Let's sew?!

I never thought I'd enjoy sewing this much. After years of hearing my mom saying: -You should know how to sew! You're a fashion designer!
Although she was right, the truth was I always had people to put together my creations and never needed to  do it myself. But since Giulia was born, I've had this strong desire to sew some cute clothes for her and last month I finally decided to take my mom's advice and signed up for a sewing class. Guess what? I loved it!
So far I've made a skirt, an envelope pillow, and a lacy scarf.
Mom, I hope you're proud of me :-)

My first painting

My lovely hubby and I recently celebrated our 7th aniversary. It's amazing how fast time goes by. In these 7 years together, so many things have happened, -we moved houses 3 times, lived in 2 different countries, traveled around the world, and the best of all - we had our precious 2 year old daughter Giulia.
Ok, life is beautiful, let's talk about the gift.
I really wanted to give him something meaningful. So, I started thinking about our story, how we met each other, and then...Bing!...How about a painting?!
See below my first adventure in painting .
I couldn't be happier with the result. Especially because he loved it!!!

Collage of newspaper and acrylic paint 

Fabric Flower Vase

How about making a lovely flower vase while chatting with an adorable friend? This project took my craftmate Carol and I two afternoons, but probably without our kids around, it would've been much faster. We had to stop many times because they were hungry, thirsty, fighting for the same toy, because the movie had ended, etc.

Our next project will be a flower mobile to match this vase.

Stay tuned!!!

NYC: My Inspiration

My window view was my inspiration to create my first mosaic project .
I bought lots of books to drum up an idea of what I would draw to start my piece, but nothing appealed me. One day I was looking through my window and was thoroughly enjoying my view, so then the idea popped into my mind... a NYC Skyline... The perfect picture!!!

As I was working on my mosaic, I had wished that the piece of wood was bigger to fill it with some more details about the city.
This mosaic will always be a sweet memory of my time in NYC.

TIP: If you live in New York and want to learn about mosaics. I recommend the studio where I learned it.
Unicorn Art Studio
150 West 28th Street, Suite 1402
New York, NY, 10001
(212) 741-9346

Flowers + Vegetable

I've never imagine that flowers and a vegetable would look so sweet together.
The author of this smart idea was Yasmim. She's a young talented florist who is also very passionate about craft.

It could be a nice arrangement for a Thanksgiving table. I guarantee you won't have any problem finding a good pumpkin or squash to make your own.

Buttons, buttons, buttons

You got a bunch of buttons and don't know what to do with them?

Here you go with some cute ideas to inspire you and to give the buttons a use.

Little Company

 

If you have plans to go to Zurich, don't miss the opportunity to swing by the store Little Company. It's a very charming store that sells mama, baby and kids stuff. They got some very cute handcrafts made in Denmark, Germany, Italy, and beyond. In the same quarter there are some other shops that are worth visiting.

Little Company

www.littlecompany.ch

Josefstrasse 27 (right behind the main train station)

8005 - Zurich 

PS: That sewing kit was my little acquisition from there.

Nice way to reuse an old container

Before

After

Give a new look to an old pencil holder by wrapping it with colored strings. This project is really simple and easy. Even my 2 year old daughter can make it..hihi..
just kidding!!! But I must say, she contributed to it. I allowed her to cut the strings and apply the glue, and guess what...she felt very proud as soon as it was done :-D
What you'll need:

A pencil holder

Colored strings

White craft glue

Scissors

How to make it:

Apply glue all around the bottom part of the container, one inch high. Start wrapping string around the bottom of the container. Continue wrapping, keeping the string close together. Add more glue and continue wrapping string until you reach the top of the container.

PS: You can also use a glass bottle or a oatmeal container instead of a pencil holder. Make sure they're completely clean.

Some ideas for a girlish Baby Shower

For my daughter's baby shower I wanted to create something cute and also add some aspects of my culture.
To decorate the tables I made a topiary covered with Bala 7 Belo (a candy that reminds me of my childhood).
As a favor, I bought some vintage glass jars and filled them up with pink Jordan almonds and for the final touch, I put a pink and white Fitinha do Senhor do Bonfim (a Brazilian ribbon that you tie around the left wrist with 3 knots for making 3 wishes for each of knots) around the jar.
The topiary took me a bit of time, but I loved the result.

Some of my babies

Smart Idea

Girls and shoes cannot live without each other. But in this recession driven economy, it is not feasible to go for a new pair every time you venture into a shoe shop. Taiwan has come up with an ideal solution. They have hit two birds with one stone with their new shoes that are almost entirely made of recycled newspapers. Yes, I agree it is not really a perfect choice for a footwear, but the makers claim the shoe will not get soggy in the rains. This is because every strip of newsprint goes though a long procedure of adding a cotton lining and then a shining plastic coat to give it the durability and sturdiness required for a footwear.

According to designer Colin Lin, newspaper shoes are hot property in Taiwan, the U.S. as well as Europe. Since their launch late last year, her firm has sold about 4,000 pairs. This is the perfect solution since it will give gratification to a girl and is also very friendly with the environment.

My first macrame project

My passion for handcrafts started about 6 years ago after I moved to Zurich and caught myself feeling useless and incapable of doing anything that could make me feel proud of myself. 

During one of my visits to my family in Sao Paulo, I saw my mom doing macrame (art/craft of tying cordage into knots). She created some beautiful things such as bags, bangles, belts, and flip-flops. Instantly I fell in love with macrame and started learning this interesting technique. My first project was a purple handbag (picture above) and as soon I finished it I felt the passion I was looking for and got eager to learn more and more. Since then I've been learning different kinds of handcrafts such as mosaic, collage, sewing, and more.

I hope we can exchange good ideas through this blog :-D