Redefine and prioritize :: Redefinir e priorizar

As you probably know, I am a marine biologist working as a post-doctoral fellow at a portuguese university. This means that I have studied all my life, culminating last November, when I finished my PhD in marine ecology (just in case you're interested in learning more about my professional background, you can check my website).

Throughout my childhood and teen years, I always wanted to become a scientist -  and I did. I love my job and I wouldn't trade it for any other!

But my life does not spin around science, and I've always been involved in other activities, mostly sports and music (piano). About a year and a half ago, I discovered the amazing world of sewing and crafts. I fell in love with it and through many wonderful, inspiring blogs, I got myself really interested not only in living a handmade life, but I also realised how much I love interior decorating and photography. I opened my own Etsy shop with my sewn goodies and I have now this fantastic part-time activity - crafter.

In addition, I am a mother of two boys and a wife (well, it's a common-law marriage to be correct). I take care of my home and family, go to the gym, play the piano, have a full-time, demanding job, and I craft whenever I can - just because I like it and it makes me feel more fulfilled and plain happy. I'm obviously not in crafting for the money - as I said, I have a (payed) full time job that I love.

That being said, sometimes I regret not having enough time to craft more, to blog more, to take more pictures, to read more blogs, to learn more things other than phytoplankton ecology and ecophysiology (my research area)...

I want and try to do everything, but there are only 24 hours in the day and I do need to sleep at least 7 (how I envy those people who sleep only 3...). Many times I feel so overwhelmed with work and with all the other things going on in my life and I get easily frustrated for not being able to accomplish everything...

When that happens, I need to take a step back and stop, breathe, rest, stay at home for a day or two. I did it this week. I enjoyed my living room, the (hot) sun, and many, many cups of red tea. And then I'm again ready to redefine my goals and prioritize my actions and projects (now this looks like GTD talk - but, you know, I'm a GTD fan!).

So, enough with the smalltalk and let's get started with my priorities:

1. Family - no explanations needed, right?

2. Work - I just love it and it comes with a paycheck. However, we are constanlty being evaluated and it is not a permanent position, so I must work really hard to get there someday...

3. Gym - I just need it to feel healthy and full of energy.

4. Home renovations - when I finished the PhD, I started thinking about redecorating my home. It's a demanding project, though. A living-room, kitchen, office, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, three balconies, entryhall and corridor. This is one thing I'm going to share here in the blog, so stay tuned!

5. Piano - I love to play... and apparently my neighbours like to hear me playing, they say...

6. Crafting, blogging, photography - well, there's a lot to be said about this:

Crafting

Now I handmake everything I can for me, the kids, and my home. I love making bags, but I can not keep them all, so I sell them to friends, colleagues and on Etsy. It is not a means to make money, but to make someone else happy with a product that gave me so much pleasure to create.

Blogging

I learned everything I know about sewing on other blogs. So it is just fair that I give back something to the blogosphere. Besides, I love to write (although I'm more used to writing scientific articles, as you can see on my website) and to share my life with you - the same way I love reading about other people lives and be inspired by them.

Photography

I'm finding myself more and more into photography. I know very little about it, but I'm eager to learn (I always shoot in manual mode, though). Anyway, for me a blog post must always have two things: text and photos. So I hope to develop my photography skills in the future.

So, I guess these are my main activities and my priorities. Now the hard part is finding the right balance. More on that in a future post. 

Happy week, everyone!

(tradução para português em breve - é um post longo, desculpem, queridas leitoras portuguesas!)

Me elsewhere :: Eu noutros sítios

Hello dear friends! How are you today?

Just a quick note to let you know how happy I am because all of my sewing tutorials were featured on One Pretty Thing (you can find links for each one on the sidebar) and one of my photos appeared on IDA Interior Lifestyle. Thank you Rachel! Grazie Ilaria!

Olá amigos! Como estão hoje?

Apenas uma rápida nota para vos dizer como estou feliz porque todos os meus tutoriais de costura apareceram no site One Pretty Thing (podem encontrar os links para cada um aqui ao lado no sidebar) e uma das minhas fotos apareceu no blog IDA Interior Lifestyle. Obrigada Rachel e Ilaria!

A new sofa or an old sofa makeover? :: Um sofá novo ou uma renovação do sofá velho?

My old sofa has two problems: it is blue and it is ruined due to my cats' claws.

I was seriously thinking about getting a three-seat Ektorp with the Blekinge white cover, but on my last trip to Ikea I realised that the Ektorp sofa is a bit smaller than my old blue sofa. 

In addition, yesterday on One Pretty Thing I came accross with a tutorial on how to make a sofa slipcover - not that I need a tutorial to sew a slipcover, but I felt quite inspired by it. 

So now I'm thorned. I don't know whether to buy the Ektorp sofa or renovate my old, bigger sofa with white cotton canvas. It would be much more ecological to renovate the old one (and cheaper). What do you think?

O meu sofá tem dois problemas: é azul e está estragado devido às garras dos meus gatos.

Eu andava seriamente a pensar em comprar um sofá de 3 lugares Ektorp com a capa Blekinge branca, mas na minha última ida ao Ikea apercebi-me que o sofá Ektorp é mais pequeno que o meu actual sofá.

Ainda por cima, ontem no One Pretty Thing vi um tutorial sobre como fazer uma capa de sofá - não que eu precise de um tutorial para costurar uma capa, mas senti-me altamente inspirada!

Então, agora estou dividida. Não sei se hei-de comprar o Ektorp ou se renovo o meu sofá com uma lona de algodão branca. Seria muito mais ecológico renovar o sofá velho (e mais barato). O que acham?

Earrings

Good morning everyone! 

Just a quick post to introduce the new earrings I made for my Etsy shop. Well, I have to go to my tennis lesson now! See you later!

Bom dia a todos!

Um post rápido apenas para vos apresentar os novos brincos que fiz para a minha loja Etsy. Bom, agora tenho que ir para a minha aula de ténis! Até logo!

Me on One Pretty Thing

One Pretty Thing is a daily website authored by Rachel, dedicated to the best craft tutorials and DIY projects from the internet. My tote bag tutorial is featured on One Pretty Thing! Thank you, Rachel!

One Pretty Thing é um website diário escrito pela Rachel, dedicado a tutoriais e projectos DIY que se encontram pela internet. O meu tutorial de sacos em tecido apareceu ontem no One Pretty Thing! Obrigada, Rachel!

Changes :: Mudanças

Dear friends, I've been playing with blogger and exporting, importing and deleting blogs, so the previous posts may appear in a random order on google reader or other readers. Amazingly, I added the followers gadget from Sabrinas to this blog and I still have 120 followers! Despite what I wrote in the goodbye post from Sabrinas, of course of love knowing that there are some of you out there that like to read what I write. So, a big Thank You to you!

And before heading to the kitchen to cook lunch (I'm home today - I had a tennis match in the morning and I'll be working on a paper in the afternoon; by dinner time, I'll have to go to the lab do some lab work until late at night, so I decided to stay home during the day), let me show you how my living room looks today:

Queridos amigos, tenho andado a brincar com o blogger, a exportar, importar e apagar blogs, por isso não se espantem se os posts anteriores aparecerem fora de ordem no google reader. Surpreendentemente, adicionei o gadget dos seguidores das Sabrinas a este blog e fiquei com os meus 120 seguidores! Apesar do que escrevi no post do Adeus nas Sabrina, claro que adoro saber que há por aí algumas pessoas que gostam de ler o que eu escrevo. Por isso, um grande Muito Obrigada para todos vós!

E antes de ir para a cozinha fazer o almoço (hoje fiquei em casa - tive uma partidinha de ténis de manhã e vou trabalhar num artigo à tarde; à hora de jantar tenho que ir para o laboratório, onde vou ficar até às tantas, por isso decidi ficar em casa durante o dia), aqui ficam com uma foto da minha sala hoje:

Making earrings is fun and easy! :: Fazer brincos é giro e fácil

The other day I went to a store to buy earwire to fix some of my old earrings, and then I realised that this is an activity that I could further explore and thus go deeper into my creative skills. So yesterday I grabbed some old necklaces and made earrings out of them. And here they are! 

I wrapped the earrings so the hubby could take them to his work to show/sell (?) to his co-workers. I must take proper pictures, though, applying what I learned last year on the product photography course hosted by Diana S. Brennan.

Anyway, I'm not quite sure where to go from here - whether to try to sell them on Etsy or offline only, or whether I'll make more earrings or stop for now. Will see...

No outro dia fui a uma loja comprar arames para arranjar alguns dos meus brincos velhinhos, e apercebi-me que esta é uma área que eu podia explorar mais e assim usar a minha criatividade para outras coisas. Então, ontem peguei nalguns colares que já não uso e transformei-os em brincos. Aqui estão eles!

Embrulhei-os logo para o marido levá-los para o trabalho para mostrar/vender (?) às colegas. Tenho que tirar fotos decentes dos brincos, aplicando o que aprendi o ano passado no curso de fotografia de produtos com a Diana S. Brennan.

Seja como for, ainda não sei bem o que fazer a seguir - se vou tentar vendê-los na Etsy ou apenas offline, se vou fazer mais brincos ou se fico por aqui. Veremos...

Flickr favourites

Today, just a short post to let you know that I love Flickr and I could spend endless hours looking at beautiful, inspiring photos. Here are some of my favourite photos on Flickr. Please click on the links below to see the original photo and the photostreams of these amazing people.

1. Week 15: The life of a scientist, 2. Please come in!, 3. My room, 4. ..setting the table for breakfast..., 5. Untitled, 6. Untitled, 7. tea and doodles, 8. Kitchen view, 9. ~ you can actually "like" me* on FB, too ;) {*my blog}, 10. Week 11: Lookin' Out My Back Door, 11. Spring in the hallway, 12. home....., 13. Untitled, 14. Living room, 15. Untitled, 16. ~

Crochet additions to the bathroom

My friend and geologist colleague Ana makes beautiful things in crochet (for instance, the small white basket in the first picture is hers). 

Yesterday I got a set of seven facial scrubbies, a headband and a laundry net, all beautifully organized in a small basket that fits my small bathroom shelf. Lovely, indeed, don't you agree? 

I've already tried (many times really, starting in my childhood) to learn how to crochet, but I just can't do it... I'll stick with sewing - that I can! 

Anyway, Ana is considering opening an Etsy shop with all her crochet goodies - she has already found a cute name for her brand, very geology-like. I'll let you know when it opens!

A minha amiga e colega geóloga Ana faz coisas muitas giras em crochet (por exemplo, o pequeno cesto branco que está na primeira foto deste post foi ela que fez).

Ontem, recebi um conjunto de sete discos para limpeza facial, uma fita para o cabelo e uma daquelas redinhas para a máquina de lavar roupa, tudo muito bem organizado dentro de um pequeno cesto que cabe perfeitamente na minha pequena prateleira da casa de banho. Está o máximo, não acham?

Eu já tentei (demasiadas vezes, desde a infância) aprender a fazer crochet, mas simplesmente não consigo... Vou ficar-me pela costura, que isso sim, consigo fazer!

A Ana está a pensar abrir uma loja na Etsy com as suas peças - até já arranjou um nome muito giro para a loja, muito geológico... Quando abrir a loja, aviso!

How to make fabric bookmarks :: Como fazer marcadores para livros em tecido

Fabric bookmarks are another extremely easy sewing project and they make cute gifts!

All you have to do is grab 2 pieces of fabric (if the fabric is too light, you should add a layer of canvas as interfacing), choose the size for the bookmark and draw it on the fabric. Then sew all around the rectangle and finally trim the fabric with a zigzag scissors. Easy as that! Obviously, we can get creative and add details to the bookmark, but this is the basic idea.

Marcadores de livros em tecido são outro projecto de costura extremamente fácil e que dá prendas giras!
Basta pegar em 2 pedaços de tecido (se o tecido for muito fino, convém acrescentar uma camada de lona entre os 2 pedaços de tecido para conferir mais rigidez ao marcador), marcar as medidas que queremos para o marcador, fazer uma costura à volta do rectângulo, e por fim aparar o tecido com uma tesoura em zigzag, para o tecido não desfiar. Tão simples quanto isto! Claro que podemos ser criativos e acrescentar pormenores, mas a ideia básica é esta.