Birthday and birthday giveaway

Today my Darling Daughter 1 is four! And this little baby is her present. Yesterday I went to Lisbon centre with my OH to buy it. We bought it at the "Dolls Hospital" in Praça da Figueira. This tiny shop sells dolls of all different sizes and races, and their houses and contents, their clothes and accessories. She is pretty big so that my daughter can dress her up with her old baby clothes.

And DD1 was very happy this morning when she discovered her.

In my previous post you saw presents for the girls in DD1's class. Yesterday I finished the boys' presents. I called them tiny Teds from Peter Bowman's Tiny Ted's Big Adventure. It is a very cute story.

Again I sewed the boys' initial letters. Their scarfs are red and green representing the Portuguese flag. On the scarfs I sewed footballs because young or old, poor or rich, all Portuguese are football fans.

Birthday giveaway

Last weekend was perfect to be out of the house. The thermometer was showing 24 degrees and all Portugal could have been enjoying the nature. I felt ashamed to stay at home but mother's duty is to be at home and keep sewing. While looking after my sick husband and baby I managed to sew seven little bags for seven little four-year-olds. I was doing this because on Wednesday my older daughter will be four years old and I decided to give my daughter's classmates bags.

I used my seven different children's fabrics and cut the little bags with red lining and handles.

This bag will be for my daughter so that she can put her things like her mobile in it. I bought ladybird buttons to close them.

I chose to put the girls' initial letters on the bags just to make them a little personalized. I got letters from my computer. You can choose any of the fonts on Word. I used little zigzag stitches to sew letters. I do have an embroidery machine but for this specific project I decided to use simple stitches. If you do not have computerized machine as they are called nowadays you can use zigzag or buttonhole stitches.

Girls' presents are ready and tomorrow I will finish boys' presents.

Patch Mania Sale!!!

Patch Mania fabric shop in Oeiras is having sale some of fabrics. The owner, Inês has very nice fabrics and they cost €7.50 per metre.

I was there today and enjoyed shopping and bought some yummy fabric for my future projects. Grab the opportunity.

Galerias Alto da Barra, loja 119
Av. das Descobertas
2780-053 OEIRAS

Telephone: +351 210 967 359

Blind Date, a Mongolian short film

A very sweet and gentle short film. Just a bit over eight minutes. Enjoy the film.

Craft shopping in Lisbon

If you are new in the country and you do not know where you can buy your supply, that’s a different matter. For this reason I shop in Lisbon, and Baixa is a treasure island for craft people.

I lived in Lisbon's São Bento street for three years, which is not too far from centre of the city. Because of this I found some craft shops and from time to time I would visit to buy my supplies. I make lots of things and my treasure hunting starts at heart of Lisbon. I need beads for beading, thread for cross-stitching, sewing, wool for knitting, and paints for glass painting – as well as any new discoveries I might stumble across.

It seems that almost all craft shops in Lisbon are located in Rua do Conceiçao, with a few more shops within walking distance from this street. If you are looking for art shops then visit Rua do Ouro or Rua da Rosa. Of course, being a woman we are always looking for something for our homes, so I wind up my shopping trip in a big home department store Pollux, in Rua dos Fanqueiros – and even then you can find a big knitting shop in this street as well.

I wish you good “hunting” for treasure in an old city.

PS: Wrote some years ago for International Women in Portugal's magazine Janela.