Being back... loud and proud!!!

I disappeared in the past weeks due to a lot of things to do. I took up, as a consultant, an event planning job that completely ate up all my free time for more than ten days. Now that the event has taken place and was a huge success, I am working on the last finishing touches of my cottage renovation, before the first guests arrive this Saturday.
I have to say that being back in the swing of things for the event plannig was extremely fun. I chose freely to leave that world when I moved to Sicily looking for a quieter life but doing it from tim to time is useful for my brain, for making new acquaintaces and for some stress which, taken in the right doses keeps you alive (at least, this is how I see it).
For the cottage I can't wait to share pictures with you all but I need a few more days of painting...


Anyway, the great news is that, while browsing through my Reader trying to catch up with all your lovely blogs, I discovered that I have won the "you know you're a craftaholic when..." post which I had blogged about here. This said, I'm very proud of my new button which I will display for a long time in my right column! That post was so much fun, it made me laugh to tears and I could certainly see myself in more than one "craftaholicism"! If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend you to do it!
I managed to make a few things and hopefully will be able to share them in the following days so... stay tuned!!!

#2 - Picnic

The best inspiration usually doesn't come at 10pm while watching some really trash tv after a long day of work that eventually ended at 9... But I decided that the best was to pick up a pencil the same. I didn't want to give myself some excuses for not drawing yesterday night. Therefore my picnic is far from what was really in my mind. But sometimes the will and the effort to complete an assignment are more important than the final result. Or I guess so...

#1 - Ivory

Creativity Boot Camp has officially started. I had to chose a medium to work with. I was initially drawn to photography as it is one of my most beloved passion but I thought that, using my camera almost everyday, I could try something more difficult.
As a child I loved to draw, I had a lot of crayons (some of them are still here with me) and stared for hours at the colours and their combinations. So I decided to be very brave and went for drawing. For the next fourteen days I will draw something starting from the inspirational word given from Maegan.
Today's word was Ivory. I immediately thought of elefants, of their massive shape and of Africa. Maybe simple but I'm happy with the final result.

Can't wait to see tomorrow's word!

Projects, projects, projects...

I came home from my journey a little more than a week ago and it took me all this time to go back to my normal routine. I love to travel, it's definitely my favourite passion (apart from crafting, of course!) but I need a little time once back home to recover and reflect on what I experienced.
Those two weeks were great, I spent gorgeous days with my family and had the chance to see how my brother is doing up there in Northern England (btw, he's doing great!). I also got to know better some friends and had a fantastic time in London! We hanged mostly in the East and I discovered good places to eat and to shop. The fave from the weekend was definitely the Columbia Flower Market: I saw so many beautiful plants and flowers and so many gorgeous furniture for gardens that really made me want to move there immediately, only to be able to buy tons of that stuff!
I came home with loads of inspiration and I have a long list of things to make, do, mend, refashion, recycle...
Therefore, in order to be more productive with all this projects, I signed up for a few things here on blogland...

First coming up in chronological order is The Creativity Boot Camp!

It is "a two week intensive e-course designed to take your creativity to the next level. The course will consist of daily creative conditioning exercises to shift your life patterns allowing for a full embracing of your creative selves leading to higher levels of creativity". In other words, I'm looking for some more inspiration and tips and tricks to transform my creative energy in finished projects. And I am also looking for finding some courage and bravery to start a long loved project.

Then, there's the Christmas in July International Gift Exchange!

I will make and receive a handmade gift... I already met via email the girl who's going to send me her handmade goodness and my gift will be coming straight from California... I can't wait to see what will arrive! I am waiting to know the name of the girl I actually have to send mine!
I love the feeling of waiting for the post to arrive and also the slight embarassment of giving to an unknown person something made with love. I'm always thinking "will she love it???". If you too love swaps, there's still time to sign up!

Here comes the tough stuff... I really want to learn to make my clothes and become a better seamstress so I signed up for two really demanding projects...

The first is The Pattern Challenge, organized by the lovely Sarah of Come and See the Seitz!


It's very simple: I need to find a few sewing goals, make them, blog about them and share pics on Flickr. Easier written than done. I'm still thinking about my goals. I need to make myself at least a couple of summer dresses, one blouse and a couple of skirts and I also have a neverending pile of clothes to refashion... So, once my ideas are clear I will devote an entire post to my goals and start to sew immediately after that!

The last project I embarked is certainly the most challenging for me. I signed up for the Self-Stitched-September from the super amazing Zoe of So,Zo...

I loved her Me-Made-March and May projects and I craved to be part of that, seeing the beautiful outfits she put together only with clothes she made for herself. So, when she said if anybody was interested in join her in September, I didn't even think of what I was doing.

I am going to take the light version and will wear at least one item of clothing or accessory made or refashioned by me everyday for the whole month of September. I have three full months to prepare... I really need to work hard but the Pattern Challenge will be of some help.

It's going to be a fun summer, I know! I just think... will I be able to bring my sewing machine to the seaside???? Mmmmm... better learn how to hand sew!!!

Craftaholicisms...

Just a quick note to tell all of you to check out the awesome blog Craftaholic Anonymous today. The post is titled "you know you're a craftaholic when..." so be prepared to recognize yourself and laugh out loud!!!! Plus, there's also a very little contribution from me!

Julie's ATC

The Hand Embroidery Network ATC Swap is now over and I have finally received my partner's embroidered card... it's so cute... I love the yellow background and the buttons! Julie is really an embroidery beginner and she did a great job! Seeing it yesterday really made my day!!!

This is the ATC that I sent her. I wanted to work with complementary colours not only in the threads but also on the fabric. I love the pairing of yellow and fuchsia together, they really are gorgeous! The design was taken from a Publisher's clipart... not very technologic but I loved the butterfly! I also added some sequins to give the work more light and a backstitch green frame to give it a definite look.

This is the first time I take part in a swap and I must say that it was fantastic! I had to work on a schedule not to disappoint my partner and was able to stay in the timing. Plus, I had a reason to wait for the postman...