I am not terribly fond of St Valentine’s Day, chiefly because it seems to have become a garish commercial event, rather than a way to really honour those you love.
Nonetheless, I am partial to vintage Valentines, so I thought a little display would brighten up my day–and hopefully yours too.
Happy Valentine’s day!
Oh dear. I blinked and my blogging holiday turned into a hiatus. It has been a strange time this one: stressful, difficult, tiring, but also joyful, full, intense.
Unlike other ‘blogging holidays’ I took, though, this time I was unusually busy ‘making’ stuff. On top of my usual collageing and paper crafts, I decided to experiment with new techniques and new fields, branching out into painting and making one of a kind dolls, drawing paper dolls and–gasp!–handsewing.
Remember, I am the girl that couldn’t thread a needle to save her life, let alone sew a straight seam. So tackling a sewing project, and a hand one at that, was akin to madness for me. But when I started painting one of a kind dolls, I quickly realised that they would need dresses to look the part. While people do sell handmade dresses for fashion dolls on Etsy, buying them felt too much like overindulgence. Which left only one option open: sewing them myself. And since I didn’t own a sewing machine, I could only do it by hand.
Naturally, once I reconciled myself with the idea of sewing dolls’ dresses, I thought it would be a great idea to sew clothes for my daughter too. And my son–who has been my staunchest supporter in this whole stitching adventure–decided it would be good for me to sew him some toys and costumes.
I wish I could say that it all worked swimmingly and I quickly became a proficient seamstress. The truth is that my first efforts–an Indian costume for my son, a little skirt for my daughter–are so ridiculously bad that they could be exhibit number one in a tutorial of how not to sew. Even now, my stitches are uneven and my seams decidedly wonky. But I have managed to make a couple of half decent pillowcase dresses and an angel costume for my daughter, a toy axe for Nicco (in an incongrouous vivid blue colour) and even a couple of dolls’ dresses.
But most of all I discovered I rather enjoy sewing. It is relaxing, and fills you with the pride of making something that other people might actually enjoy (my family, with the possible exception of my son, doesn’t really ‘get’ paper arts).
So I have invested in a small sewing machine, which I now have to figure out how to use, and, because I am nothing short of ambitious (though others would call me hopelessly out of touch with reality) I have also bought some intricate historic patterns from Sense & Sensibility. They are for people with intermediate skills, and I am barely a beginner, but never mind. I’ll give it a shot and have fun. After all, the joy is in the making.
Caterina with the first dress I made for her (not ironed, as you can see from the creases)
Today a caring, tender, exceptional woman lost her husband. Today a sweet gentle little girl lost her father.
I wish there was something, anything I could do to ease their sorrow, and it enrages me to know that there isn’t.
But there is perhaps something I can tell them. His spirit is still with them. He is in the banana tree out in the garden, in the kalo patch he tended, in the waterfall and the shrimp-filled river down the mountain, in the orchid that bears his name and in the distant sound of the ocean that laps the beautiful, verdant island where he lived.
Farewell M. May you watch over your family forever.
I am still shoulder high in crates, but I took a minute today to nip to the garden, and look what I saw. Aren’t roses beautiful?
We are almost there! All our furniture has arrived from storage and we are now in the (long, tedious, untidy) process of unpacking the 60 or so crates that contain our possession.
We are sleeping at the old flat (so the children won’t have to live with dozens of unpacked boxes littered everywhere) but the new house is looking more and more like home, hooray!
My paints and brushes are still buried somewhere in the unpacked mess, but I found one of the last background papers I made before we left the flat in Italy.
It was a free painting exercise—blue and green splotches ‘stamped’ bubblewrap, corrugated cardboard and milk bottle caps. It is not the best one I made in that series, but it is the first one I came across when unpacking, and therefore deserves the honour of being used.
I am not sure what I’ll make with it yet, but it should celebrate our new home.
