Thanks to my very busy September and broken Photoshop, I'm again super-behing with posts... so here's one from August =D
We went to try new café with Rommily and chat about knitting and stuff ♪
Even though it was still August, it got a bit colder so I could wear this nice hoodie top again. But most importantly I was wearing my new cute pants which Honza gave me for name day ♥
They're from Moshiki - German fairtrade brand with all kinds of original clothing ♪ I already have one skirt from them and I can't complain about the quality. They had a big store at Tollwood festival in summer and I hope they will be on winter Tollwood as well (but I must NOT buy anymore new clothes >_<).
I really like the design of these pants - they don't have any zipper and these buttons are just decoration. The waistband is elastic enough to put them on over hips and they still have a nice fit ♪ Also the fabric is really nice and with right combination of accessories they look quite elegant so I can wear them for family dinners or other events like that.
Unfortunatelly this print was put down by RB because of WB rights fuuu ...but I understand, so I want to thank everyone who purchased something with this design, because it was quite a lot of people and that's amazing ♥
One of my New Year's resolutions for 2016 was to start doing something serious with my art.
Draw a lot, learn new techniques, finish some sketchbooks, take commissions, open shop, make a portfolio, be able to call myself illustrator ... because after all these years of wondering about what do I want to do with my life and what is the thing I'm the most passionate about and I would never get tired of so it could be my full-time job, I came to a conclusion that THE THING is ...art.
Yep, I'm that crazy person who decided to be an artist.
Illustrator, to be more specific.
I was drawing ever since I could hold a pencil in my hand and producing tons of scribbles on everything at home. I always admired people who were studying art schools, they all looked so cool and free and amazing and I wanted to be one of them... but I never really made it to an art school... ha ha... I was too lazy to make 100000 works for etrance exams and was told by my parents that I'm hopeless and if I ever wanted to be an artist now that dream is gone, because I'm lazy-ass and without a school I could never be a professional... and so I gave up
Just like that.
I got back to drawing when I discovered manga, but got this "envy syndrom" after a few years, proclaimed myself to be even more hopless and gave up again...
Then the big change came, I moved to Germany and was alone most of the days at half-empty apartment in country I didn't know, full of people I didn't understand. So I went to grocery store, bought a cheap sketchbook and begun drawing out of boredom...
In these days I started following Striga on FB. She was getting better and better with every picture and suddenly people starting to ask her to buy her pictures, she had small exhibitions in cafés, people had tattoo designs done by her - I bought one as well - and suddenly I realized that it is possible. You don't have to have the best art school ever to be an artist. You just need to work hard.
And so I did.
I do.
I managed to overcome my envy, I'm drawing daily, I'm sketching a lot, I do art challenges, I'm experimenting, I'm bying a lot of new art supplies, I visited art class, I'm admiring other artists instead of being envious of their skills, I get inspired by their works, talk with them, ask them about things, support them. Because that's what I wish for as an artist. I found out that appart from working hard every day on your skills, you also have to be part of the "community". Not because of fame, or number of likes. I don't really care about how many followers I have, I'm just happy to see that someone likes what I do and it motivates me to work even more =)
I'm still working on it, I'm not even halfway there, but at least I'm finally sure about what I want to do !
I wrote this big text mostly for people who are struggling with something similar and hope that it maybe help at least a bit =) if not,I would recommend to watch Fran's YouTube chanel, because there is the big motivation you need - trust me ♥
For a while one of my dreams was to open a shop with my art. Originals, prints, postcard, clothing, bags, or other cute stuff with my own designs.
I was super-scared about it and it was Striga who did the final push and conviced me to do it...
A while ago I discovered this amazing pattern by Ela Torrente and I was sure, that I will knit it one day - for me or for my husband ♪
I was just contemplating about what yarn to use when Lanade came up with a sale on Malabrigo Chunky, which is exactly the same yarn used for the original version of this design.
...and then begun the worst part - what colour to chose ??!
I love the dark-green version of the original, but I already have a green vest... grey or black is too sad... a few minutes I was sure about violet... and then... dark blue happened !
So I ordered it right away and started knitting as soon as I picked up the package. The main plan with buttons was to buy them in Amsterdam - and I did ! I found these big cuties at Stephen & Penelope and now they remind me of their amazing shop everytime I wear the vest ♥
I started the project in the middle of May and thought that I will probably have the chance to wear it at the end of September, because it was already getting warm... oh, how mistaken I was !
It was 13°C for more than two weeks, so I was wearing the vest every morning for dog walks =D
With two pockets and a nice big comfy collar it's perfect for cold mornings ♥
Even though it looks quite complicated at first sight, it was really relaxing, easy knit. I haven't been knitting with such a thick yarn for ages and it grows so fast in comparison with my usual fingering weight yarns =D
I didn't have a chance to take some nice photos outside, because it was raining all the time. So I took these photos before we went to take a look in a huge art supplies shop Boesner which recently opened in Munich. I think you can imagine the look on my face when I stepped in the huge supermarket filled with all kinds of art stuff ...
Of course I couldn't leave without emptying half of my wallet... here's what I bought...
gold leaves, small handmade paper cards, Ecoline Brush Pen for lettering, gouache challenge accepted, small brushes and this hi-tech liner from Pentel =D
... and here's my first try with it... it's nothing super-special, but quite cool to work with ♪
Speaking about my art... did I already tell you that I opened an Etsy shop with originals and recently added postcards with my tea fairies ♪♫♪ ?
At the beginning of February we went to Munich to deliver an armour to the medieval shop of our friend. We used the occasion to walk around the city a bit, spend a lot of money at art supply shop and eat delicious lunch =)
I planned to take a look in a new yarn shop, which Rommily found and looks absolutely amazing *o* TAKE A LOOK !
Unfortunatelly we got stuck in traffic jam for an hour and the shop is opened only until 14:00 on Saturday, so we didn´t make it T_T But I will have a lot of opportunities to go there soon - it´s about 90% sure that we will be moving to Munich next month ! Big changes are comming and I don´t mind ♪ Ingolstadt started to be pretty boring anyway =D
So instead of running to spend at least the last 10 minutes at the yarn shop, we decided to listen to our hunger and went to Hans im Glück for a burger :3 Little I knew this will probably be the last time I eat one, because I started gluten free diet last weekend ... T_T I will have to make burgers on my own from now on, that´s not that bad ! ... and I can still eat these delicious sweet potatoe chips, so it´s fine =D
The weather was AMAZING !!! It was around 15°C in the sun and it felt so much like spring ! Everyone suddenly wanted to sit outside, take "coffee to go" and enjoy the sun... and cafés weren´t absolutely not prepared for it ! For example in the café where we went the coffee machine broke down and it was a chaos =D ha ha ...in a few hours the sun was gone and the winter continued on the next day, which was pretty frustrating -_-
I decided to finally wear my new garter, which is also available in various colours in my Etsy shop ♥ I was trying to make a functional classic-overkneesock-holding garter for ages and came to a conclusion that it´s impossible... it will never stay in place for more than just few photos ! So I made this - it will stay in place all day and it looks pretty cool =) ho hoo
I´m so happy about this sweater ! I need to knit more sweaters & cardigans *_* because the feeling of wearing something you made - something so big and good-looking - is just great ! I just can´t wait to finish the sweater I´m currently working on !!!
And here´s my loot from the art supply store *o* I could spend hours in this shop ! They have SO MANY amazing things !
This time I bought a new A4 sketchbook, small watercolour paper postcards, Pentel Color Brush in red, some super-amazing-fibers brush and a caligraphy pen ♥
I bought these postcard papers specially for "every 50 followers giveaways" I´m doing on my Auberginen Art Facebook =) Recently I reached 150 followers and this was a wish of the winner - Satan with toadstools *o*
Let´s keep fingers crossed the actual spring will start soon !
Today I want to show you a mori-girl outfit with three amazing things I found in Prague. As I said before, there are almost no second-hand stores in Bayern so everytime I´m in Prague I have to go in one no matter what =D Which usually means that Honza is waiting outside with Satan (because he hates the smell of second-hand stores), looking at time nervously and checking if I´m not buying anything terrible... so I always have like 15minutes to run around the store, pick up the best pieces, pay and get out ha ha =D I´m not complaining, because the more time I could spend there, the more terrible things I would buy, so it´s fine like this !
In summer I did this quick shopping as well and suddenly I saw a really pretty pattern among all these weird dresses there. I thought, hmm this looks like ...OH MY, IT REALLY IS GUDRUN SJÕDÉN ! FOR 3EUROS !!! which is like 70euros cheaper than it would be in the shop ! ...and in green colour AND in my size ! My friend called it "second-hand find of lifetime" ha ha =D
Together with the dress I also discovered this mesh shawl in the same shade of green as the dress, so I took it as well =)
The third great thing I bought in Prague is the LES HOUBELES tote bag ♥ I had no idea there is a shop like this ! They have everything for mushrooming - which is a very popular activity of Czech people =D Knifes, rubber shoes, baskets, tea cups in the shape of toadstool (I NEED IT milý Ježíšku), clothing with mushroom-themed prints and of course this tote bag ! I like mushrooms so much, they are so cute ...
dress, scarf - second-hand
necklace - DIY from home decor
tote bag - Les Houbeles
shoes - Vagabond
What was your best second-hand find ?
I wish I can find more basic t-shirts or tank tops, but they always look terrible and washed out...
oh, and speaking about mushrooming, today I unintetionally drew a picture matching with this post =)
Yes, I´m still drawing - more than ever !
I don´t post my pictures here anymore, simply because there is too many of them =D
At the end of June, just before the first heatwave started, there was a one really cold week - for a summer, I mean. Good weather to enjoy last layering and warmer clothes before the "I´m-so-hot-I-don´t-care-what-I-wear" season .
In that time my husband (wow... it feels weird not to write "bf" anymore) had a name day and we decided to celebrate it with dinner in Indian restaurant. We´ve never been in one here in Ingolstadt, but since the "Taj Mahal" one has a pretty good rating on TripAdvisor we gave it a try =) And we weren´t dissapointed nom nom :3
I wore this amazing black dress which resides in my wardrobe for years ! I still can´t believe the fact that I found something so cool five years ago in New Yorker... ??! Why did they even have a perfect strega fashion dress a long time before those black robes were trendy ...? some sort of time travel for sure
this time drawing the outfit picture was pretty simple =D
I promise, that I will write about something more "fresh" soon =D ha ha
btw. did I tell you that we got a new super-hi-tech camera as a wedding gift from my father ?? *o*
My balcony outfit photos never looked so good ! =D
oh, and remember how I wrote in the last post about the DIY project I plan to try - making a new dark scarf from an old t-shirt? I did it, it looks great and I took photos, so await a tutorial soon ! =)
In the middle of June (I´m so late with posts!) we did a tiny little trip to Munich - just for Friday afternoon. We needed to buy gifts in Dallmayr and I wanted some art supplies =)
I found an amazing art-supply store just in the city centre where I finally bought a brush pen ! I love working with it, I found my way back to ink thanks to this tool ♥
After we found everything we wanted, we decided to take a little walk around the town and try some new restaurant. We ended up in a cute little veggie bistro Orangebox, which I already discovered last summer but at that time we were there with my husband´s parents and his father refused to go anywhere where he couldn´t have a meat... =D we all know at least one person like this
We had no idea what is what on the menu, so we ordered three random meals and whoa ! Everything was delicious ♥ I´ve never had avocado salad before and it was beyond amazing ! I also had no idea what dal is and now I´m addicted =D
(I´m hungry just from looking at the photo)
Since the day was a bit cold I could wear overknee socks and shorts garters, which is my favourite combo ♥ I matched them with my Babilonia swimsuit - worn as a top - it´s so comfortable to wear ! but complicated on toilet, that´s true
Satan loves being around when I´m taking photos ... <_<
