Silk Headbands. Easy DIY and Tips.

I'd love to have a studio or a space just for me, but sadly ...I do not! So when my boyfriend left for a short trip, I was so excited to stay home this time: I wanted to create something new, profiting on the (whole) space my creativity deserves!

...Well, basically I made many attempts allowing fabric to scatter everywhere and dwelling myself in the chaos for three days...But in the end, I also manage to came up with the new silk headbands!

They are not listed yet, I think I'll work on it during the weekend. God knows how pitiful I'm at writing items' descriptions - plus now I write in both english and italian, and it takes the double!

Anyway! I put some effort as usual to make the prototype easy reproducible. If you want to Do it Yourself, here my easy tips:

Cut a string of about  8-10 cm wide and 45/50 cm long - depending on the size you fancy the most. Double the string, sew together the open sides, and reverse it to hid the seaming.

Now get a 10 cm piece of elastic band. Let it slip inside. Pin one end of the elastic band to one end of your fabric string, and then stretch it: where it reaches its complete extension, pin it again.

Put the other end of the fabric string within the first pin. Sew where you've pinned, and here you go with your new hair accessory!

You can use any fabric, preferably cotton, or stiff silk as I did!

Have a nice weekend,

Elettra

Boredom and Creativity

I know boredom is a terrible thing, but if you never get bored you don't either get the chance to come up with new things. I think we need those empty moments as well as the exciting ones, to be creative.

Since this week I had nothing to do, I started to put some order among the billions of pictures of irish flowers I've been taking for a year now. 

While I was doing so, bored, I thought to arrange them for a possible album entitled "Irish Flowers" to print online (and to give to my Italian relatives who think I ended up living at the end of the world - and maybe even outside, who knows!).

But when I decided I needed a decent font for the quotes under the photos, I already knew I was going in a complete different direction. At that point, I wanted to make a book! After a while, don't ask me how, I was aging paper with tea (following Anne Marie's instructions for aging lace)! 

Once the sheets had dried, I ironed them. They became kind of...crispy! Then I made up an alphabet for the one I picked here for free doesn't have capital letters....bummer! Just to try out all my new stuff, I wrote (in Italian) the intro for a non-existing children book in a non-existing rhyme.

So I hereby confirm that boredom can give birth to unexpected, pataphisical results!

Have a nice week end,

Elettra

Of a Wet Ferragosto. My Recrimination.

Although this year we were blessed by a long and beautiful summer, when yesterday I came back home soaking wet it was kind of disappointing. 

My umbrella  - what a useless fashion feature here! - broke, so my clothes looked like they had just come out of the washing machine, and I'm almost sure a fish jumped off my ballerinas when I squeezed them!

"This is Ireland!" my little readers will say immediately.

No, children, you are mistaken. Once upon a time there was ....Ferragosto!

August 15 is Ferragosto, the summer holiday! So yesterday at lunch we all should have been on the shores eating watermelon (or lasagna and roasted chicken, it depends on your family traditions), and at night gathered around bonfires, drinking and dancing until dawn!

And that's the reason why it was a pity being alone on the sofa with a cup of tea, looking outside the rain coming down as it was, I don't know, november?! It was so unfair!

I know, I'm a nostalgic expat (and meteoropathic) but fortunately I don't take myself too seriously! My recrimination ends here, so to let my latest creations tell you everything about my desperate wish for summer! 

Have a great week end!

Elettra

Ivory White: Handmade and Vintage Shall Be Together!

As you'll guess from the title of the post, I adore ivory white. Unfortunately, it is so meaningful as a color - it always makes me think of weddings, and timeless elegance -, that I find very difficult to wear it myself.

Then I have a secret to confess: I'm not that good at taking pictures of white items, and that's the reason why I don't have many in my Etsy shop. I know, it's a shame, but if I want to keep a graphic coherence in the shop, then I must accept some sacrifice!

...So today is the exception that confirms the rule, and it's due to the fact I wanted to show you my new obi belt so badly! Again raw silk, again handmade, again...gorgeous!

Boring, right? Then I'll introduce you to my vintage pearl necklace showing off below! "Vintage" in this case refers just to the pearls, which I collected and cleaned to re-thread them into a unique, OOAK bridal choker.

This combo leads us to a more interesting point, maybe. I think the obi and the necklace match perfectly, but not just for the color. It's because I really believe handmade and vintage belong together! 

Am I right? What do you think about it?! Please let me know!

Have a nice week end,

Elettra

Refreshing Gems: Cold Colors.

Hello everybody!
The long waiting has been rewarded with the most beautiful gemstones ever! I'm going to start with the so called "cold colors", hoping it brings some comfort to you, for the summer is hot, and full of mosquitos!

A 6mm amethyst purple dyed jade short necklace. It fastens with an antique silver plated clasp embossed with spirals - you can see it better clicking the image, and going to the listing.

The most sought after gemstone, hematite: 4mm 1950s-like choker. Hematite has definitely a dramatic attitude, so I enhanced Mother Nature's work accompanying the bluish-gray strand with mother of pearl (which curiously has the same glares).

Garnet, as you know, is one of my favorite gemstones! This is a powerful piece of jewelry. The beads are of a deep color; and huge, about 8mm - meaning they do not pass unnoticed and do not kill your neck. To celebrate their beauty, I used the prettiest clasp I had at hand, the silver clock-shaped toggle clasp. Very time-travel.

A charming turquoise necklace, because I can't resist its genuine color when I see it, the one verging on green instead of being of solid, stolid blue.

Eventually, a rough, non-dyed 4mm lapis lazuli strand, sprayed with gold and veined of white (included pyrite and sodalite). I specially love lapis lazuli as its powder has been used for centuries as pigment for the paintings and fresco I've been surrounded by, all of my life, in Florence, Italy. Every time I look at the painted skies, or the saints' cloaks, I can't help thinking of the role the blue stone" played in the history of arts.

What do you think about my new supplies so far? Leave a comment, let me know!

Have a nice week end, 

Elettra