bodner010

I finally got myself a real leather punch and I'm pretty pleased with it as it looks good, I believe. Simple, sleek, just the way I like it. Unfortunately, I won't be able to put it through the test any time soon. We've decided to move - No panic! We stay in Paris! As a matter of fact we even stay on the same block - just a different apartment, slightly bigger. But this means a lot of work in the weeks to come (we'll be moving the second week of April, most likely).  No time for new tutorials, I'm afraid, but I intend to keep posting here. Pictures of things going on and - who knows - a little craft or so, whipped together in the wee hours, and a story or two... PS: Cindy has a dog - I have a bird, don't you think?! It makes me think a bit of Mo Willems' pigeon . And talking about pigeons - I had a very bad encounter with a pigeon yesterday, or worse, with its droppings... I'll spare you the gross details, as gross it was...   That too is Paris...

Don't you remember those little coin purses worn around the neck, back in the seventies I guess it was. Everyone in class had one of those. We wore them on school field trips with the coin which mom gave us in the morning to buy a drink or a little souvenir with, safely tucked inside, or as an accessory on other days on top of one of those tight turtle necks and with flared jeans and clogs underneath, or with a smocked dress. They disappeared, probably because they weren't that safe after all but I still remember mine. I got it when on vacation in Spain. Our first time in the South. It'd been on my wish list for a while and I wouldn't leave Spain without getting one of those! I no longer have it but I remember exactly the way it looked. Anyway, as I wanted to experiment with rivets and snap closures I decided to make one of those coin purses. My choice of leather wasn't ideal as it was slightly too heavy for my paper punch - so maybe it is my tool kit which isn'...

I feel so frustrated - my hotmail account has been hacked apparently and I'm completely stuck. Windows Live Support isn't very supportive, you see... I guess, I'll have to be patient. Luckily, I was able to recover my contacts list as I just installed Outlook on my new laptop, the other day (I'm not to crazy about Outlook - but at least it was helpful in retrieving my contacts). So now, I can start ticking off the list and letting people know to contact me via an alternative e-mail address - a good moment for a much needed Spring cleaning in my contacts folder... And all this while we have the most gorgeous weather - I'd rather be outside right now...

The same little coin purse, a tiny bit different... Made it in no time after spotting this (through this post at Blue Moss)... The shoe lace, charms and jewels, I recycled from this project (I no longer have the phone...). It's tiny as I used the wrong plate, but definitely cute and more jewelry like, I guess - it fits a couple of coins only. Enough for ice cream on the beach, though...

Though this morning didn't feel like Spring - I was cold the entire trip to school and still am, despite the polar fleece I'm wearing now and the cup of hot coffee I had - we certainly were lucky with the weather lately. Sun! I just love the light the early Spring sun brings! It makes me happy, excited. And it shows in my projects, I believe. Take this fabric and wire flower, for instance. Don't you think it's over the (my) top colorwise?! It started with one of those kits to make  flowers  with wire and some colored gooey liquid (I actually think it's white glue mixed with colorants of some sort) which little H. received from a friend for her birthday. While I was helping her out I just started wondering if  maybe I could do something similar with fabric and wire. With Vliesofix that shouldn't be too difficult, I figured - no, I'm not affiliated with Vliesofix, but just happen to have bought a lot of the stuff. So, after buying the Petit Pan...

Oatmeal colored linen, a leather rising sun, and a very nice tomato red and white narrow chalk line cotton make this a very stylish shopping bag - the perfect accessory for summer. It's now available in my Etsy shop . 100% of this sale will go to the Red Cross Japanese Disaster Relief Fund. Shipping is free. Dimensions: H: 31cm without handles - 59cm with handles included W: 43cm Small pocket on the inside. Hurry up - there's only one available!  Update: the bag has found a new owner! Thank you for your generosity, Lauren! PS: I considered the option of keeping an auction as suggested by some of you in the comments on my previous post - an idea I liked a lot - however, there were quite a few practical issues which made me decide to just go ahead and sell through Etsy. But, many thanks for the suggestions made!

Earthquake - tsunami - nuclear disaster threat... Impossible to imagine what people are going through right now in Japan. I just had the feeling I had to do something - how little it is. This afternoon I whipped together this bag which will be up for sale later this week. I haven't worked out the details yet - but most likely it will go through my Etsy shop. The full amount of the sale will be donated to the Red Cross Japanese Disaster Relief Fund (through La Croix Rouge Française).

I may have sounded a bit too enthusiastic when I announced there would be a second part to the Button Up for Spring from last post. So, let's hope you're not too disappointed. It's just what is: another set of hair accessories for my poor girls, whose mom can't do more than make a pony tail or two, or a braid if she's in a good mood, ... LOL Blame it to my own miserable hair and the fact I never ever had long hair as a child just because of that reason. In those days it was widely believed that keeping hair short would make it stronger and thicker in the end, just like covering it in egg, while shampooing, would make it stronger, as would rinsing it with beer and shampoo it again - I can tell you: these remedies don't work, my hair's still miserable, but no longer short! Anyway, when I made these fabric covered buttons, all I could come up with to attach them too was elastic hairbands. Because you see, I had to make my own fabric covered buttons. You see t...

A couple of weeks ago, we had another one of those brocante sales in our neighborhood. I didn't find any Eames chairs this time, unfortunately, but I didn't return home empty handed. I bought the cutest, teeny tiny mother of pearl buttons! I love mother of pearl buttons and buttons in general, though I must immediately add that I don't like making button holes very much, especially not if there are a whole bunch of them as on a shirt. But who needs button holes anyway, if you can add buttons just like that as a little detail... My mother of pearl buttons haven't been out of sight really since I bought them - I picked them up from time to time, thinking about the different ways I could use them. Michelle's bobby pins certainly were an inspiration. So, here are a couple of the button ideas, I came up with so far. All very simple and involving very little supplies: fabric scraps, embroidery floss, elastic hair bands, hair clips, bobby pins, needle, glue and scissor...