And Done.

And it's finally done. It only took me like...oh I don't know...six months!

This doily measures 71cm in diameter and is the largest piece I made so far. I gave it to my mum and it felt very much like making a mandala and destroying it at the end. Very good feeling really.

My favorite shots of Aarhus

Below is a collection of my favorite photo shots of Århus, Denmark. I took all of them within the last year. I am curious what you think of this city, just by seeing these photos. I am also thinking of taking some more urban, industrial shots to show you other faces of the city. Would you like to see that?

You can see more photos in my Århus set on Flickr.

Excuses, excuses...

So, it's been ages since I wrote anything on the blog. Sorry guys but I have a good reason for that. For 2 weeks now I've been attending classes in Multimedia Design and Communication so the amount of my spare time shrunk dramatically.

I will continue to post here and of course I did not abandoned my love for handmade. You'll see more of my projects and I hope to finally write a tutorial or two. However, what you might also expect is some more photography, manipulated photography and maybe a bit of graphic/web design. I hope you don't mind.

And today, have a look at my new crocheted earrings. The pattern is a simple pineapple but they look like a really cool drop shape when on your ears. I made two versions of the earrings. One model (orange and yellow) has a tighter weave, which makes it smaller and stiffer and the other is larger and more airy (pink). The smaller ones measure 6cm and the larger are around 7cm long.

What do you think? Would you wear them? Should I add them to my Etsy store?

Photographic Inspirations: Tomas Rucker

No point in writing much in this post. Let me just say that I really love this photos:





Find more stunning nudes here and here.

On Photography

The weather around here is not very good but I am still trying to make the most out of my free time. At the end of August I begin studying and so I am quite certain that my free time will be severely limited.

I have always been interested in photography and recently I got a chance to use a more professional equipment. Below you can see the photos I took in Århus and surroundings together with my first attempts at Photoshop.

I especially like the pink battle ship, that I found on the beach. It was left there by the local urban guerrillas as a part of Pink Army project. The Pink Army demands that all wars around the world end immediately. This from their manifesto:

We- The Pink Army- have been in war with all wars in the entire world, since September 2007. Our troops consists of thousands and thousands of strong, brave and armed men, who are ready to fight to death, if they must. And we are growing in numbers, day-by-day, hour-by-hour. From house to house, street corner to street corner, The Pink Army will conquer every square inch of the world. We will strike down on any type of resistance with no mercy. We will hold no prisoners. Any form of surrender, retrieve, “weapons stand still” or peace renegotiations is out of the question. The Pink Army will fight to the last pink drop of blood. Until our demands has been met, accepted and executed.

Don't you just love the way they mock the rhetorics of warmongers?

Jewish Papercuts

This summer I spent some time in Kraków, Poland and specifically in the old Jewish neighborhood of Kazimierz. It was a great and very informative time and I only regret it didn't last longer. We ate delicious Jewish specialties and listened to live concerts of klezmer bands.

But I think the greatest discovery I made was Jewish Papercut art. Turns out this form of art is very popular in the Jewish culture and has been so since XIV century. The paper cuts usually have religious or historical theme. The designs are incredibly intricate and often colorful. I am totally in love with the artistry. The following illustrations come from the book by Marta Gołąb.

See more amazing works here.

Frey Wille Jewelery

On my wanderings through Warsaw this year, I stumbled upon a new jewelery store: Frey Wille. I didn't know the brand before and I am not usually a fan of luxury jewelery but I fell in love with Frey Wille instantly.

It is an Austrian firm made up of a team of artists, goldsmiths and experts of fine enamelling with 60 boutiques all over the world. The company was created in 1951 and is growing ever since.

According to their own website, the artists of the company take inspirations from the surrounding world and the variety of cultures. But many of their pieces are tribute to great painters and architects such as Mucha, Klimt or Hundertwasser.

Frey Wille designs very simple shapes in gold or silver but the beauty of the jewelery lies in the wonderful, intricate enamel paintings. Each bangle and pendant is ornamented with art or culture inspired decorations.

The jewelery is very divers and ranges from very colorful to more toned down, and from modern to antic design. And if it wereb't for the prize, everyone would be able to find something for themselves. My heart belongs to Claude Monet, Iris series - especially the Regina bangle!

But I am almost just as crazy with Alphonse Mucha or Gustav Klimt collections.

Below the lovely "Ode to Joy of Life" collection.

Have a look on Frey Wille website for more sweet jewelery browsing. And make sure to leave a comment and let me know what you like most!

Etsy Treasury

Tonight something for you, Ladies. I made etsy treasury sporting colorful, fancy, imaginative and one-of-a-kind polymer clay rings.

Leave comments and let me know which ring you like the most.

Jewelery

Since I was a little girl, I have always loved jewelery. Colorful, traditional, weird, elaborate, simple, ethnic, silver or with stones...I love it all. And I have quite a collection to which I add, as often as possible, new pieces - handmade and not.

Today, I was going to show you a better picture of our wedding rings and when I was taking photos, it came to me that it might be a fun idea to share more of my collection with you.

Below are just a few sets that I have acquired recently and a few words about their history.

First of all, the wedding bands. Handmade to order by Titanium Knights from Etsy, they are made of jewelery quality titanium with thin, silver inlay line. The rings have sandblasted finish, which gives them porous texture. Read more about titanium rings and their qualities here.

Above are four sets/pieces of jewelery. All found their way to me very recently and all make me excited. The wide, wooden bangle and blue earrings are just pieces bought at whimsy because I like the color blue and have many outfits that they will fit nicely.

The amethyst and silver set has an interesting story. The ring was given to me by my mother-in-law on the day of my wedding. It's a family heirloom and I would really like to hear more about it, but so far there wasn't time. The bracelet, despite the fact that it looks as if it were a set with the ring, belonged to my godmother. She was wearing it at my wedding and when she saw the ring, she decided to give me the bracelet to make a match.

The last, "old gold" set I completed myself after browsing through the shops of Warsaw. I do not like real gold but at the same time, I am a big fan of "old looking" jewelery.

Mrs. P

From now on you can call me Mrs. P :D

Our wedding day was very special and almost everything went exactly how we wanted it. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the bells were ringing (or at least they did in my head). Our friends and family enjoyed the ceremony and the dinner afterwards. We opted for a rather simple and relaxed celebration but chose a few very special elements:

The car that drove us to the wedding place was 1937 Buick Special.

I am in love with my cobalt (or persian) blue wedding dress from Tadashi Shoji. The form of the dress makes me think of origami folding and so to keep with the slightly oriental style of the outfit I chose white orchids for flower arrangement. The bouquet is large (thanks to white long stem grass) but because it's so simple in form and color it does not steal focus and is a perfect accessory.

We had our wedding rings specially made to order. It was Titanium Knights from Etsy that made them for us and we are super happy with the service and the product. I can't prise them enough! The rings were made exactly to our specifications and they look stunning. They are of course titanium and have thin silver inlay. My ring is thinner and more feminine, whereas Mr. P wanted his to be manly and thick. I promise a better photo on one of the coming days.

And last but not least, the wedding dinner and the cake.

The wedding cake's photo speaks for itself. I absolutely love the blue roses decoration. Very artful, don't you think?

The dinner took place in Sadhu Cafe in Warsaw and if you are ever in the city, you have to check it out! The food was eclectic, coming from Polish, Indian and Italian traditions and everything was delicious. The restaurant prides itself on preparing tasty treats for vegetarians and meat eaters alike, and they surely live up to their standards.

Now it is time to edit photos, order wedding books, and slowly but surely come back to real life.

A little treat for me!

, originally uploaded by Furya.

What do you think about my new blue earrings? I made them last month and from the moment I took them out of the oven, I knew they would be mine. I am in love with the hashed blue color and how it works with the white pattern.

I am still struggling with the whole cane business. In this piece I used kaleidoscopic/mosaic cane and it looks cool. However if you look closely you will see that the motives are not perfectly square and the pattern inside is also a bit twisted. Oh well, you can always say: I meant it that way!

And seriously: practice makes master so don't give up on your polymer clay.