What I did at Julie Arkell's Workshop

I hope you had a lovely weekend. Ours was rather nice. Everything seems perfect when the weather is warm isn't it?

I wanted to show you what I did at Julie Arkell's workshop because after showing you her work last week, it seemed only fair to show you what I learned there. The doll was my favorite thing. It is the first doll I have ever made, and I'm actually quite proud of it. She has her darning apron on, but she has no idea how to darn. In fact she loves to brag about that skill quite a bit.

This one is a "world war brooch" as she likes to call them. I decided not to make mine a brooch and added a little string so I can hang it on the wall. I do like to put everything up on my walls.

The flower is a very distinctive "Julie Arkell" brooch. It was quite tiring to make on the first day, and can I remind you that my sinus infection was at its peak?

This is the back part of the flower above which I ended up liking better. The other side is too much in my opinion.

The last thing I did on the last day of the workshop. Completely different from the ones she makes. Hers are so delicate and perfect. I had never made a suffolk puff or yo-yo before in my life either, but this was so fun to make, I've already made another one to give as a gift.

Now I am back to doing what I love doing the most, which is embroidering words, but in between the embroidering of words I am doing suffolk puffs or yo-yos.

How was your weekend? Any lovely crafty things?

Happy monday, if there is such a thing.
Giova

Quilting from memory

I'm really excited because tomorrow I'll be going to my first quilting class. It is one of those crafts that needs to get out of my system ever since I made a quilted pot holder in 5th grade.  That was the beginning and end of my quilting adventure until now.

My fabric stash. Mostly Liberty, Petit Pan and Monday's Milk.

Some book inspiration I got from Amazon, definitely not books for beginners.

Both my big and little scissors needed pouches, so quilting some seemed like a good idea because they're coming with me to the classes. 

Front and back views, just so you can see my expertise, mastery at doing this sort of thing.

While in grad school someone introduced me to the quilts of Gee's Bend. That is something that never left my mind. They were to me back then and still now, the most beautiful quilts I have ever seen. I only hope that one day I'll make one that closely resembles any of those magnificent quilts.

Happy Monday! Mine is already quite happy with anticipation!
Giova

Weaving Bracelets

Guess whose a proffessional card loom weaver? ME! hahaha I wish! But I did spend a lovely afternoon with a master and made my very first bracelet, woohoo!!!
I will very soon introduce you to my amazing teacher, but I'm just so excited of this experience that I needed to share right away. Card loom weaving goes way back in time...instead of using a loom you thread through cards and turn the cards to weave the threads together. Its not as simple as it sounds, but I assure you that with a little math and patience it becomes something fantastic! You start by choosing the colors of the threads and making the design on paper, then you thread the cards according to the pattern and with a little- A LOT of help from the teacher you start turning the cards and counting...two hours later (more like 3!) you have a beautiful, magical, never expected it was going to turn out this way, bracelet!!!

Wishing you a creative weekend! Hopefully this has inspired you into making wonderful things! Next week you'll get to "meet" the teacher!

Giannina.

My Buntings. My Version.

I have been working on my buntings since I learned to crochet back in January. Before I sold them on Etsy, I made sure no one was doing the same as me because I didn't want to offend anyone. We always feel our ideas are super great only to find seconds later that yes, someone made that already. As my brother always says: "Everything has already been invented!" Yes there are amazing incidents like when a great man came up with the vaccine for Polio. But I'm not talking about great discoveries here, it is just crafts and people are always getting inspiration from everyone else's work.
In fact, my buntings were inspired by the Tibetan Prayer Flags, and that is the reason why I embroidered words on them, and that is the reason why they are square and not triangular like normal buntings. Unfortunately for crafters there is no copyright or trademark, or maybe there is? In any case this is my work, what I have been doing for the past 8 months!

Sometimes, I have been to craft fairs where I have overheard people saying; "Oh, I can do that, probably better!" Yes, maybe you can, and yes maybe it can be better, but the truth is that you didn't come up with it in the first place. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should!

It is all a thin line, of what is acceptable and what is not. So I guess this square I made in May for a friend is perfect for now.

Giova.

The Princess and the Pea

I've been feeling quite crafty lately. With so many beautiful things at the Yvestown Fair, and an upcoming one this weekend which I'm pretty excited about, all I can thinks of is crafts! For now, it is all about The Princess and the Pea, one of my favorite children stories! I have a doll which was given to me by my husband more than 9 years ago. It has started to look down and worn, I don't know why really, it's not like she had a baby! But maybe it is because she's had the same mattresses since then (probably back pain?). So I thought I cheered her up by making her new colorful ones, an extra pillow and a crocheted blanket, after all she is a princess!

So inspired by issue #15 of Mollie Makes (here I go again with this magazine). I made her 7 more mattresses. The hardest part was picking the fabrics and getting the scary sewing machine out.

My princess is now happy as a pea (jaja), loves her new trousseau, and can't wait for a new coat of paint for her bed! She looks much more relaxed, doesn't she?

The before and after mattresses

I'm sure you've seen similar princess' around, mine is from Maileg (i love every single thing they make!) Am I too old to be having dolls? Nah! I don't think so! And do you have any dolls or any special toy that has always been with you, I'd love to know?

Have a wonderful day!
Giova.

Embroidery

Using my hands to create things only started at the beginning of this year thanks to Dottie Angel's book. Then I discovered Mollie Makes, in particular issue #7 with all these cute embroidery ideas (see picture below). I went on to do little crochet buntings with embroidered words on them which I now sell on Etsy. And lately I've been posting a weekly embroidery on our Facebook page. For those of you who do not follow, here is what I've been doing lately.

 The issue of Mollie Makes that gets all the blame!

 My first embroideries on handkerchiefs.

 As you can tell, I love words!

 And lyrics of songs, especially 80's music!

I love The Cure!

May you find inspiration wherever you look!

Giova

Lovely Store in Berlin - Yonkel Ork

 While in Berlin I had little time to wonder at my own leisure. Every morning on my way to the subway station I would choose a different route so that I would get to know my neighborhood and make a mental list of the stores I would love to visit the moment time was no issue. I was staying in Prenzlauer Berg which is full of beautiful cafes and shops and happened to walk by this very enchanting and welcoming one. Yonkel Ork, the loveliest and with something for everyone!

*handmade owls by the owner.

 Sonja Tschiche, the owner, is the nicest person you will meet. So while she's helping you choose things, she is also informing you where their from, who makes them or maybe even why she chose to sell it. She also makes beautiful little girl's clothing, stamps each bag you take your things in and while your going through all the treasures in the store you might stumble upon some really cool cards and prints, sketch books, washi tapes, stamps....its endless!

If you happen to be in Berlin and want to take some unique gifts with you I really recommend you visit this lovely place! There is also espresso and tea and a fabulous outside sitting area!

Enjoy,
Giannina.

A Parrot Story

Has your child ever come up to you to tell you that he is going to be the parrot of the pirate in his school's show? No? I thought so! His teacher contacted me with the details, a parrot in a pirate's show (that was about all the details I got more or less)!
Great! I was looking forward to this, because the only thing I could think of was papier mache, and if that didn't work, well I don't know what I would have done! And of course my husband came up with many brilliant ideas! So if you're ever stuck with a costume just papier mache the whole thing, and if that doesn't work, feathers, lots and lots of feathers!!

What was your craziest costume as a kid? Or what costume have you had to make for your kids?
I would love to know, as my mother made many costumes for us when we were kids (usually winning the big prize!) and this is the first time I've had to make a costume (better mask and wings) from scratch!
Tomorrow it's his last day of school and the first day for us to come up with ideas to entertain both kids!
Wish us luck!
Giova.

The Word that Won!

Do you remember some weeks ago we had a giveaway? Well, the word that won was "ALIQUINDOI," and what an interesting word it turned out to be! A bit of where it might come from.
"It is a common word used in Malaga y Cadiz, Spain, to tell someone to be aware of something, to be vigilant. About its origin, it seems that in 19th century industrial Malaga a lot of english ships arrived at the dock, the crew from the ships told the dock workers from Malaga to "look and do it",  and from that phrase aliquindoi was born."


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Se acuerdan que hace unas semanas hicimos una rifa? Pues la palabra ganadora fue "ALIQUINDOI," y que palabra mas interesante resulto ser! Un pedazo de información de su posible origen.
"Es una palabra que en Málaga y Cadiz se utiliza mucho para decirle a alguién que esté pendiente de algo, vigilante. Parece ser que en la Málaga industrial del siglo XIX, llegaban muchos barcos ingleses al puerto. Los ingleses no paraban de decir a los estibadores malagueños \"look and do it\" (mira y hazlo) y de esa frase derivó \"aliquindoi\".

Aliquindoi in it's new home! Thanks Fati for sending me a picture!
Aliquindoi en su nuevo hogar! Gracias Fati por mandarme una foto!

We had a lot of fun doing this giveaway, so stay tuned for another one coming up soon!
We joined the masses by creating a page for the blog on Facebook. Give us a chance, press LIKE!!
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No la pasamos bien haciendo esta rifa, así que estamos preparando otra prontamente!
Nos hemos unido a las masas creando una pagina para el blog en Facebook. Danos un chance y presiona ME GUSTA!!


Have a wonderful day,
Giova.

There is still time...

FOR THE GIVEAWAY!!!
Remember to leave a comment with your favorite word. We will ship anywhere in the world!
...
Acuerdate que todavía hay tiempo para el regalo. Dejanos tu comentario con tu palabra favorita! Lo enviaremos a cualquier parte del mundo!

Happy Commenting!
Giova & Gianni
*GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED*

1st GIVEAWAY

So we've decided to have our first -muy pequeña-very little- giveaway just because we are together. And also a bee at the hive recommended giveaways as the route to get comments!! Don't we all love free things? We have a second one already planned, this is just a way to break the ice, so don't be shy!
Considering the very recently opened Etsy shop, we thought of one crocheted square with an embroidered word.  Just visit the etsy shop and tell us what you like, and your favorite word. Leave us a comment below with your email so we can get back to you (in case you win).
Oh, and although I personally like this word, please no supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!! I'll be the one doing the embroidery, so just imagine!
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Hemos decidido hacer nuestra primera "rifa" o entrega simplemente porque estamos juntas, ademas fue sugerido en la conferencia que el camino hacia los comentarios es regalar cosas. Al parecer a todos nos gustan los regalos. Ya tenemos otro planeado, así que no sean tímidos y comenten!!
Hace poco abrimos una tienda en Etsy, y pensamos que un cuadrado en crochet con tu palabra favorita bordada seria una buena idea. Asi que visita la tienda y dinos en el comentario lo que te gusto, también la palabra que escogiste y tu email (por si eres el ganador).
Ah, y aunque personalmente me gusta esta palabra, por favor que no sea supercalifralisticexpialidocious (se acuerdan de Mary Poppins?)!! Ya se imaginaran por que!

A winner will be picked at random and announced this Friday.
Good Luck!
Giova & Gianni
*GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED*