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San Valentino

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and the internets are abuzz with everything from heart shaped foods, to quirky Valentine’s cards to the ULTIMATE gifts to make your loved ones swoon. Personally I like to keep the whole holiday pretty low-key and relaxed (easy here in Italy where it’s not so celebrated). I usually bake something sweet (and yes, heart shaped) and maybe make a little card or handmade gift to leave on the breakfast table for when the family wakes up. Here are a few of my favourite V-day recipes, diy projects, Valentine’s inspiration and cards that will make you giggle.

For over a month my lovely friend Giova has been posting a handmade heart a day on her blog One Bunting Away. She is a talented embroiderer and paper artist and I’ve really loved reading each and every heart post. Read her passionate Valentine’s Day manifesto here.

These seemingly rude Valentine’s cards from Etsy Shop Sunny and Susan really make me laugh.

I’m going to try and make these Red Velvet Cupcakes in a Jar (because we all know that desserts in jars taste so much better!). And as I do every year I’ll also whip up a batch of my grandmother’s rich and buttery Brown Sugar Shortbreads. And I’m thinking this heart shaped bacon and heart shaped egg in the hole would be perfect for a Valentine’s breakfast or brunch (although I think I’ll pass on these Weiner and Cheese hearts).

This round-up of Nerds in Love Valentine’s cards by Mighty Girl had me in stitches.

Last year my daughters and I sewed up some of these little puffy heart necklaces for their friends. Easy to make and really cute to see a little gaggle of girls wearing them. These necklaces were featured on some really great Valentine’s round-ups here, here and here.

Tags: baking, cookies, handmade, san valentino, valentine's day, valentine's day card

Comments 2 Comments
Categories Creative, Family/Kids, gift ideas, photography, Recipes, Sewing

Vive La Difference

10 Feb

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a lovely week-end and are ready to kick off this week with a spring in your step. The weather over here today is grey and rainy which makes it a tad bit difficult to get too much of a spring in my step. But I’m trying my best.

Today I’m over on the the London-based design blog Colour Living taking part in their Vive La Difference series. Tina (the blogger behind Colour Living) sent me a list of themes and words in which I had to choose a few to interpret into a creative image. Tina then created her own image using the same words as inspiration.

After reading the list I chose the words book, fabric and library. Three things that I really love. Click over to Colour Living to read all about my dream library as well as to see TIna’s interpretation (and inspiring description of her imaginary library). Thanks for having me Tina!

Tags: books, colour living blog, creative, fabric, library, photography, vive la difference

Comments 6 Comments
Categories Creative, guest blog, photography

Surprise Message Bunting Cards

4 Feb

The other day I was chatting with one of my twin daughters about Valentine’s Day and all the fun we’ve had in the past making up special treats and cards for their classmates over the years. Over here in Italy (and I think generally in Europe) Valentine’s Day is a day reserved for couples and adults and not something kids celebrate like in North America. So even though my kids have always been one of the few that celebrate it in school it has still become a lovely yearly tradition to make something together for their friends.

This year we decided to make simple cards with sewn paper buntings that have little hidden messages. Easy, quick and fun for kids of just about any age.

This is all you need to make these sweet little cards. I used glassine for the actual bunting paper so that you can see the pretty patterned paper through it. If you don’t have glassine paper any type of paper would be fine.

I cut the glassine paper in long strips and folded it in half to have a square piece of paper. I then sewed the pieces of glassine squares together with the sewing machine (making sure the folded edge is on the bottom). This way the glassine paper is sewn on the top, closed by the fold on the bottom and open on the two sides (to make it easier to slip in the small pieces of paper with message on the back).After sewing the bunting together we slipped in little square pieces of paper with our special messages on the back. Seeing as the glassine is open on both sides the messages are easy to slip in and out. We then simply attached the sewn paper bunting to our cards with tiny heart stickers (pieces of washi would also be nice).

Now to come up with all the short little messages to go inside. Some of my favourites that my kids have suggested for their classmates are: ‘you have nice handwriting’, ‘you are pretty smart’, ‘you have the best snacks’ and ‘you don’t smell’. Let’s hope their romantic sides develop a little more in the years to come.

Tags: card, craft, diy, homemade, paper, photography, valentine's day, valentine's day card

Comments 6 Comments
Categories Creative, Family/Kids, gift ideas, photography, Sewing

Gratefully Grateful 4

31 Jan

Oh this Gratefully Grateful series is working wonders for my psyche. I spend my days really looking for things that I’m grateful for and that make me feel good and positive and all warm and fuzzy inside. I often find myself making mental notes of beautiful things that I see, kind people I spend time with, new things learned and ways that I can possibly change my life and my family’s for the better. Guys, I have become Pollyanna and I am so happy about it! Yeah, there are still those difficult and stressful moments but I let them pass quickly and get on with the good parts of my life. And I’ll be honest about the fact that I am so fortunate to have so much good in my life. I know not everyone does.

This week I am grateful for…

…the fact that my daughter has no fear of bright colours and patterns and mixing the two as she pleases. Even if she ends up looking different than anyone else around.

…our new family hobby geocaching and how it has made our week-ends so much more fun. Check out our homemade ‘calling cards’ that we leave in the caches we find (and our corny tag-line too!).…that I won a space in Xanthe Berkeley‘s online course Creating Time Capsules. I’ve been eyeing this course for ages and still can’t believe that I WON SOMETHING! Many thanks to Xanthe (who is one of my favourite photographers).

Gratefully Grateful *1*, *2*, *3*

I’d love to hear what you’re grateful for this week.

Enjoy your week-end!

Tags: family, grateful, gratefully grateful, kids, photography

Comments 25 Comments
Categories Creative, daily life, Family/Kids, grateful, gratefully grateful, gratefullygrateful, italia, Living in Italia, Living in Italy, photography

Handmade Winter

30 Jan

It’s a cold and rainy day here in Northern Italy. We had a very much anticipated snowstorm last night that had lots of local school kids crossing their fingers in their sleep for a day off school. Unfortunately the snow turned to rain and the school buses left at their usual time. There were quite a few disappointed kids heading to school this morning.

After months of mild and sunny days I have to get used to these lower temperatures and the need to wear scarves and winter coats. In general I’m not a huge fan of the cold but I do love these chilly days where I get to hole up in my house with the fireplace on and putter around keeping myself busy sewing, baking and crafting. I know the novelty will wear off pretty quickly so indulge me while I wax on about my love for these wintery days.

Today I wanted to tell you all about a great way that you can keep positive, creative, warm and busy through whatever kind of winter you’re experiencing.

A few months ago some very talented artists, designers, bloggers, mothers and overall amazing ladies put together an incredible e-book called Handmade Winter with over 50 winter-inspired crafts, activities, recipes, entertaining ideas and more. They’ve included everything from how to brew the perfect cup of tea to a maxi-skirt sewing tutorial to instructions on how to make yourself a leather and chain chevron necklace. One of my favourite things about this book is the variation it offers. There is something for everyone (husbands and kids included).

This book will help us all get through these long cold wintery months (especially thanks to the Warm Masala Chai recipe found on page 25/26!).

Handmade Winter costs $15 (US) and is easily purchased and downloaded on-line.

Tags: craft, e-book, family, Handmade winter, recipes, Sewing

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Creative, daily life, Family/Kids, gift ideas, Inspiring Souls, Recipes, Sewing

Gratefully Grateful 3

24 Jan

This week, I am grateful for…

…this little fur-face named Birdie who spends his days attacking my ponytail.… colourful little sunny spots such as this that are to be found all over my house.…yellow striped guitar cases and the little guitarist who carries it around with pride.

Have a great week-end everyone!

Gratefully Grateful week *1* , week *2*

Tags: grateful, gratefully grateful, italy, living in italy, photography

Comments 30 Comments
Categories Creative, daily life, grateful, gratefully grateful, Living in Italia, Living in Italy, photography

241 Tote

21 Jan

A few months ago I posted about how much I loved Buzzmills version of the 241 Tote. Immediately after seeing her version of the purse I clicked over to Noodlehead and purchased the pattern.

I love the fact you can buy pdf versions of so many great sewing patterns on-line nowadays. Living in the Italian countryside has made it very difficult to get my hands on certain patterns for years so the fact that I can easily buy them online and print them out directly at home is just perfect. Plus, the prices on most pdf patterns are much lower than buying one in a sewing or pattern shop. The 241 Tote pattern costs $8 (approx. 6euro).
The 241 Tote is a simple and straightforward pattern to follow. The pattern comes with several different features to choose from (pockets or zippers on the outside). As the pattern is quite adaptable I opted to only include the pockets on the outside although it would be possible to have them on the inside as well.

I bought this lovely linen in Japan a few years ago (I think it’s Echino but am not certain) and have been patiently saving it for the perfect sewing project. Since it’s quite a bold pattern I paired it with a few solids and I love the result. Come to think of it I really need to get back to Japan to find some new fabrics.
I even made a very bright version for my daughters. This time I used a heavy (almost canvas) cotton from IKEA and some light cotton Petit Pan fabric (which I enforced with interfacing). Definitely not a look for everyone but my daughters are in love with it!

I’ll definitely be making a few more of these purses in the near future.

Tags: 241 tote, cucito, noodle head, photography, sew, Sewing, sewing pattern

Comments 6 Comments
Categories Creative, Sewing

Gratefully Grateful °2°

17 Jan

Is it Friday already? Did this past week fly by for anyone else as well? The week was a blur of activities, appointments, organising the house, long chats with friends and even a shopping trip to check out the sales (which only happen twice a year in Italy…in January and July). I love being busy and having lots to do but I’m looking forward to a nice quiet week-end with my family. Our traditional Friday night ritual of curling up on the couch under a thick blanket with the fireplace burning and a big bowl of popcorn just might be my most favourite thing ever. Add in a little Master Chef and I could stay there forever.

It’s week 2 of my Gratefully Gratefully series for 2014. I love how doing this series makes me look for all the wonderful people, places and things I’m surrounded by.

I am grateful for…

…colourful washing lines on grey days.

…that I can wait in places like this while my daughter does her guitar class.…my kid’s love of Pasta Con Broccoli.…my daughters’ taste in shoes.

Anything that you’re particularly grateful for this week?

(Gratefully Grateful °1°)

Tags: 2014, family life, grateful, gratefullygrateful, italia, italy, photography

Comments 27 Comments
Categories Creative, daily life, Family/Kids, gratefully grateful, italia, Living in Italy, photography

SuperCut Fabric Shop

9 Jan

scampolo-fleurs-des-iles-grigio-50cm-x-75cm

As some of you may know, I love pretty fabrics of every kind. I don’t drink. I don’t do drugs. I don’t smoke. But I do love to buy (lots of) beautiful fabrics. I have a gorgeous collection of materials that I have purchased all over the world and I use them on a daily basis. I may use a new fabric right away or I may even save it for years before using it. I often sit in my sewing room and look through my beloved materials and imagine what beautiful projects I could make with them (that’s what happens when you don’t have a TV).

Since living in Italy (for more than a decade) I’ve bought almost all of my fabrics outside of Italy. I really searched for shops here that had beautiful fabrics but I just couldn’t find any that really appealed to my taste. So after years of buying primarily in Canada (every time I return with a suitcase full), in Belgium (here is my favourite shop) and from Dutch online shops you can imagine how excited I was when I found out about the Italian online fabric shop SuperCut that is based out of the city of Bergamo. I’ve always been a huge fan of supporting local small businesses so this was a great find for me.

The very sweet French owner Marine has excellent taste in fabrics and after going through her shop I realised that she picks out pretty much every fabric brand and design that I myself am so fond of. It’s really a match made in heaven! You can find fabrics from Liberty, Petit Pan, Echino, Kokka, Kitsch Kitchen and many more. Marine stocks cottons, canvases, linens and even has a great selection of oilcloth and notions as well. And SuperCut ships all over Europe.

Yesterday I ordered my first SuperCut fabrics and they actually arrived in my mailbox this afternoon. I was like a kid at Christmas as I was opening the beautifully wrapped package. And everything I ordered was perfect. You can’t imagine how long I’ve been looking for fluo pink and yellow bias!

My lovely purchases

And as an added bonus many of the SuperCut fabrics are currently on sale (even the Echino and Kokka fabrics!). So pop on over and take a look!

Tags: creative, fabric, online shop, sew, Sewing, SuperCut

Comments 10 Comments
Categories Creative, italia, Sewing

Mini Cheesecakes with Mincemeat

17 Dec

Today I have a little re-post from last Christmas. My lovely friend Judith from the amazing blog Joelix wrote this guest post for me after I had hand surgery a few days before Christmas and was unable to do anything for close to six weeks. These Mini Mincemeat Cheesecakes have been a big hit here on Jillian In Italy (and Pinterest) and I’ve heard from several readers that they are absolutely delicious. I have them on my to-do list for this coming week-end. Click on photo for last year’s post and free downloadable recipe.

Many thanks again and gros bisous to you Judith!
(check out Judith’s ABOUT page on her blog…by far the best and most creative photo of any blogger around)