Marie Claire Idees must be the Martha of France - the projects are imaginative and span the gamut of everything from scrap-booking to softie-making. Wonderful! Plus they put all the project directions and patterns at the back of the magazine. Ok, it's all in French but I knew those years of language class would come in handy. I can sorta read some-to-most of the projects - but probably need to invest in a really good Petit Larousse to make sure I'm not knitting when I should be purling.
Here's a few projects in their current Hiver 2006 (Winter) issue:
Softie bear and knitted clothing
More softies - these with wired arms and legs wrapped in cloth to make them pose-able. All made with recycled fabric remnants. The bag on the right they say is 'hippie chic' whose originality comes from the teeny hearts and fabric scraps and buttons.
So lovely - the bird swing and branch on the left . The bird is made with papier mache over polystyrene balls, and a real branch is hung underneath. The blanket on the right - love it! - is a military blanket with velvet appliques, metallic floss and fancy paillettes - is there an English word for that? little sparkly things? just paillettes I think...
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An advent calendar with charming 'decembre', lettered with one side of a pair of embroidery scissors to make the 'd', and pearls and buttons to make the rest of the letters. The 'mb' is cut from a recycled monogram. MCI says this is the most charming of all advent calendars - I tend to agree.
100 pictures of handmade handbags from people who attended MCI's craft workshop this past October. I would love to win the sweepstakes to attend next year's event. These purses are as beautiful as they are diverse.
Ok, this is not a picture from the magazine - it's my cat Mabel, who has always had a rather French attitude towards life. I think when I'm not home she sits around with her legs crossed and a cigarette in her paw....I'll have to get one of those nanny-cams to try and find her out.
