Merry Christmas

I want to wish you Merry Christmas!  Thank you for reading my blog and Ihope you enjoyed the posts. I hope that your Christmas would be enjoyable & may the essence of Christmas remains always with you.

This vintage greeting card is my gift for you.

Katrin

Christmas gift tags

It's december now ans Christmas is around a corner. Every of us is search gifts for friends, parents, family. In Italy Christmas is a big family holiday when all family band together usually in the hous of granparents. At midnight we open gifts and It's often difficult to find your gift becaise all packages and bags seem equal. Thats why this idea suggested itself to me - to print small gift tags with letter and attach to the gift bags: "N" for Nando, "K" for Katrin, "F" for Francesco etc. You can put also whole name of the person because of course can be persons with the name began from the same letter. In this case you can hang "NANDO" on the thread and Nando will recognize his gift immediately.
You can use these letters also in your scrapbooking project.

 You can print it easily on home printer. Make right click and save the image.

Please, be aware that the digital collage sheet is not be sold as digital or printed collage sheet.

In graphic shop  KarisaGraphics you can find many collages for all you craft and scrapbooking needs.

Crochet snowflakes

Sorry, that I write very ocassionally now, but I really don't have a time. Holiday season is began) But I found a time today to show these crochet snowflakes. 
In south Italy here we don't have snow, so I decided to make my own snowflakes and decorate my house and christmas tree with them. Maybe I will attache one to the gift for my friends or decorate window or reefer. It's a great idea to also use them for custom holiday cards. 
I found many patterns in internet and choose 12 most beautiful for me.
They are so delicate and beautiful! Some people wrote me that these snowflakes the same like granmather made) and for these people it's like return to childhood.
If you know crochet it will be easy for you to make a pair of crochet snowflakes for Chrostmas tree. The design possibilities are endless, each one unique. There are many patterns in Internet perfect also for begginers. Depending on which crochet thread you use, the size of snowflakes can vary anywhere from 2-4 inches in diameter to as much as 5 inches. I advice to use thin thread - they will be like lace!
It's important - when you finish them you should stiffen snowflakes well and use pins to stretch and shape them.

On this image there are more difficult to make snowflakes:

Chestnuts adventure in Calabria. Part 2

This is second part of my post about our trip in Calabria. It dedicated to forest. I don't have many words to write - all you need tell you photos.


When you go by a car between two hills - sudden you enter in cloud and it seems that you stay in horror film. Road, only road and clouds... nothing more around...

 Then you drive out and it's sun again and flaming forest:

 Small road in the forest:

Always in clouds:

Roads became smaller and smaller:

26 kg of chestnuts:

Chestnuts adventure in Calabria. Part 1

1 November is a Holiday in Italy thats why we decided to make a three days weekend and go in Calabria to pick chestnuts in forest. We went to Camigliatello Silano. It's a small town in Sila moutains and it population is about 1000 persons.
 It was Sunday and as you think, what we found when we came - a Fest! It was Sagra of chestnuts and potatoes. Sagra is a small local fest dedicated to local food and drinks.

The central street was full of market stalls selling every local product and of course chestnuts, potatoes and mushrooms. 

Of course there was local cheese and salami:

This chees in hay we bought:

Cute market stall:

Cute decorations made from pumpkin:

Of course on every corner you can find roasted chestnuts:

Calabria is region in southern Italy, so no fest can be without trtaditional dance - tarantella.

This cute felted toadstools I saw in showcase of the shop:

How to manage long hairs of your daughter

Many mothers allow their daughter's hair to grow long. Long hairs can be styled in pretty and cute ways. Long hair has a number of options that are beautiful and stylish.
You can make buns, braids, pony tails and pig tails. A pony tail is made by picking all the hair into one place on the back of the head, and keeping it there with a hair tie. Pig tails are made by dividing the girl's hair into two sections. Pig tails can either poke out from the head above the ears, or they can be down and toward the back of the head, near the neck.
Here Nicole show us what you can make with hair of your daughter using elastic hair ties:

New yarn

Today I gone to buy new yarn because I decided to make crochet skirt for me. I my favorite shop I saw this wonderful yarn. I don't know what I will make with it but it fabulous! Of course I could not share with you:

Cute hair pins for Nicole

Many of us have children and who has a girl know they seem to come from the womb with a collection of hair clips, hairbands, hair pins... 
I don't have children but my friend has beautiful girl 6 years old. This year she gone in the school. Nicole is half russian and half italian girl and she inherited blond hair from her mother and chocolate eyes from her father. I love Nicole very much. 
I made some hair pins and hair ties with crochet flowers for Nicole and she jumped from happy. So I thinked why I don't make this tiny things for other girls and this is outcome. Of course I made photos with Nicole. She was so anxious to be a model)

These bobby pins are simple  - crochet flower attached to the bobby pin. It's finished with a bead in the center of the flower. So, If you know to crochet, you can make little flower and sew it on the bobby pin. Pretty, cute and unique these crochet bobby pins are perfect for girls of all ages. I made them from cottone for childrens that has special ueropean certificate of health and safety of textile products.
You can find cute hair pins of different colors in my shop.

Crochet earrings giveaway

Take a chance to win wonderful crochet earrings from my shop!

Chose your favorite color!

Rules are here

A winner will be chosen on October 29th.

This is open to worldwide!

Good Luck Everyone!

Free Halloween image

Halloween is near the corner and it's time to prepare decoration, costume and  and other essentials things.

Maybe you decided to make a gift for your friend or just surprise him with postcard? That's why I share for you these vintage postcards. You can print them and use as a gift tag os postcard.

You can print these images easily on your home printer. Make right click and save the image.

Please, be aware that the digital collage sheet is not be sold as digital or printed collage sheet.

In graphic shop  KarisaGraphics you can find many collages for all you craft and scrapbooking needs.

Enjoy and Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin risotto

We love pumpkins! Especially for Halloween! Today I share with you pumpkin risotto recipe (risotto alla zucca). It is a simple but tasty and you will cook it in about 30-40 minutes. 
I never liked pumpkin but this plate I cook often)


You will need:
200 gr rice
300 gr pumpkin
50 gr butter
50 gr parmigiano, grated
1 medium size onion, chopped
500 gr hot water or vegetable broth
100 ml white wine
Salt & pepper to taste

Remove the peel and the seeds of pumpkin. Cut it into pieces and boil. Remove the pumpkin from the water and whip it up with the blender. Reserve the liquid, this is your vegetable stock.

Saute the onion until golden in color in about half of amount of butter. Add rice and stir. Cook for about 5 more minutes and add some wine to the mix. Stir onion, rice and wine together.

Add some reserved vegetable stock or hot water to the pan, stir. Add pureed pumpkin and the rest of liquid. Stir and cook all together until rice will become tender. 

Add the other half of butter and the parmigiano. Stir and leave for a couple of minutes under the lid.
It's ready to serve!

Halloween earrigns tutorial

Halloween is nearly here yet again and that means, among other things, time for Halloween costumes.  It's one of those times of the year where you can truly be anything and anyone and that is why it is tough to narrow down the choices. For those many people who enjoy being creative about Halloween, it’s time to get moving on this year’s ideas. I will help you celebrate the Halloween with fun and color! 

These are easy to make orange crochet earrigns with black beads that seem two pumpkin. You can make them with your own hands! 

You need:

2 earrings hooks (better black), 

2 round head pins (better black), 

4 black beads, 

2 crochet orange balls,

wire cutters,

round nose pliers.

If you don't know how to make crochet balls you can easy find the video tutorial here.

 1. Thread one black bead on the pin. Then thread the crochet ball and the second black bead.

 2. If pin is too long cut it about 1 cm/0.4" from the second bead. Then using round nose pliers coil the wire end. Make 1-2 coils.

 3. Attach the ear hook.

 4. Repieat steps 1-3 to make second earring.

 Your exclusive Halloween earrigns are ready!