00.000+03:00

A very colorful creative space this week, while we are creating rainbows for this week's challenge of the EuropeanStreetTeam with the theme Rainbow! It will become a very happy tote once it is finished.

And more color and sunshine, while we are busy with our new jewelry line Green at Heart, you can see the first in our shop. They all will be a combination of vintage embroidery, felt and metal, with a floral theme.

And our biggest hobby, creating a huge mess :)...

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Finished!

2011-06-21T22:58:00.000+03:00

A while back I showed you how mum started to knit a bolero for me. It has been finished for a while, just time has been flying this month so only now found the opportunity to show it off!

It has been knitted and then finished off with a crochet border. It also has a large amount of mother of pearl buttons so that you can button it in different ways to wear it differently.

Unfortunatly I haven't been able to wear it yet, as Summer has arrived, will have to be patient till Autumn before I can show it off in town :)

Monday Moodboard

2011-06-20T10:32:00.000+03:00

1. EarthLab 2. lilarubyking 3. magalerie 4. hamamhouse

Summer is really here now, it is hot hot hot and time to go to the beach!

Wishing you all a wonderful monday!

Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it!

Please link back to this blogpost so that everyone can check the other Monday Moodboards.

Our Creative Space...

2011-06-16T20:13:00.000+03:00

This is our latest obsession: turning embroidered vintage linens that have hibernated for decades in someones drawers into hip bags.

The lovely embroidery gets framed in patchwork in coordinated colors.

I'm on a roll!

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Saving Private Ufo

2011-06-14T11:46:00.000+03:00

As you all might know by now, we take care of 13 dogs. All have their past and had their battles on the street or previous bad owners. They bring alot of love and joy in our life, although it is often hard as they depend on you like little children, little children who never grow up.

About one and a half month ago we noticed that Ufo lost weight and appetite, we bought nice food for him and gave it seperatly to him in case he didn't like the food or if he didn't want competition with the others. But under his thick long fur he kept feeling boney.

When a month ago he still was looking bad we let him be trimmed to see what would come out below the fur. An extremly anorexia type ghostly dog came out of it. He has never been fat, but was always perfectly fine. We then also noticed a large bump under his right eye and we feared that he had a tumor.

So our Vet took some bloodsamples and sent it to a lab, but everything was looking fine in his bloodwork. After some further research we discovered that it was the root of his tooth that got infected. The problem is that no vet here in our little town has much experience with such a case. So while mum investigated the true source on the internet we also searched for a dentist willing to help us out. We finally found a lovely dentist who wanted to help, on a sunday morning when no human customers were around. And this Sunday together with our Vet and another dentist they took Xrays and had to remove two teeth, and stich it all up to prevent bleeding. Ufo is now recovering with a sad face but hopefully in about a week or two he'll be good again, except for the swelling under his eye which will take a long time to go.

We are now relieved that the poor boy is not suffering anymore. Of course all this tender loving care comes with a price. The vet bill is every month our highest expence, but this month it's staggering...

All the things we do for our furry kids, is hard to imagine that some people can't love them is pretty unbelievable....

Monday Moodboard

2011-06-13T08:00:00.000+03:00

1. lovelytrifles 2. StemellinaSupplies 3. fleurfatale 4. PetitPlat

Summer... sun and lots of fruit :)

You can make the mosaic with the fun gadgets of bighugelabs.

Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it!

Haute Handbags

2011-06-11T23:06:00.000+03:00

We are thrilled to show you our first magazine feature for our bagshop!

We were contacted by the editor of Haute Handbags last year and she asked us to sent some bags for a photoshot.

We also made a tutorial to make your own Cutest Bag, or be inspired by it.

Yaaaaay :)

Our Creative Space...

2011-06-09T14:12:00.000+03:00

As always, there are new projects all over the place.

This is a multicolored version of the Crazy Daisy bag. After I crochet every flower I pin it in place on a towel to prevent it from turning. It saves a lot of time and frustration.

And here we are cutting patchwork pieces with our newest gadget, the accuquilt. The name is all wrong, no accu at all but only a manual crank. Very green and I cannot praise it enough! Super thing :)

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

EuropeanStreetTeam Challenge

2011-06-07T12:27:00.002+03:00

( PetitPlat)

We won the last challenge with the theme A day on the Beach!

So now it is time for a new theme!

Summer means more time outside, one nice thing of this time is Picnics!

So the new theme is PICNIC

Think about grass, food, Gingham, berries, parks, the great outdoors, barbeques, and many more!

You can add the link of your listing below.

Monday Moodboard

2011-06-06T07:59:00.003+03:00

1. HoneyCase2 2. AleciaV 3. azulado 4. karoart

I'm in a garden mood these day, might be because summer has really arrived and everything needs to be watered every day to keep it green.

You can make the mosaic with the fun gadgets of bighugelabs.

Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it!

Our Creative Space...

2011-06-02T20:00:00.000+03:00

I'm always searching on Etsy and Ebay for gorgeous hand embroidered vintage linens that can be made the focal of a bag.

This one has it all: beautiful and skilled embroidery, lovely colors and a message to boost:
No roses whithout thorns - no love without sorrows

It will make a great bag.

And do you know what my sorrow is at the moment?

I spent days smocking that piece of fabric that you saw last week, and guess what? After finishing it and pulling the threads, I discovered that I had done the smocking on the wrong side, that is, the good side but it should have been the wrong side.
It was very clearly written in the book, why didn't I see it?

Now you can not get rid of those floating threads that you see here between the folds.

There are several choices now.

a) pull out all the threads and start anew
B) pull out all my hair and learn to follow instructions when I'm following instructions, if you get my drift
c) try and transform it into something different

Still thinking...

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-05-30T07:31:00.000+03:00

1. sesideco 2. EarthLab 3. KajaDesign 4. BHBKidstyle

Today our car will have a check up, to be sure that it has all that is required to stay on the roads, which means hours of waiting *sigh*.
Have a great Monday everyone!

You can make the mosaic with the fun gadgets of bighugelabs.

Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it!

The Devaluation of Handmade

2011-05-28T19:42:00.000+03:00

Somebody asked us recently what ‘handmade’ meant to us and why, in our opinion, handmade is now much more popular than ten years ago, for instance.

(gildinglilies)

I would like to share here with you some of my thoughts in the matter.
To begin with, ‘handmade’, means for me simply, made by hand. Beautifully or sloppily, uniquely or mass produced –by hand- , creatively or copied, all is possible.
Although we all use the term handmade as a synonymous for exclusively made, we all know that is not that, per se. The hilarious site Regretsy is a good source for horrors made by hand. From dried orange peel posing for earrings to ‘artistically’ put together clothing that won’t stand wearing, let alone washing, there are masses of stuff made by hand that could have better remained unmade.
So, in order to continue to use the term handmade as a term to express quality, we need to be more specific, handmade alone is not enough.

(Youngish)

Ten years ago, or thirty, the situation was not much different, in my opinion. At that time, there were exclusive shops offering beautifully handmade items and we were all being pestered with itchy hand knits.
What has changed? What has changed is that with the onset of internet, Etsy and similar sites have made possible to sell handmade wares without the need to peddling them to shops or fairs.
Anybody with a modest camera and basic computer knowledge can offer his/her products to a world wide audience.
And in the strength of Etsy, its availability, resides also its weakness. Everybody can put up stuff for sale. And while Etsy has been a life saver for us, I notice by myself that I don’t browse as much on Etsy as I used to do.
There is an amazing amount of talent on Etsy. Gorgeous items, true art. But to discover them, one has to wade through a still bigger sea of items that are made by hand, but without involvement of the mind, or the soul.

(alibubba)

I know that I may sound elitist, or snobbish, but I dream of an ‘Etsy-Deluxe’, so to speak, a curated Etsy for only hand-well-made items. Items that are original and durable, items made without cutting corners, items with artistic and esthetic value.
The term handmade has devaluated by its success, and a new word –or a new approach- is needed.
I would love to hear your thoughts in the matter.

(foliage)

Our Creative Space...

2011-05-26T16:19:00.000+03:00

Again, we have been busy like bees. I started to crochet this bag with jute string and cotton. Extremely difficult to crochet that hard string. In the end, Estella took it over and finished it.

The bag will last a life time or two, though!

During its long life the owner will feel the need to wash the lining, so we made a removable lining fastened with buttons.

The lining is a lovely vintage hand embroidered piece, with very fine details.

Is she cute...or is she cute?

I also started an other endless bag project. The technical inspiration comes from the book Manipulating Fabric, by Colette Wolff, THE BOOK for all kind of fabric manipulations destined to obtain a 3D effect, like shirring, smocking, pleating and tucking. The book contains no finished projects, only black an white photographs and grafics of samples, it is a text book, in fact, but wonderfully well written, clear and fascinating.
More than one life time would be needed to make something out of every sample, even one sample could inspire you to a life time of projects!

This is called italian contoured smocking and consists in folding fabric in horzontal and vertical rows to create ruffled effects. I made a proof on a piece of linen woven in basket wave, to avoid the stipling of the fabric.

This is how it looks after basting the rows.

And this is how it looks after pulling the threads.

For the bag, first I made a patchwork of hand dyed fabrics. Then I discovered that I hadn't enough iron on smocking dots to stipple the fabric. I didn't want to wait weeks for the sheets of dots to arrive (no such thing where we live), so I decided to baste waste canvas to the fabric to guide the lines. It works, albeit is difficult to see.

This is all I have to show after two days of hard work!

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Monday Moodboard

2011-05-23T08:00:00.000+03:00

1. syko 2. ArtedeumDeco 3. BHBKidstyle 4. ChoochMagooz

Still in the mood of houses and building them :)
Have a great Monday everyone!

You can make the mosaic with the fun gadgets of bighugelabs.

Feature your fellow EuropeanStreetTeam mates by making a mosaic. You can add your link here so that others can see it!

Finished!

2011-05-21T20:06:00.000+03:00

After 3 hard working days, the mission is accomplished and the terrace is finished!

I'm sure our friends will enjoy their large roof terrace during many happy summers.
I am back home and soon you'll see our regular creativity :)

Progress

2011-05-20T21:32:00.000+03:00

Slowly work is coming to an end and the result is in sight!

Tomorrow the final touches and I can get home.

In the mean time I have finished my own project, the top will be crochetted by mum to become a bag.

Tomorrow you'll see the finished result of the roof!

Some kind of Creative Space

2011-05-19T22:32:00.000+03:00

No job goes unfinished in our household, so the roof, with some delays, is now becoming pretty with tiles and paint. I went alone today and they started with the tiles. The guys just left, yes on 10p.m., and tomorrow morning they will continue.

The last peek before it got too dark to take pictures.

And a roof terrace should have a nice view, here it is....

Between running up and down to check the workers, I am working on a second crazy daisy bag, no tv or internet does do wonders in production :)

To be continued...

Monday Moodboard

2011-05-16T08:00:00.003+03:00

1. happeemonkee 2. FiligreeCreations 3. Baymut 4. ZsBcreations

Spring is in the air and with Spring also another fresh start will begin today. From now on I will be taking over the task to host the Monday Moodboards from FleurFatale.
You can make the mosaic with the fun gadgets of bighugelabs.

Our Creative Space...

2011-05-12T11:05:00.000+03:00

Remember the huge thread mess of two weeks ago? It wasn't made by us but came from lots of lot's with vintage thread and unfinished embroideries. After many years of being all over the world neglected, I have organized them in a useful rainbow.

It took me quite some hours, but now it will save us time when searching for a color. I made these little cards to wrap the threads around them, they are made of our old business cards instead of throwing them away they got useful for this project.

In the mean time, mum has finished the wrap and now is crochetting around it to finish it, it is becoming gorgeous!

See more creative spaces at Our Creative Spaces.

Dawanda Lovebook

2011-05-09T18:39:00.000+03:00

A few weeks ago we have been contacted by Dawanda for a feature. The Lovebook is a press release of hand picked items from Dawanda, and we are thrilled to be included. The Lovebook will be sent to journalists and press contacts across Europe and in the US, who use it to select products to publish in magazines and newspapers, so exciting!

Our Pearl and Shell Rose ring looks pretty in this pink outfit, and we will get a printed version of the book as well, so cool!

You can find the ring on Dawanda and Etsy, and if you want to take a closer look at the Lovebook you can find that here.

Nothing Goes As Planned

2011-05-06T20:43:00.000+03:00

We learned that again, as the roof terrace didn't go as planned at all. This is the latest state of it and it will stay like this for another week as we came back home so that it all can dry. We will be going back next week to finish it off but in the mean time we have been able to catch up work and errands at home.

On the way back we saw a few huge nests of Storks. The fun thing is that little birds take advantage of the safe and high place and make nests on the side of the big nest, partly already isolated, very smart.

And these ladies were chatting and wished us a safe journey :)

We are now back home, catching our breath and organizing our new supplies which we purchased in Izmir and finishing orders of the past 10 days!

Progress and the Journey Continues

2011-05-01T21:20:00.000+03:00

So while the workers are working (with lots of pushes from our side as they were blaming the weather and other things to not work) mum continued to knit. Here is her progress...

And here is the progress of the terrace. It now has to dry for 3 days. While waiting for it to dry we went to Izmir today, to stock up supplies, as Izmir is closer from where we were then our own home.

Soon after arrival we went to find the flea market which is on every Sunday, but usually we do not go on Sunday to Izmir as then most of the shops are closed. So we didn't miss this oppurtunity. On our way we went through the 'bird market'. With mostly chickens, but also chicks, goose and pidgeons.

The flea market, although fun, didn't carry many treasures, mostly old clothes and plenty of rubbish. It was messy and it was raining but between the mudd and mess we did find some lovelyness.

Here a guy was repairing old footballs by stitching them up and filling them with air, I doubt that they can handle a good play but still a cute way of recycling we thought.

Home made honey.

Gorgeous metal baskets, we do not know what their actual purpose is.

After the flea market we went to the only supplier which is open on Sunday's, to safe some time for tomorrow as we will have to do all the rest of the shopping and the travelling back to our friends house tomorrow. We did some good shopping! Today is May the 1st, Worker's day, so there were some demonstrations and to avoid an uncontrolable crowd there were a huge amount of police men, dressed up for the worst senario's. Well people left and we walked by a line of cops, all sitting like little boys in a row, drinking their tea :) You can actually see the 'tea guy' handing them out the tea, as you can see the tray is closed all around accept for a little window so that the tea doesn't get cold till they arrive at their destination, which was in this case some mucho macho police men.

Tomorrow we will continue our shop-till-you-drop getaway before we go back to finish the roof terrace and can go home, soon. To be continued...

Life Loss

2011-04-29T08:32:00.003+03:00

Today the weather was fine and we could start with the work. A part of the roof will make room for a bigger roof terrace. Unfortunately it is not going to be without lost of lifes.
Tucked deep under the roof tiles the workers found a nest with very young tiny birds. We moved the nest to an other area, but have not much hope that the mother with find the babies or accept them as her own if she does.

So sad...

We put them on a higher part out of the wind.

A couple of hours later...an other nest. This time with beautiful speckled eggs as little as a finger nail.
More loss...

So much care went into the building of those nests...

And this is how the roof looks now.