Happy green

I confess: I used to be one of those people that miss that special something which help with all the vital knowledge one needs in order to keep plants alive.

I say I used to be, because, for a little over a month, I have three beautiful, green and growing succulents that live with us! And they seem happy, especially now, since I've painted their terracotta pots in pretty pastel colors.
Yes, I know how to make a plant feel at home!

I feel so happy with these little plants at home, that I smile every time I see them. :)

How about you, do you keep plants in your home?
Hugs,
Anca

A little bit of drama

Sometimes, we need a little bit of drama in our lives. Sure, I am a world renowned drama queen, so my advice on the matter is as subjective as it can be, but I'm sure you feel it too now and then - that touch of a certain something that makes everything so much more interesting.

After a short holiday, today I was in the mood of taking some pretty pictures with some of my new handmade buys and gifts.

 A certain vintage charm featuring my absolutely wonderful bwe brooch and a lovely deer I received from lovely Kittn.

Lovely coral beads and polka dotted ribbon ready to be transformed into some magical jewelry.

Spring romance with lovely JasminBlanc tea plates and spring flowers

 An unexpected association - pheasant feathers and pretty lustrous pearls

Pretty roses, chocolate and something inspirational

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and wish you a drama-free week! :)

Hugs,
Anca
 
P.S. To help me with the dramatic effects I used my new favorite online editor PicMonkey and the  Freebooter Script font.

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Easter days

We celebrated Easter two times this year - last weekend (as we enjoyed a long weekend and the wonderful company of dear friends) and this weekend, as we celebrate the Orthodox Easter.
All in all, it was nice. There were red velvet cupcakes, good food, my Easter tree and lots of chocolate.

Unfortunately, the weather was terrible, but all the chocolate bunnies did make up for it! 

This year we wanted to dye Easter eggs in natural colors and so we did. The result was kind of "artsy". We used blueberries and red beet, but I think too little vinegar. But still, the result was something different and pretty.

I hope you enjoyed Easter and wish you a wonderfully sunny spring!
Hugs,
Anca

New business cards

I designed them with a little help from my Mia illustrations and Moo took care of printing them on pretty paper and delivering them to me, quite promptly, in a cute little box.

I like the mini cards as they fit easily in my white glassine bags and they are so darn cute!
I also received a discount code for new customers. So, if you need new business cards, stickers or anything else, feel free to use the 15% off your first order code at moo - 2RB2CK.

Have a lovely day!
hugs,
Anca

Music and jewelry

Sometimes, when I'm without inspiration in naming a certain piece I made, I go to music.
Song names can sometimes say so much and some of those times, it so happens that it helps to say it with something pretty.

That's Amore by Dean Martin

One in a Million by Guns N' Roses

Take a Bow by Madonna

The way you look tonight by Nat King Cole

This are some of the pieces I've been working on lately, mostly inspired by spring and all the wonderful blooming flowers.

I hope you are enjoying your Spring!
Hugs,
Anca

Weekend roadtrip - Dresden

As promised, I'll share with you some of the photos I took last weekend in Dresden.
I found the city to be full of history, but it also had that feeling of new - mostly due to the fact that all the city's center and historical buildings were rebuilt - with such a wonderful care for details and staying true to the originals, but you could feel the buildings as being new inside.

Elector of Saxony - Augustus II Der Starke

The important buildings, museums, art galleries, theatres, the Opera house and churches are all gathered really close together in the city center, which was kind of intimidating at first for me, but then I felt that this gave a certain romantic feeling to the city.

View of the city from the tower of Frauenkirche

The city is divided in two sides, by the river Elba - the old city "Altstadt" and the new city "Neustadt".

In the Altstadt you can see almost all of the important historical buildings and remnants of the war.
In the reconstruction of the churches and palaces some of the remaining rubble and materials were used and you now can spot them as they appear in a darker color on the buildings.

This here is the beautiful Protestant church - Frauenkirche. The reconstruction for the church started in 1993 and lasted for 12 years and I've read that 45% of the church has been built with the original pieces.

Frauenkirche - Protestant Church

All buildings are incredibly beautiful, mostly reflecting Baroque and Renaissance styles. As I walked through the narrow streets and broad markets I got the feeling I was somewhere back in time, in more romantic times.

Hofkirche (Catholic Church) - view from the Brühl Terrace

Another remarkable building is the imposing and famous Semper Opera House.

Semper Opera House

As for museums, we visited only the ones found in the Zwinger palace: King's Augustus Der Starke Porcelain collection, The art gallery and Armoury.

Then, there's the Neustadt, on the East bank of Elba. Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures from here as we were in the new city only in the evening and it was already dark. Here, I got that "Midnight in Paris" feeling, like I suddenly had entered another era. I found the Neustadt incredibly hip, full of young people and lively. Also there were all these cute boutiques and art galleries. Oh, and one of the things you must not miss out on when in Dresden is the "Art Passage" - a small street with artfully decorated facades.

There were some places I really wanted to visit, but didn't get the chance this time - somehow, on Saturday we got lost (if it's intentional, does it count?) in a shopping gallery. Well, I guess it's only fair that when girlfriends meet up, they go and buy themselves something nice!

Porcelain shop

On my list for next time are the Treasure Chamber of Augustus Der Starke with its remarkable jewelry collection and Pfund's dairy - the most beautiful dairy in the world. Yes, it appears to be so, as it's right up there in the Guinness Book of World Records.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and if you ever find yourself in the neighborhood, Dresden is a really nice city to visit!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Hugs,
Anca

My 7 tips for traveling light

Today I'm packing for a three-day getaway in Dresden with my dearest friend C. Not only am I supposed to travel light, but she somehow convinced me to pack everything in a backpack. Now, both these things are somewhat against my nature and style. But I'm not one to back-up on challenges so, challenge accepted!


While packing I started to think about getting practical, packing the necessaries and keeping it light, while still having options with me.

• Choose a small traveling suitcase. I know this one is kind of obvious, but the most important. Commit to traveling with one smaller bag or suitcase and stick to it. This way you have a limited amount of space to fill with your necessary stuff.
• You know those collages and ideas of how to wear a certain item in different ways, during different times of the day that are so popular on blogs and fashion magazines? Well, this is exactly the mindset you need when faced with the challenge of traveling light. 
• Luckily, face cream, lip balm and mascara come in small, pretty packages. As for the items that are more "chunky", buy yourself the mini version. You can find miniature shampoo, shower gel, tooth paste and the sorts in any drogerie shop. But if you really need to use a certain brand that doesn't come in mini size, you can invest in some small recipients to put your fave shampoo or body cream in.
• I think the Kindle or an iPad are just perfect for light traveling. That is if you like to read while getting to your destination. As I usually never leave the house without a book, when I'm faced with a longer journey I like to have at least two books with me. My Kindle solves this issue for me. If you prefer the feel of real books, just choose the ones that are lighter and more comfortable to read.
• Never leave without a towel for your face. This one I got from The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, and the towel proves itself quite useful, even if you are not traveling between planets and Galaxies in the big Mish Mash that is the Universe.
• If you plan to visit museums or to spend a lot of time exploring the visited location, comfortable shoes are of most importance to have and wear. In this case, two pairs of shoes make the right number, that is if we are talking about a short visit.
• Pack your favorite items. This goes for clothes and accessories. I pack by this rule as I'm a moody dresser, but I know I'll be ok if I take with me my faves.

So, do you have any tips of traveling light?

I hope you enjoyed the post and with a lovely weekend!
Hugs,
Anca

P.S. I'll be back next week with pictures from my trip.

Light, glass and pretty colors

Looking back on my work lately, I noticed that I'm into making earrings.
Actually, this makes a lot of sense as I'm a true believer that earrings are the most versatile - easy to wear and match - never leave the house without accessory.

Also I developed a crush on glass beads, especially vintage Czech ones. So, right now I'm working new pretty and romantic earrings designs with glass beads.

Whenever I feel like modelling clay I work further on trying to make smaller buds and blossoms. You see, I have really small ears, but love wearing studs and my hair up, so I'm thinking that maybe there are other ladies like me out there.

The thing about this bracelet is that it's made with my all time favorite vintage breads - pretty, delicate and kind of whimsical because of the gold inlay.

You can find all these lovelies in my shop (only in Romanian) or you can email me, I'll be really happy to hear from you.

Hugs,
Anca

A is for anemones

Remember me confessing my new love for anemones?

They are delicate, but really beautiful. And this makes them so perfect for lovely flower bouquets and feminine accessories, of course.

This is why I got inspired and started to make a few of these lovelies with white polymer clay. And they turned out pretty cute.

Now I'm brainstorming for what kind of accessories to use them: earrings, necklaces or maybe pretty spring headbands or belts.
Do you have any suggestions?

Have a lovely weekend, with sunny happy thoughts!
Hugs,
Anca

My 7 tips for bloggers

I was introduced to the wonderful world of blogging just a few years ago and I started my first blog three years ago. I love blogs, I follow a lot of them regularly and when I discover a new great one is almost like Christmas morning. Almost.

After reading and following lots of blog and after personal trials and errors, I decided to share with you my 7 tips for the beginners in the blogging world.

1. Keep it simple. And by this I mean the design.
When it comes to your blog background try to choose something clean and neat that doesn't clutter the blog. I like to look at it as the canvas where I get to paint what I imagine.
There are a lot of formats, classic or hip, and lots of pretty free backgrounds. My favorite resource for blog goodies is ShabbyBlogs. 
I've tried the free template offered by blogger, but got bored really fast. Then, for a long time I had a pretty one from Shabby Blogs but, as I kept stumbling upon other blogs with similar background, I decided to try a personalized one. And now, I'm really happy with my awesome all white background. :-)
I recommend you try and see what fits your blog best, but in my book the best choice is either a personalized background or a patterned one.

2. I think that by now everybody knows that all those sparkly useless gadgets are a big no-no on a blog with aspirations. As a rule of thumb, before adding a widget to your blog, first ask yourself: does my blog really need this one? or is this of any interest/use to my readers? Of course, it helps to study the design of the blogs you read and admire. 

3.Make it fun. Create regular columns about things that you are passionate about or try to write in a fun, engaging way.

4. Try and keep up with the tech and new features. For example, when Blogger added the pages feature I was really excited. Sure maybe you have your own website and you don't depend on other platforms and that's great. But still, from time to time, you may need to change the design a bit to make it more functional and even up-to date looking.

5. Make it your own. By this I mean writing in your particular style, just the way you would talk, not forcing it, because your readers will see right through that.

6. Content is king and pretty pictures go as queen. Write about your work, inside scoop and about the things you are passionate about and love. If you want, you may make it more personal and write about your daily adventures and thoughts (but try not to complain that much or share your misfortunes, people like to read happy things). Also, try to offer some timeless content and useful info like tutorials and such.
Pretty pictures are very, very important as they play the role of eye candy, inspiration + they help making your point. 

7. Finally, but probably the most important, create the blog you would like to read.
I'm sure you know this already. I know I read it oh-so-many times on different blogs. And it's true, but it's one of those things that doesn't get any power until you realize it on your own.

There are lots of other things to consider, like ethics, different kinds of content and making your blog more user friendly, but all these come with experience and time.

I hope you'll find these tips helpful and I would love it if you want to share your own tips in the comments bellow.

Hugs,
Anca

Pretty flowers

Do you look closely at the details? Do you see the joy and pretty in the little things?

I just love them. The tiny well-wishing message on a label, the pretty decorative hems or the pretty textures and shapes of flower petals.

I really love the delicacy of anemones. I even started to make some out of polymer clay, but all about that in a future post.

I found these little lovelies in a flower shop, up on a hill, in Stuttgart last weekend. They looked so joyful and pretty I had to take a picture.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend and doing something lovely.
For me, it's movie with Mr.A and a dinner with friends!

Hugs,
Anca

Tag posts..

..normally aren't my thing. But this one was passed on to me by Daria and her questions are quite fun, so here it goes.

As with every tag post, there are some rules:

1. Post these rules.
2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things - I'd say that the 11 things part can be optional.
3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you’ve tagged them.

1. Who was your childhood’s favorite cartoon character?

It's not easy to pick just one, but right now Jane Jetson comes to mind. I'm still smitten with her passion for fashion and new tech, especially the awesome gadget that transformed their holiday luggage into tiny clutches.

2. When did you have your first crush?

I think sometime in the fourth grade.

3. What symbol/object represents you?

This is a tough one. I was often told I am cat like, and not because of my feline agility. :)

4. Do you like to collect something?

Yes. My inner hoarder loves it, but it sometimes gets into conflict with my minimalistic tendencies.

But I do collect fridge magnets, pretty business cards or packaging, and museum/bus tickets from my trips.

5. What’s your favorite pastime?

Watching a good movie and enjoying a delicious meal with my hubby.

6. Which TV show would you like to live in?

Pushing Daisies, because of the beautiful decor&fashion and all the pies.

7. If you had to change your name, what name would you choose?

Just from the top of my head - Eloise.

8. Where do you feel most comfortable of all?
Easy one: on our couch, under my comfy plaid!

9. What’s your guilty pleasure TV show?

Gossip Girl.

10. What’s the number 1 item on your wishlist right now?

Judy Jetson's shrinking gadget.

11. If you had a spell book, what would you use it for?

For doing good, of course - with the occasional teleportation, house cleaning and perfect hair do.

And here are my questions for others to answer:

1. What's your favorite dish, that you can cook/make?

2. If you had to pick a color that best represents your personality, what would it be?

3. Where is your dream holiday destination?

4. What's your guilty pleasure book?

5. If you were a superhero, what name would you choose for yourself?

6. What's your number one item you never leave the house without?

7. What was your first job?

8. If you had a time machine, where is the first place you would go?

9. What's your favorite clothing item/accessory?

10. What is your all time favorite fairytale/children story?

11.What's your favorite movie/TV show villain?

I will tag Cristina, Ina, Carmen and Raluca to answer to these questions if they feel like it and feel that it would be fun, of course.

I hope you enjoyed the post, I sure did had fun answering the questions.

Hugs,

Anca

Thing a day favorites

Although Thing a day this year is over and I'm already making room for new challenges, I thought it would be nice to share with you some of my favorite things I made this February (they are all dear to me, but there are a few I'm particularly fond of) and some of mt favorite works from other TAD participants.

The coin purse project - I've been wanting to make it for some time now, but I was sure that it's kind of difficult that I kept postponing it. It turned out to be quite easy to make and the result is pretty and practical. This goes to show how important is not to judge the complexity or difficulty of things before you get down to making them.

I really love the way the Green Infusion earrings turned out. They are so pretty and inspire lots of freshness - they are the result of my latest obsession - glass Czech beads!

My spring tote bag - I'm kind of really happy with this one because of its fabrics, the things I learned while making it and don't get me started on how excited I am about the braided handles!

Mia and her lacy dress - I choose this one mainly due to all the lace and the pretty shade of pink I got from mixing all that clay!

As for the other contributors, here it goes:

I've been a fan of Vixyblu's cute felt characters and her photography for some time and I was happy to her take part in the TAD challenge. She made a lot of lovely things, but the mustache and lips thingies are some of my favorites and so much fun!

Kittn's creations and take on life and everything is such an inspiration for me and was happy to see her works on this project. One of favorites is the "What was in fashion in 1986" illustration. Wouldn't you love to wear the icon fashion of the year you born in?

Murmu was in this too! I really like her illustrations, they are so cute and happy. As a favorite I choose this beautiful girl's portrait..pretty right?

  
I really liked Anetaamelie's buntings. Could be because I'm developing a huge crush in them, so be sure I'll write about and show you more of them soon.

There were may others, plus lots of great people making it their goal to challenge themselves to be creative on daily basis. If interested to see more, you can check out the Thing-a-day blog.

I hope you enjoyed this retrospective post and maybe you'll feel inspired to set your own creative challenge!

Have a wonderful and inspiring spring!
Hugs,
Anca

Oreo Cupcakes

As today is kind of special with being a leap year and all + it's a special day for me and Mr.A, something extra special was required to be made.

Do you like Oreos? We looove them! This is why I knew that getting together two yummy things, all will be well and deliciously delightful.

They are quite easy to make, you just need to be in the mood for baking and you can find the recipe on the lovely Just Love Cookin' blog.

I can't believe it's the last day of February! Thing a day was challenging, but so much fun + I ended up with a photo-pimping addiction.
I admired the work of so many, read their daily adventures and I'm looking forward to meeting up with them on thing a day next year.

Have a lovely 29 February and since we get it only once in four years, do something special!
Hugs,
Anca

Looking forward for spring

Yes, I too will write about how I long for sunny days, breezy but warm, the freshness in the air and the simple, yet amazing nature's burst!

I wish for long walks in the park or around the city, to discover it's magic and hidden treasures. I dream of fresh fruits and cocktails, of trips to the countryside.

I think of all the pretty blossoming trees and pretty flower arrangements. I also long for wearing my pretty spring dresses and splashes of pastels and pretty colors.

The truth is I'm not a winter person. I do love it, don't get me wrong, but for me the charm of winter kind of goes away in January.
As soon as the holiday season is over, I'm ready for spring!

Now, spring is almost here, I can feel it in the air.
Are you longing for spring?

Hugs,
Anca