May I just say..

It's been a bad week in general and I'd hate to dwell on it here as well since I've been doing just that since last friday.. and there's still a day to go.. a day full of pasty faced kids and ill treated palettes and paintbrushes in flight.. too close for comfort.. too much promises of a pay and no delivering.. my nail-beds are all shrivelled and dyed in primary colours .. over and above all this one must deal with staff and try and get home in one piece with enough energy to sew and create things.. May I just say ..
I simply want a scone and a cup of tea. Thank you.

The picture above shows a recent acquisition .. just my kind of framed scapular collection (thanks for the word Anita!) on a very nicely faded blue background that matches my new bedroom wall and the presently disconnected LP player for which we have big plans. I shall be hanging it up above my bed-side table shortly. I only have one worry .. every day, precisely at 6am, the cat jumps onto the dresser where the frame now rests and starts scratching the glass .. it is creeping me out.. but I'm going to ignore it and pretend he's trying to bring to my attention the fact that he's feeling peckish.

And below. Someone's awfully happy about the new bookcases. The other one has an empty shelf which I intend to stuff with cooking books I haven't yet transferred or bought.

On the creative front.. the run-up for Patches - The Special Market (Christmas Edition) has been leaving me breathless and really stressed. Trying to strike a balance between finishing work on time and not stressing it.. this is a redhead and peacock feather fascinator affair mounted onto a cosy brown faux fur band. That way one can look pretty whilst keeping their ears warm.

And this is a grey satin cap I've constructed out of scraps from material used for a skirt.. the embroidery took me ages to finish as I kept leaving my box behind wherever I went. But knowing what exactly I had in mind for this paticular project kept me focused throughout as I usually tend to change my plan mid-way through. I've baptized it 'DECO lotus root cap' and I intend to hold on to it unless someone really appreciative comes along.. It's a labour of love and it fits perfectly!

I shall now retire to bed.. it's a warm fuzzy place and it smells faintly of tea-tree oil, day-old linen, favourite companion and my cat's fur. I like the combination ..

This is my mum preparing wholemeal spaghetti for tomorrow. I like this combination too.

Learning to do without a Palazzo

At one point I assumed I was totally over the whole shenanigans related to dreaming about finding the perfect place .. before I used to stop in front of specific doors in Valletta, Mdina, Attard (and elsewhere), slump, roll my eyes dramatically, cry a bit, then 'humph' before I trudge on. I used to curse heavily at mansion-hunting, interior-decorating and palazzo-restoring tv programmes. It perlexes the cat and anyone else in the room. I also thought I was over the night-long, image saving, folder naming marathons (*INTERIORS YAY!, *Exteriors :O, *Venice palazzo DETAILS, *RUGS!!!!; being just few examples).

But I'm not.

Official, on-paper work gives one issues of entitlement. I was convinced I had exorcized all ability to yearn for something so beyond my means (yes even the rugs I have saved in that damned folder) in the time when I was jobless, I had somewhat accepted fate, eradicated hope and went 'fuck it, I'm working class'. I had also learnt to dream less which, in my case, was a healthy turn. But working gave the situation an even worse slant towards GRAVITAS.. I now feel like I deserve to have my own place with that extra room for the chaos that sewing and related crafts bring with them.. deserve but will never afford. It's tragic.. I have now started to cry again at the sight of those particularly heavy pair of knockers (sounds funny but is not!) on the huge faded-black door in Mdina.

Just look at this door below, not a pretentious door in any way, but the paint on the wall is peeling in just the right places and the lighting holds such promise for romance. There will be no stinky shoes lying around inside, the carpets are fuzz-free (the cats hover and brush themselves in the yard whilst I'm out). The entrance is painted light blue with dark red details and the place smells of cinnamon and tobacco leaves.. leather armchairs and a tapestry chaise lounge *sniff sniff die-in-a-corner-alone.

Oh and everyone coming or leaving is meant to wear a hat. Hats make life look like a beautiful Sunday morning in 1933.

Instead of driving the proverbial (daintily engraved ivory-inlaid gold) dagger further into my innards, I'll just go through a couple of favourite things I've finished recently..

Here is a pair of shoes I designed and had made-to-measure for a lady who wanted something special. I love an opportunity where I'm allowed to come up with something on the spot for someone.. and then follow it through the whole process.. I ended up asking my shoemaker to gather the extra leather scraps from the shoes, from which I constructed an abstracted pearl-dotted tropical bird to wrap around the front and sides. The chosen colours are two kinds of candy purple, forest green, coral red and two tones of caramel.. *nom noms.

The three following items on the other hand, are things I managed to somehow finish after work.. detailed work that sees me into the wee hours when I ought to be asleep gathering energy points for the morrow. A pair of emboidered, manicured vintage gloves with added embellished braid and glass button for closure.

The tattoed baby (one-off, slip-cast) skull is now part of a bigger picture. It has become a statement necklace cum mobile with added diadem and crystals.

And a small bracelet I kept from when I was young and had relatively smaller hands, was turned into a HOLY HEART necklace which I have a feeling will be leaving it's basket sooner than expected.