Winter...

Winter, why don't you go away?

My assistant and I went in town today to post some invitations and buy ribbons and trims from the ribbon store.

After spending more than 1 hour in customs we found the car buried in snow and heard people say the roads were covered in snow and ice so we immediately returned home (without the ribbons).

Hoping for better weather on Monday. All my national deliveries are still here because roads are blocked everywhere and carriers can't take them to destination.

Happy New Year!

Fee Day Tomorrow

If you have sent me an e-mail and I haven't answered it's because I am spending time outside with my family.

I won't be here to answer e-mails tomorrow either. I'm spending the day with Bianca from Ermiona.

Hello World!

I just popped in to say the obvious.
I am currently taking a pause from blogging.

The main reason.....



Iona is 3 weeks now but still keeps me more busy than I ever imagined he would.
We are both well and healthy, learning to navigate this world together.

I also haven't fully stopped working so, a few hours a day I am making invitations.

The Little Sad Moments of My Happy Life

I love my work. It's the thing that brings happiness to each day of my life. It's a gift from God, a gift that I will always be thankful for.

Yet from time to time something happens that wakes me up from this land of reverie. I know I should pass by and don't let myself be influenced by such things, but if it's not sensitivity and attention to detail that makes me who I am and thus defines my creation, then what is?

I take pride in trying to make every couple's invitation unique and tailored to their special day.
I sometimes spend days just to alter one of my past design to make it more suitable for a new bride. Then, just by accident, I stumble across a blog that has designs so similar to mine I cannot help wondering why. Then I start digging some more and turns out that the owner of that blog is closely following my work. She even wrote me an e-mail once asking where she could buy a cuttlebug for "personal use" or left comments asking about the products I am using. I recognize so many of my design elements, yet I see no original ones. If they are not copies of my work, then I can point other websites where I saw them before.

I am always the one telling my friends not to worry about people copying their work. A copy will always be a copy and I personally know the quality of my work very well. However, I cannot be indifferent, I cannot help being sad or angry, and the worst of it is that things like this make me lose trust in people more and more every day.

I have made a selection of the most striking resemblances. I a not giving you a link for the simple purpose of not driving more traffic to that blog. I just wanted you to know: No, I don't have any distributors, I don't work that way. They are only people copying my work in a more or less obvious way. I see them all the time visiting my blog for fresh content. I admire those who at least have the common sense of looking for their own style and personality. I would love to show you some examples one day, time and mood permitting.

Please Bare With Me!

I have been working hard to finish and ship all February due orders orders before our little one arrives.

I am almost done but since I am 7 days away from due date and getting more tired every day, I cannot answer all your e-mails as quickly as I used to.

Just Let Me Know What You Think

This post is dedicated to all of those who spend hours in their studio, deciding which is the best color to use on a certain project, sketching, trying new things, learning from mistakes, discovering themselves and their creative spirit.

I would like you to follow this link and tell me what you think:
http://scarlettcat.blogspot.com/2011/02/too-close-for-comfort.html

Then, (if my baby does not decide to be born in the mean time), I have something else to show you.

My Work Table this Morning

You might find this post strange, but I do feel strange this morning, especially after looking in the mirror and seeing all my face swollen like bee stung. So I took this picture thinking it could be the last design I am working on before the baby comes. Probably not. I still have some design work planned for the following days, however, I just want to set everything in order just in case someone else will have to finish and ship the invitations currently in production.

My Paintings Becoming Jewelery

I am so excited to share this, I don't even know what to write and what to leave out!


This necklace is handmade by Lil.lu♥bijoux using a print from my poppy watercolor painting.
You can see more pieces on Lil.lu's blog. There is also and an entire jewelery collection coming up using my paintings.

I had the idea in December while I was making some covers for Lil.lu's portfolio. I asked her and she agreed, so now you can see the first fruit of our collaboration.

Why Lil.lu?
I have been watching her blog for a long time and was drawn to the originality of her work. Her pieces are unique. She combines elements in a different way every time and none is like the one before. I guess I have instinctively felt she had a similar creative pattern to mine, which was later confirmed by reading about her creative process in an interview.

This is the end of todays story, but you will be hearing more about Handmade by Meda and Lil.lu♥bijoux soon.

A Wasted Day!

Normally I wouldn't post something that is not directly related to handmade or that does not have at least a picture to show, but today I really need to shout this outloud because one of the things I hate is wasted time.

So, this morning I received the final payment from a US customer and rushed out to the customs office to send out the invitations. After standing in line for a while I decide to go in and ask for an export form, only to find out that US Post is not accepting any parcels heavier than 450 grams. "What? Again?" The situation has been the same since Nov. 18 with a 2-day exception. The declared reason is terrorist threat but I seriously doubt that is the real reason and I am going to stop writing now and never mention it again.

Sorry, I had to say this. I just wasted one day and I am now tired and have to repack everything in envelopes and go to the post office first thing in the morning to avoid standing in long holiday lines. I am 7 months pregnant after all, I don't have that much energy.

When have the holidays become more stress than joy?

Targ Handmade (Local Handmade Fair)

Azi am fost cu Bianca la targul Autentic Bazar sa vedem ce se mai creeaza pe la noi. Am fost foarte placut surprinsa de cat de mult a crescut nivelul calitativ fata de anii trecuti (ma refer la handmade in general - e prima data cand vizitez acest targ). Ai de unde sa alegi atat ca diversitate de obiecte si stiluri cat si ca preturi. Chiar merita sa mergeti sa vedeti daca nu ati ajuns inca pe acolo. Luati-va si ceva banuti ca sigur gasiti ceva care sa va placa.

Atmosfera din Turnul Croitorilor e foarte placuta, caldut, colinde, expozanti tineri si draguti... Imi pare bine ca am mers, cu tot cu cele 13 kg in plus pe care trebuie sa le port. Eram obisnuita sa vad tot targuri din acelea gen oser, pline de kitchuri, cu lucruri urate, prost lucrate si pline de praf.

Bravo, Autentic Bazar! Nota 10!!!

HANDMADE IN CLUJ 
(pentru artistii din Cluj)

Pentru ca am fost asa de incantata de ceea ce am vazut la targ, m-am gandit ca nu ar strica sa promovez artistii talentati de la noi prin intermediul blogului. Pentru inceput am creat o noua categorie la blogroll, dar ma gandesc sa scriu si articole despre creatorii care imi plac in mod deosebit.

Deci, daca esti din Cluj si ai un blog, poti sa-mi trimiti un e-mail sa  te adaug la lista. Oferta e fara plata si fara link in schimb, insa blogul trebuie sa fie dragut si sa aiba text (eu chiar citesc blogurile din lista mea, ele nu sunt acolo ca schimb de linkuri). Ca principiu nu agreez blogurile gen magazin online (titlu + poza +  pret) unde nu pot merge sa citesc ceva nou la cafeaua de dimineata . Diferenta dintre handmade si productia industriala consta tocmai in legatura personala pe care o poti avea cu artistul, iar blogul e o prima interfata a acestei legaturi.

Saint Nicolas SALE !!! (Reduceri de Mos Nicolae)

(click for image source)

I had to use the image from another website because I am operating from a borrowed laptop and have no photo editing software.

Monday is St. Nicolas Day in some parts of the world. It is the start of the winter holidays celebrations in my country. I remember as I child I used to receive so many sweets that St. Nicolas was supposed to leave in my very carefully cleaned shoes.

To celebrate that I am offering

25% sale

to everything in my crafty shop

shipping worldwide
[click here for English translated shop]

Hurry up though, it's a 2-days-only offer.

Lasciatemi Cantare!

Thank you, Lord, for so much happiness!

Butterflies Heat Embossing - Back in Time (Facand fluturi- inapoi in timp)

I still haven't found the pictures I was looking for, bu I found this instead:


It's from the time I was heat embossing whith my clothes Iron. That's right, I didn't have a heat gun from the beginning.

I went to Germany in the summer of 2007 and bought my first real craft supplies from a store in Ulm. I was so overwhelmed by so many things a vailable that I needed my husband to help me chose rationally what to buy and what not. I didn't want to spend too much.

Embossing powder was among the things I bought and I first tried it with my sister-in-law's electric stove.


Now this is from more recent time. Same butterflies, better tools (I now own a heat gun).


I still cut them by hand using my manicure scissors which has been long ago repurposed to detail cutting scissors.
Las week someone wanted to know what "machinery" I am using to make them, as they were looking for a more reasonably priced option. Well, here's your machinery: butterfly stamp, embossing ink, heat gun , vellum paper, detail scissors, a good pair of eyes and steady hands. Add TIME and PASSION and the recipe is complete.

my detail scissors

my heat gun and some stamps

I really like cutting :)

She is 3 now... (Acum are 3 ani...)

I was looking for some other photos when I found these invitations.
I made them for the first birthday of a friend's little girl.
Miriam is 3 now and she will soon have a little brother too. Fun days to come! My baby will be born in the same period :)











These invitations also reminded me of the time when all my crafting supplies fit into a few boxes.
I didn't have any fancy tools like the cuttlebug but I was still able to create things I love today.

For instance, in the invitation above the green paper is wrapping paper and the one with butterflies I designed myself and printed out.

And the lovely cake stamp, what do you think it is?
I hardly have any stamps now and I certainly didn't have any 2 years ago. That is an image I drew in my sketch book, photographed (I have no scanner), cleaned in Photoshop and printed out.


I feel I have come a long way and it was all through hard work, experimentation and plenty of time investment.

I now receive so many e-mails from people who think they can grab the secret of everything behind my work in just no time. I hate the messages that start with a praise about my work only to continue with a series of questions.:
1. Where do you buy your paper from?
2. Where can I buy a cuttlebug?
3. What brand of gold ink should I buy so that I don't buy the wrong one?
4. What type of printer and printer ink do you use?
5. What software do you use?
6. What's your binding method called? *well, the answer to this one is on my blog, you just have to read carefully, but I guess you are not ready to commit that much time, right*

I don't answer these type of e-mails. I wonder instead why nobody asks following questions:
1. How many hours a day do you spend reading, researching, experimenting?
2. How many packages you ordered never arrived?
3. How many printers you tested before you came to a conclusion? Actually, have you come to a conclusion yet?
4. Can I join your travelling sketchbooks swap?

I was going to write more on this, but I found an interesting excerpt here that was saying it better that I ever could:
"What we are, unapologetically, is hostile to people who seem to be unwilling to think or to do their own homework before asking questions. People like that are time sinks — they take without giving back, and they waste time we could have spent on another question more interesting and another person more worthy of an answer. We call people like this “losers” (and for historical reasons we sometimes spell it “lusers”)."

I Won, I Won, I Won'! *jumpin' all around*

I am generally not a lucky person and I realized that even as a child when I decided luck games are not worth waisting your time with. I never won a challenge or blog candy before and just yesterday I was thinking I have such a happy life I don't even need luck.

I don't know if it's simple coincidence or it's because of that thought of gratefulness I had yesterday, but this morning I went to the Craft Garden blog and saw that I won last month's challenge.

Here is what I won:



This pink prize really pays off last month's effort to come up with so many pink projects :)
How about autumn colors scattered with a few winter projects for this month?

You have to see this! (Trebuie sa vedeti asta!)

Unusual post from me, but I had to share.
I was having my morning coffee and blog roll when I saw Laura has finally posted pictures of her new baby mobile. I was so impressed I decided to post it here. You have to go to her blog and see for yourself.
Better yet, since she can't carry it back to India she decided to sell it :)




Articol neobisnuit in dimineata acesta, dar nu m-am putut abtine. Imi faceam plimbarea obisnuita pe langa cafeaua de dimineata cand am vazut ca Laura publicase poze ale noului sau baby mobile. Am fost asa de impresionata incat am decis sa public o poza la mine pe blog (se gasesc mai multe pe blogul Laurei).
Vestea buna e ca nu va putea sa-l duca in India, deci a decis sa-l vanda.

Vintage Box and Mirror Set (Set cutie si oglinda vintage)

Please bare with me for this last vintage rose decoupage set.
It's a mirror and a little trinket box I decorated for Florentina. I really hope she likes it and hopefully I haven't used too much pink.

Va rog sa mai aveti rabdare cu mine pentru acest ultim set cu trandafiri roz aplicati prin tehnica decupajului. Setul e format dintr-o oglinda si o cutiuta si sunt pentru Florentina. Sper ca nu e prea mult roz.

Self portrait (Autoportret)

That's me in the mirror playing with focus settings. I am trying to learn how to use my camera othar than on auto mode :)
In oglinda e reflectia mea in timp ce ma jucam cu setarile de focalizare in incercarea de a folosi apatul altfel decat pe modul auto.

A Piece of Art from Cluj-Napoca (O Bucatica de arta din Cluj-Napoca)

I took this picture while I was waiting for Laura on Sunday.

It generates many thoughts in my mind. This could be a beautiful city...

For those who are visiting my blog to see my cards and invitations, I have lots of those to share, but at this moment I need to recharge my creative batteries, create just for the sake of creating, admire beauty around me, finish those projects that I kept pushing down on my to do list like "The Travelling Sketchbooks" or some canvas paintings for my friends, handmade album for my sister-in-law...

A Piece of India (O bucatica din India)

Ever since I saw them for the first time I wanted an Indian wood carved printing block. This wish became true yesterday when I finally met Laura in person. She lives in India with her husband and is in Romania visiting her family.

Here is the two of us in a coffee shop. We are both pregnant almost at the same time so you can imagine how fun it was reading the news on her blog. Life is changing already as we discussed so little about scrapbooking and so much about the new experience that we both share.

Back to India, I'd like you to have a look at this video about textile printing using the wood blocks mentioned above. The dies they are using are all natural.

Of course, I am going to use my block on paper, but I might also try it on textiles one day.