Friday Pretties: Golden moments





Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.
Pablo Picasso

Yep - so true this quote! Have set myself the aim, to start on a new painting-routine, for otherwise my days are too crowded now and i'm too tired in the evenings to get involved in creative adventures. Yet i miss them so much! Making the magazine is creative too, but i need the living colors, the smell and feel of them. Hope to blog about this soon. The green and yellow stillife above is something from last winter that keeps inspiring me along the way.

Have a fantastic, colorful time yourself over this autumn and Halloween weekend and visit Joyce and her generous linkup for more pretties here!!

Painting: Aryllic on canvas, Martina Voigt-Schmid


Meet "Les Gastons"





Birds of a feather

Boooooo-hooooooooo! Saw the mist over the meadow this morning? Saw the golden leaves? Found the black feathers? Some beautiful photos to revel in the spirit of autumn and Halloween by my son  Robin Benito, capturing his girlfriend, model and newborn actress Julie Gaston and himself in Edgar Allen Poe style.

My sorrow, when she's here with me, thinks these dark days of autumn rain are beautiful as days can be; she loves the bare, the withered tree; she walks the sodden pasture lane.
Robert Frost  

Friday Pretties: In the mood for fun




Ever wanted to be a princess?

A mermaid or a sailor? As Halloween is getting closer, you might be looking for a costume for your kid - or for yourself. Recently i stumbled over these amazing outfits by Abbys tutu factory and the" little girl in me" was very pleased and said, she would like to have all of them! Aw, i only have boys and they are too big for this kind of fun. But i do have a parenting magazine, and start to get ideas for a party theme ...

Have a splendid weekend and treat your inner child to something nice - a trifle with lots of custard, a pink bubble-bath, some funny stickers to decorate your business-letters - you get the idea!

Can't wait ti visit all your lovely places - the last 2 weeks have been so busy, so little time for blogland-adventures - i missed it! Do have a look at more pretties here!
 
Fotos and costumes: Abbys tutu factory

Monday Love: Cameo jewellery



All i want for christmas ...

Actually, i'm starting to look for presents. Last year, i was very late, orders didn't arrive, parcels got lost on their way, so this year i want to start out in a more relaxed way and make this treasure hunt fun. Now, in my coffe break - browsing through Etsy, look what i found: pretty victorian style handmade jewellery with portrait cameo, ornaments and beads - perfect for my sister, nieces and girlfriends. How come i always find the things for them first? (Ups, coffee break is getting longer and longer ... ;))

Jewellery from
.

Friday Pretties: Autumn Roses







Autumn Roses

These are from an 2008 series, playing with shapes and ornaments. It's amazing how paintings in vibrant colors can liven up a cool office-spaces and rooms full of computers, printers and the like.
I heard Bill gates uses huge flat monitors instead of paintings on the walls and has various artworks projected, according to the mood of the day. But that can never be the same. The energy is different. We've got to much flickering screens in front of us already and we crave the warmth and living vibrations from a painting we really like - well, at least i do!

Have a warm, creative weekend - and find more pretties here!!

Paintings: Martina Voigt-Schmid, Acryllic/Canvas

Banana Cupcakes




Cupcakes, anyone?

Some baking for our magazine KidsLife in the house of my lovely norwegian friend Ingunn. We made Banana cupcakes, following the inspiration given by the famous Bakerella, and had fun preparing everything and decorating with colorful sugar bits. The frosting was a bit too soft to keep it in shape, but nevertheless it looked good to us. If you're a perfectionist you should cool it for several hours to make it look like Bakerella did, but our kids couldn't wait that long ;) If you want to give this a try, look at the recipe here!

Fotos: Martina Voigt Schmid

Friday Pretties: Gorgeous fall grey






October’s supposed to be golden, but it looks grey to me.
Grey is the new black this season – and it can be very elegant, hip and romantic, because it doesn’t steel the show from you. Gorgeous, soft, alluring grey in pretty sweaters, scarfs and cardigans, warmed up with some chestnut leather, red lipstick or a bright smile!
Aw, having some new things to wear and trying new combinations makes autumn so much nicer. All these beautiful women were captured by the talented sartorialist, an amazing street fashion photographer many of you will know.

So many lovely people are out there in the world, making the place a little nicer, outdaring grey skies with grey fashion and colorful imagination! What would we do without them? Love you people!

Happy Friday everyone – and don’t forget to .... always look at bright side of life! More pretties here!

Monday Love: Felted things







Some Felted things 
i made for the handmade section of our magazine KidsLife some time ago. Although i normally hate needlework of all kinds, sometimes in the cold season i like making little things out of Waldorf-wool - it's so soft and cozy, and the things have a life of their own. It's like therapy - try it!
Directions (in german) here!

Otherwise, just work from your intuition, like i do. You can't do much wrong here, it will always look nice. The heart and stones are made with a felting needle over a form of styropor. If you work with a felting needle, take care of your hands! It hurts, if you stitch yourself, but besides that it's fun - like a good kind of woodoo-magic!

P.S: There's a fun giveaway over at Obee Design - check it out!

Friday Pretties: Collage chair - with tutorial





From old to new!
A little crafty project i tried out myself after having posted about it some time ago. A plain chair - we bought some of them in a second-hand store - was covered in pretty bits and pieces from old "Country Living" magazines i had stored up for ages. I love collages - and although you need a lot of sticky glue to make this, it's worth the effort!

This is the chair before

If you feel inclined to try this for yourself, the steps are:
1. Sandpaper the chair
2. Prepare glue and collage bits from pretty papers and magazines
3. Glue paper on to chair quickly - let your intuition guide you!
4. Let it dry, and then varnish and dry again - best overnight.
Finito!

See? It's easy! Have a fab weekend everyone and see more prettieness  here

Fotos: Moi (MVS)