a new direction: I hope you're going to stay

I've been thinking about this for a while now. I came to the conclusion that to grow and go forward I need to change a few things here on the blog.
There have been days when I found it very difficult to share things here and nothing seemed to motivate me enough to actually sit down and write something. Why? I think is because I felt under pressure. I had the feeling I had to write a blog because that's what you do when you have a small handmade business and you try to advertise it.
This doesn't work anymore for me. I don't want to feel like I have to do something. So there are going to be some changes. Good ones I hope. I know I'll feel better and hopefully you will like them too.

In the next few weeks I'm going to work on the design part of this blog of mine that has been neglected for so long. I'll probably incorporated it with with my own site and I'll clean the look for sure. I hope it will be easier to navigate and find the different topics.

The most important thing thought will be the new content. Everything will rotate around my way of living in a big city while dreaming of living beside the sea or nearby a forest. I'm a city dweller dreaming of leaving it behind and embrace a simpler life. Unfortunately I can't do that right now, so I adjusted my lifestyle and decided a few years ago to try to have a simpler life while living in a city.
I want to share with you my everyday efforts, dreams and projects that help me to stay sane and keep dreaming.

So what should you aspect? Posts about home cooked food, second hand finds, DIY, recycling projects, crafts and scenes from our daily lives (my Irish husband Ed, Maggie and Lisa* and me).
My handmade line of goods is a part of my way of living so you'll see also a bit of that, especially works in progress and inspirations.
*our kittens!

I hope I didn't scare you off and that you're going to stay around!

A couple of days I found a very inspiring video on TED and I thought it would be the perfect thing to share with you today. It's about "how to grow a tiny forest anywhere" by Shubhendu Sharma.
It's only 5 minutes long and you can find it here.

weekly round up

This week was quite intense. I laugh a lot and cried a little.
I worked on new designs and products to get ready for Christmas (yes I know it's July!) and I managed to find time to spend on the terrace with our lovely furry friends, especially early in the morning with a big cup of coffee.

Lisa looking lovely

This morning I collected little flowers while walking to work and made this tiny floral arrangement that now sits on my desk.

I ate a lot of gelato, but don't have any pics to document that. I slept little because it started to get hot again and living on the top floor underneath the roof doesn't help.
I made a batch of unique thank you mini cards to go out with my next 20 orders.

This weekend is supposed to get even hotter so I'm planning to do as little as possible. This will involve a lot of reading, maybe some sketching, some more gelato and lots of cold showers.
What are you up to this weekend? Any plans?

my love for the sea: a personal kind of post

I've always loved the sea.
I love the smell of the salty water and the noise of the waves.

I love the sea in any season, especially after a storm.
I love the Mediterranean Sea, but I also love the Oceans.

My memories of the sea:
Sitting on a wooden platform on the Kerala coast in the middle of the night with fishermen telling stories about the sea and life.
On old ferryboats going from one small Greek island to a tiny one, the sprays of sea water in my face, feeling so free like for the first time (every time).
In the car travelling south and then you look on the left and suddenly the sea is there beside us, this surprises me every single time.

I'm a better person when I'm close to the sea. Is that possible?

the Irish Sea

a personal kind of post

hello!

This is a kind of personal post. Never wrote one before, I don't find it easy to talk about serious stuff, so please bear with me.

I can be described as an emotional kind of person. I laugh and cry a lot, usually for small things and many times out of the blue.

When I see an adult crying, my heart breaks.

Yesterday walking to the studio from home I saw a woman crying herself out sitting on a bench in a little garden. I stopped, wondering if I could help her, maybe somebody stole her bag? 

A man approached her and asked before I had the opportunity to do it. I got close to see if I could help. She said she was crying because she didn't know who she was. She couldn't remember.

At that moment my heart broke. The man wanted to call the police, I suggested to see if she had an ID with her or a phone. We got in contact with a woman she called many times and she came to pick her up: it was her daughter.

I spent the day thinking about this and after feeling really bad for a while I then felt happy. Happy because I felt lucky. Happy in a strange kind of way, happy with contrasting emotions. 

I meant to write a post about last week holidays, but I felt like I had to write about this instead. Not sure why.

some little things to be happy for