Author: Marina

Walk to work // shadows

I am still having lots of fun taking pictures during my short walk to work. Last week I picked up a theme for my daily photos and only shot shadows. It has been a very sunny week, and considering that it doesn’t happen that often, capturing those lights has been an interesting way of recording the amazing weather we had.
I have created an icon on the right side bar, under the ‘my projects’ section. You can click on it to check my ‘walk to work’ related posts (or you can just click here).
I have also been uploading my daily favourite photos from my walk on instagram, tagged with #walktowork (click here to follow).

Note: I have been using thisonline tool for creating collages for the blog. It has its limitations, i.e. max no of photos, crops images to fit, but it is simple to use, and ideal if you don’t have access to any photo editing software.

Handmade concertina book

I have been pretty much obsessed with notebooks, diaries, and paper in all forms all my life. But only recently I rediscovered the pleasure of making my own pads. I always had the feeling that everything I make is not as precious as something I buy. I know it doesn’t sound right, but the reason is that whatever I make, I can make it again if I screw up. And that gives me a sense of freedom, makes me more adventurous, makes me experiment more with my tools.
 
 
 

As part of an online mini-class I’m doing on quick sketching (here), I have made a small concertina book using some scrap materials I had handy (cardboard and some Fabriano watercolour paper). The book is very tiny (5x8cm), meaning is not daunting to take it out of my bag and start sketching on it and it can be easily carried in my pocket. And it is the perfect size for quick sketches and notes.
 
 
The design I’ve chosen is very minimal, a black cover with no frills…it is a very low key pad. I have used two elastic bands to keep it folded as they can also be used for holding pencils and keep the pages of the book flat while drawing. It’s the perfect tool to go with my handmade watercolours box, my short 2B pencil and my Sakura Koi water brush.

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We are almost half way through this project and I’m still loving every week. This week there has been a lot of playing in the garden thanks to the kind weather we have been having.
This is you running around the garden with mama’s watercolours and brush

This week you:
  • Turned 18 month old and for the first time since you were born it felt like time is really flying by. These past 6 months have gone so quickly and you have made so many progress in growing up…we had to wave goodbye to the baby phase, you are a toddler now!
  • Got your first scooter to celebrate your 18 month birthday. We were going to wait for you to turn 2, but then you tried your friend’s scooter and loved it, and we loved it too 🙂
  • Learned to do small puzzles by yourself. You got upset every time we tried to help you, but then you got frustrated if you were not able to put the pieces together…we can’t win!
  • Had a temperature again over the weekend, and we really don’t know what’s happening now. Is it because of teething? We’ll find out this week when we go to see the doctor.

Happy 18 month birthday baby girl! We have come a long way and we love you more and more.

From last week’s posts I’ve chosen these two beautiful pictures of Pebble and Rocky from Octavia and Vicky. What a joyful and relaxing feeling!
If you are curious about this project and want to know more, you can check Jody’s blog @ Che and Fidel.
All my previous posts can be found here.

Soft cake with jam

This recipe is extremely easy to do, you can do no wrong! It comes from a famous italian cooking program called ‘Cotto e mangiato’ (meaning cooked and eaten). It was my cousin who gave it to me, and she’s no cook believe me! You can choose any jam you like to garnish; I used a berries and cherries preserve which is one of my favourite. There is a lot of butter in this cake, so it is a bit heavy to have it for breakfast, but it goes very well with an afternoon tea. One thing I would change from the original recipe is the amount of sugar, 100g are more than enough especially if you are using a very sweet jam.
 
 
We all liked this cake, and by the time it was cooled down completely there was only half left!
Happy baking 🙂

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This week you:

  • Have been very good, for the first part of the week.You ate a lot, slept a lot, played a lot and laughed tons!
  • Had a temperature on Thursday evening and have been very grumpy, but didn’t loose your appetite or your sleep. And you got to spent the whole of Friday with mama.
  • Insisted on playing with mama’s make-up bag and pretended to put make up on everyone’s face. I’m sure I didn’t teach you that, but I guess your observational skills are something I have not taken enough into consideration.

My favourite from last week is the gorgeous smile of Lily from Sass and Spice riding the sling. It feels magic!  
If you are curious about this project and want to know more, you can check Jody’s blog @ Che and Fidel.
All my previous posts can be found here.