A dreamy world: Mondays

We've heard pretty crazy rumors about Mondays, almost everyone says they're bad news after the weekend. We're wondering how can they be trouble when in fact they're just like any other day of the week only they're the first to start the fun. For instance, today you can:

Be in love with spring

Get close to someone you love

Share a smile + kiss (You already smiled today?)

Wear your favorite hat!

Have a fun week!

Tag post, I haz it

Hi, cats.

We got tagged by Anca in a challenge to answer questions she made up + to invent others and pay it forward to more beautiful people. So here goes, but first we need to state out the rules:

1. Post the rules.
2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things - I'd say that the 11 things part can be optional.
3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you’ve tagged them.

And here are the questions I answered:

1. What's your favorite dish, that you can cook/make?
I could eat pasta with mostly every known vegetable combo, day + night.

2. If you had to pick a color that best represents your personality, what would it be?
I love all colors, can't choose one.

3. Where is your dream holiday destination?
Maybe Jamaica or an island somewhere. Climbing the mountains sounds awesome too, in fact every holiday can be a dream holiday.

4. What's your guilty pleasure book?
Paulo Coelho books. Yep, I know.

5. If you were a superhero, what name would you choose for yourself?
I already chose: it's Kittn!

6. What's your number one item you never leave the house without?
I guess practical stuff like phone, key, wallet, etc.

7. What was your first job?
I had a summer job in a Latino disco in the year 1999. I worked as a bartender, not as a dancer f.y.i.

8. If you had a time machine, where is the first place you would go?
This reminds me of an old notebook with questions we used to pass on from one to another in the primary school - my answer to this question would be (then and now) nothing, I would live the present.

9. What's your favorite clothing item/accessory?
Here at Kittn we think the t-shirt is the most comfortable and versatile piece, but we also love dresses a lot, although we almost have none. Both dresses and t-shirts.

10. What is your all time favorite fairytale/children story?
I must admit I don't have, I was more likely to invent one.

11.What's your favorite movie/TV show villain?
Oh, this is a tough one. It took five minutes too think... I used to watch a cartoon series named Hello Sandy Bell, a long time ago. In this story the villain was another girl, Kitty who chased Sandy trying to stop her from achieving her dreams, when in fact it turned out Kitty was too a good person who just needed a bit of attention.

I hope you enjoyed it, and now for the questions I tag I heart colorz, Cinnamon, Miss Babacilu, The dreamer, and Sydney, but you are free to take the assignment if you feel like:

1. What would you write on the front of your T-shirt?
2. How about on its back?
3. Tell me three things that make you smile.
4. Did you smile already?
5. What is your favorite hobby?
6. One thing you would change about yourself?
7. One thing you would change about the world?
8. Do you believe in magic?
9. Which is your favorite season + how does it make you feel?
10. Write three words that describe your room.
11. Which is your favorite desert?

Our new workspace

Olá cats. It may seem I neglected TAD for a few days, but I haven't. Honestly. We've been completing bigger projects (with many singing-for-the-baby breaks) and when I say bigger I'm just talking size, like arranging kittnish things in a workspace.

First off we hacked the dusty old curtains of our landlady hoping she would like the change so much she wouldn't complain. Then, after painting a wall pink I realized it's not my color, so I made it red the next day. I don't know if it was for Valentine's Day or not, but here it is, plain red.

So little by little our workspace is coming to life. I wanted to share with you, even though it's not finished yet. I will add a few paintings, cards maybe, a wall organizer + I'll try to always stash keep cookies nearby. The personal touch will come in time, for sure.

I had a bit of time to sketch how fashion was in the year 1969, but more about that in a future post so be around. Lots of kisses until then and have a great week!

How to make a baby girl t-shirt

Today's post is about creativity.

Transform, innovate + actually do the whole process, not just have an idea. I hope we lose the fear of making mistakes, let ourselves free and create. Oh, and it's OK if we don't start from scratch (we won't invent the wheel again - darn it - but we will certainly build it better, give it other use or make it nicer, which is equally important).

So grab a t-shirt (new or older, for you or loved ones), pieces of fabric, scissors, needle, thread + other accessories like pom-poms, buttons, bows, anything will do.



Cut a heart shape both from the original t-shirt and fabric. Sew the new heart on the t-shirt.



Draw on another piece of fabric using textile acrylics or markers. It can be anything and the only skills you need are joy + love. Sew over the heart.

Tadaaa! One of my best friends is expecting the loveliest baby girl so I made this t-shirt for her (there is a whole meaning behind the use of a panda bear). I hope she'll like it...

... and I hope you too have an awesome session of creating, I promise you will feel great!

Olá, Portugal! :-)

Kittns have never been good with numbers or calculations, that is an indisputable truth. Because of that it looks like we're going to live in sunny Portugal for a bit more time. Oh, and remember those soapy reality people I was telling you about? They disappointed us even more, but we're cool cause we've also made mistakes in life and probably disappointed others, to whom we meow for forgiveness.

Being here won't be so bad actually, as the view is great anywhere you look. And if it's meant to be, who knows what goodies are set aside for kittns...



So yesterday we found ourselves in the touristic part of Cascais, heading to Boca do Inferno to see furious waves striking from the deep bottom of a chasm up to the rocky cliffs on the shore.



The show the waters put on is amazing, especially because it's completely natural + in such contrast with the stillness of the horizon. Just like a huge problem for us means nothing in another part of the world...



Then we put our feet back on the ground and went to check the almost traditional artisanry which locals showcase nearby...



... but bought just Suspiros (eng. sighs), delicious meringues that really make you sigh after you have a bite. When I was able to use reason again I thought, please somebody stop me.



Today is very windy and I probably won't wander around, but I promise I will continue to show sights. Meanwhile have a stirring weekend, brave friends!

So many people to hug, so little time

At a job interview:
- What salary are you thinking of, the employers would ask.
- Well, I just need each day to be heartfelt and humanly sincere, I would reply.
- Is that it?
- Yes, I will work for hugs.

Available here.

One more free card

Right click. Save. Send (to the cutie you like). Start a conversation. The end. The beginning!

Freebies!

In this post I am glad to present you some e-cards that I've been drawing... not only they are very cute but they're absolutely free!
You can safely save them in your computer (good old fashioned right click, save image as) and send them to your loved ones: so far you have three friendship/love cards and a thank you note, but there will be more to come, I promise.
Meanwhile, you can leave your feedback about the freebies or even if you have ideas of your own that you want to illustrate.
Come on, let's bring a smile to someone today! :-)

Baixa - Chiado, Lisboa.

Big plans today: I woke up at 5 a.m. in order to get in time for goodies at Feira da Ladra, Lisbon's flea market. The market is on from dawn till evening, but it's in the early morning when you can find, for example, cool shoes for €5. Well, a 30 minutes train ride and one bus ride later, I found out the market was only held on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Hello sunshine, hello Cristina...
Very well, I said, it was about 7.30 a.m. so I could feel the city waking up. I love mornings with their promises of new beginnings, with inviting smells coming from the bakeries about to open, that soapy clean scent on the streets... Except on Sundays, when the city looks like it's deserted! :-)

I'll have fun anyway, I said to myself as I started to walk uphill to Chiado, a fashionable area filled with cafes, restaurants and shops, the place where all the parties start. (A Brasileira cafe right next to Chiado subway stop is a very famous meeting place, for example.)


Nothing was open, not even H&M (why, why?) so I walked further down to Baixa (more closed restaurants and shops), ending with Praça do Comércio which opens with a beautiful view of River Tejo.
A cool thing about Lisbon is the contrast between its vast squares and narrow streets. It's an adventure walking up and down, getting a glimpse of daily life - like neighbors in front of the local bar whistling the day away, clothes hang to dry at each window or seeing some fragile tree just burst out and growing from a stone wall and everything just quivering of life - and then arriving in a huge square that's monumentally still. You really have to experience it!

It was noon already so I decided to head home - not before buying The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (yay, I found an open shop). I tried to take photos using the self-timer function (as no one was around), but this is what I got:

Nevertheless I hope you enjoyed reading about early morning trips to Lx (short for Lisbon) and I wish you a fun week ahead!
(Feira da Ladra, I'll be back.)

How to... create rainbows.

The weather has put my place-a-day adventures on hold for a while, as it rained heavily for the past few days - it stopped now and it's sunny again so I will be on the road again next week.
The good news is I had some time to experiment with tie dyeing, a technique which in the end proved to be so easy to do and - in the spirit of the late 60s, when it became fashionable in the west -very addictive. :-)
You need a t-shirt, plastic boxes (one for each color that you use), rubber bands, textile paint.
I used my usual textile paints which I had to dilute with water so they lost their brightness and became pastels. Powder textile pigments are better for tie dyeing as the color stays intense and make the patterns more spectacular, I will surely use them next time.

First you have to spray water on the t-shirt to make it easier to roll (yep, in the same 60s spirit). Then you pinch the t-shirt where you want the center of a spiral to be and start to twist it slowly. Once you twist the t-shirt patiently arranging the folds and the margins, you wrap the rubber bands around it to help keep it in a tight shape.

You sink the roll for app. 2 minutes in the previously diluted paint then let it dry for at least 24 hours (if you work with powder pigments that need preparation not dilution, rinse with water after they're dry and iron them at high temperature).
You can make different designs by changing the pinch, the twists and the colors. I can't wait to experiment with brighter pigments, but until then here is the rainbow... after rain:

PS. Accessorize with a big flower brooch and a carefree attitude!

Carcavelos beach.

I wasn't in the best shape today so I made a quick run at the beach, this time the biggest one on the coast. If you are visiting from Lisbon you must know that it's situated between Parede and Oeiras train stops and it's about one km away from the station. The beach is a favorite place for surfers and others that spend quality time here all throughout the year.



If you go all the way at the end of the boardwalk you'll find a very impressive sight: a 16th century fort called Forte de São Julião da Barra, which marks the mouth of river Tejo. It's the biggest marine fortification in the country and it served to protect the river entrance from enemy ships. I hear it's currently the residence of the Ministry of Defense, so same old same old :-)



I hope you find the beach nice and the information useful. Have an excellent week!

Cascais-Estoril boardwalk.

If you visit Portugal this time of year be prepared to be amazed by the flowers: an explosion of colors on a green and blue background is all around. You don't need to visit the botanical gardens to take your share of oxygen and beauty, you can just walk the streets.
And the perfume, oh my, I don't know if it's because I quit smoking (since January) and my senses came back to normal (or maybe it's the pregnancy), but I feel I'm going crazy with these wonderful scents of roses and many many more flowers and trees.



I always loved yellow roses (and yellow flowers in general) and today, while taking a break from walking, I sketched some fabric designs that I will show soon.



So today I walked from Parede to Cascais and I guess there where app. ten km from which four or maybe five where just the actual boardwalk that connects Cascais and Estoril, two very touristic suburbs of Lisbon.





The boardwalk (paredão) twists and turns parallel with the railway and of course, the ocean. If the salty fresh air has caused you an appetite you can brunch, lunch, dinner or just have a snack at one of the many restaurants. They are charming and the service is great, but they're a bit expensive for my budget so I prefer to have a homemade sandwich and fruit in my backpack.



You can lay on one of the small beaches around or get fit and healthy using the outdoor gear available (with instructions). If you feel like exercising even more you can rent (for free) a bicycle from one of the stands in Cascais - you can bike all year on the boardwalk, except when touristic season starts and it becomes forbidden (the place gets very crowded). Oh, before I forget, water sports are available for learning and practicing, especially surfing.



A very good option is to just sit somewhere, maybe on the sand, maybe on a bench along the way, and do nothing. But you have to do it properly: no thinking, no moving, just stop and breathe.

Hope you enjoyed our walk!