BAG LADY

"A room with a view but without curtains". I don't like curtains! Especially lace curtains!!! My first flat I rented in Cracow was gorgeous, tastefully designed by the owners, situated in the heart of the old part of the city in a dilapidated tenement. I loved its high ceilings, creaking wooden floors, the hubbub of the street outside the window. There was only one thing missing. The sun creeping through my bedroom window and staying over for dinner time. When I moved to my own flat I was "radiantly" happy to discover that the whole place is a suntrap! So I vowed never to obscure the view from my window by drawing the curtains. I only decorated it with.... spare gift bags, newspaper and coloured paper. What say you;)?

                                       

MOBILE GEMS

My son's interest in toys flags quite quickly and has to be constantly stimulated. I try to revive it with all that glitters, moves, buzzez and jingles. I used two coat hangers and old pieces of jewelry and bingo! Attention captured!

NASA HEADQUARTERS

Ladies and gentlemen. This is the place where NASA performs their strictly confidential experiments and sends them to outer space. In our innocently looking loo. Such a shame it's an effort flushed down the toilet. Hehe:)

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

When I was pregnant I didn't have any unusual whims. My husband had to reason with me and persuade me to treat myself to something I don't usually eat, something fattening. "What will you remember from your pregnancy if you don't devour something forbidden at least once" he said. Funny because men usually fear their women will put on weight and change beyond recognition after giving birth. Finally I caved in. What is even funnier is that I indulged myself with something he loves, namely a hamburger. That was the second time in my life. But what I really craved for at that time and always do were ice creams. The devine taste of ice creams from Grodzka and Starowislna Street in Cracow remains the sweetest food memory from my pregnancy. 

In sweet memory of: sponge and beret muffin, basket and bra(!) ice cream, sponge and bra piece of cake. And the said hamburger. Hung in my kitchen as a reminiscent of...

PLAIN SAILING

 Life is plain sailing. Everything is on an even keel despite occasional storms in a teacup. Sometimes we are all at sea but we are learning the ropes. If something rocks our boat it's the wind of change (haha). Our ship has come. There is a sea of possibilities. 

A few pictures I made for my son to decorate his marine room:) Once again I used anything that was at hand ( scarf, sleeve, string, pillowslip) and it took me 20 minutes. 

CHRISTMAS CRAZE. This year I'm not buying. I'm manufacturing

   I don't marvel at state-of-the art gadgets. I frequent second-hand shops and flea markets where I draw my inspiration from. Last Christmas I had my first eco adventure which resulted in a wrapping paper- very time- consuming and profusely complimented by my dearest family and then torn in a few seconds. Futile effort? Well, given the precision with which I cut out Santa's sleigh I'd rather they unwrapped the presents and left the paper intact . See for yourself and feel free to comment.

LUCKY MASCOTS

I have found my inner child and loads of clothes that were my past panic buys. I was hoarding them in the depths of my wardrobe for better times, revolution in fashion???(don't exactly know what for). Anyway, I decided to busy myself with something to ease my worried mind while on maternity leave and found sewing and embroidering extremely relaxing. Not to mention that being a jobless mother it gives me the smirk of satisfaction I crave for. 
Though the toys lack finishing touches and are not immaculately shaped, for I don't have a professional sewing machine, I promise to perfect my newly discovered skills up to a point when you will ask me: Where did you get that fantastic toy from? And I will proudly reply: I made it, ha!

Pixie. The mouse. Made from an old hoodie's sleeve. Ment to be my son's favourite.

Clearly loves it.

Fuzzy Wuzzy

Made from a fuddy- duddy beret, scarf and a hood. All of them confined to the bin. Luckily we rekindled our frienship. My husband loves the outcome. His favourite pillow

PARAPHERNALIA

My grandma was not only a repository of knowledge and wisdom for me but first and foremost a brilliant cook. Her recipes, shrouded in mistery, have always been most coveted hand-me-downs among the female members of our family. Thanks to the fact that I am the youngest in the family, like my granny,she let me in her culinary world and demistified the secrets of the Eastern cuisine. And here they are. Centrally positioned. Under a glass top of our table.

Wallpaper leftovers and powder milk tins. Perfect as kitchen  storage containers.

Old cookery books in handmade covers to keep them in mint condition for my future granddaughter. 

Ramshackled chest upholstered in Ikea  material. My son's wardrobe. 

TALENTS

I reckon everyone has a talent. And I don’t mean manual talents, flair for languages, head for figures. Apart from the inborn talents, that our parents have nurtured from the early days of our lives, we have those deeply hidden ones, lying dormant, as if ripening until finally discovered. However, my definition of a talent may seem a bit skewed. One's talent can even be spilling coffee over new books, wiping all most precious files, computer content, internet, you name it- doable in my case for I have a love- and- hate relationship with technology. The fact that some of us are totally devoid of ability to calculate in my mind and their brains switch off when people speak to them in numbers is in fact their unique talent. Crying at full blast in order to have puffy eyes next morning and put frozen spoons on eyelids. But on top of it there’s blushing! I suggest we find talents in our shortcomings. What are yours?