Friday, June 09, 2006

mail goodies

this week's mail was full of nice packages, but best of all were these ...
an unexpected thank you package from Tania (you didn't have to, you know that, right ?), full of amazing goodies that I loved, of course !



and the latest cotton friend edition (06/2006) that I wasn't able to order online from any site, and so asked for momo's help who sent it from HK (and thanks for this recommendation, you were right the magazine is so inspiring !)
here are a few photos of what's inside ...



 

Thursday, June 08, 2006

magazines etc

after signing up for the magazine swap being hosted by Adriana from Cottton Strudel (which by the way is looking for more non US participants, so if you haven't signed up yet, what are you waiting for ?), I decided to organize the magazine stacks at home and couldn't believe the piles I had stashed ... besides books, I've always been addicted to magazines too, and used to buy a lot of them ... notice the operative words 'used to'. I stopped a couple of years ago, for no other reason than being fed up with all the publicity content that usually permeate women's and other magazines. I used to subscribe to the UK version of Marie Claire, and there was this other MC magazine I bought regularly as well (health & beauty ?) and sometimes the occasional In Style or Allure. And travel magazines were also a favourite, I remember buying 3 of them in a regular basis - Volta ao mundo and Evasões (my portuguese favourites) and National Geographic Traveller.

The only subscrition we still have around is for The economist, which has so much reading content that it usually lasts a whole week of breakfast table reading (yep, I'm one of those that can't leave the house without having my breakfast...)
Once in a while though, I still love browsing the magazines at the store and eventually end up buying something. The travel magazines when they feature skiing holidays (of course!) or one of those places I'm still planning to visit during my lifetime (japan. or new zealand. or patagonia. or iceland. yes, it's a big list !). I got the latest Condé Nast Traveller magazine (italian edition) yesterday because they feature Lisbon and it was interesting to see our city through the eyes of tourists coming to visit. A lot of places are familiar, but others not really, so I'm going to use it as a guide and pretend I'm a tourist in my own town. Interior design magazines also make their way into the shopping basket now and then. I especially love french and spanish magazines (like il mueble or mi casa), they usually have great ideas for decorating smaller spaces and give great decorating tips.
And recently I've discovered the world of crafts magazines and have become addicted to japanese crafts magazines instead, a more expensive but much more satisfying purchase. I can't understand a word, but the pictures are so inspiring and the diagrams are easy to follow (most of the time, anyway).
So tell me, any other good magazine suggestions out there ?

** the photos are from the above mentioned condé nast magazine and also from the latest issue of cotton friend, which I received this week (more photos later) **
 

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

backtack 3 revealed !

the pointy kitty finally reached its destination, so now I can show it off .. Lisa, I'm so glad you liked it. After seeing all the wonderful previous backtack items, I was afraid of making something that just wouldn't be good enough, but with hillary's pattern what could possibly go wrong ?
 

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

shop update !

finally a shop update ! I'm in the middle of a shop re-design (what do you think so far ?) and have added a few new items for sale, including these patchwork bags in various sizes (I love these IKEA prints). Also, my first patchwork bookcover, a japanese style which is quite practical although not so flexible - I think I'll have to make myself one in each possible size. And a few of my normal bookcovers as well. I haven't been able to accept new custom orders for quite some time, since I'm still way behind with my current list, so I hope these will make a few people happy ... and because this will probably be the last major shop update for a while, I really crafted this weekend and made a couple more pouches and other bags - go check them out !




during the next weeks I'm taking it slow but I'll try to finalize a few more orders, send a couple more bookcovers for sale here and work on the new set of softies that will go for a doll exhibition here next month .. ufff, no wonder I'm feeling so tired ... I need some vacation badly !
 

Friday, June 02, 2006

trims


so I didn't sign up in time for the trim swap, but look what I got yesterday thinking about the 2nd round ...







and I'm planning a shop update (finally !) next Monday. This owl pouch will go for sale, along with other items I hope to finish during the weekend.