Drive-By Shooting...Karlovasi

Over a month ago I did a drive-by in Karlovasi, a town about 15 minutes from Ambelos and one of the bigger cities of Samos Island. There's an area that is a treasure trove of amazing old houses. A quote from Wikipedia..."Karlovasi is a town with a rich history in culture and in commerce, being a flourishing tannery and tobacco manufacturing centre in the early 1900s. Many magnificent neoclassical mansions can be seen from that period as well as the remains of the large stone-built factories at the "Ormos" seaside."

Driving along the beachside of Karlovasi, these are the old tanneries.

I liked this staircase but i had to get the picture quick, someone was coming out the door downstairs!

The mutherload of all old houses. I felt like I hit the jackpot on this one!

Whoever lives here, please paint and do some yardwork! what a shame.

This one is being gutted and fixed.

A close-up of one of the tanneries

Even through this tacky paint job, I see tons of potential!

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Tacky paint!

St. Nicolas church

Tutorial/Tip -saving time on onion cutting

Cutting onions always makes me cry. I've tried everything they say to prevent it. Anyhoo, I now do this process and I save time and tears everytime I cook a meal!

Cut up in processor

Divide and bag them up

I put mine in a plastic container and put straight into my freezer

You're done! Either thaw or place straight into cooking pan when ready!

Dresses for your Diva

These are the styles I'm making in girl dresses so far 1-5T...... More to come soon!

One-Shouldered cinched waist with elastic and ruffle collar, the Diva Dress 15Euros

The Kimono Dress with or without ruffled collar  20Euros

Another color combination of the Kimono Dress

The Lola Dress with velcro closure and ruffled front 15 Euros

The Lola Dress without the ruffled front

Fabrics

Fabrics

Here are some of my fabrics I have on hand. Most I have brought back from the States. Some I have a lot of, and some I have in limited quantities. Please message me for details....

6. heavy cotton 7. light cotton (really pretty) 8. light cotton with butterflies 9. heavy cotton

21. cotton 22. flimsy cotton 23. orange flowers, light linen 24. grey light linen 25. mod light sateen

26. red saten 27. light saten 28. yellow/orange flowers saten 29. purple saten 30. light cotton peacocks

The "Orange" Festival

Here in Samos on the south side of the island, there are a million orange trees. They are the juiciest oranges you'll ever try in your life. They are better than the oranges in Florida, I swear. (I have been to Florida and tried the oranges, so I can say that!) This year, the village of Mili decided to have an orange festival/bazaar and invited everybody to come drink free fresh orange juice, the ladies of the village made pastries, cakes, marmalades and gave them out for free. The village's streets were lined with orange balloons. There was a long table with activities for the kids to do, bead-making, painting, drawing, noodle necklace making, and there were others, like me, who got the chance to show off what we make in our free time. There was tons of jewelry, soaps, and candle makers. There was also an area that had free stuff (mostly clothes) for people that needed items they maybe didn't have. The weather was beautiful and we had a great day!!!

The snack/sweets table, YUMMY!

 Craft table

Kid's craft table

My stand!

Bead Necklaces, bibs, diaper cakes, a little of everything!

Not for sure, but someone told me they were selling oranges for 40cents a kilo, that's about 20 cents a pound if I am not mistaken!

Drive-By Shooting

New pictures of AWEsome houses! The other day I took Makis to daycare and had a whole 6 hours to walk around Samos Town, so I went shopping and shot some houses. This post should really be called "walk-by shooting" but whatever! Here goes....

The first house I came across on my walk. LOVE the colors, but wouldn't have the guts to this myself!

What a shame, this house is ready to fall down!

Love the balcony...

The stone work is to die for, and I love the color red!

Found this house at the end of a road, this house has an amazing view...but deserted.

"Snake" road? um, no thank you!!

It was a beautiful day, this was the view!

My feta cheese pie was so good I took a picture of it! (hey, I had 6 hours to kill, I was bored!)

One of these days I'll make it to "Ano Vathi" I'd love to get lost in these narrow streets where the houses were built away from the harbor to protect the people from pirates. Hundreds of old house here.  Stay tuned!

Hand-Made Craft Fair

I've been busy these past few weeks getting ready for a craft fair here in Samos. I've been making dresses, greeting cards, necklaces, etc. Here's a few pics of what i've been working on....

from this.....

to this!

Re-fashioned Abercrombie skirts I've added vintage trim and flowers to

Loopy skirts for toddlers from 2T-4T

Little girl dresses for 12months to 5T

Greeting cards made on my sewing machine

Bead Necklaces

So I just found out the bazaar might not happen after all, so I will probably list most of these items in my Etsy shop. I'm crossing my fingers it goes on after all, there are so many talented ladies in Samos..stay tuned!!!