Secret Santa is here!

 

Today the postwoman knocked on my door and gave me a big envelope from Italy. I knew right away that it's my secret Santa, and I knew who she was! It's Evelyn from Sumikoshop who makes the sweetest jewelry of lovely little things (you can follow her blog here, it's always full of lovely things). I got very excited and wanted to tear up everything to look look look and try on, but calmed myself a little and grabbed my camera to take a picture of this stunning gift box. So pretty packaging, I really adore the paper lace on it. And such a sweet Christmas card, people seem to don't send them anymore, but I like getting cards always :) So after the photo I could open the box and so many sweet things came out of it:

A lovely set of hair pins, the biggest one is amazingly beautiful, and I like the others too with the elegant blacky and the natural linen buttons.

 

A cute pair of flower studs in pink, very tiny and girly. They will be worn a lot, as I'm a fan of studs! 

And last but not least a gorgeous red rose ring for my ring collection! So pretty and passionate!

All the things are so Carmen-esque with their flaming colors and lovely designs. Thanks a lot Evelyn, I'm very happy with my Secret Santa gifts! :) And of course our lovely organizer should be thanked. It could not be easy to pair up everyone. Thanks a lot Mitsy for your work (ah what work, I know you enjoyed it :D)

Monday Moodboard

1. only the sea 2.dream tree 1 3. Make a wish 4. Victorian Dream Silk Corset

I love that feeling when you wake up from a crazy dream that doesn't make sense at all, but still it was so exciting like a movie of your imaginary life and you can't stop thinking about the impressions and feelings you had meanwhile, but as time goes you have a hard time to remember the details that were so clear when you woke up, and finally it all start to slip away and you just remember that you had a great dream but you're not sure what was it all about. Yeah, I love this all, in fact I usually have very vivid dreams and I often remember them well when I woke up. So for today I was going for the blurry dreamy European mood, I think I caught it!

More moods at Fleurfatale's blog.

Shop update - New rings!

 

A new bunch of the filigree rings arrived and I immediately glued some of my newest glass cabochons on them. They look so magical and dazzling, I love all the colors. I hope they will be as successful as my previous rings of this kind. Soon all will be available in my shop!

Flickr Favorites - 1st of December

1. flowers in december, 2. Did I fall asleep?, 3. Mini White Pumpkins 3, 4. "Miracles do not, in fact, break the laws of nature."

Finally it's December! I love this month so much, it's my birthday month, it's Christmas, it's lights in the streets, it's the month of our annual Vienna trip, it's yummy wine in Christmas fairs, it's chilly weather, it's snow, it's white, it's soft music, oh all pure pure joy! I love December! :)

Explore some other flickr finds at Mitsy's blog!

Monday Moodboard - Feeling sick

1. A cup of tea 2. Give Me My Medicine 3.  Sick 1 4. Get well soon

My sweetheart is sick so my main thing to do today is tea for him. I hope it's not the flu, though he only has a sore throat and a little high temperature yet and not the typical flu symptoms. I'm not sick yet *fingers crossed*

More moodboards at fleur's blog.

My creative space

Today I'm definitely spending in front of the computer. The only creative thing today is my desk which was rearranged a little. It looks like this now.

Yep, all my beads are gone now and they ended up in a drawer. So my place is a little more clear and easy to look through. That's what I call inspiration - well it is for me...

The reason I'm spending my day here, is that I opened a shop on Dawanda, just to try out something else than Etsy. So far I really like it, so easy to use. I'm filling it up right now, so check back later for more goodies on the left side bar.

Those who are following my fanpage on Facebook might already know that I'm having FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING in my Etsy shop from now until the 1st of December, plus I'll give away a $20 worth gift-certificate to one lucky buyer! Just because. Isn't this a great deal? So for this I'm editing pictures for my new things to list.

Beside all that I'm hooked on a new series called 'Glee' which is about a high school choir, but not the regular type. Such a fun series, and the songs are great! So this is all news here in my world now. Check out Kootoyoo's blog for other creative spaces!

News!

I have a new line on my mind and in my shop! It is called 'De Lux' and it is special because the pieces in this line are made of valuable and quality things: sterling silver and semi-precious gemstones. The pieces are modern and pure and I hope they'll be well received! The first of it is already in my shop.

Flickr Favorites

1. Oh, Deer!, 2. The Light on Her Face, 3. Paris under the snow, 4. Maiden With a Bluebird
More mosaics at Mitsy's blog.

Sales fairy

Look who's here! My sales fairy from Belgium! I've been waiting for her very much, and she a took nice long flight over Europe until she finally arrived to my home today. No wonder it took her long to arrive: she has only one wing. She was pretty exhausted so she wanted to lie down a bit and show her beautiful face to me. After a little nap she got up and was looking outside, watching the people walking by but she was regularly turning to me and watching my working on new pieces. She's so happy to be here and sends warm hugs to her creator!

This sweet one winged matryoska mobile is a sales fairy. In my team we usually 'sent' each other sales fairies to get some movement in our shops, just for fun. And one day Ingermaaike created a real fairy, which was followed by another and another and another. Everyone in our team is trying to catch a fairy now and then make her own to send it to an other European fellow. You can see all the fairies HERE. Can you find mine? They all bring happiness and joy to our homes and hopefully some sales too! :)

Monday Moodboard - Recycling

1. Dream Weekender- Vintage Velvet and Leather by StarBags 2. Birds in Lines - Original Mixed Media Artwork by annarubyking 3. Upcycled leaves mobile by BabongoHome 4. Recycled bicycle inner tube journal by palepink 

I don't know if that counts as a mood, but I'm in recycling mood. I recycled a bunch of bubbled mailers this morning this time with girly magazine papers. They look so glamorous, don't they? And there's a mailer that has been recycled before me, so the next will be its 3rd trip, how exciting! I hope that the recipient will reuse it again, so the mailer can go to the recycled heaven. Here they are:

More moods at Greet's blog!

Creative project

Today we had a fun day with my sweetheart. He had to do a project for school: create a home page for a company that works with designer furnitures. As I'm the creative brain in the family he asked my help for the look. After hours of brainstorming and picture hunting we created this one. Well it's in Hungarian, so probably a lot of you won't understand a single word of it, but just imagine yourself in that rocking chair and who cares then, right? :-) I have to tell that he turned down tons of my creative ideas for creating a girly page when we finally agreed on this calm, simple, stylish design. Then I created the logo and whole banner and he built the page itself. It has subpages as well, but since it's fictional he isn't allowed to upload it, so I can't show you that. We're quite a team! Also we agreed that we'll create a homepage for my jewels. Don't I love him? :-)

Feeling nostalgic

 

This little guy is my daddy when he was about 4-5 yo. It was his first bicycle and at the back he wrote: 'I have never tried it with a passenger'. So fun! We found it when we were sorting pictures and all the enormous amount of stuff at my grandparents house. He was totally nostalgic and I know he had a great childhood. I thought I'd share this loveliness with you. And the bonus is that the bear is still sitting on the couch at the house, waiting for another ride! :-)

My creative space

Today I have two necklaces on my desk, they're both new designs and part of my Bouquet line. I love them very very much, they both came out very eye catching. The Berry Bouquet is very festive and gorgeous, especially that I used a large flower and large firepolished beads for the necklace. I love pink, purple and red together, they're so yummie!

This other necklace is called Rustic Bouquet and is created for the actual weekly challenge 'Mythology' of the European Street Team hosted by the great felt artist Ingermaaike. If I think about Mythology the first thing that comes to my mind is Greece and Greek Mythology that I so loved when I was younger. I read many books about the stories of the Gods and mortals and they fascinated me. I was quite the expert on this subject in my class. So I thought that I should create something according to Greek Mythology and came up with the idea of this rustic looking necklace in a bouquet form of course. This is the necklace of Demeter the Earth-Mother.

For more creativity visit kootoyoo's blog.

Flickr Favorites

1. Autumn nut, 2. tabby kitten 1, 3. Squirrel on railing., 4. The gift of nature

More mosaics at Artmind's blog!

Monday Moodboard

1. Sad by ArtMind 2. ghost butterflies limited edition by matchstickgirl 3. Lonely Tuesday by krize 4. Autumn Foliage by trotalo

Yep, I'm sad. My grandfather passed away yesterday, quickly and without any signs. We sorta knew this would happen as he wasn't feeling great since my grandmother died last year, but still the shock is unbearable. And I'm just very very sad.

Hopefully you'll find happier moods at fleurfatale's blog.

EST Challenges

Through the summer I missed a whole lot of my team's challenges, but recently I joined in the fun again! 

Flower in the Woods ring made for the challenge 'Gnomes and Trolles' hosted by JealousyDesign.

Vegan brooch for the brilliant 'The Kitchen' challenge hosted by Kraplap.

And my latest entry was for 'Under the sea' challenge hosted by Artistudios. 
I love these challenges, they're so very inspiring, and I already have a great theme for a future one, hosted by me :)

My creative mess...um space

This is my creative mess today. Usually it's like this. Uhm. Some unfinished projects, mostly sewing this time. And felt rose making. And reparing a choker's clasp. And so on. I usually start everything and it takes long for me to actually finish them. Well I try my best :)

Okay enough of the mess, I don't really want to scare you away :) I also wanted to show this little pouch that I sew all by myself. It far from perfect, but it's so cute, and really gives a natural and lovely touch to any gift. Well mostly to jewelry as it's quite small. And it's made of linen trousers that I don't wear anymore, so it's totally green too. I cut the whole left leg into pieces, so I can practice making these pouches a little.

More creative spaces at Kootoyoo's  blog!

Flickr Favorites - Sew, baby, sew

1. The [avant-garde?] Sewing Center, 2. Sewing machine + bokeh, HBW!, 3. Sewing: A creative mess is better than tidy idleness, 4. Cute sewing box

I've been sewing a lot lately, well since I haven't sewn any in the past, the little I do now counts as a lot :) I'm still getting to know my machine I got, and it seems that sewing is pretty simple all I need is some borders and being very very accurate. These are not my strength, I have to admit. I always colored outside of the lines and could never cut a paper straight. But I'm determined that I learn to sew properly, so i won't give up, as I'm a good Capricorn :)

Visit Mitsy's blog too to find some more stories and lovely galleries!

Monday Moodboard

1. Noir et blanc earrings 2. Irish Cherry Bomb -soft handmade bag from merino wool 3. Nona the cellist mouse 4. Big dark moss felted wrap

I'm sooooo cold I'm shaking. I needed some soft and cozy things to at least look at...When is spring?

More moodboards at Fleurfatale! 

Pictures of an exhibition

Da Vinci - Lady with an Ermine

Tiziano - Man with gloves

Vecchio - La Bella

Raffaello - Double portrait

Have I ever told you that I'm a big Renaissance fan? And that I'm a Leonardo Da Vinci fan too? :) No? Well here's the opportunity. 

Today we visited the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest with my family and saw the exhibition: 200 years of Italian Renaissance. The most important painting of this exhibition is Leonardo da Vinci's 'Lady with an Ermine' which is located normally in Kraków and it hasn't been out from there for 8 years, and it's really hard for museums to get it. With my father we're both da Vinci freaks, so we agreed that we must see this painting. It is simply gorgeous. And I liked the whole exhibition too, gosh, those beautiful faces. I studied especially the women portraits, their jewelry (of course!), their hair, their dresses...Lovely! And I also got to know that some of the ladies were not even real, they were just the ideal of women's beauty. Somehow I really like pictures of girls and ladies, I think I'm searching myself in them. I don't know if you understand this, but that's how I feel. I also admired Botticcelli too, he had a vivid color use, it was brilliant though mostly his works were religious that I'm not very fond of. (Would be great to see The Birth of Venus!)

At the exit of the exhibition there is a gift shop, where I really wanted to have a postcard of Lady with an Ermine, but they didn't have. I was shocked. I might print for myself then :)

The exhibition is open until March 2010, so if you're in Budapest, it's a must! 

Brand new!

After the rings and the necklaces I came up with a new idea for the flower bouquets! Why not create a flower brooch? And I did. This is the first piece, it's quite big, really makes a statement :)

In my shop already!

Banner dilemma

Okay so I decided to create a new banner for my shop a long time ago. Then I had no Photoshop on my computer, I had the hard drive problem, picture problem etc. Now that my laptop is finally working I started to use new picture editing software: Picasa. It's very easy to use, and so much fun, I like experimenting with pictures. But no matter how much I used it, and how hardly I read the how-tos I couldn't find size settings and couldn't give my pictures a smaller size, a banner size. So my boyfriend showed me Gimp which he uses now for a school project, and wow it's so cool. First I was struggling with the new things, names, options, but now it's working for me! So I quickly made my new banner and uploaded to my shop, replacing the old one. Byebye!

But then I thought that I wanted a bird in my banner somewhere, as I like them so so much, so I found this bird shadow amongst my files and tadaaa! Banner no.1 with one bird on the right.

But what if I have two birds?? Aren't they darling together?

Or only one bird but at the left side?

Or birds are stupid and I should put no bird at all and stick with the original?

Oh please help me!! Vote for your favorite and help me decide! You can check the winner in my shop later! And those who vote? They'll receive a virtual hug from me :)

Friday Favorites #14

1. Trench Swing Coat 2. UPCYCLED Purple VINTAGE Tote 3. Morocco earrings 4. Vintage Passion Deadstock Snake Skin High Heel Shoes

I always wanted a gorgeous fabric coat in grey, but I ended up with other ones. I had a tweed Gap coat that I adored but after several winters I had to say goodbye to her. Now I'm having a purple one but it's a bit long so I'm thinking about cutting off a little, otherwise it's a really gorgeous coat too. But the real one is *sigh* would be a grey one of a soft and cozy fabric. Maybe one day! Meanwhile I'd dress it up with some purple accessories. Yummie :)

My creative space

Don't you just love stamps? I've been collecting them as a kid, filled some gorgeous leather books but then stopped. Then I was in connection with the whole world: first with my penpals, now with Etsy. I got packages from all over the world and I always admire the beauties. But when I saw this bird line I just had to separate them from the envelopes. I don't think I'm going to be a big collector again, but maybe I'll make a little picture or something of them.

Ah and here are the shiny new supplies arrived last week, I really adore these hoops in this lovely mint color.

More creativity at Kootoyoo's blog!

Fall fall fallen

I love how the Americans use two words for autumn. Autumn and fall. We only have one, but that means an other thing as well. Like fall. It is just perfect as at fall we see the leaves falling down from the trees. I really love the colors of the leaves at this late time of the fall, they're so gorgeous in yellow, brown and sometimes little green color. It gives me inspiration. So I created some jewels in a very very autumn mood. They look so so great together, aren't they?

Flickr Favorites

1. little bo peep [5], 2. a photographer, 3. Twister, 4. Kyoto- Gion area: Yasaka Shrine 祇園 - 八坂神社

More flickr finds at Mitsy's blog!

Monday Moodboard - Black or White

1. The Love Pears. Fairytale Plush for Grownups 2. Monocromo light necklace 3. Black lace antler -Pouch 4. Black Ice - crocheted necklace / bracelet

Check out more moods at Fleurfatale's blog!

Finally!

This story goes back to April when Mitsy from Artmind released her mini feelings and I fell in love with little Creative. I decided that I would like to have no. 6 of Creatives, because that's the number that defines me, my lucky number, it just had to be her. At the end of the summer Mitsy asked if I still want to hold her on reserve. Of course I said! And then in the middle of October I finally purchased my own feeling. And then comes the hardest part of the whole online shopping process: the waiting for the package to arrive. It didn't show up for more than a week and we both got worried, that she might have been lost. But no! Yesterday, after I met our postlady and she didn't give me anything I was very disappointed....until there was a knock on my door. And a different postman brought my package :) Yay, she's here! I was so so so excited and happy you can imagine. And this was the lost and found pack! It felt like Christmas already.

And just a lovely package with my Creative babushka inside! And there are two happy girls outside ;)

And look what all other gorgeous things I got from Mitsy: a set of her postcards, a cute button, belgian chocolate, a crocheted babushka and crocheted hairpins. All very sweet, I couldn't stop grinning. :))

Annnnnnnd tadaaaaaa: my Creative no 6. Should name her something, no? :)

Look how happy you made this girl :) I'm afraid she's going to be a bit lonely, so I should think of a little company for her in the future :) All is well when it ends well, and this is a really happy ending. Thanks a lot, Mitsy!!

Weekend Deal in my Etsy shop!

I'm going on a little break from all the creative world of mine for this weekend. For that time I have a little deal in my shop: Purchase over $20 between October 30th - November 1st and you'll receive a surprise ring and a 15% off coupon with your order! All you have to do is just enter 'Weekend Deals' in the message to seller area during checkout and your surprise will be posted to you on Monday. 
I'm a true ring person, I think a nice ring gives an impression to the people who you meet even when they can't see your outfit. A ring can mean a lot of things depending which finger you wear it on or what is the shape or material of it. When I was in my first year of university and we had to do an essay of a Hungarian word's etymology I chose 'ring'. And that was many years ago. My love for them has not passed though (and I only got a C for that essay :P) I have several designs of rings beaded, fused glass or glass flower bouquet. You can find the one that suits you in my shop!

Have a happy Halloween and weekend everyone!

Friday Favorites #13

1. Vintage Polka Dot Dress Navy Blue 2. Dark Ages Ring 3. White Rose Flower Party Twinkle Lights 4. Squirrel on a String