I was lucky enough to photograph this dress on my friend Daria who visited me with her fiance yesterday morning. She is so pretty and my dress looks gorgeous on her!

Zippers are great to work with and I love making flowers from them. I like that the whole piece is sweet and romantic but has something masculine and somewhat military about it.

Here you'll find a rolled rose tutorial: http://portabellopixie.typepad.com/RolledRosesTutorial.pdf
(right click and "save as" to download)

I have lyme disease since this summer. I was bitten by a tick and not noticed it at first but one day I saw a tick bite on my leg, surrounded by a red ring which looked like a bullseye. In August I was diagnosed with Lyme disease and was prescribed doxycycline. I was given poor treatment by the specialist that I saw and and I still have Lyme and other co-infections including mostly pain in my knees. It hurts so badly today, like somebody twisted a knife in my knees. I guess I will have to cure myself. Medical care in my country is not that good...

I'm currently working on two dresses and I'm almost done! I used Kona Bay fabric squares I once purchased on Ebay, vintage cotton, chiffon and tulle. Magenta and black is very sexy!


Kona Bay fabrics are so beautiful! Their designs look so magical and they remid me of some old fairytales, asian myths and legends...

I love their outfit, these weird masks and hats! Creepy and fascinating! If you want to make me a gift for holidays, I want a plague doctor!





The Black Death was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. It is widely thought to have been an outbreak of bubonic plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, but this view has recently been challenged. Usually thought to have started in Central Asia, it had reached the Crimea by 1346 and from there, probably from black rats on merchant ships, it spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe's population, reducing the world's population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in 1400. This has been seen as creating a series of religious, social and economic upheavals which had profound effects on the course of European history. It took 150 years for Europe's population to recover. The plague returned at various times, resulting in a larger number of deaths, until it left Europe in the 19th century.



After 1350, European culture in general turned very morbid. The general mood was one of pessimism, and contemporary art turned dark with representations of death.

In retrospect, it seemed like everything the people thought to do at the time simply made the problem worse. For example, since many equated the plague with God's wrath against sin, and that cats were often considered in league with the Devil, cats were killed en masse. Had this bias toward cats not existed, local rodent populations could have been kept down, lessening the spread of plague-infected fleas from host to host.





The practice of alchemy as medicine, previously considered to be normal for most doctors, slowly began to wane as the citizenry began to realize that it seldom affected the progress of the epidemic and that some of the potions and "cures" used by many alchemists only served to worsen the condition of the sick. Distilled spirit, originally made by alchemists, was commonly applied as a remedy for the Black Death, and, as a result, the consumption of spirits in Europe rose dramatically after the plague. The Church often tried to meet the medical need.







A plague doctor's duties were often limited to visiting victims to verify whether they had been afflicted or not. Surviving records of contracts drawn up between cities and plague doctors often gave the plague doctor enormous latitude and heavy financial compensation, given the risk of death involved for the plague doctor himself. Most plague doctors were essentially volunteers, as qualified doctors had (usually) already fled, knowing they could do nothing for those affected.

Considered an early form of hazmat suit, a plague doctor's clothing consisted of:

* A wide-brimmed black hat worn close to the head. At the time, a wide-brimmed black hat would have been identified a person as a doctor, much the same as how nowadays a hat may identify chefs, soldiers, and workers. The wide-brimmed hat may have also been used as partial shielding from infection.

* A primitive gas mask in the shape of a bird's beak. A common belief at the time was that the plague was spread by birds. There may have been a belief that by dressing in a bird-like mask, the wearer could draw the plague away from the patient and onto the garment the plague doctor wore. The mask also included red glass eyepieces, which were thought to make the wearer impervious to evil. The beak of the mask was often filled with strongly aromatic herbs and spices to overpower the miasmas or "bad air" which was also thought to carry the plague. At the very least, it may have dulled the smell of unburied corpses, sputum, and ruptured bouboules in plague victims.



* A long, black overcoat. The overcoat worn by the plague doctor was tucked in behind the beak mask at the neckline to minimize skin exposure. It extended to the feet, and was often coated head to toe in suet or wax. A coating of suet may have been used with the thought that the plague could be drawn away from the flesh of the infected victim and either trapped by the suet, or repelled by the wax. The coating of wax likely served as protection against respiratory droplet contamination, but it was not known at the time if coughing carried the plague. It was likely that the overcoat was waxed to simply prevent sputum or other bodily fluids from clinging to it.

* A wooden cane. The cane was used to both direct family members to move the patient, other individuals nearby, and possibly to examine patients without directly touching them.

* Leather breeches. Similar to waders worn by fishermen, leather breeches were worn beneath the cloak to protect the legs and groin from infection. Since the plague often tended to manifest itself first in the lymph nodes, particular attention was paid to protecting the armpits, neck, and groin. It is not known how often or widespread plague doctors were, or how effective they were in treatment of the disease. It's likely that while offering some protection to the wearer, they may have actually contributed more to the spreading of the disease than its treatment, in that the plague doctor unknowingly served as a vector for infected fleas to move from host to host.

This one is going to be a head turner! Beautiful and soft velvet, delicate lace and the finest italian lace....

Ewa will be modelling for me as soon as I'm done with the new collection. She's very pretty (but modest) and we have already become friends.

This is the place where I do embellishments. It's always messy not because I don't have time to tidy up. When my desk is messy I find so many things to use in my crafts. If if was cleaned up, I probably wouldn't notice 90% of my supplies.

Tomorrow I'm going to learn how to make zipper flowers. I'd like to make a dress from a vintage cotton or spandex and adorn it with zippers. I guess I'm hooked!

The idea came from one of my dreams. Then I got down to work.

Sir Edward Brown is my favourite illustration so far. I want to make t-shirt in various sizes with this print and I'm thinking of similar bird dressed in royal robes.
I'd like to create a series of illustrations like this one and print them on t-shirts.

the Tower Gate called The Głogowska Tower is a gothic building from the XV century in which I have my so-called studio. This is the place where all my ideas and creations are born.

Yesterday I tried to create a Treasury on Etsy but I missed the opening so Id like to share my list here. All tese items were found using tags like: art deco, streamline, 20s, dieselpunk...

Today I wanto to write a bit about the city I live in. I moved here by the end of 2008 and settled in a small flat in the suburbs (near the copper works).



The city was formerly known in Polish as Lignica; it was officially renamed Legnica in 1946, after it had passed to Poland from Germany following World War II.

The city was only partly damaged in World War II. After 1965 most parts of the preserved old town with its precious town houses were demolished, the historical layout of a city was abolished and the city was rebuilt in modern forms.

My favourite districts and buildings are Tarninow (which is full of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco tenement houses and villas, as well as greenery, distinguishes itself as an exceptionally charming place) and the railway station designed byLudwig Mattheus.

From 1945 to 1990, during the Cold War, the headquarters of the Soviet forces in Poland, the so-called Northern Group of Forces, was located in the city. This fact had a strong influence on the life of the city. For much of the period, the city was divided into Polish and Soviet areas, with the latter closed to the public. These were first established in July 1945, when the Soviets forcibly ejected newly arrived Polish inhabitants from the parts of the city they wanted for their own use. The ejection was perceived by some as a particularly brutal action, and rumours circulated exaggerating its severity, though no evidence of anyone being killed in the course of it has come to light. In April 1946 city officials estimated that they were 16,700 Poles, 12,800 Germans, and 60,000 Russians in Legnica. The last Soviet units left the city in 1993.

My goal is to have an exhibition next year with some of my photos with the focus on modernist architecture in Legnica.

Etsy is an online marketplace for buying and selling all things handmade, with a mission of enabling people to make a living making things, and reconnecting makers with buyers. Many of the sellers on Etsy make items in their spare time while holding a nine-to-five job, but a few of them have been able to sell full-time on the site. Etsy’s blog features a section titled “Quit Your Day Job” with an inspiring series of interviews with sellers who have been fortunate enough to do just that!

I don't have a normal day job like most people. I work from home as a graphic designer but I don't find it 100% satisfying as most of my commissions are boring and clients can be very narrow-minded.
I enjoy reading etsy tips and hints from sellers who quit their jobs and one day I'd like to be able to devote myself to my own business, my own ideas and projects. If I had more time I could run a better store and come up with even better designs...

Streamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone, was a late branch of the Art Deco design style. Its architectural style emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements (such as railings and porthole windows). It reached its height in 1937.

Please check out this website: http://www.decopix.com/ and Hugh Ferriss prints

Streamline inspired me to create an illustration about Mr (ex) Velocipedist and his two sons.

I made this tress from 70s vintage fabric. It's so beautiful and rich in colors that it reminds me a lot of paintings by Gustav Klimt. I added golden buttons on the front and long vintage zipper on back.
This dress can be worn as a tunic over leggings or throw on your favorite boots!

Measurements:

waist: up to 40cm/16 inches
hips: up to 48cm/20 inches
Length 90cm/35.5 inches
Sleeve: 53cm/21 inches

All measurements are taken on garments laid flat (on one side)

Check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=30234302

My latest discovery is .... soldered jewelry!
I'm totally in love with all those stained glass pendants and what I like best is that you can put almost everything you like between the glass pieces. Check out these necklaces:

A happy customer is the most satisfying part of my business on Etsy. Today I've found out that my jacket was received by a girl as a 16th birthday gift and I was told that she was over the moon to have received it. Reading those fantastics comments from happy customers make me want to do more and more and more!
Today I've also created some discount coupons (5%, 10% and 15% off) for my customers to redeem at the store. I hope they will like this design as much as I do!

I'm currently working on a collection of clothes for steampunk and dieselpunk lovers. There will be skirts, dresses, shirts, jackets and accessories that will catch your eye and heart. I hope to finish before the end of August and already am eyeing some new projects to work on next!