A paper love story

I must write this before the energy fades and/or I become too lazy....

A long while ago I won a place on an e-course. There was a competition and I was required to write a post about why I loved paper. I won!!
Apart from being a wonderful course I also became a 'member' of a Facebook group created specifically for this course. Some of us became friends, as far as the screen would allow and we were just 'there' -encouraging, asking, commenting and sharing, always sharing.

It was proposed (I think last year) that we should meet and create together. Thankfully we have in our group people with amazing organization skills and this meeting didn't end up as another dream.
Thirteen of us managed  to find our way to the Isle of Bute where one of our 'members' has an incredible studio where we could all fit.

We walked, talked, ate, visited places, laughed and cried, started many projects, shared ideas and inspired each others and talked, talked and talked.  We were there present, finally in the flesh, with no screen between us or thousand miles away. For a few days we rejoiced in the company and the bond we had created for the past 3 years.
I'm happy I made the effort and was able to be there and I'm extremely grateful to this group for being so special, so extraordinary . It was truly a joy to be there... to be part of those wonderful days.

Lots of love, the paper and friendship kind,
Giova

Details and things I like

I was sitting here, looking at this board on Pinterest, hearing the rain just outside my window, feeling the humidity but not the warmth. No summer feelings here, not yet, maybe later? My little one has been sick, and so has my cat, and I have been hoping to make a book for a friend with the images below, but my printer is not working.  I felt like rambling into the abyss, and what better place to do that than here.

All the above pictures were taken in Paris during a very short trip. Grateful for that time away!
I hope your summer is much more exciting than mine so far.
All the best,
Giova

New website

Hello!
I've been meaning to share that from now on you can find my art work here.
For the past six years or so, (and further than that), I have been slowly trying to find my voice. It has taken a while (what doesn't?). It has not been easy (what is?). Finally I have something I want people to see.
I'm always active on Instagram, so you can find me there on most days.

All the best and thank you for visiting,
Giova

My work in a book

It is not everyday that I find myself published in a book, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to write here and share it with you.

I feel extremely grateful to find myself surrounded by such amazing artists. But I also must admit that I felt a bit worried and "fraud" feelings did pop in my mind the second I saw I was included in this book. That is a subject worth talking about, but I'll leave it for some other time.

For now I rejoice in the fact that I was chosen to be in it, and that to see ones work in book format is quite a strange and amazing feeling, both at the same time.

Oh, and yesterday when the book arrived I proudly showed it to my little one and asked him; Look who is in this book,  and he screamed in amazement; THE CAT!!!!!!!

So there you go, we all see and feel what we want, and the rest as they say, is history.

The book can be purchased individually or as a set (it is part of a series) from UPPERCASE.

Wishing you all the best,
Giova

In a nut shell (a very small one).

Summer came and went. How and where?? I've no clue! It seems to me it went by in a haze of stitches, birthdays, a new pet, a short trip to the other side of the pond, another closer to home and much wandering, and plotting.

This year we couldn't go on our traditional road trip, so we got a pet. How's that for planning? What really happened is that we finally succumbed to our little one's demands for a kitty. It seemed like the perfect time to get a pet (we have been postponing this for 12 years or so).

We feel absolutely delighted and blessed to have her in our lives. I'm  astonished to the hours she keeps, she loves sleeping on top of my fabrics (my precious indigo), and loves all things related to keeping you distracted to what you're supposed to do. Oh! And my phone is filled with pictures of her...

Spending two wonderful weeks with my mother and sister (and my little one who travelled with me), was simply the best therapy one could hope to get if one needed therapy ;) I'm feeling energized (except for the part where jet lag was involved), full to the brim with vitamin D and ready to stitch well into winter (providing the cat lets me).

So far so good!

Wishing you all the best, and a lovely crisp and gorgeous autumn, or spring if you're on the other side.
Giova (the most inconstant blogger there is).

Contents of a swap

This year I finally got to participate in the "Flat Swap' and I must say I was a bit nervous. I'm not an expert at swaps, and it also felt a bit weird to have to be the one picking someone to be your partner.

I soon forgot I was the one organizing it, and set off to make, wrap and send. I do take the flat part very seriously, because if the measurements are not correct, the "letter" becomes a package, and the price, a massive pain in the wallet.

My partner proposed the guidelines from last years swap (a letter, something handmade, a quote, something I own, and something edible).

And then I chose flowers as the theme.

Some of the parcels from the swap have been arriving, and some are here if you want to take a look.

I'm still waiting for others to send me some pictures so I can put them on the blog's FB page.

Wishing you a lovely week ahead,
Giova

100 days of Persuasion

What?? One hundred days of what??? If you follow me on Instagram, you have probably seen the images below, if not, well here they are.

It started as a challenge, and I really had no clue what I was doing. On a whim I picked the hashtag (you need one), and I thought easy peasy, I'll just finish embroidering the handkerchief I started more than a year ago. Hahahaha!!

Can you imagine seeing 100 pictures of the same handkerchief??

Well, I can't! And so, I embarked on making things that related to sentences, places, objects that appeared in the book. (Persuasion by Jane Austen).

A sort of visual album, my own version of certain things and moments that occur in the book. I have been either making things, as you can see, but I have also managed to make my life easier by finding everyday images that can relate to certain passages or places in the book.

Daunting? Difficult? Perhaps both, but it has been good for me to force myself to imagine things I could make, and also to get me away from so much blue. I do miss my blue though!

Nurse Rooke, for example, appears for a tiny instance, but I immediately thought of her (above), so I set out to make her. I learned to make these particular dolls from Julie Arkell, and you can see the others I made here, here and here.

Fortunately there are many instances where LOVE is mentioned, so that one is a bit easy. This one became a brooch, and it is for sale here.

Now all I have left, are 73 more to do. To be honest, I don't know how much more I can squeeze my brain to come up with, but I'll be more than happy if I reach the 50 mark.

Wishing you a lovely and very creative week,
Giova