Etsy Love: Summer Linen

 Hello all,
Some weeks ago, at the first sign of some warmer weather my sister and I went out to photograph this wonderful dress that I purchased from the Little Women Atelier shop on Etsy. This dress is so wonderful and breezy. It's made of 100% linen and it helps me keep cool in the summer.

Little Women Atelier is a shop inspired by the book Little Women by Louisa May Alcott from 1868, and something about this dress, the Meg dress has the elegance of the 19th century. Whether it's the puffy sleeves or the full skirt, I'll leave to you to decide. Little Women Atelier is a family business, and together the incredible women of their family create magnificent dresses, fit for any lady.

When I saw the Meg dress, I knew I had to save up to get one. It is one of the prettiest and most feminine dresses I own, without it being too girly. I purchased it in pale pink, which is a wonderfully serene and delicate colour, but they have this dress in many other colours too. The dress is well-made and the wonderful linen fabric feels so soft. It's a dress that inspires slow-living, sitting in your armchair with a good, classic book, having long walks in the warm summer breeze, or baking your favourite cake or biscuits to enjoy with family and friends. Simply said, it's a dress to live in and enjoy life in.

Dress: Little Women Atelier (here)
Flats: Asos (old)

I hope you all have a terrific start to your summer. I will be enjoying it in my breezy dress.
Much love,
Mona

Etsy Love: Folksy and whimsical

Hello everyone,
It's been a while since I blogged and more than a year since my last Etsy Love post. I'll remind you of what it is - my Etsy Love posts are posts where I introduce you to some of my favourite shops and creators that can be found on Etsy.

I want to introduce to you the incredibly creative illustrator, photographer, artist, seamstress, crafter and shop owner Olga Valeska. Her style is influenced by traditional folk art and it has an air of whimsy to it - I absolutely adore everything about her and her shop. You can find Olga's stunning instagram account @olga_valeska, and her beautiful website here. Her Etsy shop has fantastic items, such as fine art prints, post cards, notebooks, home decor and hand made items of clothing, like the dress that I am wearing.

I saw this dress on instagram, and immediately thought I had to have it. I was lucky enough to find out it hadn't sold yet. The size of it was just right, on the milimetre, for me. So I instantly bought it.
When the package arrived it was like Christmas! Olga had packed it beautifully with love and an incredible eye for details. She had added a number of gifts for me in the package, such as a beautiful wooden hanging decoration and a mini wreath, as well as some postcards that are so beautiful that I want to frame them. Finally getting to the dress - I squealed with joy upon seeing it. It is just as folksy and whimsical as I wanted it to be. The dress is beautifully made with wonderful wooden buttons down the back, and the hand-embroidery is delicate, precise and oh-so-lovely! It is a comfortable and stunning dress that made me feel like a snow fairy in it. I adore it!

Olga is currently working on more items of clothing and I for one am excited about that!
She also has a sale in her shop right now! So please check it out - HERE.

Dress: Olga Valeska's shop (one of a kind)

Hood: Magic Doll (shop is now closed)
Knee socks: Primark
Boots: Ecco

Much love,
Mona

Vintage Summer

Hello there,
I truly hope you are doing good today!

I am squeezing the last out of summer and wearing my sun dresses and such for the last time this year. This lovely fuchsia dress was my first vintage dress that I bought (not the first to wear, see my other vintage dresses here and here). It's a wee bit too small, but I couldn't let it go! And so I got it from the lovely shop Simplicity is Bliss on Etsy.

I adore the colour, that is a mixture between hot pink and red - I think it's a very flattering colour on me. The dress was not deadstock, but could practically have been so. It looked completely unworn, the buttonholes look like they were just made and the fabric is crisp. The tags look brand new (Bobbie Brooks, people!!), and it is in impeccable condition. In other words, it was the perfect vintage dress to start with!

Wiggle wiggle

I couldn't have been happier with this fantastic dress. I love that the condition is so good that I'm not afraid to wear it. With other vintage dresses I have felt like the piece is so fragile that I'm almost scared while wearing it. This dress even had it's original belt, which is always something I look for when searching for vintage. The one thing I could complain about are the pleats - that are a pain to iron, but it's a small price to pay for the magnificently full skirt.

Dress: Simplicity is Bliss (vintage)

Petticoat: ModCloth (here)

Flats: Asos (here)

On another note, this is the last week before my holiday to London and I am beyond excited! We've got so much planned, but if you have any tips of things I just can't miss, please let me know in the comments!

I wish you all a splendid weekend!
Much love,

Etsy Love: Golden Elegance

Hello everyone!
Hope you are doing great! I thought it was about time for a new Etsy Love post.

Like I've written before, I think the idea of Etsy is fantastic. I love that you can find unique sellers that sell everything from vintage masterpieces to amazing art and more.

Today I want to share the shop Aquanetta.

Aquanetta sells beautiful and handpicked vintage jewellery, accessories and clothes, but I actually fell in love with the shop because of a pair of vintage reproduction earrings. These earrings (here) look just like the ones Audrey Hepburn wore in Sabrina, and of course that had me drooling for them in an instant.

Earrings: Aquanetta (here)

Top: Vivien of Holloway (here)

Lipstick: Bésame Cosmetics (here)

I had actually been looking for earrings like these for a while and couldn't find them anywhere and now suddenly they're popping up everywhere, but I went for the ones I first found, I went for Aquanetta. I have them in gold, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to need them in silver also...

This post is not sponsored just like the rest of my Etsy Love posts. I just wanted to show you my new earrings!

Hope you will all have a splendid weekend!
Much love,

Etsy Love: Crochet Days

Hello everyone!
Hope you are all doing well. I am super busy at work at the moment, so I haven't had a lot of time for blogging, but I wanted to update real quick with a new instalment in the Etsy Love series.

I adore Etsy. I think the idea of Etsy is brilliant and I am constantly finding new shops that are amazing! Today however, I wanted to introduce you to a favourite shop of mine, that I have known of for almost exactly a year - Windram Design.

Dress: ModCloth (here)

Collar: Windram Design (similar here)

Tights: Primark

Those of you who have been with the blog since the start will perhaps remember that Helen Windram of Windram Design was the first person I collaborated with on this blog, here. I wore a limited edition rust coloured and twirl-worthy handmade dress by Helen then.

And the talent of the creator of Windram Design doesn't stop at sewing. When I saw this crocheted collar I just knew I had to have it, because it can make a dress look completely different.
Which it did.

I added the crocheted collar to a trusty comfy black dress from ModCloth, and voilà - it's like a new dress! And adding it to black gives it a particularly lovely Wednesday Addams vibe!

This post is not sponsored like the rest of my Etsy Love posts. I just wanted to show you my cute crocheted collar.

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend!
Much love,

Cat hat by PattyMac Knits

Hello all you lovely people!

Today I want to share a special feature on an amazing person that is the creator behind the hat I'm wearing in these photos. I want to introduce you to PattyMac Knits, which is run by the talented, innovative and super kind lady Patty McGuire.

Patty is one of the nicest people I have gotten to know through instagram (@pattymacknits, @pattymac100) and I'm constantly grateful for IG for connecting me with people like Patty. It happens to be that Patty lives across the world from where I live, in Virginia Beach (which makes me imagine that it must be very different from northern Sweden as it's got the word "beach" in its name!). She's a photographer since 25 years, which is so evident from the artistic and beautiful photos she takes, often of her twelve year old Golden retriever, Willie, modelling her luxurious knits.

Patty describes herself as a Creative Entrepreneur, and I can but agree. She loves to encourage people to try something new, and she inspires people to craft and knit. Patty thinks that it is important to create things with our own hands and she loves to knit because it makes her feel happy, hopeful, alive and connected. Being the wonderful person that she is, she wants to help people experience these same fulfilling things, so she designs fun knitting patterns, and then show people how to make the projects!

Patty also wants to start getting into selling online classes in knitting and crafting, and I for one am looking forward to that, since my knitting knowledge spans only so far. So keep a sharp eye out! But for now, Patty's etsy shop, PattyMac Knits, is filled with her unique knitting patterns, and a limited quantity of finished knits. Everything you can find in her shop is handmade by herself.

I am lucky enough to have gotten a handmade hat from Patty. It is one of her so called "cat hats", which are ridiculously cute. It is quite a special one as it is made with Wool and the Gang luxury yarn. And let me tell you this yarn is incredible. It is soft and thick and so warm! It's the perfect hat to have when you live in northern Sweden. I just want to let everyone know about this hat, because I feel like all the people living in Umeå deserve a hat like this. But back to Patty, you can find the hat I'm wearing, finished and handmade with love here. And another version of the hat (in black) can be found here.

The little ears on the hat make it look so adorable and appeals to my quirky side. I find myself feeling very cute in the hat, and I get a bit silly-nilly wearing it. It's like the child in me comes out to play for a while. Or maybe it is the kitten in me.

For Patty it's not just about knitting, it's about changing the world one stitch at a time. She has a beautiful way of looking at life and she tells people to, in life as well as in knitting, not give up. I often find myself inspired, especially by her intelligent words but also by her beautiful blog. Lastly one thing that I cannot omit to mention is one thing that Patty and I both share a great love for and that made us connect in the first place - Harry Potter! She actually has made Gryffindor scarves for her dog Willie. If I had a dog it wouldn't go far without a Ravenclaw scarf.

I just had to add this photo (above), because it is so cute and I love it! Here is the woman herself (together with my favourite book series). The maker of all knitted things in the shop and the mind behind all of the patterns. One day I hope that we'll sit together and talk about Harry Potter and knitting, but until then this blog post is as close as we get to that.

Hat: c/o PattyMac Knits (here)

Dress: ModCloth (Stylish Surprise)

Cardigan: Lindex (old)

Tights: Lindex (old)

Shoes: Ecco (here)

Get connected with Patty.
Website: http://pattymacknits.com/
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PattyMacKnits/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/PattyMacKnits/
Instagram: @pattymacknits and @pattymac100

So, are there any knitters out there? I've got one of Patty's knitting patterns but have yet to go downtown to buy yarn. It looks like I can do it though, and I'm going to heed Patty's words - I won't give up!

Much love,