finally: The Gothic&Lolita swap

You might remember, I was doing some little sewings &crafty stuff for the Gothic&Lolita swap at the german Natron&Soda forum.
This morning Miaka, who was my "Wichtel" got my swap bounties. And now I finally can show you, what I made for her:

1. a big sized tote bag with lots auf ribbons, lace and a tiny selfmade cameo:

2. matching to this bag a little purse with a keychain on it and a readymade cameo pin:

... and the other side of the purse:

I´m very proud and happy to tell of Miaka that she loves the bag and the rest of the bunch. *phew!* Now I wait eagerly to get my swap surprise from whomsoever ;)...

That´s it for now, hugs - nan

pure suggar...

another job for me, the next measured mobile bag.
made for DaWanda, a lilac bunch of cotton candy, decorated with purple pearls, ribbons and flashy flowers. I think it looks cute in the literal sense. And I hope the new owner likes it too. the pics are not that good, cause I took them straight after finishing sewing, so the front pocket looks a little leaning, but it isn´t!

What else happened this week? I made this mosaic for Valentines Day with Flickr toys and ordered a copy in 50x60 cm. It now decorates our hallway and I love it :) So I hope your V-Day was ful of love, like mine was:

I ordered this book on tuesday and hope that it arrives today:

It´s not, that I don´t have "enough" books about sewing, but this one is special, cause it contains many declarations and tips for the different stiches on my sewing machine, some realy great ideas for new stuff and good step by step workshops for each piece... I had no choice, I had to buy it, and hubby said, it´s ok to do so... so I did ;)

So, my week was about spending some money and earning some, too. Next week my hubby will be on a business trip and this will be the first time, I have to stay alone in our house... We´ll see, how that feels like. The bad thing will be: I´ll miss him badly, the good thing beyond: I´ll have enough time to make all the DIY-stuff I planned, like some gifts for our wedding aniversary.
For now, I wish you a fantastic weekend :)

daily soaps...

We will have a little soap-party in march, for making some new soaps together. But I couldn´t take it, I had to make another new soap yesterday. I made a total amount of 2 kg fat base, so I decided to create 2 different soaps.

The first one is a spearmint-chocolate soap, very soft and creamy at the moment. it will get a little harder while drying the next weeks, I guess. For now, it smells and looks very yummy, I somehow now get an appetite for vanilla and chocolate icecream!

It´s made of best whole milk chocolate coating, cacao, dried and self hand-picked peppermint leaves, scented witht spearmint, vanilla, bitter almon and rum.

The second one is a spin-off of my research for the romantic steampunk project: I read a book about victorian householding and on chapter was about popular fragrances back then. So I made this soap, scented with rose, petitgrain, lavender, narcissus and freesia, rounded of with a few drops of sandalwodd and patchouly. I tried to colorize this soap with a brew of logwood, but that didn´t work that well, I´m afraid. I dare hope, that the color will change a little over the time of drying:

I think, the color is ok, the dark points in the middle of the pieces allready startet to brighten up.

Results: brainstorming with Ela

Last Tuesday, Ela, a good friend of mine and the owner of Gothic Castle, came to fetch some ordered bags for her shop. It´s always the same, when she visits me: we sit together, speak about our projects, ideas and dreams. This time we had some ideas about new bags, selling my homemade soaps and oils. She gave me some very usefull tips for proposing a trading licence too, which I´ll propose definite the next days. Slowly the project grows bigger, I receive more orders every month, so that this ist the logical next step.

A new order, and a special one this time I received at DaWanda. A bag for a mobile, made to measure and girly-like in lavender, beige and brass, with a tiny cameo, pink, gold and violet flower-rhinestones and satin ribbons. it will be fun to sew this piece, I´m looking foreward to!

The first findings of our tuesday´s brainstorming I assembled last weekend: a little bag with snap hooks, so that it can be attached at a bunch of keys, belts or other bags. I made 2 different sizes: 7x10 cm, fitting for creditcards and 9x10, fitting for german ID cards. I used different fabrics for each part of the bags, it looks a little vintage and patchwork-styled now, and I like it :). Here are some pics:

the first 3 bags together:


The frontsides:


the backsides:


the insides:


I also started with my 3 projects for the Gothic&Lolita Swap and finished the first 2 pieces. I don´t show them here now, caus until everything is ready and has arrived at it´s new owner...

Thats it for now, mor coming up next time...

makes you look old

and this time, it´s ok ;)
I had to do the same as pulp sushi did, according to her blog entry.
here is the first pic, that came to my mind, an I think, it works quiet well:

and here the original picture before aging:

The site www.dumpr.net offers not only this feature, you can do different things with your digital images, that´s fun! Thanks again, Sushi :)

Interlude: my wishlist part 1

While my second exercise in knitting, a beret with a ponpon this time, is turning rounds in washing machine (to get a little smaller, actually ;) ), I´d like to open my own wishlist, filled with wonderfull things I found in shops, the web or books and catalouges. Belike I never will own some of these things, but perhaps some peeps, who like me, want´s to get an idea for making me a present. (How bold! ;) )

1. Oscar The Octopus Necklace:

I found him at Etsy. He´s made of pewter and silver-finished, made by Pulp-Sushi. I love this piece, it perfectly fits into my current more romantic steampunk style. Oscar is the One and Only! Yes!

2.Another Octopus...
They´re haunting me these days... I cannot struggle, I simply love them ;) :

This remarkable necklace is made by the amazing Vecona, who is one of my big idols in crafting! I love her style and work for a long time. She´s is a big source of inspiration for me since I startet seewing and crafting myself.

3. li´ll octy in the oven...

It´s a cake pan, and, yes, its an octopus... again... I´m afraid, I have to find some other , not octopus related stuff now, or it´s getting boring here ;)...

4. A Sandwriter:

Not really an essential tool, but decorative and exeeding!

5. a beautiful black jardinière by caleidolex:

or this one:
Ok, that has to be enough for the moment, I could continue with this, but I´d better stop here, before I start shoping ;)

housekeeping with nanstyle...

was, what I had in mind, when I designed and sewed my first apron ever. I adore the pattern that still dottie had made, so I took this as base for my own apron. Well, and here it is:




And, before I forget again, here are some pics of the julpresent, I made for my hubby: a costumized box for his ties:

bought at nanu nana and pimped with Fimo, striped satin, foam, pearls and carton

a selfmade badge with his initials on the lid

in use and filled with ties and belts, a litte leaning cause of the belt, I know ;)

Well, that´s it for now, more things coming up next...