Friday is my day: ?

Sorry, no Friday post today. We were supposed to travel to sweden today but the one who we were supposed to visit didn't send us what she promised, no pictures, no post...so next Friday I hope we have better luck :)

Friday is my day: Garbagebag

Today we will head up north to Finland and meet Anne from garbagebag.etsy.com
She creates bags made of old jackets and recycled fabrics and materials.
Enjoy your day!


NOT garbagebag -shoppingbag 5

Garbagebag

Usually I spend my weekdays working for a bookstore about from nine to five, but this is a special Friday when I don’t go there and have more time to do other things I like.

Breakfast with a good book and a tall dark stranger (Actually it’s my friend Marco, but I call him The Stranger ‘cos I don’t see him that often )

Sewing the final decorations to the Catadores 2 –shoulderbag, which is the next item I’m going to list to my Etsy shop called Garbagebag. Name of the shop is that ‘cos I make bags out of garbage Well, not really. I use recycled materials and leftovers.

Photographing my items is the most difficult part of running my Etsy-shop ‘cos I’m a terrible photographer really. And because I live in Finland I always have the problem of not having enough light. I try to use all kinds of lamps but obviously they are never as good as the natural light would be.

This is the best of the photos I managed to take. Unfortunately it doesn’t look as good as it really is. The body of the bag is made out of two jackets. The flowers that decorate the bag are made of fabric samples of a furniture factory. My friend Daniela made the flowers. She’s got her own shop in Etsy too. It is called Muusa. muusa.etsy.com
After the photo-session inside I go for a walk and take a couple of photos for www.garbagebag.fi, which is my own internet-page I try to keep up. I fell in love with this gorilla that is made out of old tyres and I’m thinking of using it as a background of the Catadores-collection, but I’m not sure about that yet. The gorilla is lovely anyway.

Then I meet a friend of mine over a cup of coffee and we hit to Maatilatori which is a great oldfashioned-style shop that carries a good variety of ecological products and food from small producers. Today I buy vegetables, sausage and bread ‘cos I’ll have some friends over for dinner and I’m going to cook pumpkin-soup and a tapas-selection.

Unfortunately the cooking session was too hectic to include my camera into it. This is what the table and the soup looked like. Marco’s idea was to put popcorn into the soup instead of croutons and it was great. The secret is not to put too much of it into the soup at the same time ‘cos otherwise it gets too moist. Just add a couple of pieces at a time.

Quiet moment with a cup of coffee after a great day and I begin to think of my next sewing project. About a year ago I dropped my handbag in a concert and broke my cell. That was a dramatic and expensive accident and I want to prevent that happening again. That is why I’m going to make a padded winter-jacket for my current telephone.

This is what it is going to look like.

Maybe I’ll make a couple of them also to sell in Etsy.

Friday is my day: Nivule

Hey Friday friends! Today we will fly to Italy and meet Novelle and her friend Alice behind Nivule.etsy.com
They create beautiful high quality one of a kind clothes.
Have an ispiring Friday!

Monsieur Moustache Washed Silk Tank

nivule

Hi everyone,

I am Novella, I’m 24 and I live in Piacenza. A couple of years ago I created the mark Nivule with my friend Alice, we started making handmade printed clothes. I design and sew the dresses, and Alice prints them.

You can find us on Etsy and for now, in a few italian shops.

I come from Liguria, a region on the north west of Italy, facing the sea. Bordighera, where I was born, is a wonderful little town, where the wheather is good for any species of plants and flowers.

5 years ago I came to Piacenza, for studying fashion design in Milano’s IED (European design institute).

Here weather and landscape aren’t as good as in my land but it’s pretty nice as you will see.

Here’s my Friday, from the RRRIIIING! Of the alarm at

10.30

The first thing I do is to open the balcony door, so that Muffa, my dog, can go out, do a little stretching and take her first sight of the situation in the building’s yard. She is 8 and she followed me here in Piacenza. The potted plant you can see past her is basil, which I grow every year to make my own Pesto sauce.

10.40

Breakfast is just sweet! I take tea with milk, honey and biscuits. Muesli and coffee are for my boyfriend Alberto.

11.00

Watering the plants. I also have a cactus family.. Now is October and a little bit cold for them , but in the summer the balcony is flourished in many colours.

11.30

Checking mail and Etsy status, doing other little works on the internet, then a quick jump on Etsy forum. I still have to fix on photoshop some pics for the shop before I go out to the post office, today is shipping day!

12.30

I prepare the pack to be sent. I attach the labels and put the clothes into the envelope. This dress in the picture went to the south of Italy, in a store in Catania.

13.00

By the time I cycle to the post office with Muffa I notice that today the sky is split in 2: looking east you can have a totally different impression on the town than lookin west. Piacenza lies in the big northern plain of Italy, and was built as the first roman outpost in the north. Inside the town there are still many medieval buildings, especially a lot of churches.

13.10

Finally at the post office, Muffa makes good company while I wait

14.00

It’s lunch time, and my boyfriend tested our new red pan by making potatoes tortilla. Very tasty! We watch One Piece cartoons on TV and then have a coffee.

15.15

In the first afternoon I go out again to buy some zips and buttons at the haberdashery (in Italian, Merceria). In the first picture an ancient square of the town, in the second is my white old bike in front of the shop.

15.45

Back home again, I take some pictures of a custom made pair of pants. They look very good in this colour!

16.00

Now it’s time to make a new dress, it’s a black felt dress printed on the front. I fix the paper model then I cut and sew

While I’m doing this Alice arrives for printing it. We have another coffee and try to take a normal picture of us…we really tried, but perhaps this is the best that we could get. It won’t be so beautiful but at least is sincere!

18.30

I’ve finished the dress and Alice is painting the last details after printing the dress with a stencil.

After having a good chat with Alice it’s time to start cooking the dinner.

21.00

Pizza! Black olives and anchovies, the taste is three times better than the look, it’s my grandmother Elda’s recipe!

During the evening we watch a movie, The Commitments. It tells the story of a soul band from Dublin, very crazy!

24.00

I’ve got to go to bed early because in the week-end I turn myself into a shop assistant, in a classic clothing store located in a near town outlet. Quite boring perspective, but now I’m out with Muffa for a relaxing last walk, the air is starting to get cold but still is sparkling, and it’s almost full moon.

Friday is my day: Branda

Are you ready to take a long flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina and meet Paula and Mariana, sisters from branda.etsy.com
They knit beautiful, soft and warm scarves, hats and mitts. Have a warm Friday!

Pink Leaves Scarf

branda

Lulo the cat says us good morning and asks us some pampering. It is a cuddly!

Dad is a crosswords fan. Every day he make them, and he can't leave them up to find the last word.
We are in the South hemisphere. Here is spring and our house is full of flowers.

The linden tree is full of green leaves and glowing. They will become yellow and fall in April.

Let's go shopping. First go to the bakery where Paula bought some French bread.

Next, go to the mall.

First, the post office to send the last orders.

Then to the supermarket to buy some food.

Meanwhile, mom at home preparing lunch.

In the afternoon, we are dedicated to work. We reviewed the correspondence and one of our items is featured in a treasury.

We love to knit and having a lot of needles and wool.

Now Paula is knitting an oversized scarf in grey merino wool.

Taking a lot of photos, why not one of both sisters?

Tea time!

The break continued for a while. Richard III is on TV.

A bit more work before the end of the day ... treasuries and more!