Instagram and friends

We're back, fully recharged and with lots to tell you! How was your Easter? We hope you had lots of fun. I managed to escape to the seaside and made the most of it to rest, take hundreds of photos with my camera (the latest Double Exposure is nearly here!) and with my mobile, as those of you following me on Instagram will have seen.

This great app was released for Android just last week. Finally! I am delighted because it will bring new additions to the Instagramer family. In case any of you haven't heard of the app, it's a social network where you can share photos you previously apply a filter to that gives them a certain vintage feel. It has been a complete success amongst millions of iPhone users and now it's waiting to steal the hearts of the Androideans ;)


And of course a whole host of other websites have have been created by the minds of geniuses to make the most of Instagram's appeal. Here are our favorites:


1. Postagram
Are you on holiday wanting to send a postcard feauting your favourite photograph from the trip? This app is extremely easy to use, all you have to do is choose a photo and personalise it with your message. Postagram takes care of the rest. Delivery to Europe costs $1.99 and in a few days the addressee will receive a little surprise in their mailbox. Pretty good, non? I’ll show you mine as soon as I borrow it from the owner.

2. Stickygram
By now you should know how much we like magnets around here and that's why Stickygram is one of my favourites. In just a couple of clicks, you can turn your photos into magnets. Delivery is free worldwide and the set of 9 magnets costs $14.99 - a very reasonable price. You can do themed sets like I did with this heart one and send them gift wrapped to someone else including a personalised message.
Plus, until the end of April, they're offering a 15% discount if you enter the code HELLOANDROID

3. Casetagram
Die-hard fans can even display their Instagram photos on their iPhone cover. The cover costs $34.95 (delivery costs included) and you can create your own collage to make a real work of art, as you can see in these examples:

4. Canvas pop
This website turns your Instagram photos into framed canvasses to beautify your home. Prices start at $39.99 for 30 x 30 cm and you can choose a black or white frame. At the moment, they don't deliver to Europe but they've told us they are in the process of arranging that so you'll have to keep an eye out. I am very keen to try this one out!

What do you make of these ideas? Will you be signing up to any of them? And what about Instagram - do you like the immediacy of sharing your life in images or do you prefer photos that are taken with more care and post-processed?
Olga

Happy Easter!

It's almost Easter and that usually means a nice break and a lot of chocolate so we'll be away for a while taking care of that. We hope you all have a lovely time and to keep you entertained until we come back, here is a DIY for making the eggs above. Enjoy!

Carla and Olga

Josh Ritter and paper art

Today we'd like to bring in the weekend with this lovely video of Love is Making Its Way Home, a song featured on Josh Ritter’s new album.

The video was made with over 12,000 pieces of paper and no post-editing.



Beautiful images for a beautiful song, don’t you think? I keep playing it over and over.

Enjoy before Monday is back again!

Olga

Spotlight on...Oak Estudio

Estefanía is the driving force behind Oak Estudio, a lovely project we have been following for a while now. For that reason we're especially pleased she's joining us today to share a little bit of her world so we can get to know her better.

This girl from Ontinyent (Valencia) who is based in Logroño makes mainly brooches, necklaces and earrings and they are all wonderful. From the first stitch in her embroidered necklaces to the intricate packaging in stamped boxes, all of her work exudes excellent taste.

Let's take a step back in time, how did Oak Estudio come about and what was it that made you take the final step and open your shop?

A course for leisure and free-time instructors helped me find my more creative side again. I started making accessories by experimenting with materials like felt and polymer clay. My first blog arose from a need to meet people with the same interests as me. This in turn enabled me to take my first steps into the handmade scene. A few years later, with a more defined line of work and different needs, Oak Estudio was born. Oak is a simple place you can pass through to look at nice things and the shop provides you with the opportunity to take home a piece of the time, patience and care I put into each item I make.

You use a lot of wood and recently even embroidered wood in your work. What are your favourite materials to work with and what does each mean to you?

At the moment I am most interested in finding materials and techniques that we've known our whole lives. I grew up connected to the world of wood because my dad is a carpenter and my mum has done embroidery work since she was a little girl. The idea of embroidered wood came from mixing the two. At the moment the materials I like working with most are porcelain because of its texture, wood because it is a natural product and copper because oxidation affects the piece making it change with time. In future, I would also like to work with leather.

What is the creative process behind each of your pieces? What are your main sources of inspiration?

The creative process starts with a sketch that sets off a chain of drawings and different versions. Once I've finalised the shape, I chose the material I want to make it with. Sometimes it can be months before the final idea comes together. Lastly I test the materials, paint, decide whether to varnish or not, choose the colour of the chain and so on. 
Inspiration can come from, e.g., a walk in the mountains, a photo, something you don't find in other shops, a material in itself, or even a moment in my life. For example, I got the idea for the necklace with the deer antler pendant after the first time I saw a deer out in the wild.

As a creative person, we know you like everything revolving around the handmade. Which handmade object do you treasure the most and why? 

It's hard to pick just one. I keep gems from my family like treasure: gems like crochet and cross-stitch work. I also have some material with the embroidery my mum used to do to practise different stitches, and wood hand-carved by my dad. Apart from that, I like buying handicrafts on my travels. For example, I have a hand-embroidered bracelet I bought from some women who had a stall at Dubrovnik port (Croatia) and it brings back very good memories.

And to finish up, let's look to the future...where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

Of course I would like Oak to become a well-known brand on the handmade scene but it is not something I'm obsessed with. I just dream of continuing to have projects, large or small, just as long as they excite me and fascinate me as much as they do today.
I would also like to make the most of this interview to encourage people in La Rioja who are involved in the handmade scene to get in touch with me. I'm sure there are a lot of us. We're very scattered around and we need to get to know each other and support one another. 

Images: Oak Estudio

Thanks very much, Estefanía. We'd like to wish you all the luck in the world and hope the excitement and passion you feel now accompany you always.

Olga

Pick ’n’ Mix: triangletastic

Isosceles, scalene and equilateral...triangles have always been boring, until now that is!

The geometric fever that's sweeping its way through Spring has reached our latest Pick ’n’ Mix:

1. Skirt from Secret Squirrel

2. Necklace from Asos

3. Tray from Little studio

4. Brooch from Sketchinc

5. Cushion from John Lewis

6. Blanket from Humanempireshop

7. Matrioshkas from Sketchinc

8. Triangular washi tape from SeventyTree

9. Print from SeventyTree

Enjoy this love triangle!

Olga

Hotel Haiku

While browsing the internet the other day in a "wishIhadenoughmoneytoaffordthat" state, my condition was made no better by Hotel Haiku - an excellent website full of interesting hotels and notels all over the world. It is written and curated by Garri Rayner who came up with the word notel to describe an "exceptional, often architecturally designed, holiday and vacation rental property that draws inspiration from the design hotel phenomenon".

The descriptions for each hotel and notel are expressed in haiku...hence the name Hotel Haiku.

Just look at these photos...

 Villa Vals, Switzerland

 Remota hotel, Patagonia

 Landscape Hotel, Norway

And the Haiku to go with this image...

Let nature greet you
As the outside comes inside
Seven detached rooms
(source: Hotel Haiku)

 Treehotel, Sweden

Nesting with the birds
In the forest canopy
Where tree lovers flock

(source: Hotel Haiku)

 360° Leti, Himalayas

Mountains wraparound
Four sumptuous cottages
Perched on a ridge

(source: Hotel Haiku)

Don't all these places look amazing? I had to stop myself from posting every single one of them. If only it were possible to be a lady of leisure wot lunches and dines to her heart's content. One day, maybe. One day. And until then, I can always keep looking at sites like this for inspiration, no harm in that yeah?

Carla

DIY: presenting your presents

Those of you celebrating Father's Day on Monday (I'm looking at you Spain, Portugal, Andorra, Bolivia, Honduras, Italy and Liechtenstein) have probably already bought a special present to give your dads. I'm one of those people who places just as much importance on the presentation as on the present so today we bring you a very easy DIY by PaperCrave that will really make your gifts stand out.

They are little gift boxes decorated with ties and bowties that you can make in your (or even better - your dad's) favourite colours. You could even base the design on his favourite shirt or tie to make it extra special :)

Images: PaperCrave

All you have to do is download the template here, cut it out and follow the instructions.

It's Mother's Day in the UK tomorrow, maybe you could even use this idea and "motherify" it with a necklace instead of a tie for example. Use your imagination!

Olga