My favorite illustrators # 9 Afrocat

Perhaps, many of you already know this illustrator, which I'm glad to introduce here in this new issue of this series of post dedicated to my favorite illustrators... based in South Korea, Afrocat is one of my favorite designer of stationery: card, notebooks, stickers and many other amazing items!

The style of this designer is unique: being very inspired to the dreamy world of children draws, I've fallen in love with this style as soon as I have seen it! And I started to collect a certain amount of Afrocat's stuffs and to pill them on my shelves... 

  

Above all, I love the amazing stamp sets that she made. Each stamp fits very well with daily life and the timing of journal is marked by the funny faces and mascots made by Afrocat. Check it out Afrocat's website here, I'm sure you are going to love this cuteness!

Treasures of Paris #9. La cité des sciences et de l'industrie

For this issue of my posts dedicated to special places to pop in and see in Paris, my choice is rather different to other times: I'd like to introduce you the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, located in the Parc de Villette, Paris.

As seen that summer is now arrived also here, and that a hot sun took the place of the former rainy and cold weather, I have a long walk with Fifi along the "Canal Saint-Martin" during this week-end. Following its bank, I arrived to the Bassin de la Villette, a huge expanse of water at the northern burden of Paris. This place was the heart of Parisian industrialization in the past: the canal, with its amazing system of sluices, was route of commodities (coal, grains, wood, metals, etc.) from the north to the productive sites in the town. After a long decline, this place was progressively dismissed: Yet at the end of 1970s it was saved from the ruin and transformed in one main cultural and touristic sites of Paris. And it is also one of most pleasant walk to do here in Paris, even with your dog indeed!

The Parc the la Villette hosts a lot of attractions such as La Cité de la musique, the Conservatoire, Le Theatre Zenith, cinemas, and, of course, La Cité des Sciences et de l'industrie. It is a unique scenario, rather futuristic, with modern structures in glass and steel, the Geode, submarines and other attractions. At the same time, it is a good attempt of preservation of ancient buildings: indeed the old market hall was entierelly renewed and became in a part an auditorium and in another a cinema. But, this space in actually my favorite because dogs are admitted and Fifi played all the afternoon with her ball and with a lot of babies, her great love.

And the Geode and all these modernities gave me the inspiration to produce a vintage futuristic stamps set, inspired to stars and galactic rockets of 1960s: I hope you like it, check it out on my etsy!

Cold porcelain, the magic clay!

Some time ago I discovered browsing on the internet the existence of a material called "cold porcelain". Since then, I have procrastinated to try it because I thought it was too complicated for me... but, actually I tried it and it is easy and fun! And the outcome is simply magic: once dried, cold porcelain is similar to plastic, very resistant, and its pearl white color is really dreamy!

The soft white color, the tonality of which is between a pearl and ivory, seemed to me the same of teeth: for that reason, with my dough of material I've produced many teeth to be used with pendant for cute and funny necklaces! With another portion of my cold porcelain, I made a wide range of owls, to be used as teeth, hanged to your necklace as mascots! I hope you like them, you can find both on my etsy...

... and I'd like to transmit this enthusiasm of mine for cold porcelain: here you find the "recipe" I used and "instructions" to do it; you will seen, it is funny, easy to do, and also ingredients are extremely easy to find! What you need:

My new little assistant: Mademoiselle Fifi!

I am really glad to introduce here my new special assistant, which is going to share my little atelier with me - trying to chew all my stuff around... it was longtime that I was striving for adding a little dog to my life and now Mademoiselle Fifi joined me bringing with her 3 kg of happiness, four very short legs, and a lovely pretty face!

In spite of her air of innocence, Fifi has a special talent to do a mess all around; for that, I'm trying to teach her since now some elements of the "French politeness" as benefits young ladies like she is... In order to improve her training, I've made some special cookies for dog with my hands. Here's its recipe, with which you can make happy your shaggy friends:

Ingredients: 1 cup of rye flour; 1 cup of whole wheat flour; 1 cup of oat bran; 1 egg; 2 spoons of sunflower oil; 1 spoon of sesame; 3 spoons of natural yoghurt; some meat broth (you have to do it without onions and salt - I did it only with meat, carrots and a little celery). Instructions: Mix all dry ingredients, then add oil, the egg, and the yoghurt and the broth you need to obtain an smooth dough. Roll it out with a rolling pin to 3-4 mm thick... cut the cookies out with your favorite shape (I found one with the shape of a bone) and put into the oven preheated at 180° C for 25-30 minutes... They're delicious, on Fifi's word! (which here below she's waiting for a little reward...)

And, last thing, I cannot avoid myself to make a special "welcome" stamp for Fifi, which you can find here below....

Mr. Crab and his friend, Capt. Octopus

Here in Paris the sun and warn weather are very demanded now. Since two weeks ago (or maybe more, alas I'm losing count!), it's raining without any truce. In this moment, it is pouring! Albeit in Mars I was already dreaming the coming of the warm season, the summer and the sea, this gray blanket is risking to surround my good feelings...

But I'm not still resigned to rain and clouds, and I've made a couple of new felted friends in order to show that I'm still believing that summer will arrive, soon or late, and to propitiate the coming of sunny time. Mr. Crab and his best friend, Capt. Octopus are both on my etsy, I hope you like them, they perhaps will serve as mascot for encouraging the coming of the sun!!