~Rödluvan~

A book that I found yesterday. I love those illustrations:







Go to flickr for a few more pictures.

On our balcony

Flowers on our balcony. I don't have as many flowers as last year (of many reasons), but even a few flowers brighten it up a bit :-)



The tea cup is inspired by liquidskyarts miniatures but I want something else instead of the butterfly (because it doesn't fit in there). I'd love to have a mini gnome, an animal ... or something else that is "mini".

Our balcony from the outside:


It's tea time :-) It's been a real summer day and now it's a perfect temperature on the balcony. I write a letter, read a little bit in a magazine, drink tea ...

Ia doesn't want tea:

beads, beads

Yesterday when I went home from work I passed by a "bead shop" that one of my co-workers told me about the other day. So, in the evening when I came home I was making some jewelry.

~Roses, violets & periwinkle swap~

Roses, violets & periwinkle swap - recieved
Originally uploaded by maria nenita.

What a wonderful and heavenly smelling swap package that was waiting for me when I came home from work! Thank you Dana, I LOVE it!! Go here to see more photos.

Necklaces for trade

I have so many necklaces. I get new ideas, I make more ... and more ... Most of them I never use because sometimes I want to try out new ideas that aren't really my style. Funny to make, sure, but it'd be better if someone used them. Perhaps some of you have the same "problem" with having too many necklaces laying around? So, what about a trade? One necklace for one necklace. (Or something else.)
#4 is 37 cm so it's not a big one ;)
#3 is 63 cm
#2 is 49 cm

Post a comment here or email me at nenitas@spray.se if you're interested.

Follow the photos links to flickr to see the necklaces more in detail.

necklace for trade #1

necklace for trade #1
Originally uploaded by maria nenita.

necklace for trade #2

necklace for trade #2
Originally uploaded by maria nenita.

necklace for trade #3

necklace for trade #3
Originally uploaded by maria nenita.

necklace for trade #4

necklace for trade #4
Originally uploaded by maria nenita.

*garden dreams*

*garden dreams*, originally uploaded by maria nenita.

I wish I had a garden. It could be just a small garden. But I feel I'm inside too much now when living in a flat on the second floor. Of course, I go out for walks with my dog(s) but it's not like having a garden. I don't go out to have breakfast under the apple tree, Zam (dog) can't run around and play as he wants, I have nowhere to plant the flowers and trees I'd like to have ... Last summer I had flowers and tomatoes and some herbs on our balcony, but this summer I will not have too many things there since I don't know if we will stay here or move. I wish we could rent a flat or a house with a little garden ... And one day, we will. I'm sure.

Anke's Free Friday

free-friday #2
Originally uploaded by huana - (Anke from Anart Island).

I totally forgot to tell that I was the winner of Anke's Free Friday #2 and those goodies arrived here a couple of days ago. Thank you Anke!! :-)

So, go check out Anke's blog and her Free Fridays!

necklace + dagboksswappen

me
Originally uploaded by maria nenita.

It seems I have finally finished my studies! Weehoo!

I love the necklace I have on this photo. It's made by my friend Fillan and it's so cool. Something else you can see on this photo: this summer I'll be white as snow. There isn't even a window in the archive where I'm working (of course, because a window - and sunshine - would damage the paper).

Dagboksbytet är "stängt" och jag har skickat ett mejl till alla deltagare. Säg till om du har anmält dig men inte fått mejlet så skickar jag ett nytt! Har du några frågor? Hör av dig! :-)

Roses, violets & periwinkle swap.

Roses, violets & periwinkle swap.
Originally uploaded by maria nenita.

Here's what I'm going to send. Violet tea, two kinds of violet sweets, a Lush violet soap (smells soooo good), rose glass bead, small roses, rose pencil, rose stationary, rose card, rose tea "box" ... I had problems with periwinkle so I choose periwinkle-green things. And yes, there's the little rose tote bag I made the other day.

~Dear diary~ *Post in Swedish about a Swedish swap*

~Kära dagbok~

Det här är ännu en av mina idéer som strömmar till när jag har upp över öronen av jobb och skolarbete. Men det är ju snart över, gott folk. Och då kan det behövas goda saker att se fram emot.

Och eftersom jag, i likhet med en del andra, är ohälsosamt förtjust i anteckningsböcker och liknande tänkte jag ordna ett bokbyte. Det ska vara en bok som ska kunna fungera som dagbok (dvs den ska inte ha karaktären av ett anteckningsblock eller liknande, utan vara lite mer ... tja, slitbeständig, än så). Men, förstås, man behöver ju inte ha boken till just dagbok. Man kan ... skriva ner sina recept, klottra vid telefonen, anteckna filmrepliker, påbörja sina memoarer - eller vad man nu har anteckningsböcker till.

Boken man skickar ska vara en fin bok, antingen den är köpt och fin som den är eller man väljer att dekorera den själv. Inget billigt krafs som man inte själv skulle vilja få i present, alltså! (Sen kan man ju förstås hitta en fin bok för en inte alltför dyr penning, det är ju inte så jag menar. Men den ska se fin ut och vara skön att skriva i och den bör inte vara större än A4 och inte mindre än A6.)

Med boken bör följa lite smått och gott som man kan tycka passar. (Exakt vad som kan tänkas passa din "partner" får du klura ut själv, men lite tips kommer snart.) Penna är ju ett givet sällskap till boken, utöver det kanske det passar med klistermärken, ett bokmärke, någon dekoration - eller mer fantasifullt: Något litet gott att äta när man skriver, ett bokfodral? You decide. Det ska alltså vara lite smått och gott som skickas med, men inte något stort eller mycket eller dyrt. Miljonärer är vi ju inte så många av oss, antar jag.

För att den som skickar till dig ska få reda på vad du kan tänkas gilla och utifrån det kunna klura ut något att ge dig ska du svara på dessa frågor och mejla dem till mig:
*Kommer du att använda boken till något speciellt, i sådana fall vad?
*Favoritfärg(er):
*Intressen:
*Vad blir du glad av?
*Något du tycker är vackert:
*Färger och teman du inte gillar:

~Dear diary~

Vill du vara med? Skicka ett mejl med svar på frågorna + namn, adress, mejladress (och har du blogg eller liknande, skicka gärna en länk) till mig: nenitas@spray.se så snart andan faller på. Senast 6 juni har jag lottat vem som skickar till vem (det är med andra ord inte alls säkert att du får från samma som du skickar till, även om det kan bli så). Skicka presenterna till din partner senast 20 juli (men ju tidigare ju bättre). Gott om tid att shoppa och/eller pyssla med andra ord.

Frågor? Mejla eller kommentera.

~summer~

~summer~
Originally uploaded by maria nenita.

The only good thing about the boring weather is that it's much easier to stay inside and study when it's raining than when the sun is shining. I hope, once I've finished my studies, it'll feel like summer ... Also, I look forward to have some more time for crafting and for continue working with my webshop.

*A day in my life ~25 May*

*A day in my life ~25 May*, originally uploaded by maria nenita.

A day in my life ... (when I'm not working). To see more photos + comments, go here.

Sewing

25maj sewing
Originally uploaded by maria nenita.

I'm not good at sewing. I make mistakes. A lot of mistakes. Things seldom turn out the way I planned ... Still, I enjoy sewing. I've had my sewing machine for a year now and I think practicing is the way to get better ... so I keep on trying, trying, trying ;)

And the winner is ...

The prize is one of my handmade soaps. The winner is ...
Storme! Email me at nenitas [AT] spray.se with your postal address and I'll send you the soap.

Thank you all of you for nice and interesting comments!

Crafty friend

brooch
Originally uploaded by maria nenita.

I got this beautiful brooch from my friend Lina (she's made it). The simple cat card I made some days ago.

Magnus magical journey

Look what I recieved in the post the other day! "Magnus magical journey", a round robin in ABEurope that I took part in a while ago. All participants had an empty video film box and developed a character that was about to travel somewhere. All the other participants in this round robin developed the story by writing in the diary (that was included in the box from the beginning) and writing letters (supposed to be letters that the main charachter either sent or/and recieved), sometimes even including small things. I started a story about Magnus (loosely based upon my bf *tihi*), a man in his early 30s who travels around the world to learn about magic. His got a passport and a diary and he keeps writing letters to his girlfriend Maddi (loosely based on ... me!) and his dog Hunden (loosely based on Ia) who is a talking dog ;). Anyway, this box came back to me the other day and it's such a treasure box! Full of colorful letters and cards and booklets and things. Everyone did a great job and especially I want to say thank you to Elizabeth who did a great job in the end and also sent the box back to me together with some goodies. Thank you! And thank you all of you who participated in this RR (and this journey ;) ).

Here's everything that was in the box. Letters, cards, booklets, beautiful things ... Everyone has been so creative in both decorating and in developing the story. Magnus travel to Asia, Australia and other places and he writes in his diary and also letters to Maddi and Hunden.

Magnus' diary, passport ... and a golden lizard.

Letters letters and magical things.

This book (made by Lynne Porter) has a clever construction: If you remove a little stick you can open the spine and find ...

.. a secret message!

Invitation cards

Oh, I just realized I had forgotten to show you the invitation cards I made for my sister's wedding. I wanted a simple design with a "clean" look and since they had a "sea theme" on their wedding my sister found this light house which I stamped and embossed. White on white. (And a little blue for a water feeling.) If you "click" the picture you can see a bigger version of it where you can see that the paper was of a good quality and with a nice structure :-)

And don't forget about the contest. I'll pick a winner this weekend, so come on, comment! (I know I have quite a number of visitors so don't hide out there *blink blink*) ;-)

contest

I've catched a cold and it's so boring because there were so many things I wanted to do, and had to do, this weekend. And I'm just tired ... But I've been playing a little with flickr (I'm new in the flickr world ;) ) and here are some pictures that make me happy :-)

But now ... a little contest for you. Answer those two questions and I'll send one of you a little secret gift.
1. What makes you happy? Small things in daily life that make you smile ...
2. What would you like to see (more of) in my blog? It can be something that's already here or it can be something new.

So, come on! Comment, comment! *smile*

Another photo from my sister's wedding (photographer is Sune Olsson). Beautiful, right? :-)

Door sign and round robin

Here are two "pictures" that I made for a round robin a little while ago.


And here's our door sign :-)

Me & Oskar

Maddi Oskar
Originally uploaded by maria nenita.

For Christmas and for birthday I have asked for money instead of other gifts because I've been sawing for a camera, a digital camera that I've wanted to buy for so long ... And now, finally, I had the money ... And I've bought the camera and will have it here towards the end of next week, I think. Wooohooo! So, I decided to create a flickr account (and I did). This is my first try at posting a blog entry from flickr! The photo is of me (some years ago ;) ) and our dog Oskar.

Windy ... everything moving in the wind, except my sister's hair because the hair dresser put a lot of things in it ... ;) I�m the one in dark blue. My sister (the bride) made her dress by herself so I'm definetely not the only creative one in the family. (And no, they didn't get married by the sea, this is just one of many after-the-wedding-photo.)

Tomorrow we're going to the west coast. On Saturday - my sister's wedding. On Sunday - my birthday. It's going to be a beautiful weekend by the sea :-)

A birthday card for my friend Martina (3 May).

A birthday card for my aunt (2 May). She loves cats, she lowes sewing, she loves blue. Actually, kind of everythings she makes is blue ;)

Tadaa! The necklace, bracelet and earrings I made for my sister to wear at her wedding (on Saturday).

I got a job!!

I got a job! A good job, a fulltime job! (Until 31 Dec.) However, it's in Stockholm. It takes me one hour and 37 minutes to get there (if there are no troubles with the bus, the train or the metro ...). And a little longer on my way home. I hope I'll get used to spending so much time travelling every day ... But there's just no time for crafting, and no energy. Maybe later I can knit on the train, but I need something small then because the train is normally full of people ... Having a job is good because I have more money for buying craft related things, but bad because I haven't got so much time to use those things ... *laugh*

This morning I finished this necklace that I've been working on for a week now. It's rather long even if you can't tell by looking at the photo. It's inspired by Marta's lovely necklaces.

Another necklace

A necklace I made for Hel�n to wear at my sister's wedding.

Mini journal

From Coops (I'll go looking for the link soon) I got those two handy little books. Both were looking like the one to the right (but the other one was red instead of black) and I decided to decorate them a bit. So, the one to the left is decorated. I've decorated the other one too now, but I have no photo yet.

Cards with hearts ...

The photo isn't good at all (I know I say that often. And yes, I'm planning to buy a new camera), but, um, it's two cards ... with hearts ... They're part of the gift for my sister and her husband 2B.

Crazy Crafting

I've reached a crazy crafting mood again! Finally! However, so little time, so little time ... I've made a couple of necklaces, a door sign and a few more other things. I'll show you. Later.

ÄrtanPärtan

Check out the bird nest necklaces over at Ärtan Pärtan (www.artanpartan.se), I really like them since they're both so simple and yet elegant.

From our new home

Now we have moved ... This is a flower I bought today on my way home from school.
Tonight I'm going to a "craft meeting" with two or three friends and we're going to craft and to fika. I've been baking muffins with lemon and marzipan. They didn't really came out as I had planned, but I know what I want to change if I make them again. They definetely need a bit more lemon. This evening I'm going to begin making a necklace and a bracelet for my sister for her wedding. It's soon ... 6 May. The following day is my birthday, but I'm not going to have a cake party as I had last year :-)

Package from sweet Francesca in Bologna :-) There are small and very cute beads in the black container but it's hard to see in the photo.