Cècile cappuccino is filled with coffee beans and cinnamon and it is as comforting as a good warm 'cappuccino' on a rainy afternoon! Her body is made of linen or silk fabric and she sports a cute mother-of-pearl button in her hair! She hangs from an antique brass chain.
Cècile is my favorite doll and i always take extra-special care with her. This time, for instance, she comes inside a linen drawstring pouch with 'chicadecanela' stamped in front and she even has her own handtag!
* * * * * * * * * * First of all, chicadecanela´s stockists list has been updated. Click here to find the nearest store!
Next,and after a brief weekend interruption, we continue with the exhibition of chicadecanela´s latest collection: School of Zakka. Crochet is one of my favorite tecniques to work with, even though i´m not very good at it, but thankfully, i have some help to get all the stuff made. I like it because it is so flexible, much more so than knitting in my opinion: you can make almost anything with it. I like it too because crochet is one of the the quintessential handcrafts: it can only be made by hand and everything crochet that you see is handcrafted. In this collection there are some really pretty crochetted pieces, made mostly in basic colors, like brown, red and white.
'Crochet' bag
This is surely the bag that our young and lovely teacher would take for cappuccino with friends or maybe for a date, leaving the big 'Name' bag at home for a while. It is small and cute and most certainly she made it herself. This bags are completely hand crocheted with knitted details and matching ribbons at both sides. Thin leather straps with tiny antique brass buckle in front. Antique brass magnetic snap closure. Lined in an adorable red cotton fabric with tiny white flowers. Inside pocket. Here you see it in cherry red, but it´s also available in chocolate brown or wool white. See more images here.
'Crochet' iPod®Case
Angela, the loveliest girl at school, has been given a white iPod as a birthday present - ¡lucky girl! - and her beloved granny, who is quite the fashion connoisseur, has crocheted her a cool zippered pouch to keep it clean and safe from scratching, and, what´s more, the pouch features a hook so that Angela can hang it from her blue jeans or her 'School' bag and sing to 'The Little Mermaid' soundtrack along the road to school.
Zippered crochetted and knitted case for your music and video storage device :) With enough room for a standard iPod® and to keep the headphones in when not in use. Hanging from a leather strap, antique brass hook and dangling ornaments (mother-of-pearl foxy, cinnabar heart, cluster of bells...) In cherry red, chocolate brown and wool white. See more images here.
Owl and hen brooches
Handmade brooches in earthy tones with red details. They have the nostalgic look and feel of vintage toys. Their original eyes fell off and they were replaced for mother-of-pearl buttons secured with red stitching. See more images here and here.
* * * * * * * * It is a very zakka thing to have accessories for everything and anything, and i am not one to resist the power of accessorizing. In the "School of Zakka" collection there are pouches and purses galore: for the mobile phone, for the digital camera, for the iPod... you name it!
'Zakka' pouch
The zippered pouch in which the girls from our school keep the pencils, rubbers, rulers, pencil sharpener, scissors, scotch tape, paper clips, ... If not for school, this pouch can be used as a cosmetic bag, or to keep documents, or, my favorite, as a sewing case! Made of linen with a small pocket complete with cute button and lace detail. Fully lined in dark blue cotton fabric. Antique brass zipper. Leather handle. More images here.
Want to know how to make this pouch? Tutorial coming soon!
'Click Click' digital camera case This cute pouch is the perfect size for keeping the digital camera safe&clean yet in style; and it can be traded for the usual black nylon nightmare without a second thought. It combines plain and patterned linen fabric. Antique brass zipper. Lace detail. Polkadot ribbon. Fully lined in red cotton. "Click Click" patch original chicadecanela design. More images here.
'Phone´ case
Oh! Picture the lovely school girls with their mobile phones all neatly kept in their "Phone" cases hanging from their school bags. This case has a leather handle and hook to wear easily around a bag´s handle. It is cute as can be with lace detail and embroidered patch. More images here.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * One of the things that i´m more proud of about this collection is that everything in it is entirely made in chicadecanela´s atelier. Take, for instance, the bags down below. They are mostly handmade: pattern, cutting of the fabric, cutting and sewing of the leather pieces, which have their own idiosyncrasies :) The embroidery is not made by hand, but it is an original design, made in the in-house computer and translated into my beloved embroidery machine. The rivets are also setted in our own machine.
'School' bag
Following the story of our little country school, this bag would be the one carried by the cute student-girls(this is an all girls school). It´s a perfect bag to fill with books and features a special pocket for friend´s little notes and strawberry bubblegum.
The School bag is also made with linen fabric in two different patterns and is lined in dark blue patterned cotton. It closes easily with two antique brass magnetic snap closures and features a drawstringed front with two dangling leather hearts. There´s also leather at the sides, to hold the adjustable strap. There´s a handy pocket at one side, also lined, that closes with a porcelain-like button. The "school" patch in front is an original design, embroidered in red thread. See more images here.
'Cherries' bag
The Cherries bag, featured here hanging from the classroom´s coat hanger, is a comfortable bag to take to school, or, if you are pass that period of your life, to take anywhere hanging easily from your shoulder. Made of linen, with a leather handle, magnetic snap closure disguised as a button closure (i saw something like this in a zakka book!). Big pocket in front and small pocket at one side (with lace detail!). It is lined with red cotton fabric and an inside pocket. And the detail that i most like is the embroidered patch, or rather, brooch, that can be detached or place somewhere else: it´s so cute, with the cherries design! See more images here.
First of all, if you´d like to have a look at the whole collection, you can go to the catalog in chicadecanela´s website, there is a beautiful 'flash' display that´s worth looking at.Click here:
The idea behind the catalog is that of an imaginary chic old rural school. Everybody in it would be oh so adorable and have a great sense of style. We used an antique school desk, which was lovely by itself, and lots of props like old grammar books, maps, a globe...I wanted pictures with lots of details and a 'calm´ light, just like pictures in zakka books.
'Name' bag
In this country school that we have conjured up this above would be the bag of the sweet and stylish teacher. With plenty of room to carry all the classroom´s tests, the spelling book, chalks and short-sighted glasses.This handbag is made of 100% linen fabric, mixing two different checkered patterns. It features leather handles with cute heart shapes. In front, two patch pockets with natural rope buttons and red buttonholes, and a name tag for customization. There are also two pockets at the sides and one interior pocket too. It closes with a nice antique brass zipper and features details like handbag feet also in antique brass. Lining is a patterned dark blue cotton.
I thought it will be nice to show you an overview of the materials used for this collection:
100% natural linen fabric, partially discoloured to achieve the delicate checkered patterns.
Linings: cotton patterned fabrics, mostly red or with red detail. Color goes inside!
Notions: leather, lace, rope and ceramic buttons, mother-of-pearl, antique brass, polkadots... all natural and soft.
The new chicadecanela collection is inspired by one of my latests obsessions that you readers of my blog should know about: Zakka Style. It has been an inexhaustible source of inspiration and awe for me for the last year or so and it still is. This collection is a celebration of a 'natural' way of designing, of putting together a collection in the most handcrafted, handmade way possible, of being true to materials and shapes. Everything should be calm and sensible just like the pictures in zakka books tell us. I have tried to keep my most original whilst moulding to the parameters that zakka style suggest: natural fabrics, as natural and unadulterated as possible; the entire collection is based in 100% linen fabrics gently bleached to achieve the checkered pattern. Natural notions: mother-of-pearl buttons, rope buttons, leather, antique brass pieces, écru lace.Slight use of color: just a hint of red to acentuate here and there. And handcrafted detail, like embroideries, crochet,... If you let me i´d like to introduce pieces from my collection here in my blog. That way i could talk about then a little, how they were made, materials...We will start tomorrow with that, but before... * * * * * * * * * Look at the new chicadecanela handtags! I´m so happy with then i just can´t hide it :D
They are so round and thick and cute that i could eat then! I think they are lovely even on their own, they certainly have a presence.
This were printed to acompany the new collection, so they are kind of limited edition. You might guess that cherries are the new birdies for me. At least as long as this long winter in front of us lasts.
And they look gorgeous hanging from the bags and accessories from the collection.
Jugando con Hilos magazine: www.jugandoconhilos.com/magazine. A project by Anabel, with collaborations by artist, designers... including me! The first online arts&crafts magazine in Spain. And the cutest online magazine in the world, believe me. Coming soon! (^.^)
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Happy costumers: here & here. Thank you, girls! :)
Now you are all going to envy me so so much. Even hate me. Look what my friend Aki from Poche in Japan has just sent me as a present:
Ain´t it just beautiful? Look at all the tiny details, look at her drawings, perfection! Everything is handmade and crafty and completely zakka. She even sent me the latest issue of Cotton&Paint! she said she was going to send me a "homemade book in which a wonderful work of a lot of Japan was recorded" and i was, like, "ok! if it comes from Japan i´m sure i´ll love it". And voilá! My favorite magazine in the whole wide world came in the mail, together with zakka goodnes a plenty. A lot of work from Aki appears in the magazine: pages 6-7 and page 74 (the cute cat in the cover!). Now, please, don´t hate me ´cos i´m so lucky :b
No, seriously, you know i love you. I could just have hidden this treasure and never show anyone, but i´m sharing ,right?
Just i quick note to share with you a sweet place where you can buy zakka books and stuff directly from Japan: http://polkadotzakka.com , the new online shop by Momo. I already own some of Momo´s cuteness, see here, but there´s so much more i have on my wish list! Click here for a piece of genuine zakka style and friendly customer service. Best of luck, Momo! :)
* C È C I L E *C A P P U C C I N O *
This is surely the bag that our young and lovely teacher would take for cappuccino with friends or maybe for a date, leaving the big 'Name' bag at home for a while. It is small and cute and most certainly she made it herself.
The zippered pouch in which the girls from our school keep the pencils, rubbers, rulers, pencil sharpener, scissors, scotch tape, paper clips, ... If not for school, this pouch can be used as a cosmetic bag, or to keep documents, or, my favorite, as a sewing case!
This cute pouch is the perfect size for keeping the digital camera safe&clean yet in style; and it can be traded for the usual black nylon nightmare without a second thought. It combines plain and patterned linen fabric. Antique brass zipper. Lace detail. Polkadot ribbon. Fully lined in red cotton. "Click Click" patch original chicadecanela design. More images here.
Oh! Picture the lovely school girls with their mobile phones all neatly kept in their "Phone" cases hanging from their school bags. This case has a leather handle and hook to wear easily around a bag´s handle. It is cute as can be with lace detail and embroidered patch. More images here.
Following the story of our little country school, this bag would be the one carried by the cute student-girls(this is an all girls school). It´s a perfect bag to fill with books and features a special pocket for friend´s little notes and strawberry bubblegum.
The Cherries bag, featured here hanging from the classroom´s coat hanger, is a comfortable bag to take to school, or, if you are pass that period of your life, to take anywhere hanging easily from your shoulder. Made of linen, with a leather handle, magnetic snap closure disguised as a button closure (i saw something like this in a zakka book!). Big pocket in front and small pocket at one side (with lace detail!). It is lined with red cotton fabric and an inside pocket. And the detail that i most like is the embroidered patch, or rather, brooch, that can be detached or place somewhere else: it´s so cute, with the cherries design! See more images here.
100% natural linen fabric,
chicadecanela collection#4 School of Zakka
Look at the new chicadecanela handtags! I´m so happy with then i just can´t hide it :D
Ain´t it just beautiful? Look at all the tiny details, look at her drawings, perfection! Everything is handmade and crafty and completely zakka. She even sent me the latest issue of Cotton&Paint! she said she was going to send me a "homemade book in which a wonderful work of a lot of Japan was recorded" and i was, like, "ok! if it comes from Japan i´m sure i´ll love it". And voilá! My favorite magazine in the whole wide world came in the mail, together with zakka goodnes a plenty. A lot of work from Aki appears in the magazine: pages 6-7 and page 74 (the cute cat in the cover!).
Just i quick note to share with you a sweet place where you can buy zakka books and stuff directly from Japan:
