I have disappeared over the last few weeks! I even have some photos and recipes to share from my birthday Sept.28, but things ended up getting hectic.
I was in Berlin last week for a job interview. It was very tiring, considering the trip to Berlin, with all airport stops and early arrivals, takes almost 24h. So going one day, spending 2.5 days there and coming back amounts to 2 days of traveling in a 5-day period. Very very exhausting.
I didn’t get the job yet, but I am going back next month to spend 3 weeks, a kind of “training period.” I am ecstatic. I didn’t get to see much of the city, but it seems great. Plus, my best friend is living in Berlin, working in this exact same company, and it would be amazing to live in the same city as her again.
So I leave some photos of the city. Next post will be the birthday recipes post!
It’s Saturday again! And here are some lovely links of the week!
Posts from the wonderful blogs I follow:
Guest blogger series – Fabric Design, at whip up
New Skills Festival – Photography with Cathy, at A Bit of This and a Bit of That
Guest blogger series – Waste Not, at whip up
DIY Project – Recycled Pallet Vertical Garden, at design*sponge
Playing with your food…, at Oh Joy!
Other links:
Pusheen the Cat tumblr
This last week I have been completely out of sync. I was sick, no energy, sometimes bed-ridden, mostly useless. But now I am finally back! And I bring a softie that I managed to make before the sickness got too bad. 
This little dude didn’t quite come out as I wanted. It’s kinda frustrating sometimes, to know what you want but not have the skills yet to materialize it!
So, it’s Saturday! From now on, Saturdays will be dedicated to great links I found during the week!
Designer Anna Backlung, at Print & Pattern
Monster pattern, over at The Needle Blog
New Skills Festival – carving stamps with Kirsty, at A Bit of This and a Bit of That
Why handmade is “so expensive”, at What the Craft
Alabasta Trays, at Design*Sponge
The Muted and Mystical Illustrations of Dadu Shin, at The Fox is Black
Yesterday I was over at my mother’s to avert a crisis. She locked her purse with keys and everything inside her car, and it was Cami to the rescue! So I ended up staying the afternoon, and I got the chance to take some photos of my childhood home.
My mom loves… well, clutter. She loves filling the house with decor, no matter if it matches or if there’s enough space for everything. And this gives the house a certain charm!
She also adores plants of all kinds. Last time she was away I house-sat for her, and I’m sure I counted over a hundred potted plants.
Even if the house seems a bit too much at times, I really like going there, and the feel of the decor. And of course, there’s my favorite tiny animal in the whole world, Malu!
You know those days when you wake up and you’re just instantly overwhelmed? Your mind just refuses to think properly, or focus on anything.
That usually happens to me when there is a conflict between what I WANT to do and what I NEED to do. I get anxiety paralysis.
So I suppose I’d better head off to what I need to do (unfortunately nothing relating to crafts or this blog), but before that, I’ll leave this here:
I made this pattern on Saturday, trying to incorporate two things I love: flowers and clean, bright vectors.
On another note, I had some sewing issues this weekend, and I asked about it on Craftster here. Maybe you can help?
And on YET another note! Twitter!
My mother-in-law sews. She sews a lot, and very well. And she saves all her scraps.
Yesterday she decided to throw away her three huge bags of scraps, and of course, I sifted through them. And I found so many interesting things!
Some scraps were, unfortunately, tiny orphan cuts…
But in general, I had some very pleasant surprises!
As I have said in a previous post, I am still learning to use the sewing machine. Before this, I had made a few softies by hand, taking anywhere from 3 to 8 hours in the process (that voodoo buddy in the photo is an example of a softie that took 8 hours to make). Of course, I was learning to sew, and I took much more time than was probably necessary.
But now, a sewing machine! And along with it the wonders of automation, the quick stitching, the wonderful quality! The endless possibilities!
…And the whole lot of things I have no idea how to do!
I’m making a softie for a friend, these days. I wanted to embroider its mouth using a tight zigzag stitch, but alas! The stitches kept bunching up and becoming a mess. This seems like a job for…
THE INTERNET!
Thankfully, after a quick googling, I found out that I was missing a stabilizer. But… what could be used as a stabilizer?! Google here, google there, a bit of fumbling with search words and… Ooooh, you can actually use a common piece of paper? That works?!
And yes! It does work!
I feel like such a newbie writing about this, but hey! You live, you google, you learn!
The internet is the most wonderful thing ever! So much knowledge. 
This is the first softie I made on a sewing machine… It’s not perfect. But it was really good practice! It’s been two weeks since I made it, and I learned lots with it.
Tomorrow I’m heading to the fabric store to stock up and start working on the line I’m currently designing. Next week I’m checking out another store that supposedly stocks up on fleece and other not so easy to find fabrics. (Brazil: great beaches, not so great product availability.)
I hope to have another softie to show very soon!
My name is Camilla, but people usually call me Cami. I’m a designer in the city of Recife, Brazil, and I thoroughly enjoy creating cute things, be they illustrations, soft toys or little sculptures. I’ve been working with game design for the last six years, but now I want to try to pursue a more artistic/crafty life. I’m learning how to use a sewing machine (geez, it’s so tricky!) and trying to make the best of my time while still managing to write my Master’s thesis.
I adore traveling. I’ve lived most my life here in Recife, but I spent a couple of years in Miami (in my early childhood) and a couple of years in Barcelona (love of my life, such a gorgeous city). I like seeing new cultures and soaking up the essence of foreign things.
Right now I’m in the midst of designing a line of soft toys, I’ll post more about my (very novice) work soon!
I hope I get to meet many people through this blog!
