Apartment Love :: Gothenburg

I am always inspired by the light filled apartments in the land of design. This 1900's Gothenburg apartment teases me with its stunning original fireplace, high ceilings and fabulous way of using books to add a touch of colour.

For more inspiration go here

Lead up to Birthday week.....

Its been a big, busy, crazy emotional week.   Not only because that is how I usually get around birthday time (another year , more grey hair, what have I achieved?  where am I going? - you know how it goes)  but because I am also working on many projects all at the same time.  Its like my cook/gardener/DIY/crafty inner self is on autopilot (and on a time clock apparently) and wants to start and/or complete all projects I have going.   Crazy - I know.

No matter what I am creating, experimenting or doing, I always have my trusty pocket camera with me. A photographic diary of sorts.   I know one day I will look back and realize these days (the crazy busy ones) are my happiest.   So here is a photo diary of what is keeping me interested of late:

In the garden:: A tiny Echeveria plant grows out of what I thought was a dried up root.

From a friends well established edible garden - beautiful, nourishing beans.

Fabric ::  Watching mum create something gorgeous with this fabric (More to follow soon)

From El Mercado::  (Top) Organic Food Market free range VS  (Bottom) Supermarket free range.  The proof is in the taste.

From my Father::  Admiring his latest original, upcycled work of art.

From my Mother::  a beautiful crochet creation

Cafe::  Martino honing his skills.....

while I admire the cafe's refurb including these gorgeous mango wood stools.

From the sewing machine :: new fabric place mats, that are teaching me much patience along the way....

thats all for now.  Thanks for reading.

xox
a (nearly) older and (hopefully) wiser craftyclaudes.......

Apartment inspiration:: A little Anthropologie comes to Sydney.....

Recently we went looking for some deck chairs for our balcony.  So we headed to our local Freedom store *yawn*......Umm hello.....what is this we find? Did Freedom magically turn into Anthropologie overnight? Colourful rugs, cushions, knob handles, prints. The store that usually sends me to sleep with their bland (safe) colour choices simply blew me away!  Here, have a looky at just some of the pretties that caught my eye:

See what I mean? Gorgeous huh! I love these colours and the little touch of handmade and mix of interesting textures and designs. Si porfavor!

My obsession with Doilies is satisfied for another hour.....

Oh cozy, yummy teal wall....how you inspire me!

So of course now, I come back to our apartment and want to grab one big paintbrush and give the whole place a makeover - crafty stylee! 

oh and we never did get the deck chairs. How could we?  After this colourful assault on our senses, grey just felt so...meh.

Before and After projects I am loving....

All via Design*Sponge

Recycled Wall Art project

Another UnFinishedObject has been completed.

I must admit I don't really like to rush my projects - especially the ones that I have been creating for our apartment, since these are the ones we will live with for a while. Consequently some projects can take me weeks or even months to complete. Sometimes waiting for the right fabric or buttons or even the right crafty day to come along.  This weekend was one of those days where I was feeling particularly inspired and the weather encouraged me along.  Sunday, was a grey, cool day in Sydney, a travel DVD was playing (Billy Connolly's - Journey to the Edge of the World) , and lots of tea resulted in a very productive day. 

Here is our new piece of wall art:

The inspiration for this piece was the seasons.   My little abstract interpretation of Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring which also celebrates my love for recycled fabrics.   The owlies I have been creating have produced lots of left over bits of fabric and felt which the hoarder side of me cannot bear to throw out.  So I have been collecting them all in a big container, coming in very handy for this project.

The circles measure  45cm and are made of what looks to be pressed grey felt/wool.  I bought these from Reverse Garbage at Marrickville some time last year with a big piece of wall art in mind.   Each season has been hand stitched using embroidery thread in various colours including gold.

I really love how this piece turned out.  More so, I love that I got to use up lots of my scraps of felt and fabric.

Before and After projects I am loving.....

All via Design*Sponge

5 minute repurpose project - New dishwashing liquid decanter

Take 1 old Scotch Whisky glass bottle.  Remove the label with warm soapy water.  Replace the cap with an oil pouring spout and....

VOILA!!   A new glass (my fave) decanter for our dish washing liquid!   Stylish and Green (or brown)

Now to replace the hand wash and hand creme bottles  from plastic to glass......

 oh and I could not resist.....here is our little apartment all dolly sized!   Playing with our new camera before the trip and I simply love how teeny tiny our little place looks.  

don't mind the mess....and the brown chair awaiting its makeover!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

xox
claudes