Women in literature

Three matchboxes with women in literature, Virginia Woolf, George Eliot and Emily Dickinson. I really enjoyed making these! I love George Eliot's books, they are the perfect mix of love, drama and real life on the country on the Victorian era but given with great wit and insight. Woolf's books are more layered, her stream of consciousness is not easy to follow but very rewarding when you get into it. I have to admit that I haven't read a lot of Dickinson's poetry, just a few poems most notably her "Hope is the thing with feathers" which inspired me to make the cover of her matchbox :-)

xoxo
Aleka

Happy birthday matchbox

A couple of Happy Birthday matchboxes that I made this week! I love how each one is slightly different from the other, that's what handmade is all about!

If you want to wish someone special happy birthday you can find the matchbox here :-)

xoxo,
Aleka

Ice cream matchbox

A fun little matchbox to get over the summer heatwave: a paper popsicle! It is guaranteed to bring giggles, fun and zero calories :-)

xoxo,
Aleka

In progress

A few more miniature portraits in progress! I'm not completely satisfied with all of them, I need to tweak them a bit before I move on to making the entire matchbox. They are Simone de Beauvoir and Edith Piaf, I;m happy with the first but even though I love how Piaf looks my sister confused her for Lucille Ball... So I'm thinking of maybe doing a portrait where her hair is longer? The other two are Agatha Christie and Louise Brooks, I like Brooks but I need to work on her lips a bit and unfortunately I'm not completely happy with Christie so I'll need to work on it more.

Wishing you a lovely day,
Aleka

PS Matchbox

Today I'm making tiny little envelopes to fill with love notes! They are part of the matchbox diorama in the pics above. All our matchboxes are handmade from scratch, they are hand cut, hand folded and hand painted making them more unique :-)

This matchbox is painted to look like a vintage envelope and on the inside there is an envelope with a little piece of paper with the phrase "I love you". I think it's a pretty cute way to send someone your love!
You can find this one, along with all our matchbox designs in our Etsy shop!

Wishing you a lovely weekend,
Aleka

Linked to StrawberryButterscotch
OurMiniFamily 

Matchbox ladies

Hi!
I've had this idea in my head for a while, a sort of collection of matchboxes with a specific theme. I thought of various ideas and there were a couple that seemed more interesting and challenging to me. So here is the one that I picked: I'm making matchboxes with portraits of important women in history. Women that have left their mark in various fields through the years, from science to arts these women have one thing in common: their work is celebrated by all today :-)
Here are four matchboxes I've already made, Jane Austen, Amelia Earhart, Billie Holiday and Marie Curie. I'm hoping to make more and grow this collection!
Wishing you a lovely day,
Aleka

Matchbox cards in the making

 

Probably my favorite matchbox card, this literal version of being in love. It's so much fun cutting and painting tiny hearts, my workspace looks like a heart factory!
And now you can get a personalized version as well, with your initials on the little banner!
Have a lovely weekend :-)
Aleka

Traveling matchboxes

I had this idea in my mind for a while, making matchboxes with famous monuments from various countries. Like most projects I kept pushing it back on my to do list, so it wasn't until last month that I finally started trying out my idea. First it was the Eiffel tower, after a couple of versions and I selected the one I liked most. Then I took a shot at the Acropolis, thought it seemed harder it turned out that my first try was perfect! For Italy I picked the Leaning Tower of Pisa, it's a simple design but with a lot of detail.
They will be soon in the shop and hopefully more monuments will follow!
Aleka

{Linked to homework} 

The making of bees

Every matchbox I make goes through a lot of stages, versions that work and (many) others that fail, until I am happy with the result. The bee mine matchbox is no different. I played around with the bee shapes and sizes before I picked one that I liked. And for the cover I played around with the lettering and the colors. I made two versions, the one in the photo above is nearest to the actual cover, it's the same font but in the final version but the little beehives are colorful as I felt that the front was too plain :-)
When I was finally satisfied with everything I photographed the "Bee Mine" matchbox and listed it in the shop!
Aleka

Working with paper

Now I understand the impact of Valentine's day to commerce. I think I made around 70 paper hearts and matchboxes in the months of January and early February. I do enjoy making matchboxes so I'm working on a couple of new ideas :-)

Hope you have a lovely day,
Aleka

On my working table

Finally the ideas are flowing! I am working on some new matchbox designs and I have some ideas about cute things from felt too.
Hopefully I'll have some new additions for the shop soon :-)
Hope you have a great Friday,
Aleka

Home

Our contribution to the Etsy Greek Street Team for good action: a home matchbox!

This item participates in the Egst for Good Action and all profit will be given for the humanitarian crisis relief. All profit will be given to the needs of Medicins Du Monde in Greece http://mdmgreece.gr/en/ for the help they provide to Syrian refugees who come to our shores these days trying to be saved from the war in Syria. A copy of the donation's receipt will be provided to the buyer of the matchbox and to our fabulous Etsy Greet Street Team who organizes the action: http://etsygreekstreetteam.blogspot.gr/2015/09/egst-for-good.html

Have a lovely day, 
Aleka

Paper and clay

Working on googly eyed owls from clay, I want to figure out some details before I can turn them into a listing. Also working on a new matchbox, soon to be in the shop, I have to admit it's turning out to be one of my favorites :-)
Enjoy your weekend,
Aleka

Work in progress

A small break turned out into a bigger one but that's life I guess :-)
The steps of making my All You Need matchboxes in green, now they are traveling to meet their new owner!

Hope you are having a lovely week,
Aleka

More matchboxes

My latest matchboxes: a summery one and a very literal one :-)
And a cute giveaway on facebook from SockoolCreatures!
Wishing you a lovely weekend,
Aleka

In progress

The uninspired phase has passed, I am actually working on a few projects at the same time! Too bad the weather is so moody I can't take good photos. Anyway here is a sneak peek of the new designs for my tiny matchbox dioramas :-)

Hope you're having a lovely day,
Aleka

Matchboxes

All the matchboxes I've made so far :-)
Some are already in the shop, the rest I have to photograph and add to the section.

Hope you had a great weekend!
Aleka

Work in progress

I've been working on new paper matchbox dioramas, very summery aren't they?

A lovely giveaway right here!
Wishing you a lovely day,
Aleka

Tuesday's Pick: Paperiaarre

Hi there!
This Tuesday's pick is another one of my favorite shops that uses paper: Paperiaarre, which means "a paper treasure" in Finish (how fantastic is that?). Kaija is the creative force behind the shop, she makes the most beautiful journals and also the most surprising, original little matchbox art boxes.
Some of my favorites:

Coptic journal with antique cabinet photo

A book of good things pt2

Letters to you - Matchbox art

Letters to you - Matchbox art

I need a little privacy journal

You can find out more about Kaija and her work by following her blog, which is filled with the most lovely photos and also read her featured seller interview on Etsy!
Wishing you a wonderful week,
Aleka