Neon Christmas Inspiration

First of all, I would like to thank all my friends for the wonderful support on my new Etsy adventure. You guys rock! And now back to the winter holidays: I am still getting the finishing touches on my plan for Christmas decorations. I find myself torn between the longing for a traditional red and white Christmas (which says that good old Christmas will be like a fairy tale, with singing carols and happy thinking from everyone in my big family) and the urge to do something else (just because I can imagine a different kind of Holiday). 

So after going along with the lucky red and white combo, I felt bound to try a new color palette. Neon! A worldwide contemporary obsession in design and a personal challenge for me. The process was quite similar to the first mood board: I just gathered stuff from the drawers in pink neon and white... and a little dusty pink, of course. I love what I see and I think I'll have a red and white Christmas in the living room and a neon one in the study ;)

My New Etsy Shop: L'Ateliera

Dear Friends, I just had to do it. I opened an Etsy shop with my lovely friend Ana from My Highness. We've got handmade journals of all sizes from My Highness and little prints from Meeha Meeha. I think I don't even have to describe anymore how amazing the journals are, after all I've learned to make one myself :) Please wish us luck with this new adventure named L'Ateliera, because we are going to need it - and feel free to visit any time, because we are planning to add more stuff soon :)

Random Happy Home

Pheew! Now that my Advent Calendar is up, there is only one thing to do: prepare for Christmas! I look around my little apartment and I see how the colors of the Fall make way to the Christmas fluffiness (it's all about the fluffy side of life with me!). Some things change, and some stay the same, like my princess lamp  shade next to the purple plum wall in the bedroom.

The chrysanthemum in a tea cup: soft lavender, turquoise and peach for a little November vignette. 

The neon pumpkin looks even shinier than before and is currently serving as an organic bookend. 

Full fluffiness ahead: the cats' favorite nap spot: a giant jute beanbag and a sheepskin pillow in the shadow.

More mums on the coffee table, the last days of glory for my Halloween gallery wall and a lovely mess drowning in a sea of colored dots. 

DIY Advent Calendar

Boy, am I glad to finish this advent calendar just in time for the Christmas countdown! I fell in love with the bark stars a looong time ago (in February, I think...) and I was dying to use them to welcome the winter charm into my home. The Advent calendar seemed like a good idea: a white, red and natural little project following my traditional Christmas inspiration.

For each day, we've got a bark star or a wooden heart pinned on the wall, in a Christmas tree shaped calendar. I don't have any kids and the size of my elements is quite small, so I started wondering what to prepare for the backside of each one. My first impulse was to go with mint candy, because everybody loves it. But then, I thought why not use the Advent Calendar as a practice tool for my carol singing? I wrote the name of a carol on the back of each calendar day!

In my family there is a huge tradition of singing carols on the Christmas Eve. When I was a child, I would go singing carols with all my cousins and we would have loads of fun. Now, we let other little ones sing the old songs. Then, we have dinner on the Christmas Eve. And then, we do some singing of our own, which can go on for hours. We start with the most notorious carols, but after a while we don't remember all the forgotten words and carols are more... hummed than sang. But not this year, because every day I'm gonna rehearse one carol :)

I've Got The Chills, Baby

The weather is no longer warm and I've got the chills. Out come the sheep skin pillows and the crochet blankets. The light colors are perfect for a winter mind-set, although I can't smell any snow in the air. Not yet. Perhaps for Christmas.... and until then, I've got a whole month of gift wrapping to do. Not because I have to, but because I love to!

Hedgehog In The Fog

The house is so dark that I need to use a lamp in the morning when I'm having coffee. The whole town is hidden under heavy clouds of led. No rain, no snow, just a grey roof obstructing the sun light. Not really my thing, but this is the perfect climate for the little hedgehog. He prefers to remain in a dark corner and he only comes out if there is cheese or cream involved.

My beautiful heather is glowing in soft lavender. I'm afraid it won't last for much longer. Never mind, it's about time to make room for the lovely winter berries and all the charm that comes with it! And I can't end this post without an invitation to watch the original "Hedgehog In The Fog" - a Soviet Russian animation from my childhood (made in 1975). You may have not heard of it, but in 2003 it was voted "No. 1 Animated Film Of All Time" in Tokyo's All Time Animation Best 150 Worldwide. Enjoy!

A Clockwork Orange

Orange cat (Junior), orange stool (Tam Tam), Ikea pillow, rag rug from grandma, DIY faux wallpaper. Just as I was ready to say goodbye to the wonderful Autumn colors and enter a more Christmas-y mood, I remembered to take a picture of another plant with beautiful purple leaves. The lovely "false shamrock" (Oxalis Triangularis) graces us with its colored leaves from February until late November or even December, then requires a little resting period. So I prepared a little shooting session, before it looses its purple leaves for two months. Just as I pressed the camera button, guess who sneaked into my picture?!

My First Crochet Pillow

It's about time to share a little tutorial on how I've finished my first crochet pillow ever. Perhaps you've already spotted it here and perhaps you also remember that the yarn I used to make it was my inspiration for this year's Fall colors. Anyway, most of my yarn was already in the house (indigo, grey, yellow). To complete the color scheme I shopped my mother's stack for a little dusty pink wool.

My first instinct was to crochet a pattern that I had already made before: the "granny squares" crochet. I think it's a lovely design, vintage and playful at the same time. But the colors had a very contemporary vibe, so I switched to a more modern pattern, inspired from this little beauty available on Etsy. I made the triangles  as I went along, without a proper pattern. 

Colored Houses

We interrupt this program for a special bulletin. The colored houses have invaded Romania. They are out in the streets and dangerously painted in candy shades of pink, salmon, peach, lavender and more dusty pinks. Beware of these colored houses, they can steal your heart in one single glance. Any citizens who spot these houses, please report back to Meeha Meeha immediately!

Turquoise And Purple On The Coffee Table

Turquoise is still ranking high among my color preferences, so I had a little idea for a late Fall arrangement. The result? This turquoise and purple vignette on my coffee table. The inspiration came from two little serving bowls in these colors, that I first used for Autumn fruit here on the kitchen counter. Now the grapes are long gone and I've filled them up with pretty pine cones, hand picked in the forest by yours truly.  A small thrifted purple vase and my out-of-shape, larger than life blood-leaf (iresine is the official name of the plant) complete the vignette.

I really like the way that the black-and-white art gallery acts as a backdrop for the "front row" vignette on the coffee table. Instead of turquoise and purple, I can imagine infinite chromatic possibilities. Too bad that I need to change the art again, when I am ready with the Christmas preparations. But until then, I might as well enjoy this arrangement and pray that the cats don't knock anything down.

I think I also need to make a drastic gesture and trim the beautiful blood-leaf plant. The more you trim it, the more it grows sideways, developing a beautiful bushy structure. I just can't bring myself to cut those tall strains, at all. Well, perhaps I shall do it tomorrow and in spring the blood-leaf will look a lot different from this skinny one :) And on the bright side, I can put the cuts in water, hoping that they will grow new roots, thus enriching my plant collection on the little balcony.

This purple and turquoise vignette was featured at Homework. A million thanks, Carolyn!

Lo SWAP delle ZUCC-ONE

The best part of being a blogger (I am still in my first year, so I'm a fresh one): the bonding! Can you imagine that my friend Anna from Tulimami has painted this awesome little fellow for me? And sent it to me, over seven seas and seven kingdoms, like in a modern fairy tale? I feel .......................... still speechless!  Thank you, Anna, I loved you from your happy yellow dots in the entryway (I wonder why:))))) and your gift is sitting pretty by my bedside. My room mate would try and steal it from me, 'cause she loves it, too! I've started the pics with the way I received my precious little zuccone, simply wrapped in a happy patterned cloth, so that you can feel what I felt by unwrapping my beautiful gift. Mille baci, Anna!

Random Happy Home And Three Cats

Some days are sunny, some are grey. Some in between. I love the sunny ones because I can take pics around the home. I enjoy the grey one, hidden under blankets and snuggling with my favorite felines. 

On the kitchen counter, the little toy horse runs for freedom while the monkey hides behind the palm tree.

A bunch of Fall flowers straight from the garden explode in a million shades of bright yellow and orange.

The witch lamp is like a dark angel looking over my precious Anais, as she fades into sleep and dreams of tons of food. She couldn't care about anything else in the world :))

On the kitchen shelf, a lost squash tries to escape from a meeting of colorful kitchenware, but the ginger jar keeps blocking its way out.

And on the small balcony, purple leaves and purple flowers make a fashionable vignette.