Green Tea Red #4.04 - Small pleasures

I must admit, as much as I hate rainy weather, Autumn is sometimes quite surprising... This morning, the sky was dark grey, it was raining like one can't imagine, the roads are a mess, the river banks overflowed everywhere, no one talks about anything else these days! But, then again at lunch break... take a look:
Aren't these a well worth seeing spectacle? I'm delighted with them, not as much as with their aroma which is stunning too!
And they were glad the rain stopped: Dofo, an old acquaintance...














His eyes are just like the back of the new bag, as you can see,
And Celeste, not very into "touch", if you know what I mean, but a real sucker for taps in the head! The poor thing was almost abandoned by her mum as a baby. She had to struggle for each meal as for her life, against two big big brothers. The others died, disappeared... but she kept on. She had the size of a 4 month during her first 2 years, only now she has gained some weight.
















Well, I know that it may seem rather irrelevant to talk about the weather, my cats, my garden... but the thing is, I really enjoy these small things, I only wish we could always have consciousness and time, and the will to seize all these things around ourselves.















see more details on Flickr

Natal a caminho

Outras experiências... desta feita com olhos postos no Natal.
Enfeites para a árvore de Natal, ou para o que quer que seja.



















Também este ainda não está a 100%, parece-me que vou adiar um pouco estes bonequinhos...

Uff, Puff... Pffft!

Esta é uma das últimas experiências. É pequenina sim senhora, mas muuuito trabalhosa! Trata-se de um teste para os enfeites de Natal, ou quem sabe apenas um softy - fofinho?
A ver vamos...




















Entretanto, mais e mais pregadeiras crescem não só nas minhas mãos como também na minha
cabeça. Um grande projecto "a sair do forno" deixa-me sem tempo para nada mas com vontade para tudo! A seu tempo direi do que se trata concretamente.





























Eh, eh! Aqui o Sporting ganhou ao Porto... ;)

Red Chocolate #4.03

Novamente as malas "quiltadas". Tenho vindo a explorar cada vez mais este modelo (#4) que me parece muito prático e leve. Esta, a nº #4.03 tem uma pequena grande inovação: uma mola de pressão para um pouco mais de segurança.














Aqui um pormenor que ainda não tinha mostrado, as etiquetas numéricas. Para uma identidade registada de cada objecto.















Uma fita directamente do baú da avó...
















Uma manhã de Outono orvalhada, no jardim...

Boa semana, com cheiro de geleia e bolacha "maria" com café de saco!

Meet the boys: Mhito and Lofo. SP (not tuesday...) and Pink Wine

Here's a bit of doggyness to lighten up our blog...














And a tiny pinch of white kittenness...















And now what? After a week of obssessive craftying... Uff!














Yesterday I took my "crafties" to a nice shop where they will be for a while (not long, I hope!). It's a nice place in a cultural center, where you can buy art work and also handcrafted work. In the old side of Leiria, where there are a lot of nice shops, cafés, historic places and monuments, there is the possibility to watch a nice film or play, or concert or just wander around through the old streets, sit on a nice table in the outside of a cafe... Feel welcome to our town, but beware: if you are on a diet, careful! Some of the best restaurants you can find, are here!

Anyway, this was my last quilted bag, not embroidered this time, for I think the patchwork already gave it too much. I love the colours, and I can never get enough of this fabric. I had already used it here. For some strange reason, although I want people to get in touch with my crafts, I always feel a bit empty when I get apart from them...




















Suggestions: ann wood, bemused, "maçã preta", oaoa

New blue lilac - Lilás azul quiltada

Mais uma vez, azul! Azul de todas as cores: azul rosa, azul vermelho, azul verde... azul lilás. Prima da outra, esta é mais suave, menos exuberante ou violenta... mais fresca. O modelo é idêntico, mas completamente diferente.















Os pormenores, tantas vezes considerados empecilhos, floreados, distrações, são para mim muito importantes. Eles têm que construir o todo é certo, mas devem ter um espaço para a sua autonomia. Eles estruturam a identidade própria de cada peça, tornando-a única.

Confesso estar apaixonada por esta técnica de "acolchoar" que confere um ar sólido, muito matérico aos tecidos. Quase parece que naquelas zonas há uma espécie de couraça. Contraria-a, no entanto o aspecto"fofo" do tecido, agrada-me!

A fazenda de lã que usei nesta mala é uma delícia, muito macia fofa, pena não trazer a marca como esta. É uma pena de facto, a maioria das casas que fabricavam este género de tecidos, ter fechado. A minha avó fala muitas vezes das idas ao Porto e a Lisboa pra comprar tecidos para a loja. Devia ser um mundo, visitar aquelas lojas/armazéns cheios de rolos até ao tecto. Algumas ainda existem. Durante os 5 anos de curso no Porto, tive o privilégio de conhecer (e quase devorar!) muitas delas. Aqui podemos encontrar algumas (mais em Lisboa) num muy nobre projecto da Rosa. Consiste em criar um espaço virtual com fotos de lojas antigas portuguesas de artigos muitas vezes portugueses, e que infelizmente tendem a desaparecer. Havia a intenção de participar com contribuições "made in Invicta", mas os planos mudaram e estou novamente a viver em Leiria. Um destes dias faço uma "Crafty tour do Lis"!

Para já, uma nova mala em mente, sugerida por novas cores de Outono.

Porque Outono não são só folhas caídas e dias cinzentos. Pelo contrário, tal como diz Jane Brocket, é o tipo de luz ideal para fotografar o que quer que seja. Vale mesmo a pena ler este post com atenção e entender a real necessidade da boa fotografia.

Obrigada a todos pelas vossas visitas e comentários, um beijinho especial para o outro lado do mundo (directamente de Pu-tao-ya!), um abraço para as Netherlands e um breve até já para os local people!

Rosa Quilting - Mala Quiltada Pink!

Brincos de Princesa. Uma combinação de cores de inspiração inesgotável!
Após um feriado muito produtivo, eis a nova mala quiltada:

















Tal como anteriormente, com um bolsinho interior, para chaves, cartões...















Agora com as fantásticas etiquetas!















Apliques bordados em feltro com lantejoulas e missangas.















Fotos com luz natural (em cima),















E mais com luz artificial.
















Espera-se que estas e outras brevemente preencham lugares numa lojinha em Leiria, no Mercado Santana. Entretanto a produção vai crescendo.

Apples, marmalade and the "Autumn leaves"

It's time for Autumn, and as usual, Mum makes marmalade. She cooks the fruit for a long time, hours... and when it is ready, soft and creamy, she pours everything into small/medium bowls. As a final touch, a little pinch of rum or "aguardente" is added to the surface, and covered with "vegetal" paper. This is a way to preserve marmalade, the alcohol "kills" every unwanted bacteria... or so the popular wisdom says, and the paper keeps it from new infestations...



















And these are some delicious apples from our garden... reminding me of grandpa's habit of bringing home the best apple (or the funniest!) he could find for me... The brown ones are called "Rainetas", a bit sour, they are perfect for cakes and pies, always with cinnamon, of course!


















Meanwhile, strange things, veggie-fruity-weeds invade the garden... I found a lot of these after the first rainy week. I think they are astonishing! These should be the COLOURS for this Autumn... Don't you think?


















Now here's just a tiny lift of the curtain on what new stash combined with Autumn inspiration makes to my head...


















At last, a very good surprise on yesterday's mail... our labels! Aren't they cute? I already feel like I want to order three or four more colours and motifs...

"Step on it!!!" - "Pé na tábua!!!"

Long time no blogging around here, hã? It's not only the lack of time, nor the busyness... It's Autumn. :(
I always try to look on the bright side of life (like the Monty Pythons) but it all comes down to this: Ihate the end of Summer!
Ihate to wake up in the morning freezing and grumpy... I hate when it is too cold to wear sandals, but still too hot for shoes... I hate not knowing what to wear these days when it can be cold in a minute and hot the next... Uff!
Well, at least not all is bad. The fresh smell of humid soil after the rain... Oh! That is "home" for me!

















Also, sitting in front of the sewing machine and sew all evening, no matter what goes on theTV, no matter dinner, or anything else...That's a favorite too!
And here it is, now officially a kind of a small afghan (I don't know if you can call it like that, maybe that's just for knitting or crocheting?!)
or just a warm softy cover for Sunday rainy afternoons watching movies and having tea with biscuits...
After several days of joining tiny pieces together, I'm now quilting. It's not easy, one has to be very careful not to let it too tight or too loose...

















Nevertheless, I love my sewing, my quilting, my crochet, it's my best way to fly away!...

Quilting - Passion for details, or the construction of life.

I always regarded life in a constructive way. I think it is always a process of adding diverse things. Each person has their own "patchwork quilt". It's true that you can also have losses through life, but I can't see those as a subtraction, in the sense that one always gets something out of it... To me crafting is also a similar process. When I "build" a project, either sewing, embroidering, crocheting, drawing... I am making choices, transforming ideas, developing concepts, and above all I'm being me. As a consequence I usually don't manage in following projects. I really like not to know what will be the final result. As for the process itself, it's importance is major. Only by observing the process can you really "deconstruct" the work, the purpose, the achievements and failures... Maybe that's the great thing about blogging too. One can show the working in process disasters, bad experiences, trade precious information on techniques and know-how, all in the same chair, quickly and easily , and in a appealing way.
Here's my new WIP, a quilt, not like the first one, this time bigger, bluer and patience-devouring!

This was the easy part: making eight big squares with 12" to 14"...
















Then I saw a tremendouly gifted quilter's blog ... and I understood she would sew a lot of tiny pieces together...
















And after having one large piece all made of small pieces, one should cut that in other pieces, as if it was a normal fabric.
Here you can see the detailed stripe made of tiny 2,5" wide stripes... lot's of them.. uff!
















I still don't know if it's going to be a big quilt, for a couple's bed or just a small "afghan" to keep on the couch for wintery TV watching nights...

Another of my favorite quilters: Rosa!

Novidades do outro lado do globo... - Novelties from the other side of the globe!

A new swap has arrived! Nina sent me a very nice package with a lot of goodies in it.

















She really has got an eye for strange things, she collects amazing old or new stuff. I would love to take a peep in her house...eh!eh! I think it must be some kind of odd museum. Anyway, you see for yourselves, she is "Fun Old New" at flikr.

A pretty candle, lots of american postcards...
















Wonderful vintage lace...
















And look! The fabrics even have that border with all the printing details!

















Thank you Nina! I'm delighted with your gifts, and I hope you like mine too.
In this swap I tried to pick up old products from portuguese origin. Some of them you can't find anymore, because the foreign products have taken over our market... welcome to globalization.
Others are still on the market, but maintained their original design since ever! I think I can give you just a small taste of our beautiful country. Enjoy!