Mercy and Justice

In late 1970s a group of artist of Lomonosov's factory started a new project. The goal was to  create porcelain copies of the statues from  the Summer Garden Park in St. Petersburg. The Summer Garden was largely completed in 1719. The walks were lined with a hundred allegorical marble sculptures, executed by Francesco Penso, Pietro Baratta, Marino Gropelli, Alvise Tagliapietra, Bartolomeo Modulo and other Venetian sculptors.

  It took almost 2 decades to complete the project. 
The figurines "Mercy" and "Justice" were created in 1999 by artist Olga Belova-Veber   at  Lomonosov Factory. LFZ is the first in the country to have worked out technology and set up production of thin-walled bone china items which are notable for enhanced whiteness, thinness and transparency in comparison with traditional hard porcelain. All figurines were made out of white unglazed porcelain and have a great decorative look.

First Baby Cashmere Collection

First Baby Cashmere Collection by woolsolution on Polyvore

Pure Cashmere Baby / Newborn / Infant / Boy / Girl by ybknot
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Hand Knit All Seasons Cashmere Baby Blanket Frill by woolsolution
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Hand Knit All Seasons Cashmere/Cotton Baby Girl by woolsolution
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How to create a knitting chart using MacBook's Numbers

I like or would say prefer working with schematics in my knitting projects. Mostly I use well known and documented patterns and some times I need to design my own which specifically has to feet to the garment. In this case I use Numbers (a part of iWork package on MacBook). Newly designed charts are easy-to-read and easy-to-store. I guess it could be done in Excel as well.
First I select plane table and re-size all columns, second I use symbols and background colors for the stitches identification and third and last I add a description and save it.

Here is a screen shot of the Numbers with a chart what was translated into a border for a baby blanket

                                                                                                                                                                             

Design with Nature - Natural Compositions in a Woodland Setting

If you are looking for new ideas you are in a right place. Here I'll show how to use a natural birch bark to create a cuff with a distinctive rustic look.

Materials needed:      

- birch bark 

- moss

- floral foam

- floral tape

- foil or plastic wrap

- rubber bands

- floral pins

Let's start. Cut floral foam in a form of cube. Wrap the cube in foil or plastic leaving the top open  and stick ends down with a scotch tape.

Clean bark with brush and warm water and have it enough to wrap the perimeter of the cube securing it with floral pins   as you can see on pictures. Mount moss on a top using pins. And the base is ready for fresh flowers.                                                                 

 

This base is perfect for medium to small flowers fresh -cut or dried. This natural compositions in a woodland setting will create a focal point in the any rooms, draw a lot of attention.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/07/17/1352784/new-white-house-florist-shows.html#storylink=cpy

High-End Flower Arrangement

Decorating with nature doesn't have to be difficult - use your intuition  to arrange gorgeous bouquets. This type of flowers design is suitable for any occasion. First I'd found a medium to small size oak log and carefully separated bark from the wood. I'd used actinidia branches to secure  the bark.  With the sharp knife end drilled few holes in a bark and filled the bark shell with a floral foam. The base construction is over. 

 

    

 The next steps are:

   -  mount moss on a floral foam and fix it with floral pins

   -  make deep holes with a stick for flowers

   -  cut stems and carefully insert flowers in prepared holes

Water well and drain excessive water, clean with a paper towel bottom and it's ready to serve as a center piece for the holiday dinner.

Who is I.M. or L.M.?

At the time when this card was written the city name was Constantinople. Why Atatürk renamed the city?

Encoded "Get Well..." Message from Constantin Astori

C.Astori worked as an art restorer for Smithsonian Institution and Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum. In 1940 he was commissioned to paint a mural (flying reptiles) for American Natural Museum in New York. This mural is still over the stairs in the museum. Later in 1970 this mural was used in the album cover of Dinosaur Swamps by the band called the Flock (band). He participated in various art shows but never realized his dream of becoming a famous artist. His art work can be found in private collections and art dealers internationally.
Here is a "Get Well..." card from Mr. Astori to his friend written in an encrypted form (Rebus). Try to decrypt it!