dreaming....

dreaming of Hungary while I work on my next collection...

caught in a storm

Saturday night I went out with a friend of mine to a "kert".  Kert is Hungarian for garden.  During the summer, these garden bars pop up in the courtyards of old abandoned buildings.  Below are the photos of the one we went to on Saturday, called Fogas Kert.  Halfway through a glass of wine, a huge thunderstorm came.  Evi and I were at a table that was under the scaffolding.  We barely stayed dry.  I took some photos before and during the storm  They had some funky lights so the photos turned out really cool!  (No photo editing was done to these!)

Before the storm.

 It rained hard!

Hungarian design books

I had a birthday over a week ago...a big one...I wasn't too excited to leave my 30's, but 40 is treating me OK so far.  I was treated to dinners and lunches by so many friends.  It was actually pretty great to see so many people in a week.  Still feeling the love:)  

My friend Fiona bought be a birthday gift that I still am gushing over!  It is 2 BIG books filled with a ton of smaller books.  Each small book is focused on the drawings for the folk clothing of the different regions of Hungary.  Truly amazing, right?  I need to buy some binders and large plastic sheets to protect all the drawings.  I can see them getting dirty and torn from over-use:) 

all the "pages" in the inside of the small books are A3 drawings

"The Books"

Contents of 1 book.

Each separate book has a nice pattern on the outside with the name of the region.

Hungarian jewelry designer - Krisztina Stomfai

I kinda have a big birthday coming up this weekend.  In an early gift to myself I bought a ring from local Hungarian designer, Krisztina Stomfai .  I have had my eye on this ring for over a year.  When I went to WAMP last weekend and saw she was at the show and selling the exact ring in the exact size for tiny finger I felt it was meant to be.  I love that this ring is one solid piece of metal-how cool is that!  

Krisztina Stomfai

stomfai.krisztina@gmail.com

These are some of her other designs that I think are adorable!

weekend escape

Thermal baths, massage, amazing dinner buffet, a good book and 2 friends.  A much needed break from the city.  No computer, no sketchbook and no deadlines. A weekend at Hotel Palota in Lillafured.

Cool breeze, warm sun, private balcony and a good book.

Lillafured (photo taken from the website.  the hills were not this green yet.)

the lake

finding inspiration in the decorative lights

a leisurely walk through town brought us to this amazing gate.

stain glass windows surrounded us at lunch everyday

a stop in Mezőkövesd on Easter Sunday.  crafts and folk dancing.

Szentendre - a short trip out of town

Sunday I headed to Szentendre with some friends.  We were heading to a design market.  It was so nice to get out of the city.  A few things caught my eye....

What a great sign with little birds and flowers and even a nice script font.

A yummy cake shop:)

I do love doors with texture and color.

 Beautiful ornate cross in the center of town

side streets

At the market we visited my friend and fellow silk painter Nora Hoover.

 I love these pillows!  Silk painted and embellished with felt and thread.  The colors and simplicity of these are so modern!

 If your interested in seeing more of Nora's work you can email her at hoover@t-online.hu

fabrics and folk costumes

Saturday I went to the National Táncház Festival and Fair in Budapest.  There festival was focused on dancing but the big surprise for me was the amazing flea market in the downstairs level.  I was smart to bring limited cash or I would have gotten into some trouble.  Why you ask?  The whole market was old textiles - mostly old folk costumes - in beautiful fabrics!  I did sneak in a few photos.

I learned these fabrics were made in Slovakia from a factory that no longer exists.  Sad.

Piles and piles of skirts and jackets.

I love this black and white with pops of pink and turq!

Love this photos of the two ladies in headscarves.

I was eying this jacket and skirt the whole time.  I love the yellow with pink and blue flowers!  So much color.  And check out the embroidered red floral belt to the left.

I am so glad I went.  There was so much inspiration especially for color.

a day at the museum

Last Friday I headed to the museum with my dear friend Fiona.  We went to the Museum of Ethnography in Budapest.  Specifically to see their current exhibition on rugs.  The below was taken from their website...

"The exhibition in the Museum of Ethnography, part of the Uplifting Century national series of programmes, presents rugs made in peasant households in the light of and together with the efforts made in the late 19th century to promote home industry. Throughout Europe measures were taken to promote home industry as a way of helping women to earn an income from their handwork and rise out of poverty (training workshops were set up, courses launched, weaving looms allocated, pattern sheets distributed, exhibitions and bazaars organised).

The exhibition shows the efforts for integration that were made throughout the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in its multiethnic richness: besides Romanian hand-woven rugs from Maramures, Serbian, Romanian, Croatian and Bulgarian rugs from the Banat and Vojvodina, there are also woven rugs 'festékes' of the Székelys from Transylvania and Bukovina, illustrating the great variety of these objects, their technical and functional similarities and differences. "

I love the old photos of people and their homes.  Notice the rugs are on the beds.

The exhibit was fantastic!  Below are a few photos.

My two favorite rugs from the exhibit.  The colors were amazing!

I had to take a photo of this very old "CAD" for my textile friends.  Check out the color chips at the bottom...not much has changed except we no longer do this by hand.

And my photos would not be complete without a few photos of the building-amazing.

 

a few of my favorite things

My BFF was visiting last week and while I was playing "show & tell" with Budapest I started to notice details in buildings that I have never noticed.  Here are a few of my favorites.  This is why I love this city!