Nina´s Birthday

 Nina was eleven end of Novebver but preparations for her birthday took place some weeks before. We did it together, Nina and I. 

  It made me happy looking at her smilig face as she  wrote the invitations for her teachers. As you already know Nina has no real home and we celebrated in her classroom at her school.

Just before the  party we decorated the classrom and the table for her classmates ( there are only five pupils in her class),  for other friends and her teachers.

 Finaly  it was time for the the birthday cake! Look at her face! How happy she is!

And the gifts.

 We all had  a happy time filled with many good wishes and tears of joy.

Creativity and good will

 can turn an old woman cap into a charming  hat.

Am I not wright?

Ninas Horsback Riding

 Last wekk I spent a wonderful afternoon - I accompanied Nina and her friends to a therapeutic riding lesson with KRILA.

KRILA is a non-governmental, non-profit humanitarian organization located in Zagreb, which offers therapeutic riding to people with physical disabilities. KRILA -- meaning 'wings' in Croatian -- makes this stimulating, safe and effective therapy available, to people with various disabilities from the greater Zagreb area. Their riding significantly improves their physical and psychological condition and enables them to participate in activities otherwise inaccessible to them.


The girls feel at home there and here they are preparing themself  for riding

Nina has chosen her favorite horse

It had to be prepared as well.

 

At last on the horseback.

Matea was frightend and the trainer tried in vain to persuade her to mount the horse.

But no chance, at last a substitute had to be found.

And after riding Ninas favorit  animal - the cat!

Ninas Jacket

It was a boy jacket with huge red lettering on the back bougth in a second hand store. Nothing for my sweet Nina! - It ought to be redone! After I replaced the lettering with a scene of a sleepy olt town, put a nice girl face on the front  Ninas "new" winter jacket is just perfect!

 

  That´s not my creation - I copied it from a fashion journal.

But this scene is absolutelly mine. Look at the fierce cat looking out for mice!

Rastoke, - a Paradisian Patch in Croatia

The other day I was invited  by my former fellow teachers to a day trip to Rastoke. It was a warm, sunny day and we were all under the spell of the enchanting beauty of nature. Look at it - try to imagine  the warmth of the sun, the gurgle of water and  the smell of the first autumnal breeze.

villa means nymph in Cratian!

That´s not a nymph - it´s me enjoying the beauty of  the day!

Reborn Cadrigan

Decades ago I knited the cardigan for my husband (how young we were in those days!), and then on  a cold winter day he leant against a hot stove and the cardigans back was burnt.  Recently I found it in the storage, felt its softness, sliped into it and was surprised  how good it fitted my present figure
The ugly yellowish patch had to be concealed. I made it this way.

 

It took some hours but the result payed it.

We Went to an Exhibition

Nina and myself  visited the exhibition "College Puppets" at The Zagreb City Museum. Twenty puppets, made by students of Pre-School Education at the Faculty of Teacher Education were exposed in one of the shaw rooms.
Each of us saw them with different criteria. While I chose the group of figures as my favorite,

Nina liked the stork and the frog,

the crocodile and the wolf,

the princess

and her prince,

but the cat was her favorite by far.

My New Beauty

Some month ago I bought a hand designed fabric from Salzano´s on Etsy with the purpose to make a tote out of it.  Today  I realised my  idea.
Thank you, Jelena, I followed  your advice, took purple for the  back and linig and the result is outstanding!

sparkles

The picture shaws mushrooms on an lake shore and their reflection in the water.  I  added some  air bubbles and pebbles in form of beads and metal  sparkles.

There are two other mushrooms on the back side and the third on the pocket inside the bag.
.

I´ll wear my tote to carry books, fabrics, wool and such fine things - no way for groceries.
There are other painted fabrics in Salzano´s shop. One of them is quite a temptation. Should I.... ?

Nina is Back to School

We had a long, hot summer.  Nina spent it at her foster family in the contry. I sent her letters and phoned her, but we havn´t met for about two months - a long time - and I could not wait to see her again.
I visited her the first school day. Good God, what a joy it was when I sew her running twords me on her schools playground.

Promptly dressed we went to my place, because we had a lot to do. Ninas two years old friend, Zara, had her birthday the next day. We were about to make a birthday cake.

 

and to write a birthday card. 

Nina attends a school for handicapped children. She is in the fourth grade, but writing is still a problem for her. So she merely copied what I had wrote.

At the birthday party Nina and Zara are together blowing at the candels. There is Zaras mam, Azra, in the background. Azra is a exceptional person and merits a special blogpost.

The party was over and the streretcar brings us home. Altogether it was  was a delightful experiece.
Maybe it will be saved in Ninas memory and will brighten one of her future rany days.

Book Cover

A lovely baby girl was born. Her name is  Neva.  I had been  asked by my friend to make the cover for a book acquired in  a secondhand bookstore. My Croatian followers will know  it -  "Priče iz davnine" by Ivana Brlić Mažuranić. In a particular story the characters are the little girl Neva and the Sun. 

Here how I composed it:

 

and  on the back

It took severel hours to create the  chirpy girl - to braid strings for her arms and legs, to put  beads in her hair, to compose the Sun out od spiraled silk thread...

 My Neva is born. I like her very much.

How to Make a Gift Bag

It was not my idea to make my own gift bags - I was inspired by a blogpost I had read the other day. As I have got piles of back National Geographics copies and  can´t discard them because of interesting articles and beautiful photos, I decided to use them in a new way. After  some failed attempts  I managed it a last and will now share my know-how with  you.

My friends favorite  colour is orange so I chose  a satelite image of  the Sun.

1. Choose a suitable photo and if necessary  paste carefully severel parts together to obtain the needed  size.

2. On the back side draw the design of the future bag. The measurements  depend of the  purpose.

 

Beginn from the  middle line. My sheet was 34 cm wide. On each side  from the middle line I measured 6,3 -1,5 - 1,5 cm an drew 6 vertical lines to the  top and one horizontal line 3 cm from the bottom.

3. Fold the paper along the lines and on the bottom side cut out  four pinching trianglss 3 cm high.

4. Paste the  back side.

5. Form the button and paste the parts together.

6. Trim in shape the top of the gift bag.

All you have to do now is to put the special gift for your special friend in your special gift bag.