Book Mobile

A few months prior to my artistic "coming-out" I picked up a book that really inspired me. It's called "The Repurposed Library", by Lisa Occhipinti. This was the first project I made from that book: it's a hanging sculpture made from an old hard-cover book I picked up at a flea market in Belgium. The book is a second-edition of the novel "Rose in Bloom", written by Louisa May Alcott in 1876, translated into Italian. A totally random find, and for a couple of cents too! This book sat awkwardly in my library for a few years (I don't have any other antique books). I had actually thought about getting rid of it, because I can't stand things that are out of place.

I do however sometimes like to collect things that I like but have no idea what to do with at present, because often they turn out to be of great use in my DIY projects. In fact my favorite types of projects are those that involve recycling something. This is known as UPcycling; taking something old and/or useless to turn it into something creative and modern. That's what "The Repurposed Library" is all about. It's chic and tasteful way of jerry-rigging something.

Here is another project I made that was inspired by this book. It's a canvas made of several pages stitched together by machine (I had no idea you could sew paper). Prior to making the book mobile, I kept aside the illustrated pages for a project that would show them off, like this one. I painted them in a little with watercolors.

Travel-sized sewing kit

Soo...now that I sew I need a sewing kit, right? You know, to keep my sewing supplies in? Not really, I already had some sewing boxes, that can contain a lot more stuff than this little thing! But who can resist a cute project like this?? I guess I can use it for travelling, for those long plane rides...which makes me wonder, can you bring needles on a plane?

This project was also brought to you by the book "Zakka Style".

Sewing IS my bag, baby!

So, here's the deal, I've been creative since I was a tiny thing. But for the most part of my adult life, I have been doing my best to keep this creativity bottled up and hidden from the world.

Who knows why? Out of fear, out of not knowing where to begin, perhaps just out of sheer laziness! That stuff really gets the best out of me sometimes, and it sucks all my aspirations, you know, the ones that live happily inside my head. It's not that I wasn't inspired! Oh HELL no! I am ALWAYS inspired by the work of others. In fact, I sometimes get over-inspired, like overwhelmed!

So for years I had been bookmarking, clipping, saving and jotting down billions and trillions of inspirational ideas for future projects. You know, saving them for "when the time was right". For when "I had time" or "money"...you name it! Every excuse known to mankind, I thought it! It took me years to come out of this virtual closet full of "ideas for the future". Like I said in my very first post, STARTING is by far THE most difficult thing for me. Once I do that, I am a flowing river!

This is how I changed things: Well first of all, my sister, Clelia, sent me several books to get me into sewing. I resisted at first. For some reason, sewing always seemed like something completely out of reach for me! It seemed tedious and complicated, and in school I always seemed to have awful luck with those sewing machines. They always jammed on me! I was the annoying student raising her hand every two minutes to get the teacher to trouble-shoot. Besides, I have to say that my aunt, Sandra, is a very skilled embroider. She was even featured in an art show! Her daughter, my cousin, Camilla, picked up sewing right about the same time my sister Clelia did. They spent several summer days sewing together. They got inspired from a beginner's book on making clothes. Frankly it all seemed a little *yawn* to me. I wasn't interested.

But then I found myself at home, alone, I had just moved to the United States, had no friends, and no job. My lovely mother in-law, Carol, bought me a sewing machine for Christmas. It was my idea. But still, it was many months before I really put it to good use. Also to tantalize me, I had these books Clelia sent me. I got inspired, but from a distance, I looked through them, skeptical. I was certain I wouldn't be able to make the easiest single project from any given one of those books.

I decided to give it a try one day. But I needed someone to assist me, to be there for me, to hold my hand through this and share the blame in the event that we failed. That person was my mother, Gaia. She came to visit me in my new home, and we sewed together. And this is what we made in a half a day! I was ecstatic! If I can do this, I can do anything!!! And I  have proven that I can. Sorry for the huge post, bear with me.

I proceded to create more and more and more pot-holders. We could say that I mastered the art of pot-holder making, that I am now a pot-holder expert and connoisseur. And that is the story of how I crawled out of my shell, how I learned to embrace my talents and passions! Who would have thought that a pot-holder could have the power to change the course of my life? I never dreamed of it. 

But most of all, I realized that sewing is my bag (baby). I am good at it, and I think it's really fun! Oh, and my troubleshooting problems with the sewing machine vanished, PUF! 

But enough about me. In fact, how rude of me, I haven't yet mentioned the source of my inspiration. It all started with the book "Zakka Style" (not to be confused with that hideous song gangnam style). It comprises 24 projects by different creatives, compiled in one user-friendly book by Rashida Coleman-Hale. This is the book that got me started, the one that contains this pot-holder project. 

Testing... 1-2... Testing... 1-2

Hello there!

No, I didn't make these lovely dresses. But aren't they inspiring? Makes me want to organize a coral-themed   garden party! With adorable little tea-sandwiches filled with sprouts and sliced radishes, bite-sized pistachio cupcakes with rose-scented frosting, and home-made minty-peach iced tea! NOM!

Anyways the point is, this is my FIRST EVER blog post. The process of setting up this blog and of putting myself out there, was a long time in the making. It has been a long, strenuous road filled with doubts and - let's face it - self-inflicted laziness! Let me explain... I am a person who has NEVER even updated her status on Facebook. GASP! SAY WHAT?! You heard me! I've never updated my Facebook status EVER! I am THAT introverted. Fact is, I'm only used to sharing intimate things about me with people who are very close to me. I'm the kind of person who can't even envision owning a Twitter account.

So ... what am I thinking, starting a blog? Well, coming out of my shell has not been easy, but taking the first step out of my comfort zone is always THE hardest part for me. So there it is: the hardest part is over!!!! I have a feeling that from now on this will come natural!

So stay a while....join me on this journey towards self-discovery, towards owning oneself and letting the world in on your talents and ideas! What are those for if you don't share them with the world?

Get inspired by my ideas... inspire me! Let's connect, and let's be friends!