dimitrART

Ηοw to create your own coffee and tea bar area in the kitchen

2019-10-23T12:10:00.002+03:00

Hello everyone!
Hope you are doing fine.
As for me I entered my blog after a lifetime and I was surprised to see that my latest post was about a year and a half! Wow! Time flies, indeed!

Anyway, today I would like to share with you one idea that I always thought was cool when I saw it on Pinterest and it kind of became a necessity when we moved to our new rental about two months ago.
The new house is situated in one of the most beautiful, picturesque areas of Luxembourg, full of vineyards which produce fine, prestigious, award winning wines but is mostly very very famous for a milestone EU treaty signing. Yep, you have probably guessed it by now, especially my Luxembourg followers, we live in the greater Schengen region now!

The property has a lot of great advantages like a big garden, another small one for growing vegetables (we do intend -us city kids- to become farmers in the future!), a big terrace with a great view, spacious rooms, a big storage space with shelves BUT the kitchen cupboards are very few and some of them are 'occupied' with fitted electric appliances.
That means whenever we want to cook, take the dishes from the dishwasher machine, whatever.... things get reeal crowded at the kitchen corner!

To cut a long story short, we thought that we should somehow make an extention of our kitchen working area.
That is why the idea of a coffee bar where we could put all the coffee and tea related stuff as well as other things that could declutter the kitchen counter sounded great.

I searched a lot for the perfect piece of furniture and this one from IKEA was the ideal one.
White, simple, nothing fancy, at a reasonable price but mostly functional.

Then we needed a new coffee machine and we found one that could also make tea, how cool is that? (Since I am more of a tea than a coffee lover, you got me at tea making!)
Actually, it can prepare hot water for every beverage like tea, chocolate and even soup!

We also needed some other accessories from IKEA like a sugar container or a honey dipper and a tea measure to add a little extra something that would make the coffee bar look more 'professional' or hotelbreakfast-like. We added some other sweetening options as well like agave syrup or honey which we prefer more to sweeten our tea or coffee and coffee out of guarana which is a healthier version (yep, such healthy eating freaks we are these days, no white sugar whatsoever !)

Additionally, a small wooden box bought about two years ago from the french Gifi (the equivalent of the Greek Jumbo), could perfectly host the coffee filters on its small, cute wooden drawer apart from the tea sachets that is.

Finally, all the herbs my mother in law sent us from Greece (well, we asked her to send us some tea and she provided us with different kinds of organic herbs that will last us two or three lives, generous as ever!) were placed in different glass jars ( I actually like that they are different sizes, shapes and they sort of have a second life now) and put in a wooden tray.
Our metal fruit plates would bring color and freshness to the bar and will remind us to add vitamins to our every day routine and not just caffeine, while a lovely velvet basket, bought from CASA could be like a wine rack so that whenever, during the late hours, we needed something stronger than coffee and tea, we would have it whithin our reach ;).

Of course, this is not a static arrangement, a lemonade container could also be handy during the summer as well as a stand milk frother that is the must have utensil for the famous Greek frappe coffee or speaking of Greek coffee this little cutie here which prepares it in a second and proved to be very useful to me especially during office hours!

Last but not least we wanted to add a little sense of humour to the set, so I bought these lovely posters from Etsy that were printed on canvas and made it quite clear to anyone that THIS is the place for coffee and tea (as if they would not have guessed by now!)

I hope you find my idea useful, please comment below as it's been such I long time that I heard from you.
Till next time, hope it won't be that long!
xxx
Dimitra

Fashion Revolution Afteworks workshop

2018-05-17T12:18:00.001+03:00

Hello everyone!

Hope you are doing fine. As for me I've been busy with lots of things so blogging was not my priority, although once more I admit I really missed it.
Anyway, last month was a very interesting period for me craftwise.
Maybe some of you remember that my latest 'experiment' with new reusable materials was making Christmas ornaments with PET plastic bottles and also making my debut (so to speak) as a DIY workshop animator.
Well, this workshop was a success so Stylianee from whatevewears who is Luxembourg's Fashion Revolution Coordinator asked me to do this again in the context of Fashion Revolution Week which was held from the 23th till the 28th of April 2018.
The event was hosted in Gudde Wellen and a number of ethical fashion designers and trend setters participated and presented their products, all manufactured with eco-friendly and sustainable materials.*
This time we created statement brooches made out of plastic bottles and all the participants were so full of ideas and inspiration!
So I let the photos do all the talking instead of me.
Till next time
Take care and keep on asking #whomademyclothes!
xxx
Dimitra

Some of the samples I prepared before the workshop

The participants were so creative and took upcycling to another level!

All materials (including nail polish!) were used

So many talented and eco conscious designers and artists gathered in one place

Our Fashion Revolution Team, me on the left and our CC in the middle (thank you Stylianee for being such an inspiration!)

Be curious. Find out. Do something.

THE TRAGEDY AND A HOPE FOR A BETTER FASHION INDUSTRY

*Of course, as many of you now this event is taking place in every country and is part of a global movement called Fashion Revolution which demands more transparency and better conditions for garment workers across the globe.
This movement emerged after the tragic accident of the 2013 Rana building collapse where 1.134 people were killed and approximately 2.500 were injured. This is considered the deadliest structural failure accident in modern history and therefore also the deadliest garment factory accident in history.
So after this tragedy, people all over the world reacted massively and wanted to know more about the way fashion products are being manufactured.
The hashtag #whomademyclothes became viral and the movement a great success.
Moreover, this instant reaction from consumers worldwide forced the fashion manufacturers to develop a more responsible and eco friendly policy as far as their products are concerned (although a lot of things need to be done towards this direction).

An upcycling workshop with plastic bottles and more!

2017-12-23T21:12:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone!
Hope you are doing fine and having a great time making last minute Christmas preparations.
As for me, it has been a very creative period craftwise.
First of all, I had the chance to be a workshop animator of an upcycling workshop which was organised by Caritas Luxembourg and was hosted by TheOfficeSarl. In this workshop as I have previously said, I had to show the participants how to make Christmas ornaments out of plastic bottles.
The materials apart from the bottles were quite simple and easy to find at home: Glue, beads, nail polish,ribbons and of course fire that transformed the bottles into very lovely Christmas decoration.
The participants showed great enthousiasm and the results were really very impressive!
Have a look at their creations:

The other two animators Stylianee from what.eve.wears and Anay from Anaydesigns made also some great stuff with their own reusable materials. Stylianee and her team made Christmas wreaths from metal hangers and old clothes and Anay and her group made festive earrings with fabric and strings.
Have a look at their soo very cute creations:

The super talented Stylianee!

And a young but super talented participant!

Anyway, it was a very fun and creative Monday evening, we were all very excited and anxious to have another upcycling event in the near future.
Hope this happens soon!
So that's it for now
I wish you all a merry Christmas full of love and joy!
Till next time
Take care
xxx
Dimitra

My latest obsession... Plastic bottles!

2017-11-27T14:34:00.001+02:00

Hello everyone,

Hope you are doing fine!

As for me, I am good and feeling very happy because I finally have the chance to have my diy equipment back from Greece so all the need to be creative has gone through the roof!

All this time, my mind was full of inspiration about new materials and new ways to express this creativity, but without my tools and supplies the ideas remained just ideas.

One of the things I was most eager to try was upcycling objects and giving them a new life.

Apart from that, I was at a point where going back to using metals for creating jewelry (which is mostly my diy field) was almost out of the question. Being a mother of a toddler and not having an extra room in our appartment to use it as a craft room would definitely create an unhealthy environment for my girl.

As an alternative, I could use the garage of course but the weather conditions in Luxembourg are surely a no-go at this time of the year (Brrr too much cold and humidity!).

So after a lot of surfing on the Internet I decided to try and create jewelry with... plastic bottles!

Yep, you read it right the common plastic bottles which are used for water/tea/juice containers.

This method is really simple and so much fun to do! Besides that, all this upcycling and creating objects from humble, cheap materials has -as all of you may know- become a great trend but mostly it has become a philosophy and a way of life. So, zero waste movement is very popular also here in Luxembourg and I am really glad that I now become a part of it.

Before I show some of my creations that are going to be sold at my Etsy shop shortly, I would like to inform you that on the 18th of December I will be one of the three workshop animators on this event and I am soo excited about it!

In this workshop, which is organized by Fashion Revolution and Caritas Luxembourg , we will make Christmas ornaments with plastic bottles, glue, ribbons, nail polish (!), beads (and the help of the fire of course!) so all my Luxembourg followers please come and join us for a fun evening, full of creativity, finger food, drinks and above all the Christmas spirit all around us!

At this point, I would like to thank the very talented Stylianee from what.eve.wears for giving me this great opportunity to be part of this lovely workshop. Thanks again Stylianee and keep up the good work!

So here is a glimpse of what we will do at this workshop

Οne, small, colourful family...

and here is a look of some of the new pieces of jewelry I'm working on right now.

Work in progress...

Work finished!

Still working on this right now...

Hope you like them, I am really really curious to read your comments...
Till next time
Take care,
xxx
Dimitra

A light DIY modern, rock inspired mirror

2017-07-24T12:30:00.002+03:00

Hello everyone!
Hope you're doing fine.
Well it's been such a long time that I did not post anything here (from January -thaaat long!) and this happened for a number of reasons: First of all, as many of you know, my family and me moved to Luxembourg. That is not an excuse you may think. Yeah, probably you' re right but the thing is I do have a lot of stuff to be occupied with here (as I like to say 'such a small country so many things to do').
Second of all, some months ago I opened an account on Instagram and I am pretty excited about it, so I post most of my activities there which is something I enjoy because I prefer photos do the talkin' at this moment in my life.
Last but NOT least, I have no diy/jewelry making activity right now due to the fact I have not brought all this equipment here since we moved in such a great rush (we had to find an apartment, move and do all the paper work in less than 2 months!). This is something I missed terribly and now that I return to Greece for vacation I am going to fix it pronto (Oh yes, all the craft equiment is going to be triumphantly reunited with its anxious owner!).

Nevertheless, I did manage to do an one and only craft this period of time because I had to 'fill' an empty wall. The wall decoration in rentals -here in Luxembourg- is a pretty complicated story since the renters are entitled to do very very tiny holes on the wall (or not at all at some 'strick landlord' cases).
So, I wanted to create a very light mirror fixture because I could not hang the heavy mirrors I had at home. Moreover, I had to use all the beer caps I kept all this time which were in fact quite lovely and extraordinary (pink elephants, cherries, dwarves, guillotines (!) and many colorful logos from a number of different Luxembourgish, German and Belgian beers).

To make a long story short, I did a light and modern mirror with very few materials: Just a mirror, a good glue,a hanger triangle hook and the beer caps, of course.
First of all I had to see how many beer caps I needed in each beer cap circle I made (I also tried to put them in a way that no identical cap was next or close to another).

Then, I glued one by one, the one next to the other, and I made the first circle of the mirror frame.
After that, I glued the second circle quite close to the first one.
I waited for about a couple of hours (that of course depends on the kind of glue you have -make sure that it is a strong one and also do not use a glue gun because it 'll make things messier than easy. I for example used this one which proved to be great for the job).

Finally, when I was pretty sure that the beer caps were very steady, I glued the triangle hook at the back of the mirror.
And there you are!
A light, easy to make, modern, rock inspired mirror!
I'm ready to read your comments.

Till next time
Take care
xxx
Dimitra

A fresh start in Luxembourg

2017-01-20T22:09:00.000+02:00

Hello there,
Hope you are doing fine!
Well me, I'm having a great time in the new country that my family and me have moved to about four months ago: Luxembourg.
I know I should have written more about all of this earlier, but I preferred to curb the enthusiasm and express my feelings when I have a pretty good picture of it (well as much as anyone could have of a country in such a short period of time, that is!).
So in a few words what can I say about Luxembourg? I just looooooove it!
It's a beautiful country with an amazing natural beauty and a fairy tale atmosphere in almost everything about it!
And when I say everything I totally mean everything.
From the landscape to the architecture of buildings (from the ones of the Medieval era till the most recent) as well as the country's public administration in all fields of life (which is something that looks like a fairy tale to a Greek!).
No wonder why this country is supposed to have such happy inhabitants in global ranking!

Here are some photos from some short walks and trips we have had in various towns, villages and sights.
I promise there'll be much more!
Till then, take care!
Love,
Dimitra

View of Grund from Le Chemin de la Corniche -"Europe's most beautiful balcony"

The ArcelorMittal Building in Rue de la Liberte

The Vianden castle

Place Guillaume II at Christmas time

Christmas market -Golden lady

Happy holidays from Luxembourg!

2016-12-26T18:19:00.000+02:00

Hello from Luxembourg!
Although my absence in the blogosphere has been enormous these past months (a fact that I promise to change shortly!) I would like to wish all of you Happy Holidays and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!
Love,
Dimitra

P.S.
I send you -along with my love and wishes- a song from my favorite teen idol whose tragic, sudden loss came as a shock and a sad addition to the long list of artists who farewelled us in 2016.
Goodbye George!
We surely are going to miss you!
And those of us who had the chance to enjoy your live appearance at OAKA stadium in Athens several years ago, we will always keep a sweet memory of you, your UNBELIEVABLE voice and your sense of humor apart from your great, deep,sentimental songs.
A night to remember!

Diy pendant lamp with doilies

2016-08-03T11:31:00.000+03:00

Hi everyone!
Hope you're doin' fine!
It's been ages since my last post but there are so many things going on in my life right now that it was almost impossible for me to blog about it (Nevertheless I do tremendously admire people who are pretty busy but still manage to find the time to blog about everything!).
I promise I will post more in the future though, as I have lots of things to write about.
Anyway, the reason I'm writing this post is because I would like you to see one of my diy creations that I made about a couple of months ago.
It's a pendant lamp made with doilies (I used the ones my husband inherited from his aunt) and it decorates my hubby's mountain house for quite sometime now.
Before I started the project I asked Anna from inmycloset -who is a crafts guru and knows all the little secrets about how to turn a project into a success-and she gave me some very helpful advice about the glue and the proportion I would use in order to mix it with water (This may not make sense right now but once I explain the procedure it will).

Now for this project you will need:

One big white balloon (The bigger the better!)
A pair of gloves (Cause things will get reaaal messy!)
Woodglue
Water (The proportion I've been telling you about is 1:1 so that the glue is strong enough on the doilies but not too thick so that glue stains remain on them)
Doilies
A small paintbrush
A pin
A pair of scissors
A lamp cord (I used IKEA Hemma cord)
A light bulb (make sure it's a led one so that there is no high temperature close to the doilies)
Thread and needle

Now the whole craft is pretty easy:
You pumb up a balloon, you put it in a large bowl so that it will be steady once you put the glue with the paintbrush on it and then you put the doilies in the glue.

After that, you put the doilies one by one on the balloon and you make sure there are no holes between them (that means that the one must be a little on top of the other).

Then after you finish this stage you put some extra glue on top of all of them for a better final result.
(Τhere was a doily left so -as you can see in the picture- I decided to put it on a bowl and make something out of it in the future).
You wait for 24 hours!Pleease be patient!
Then you use the pin so that the balloon loses air and after that you remove it carefully.

Tadaaa!You have a sphere made with doilies!

At this point you should remove the glue remains from the holes of the doilies with a knife so that the holes are clean.
Then you cut the top of the sphere a little and you put the lamp cord.
Finally, you sew the top a little so that the cord is well fixed on the doilies.
And there you have it!

A diy pendant light made with doilies!
Easy peasy!
Hope you like it..
Till next time!
xxx
Dimitra

Secret Bunny 2016

2016-05-23T17:10:00.001+03:00

Hello everyone!
Hope you're doing fine. As many of you (Greek bloggers) know, Zina from Ef Zin creations has once more successfully organized the Secret Bunny Easter gift exchange.

In a previous post I have given you a glimpse of the things I have prepared for my secret bunny.

I've made a necklace just for her in two of her favorite colors, purple and white.
I also put inside the package some Easter chocolate goodies and a little handmade card with Easter wishes.
Now that the game is finally over, I can reveal the identity of my secret bunny: It is Aimilia from Prosinemi, a very talented crafter and blogger who creates lovely jewelry, Easter candles, bookmarks etc. so please check her out!

And now let me show you the things I got from my personal secret bunny:

Despoina from The Smell of Mommy and All beauty included has prepared an absolutely fabulous package for me.
She decorated a small pink wooden box with the decoupage technique in Easter patterns.
She also gave me a pair of earrings and a necklace, along with a rosemary scented body oil.
What's more, she put in the box a cute turquoise blue ribbon for my baby girl.
It was a such a lovely surprise!
Thank you so very much Despoina!
P. S. Thank you Zina for organizing all of this! Once more, we' ve had a great time!

A giveaway and a (secret) bunny!

2016-04-12T17:13:00.000+03:00

Hi everyone!
Hope you are doing fine.
Well, once more it's been ages since I posted to my blog cause I've been very very busy with lots of things which I will describe later on following posts.
The reason I write this post is -in fact- two:
First of all I would like to inform you, if you are not already informed that is, about a giveaway that already takes place and is hosted by Etsy Greek Street Team.This month's giveaway is one of my own creations.
It is a pair of green and red earrings made by alpaca and liquid glass and you could be the lucky winner just by making a comment on this Etsy Greek Street Team's post. (By the way, I would like to thank Christina from Xroma for this lovely presentation of me and my work of art).

The second reason is that I have taken part once more at the Easter exchange of Greek bloggers that once more is being organised by my beloved blogger Zina.

So I am in a very creative mood right now as I'm preparing the package for my Secret Bunny.
(Nope, I CAN'T tell you whom it is for just yet, it's supposed to be a secret- shhh...)
But I CAN tell what the package will contain:
A handmade neclace that I made just for her, some Easter chocolate (you know eggs, bunnies, the usual stuff) and also a petite handmade Easter card with lots of wishes.
Here's a glimpse:

Hope -and keep my fingers crossed!- that my recipient likes it.
At least I did my best!

Secret Santa for bloggers 2015

2016-01-06T20:47:00.001+02:00

Hello and Happy New Year everyone!
May this new year bring you love, joy,health,prosperity and anything you have dreamed and hoped for!
Today I am writing about this beloved habbit that Greek bloggers have got for about a couple of years- if I remember correctly that is:
The exchanging of gifts and wishes for Christmas and Easter which is something that all of us look forward to.
Zina from Efzin-creations is the one responsible for organizing all of it and I would like to thank her so much for that.
This year my Secret Santa was Katerina from Κυριακή στο σπίτι (which means Sunday at home in Greek -http://sundaysprojects.blogspot.gr/) and she sent me a beautiful handmade wooden candle holder along with a red candle and a card full of warm Christmas wishes.
I was really thrilled about this lovely gift which found a place at a corner of my living room very soon.

Thank you Katerina for your gift and thank you Zina for making once more the Secret Santa a wonderful event to look forward to!

A lovely handmade mei tai baby carrier

2015-11-02T16:55:00.000+02:00

Ηi everyone,
Hope you're doing fine.
Me,well I've been pretty busy with my obligations as a new mom so eventually writing for the blog was not one of my priorities.
All this time though, I had in the back of mind to write about a baby product that has helped me tremendously during the first 2-3 months of my baby (and still is actually!).
It is a baby carrier -a mei tai to be more accurate- that has made my life with my newborn way easier.
After doing some research on the internet about the right way to carry your baby, I found out that the best way to do it and not harm your newborn's spine is having a mei tai and not a baby carrier that keeps your baby's spine on a upright position.
So all this internet surfing led me to a lovely Greek Etsy shop and a very talented and creative person behind these colorful and inspiring handmade creations.
Iro is the owner of Κίτρινο (=means yellow in Greek) and a very friendly girl who makes fabulous women bags, mei tai baby carriers, ordinary scarves and scarves for nursing and also diaper bags.
The patterns and colors are just amazing and each creation is one of a kind.
I also got my mei tai in a colorful fabric bag so that I could keep it clean and have it easily carried everywhere (and to tell you the truth I do carry it and use it everywhere - from practically each and every room of my house when the baby is restlelss and crying to going for a walk or shopping).
You can check οut her Etsy shop, her Facebook page and her site.
I'm sure you'll find something to absolutely fall in love with!

Me and my baby girl with Kitrino mei tai baby carrier

Dresser and bedside tables makeover

2015-08-23T15:58:00.000+03:00

Hello everyone!
Long time no write, right?
Well, as some of you may know in the beginning of June I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl (if I do say so myself!) and these past three months have been very very busy, exciting and full of total happiness for me.
So all this time blogging and let alone diy creations were rather a luxury for me and I have to admit I missed it a little.
Another thing that is considered to be a luxury for me at the moment because of my being a new and inexperienced mom is having a vacation.
But fortunately, I had the chance to go to my hubby's village (which I have mentioned in a previous post) for a few days and to combine a mountain holiday and also some diy activity which proved to be rather relaxing for me.
The diy challenge was quite big:How can someone transform an old 80's bedroom set of dresser and bedside tables into a new shabby chic one with a Laura Ashley style?
And how can someone do this without all the facilities and crafts' shops that he can find in a big city?
As I have previously said Samarina -my husband's village- is located at the Pindos mountains in about 1700 m height and the only store that provides very very few hardware store products is also a mini market(!). (So you get the picture of how difficult it can be to have everything you need for a last minute and total furniture make over).
Luckily white acrylic paint was available at this hardware store/mini market and brushes, sandpaper and decoupage paper and glue were brought from home just in case I decided to be creative.
The things I needed for this transformation were:
Sandpaper
A damp old towel
A small box of white acrylic paint
A big brush for the white acrylic paint
A small brush for decoupage
Decoupage glue
Decoupage decoration paper

First of all I had to use the sandpaper over all the surfaces of the dresser and the bedside tables.The surfaces were not very shinny so this was an easy thing to do.

The before part -sorry for the blurry photo :(

Then I took away all the dust the sandpaper did with the old and damp towel.
After that hubby and I started to paint the furniture in the quickest and most careless way anyone could paint! (This was the fun part of the make over).

Another blurry photo :(

When the paint got dry I did the decoupage:
I cut the patterns I needed and I put glue on top of the furniture, then the paper on it and last some glue above the decoupage patterns.

And voila!
The shabby chic bedroom set of dresser and bedside tables totally restored.

I believe the result was quite satisfactory given the fact I had too few materials and time to make this transformation.
What do you think?

My secret bunny

2015-05-10T13:44:00.000+03:00

Hello everyone!
Hope you're doing fine.
It's been a long time since I had to write this particular post but due to so many personal obligations I never did.
But better late than ever I guess...
Here I am with my post about the Easter gift exchange that Zina from EfZincreations organized for bloggers (Zina had also organized the Christmas gift exchange which was a blast and gave joy and excitement to all of us!).
This time the name of the exchange was Ah kounelaki! (which means oh little bunny in Greek).
The person I received gifts from was to my great pleasure and surprise someone I deeply admire and appreciate for her multi-talent personality and that I happen to know in person: Ariadne from Ariadne fromGreece.
Ariadne had a huge package made just for me and my current personal situation which is something that I didn't share with you up to now and it's high time I did:
Tah dah! I'm pregnant with my first baby, ladies and gentlemen, and hopefully I'll give birth in about a month from now.
So Ariadne who knew about it from the questionnaire I filled in about two months ago made all the goodies I received precisely for this special occasion.
It was kind of a mini baby shower for me and I enjoyed it the minute I opened the package.
First of all, everything was sooo well and carefully put together as you can see in this picture.

Then I was so pleased with the way Ariadne wrapped each and every present.
All full of love and positive energy!

She also wrote a card with warm wishes with which I was very touched.

She put some Easter chocolate eggs as a treat into the box ,

a beautiful colorful handmade soap made by Karalis soap

and one of the beautiful felt stones she makes herself in my favorite color, blue.

Last but not least, she stitched a little baby picture in the same color and even had it framed for me.

She was also very kind to ask me if I' m expecting a boy or a girl so that she could replace the stitch with a different color!(She couldn't ask me in advance because -you know- this would ruin the secret bunny surprise).
So given the fact that I'm expecting a baby girl she made a new stitch in bold pink for me!!

What can I say, I'm so excited and moved by all these!
Thank you so much Ariadne!
And thank you Zina for organizing -once more- a wonderful event for us!

3 years of blogging!

2015-03-30T12:22:00.000+03:00

Hello there,
Long time no write, right?
Well, it's been a very busy period for me with activities I can't share with you right now (but promise to do at a later time!) so blogging was not one of my priorities.
Anyway, the reason I am writing this post is the fact that this month, about 3 years ago, I attempted to to put the first words in this blog.
Yep, you guessed it correctly, this is an anniversary post!
Since then, so many things have happened, and so many people came into my life bloggingwise speaking.
Talented,inspiring people full of ideas and creative spirit that made me realise that life can be so much fun if you decide to share your creativity with others.
There were many times I laughed,smiled and even got emotional by reading comments on my blog or by reading interesting posts by other bloggers whose blogs I follow.
There were also times that I got surprised that some of my thoughts and feelings had actually an impact on others and I got more surprised when I saw my blog statistics
(12350 page views in 3 years was something that I could not imagine even in my wildest dreams).
For all this wonderful internet journey, I would like to thank each and everyone of you that came into my life and made it more colorful and inspiring!
Thank you all, my dear readers!
P.S. There is a 3 year anniversary giveaway coming shortly, so stay tuned!

Work your art

2015-01-25T15:00:00.001+02:00

A few days ago, Debbie, a very gifted and inspiring person contacted me through e-mail and asked me to be featured in her website as a "featured artist".
Before I tell you any details about it, I would like to say a few things about the site's hostess and her multiple skills and talents.
Debbie is a graphic designer, a shop owner,an Etsy team captain and an author of the subject of creative marketing.
Her site, Work Your Art is a very helful guide to all people who would wish to see their art creations reach a larger audience.
Debbie presents in a very simple -yet effective way- many tips and tricks for any artist regardless of their field (digital scrapbook design,painting,jewelry making, illustration etc.) in order to improve their marketing strategies and make an impact with their work.
So, without any hesitation I accepted the invitation to be hosted in her site and I have to admit the whole experience was really enjoyable.
Debbie did a great job presenting me and my creations and I would like to thank her once more for this lovely talk we've had and also for the chance she gave me to share my story with her site's audience.
Here is the short conversation/presentation.

Thanks again Debbie!
And keep on doing the inspiring work you do for all of us that need a guide to the chaos of creative marketing!

Secret Santa is coming to...bloggers!

2014-12-23T11:18:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone!
Hope you're feeling fine and that you are deeep into the Christmas spirit.
As far as I'm concerned I am very excited that finally holidays are here!
Of course, for me and some other bloggers the festive spirit was all around us many many days ago.
The reason: Two very inspired bloggers Zina from efzin and Gia from OnePerfectDay had the lovely thought to propose to us a gift exchange.
Without any hesitation, I was thrilled with the idea!
I couldn't wait to create something for a special someone secretly and to expect a little package for me into my mailbox!
So about a week ago I received an adorable little box accompanied with a very very cute card from Niki the one of the two bloggers from mommywiki.gr , a very interesting blog about kids, diy creations and many many more.
Niki made a handmade neclace with wooden beads in orange, white and beige especially for me

and she wrapped it in a box that was amazingly decorated.

The card she made was lovely as well and full of Christmas wishes.
Thank you Niki for being such a great Secret Santa!
Happy Holidays to you and your beloved ones!

A simple yet lovely wedding!

2014-12-04T13:56:00.000+02:00

Ηello everyone!
Hope you are doing fine.
Αs I mentioned in a previous post things are going fabulous on this side of the blogosphere.
Το be more specific and more personal -although I'm not used to doing this here - about fifteen days ago me and my fiance (the most incredible, kind and sincere person I have ever met) decided to unite our lives officially.
Yep, that's right, I got married!( I can't even believe it myself this moment I am writing it down!).
Ι mean I have always been not exactly an against marriage person but certainly I was pretty scared of the idea.
The little girl who would always dream herself inside an amazing wedding dress, no that was definitely NOT me!
But never say never I guess...

The ceremony was nothing fancy since it was a civil wedding but I really enjoyed the whole procedure and the simplicity of it.
The event was held at the Τοwn Hall of Pylaia and it was hosted by a very easy going and friendly deputy Mayoress.
Very few people attended it given the fact that we are going to repeat the ceremony according to the Greek Orthodox ritual sometime in the future.
Βut nevertheless we did enjoy it and we tried to keep many of the things people do on a big and very formal wedding.You know the usual stuff, a white dress, wedding rings, a bouquet, lots of photos etc.
That's it folks!
Kαι στα δικά σας οι ελεύθεροι!
(Pardon my Greek but this is an expression we use in order to wish a single person to get married soon and I can't find a similar one in English :) )
P.S. Here is just a glimpse of our petite ceremony.
Hope you enjoy!

Well, this is not part of the ceremony actually but I thought I should grab the chance and give some credit to the amazing Etsy shop my fiance ordered this lovely ring from

A written copy of the little speech -full of wishes and advice- the deputy Mayoress gave

Diy sewing box

2014-11-26T11:57:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone!
Hope you're doing fine!
Well, this must have been the longest absence from my blog due to reasons I will write in a following post but I have to admit things have been pretty good and joyful for me lately (But as I said I will tell you about it sometime soon in the near future).
In this post I would like to share with you a diy sewing box project I did a few weeks ago.
It wasn't a very difficult one, provided of course you do know some things about decoupage (it seems that my decoupage lessons paid off after all!).
So here it is...
Αll you need is:
An old cardboard or wooden box
A small paintbrush
Some sewing themed patterns (I found mine from Google and then printed them)

Decoupage medium
A piece of blotting paper (I used one little piece from the decoration of a flower bouquet)
Glue
A pair of scissors in order to make a couple of holes
A piece of wire (I used a plastic covered one)
A piece of ribbon
A fancy extra shinning/pearl/strass button for decoration (or any other button for that matter)

Now let's move on with the procedure:
First of all, take the box and start the decoupage technique( you know the drill- you put some decoupage medium onto the box with the brush then stick the piece of paper and then put some more decoupage medium onto to the piece of paper).
Do this in every area you would like it to be decorated with sewing patterns.
I for example decorated the top of the lid and the side of the box.

Then after the papers are dried turn around the lid and take a strip of blotting paper and glue the sides of it to the inside of the lid (This was the place I put all my safety pins actually as you can see in the picture).
After that use the piece of wire to support the pair of scissors and make a hole so that you tighten the wire in front of the lid (This is where I put a) a piece of black ribbon so that I could 'hide' the knot of the wire and b) the fancy button for the same reason).

Well, that's about it...
Now stuff the sewing box with every thread, needle, button,safety pin etc. that you possess.
Little boxes and bottles will be most helpful at this point.

Hope you found the project interesting.
I enjoyed so much doing it and I think you will too...
Cause after all sewing mends the soul! :)

An interview and a giveaway!

2014-10-22T12:46:00.000+03:00

Hi everyone!
About a week ago I had the pleasure to see my jewelry creations presented in one of the coolest blogs I happen to follow: Efzin creations.
The owner of the blog, Zina (who apart from being a successful blogger is a very talented jewelry maker herself -by the way you can check out her lovely creations here) offered to post in her blog a mini interview of mine.
I must confess that the whole presentation was really exciting for me.
In fact, I was really touched by her soo kind words and of all the positive comments that her followers have made about me.
It was really moving!!
At the end of the interview there is a giveaway where one my creations will be offered to one lucky winner.
The procedure is pretty simple: All you have to do use the Rafflecopter and earn more entries.
The competition ends in 3 days so you still have time!
The winner will be announced on the 27th of October.
You can see the post and the competition here.
P.S.1 I would once more like to thank Zina for giving me the chance to promote my jewelry through her blog.Thank you girl!!
P.S. 2 Good luck to all of you!

Summer in Sithonia

2014-09-13T10:43:00.000+03:00

Hello everybody!
Long time no posting, right?
Well, you know how September is ...A month full of new goals and priorities as well as lots of obligations and plans that summer and its low rythms has left unfulfilled and delayed.
To tell you the truth, I've always thought of September as a fresh new start in every year much more than the New Year's Day. I mean, summer is a period that I would get some rest and at the same time make some sort of thinking of all the good and bad things that happened the year before. So in this sense, September is the beginning of a new era and a starting point for new things.
Anyway, before I tell you about my plans for this new 'year' I believe it's time I told you about some of the things I did last summer.
I've had a great time visiting one of the places that here in Thessaloniki is supposed to be a very close and ordinary destination for weekends and short trips. Yep, my greek followers guessed it right...
I've spent my summer holidays in Halkidiki (Sithonia to be more exact) and although I'm a great fan of Aegean islands such as Cyclades that have a traditional flair I, once more, got overwhelmed by the wild beauty of a paradise that is practically one step away from home.
Pines and olive trees, golden sandy beaches with lukewarm, crystal clear waters, amazing sunsets and great food are some of the assets that this blessed place has to offer.

The photos describe it so much better than I do actually, so my rambling is over...
Have a great autumn everyone, hope you've had a great summer as well!!

One of the most picturesques beaches at Sykia

Marine of Porto Koufo, one of the most tranquil and adorable places in Sithonia

Sunset in Porto Koufo

Ethnic Beach Bar in Tristinika beach, in my humble opinion the loveliest beach bar in Greece

Sunset in Tristinika beach

Talking about a GIANT pizza!

One -out of many- of the extraordinary mouth watering desserts

A turtle family in Toroni

Octapuses drying in the sun, getting ready to become one of Greece's most famous appetizers

Me at Neos Marmaras

We have a winner!!

2014-08-13T15:42:00.001+03:00

Hello everybody,
As some of you that follow the feedback of my facebook page will probably know, there is a winner for the summer giveaway that has begun about a month ago.
And the winner is... Zina from Efzin creations!!
Congratulations Zina!
The multi color pendant is already on its way to Crete!

P.S. 1 I would like to thank you all for participating in this contest.It has been such a pleasure receiving your comments and kind words...In fact, the whole experience has been so great for me that I'm planning a giveaway sometime soon, so stay tuned!
P.S. 2 Have a great time and enjoy the rest of the summer.As we all know, especially here in Greece, so many sunny and hot days are ahead of us so just make the most of them!
Love,
Dimitra

A summer giveaway!

2014-07-09T14:05:00.000+03:00

Hello there!
Hope you are doing fine...
It's been quite a long time since I wanted to plan a giveaway contest with one jewelry of mine but due to obligations of all kind I postponed it for later and later and so on...
But as everything comes in good time in life (and probably everywhere else) this is as good time as any for a summer giveaway contest.
The jewelry I'm giving away is a handmade alpaca pendant with multi color beads.
This is it...

So vibrant and summer-ish if I do say so myself!

Well, the contest rules are pretty easy I guess:
a)Leave a comment below this post along with your name and e-mail so that I can contact you if you are the lucky winner
b)Follow my blog on blogloving
c)Like my Facebook page
d)Like my Etsy shop
That's it!!
For extra points (and possibilities!) you can share this post on your fb profile or you can tweet about it.
The contest ends at exactly one month from now (on the 9th of August that is) and I will announce the winner from here as well as from my Facebook page.
Hope you win!

Τake care for now and ...
ΕΝJOY SUMMER!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Easy weasy diy neclace holder

2014-06-02T15:34:00.000+03:00

Hello everyone and happy June!
As I have mentioned before winter has been a rather hectic period for me for lots of reasons.
But nevertheless from time to time I had the pleasure to find a few moments for diy creations that actually kept me relaxed and gave me a boost through tough times.
One of these moments was when I finally decided to set my neclaces free...Yeah, you read it right, they were trapped and imprisoned inside a jewelry box, tangled to one another and whenever I decided to wear one of them it was so complicated (literally speaking!) that I would change my mind and say to myself: Ok then, maybe you should wear a scarf or a pair of earrings instead...Sometimes I even forgot the very existence of some of them because they were in such a mess that I didn't remember they were part of my jewelry.
So one day after some pinterest searching I decided I should give an old hanger a try and transform it into a useful and lovely neclace hanger.
To cut a long story short, this diy project took me less than half an hour to create (Ok I admit it the neclace untagling took me waay longer!)
Here are the few things I needed for that:
A metal hanger
Some round bead stoppers
Stainless steel wire
Metal wire (a 0.6-0.8 mm will do)
A side cutter
A round nose pliers
A flat nose pliers
And last but not least some beads!

First of all, you turn a piece of stainless steel wire (cut it quite long and then see if you need to cut it shorter) around the metal hanger and from time to time put one or more beads for decoration.
Then use two round bead stoppers to tighten it wherever you like, either on top or at a corner of the hanger.
Make sure the wire is fastened securely and then move on to the next step which is making some wire hooks so that you have more neclaces to hang.
You make a hook like this with the round nose pliers (sorry about the blurry photo!)

and then you hang all these hooks onto the hanger at about 5-10 cm from one another.
That, of course depends on how many neclaces you need to hang on the holder!

And ta-dah!

An easy weasy diy neclace holder in less than an hour!

P.S.Needless to say that I wear my neclaces much more often than before and since I 've hanged the hanger behind my bedroom door I see them all the time!

Spring collection

2014-05-01T10:37:00.000+03:00

Hello everyone and happy May day!!

I hope you have a great time today with your beloved ones. Especially for my Greek followers I would like to wish you all a warm, sunny day for lots of outdoor activities.I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. April has been so rainy here in Greece that this particular wish does have a point.

So I hope we'll have the chance to enjoy the Greek sun once more today as we do on such a day and pick some lovely flowers for the traditional May flower wreath.

Now let me change the subject.These past few weeks have been rather productive for me etsywise speaking.I've finally had the time to do some listing at my Etsy shop and I'm pretty excited about it.All this time I've spent reading and writing for my seminar I was soo absorbed by it that I really wasn't in the mood neither for creating new jewelry nor for promoting through Etsy or other social media.

So I'm very glad that right now I have the pleasure to actually make and publish some new stuff.

In other words, my creativity is back and hopefully here to stay.

Here's some new things I've listed, just have a look and tell me what you think about it.

P.S. If weather is good today, I 'll go and pick some flowers and will attempt to make for once in my life a May wreath. Provided I'm pleased with the result I'll take lots of pictures of it and publish them here.Promise!

Happy May Day everyone!

UPDATE: As promised a photo of my not-that-decent-but-I-did-my-best flower wreath