Newly listed - Nouvelle mise en vente...

Pour varier un peu les plaisirs, je viens de mettre en vente une de mes trouvailles chinée chez un brocanteur.

Il s'agit de ce petit haut en dentelle que je pense vraiment ancien. La finesse du travail et la discrétion des coutures est incroyable.

Je dirai fin 19ième, début 20ième.

Vous trouverez plus de photos sur Etsy où je l'ai mis en vente, et je serais vraiment très reconnaissante pour toute info sur l'époque précise et l'usage de ce vêtement...

J'ai quelques autres petites trouvailles que je mettrai en vente dès que je trouverai du temps...

For a change, I've just listed this antique find of mine.

It is a small lace top, that I believe is truly more than vintage.

You can find more photos and details on Etsy, where I listed it, and I would be very grateful for any information on this, from someone more knowledgeable than me.

I have a few more vintage or antique finds that I will list— as soon as I can make time.

Toast!

My favourite treat is bread. French bread, mostly. On its own, with jam, with some savoury spread. I've been known to have bread cravings (without even being pregnant)— and to indulge them! Sometimes it's all I'll have for lunch.

I remember that when I first visited England as a teenager (ages ago) the only thing I would miss was bread, "proper" bread. I really didn't like sandwich loaf. Still don't, actually.

But what I did like was the toasters. The design of them.

It was also in England that I first saw toaster ovens— that vital part of student life...

I bought my first toaster when I was living in England in a bedsitter. My first home appliance. I've had it for nearly 17 years!

So I have recently acquired a roving eye— for toasters... There is such a choice of amazingly classy designs and it seems 17 years of reflexion will make me unfaithful to my first one...

Of course to save (and pass the) time, I've been looking for my future toaster on the net and I just came across this very informative site called toaster oven. "Toaster heaven" would be more like it... Well if it was a bit more colourful, maybe.

Anyway, if what you are looking for is "just" a very detailed, selection of toasters (and toaster ovens) of all brands, listed according to price ranges, with photos, technical info (and explanations), as well as links to sites where you can buy them, with nothing to waste your time, this is the site for you.

I still have to check all the possibilities— and choose— but I have definitely bookmarked it.

Leçons de vie - Life's precious lessons

Je traduis, sans commenter, en laissant l'original à chaque fois, pour ceux qui préfèrent...

Par Regina Brett, 90 ans, du Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio.
Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio.

"Pour célébrer la chance que nous avons de vieillir, j'ai publié autrefois ces 45 leçons que la vie m'a apprises. C'est devenu ma chronique la plus reprise. J'ai passé le cap des 90 ans en Août dernier, alors re-voici cette liste."
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more. "

La vie n'est pas juste, mais elle est bonne quand même.
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

Dans le doute, faire un petit pas de plus.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

La vie est trop courte pour la gaspiller en haïssant qui que ce soit.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone...

Ce n'est pas votre travail qui s'occupera de vous quand vous serez malade : ce sont votre famille et vos amis. Ne perdez pas le contact.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

Ne vous endettez pas.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

Vous n'avez pas vraiment besoin d'avoir toujours raison. Acceptez que l'on peut avoir des avis différents.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Quand vous pleurez, faites-le avec quelqu'un : c'est plus réparateur.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

Vous pouvez vous mettre en colère contre Dieu : il le supportera.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

Commencez à économiser pour vos vieux jours dès votre premier salaire.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.

Concernant le chocolat : toute résistance est inutile.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

Faites la paix avec votre passé si vous ne voulez pas qu'il fiche votre présent en l'air
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

Vous pouve laisser vos enfants vous voir pleurer

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

Ne comparez pas votre vie à celle des autres : vous ne savez rien de leur chemin.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

Si une liaison doit rester secrète, vous n'avez rien à y faire.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

Tout peut changer en un clin d'oeil. Mais ne vous inquiétez pas : Dieu ne cligne pas des yeux.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

Prenez une profonde respiration. C'est fou ce que ça calme l'esprit.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

Débarrassez-vous de tout ce qui n'est ni utile, ni beau, ni réjouissant.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

Tout ce qui ne vous tue pas vous rend vraiment plus fort.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

Il n'est jamais trop tard pour avoir une enfance heureuse. Mais la deuxième dépend entièrement de vous.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

Quand il s'agit de ce que vous aimez, ne vous laissez pas décourager par un refus.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

Allumez les bougies, utilisez les beaux draps et portez  la lingerie fine. Ne les gardez pas pour les grandes occasions. Aujourd'hui est toujours spécial.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, and wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

Préparez-vous à fond... et puis laissez vous emporter par le courant.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

Soyez eccentrique maintenant : n'attendez pas d'être vieille (ou vieux) pour porter du violet.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

L'organe sexuel le plus important est le cerveau.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

Personne n'est responsable de votre bonheur à part vous.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

Quand il vous arrive un "désastre", neutralisez-le avec cette question : "Dans cinq ans, est-ce que ça comptera ?"

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

Choisissez toujours la vie.
27. Always choose life.

Pardonnez tout à tout le monde.
28. Forgive everyone everything.

Ce que les gens pensent de vous n'est pas votre problème.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

Le temps guérit presque tout. Laissez du temps.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time.

Quelque vonne ou mauvaise qu'elle soit, une situation changera toujours.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

Ne vous prenez pas autant au sérieux. Personne d'autre ne vous prend au sérieux...
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

Attendez-vous à des miracles.
33. Believe in miracles.

Dieu vous aime parce que c'est Dieu, pas à cause de ce que vous avez fait ou pas.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

N'examinez pas la vie. Soyez là et tirez-en le maximum.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

Devenir vieux c'est mieux que le contraire : mourir jeune.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

Vos enfants n'auront qu'une seule enfance.
37. Your children get only one childhood.

Ce qui compte vraiment, finalement, c'est d'avoir aimé.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

Sortez chaque jour. Des miracles vous attendent partout.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

Si nous faisions un seul grand tas de nos problèmes à tous, en voyant ceux des autres nous reprendrions vite les nôtres.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

L'envie est une perte de temps : vous avez déjà tout ce dont vous avez besoin.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

Le meilleur est à venir.
42. The best is yet to come.

Qu'importe comment vous vous sentez : levez vous, habillez vous et sortez.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

Sachez pliez.
44. Yield.

La vie ne nous est pas présentée entourée d'un joli ruban noué, mais c'est quand même un cadeau.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Merry-go-round - What did you expect ?

Jump on our merry go round and join a group of artists/crafts-women from around the world as they link hands and tell you a little bit about their lives in craft.

Do look up the answers from the rest of this band of crafters (links to your left).

If they haven't posted yet, remember we all live in different time zones and check again later... Lily and Charlotte are giving it a miss this month but that should not stop you from looking up their blog and lovely craft...

This month's theme:

Did you think you'd be doing what you're doing now (craft/selling), say 5 years ago? What has surprised you the most?

Hello everyone.
I'll be brief this month because life, personal and professional, has been a bit rocky.
So, my answers to these questions, in a nutshell:
No.
How fast your life can change and how surprising it is.

To elaborate a little.
Seven years ago I left Paris and those of my friends who were not already away from me (in the provinces or abroad), and moved to a smaller and sunnier place, closer to the ocean, and also to a better job...
While I was already packing, I fell in love with cross-stitching. For about two or three years, I stitched away, always trying to personalize the patterns or kits I used, and prefering organic materials, making cushions rather than framed pictures.
Since childhood, I had liked dabbling with stuff and pottering around the house, but it had never taken up so much of my time. I often used it to make unique presents for my loved ones and as birth gifts. It was so time-consuming of course there was no way I ever considered selling my work.

Then one day, I bought a kit that included seed beads and it led me to a craft shop which also sold PEARLS.
The rest is history: more possibilities, more gifts... orders. And now here I am, working with silver, learning how to solder metal and exploring the possibilities of silver clay...
I am now an official "entrepreneur", with very little time these days for my craft, because my day-job has been particularly demanding and time-consuming this year, when my online shops have not...

Still, pleasant and heart-warming surprises there have been: over the past few months, this bloggers' merry-go-round, and more recently, the Thursday Sweet Treat, also a very warm, inspiring band of friendly, artistic souls. Check it out!

And now, if you don't mind, I'm afraid I have to go back to the drudgery...

MY car

These days, I am a bit obsessed by cars.
Only a bit, because I realize that, compared to other people, I really am not; but still relatively "obsessed" in that it 'has' become a major issue for me, finally getting a car of my own, and being free of the crowd of loonies and brats your have to deal with when travelling on trains and such...
So. Anyway.
I might actually be able to finally get a car next autumn. Just when the French car registration system has changed.
So, by the time I get 'my' car, whether it's new or second-hand, I will be faced with a major dilemma: which region do I pay allegiance to?
Let me explain: it used to be you didn't get a choice, because when you bought a car, the plate showed a sort of serial number (random from the point of view of the buyer) followed by the "département" number you actually lived in. If you moved, you had the plate changed because your car had to show where it lived.
Not so anymore.
From now on, French cars are going to carry the same plate throughtout their existence, even when they change hands or town.
Boring, I can hear you say.
Not completely. The perk here, is that when you buy a new car, or, a second-hand one still carrying an old plate, you can choose your "département" number. It doesn't have to be the one you actually inhabit.
I'm thinking French Polynesia...

Still, this is a far cry from the vanity plates you can buy in the US or even, as I just discovered, in Britain.
I just came across http://www.northumbrianumbers.com and this was how I realized how easily you could actually choose your number plate in Britain.
The site has this fun search function that allows you to look for an available car registration plate that would actually mean something for you. And the search results show you directly whether you can afford it or not...

Unfortunately, in my case, the one I would really, but really like is the one you get when you pick "jaguar" as a favourite car manufacturer... It would be so perfect for me.
Go look it up!
I'm afraid my banker would beg to differ...
But there are still a number of affordable options with the letters MEH. I would like that!
You'll see there are actually many different search keys you can use— budget (don't we all...) up or down, person, maker, etc.

This site has me back fantasizing about flying to Britain and driving back in my own Jag.
No, it's nothing to do with vanity— juste taste!

ELEGANCE

Rien à voir avec quoi que ce soit si n'est mes impresssions/perceptions/sensations/idées :

Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Cette femme vaut (encore) mieux que ses gênes (incroyables).

Je me rappelle avoir lu, il y a quelque années, dans un magazine, cette définition du mot "élégance", par (malheureusement) je ne sais plus qui, parmi d'autres définitions, toutes plus ou moins ineptes :

"l'élégance c'est ne pas avoir honte de ce que l'on fait et ne pas faire ce dont on aurait honte."

J'étais jeune et ça m'a influencé et servi de pierre de touche.

Aujourd'hui, je suis plus vieille (mois jeune, quoi) que Charlotte Gainsbourg, et je trouve, une fois de plus, en la voyant réagir aux réactions (!) face au film de Lars von Triers, qu'elle incarne suprêmement cette définition qui me sert toujours de guide. Ses enfants peuvent être fiers d'elle. Vraiment.

J'ai horreur des films d'horreur (j'aime pas avoir peur, désolée - la vie me suffit) mais je suis prête à payer ma place pour exprimer, ne fût-ce que que financièrement mon soutien...

Nothing to do with anything except my impressions/perceptions/sensations/ideas: Charlotte Gainsbourg.
This woman is much more (even) than her (awesome) genes.

I remember reading, a few years ago, when I was (even) young(er) and influenceable, this definition of "elegance" among a number of others, mostly inept:
"not being ashamed of what you do and not doing what you might be ashamed of."
I (unfortunately) don't remember whom it was from, but I'm grateful— it's served me as a guideline and touchstone since then.

Today, I am older (not quite as young as - OK) than Charlotte Gainsbourg, and I find, once more, seeing her react to reactions to Lars von Triers' film, that she literally incarnates this definition of the word.

She is elegant.
She is elegance.

I hate scary movies (sorry - life is scary enough for timid little me) but I am ready to pay for my ticket and go see that film. Just to express my support, if only financially.

Premier bijou en pâte d'argent - First Silver Clay creation

YES!

I've done it!
My first precious metal clay piece.

Nothing broken, nothing burnt off.

It's a ring— well I guess that does show clearly...

It was inspired by last week's Thursday Swet Treat: "Passion's Fire Word Art - Light the Flame". You tell me fire, I think... Salamander.

So this is a tiny salamander lazying on top of a ring imprinted with flames.

The first two photos show it before firing.

The next ones show it after a few minutes firing and a few dozen minutes hand-polishing and antiquing it. Antiquing it was meant to set off the flames and the salamnder— unfortunately, it also shows off a few flaws and the odd ominous crack...

So I'll keep this one for myself and keep working on the design and on my modelling skills.

But remember: you saw it here first.

Ouiii!!!...

Ça y est !
J'ai terminé ma première création en pâte d'argent.

Même pas cassée. Rien d'explosé ni de brûlé.

C'est une bague. Mais bon, je suppose que ça, ça se voit quand même...

Je l'ai créée à l'inspiration du thème de la semaine dernière sur le blog Thursday Swet Treat, "Passion's Fire Word Art - Light the Flame". J'ai cherché parmi les symboles liés au feu : le phénix, d'abord, maispas de phénix sous la main... alors j'ai repensé à ma petite salamandre.

Et donc, ce que vous voyez, c'est une petite salamandre sur un anneau enflammé...

Les deux premières photos la montre avant cuisson.

Les suivantes la montrent, après quelques minutes de cuisson, et plus d'une heure de polissage à la main et de traitement "antique", dont le but était de faire ressortir les détails, mais qui met aussi bien en valeur tous les petits défauts et un petit "cheveu" qui fait que je préfère la garder pour moi. Plus prudent.

Mais je vais continuer à la travailler pour mettre en vente une version améliorée. N'oubliez pas : vous l'aurez vue ici en premier !