A gift for myself

Sometimes I must create something immediately. It must be very fast to make and the outcome is expected to be pretty flashy. It's like a thirst which must be soothed  without any delay. Last time it caught me I prepared this heart ornament for my own kitchen:

I found this piece of lace in my mom's sewing box, ( heritage from her godmother). The tiny lock had been waited to be used for some years (bought in Kapolcs too).

Here it is among my favourite mugs (fill the place of a broken one).

And of course I show the original from the pattern. It is from Carnet de Broderies, the designer's webpage is http://www.carnetdebroderies.com/  with lots of gorgeous creations.

Yearly Shopping Spree in Kapolcs

I just hate plazas. I don't fit in - even my best form, size s - not to mention my current xl shape (my excuse is brestfeeding, hmmm ;)). It doesn't mean I'm free from the typical female adoration for shopping: I'm instantly swapped by pleasure and excitement seeing a handmade goods stand, no matter where and what. You can imagine how I feel in an array of them, a sheer paradise. Better than Christmas, birthday and eeeer... Chidren's day altogether (well, as far as I'm concerned :)) I cannot stop spending money till my purse is perfectly, absolutely empty.
It was the sixth pilgrimage we've taken to the Valley of Arts, in the beautiful Uplands of the Lake Balaton, according to me it is the Provence of Hungary :). Kapolcs, a picturesque village, the centre of the festival provides space for a great meeting of Hungarian artisans. I wouldn't miss it, not me. I daydream about it for long months before that. Now I won't talk about the other wonderful programmes you can find there, galleries, exhibitions, concerts, performances, etc. etc. etc. I just want to show what I've bought this year.

First of all, this cute dotted jug. I feel a kind of affinity with it, it's like me, hand on the hip. :)
By the way, I've always wanted to be a potter, to make thousands of cups, mugs, jugs and bowls just for myself. I can't have enough of them...







Then here is this handpainted candle holder made of tiles. I love its shabby look.

I fell in love with these lovely ones for the first sight - a plant holder and a birdnest.

 Made by Greenwillow Spinning Mill (Zöldfűz Fonoda)http://galambhaz.hu/

My daugher Panni painted this little holder herself, it is made of raku - a kind of white clay - and after painting it was burnt out. We are very proud of it.

A flower with a ladybird, Panni's choice again for our garden.

It is from Goblin Yard, which is the highlight of the exhibition and fair. We never ever miss it.

These mushrooms are the flower's big brothers: we bought them some years ago from the Goblin Yard.

Just a bit of fortaste from Goblin Yard. This photo was taken a few years ago.
See more here: http://www.manomuhely.hu/

And of course I cannot go home without souvenirs, I chose natural handmade soap (chocolate-orange and marigold) for my loved ones - I always want to bite into them, look so yummy... :)

Tiny honey selection for the sweet toothed, this one is cinnamon, mulberry and bear onion (or what in English...)
I simply love these little sweeties.

Handmade earrings one for me, one for my BFF Judy.










So, who on Earth dares to miss Kapolcs fair next year? I will be there, no matter what. :) Oh, and one more thing: you can see all the photos are taken at home. Hm, I just... er... I was too busy shopping, forgot to take photos there...

Pinkeep Project

I simply love cross stitch. For me it's a healing colour therapy, stolen time when the world disappears. Just my needle, threads, some canvas and me. Here in Hungary stitching and embroidery (not to mention crochet) are known as a way of killing time for old ladies. Thick glasses and silver bun are indispensable. I won't assure anybody, not me. Smiling inside, I think of all the happy stitchers of the world who enjoy this tranquil happiness.


So, I had some leftover canvas, just a small longish piece, I planned to make some pinkeeps from it. I used pieces from the pattern of The Drawn Thread's Flower Boxes, I just changed the colours:

 After stitching here are the materials needed (wool is missing from the photo, and I didn't use the lace after all):

Then I put the right sides together and sewed the front to the back (a kind of homespun I found in a second-hand):









then turned inside out and stuffed with wool:












put handle into it:

And finished with some stitches:









Finally I just lost in admiration :) Ta-dah:



     

Put in nature :)















Now they are sunk in a box waiting for "their time". Seven mini-surprises.

Throw a blanket to granny...

...So crochet has proved to be a permanent love for me (it has survived the magic 3 months :) ). But. So many patterns, so little time, I had to decide. I'm not full of confidence enough to run my head against making clothes, so I chose blankets and throws - what can be easier than crocheting granny squares going round and round and round without counting? Here is my first baby blanket in use:

... and displayed:

Squares are from here











Edging is from attic24's free tutorial


I joined the squares with single crochet. I admit I found the yarn in one of my favourite second-hand shop... although it was brand new in original packing, not leftover. OK, and acrylic... but soft.




Then I wanted something larger. Much larger... I got a new-found confidence, and I bought yarn from a web shop, still acrylic, what if I fail.. (In Hungary quality yarns cost a fortune, at least according to me...) So I used Margareta (Red Heart) yarn. Here is the result:

 The pattern of the square is downloaded from here. The squares are also joined with sc.

then came the edging, so I turned to the good attic24's free tutorial  .










At the moment I'm working on a blanket for my daughter. She requires something colourful. OK, she'll get it. So work in progress:

 Unfortunately the photo does not gives the original colours (they are much more beautiful). As you can see I tried something new: attic24's (who else?) hexagon blanket, found here . Wow, she is incredible.

This time I used better yarn: Patternworks Sunapee, 55% cotton, 45% silk.

And at last I took myself to learn another new thing: the joining-as-you-go method, attic24 presents on the same place. This is where I am.

My first crochet creations (AKA how a love story began)

For me being pregnant, expecting a new life also means a rush of creativity, an intense must for making something instantly touchable. At the begining of the seventh month I started to feel THAT- a tickling little finger all over my body waking me up in the middle of the night, making me switch my netbook on and search for inspiration on the web (oh no, not my baby, he was sleeping peacefully in my belly, good boy). After savig tons of cross stitch patterns (another passion, another story), still unsatisfied, destiny had mercy on me - it drove me to my old classmate's crochet blog. I'm absolutely the type of 'love at first sight' in every respect, and I didn't deny myself in this case either. Seeing her adorable masterpieces, those sweet crochet dolls coming from her fantasy I was fascinated, and knew I found a new love. Have a look at them and fall in love with them as much as me here .
In a week I learnt the basic stitches thanks to my mother-in-law and the holy Internet, God bless both, so I was able to make my first amigurumi by Hekka's first tutorial see here . The result :

Not the best picture, I know. So I went on searching. As a result, I found attic24's blog, and her colours shocked me. Another inspiration. The next piece came from here, another free pattern, I made this tiny bag for a friend's daughter as a gift :

I love making flowers too, I made this brooch as a gift too:

So this is how it began. Next time I'll show you how I went on. By the way, these little fingers have been tickling me from outside since then :), my sweet second one.

God, I've just realized how many things I want to write about... Even if  only to myself :). Wow, my first post.