Inspiration Boards Continued

Today was quite hectic - I was busy with final preparations before the departure to Venice (yay!), which included leaving the pets with our friends (I'm gonna miss them..:(), cleaning up the flat, doing some shopping. I haven't yet had the time to pack, so will have to get up rather early tomorrow - the idea of which I don't quite like. I'll try to post from Venice, it depends on internet availability, but if not I think I'm going to miss blogging a little... Posting a picture of my latest inspiration board I put up not so long ago after we came back from our trip to Paris. This is actually the one I used for this blog's header.

Image by Olga

Ноябрь

I think now it is time for me to post one of my works here. I have recently contemplated working on a collection of hand-made postcards united by one common theme or similar element. I have gradually started to work on this and created 4 cards so far - I thought it wouldn't take me so long to create each card but I want every one of them to be rather unique and quite detailed so for now it takes time. I'm posting a picture of my first card today - as they say you must spoil before you spin, so it doesn't look too sophisticated. I have used different paper textures - velvety and ruffled but unfortunately this is something which can't be seen on a picture after the card is scanned. I like more the cards I created after this one so this sort of proves that practice makes perfect. More cards coming soon, stay tuned!

Image by Olga

Józef K

Coming back to the topic of sweet'n'cosy cafes I started to explore in my yesterday's post I couldn't keep my hands off posting about the cafe which exactly falls under the definition of a perfect one for me. It simply could not be better! If you are in Sopot, Poland, one day, this place is a must-see, although it is not one of those hot spots visited by crowds of tourists (counting on you to guard this secret;))... In fact the cafe seems to be still mostly enjoyed and visited by locals, which helped it to preserve its charm.

Józef K is a literary cafe and quite an ambitious one I would say - where apart from getting a cup of lovely 'Kot Behemoth' chocolate (umm, with that lovely minty after taste!) - or acorn coffee, which you will never find anywhere else - you can pick a book from the cafe's little library and either enjoy works of authors like Bulgakov and Tolstoy or just browse through some colourful table books in a feast-for-your-eye interior. But that is not it! Józef K promotes a quarterly "Korespondencja z ojcem", samples of which can be found on this website and is closely connected to the so called Slavic Literature Cooperative, which supports young writers from Central&Eastern Europe and Balkans. Lovely interior, great reading and a creative idea behind it all! Enjoy:

Images via Jozef K

Cafe Cosiness

It's been a pretty damn busy week at work, so tonight I can't help looking forward to my trip to Venice next week. I'm really excited and can't wait to explore this little piece of Europe! There are so many controversial opinions of the city - but I really wanna put them aside and go with an open mind to make my own impression. And of course I already see myself taking pics of those old shabby buildings, colourful waters, islands around Venice and of course drinking 'famous Italian' coffee in cosy little cafes. Here is a cosy cafe reflection of the trip to Brussels we took back in December, it makes me want to repeat it (I only wish the weather wouldn't be so cold as that day in Brussels!)

Image by Olga

Inspiration Boards

It is curious how one can get inspired by listening, watching, reading or SEEING something beautiful - an original pattern, objects arranged by form and colour or simply something different from anything else seen before. Visual perception seems to be very much connected to our emotional world. Just imagine a collection of all the small things and pictures which recently caught your attention and provoked positive reaction - this is also a good reason why many people blog ;). You can have such a collection always at hand and be able to change and update it according to what you like/feel/are into at the moment. All you need is a cork board and some pins - and you can put together all the things you find so cool and have your very own inspiration board. It is such a simple yet such a joyful thing to do and to have. Here is a photo of my first inspiration board I created about 2 years ago.



And I haven't stopped since then really... It seems like putting together little collections of things which inspire and appeal to me is something which will never get me bored. I will be posting some more snaps of my inspiration boards in the future. Seems like this pastime becomes more and more popular among many people - check out the whole collection of inspiration boards on Flickr and get inspired!

Image by Olga

Home Is Where Life's Adventures Begin

Recently I have noticed that I don't like to concentrate on the decoration of the whole room but would choose a little part of it or a corner and would devote it to a particular theme or decorate it in a certain peculiar way. It is nice to have these little parts of your home attracting attention and filling you with positive emotions. It is also great to change themes from time to time, sometimes it is even sad to part with your little creative spots when you are changing them for something different! The picture above shows how I tried to put together 3 boxes brought from China, a lamp which I made myself from a wine bottle, a candle and an aztec-style stencil I cut and colour-sprayed a while ago. I hope to post more images of our house going forward.

Image by Olga

Here We Go...

So here comes my very first post. My name is Olga and I like beautiful things and interesting designs. There are so many gorgeous objects which surround us in everyday life, but sometimes we're all too busy to notice them. I hope to bring here some of the nicest things I come across every day and share them. I also want to keep a record of things I create when I have some free time - this has become one of my life passions. I absolutely adore complex and simple patterns, eclectic style, colourful fabrics, vintage clothes/decorations, fresh flowers and anything different and unique.



I am glad I've finally made a start today and hope to be as inspired as I am now to update this blog and not to get you and myself bored with this. For the start here is a picture taken by Arek not long ago in an Indian sari-shop in Bangalore. Great colours!

Images by Arek