Some summer fun

With my last post I felt that I had ended in a sad note and it is not my intention to share such things with you. So I decided today to make a random post of fun things to set the tone for the summer.

This is one of my favorite photos. It was taken in a tiny village in India where I had gone with my future husband and his family to pick up their uncle who was a priest and was going to marry us in a temple. When I arrived there were two children and slowly word got out and they came running over the fields to have their photo taken with me. Indian people love having their photo taken especially with foreigners. I ended up with a tiny baby in my arms much to the chagrin of my future mother in law who saw this as an invasion. They were all polite and lovely kids and wherever I went in India I had several kids and dogs always with me. 

I note that my hairdresser had accidentally dyed my hair red some days before ! 

This is a dear friend Guillaume, he is like my son and now lives in Hollywood. I was going through a rough time in Sao Paulo where I lived and he came to take me out for a walk. We were in the park and when we saw the photo with the star it seemed like a sign.

Guillaume and I in Hampi India. Poor boy had a tummy upset and was feeling terrible. As usual I have a dog, we called them all Ladoo, which means marzipan in Hindi. The heat was crushing but I was fine with it. There is  a saying that only 'mad dogs and englishmen go out in the mid day sun' !!

We stopped over on our way to Bangalore at this tiny restaurant that had just basic things but they were delighted with our visit and treated me like royalty.

Now as regards dogs, you can spend a fortune on expensive items and in the end they are happy with a cardboard box !!

This was taken in Brazil. Alias my little treasure had given birth to two very different dogs ! 

Caramel , the fluffy, butter wouldn't melt in my mouth and Dago the goofy mad allover the place dog. Alias looks like she cannot believe she made them! She was a wonderful mum.

Caramel was like a fluffy toy and he loved to sit next to my computer and look at me!

My other dog Bahia loved dressing up and would sit for hours as we draped her with fabric. She stayed with my ex in Brazil and has since had 5 Puppies that they all kept ! 

I came across this photo on the internet, it is my house some time ago. It is one of the biggest in the village so it lay empty for ages as no one wanted such a big place.

A random photo of my bedroom looking dust free for once. The commode was found in a junk shop for 40 euros, the embossed leather box on top was 20 euros, bought in the rain to 'save ' it! The lamp was found, needs a better shade and the Shepherd and Shepherdess came from a Junk stall in the South of France. 

Some of my vintage textiles, I have a LOT more than on this photo.

I buy old small suitcases to store embroidery threads and sewing things.

My lovely Lady with her pink bandana wondering what all the fuss is about and when are we going out to play ball ? 

Dora for once not moving during a photo.

Caramel today, I am looking after him for three weeks.

My ex and I gave him to his mum as a pup, he is a terror!

Looking good as he is not supposed to be on the sofa. This was taken at his home. The pillows I made from an old Brazilian photo of a school from 1928. I had it printed onto egyptian coton.

I love building things from scrap. A friend was throwing out a table I saved the legs. The front part I found in the street in Paris. The top finish is an old book of French Grammar that I took apart.

The pyramid holes are for passing cables.

I love to collect old French bronze decorative pieces from furniture.

I made a coat last year from some test fabric from Louis Vuitton. I was trying out the collar. I since finished it and put it away and forgot all about it as usual.

A friend asked me to make some emboidery samples, I used some felt and beads, its such an easy technique to use and is quite effective . 

I made this little pillow for a friends 60th birthday. She is one of those people who receive amazing jewellery and cars etc as gifts. I cannot compete, nor would I want to so I made her this and she thought it was her best gift.

Turning vintage pieces of fabric into pillows. I added the points to make it less plain. I used some lovely feather pillows to fill them that a designer was throwing away!

The back of another pillow showing a label that I used in Brazil.

Mini Murray.

It was for a second line of fun clothes. My stay in Brazil fell part at that time and they were never used. I have 200,000,000 of them !! Feels like that !

Two years ago I decided to make some purses and totes and pocket books and sell them on Etsy.

This one is an assembly of scraps, I never seem to thow anything away. I sewed them onto a piece of base linen before making into a pouch.

This is another technique, I love trying things out. Below you can see how it came out after washing it, it gives an interesting texture.

The finished pouch.

Notes on assembly. As usual I always make the hidden Inside parts as well as the outside although rarely seen. This is the lining with inner pocket. I still do it in the dollhouse.

This is another technique. It's calle 'Boro' and comes from Japan. It is bascially laying pieces of cloth over a worn place or hole and running stitches in some contrasting thread back and forth over the area. It has many possibilities. 

Another pouch in preparation with two photos taken from the Brazilian coton.

I emboidered her lips red and gave her some pearls and the boy a bow tie !

Another version with the finished pouch below. I added a small heart filled with lavender grains to each bag in the same fabrics as the lining.

Another version with its lavender square this time.

How to add on some biais when you run short. I used the biais to finish the inside of each pouch. When all these pouches and purses where finished I sort of forgot about them and ended up giving several away and as for the other ? Somewhere over the Rainbow of my workspace.

You might think and rightly so that I am all over the place with my creations but until I began making minis I searched for something that would 'hold' me and give me complete satisfaction and now with my now passion and craft I have found that. I still enjoy sewing, I learnt when I was 6 years old so that is a long time pulling a needle folks!

I hope that you all have a lovely summer somewhere or even nowhere. 

Huggs and love to all you lovely folks. 

Three days in the life of a mad woman.

To the left of the dining room portion of the main drawing room there is a niche that cried out for a hutch/dresser to put all the gorgeous china I do not yet have. I add that it is a corner that no one will see unless you are ten centimètres high or have a long neck and small head! That wasn't going to stop me making something and in my mind it was a case of one day start to finish. This is also a way of learning and it's all about learning and progressing. I did look for one already made but found nothing I either liked or could afford.

As the corner is not very accessible I made a copy of the space with white foam board as I have done in previous projects. This allows me to set it aside, check the fit, turn it this way and that etc.

The contruction, wood glue and kraft gum tape to make sure it keeps its shape.

I used strong card for the back, economy oblige. The rest of the build came from four wine box lids my friend found in the street so all in all a super economical build. This piece was going to become part of the build and not a separate piece of furniture. I was inspired by Georgian china cupboards as Ramasy House is an old Georgian manor house.

The sides are 'stepped' with shelves getting smaller as you climb. The inside I used F&B green with some ochre yellow and white to lighten it. I lined the cupboards with an early 19th century wallpaper and added a shelf. Something else no one will ever see. I did think of doing fake doors and then fake drawers in the middle and then thought 'oh go for it' !  

The shelves all different and smaller as you go. I used wood from the old blind I was given.

I trimmed the door opening with coffee stirrers pinched from Starbigbucks.

I wanted the top to be marble as this is also a dessert, a place to put hot dishes and clear the table. It makes sense to have a hutch/dresser where you actually eat as it saves you taking everything from the kitchen each time. The cupboards will hold linen and place settings etc.

I didn't want classic marble so I dabbed and dabbed and voila ! Fake marble is either something that 'happens' or doesn't and you end up swishing on layers and layers of paint in an effort to get it right. This one took two minutes tops ! 3 coats of varnish, wire wool and wax.

Yes! Somewhere to put all my flatware. Making the compartments was tricky but in the end.

I used my usual technique for the doors and at the last minute chickened out and used cloth hinges, for doors that will never open they are perfect. No hard licquor needed.

Doors and drawer and marble top fitted, paintwork patinated and given a coat of clear mat varnish.

A quick try out. This is the view from the hallway in front of the kitchen door into the dining room and the hutch/dresser. 

I said that I don't have nice china, it will happen one day and meanwhile some plates from 'Twelvetimesteeny' via Etsy. The bottom niche takes salad bowls and could also hold a basket with napkins. I have yet to begin learning basket making. 

This is how you would see it if you were hanging from the ceiling. Just saying.

I dropped this drawer twice !

Another fly on the ceiling view showing all the different shelves.

Showing the maquette during the final photoshoot. I cannot install it until I receive and fit the scenic wallpaper from Alison Davies. The ceiling in the dining room is lower by a few centimètres than the rest of the room. 

I am sort of rushing this as I will be taking a short break.  This week end I will be losing someone young who has spent the past six months fighting and losing. I keep busy to forget that my heart is broken again and my family is getting smaller. 

God bless you all, life is short, make it count.