Just trying to paint some earrings for a series of watercolours I’m working on – I have to say I was inspired by Justina Blakeney‘s style, take a look at her blog and you’ll find out why!

Let’s start the week with another watercolour: gardenias this time, always from my balcony. I’m am literally fighting against the sad fate of this plant: here in Madrid the temperature is always dry, and apparently this beauty needs moisture. So I’m arranging things to set her right. Is someone in the same situation?!

On the other hand, I think it’s time to stop painting plants, at least for now, I feel like painting fashion accessories, well, most because I have to! But that will be the subject of next post!

Have a great week!

So, I’ve got a sewing machine and I cannot stop experimenting with textiles and colours right now!

This is a little project I started weeks ago, to make myself an apron. I used a very simple fabric and sewed the pieces with a yellow thread. Secret: I shamelessly copied the shape of the old one I have in my kitchen…you know, to have something to start with and also because..I had no idea how to do it! Then I went crazy thinking about the pattern I would put on it.

I would have liked some pastels colours but I didn’t have them so I started with this yellow simple pattern, like the one I used here.

I hope you like these experiments!

Have a great week!

Serena

I admit I love my mother’s balcony & garden plants, so I’m kind of recreating my little green space here, in the middle of the city!

Hierba buena, laurel and rosemery and I intend to buy basil and thyme also…Well, I don’t have vases like these, I made those decorations up completely, but actually they could make a good project, right?! Next time I’ll paint my vases. Ok.

Btw, this illustration is part of a series about plants and I hope you like it!

Serena

I started this watercolour before going to Malaysia and didn’t look at any picture for inspiration, I just imagined how I wished to be dressed, the period, the scene… A friend just told me it could be the outfit of some female character from The Great Gatsby movie. She’s right! It could. So I guess I imagined to dive in the 20s!

Well, I wish I could travel dressed like this, certainly not the best outfit for any asian adventure (like the latest we had in Malaysia..), but perfect for any european WE travel!

Have a great week end you all.

Serena

Well, I’ve been kind of out of business lately, right? (I realize by this that I’m the worst blogger!)

Back to the post, I wasn’t blogging or doing anything because…I was doing what I most love, I was traveling! This time around Malaysia. The reason why we chose Malaysia as a destination goes back a little. I didn’t write anything about my travels in this blog so, I will introduce my story a little. Three years ago, me and my boyfriend, we left our jobs and traveled around Asia for almost one year. Here’s a map of the trip.

View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint

We flew from Madrid to Moscow and took the transiberian train till Irkutsk, in Siberia, then we traveled to Mongolia and China by bus and train then we went to South Korea and Japan by boat. After that, we came back to China and then on and on to Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar and Thailand again. The only plane we took was for a return flight from Bangkok to Yangoon ( because it was impossible to get to Myanmar by land). We already had the tickets to go from Bangkok to Saigon, but we had to cancel our trip and get back to Spain because of a very sad family problem. So our trip tragically stopped there. We wanted to go to Malaysia after Vietnam, and well, after three years we finally managed to do that!

It was amazing and thrilling to find the same food we loved, the architecture, the people… Malaysia is advertised as “Truly Asia” and it is kind of true! Lot of chinese, indian, Malay and thai traditions mixing with each other in every way possible. It was a good return to Asia, a romantic one. After 3 days, it was as we never left our big trip.

The fellows travelers, the beach, the long journeys on local buses, the dust, the spices flavors, the incense smell, the temples, the kindness of people (most of them, at least), the book exchanges, the beers on a bamboo bench over a sunset, the palms, the heat, the mosquitos nets, the fear of local ice cubes, the monsoon, the coffee and sweetmilk mix, the sarongs, the sensation of peace, the sweet feeling of eternal loneliness in front of the mongolian meadows. These were the reasons why we came back to Asia. These are the reasons why WE LOVE ASIA… and why we have a big post-vacation blues right now!!

Well, shall we move on now?!

Have a great week all of you!

Serena

I spent last week-end preparing and thinking about so many things for my sewing classes that I think I lost control, it’s like I have a new toy and I have to experiment with it till the last!

I have to say that one thing was in my mind all along…to make a cushion! So, for its basic shape I copied one cushion I already had in my apartment, I used a simple light-creme fabric to sew it. I learned how to put the zip – that was not so difficult as I thought, actually, and I’m really surprised to see so many good tutorials online…the internet is fantastic! – and then I waited…for the inspiration to come.

I started painting the pattern as I used to do on paper, without any drawing or fixed structure..I just let my brain work the geometric shapes through the music. So, at first I painted some yellow triangles (you can see it on a vine I did..) but then I went crazy with the red, then I didn’t like it at all, so went on with darker colours covering what I previously did. So suddenly green and orange where on stage. I was kind of bothered at first by this palette, but then I finally found a certain balance, painting blue on the red colour. That was the only way I could tolerate them together, seriously.

In fact, this is not a bad palette at all…it is kind of unusual for my standards, but now that I am looking at my brand new cushion I am quite ok with the results. I don’t know about you, but I have these little battles with colours from time to time!

Have a great week!

Serena

A year ago, while walking on the street, I entered into a beautiful patio: there was a magic shop selling among plants different  kinds of vintage furniture from all over the world. My heart stopped when I saw a beach/director chair, blue and white stripes, It reminded me of the pictures of Biarritz in the 20´s..so I took a pic with my phone, and later that night, in my house I made a watercolour of it. It is hanging right now on my wall.

Three days ago, walking in the streets of my neighborhood, I found a chair, a perfectly fine director chair (brand: Habitat) that probably nobody wanted because the fabric was broken. I couldn’t resist, so I took it home with me. I know, it sounds weird, but I do this with chairs!

The day after I went shopping for striped fabric. I almost bought the white & green one…But then I decided to buy the blue and white fabric, which was in my mind from the beginning. The next day I studied the original  violet fabric stitchings and cut the respective pieces in the new striped  fabric.

The next day, with my brand new sewing machine, I sewed all the pieces.

And here it is!

I’ve have to say, I’m more than happy to upcycle furniture nobody wants and in the same time, to make of it something that was like a dream for me.

What do you think? Do you like to upcycle?

Have a great day!

Serena

Here you can see some of the vines I made in the process

Prototyping: Paintingpatterns on fabric vine.co/v/bn2vJTzgMZU

Serena Olivieri (@Serena_Olivieri) 8 de febrero de 2013

Prepping it ) #sewingmachinelove vine.co/v/bnquvF5JKd6

Serena Olivieri (@Serena_Olivieri) 5 de febrero de 2013

Hello there! This is an old pattern I once used in this post. I always look at it, since it’s on my wall, and everytime I see it, I can see a lot of objects covered with it. So, here’s the deal: I want to print it on fabric and make an entire series of objects. It is a very clean design, and simple and happy. I can easily imagine a pillow with this pattern, and curtains and kitchen textiles.

I’ll play with the size of the little yellow spots. I’m so excited to start experimenting with fabric printing! I think that all the watercolour patterns were leading to this someway. Do you like this idea?

Have a great week end!

Serena