Marsala the color of the year 2015

In the beginning, I really did not like this colour. I did not understand why ....?

Then, just yesterday I got a challenge from the course, I am  learning some things about design. I had to make a photo montage using #marsala# colour. So I started to look for pictures, and the more I was looking, the more I started to like this colour.

Here is my montage what I made for the competition. What do you think of it?

By the time I have finished with my work, to make this montage, I fall in love with this colour. 

Why?

Because this colour can be elegant, natural, earthy and full of life. It has a touch of luxury. This colour is great at fashion items, for clothes, and shoes. It can be fantastic on accessories. It can be very creatively used in interior design, can be used on walls, carpet, flooring or as smaller decoration elements. It will make You feel at home from the very first minute.
Works well with cosmetics, like lipstick and blush. 

This is one of my concept of colour combination
Photo: from Pantone official page

Marsala colour can be combined with other colours perfectly.

Photo from Pantone official page

If you like colour combinations, You might be interested to see my other colour combos: here

If you want to see more inspiratory pictures in Marsala colour, I have a collection on Pinterest here
                                                                                                              Andi

Thermal wellness in Budapest

Did You know that Budapest (Hungary) is called as a city of the abundant water? 

Why? 

Because we have plenty of water here. First of all, we have the river Danube, starting from the Black Forest, Germany and flows until the Black Sea. It is the second longest river in Europe, connecting 10 countries and many cities together. It is flowing trough Passau as well.

But not only the Danube is the only reason, why we call Budapest as a city of the water. The second and not less important reason is the plenty of  thermal, and spa water.

Photos: from The Veli bey Bath official Facebook page

Luckily We have lots of hot spring, health spa in Budapest, but all around the whole country as well.

Only in Budapest we have many famous and less famous spring. We have numerous swimming pool and spa built on the site of this springs. Some of this buildings are very old. They were built by the Turks, in the middle ages and, yet they are still in use. But the oldest thermal baths were built during the Roman period by the Romans in the 2nd - 3rd, 4th century AD. You can read more details on wikipedia .

And we love this spas. One of the greatest way to survive and cheer up, relax in a cold, short, and sunless winter days to go to a hot thermal spa during the day, or evening. 

Bonus + All of them is good for different kind of illness and sickness. 

For this time I will write about one of the less well known one in Budapest. Actually it is located at the Buda side. I guess most of the people living in Budapest does not know about it, because it is quite hidden located.

This is called the Bath of Veli bey,  or Veli bej Bath (Address: 1023 Budapest, Árpád fejedelem útja 7.view map  

The bath from outside
photo: andrea szabar

From the name we can already guess... and yes, this is one of the oldest, dating back to the Turkish period. This was built in the 16th century. The builder was Sokullu Mustafa Pasha. The latest reconstruction few years ago took place by a Hungarian architect: Csaba Virág. Now it is modern, beautiful and still has the original Turkish hammam atmosphere. This bath is an "ilidje"- means that the water is mineral water.

The central pool
 photo: Veli bey Bath official Facebook page

At the heart of the bath is the main hot bath 36 C, what you see on picture above. This thermal water is recommended for rheumatic and joint pain and problems. But there are 4 more smaller, called family bath, each has a different water temperature. 

The swimming pool and the Kneipp walking pool
photo: thermalonline.hu

Plus there is a swimming pool and a jacuzzi and a Kneipp walking pool. Above all of this there is there is 2 kind of sauna, 2 more kind of steam cabin. After a hot sauna you can take a cold shower, or if you like you can rub yourself with ice. 

The ice machine
photo: Veli bey official Facebook page

You can choose from different kind of massage treatment done by qualified masseurs. 

The bath is very clean and intimate. It is limited for max 80 visitor at the same time. Because the spring has plenty water, they does not use any chemicals to keep the water of the pools clean. The water changes naturally 4 times a day.

This is a perfect place to have a wellness time. Here you find everything to refresh and pamper yourself after or before a busy, stressful day. And yet, You are still in the center of Budapest.

The bath belongs to the "Brothers Hospitallers of St. Jhon of God". 

This means, when You are visiting this bath for your pleasure or well-being, at the same time you are supporting the organization.

The organization is giving free, or almost free hospitalizations for poor people. More about them, You can read here .

I think it is a great combination of giving and receiving :)

I hope You will find my info useful. 

I would like to hear your opinion :)

                                                                  Andi

What is Advent ?

Did you know what we are exactly celebrating on advent time?

The history of Advent

Advent means: adventus Domini (latin)- the arrival of Christ. 

Advent is a 4 weeks period of time before Christmas is begin. It is celebrated on Sundays with a special mass in Christian churches. This is about preparation for Christmas. Fasting and repentance was/is important in this period. 

Keeping of an advent wreath in homes and Churches became popular from the 19th century. 

There should be 4 candles, representing the 4 Sundays of the advent period before Christmas.

Every Sunday should be one more candle lighted. Symbolising that, the light is growing, Christ is coming.

Every candle -like every week of preparation has its message.

The first candle of the first week means - faith.

The second is about - hope.

The message of the  third is - happiness.

The last one is remind us about the importance of - love.

My advent decoration

I was also preparing some advent decoration to my home. Here I made some pictures to inspire You to make Yours, if You want.

This are the materials, I used

Originally there should be 3 purple candles and 1 rose colour according the tradition. Purple colour is representing the penitence and discipline according the Christian liturgy. Rose colour has a meaning of unconditional love. 

By the way, according the eastern, mystical traditions, the  4th chakra is the centre of the heart, and also related to rose colour, (and green, and gold as well.)

In my version of advent "wreath" I made something different. You see, I did not used the classical wreath, but I choose to put the four candles into a rustic wooden tray. I used colourful ribbon around the candles. I decorated with some painted wooden stars (I bought them in a local craft shop). I collected in the nature some pine cones and I just put them between the candles.

I was trying to make something modern, organic looking which is very trendy this days. I used natural elements, simple design. 

How do you like it? Please feel free to comment it, or upload a picture of your version, thanks. 

You can find me on Facebook here

You can follow me on Pinterest here.

Have fun, and when You light the candles of your advent wreath, You may think about the meaning of it as well :)

If you want to know more about Advent here on wikipedia You can find more details.

If you want to read it in Hungarian, you can find it here

                                                            Thanks stopping by :    Andi

How to make in 10 minutes an autumn decoration ?

We have a very busy life, almost all of us. Most of the time we want to create something fast, but nice. Here I would like to help You to create your own quick but lovely decoration.

I love the autumn, because the colours are just fantastic. This season the orange colour is flourishing. You can combine it with many other colours, like: black, brown, green, beige, white, yellow, blue, red, and burgundy.

But there is a golden rule for mixing colours: 
Use not more than 3 or maximum 4 colours at the same time !!!
But you can play with the different shades of the colours.

I made some very easy, quick and budget friendly decoration. This are very simple things. I used some glass vase and baskets, what I had at home. I collected some autumn leafs, some berries, horse chestnut and some other things just in the area where I live. I wrapped around the vase with some lace ribbon and added some scented, coloured candles. That is it. It was so simple, but it is warming up my heart, when I look at them.
Here are they.

I hope to inspire You to make yours. I do believe that we don't have to look for perfection. 

And here is one of  my colour combination, what I made for your inspiration.

I hope that You enjoy it. :)

P.s.
Have you seen my other post about autumn decoration ?

You can follow me on Pinterest, there I have a nice collection of beautiful things :)

Colours of autumn

The autumn is beautiful. The colours, the smell of the fresh air, the atmosphere is so inspiring.

 People are busy to make some autumn decoration in they house inside and outside as well. The shops are full of new stuff, they are making beautiful etalage. 
The terasses of the restaurants and Coffee-s are full if the sun is shining. Peoples are talking to each other, having a nice meal, having a drink and enjoying life :)

I got inspired and decided to make some autumn decoration for us as well. 

First i have bought some pumpkins, and then i looked around what else I can use from home. And then I searched a little bit around in the local "budget friendly" :) shops.
 I had a very good time by arranging the crate :)

I hope that You will make one for yourself too ! I would love to see yours :)


And finally I collected lots of inspirative idea in my Pinterest album  enjoy it!

You might be interested about another autumn decor idea here

September in Passau

I was lucky enough to have a short time in Passau, Bavaria at the south of Germany. 
This is a beautiful little town by the river Danube where she meets with 2 more other rivers, the Inn and Ilz. They call it the "City of the 3 rivers". 
The city was estalished in the 2nd century BC by the romans. 

The "Veste Oberhaus" is a fortress from 1219

The river Danube in Passau
and above the "Veste Niederhaus" from the 15th century

The tower of the renaissance cityhall in Passau

I enjoyed a nice walk in this lovely, historical city. I took some pictures, I could empty my head a little bit. 
And I have made a big decision: I will be brave enough not to follow cliche's. 

Thanks for reading my blog and have a nice day :)

A touch of Provence - How to create/recognise "Provence style" design ?

If you like art, craft, design, than probably You are interested about styles, trends. Here i will try to guide you around a little bit about the Provence style. It can help you if you want to create, design anything in this style. Your design should include some of this elements above.

Provence is a geographical region in the southeast of France. 

 It is a style of a French country style. This is rustic, traditional, romantic, sophisticated and elegant. 

Some of the significant attributes are the lavender, olive oil, aromatic herbs, terracotta pots,  citrus, almond trees in the country side. Painted shutters, terraces, roses, coloured glass, and pottery, beautiful, charming details on every single peace. The sunshine, colours, beautiful nature, herbs, tasty fresh food, the way of life creating that special atmosphere, what we call this days : "The Provence Style"

The typical  Colour-palette of Provence and some inspirative photos are on my Pinterest page 

If You find this useful, please let me know, feel free to comment. 

This is a wet felted bracelet with some Swarovski beads, brass and synthetic beads. I was inspired by this beautiful French Provence style

If You have a  website, blog related this subject and want to add a link please contact me. Thanks :)

Sunset on the beach Part 2

As i promised i am back with the accessories. My inspiration was the sea, the sunset on a beach. Here i used 100 % fine merino wool to make the felt. For the telephone case and the bangles i used  turquoise colour sequin, white shell beads, high quality Japanese glass beads, cultured freshwater pearls, and some silver colour beads for decoration.

Wet felted accessories

At the same time i tried to improve the quality of my photos. I took my time to figure it out how can i  better express the atmosphere i want to.

I would be glad to hear your opinions :)

Have you seen Part 1 already? 

Wet felted bangle

wet felted bangle

Wet felted telephone case with sequin decoration

Sunset on the beach :) Part 1

I was inspired by the sunset in a beautiful bay. The memories were filling my senses. I felt the smell of the air, it was a mixture of the breath of the see, smoke from a barbecue, a delicious wine and a very little touch of lemon, spicy perfume.

 I even felt a light wind of my skin. I started to remember the colour of the sky, how the clouds and the setting sun playing with the light. I just felt happiness. 

And i put together this boho chic earrings :)

Gold plated, silver earring with tiger eye semi specious stone, Swarovski crystal beads and dyed shell

By the way about the meaning and healing affect of gemstones there are always plenty of explanations. If You are interested, i will tell some of the positive effect what is said about If You are wearing tiger eye stone.

It brings harmony and focus to the mind. It is bringing good luck and protection from evil eye. Attracts beauty and abundance. 

The matching accessories are coming soon! Come back to check it out

More pictures here 

How was it made? ( Simple tutorial of wetfelt)

In this post i will explain and show you step by step how -from a  piece of dyed wool - a handy telephone case will be created by wet felting.

 Step 1. 

Step 1. 

This is the merino wool, the material what i will use 

 Step 2.

Step 2.

You arrange the material, the layout 

Step 3. 

When the layout ready then You start soaking with warm water and olive soap, push and press, push and press at least couple of hundred times. 

Step 4. 

When You feel and see the felt is ready, than You put it into water with some vinegar.

Step 5. 

Wash it again and dry it.

Here the wet process is finished, it is dry- and waiting for some more decoration

Step 6. 

Decorate it 

Step 6.

Here we go, the decoration is ready :)

If You have any question, feel free to contact me.

This is where the magic starts :)

When i have learned how to make a traditional wet felt from wool I became so exited. It seemed for me as a magical process, although this is a simple, but very old method. 

Humans making felt since thousands of years. Because felt is not woven and does not require a loom, it is quite simple method  to make it and probably the earliest way to make fabric.

 If you want to make felt, you need sheep wool, warm water, soap and your hands.

 Nomadic people were using this method to make non woven fabric things for they life, for example  tents, blankets, carpets, hats, bags and so many other things. 

Merino wool and alpaca wool are the finest material to use. 

This is where the magic starts :) dyed merino wool

And here are some of ready examples, what i have made

This is a handmade telephone case. I used 100% fine merino wool, and i decorated with sea shell and glass beads and  with embroidery.

Adventure with felt

I have just learned a new technique - wet felting- and i played with a material. One of the result is this bracelet. I was using 100% fine, organic, merino wool,  decorated with Swarowski crystal beads, and vintage buttons.