HAPPY XMAS TO ALL!!

Wednesday 16 December 2009

Well time to wish you all Merry Xmas, I am flying home tomorrow, when I mean home I mean Spain, my place of birth and where I go to rest my mind and body under the SUN haha...I will be back before the year ends with more beautiful craft, design, news, and stories to tell.

I hope you all have a well deserved break with your family and friends and dedicate this time to no do anything!! At least that is what I am hoping to do!!

Kisses and love from London.

Pretty and unusal Xmas tree from Dottie Angel

Tuesday 15 December 2009

I am back from my market experience, I will tell you more soon…

I am in love with this handcrafted Xmas tree from Dottie Angel, she has got a unique sense of style and a lot of imagination that she puts at good use…What about you? I would love to see some creative Xmas decorations and trees before I go off to Spain, so please leave a comment with a link so I can have a look!!




Chocolate Creative is off to the Xmas market...

Thursday 10 December 2009

I am off to set up the stall at the Xmas market in Truman Brewery, I will be there alongside the Seaside sisters selling our beautiful handmade goodies from 6pm to 9pm. The market is full of gorgeous stuff, so many talented designers out there and all gather in one venue!! If you are around and fancy some tea, cakes and handmade craft and design, come along, the market is on for the whole weekend...



Xmas tree at home...

Since I am off to Spain to spend Xmas with family I am not doing a lot of Xmas decorations at home, but today I couldn't resist to start some around the house. I did this Xmas tree in 10 minutes! Went to the garden and cut some tree branches, (sorry tree, they will grow again very soon, never stop raining in London...), used some previous years decorations and some new, such as this porcelain bird and lace. Back in Spain we will have a tree full of handmade decorations made by my mother, she is so talented...I can't wait to go home, leave the coat, hat, scarf and gloves and the back of the cover and wear my sunglasses and flip flops...

I would love to see your Xmas trees and decorations, if you post about it in your blogs, sites, flickr, etc... please leave a comment and I will pop around to check...





Cute tatoo and prints by Julia Pott

Monday 7 December 2009

Just saw this cute tattoos over at loveitalot blog, and couldn't resist to post about it...This cat and dog tattoo makes me smile, what a brilliant idea!!


This illustrations and tattoos are from Julia Pott, a Londoner freelance animator and illustrator. Her work is full of humor and cuteness. I love the animal A3 poster series, the knitted clothing, the hilarious words and the pencil/ink marks, combined with the subtlety of the patterns and colors.




{papermash} heaven tapes and stationary...

Fancy some DIY craft project?? get creative with this Papermash Snowflake votives craft project, designed by Olivia Kanaley.

I really like the choice of stationary related products this online shop has to offer, they have been carefully and tastefully selected and are sourced from independent designers specialising in artisan techniques, such as woodcut printing and letterpress.

Snowflake votives craft project, which I will have a go at myself...


Tapes...

Beautiful Doilies...

New book in town...

I have been a fan of ilustrator Camila Egman's work for quite a while, now and again I browse her blog to see what is she working on and for my surprise I found out she has published this beautiful book called The suitcase series, volume 1. 192 pages full of her illustrations, collages, sketchbook, artworks, and full color images. I found my Xmas present, I am treating myself with a copy of this book right now!!






Wishes upon stitches gorgeous jewellery

Sunday 6 December 2009

I first saw Nicole’s work at my friend's Laura birthday party. She was wearing one of her necklaces, a big bold piece in black that really strike me for the unusual materials and almost sculptural shape of it. Since then I wanted to know more about the designer behind this beautiful pieces. I was lucky enough to meet her a few weeks ago and had a chat about her work, which is inspired by Bollywood imagery and the Western Indian nomads-Rabari, her luminous and colourful designs combine cutting edge laser cutting with hand stitching and rare vintage finds).

Nicole has recently graduated with an MA from Central Saint Martin’s College of Art, London, majoring in 'Design for Textile Futures', where she experimented with different techniques and materials. She has since then worked as a fashion and accessory designer, and has been involved in different projects.

Take a closer look at her stunning collections of fabulous and unique jewellery, which are being launched in early 2009 under the label Wishes upon Stitches. Love your work Nicole!!




Latest collection...




Future vintage collection made of antique and embroidered fabrics, with laser cut acrylic...

Vintage Xmas

Fancy some vintage/retro Xmas decorations?? Daniella from Acorn and will sent me this nice festive photos of retro decorations. I remember having some baubles and Noel like this ones, my mum must still have some somewhere back home, so I going to do a bit of exploring in the house and see what I find!!






My day's trip to Brussels...

Sometimes we all need a little break from our everyday lifes regardless how busy we are, and that is exactly what I got to do last Saturday. I was invited along with other bloggers to a day’s trip to Brussels, as part of the Eurostar's Little Break campaign organised by the Wearesocial agency. We jumped on the 7.00am train and 2 hours later arrived in Brussels. Cold and rainy as it was, I felt excited like a child with a new toy…Together with my new bloggers friends we started the day with a visit to the Planete Chocolat shop, where we were given a lecture by Melanie, on chocolate, I can’t tell you how happy I was, as CHOCOLATE is one of the main ingredients of my diet haha…(joking here). I left the shop with an extended new knowledge on chocolate, its history and production, and a few bags of Belgian goodies…



Old chocolate molds...

We, later made our way to the gorgeous restaurant Belga Queen for lunch, I was already full from the chocolates tasting but sat happily waiting for my next meal, we all chatted, got to know about ours blogs, jobs, aspirations etc…Food was nice, but the dessert was even better!!

By this point I felt a few pounds heavier and a bit sleepy so I was in desperate need for some fresh air and walking. We all went to explore the Xmas market and the city, arrived at Le Grand-Place, and started to look for the Xmas Market, which was placed in a different spot so spent quite a while trying to figure it out where it was…part of the fun…1 hour later we discovered it!!


Gorgeous architecture and the Nativity...




Doll's house shop!!




I have to say that I was expecting to see more interesting craft and handmade Xmas goodies, but instead found stalls selling very tempting food, sweets, chocolates and drinks…So a bit disappointed on that side, but still enjoyed the market as it was set in a very nice area, with all the lighting, ice skating rink, and the best of all, an amazing Victorian carousel that took my breath away. It was very busy all around and felt very Xmassy.



The highlight of the trip was to meet such a nice group of people, and share this mini adventure with them all. I will definitely come back to Brussels, many things left unexplored…I am planning my next mini trip…I deserve it!!