Pages

Saturday 22 November 2014

Gifts for Cooks: Sew Mama Sew - Handmade Holidays and Giveaways

We are so happy to join the great event Handmade Holidays at Sew Mama Sew and today is our day to give you a selection of ideas for making gifts for the cooks in your life (or even for yourself, why not?!). 


So if you're visiting for the first time, welcome to our blog. We hope you enjoy looking around. You can find some fun projects on our Tutorials page:






We also have a very helpful Best Link Ups Page. Lots of link parties that you can join or visit to find new ideas and inspiration.


We'd like to remind you that on the 8th of December Sew Mama Sew is hosting the incredible Giveaway Day (actually lasting a whole week!). The link party hosts giveaways for handmade goods and craft supplies. We will be joining with our own giveaway, so save the date and come back to visit us for a chance to win!


Follow on Bloglovin





Wednesday 19 November 2014

Best Handbag Designs - Purse Palooza - Time to vote!

Look at this brilliant bag my friend Mara at Secretly Stitching made! It's fantastic! She is in the Top 22 of the Purse Palooza and I would be so happy if you could vote for her bag here (entry #21). Voting open until Friday the 21st of November.


Guarda che borsa spettacolare ha cucito la mia amica Mara @ Secretly Stitching! E' fantastica! E' nei Top 22 dell'evento Purse Palooza e vorrei invitarti a votare per la sua borsa qui (la trovi al #21). Le votazioni sono aperte fino a Venerdì 21 Novembre.


Head over to her blog to read more about her bag and have a look at the surprise inside... She has also taken some great photos you don't want to miss!


Visita il suo blog per vedere meglio la sua borsa e scoprire una sorpresa all'interno...
Ha anche delle foto incredibili che non ti puoi perdere!









Monday 17 November 2014

Lake Maggiore and Ticino River floods

Some photos I took last Thursday along the Ticino River, in the north of Italy. It has been raining for days on end and Lake Maggiore and the River Ticino have flooded many areas. Hopefully it will stop raining tomorrow morning and the level of the water will quickly decrease.





A video by Video Varese Web TV, gives you an idea of the situation:





Saturday 15 November 2014

Le Challenge X - The Nora Clutch by Heidi Staples at Fabric Mutt

When I read the theme for this month's Le Challenge was X, the first thing I thought of was Maths. It was the perfect theme because not so long ago I won some fabric from Quilt Taffy and couldn't resist getting a charm pack of Elementary by Sweetwater for Moda too. You must have seen this collection, it's so fun! I couldn't wait to use it.


When I was choosing (a loooong time ago!) which University to go to, I was very tempted to study Maths. I have always liked Maths, I suppose it has to do with my Mum. She has a degree in Maths. In the end I studied Architecture... About coincidences, a couple of days ago it was my Mum's birthday. For her birthday she asked my Dad for a tablet (!). During the Zakka Along 2.0 I had made her a kindle pouch and I see she uses it all the time, so I thought I'd make her a tablet pouch too.



It's a long time I've been admiring Heidi Staples' "The Nora Clutch". I know it's not for tablets but I thought that you could use it in two different ways, depending on what you need it for. A clutch when you don't need a big handbag. You open up the clutch and, voilà, you can use it as a tablet pouch, when you want to take your tablet around with you. Fancy and very useful!


So here's my Mum's handmade present and... she likes it! Success. A lovely pattern that looks great with all sorts of different fabrics/colours. Thank you Heidi for the very clear tutorial!



Le Challenge



Follow on Bloglovin



Friday 7 November 2014

New Linky Party - Handmade Christmas by The Creative Factory

The Creative Factory is a group of 30 Italian bloggers who have joined forces to present 30 tutorials dedicated to gifts and decorations for Christmas, from the 20th of November to the 18th of December. Every day you'll find the preview of a tutorial on the blog C'e' crisi, c'e' crisi! and the link to the blog hosting for the day. Many of the bloggers participating write in English and Italian so it's easy to use their tutorials!

Handmade Christmas


The Creative Factory bloggers:

Alessandra di Daisy Garden | Alex di C’é Crisi Bogomilla di Bogomilla Hopp Kids| Barbara di Accidentaccio | Carmen di Lo dico Lo faccio | Daniela diDecoriciclo| Diana Ingrid di Artedim | Emanuela di  My little inspirations | Froda diFroda Creazioni | Giulia di Extreme cera persa Iole di Ai piedi del carrubo | Kiki  e Illy di  Case per la testa Laura di  I colori di Laura | Laura D di A very Laurie blog |Linda di Mami Gio’ | Manu e Flavia di Genitorialmente Mara  di My Icecream Parlour | Marica e Tina di  I fiori di Marica Marzia di La Taverna degli Arna |Nesta e Ella di Ella & Nesta's Little Room | Norma di  Voglio il mondo a colori |Ombretta di A Sunday morning with | Roberta di Colori Idee Creatività | Sara di Il blog di Maryanne | Silvia di Ma Petite Maison | Silvia di Fancy Hollow | Silvia diTine the Lazy | Simona di Me & Design |Stefania di Il castello Incantato | Veronica B  di Le creazioni di Ivy



HANDMADE CHRISTMAS LINKY PARTIES

If you have a tutorial for making decorations or gifts for Christmas you'd like to share, join the linky parties which are part of the Handmade Christmas event. The linky parties are open internationally. The more the merrier! All entries will show up at the same time on all the thirty blogs participating. The linky parties are open until the 31st of December.

Here are the three linky parties:
1) DIY Gifts (for those who want to create DIY  Chrismas gifts: tutorials and inspiration) – add your gift ideas;
2) Creative Projects for Christmas (for those looking for instructions for making home decor, trees, Advent calendars, etc.) – add your Christmas themed tutorials;
3) Handmade Gifts (for those who love and want to buy handmade objects created by italian artisans) add the link for your shop.
Remember to link to your blog post and not to your home blog page, so it's easy to find your tutorial. Any questions (or translations!) needed, drop me a line.










A big thank you to Alex at C'e' crisi, c'e' Crisi! for inventing and promoting Handmade Christmas and for being such a volcano of contagious energy!



Follow on Bloglovin



Grab our button and join the Christmas fun!

Handmade Christmas




Tuesday 4 November 2014

Handmade Holidays at Sew Mama Sew and giveaways!

Have you already started following this year's Handmade Holidays series at Sew Mama Sew? A month packed with ideas for Christmas gifts (or other special occasions!) ready to make. This year I am so happy to have joined and my pick of tutorials, printables and recipes for the Gifts for Cooks theme will be featured on the 22nd of November.

Hai già iniziato a seguire la serie Handmade Holidays sul blog di Sew Mama Sew? Un mese pieno di idee per regali di Natale (oppure per altre occasioni speciali!) pronte da creare. Quest'anno sono contentissima di partecipare e i tutorial, stampabili e ricette per il tema "Regali per Cuochi" sarà pubblicato il 22 Novembre.



Sew Mama Sew is running a fun giveaway during the Handmade Holidays series: you have the chance of winning three fat quarters of Cotton + Steel fabric just by stamping and colouring in the Handmade Holidays graphic printable!

Sew Mama Sew ha organizzato un giveaway divertente durante la serie Handmade Holidays: per aver la possibilità di vincere tre fat quarter di tessuto Cotton + Steel devi solo stampare e colorare la pagina grafica realizzata per la serie.


Don't miss all the other daily giveaways! You just have to visit the Handmade Holidays theme of the day and comment for a chance to win one of the fantastic prizes! So easy and fun.

Non perdere tutti i giveaway presentati ogni giorno! Devi solo visitare il tema del giorno della serie Handmade Holidays e commentare per avere la possibilità di vincere uno dei fantastici premi! Così facile e divertente.



Follow on Bloglovin







Monday 3 November 2014

Hoop-La! New Look Embroidery and i ManuFatti free felt tutorials

I love Hoop Art and embroidery, so when I saw the second issue of Hoop-La! was out I had to have a look! I've been collecting lots of ideas for Hoop Art on my Pinterest board and I've had a go with some embroidery too. I find embroidery/cross stitching a great way for relaxing and it's so easy to take around with you.


There are some lovely ideas in this special issue magazine:



I love this Dandelion Brooch by Betty Shek. It's beautiful and there is something about dandelions... It must have to do with childhood and making wishes! Remember this quilt by V and Co.? Just Dandy Baby Quilt:


A designer I admire very much is Clare Youngs and here is her project for a lovely Pocket of Posies:



Isn't that fun? Great way to cheer up a plain blouse!

Hoop-La! had me nodding my head in approval right from the first page anyway because the first "Blogs we love" featured is one of my personal favourites: i ManuFatti.


Manu, author of i ManuFatti, is an Italian living in Slovenia and she makes the most beautiful felt brooches and decorations. 




You cannot miss her tutorials page and how about this Snowflakes project for Christmas?


I had better get busy stitching, because I can see a lot of inspiration for Christmas presents in Hoop-La! and on Manu's blog i ManuFatti!


Follow on Bloglovin