Valentine's Pop-Up Shop

Love is in the air and Valentine's Day is slowly approaching.
I am very excited to say that valeasc treats will be displayed and available to buy at the lovely Valentine's Pop-Up Shop organised by The Create Place this Saturday, February-5th, from 10am to 5pm. Make sure to pop by, lots of wonderful handmade gifts and cards to choose from, your beloved ones deserve the best!

Valentine's Day - My fabric cards

And now, my cards...

{Two Hearts}

{Strawberry Heart}

{Love Set}

Do you like them?

New at valeasc

It's a lovely Sunday morning, it's very sunny out and I feel regenerated after a long night sleep. Rob is not feeling well these days, unfortunately, so we are home resting. I take this opportunity to update my etsy shop.

I have just listed two new items, go have a peak! The gift tags are a colour variation of my quite popular red and white, balsa wood gift tags. Do you like them in lilac too? While the pom poms and doilies cards are something I have had in mind for quite a while but I had never had the time to work on. What do you think? Aren't they super sweet? They would be lovely for a baby shower, don't you think?

Happy Sunday to you all!

Who am I?

Lately I have been asking myself this question every day, and every day more than once...

Paradoxically, when I was younger I used to know exactly who I was, what I wanted to do in life and how I would achieve my goals. With time, things have become less and less clear and sometimes I feel stuck. When people ask who I am and what I do I find myself quite confused. I used to answer easily to these questions by proudly saying: I am a Classicist or more specific, I am a Latinist. But am I, really? I have been studying Classics since I can remember: I attended a Liceo Classico and studied Classics at univ in Italy, I then moved to the UK and took a master in Classics and finished a PhD in Classics. But what do I do now? I work at the Centre for e-Research at King’s College London and none of my daily tasks have anything to do with Classics. I haven’t looked at a Latin text for years; in fact, I doubt I can even remember any Latin. And the funny thing is: I would have never thought I would miss Latin but somehow I do. When I was younger I thought I would be an academic at some point in my life, a Latin Professor indeed; I knew I wanted to teach and I knew that I wanted to take research for the rest of my life.

My PhD experience certainly made me change my mind. I didn’t love taking research as much as I thought I would and I didn’t enjoy the academic life that much. I often felt lonely in the library and in a city far away from my family and closest friends. During my third year as a PhD student I got terribly depressed. I fought my depression dedicating myself to several hobbies and that’s when I started my little stationery business, valeasc. So Valentina was my serious half and valeasc my artistic alter ego. With time I have discovered the more creative side of myself and now I feel the urge to create on a regular basis.

However, while I love having my tiny flat full of colourful papers and fabrics instead of just books and journals and photocopies, I am now more confused than ever. Who am I? What do I really want to do with my life? And, is it too late to change my path?

Christmas Markets

Yesterday valeasc had its first appearance in the Christmas Markets world and it was absolutely fantastic!

I took the afternoon off to make sure I'd be ready for the fair. I tried the table set-up at home and made a couple of changes until I was 100% satisfied with it. And then I burned my advent candle and left everything on the table as I wasn't sure the fair was indeed going to happen. It had been snowing for hours and there was no sign it would cease anytime soon. Both Rob and I called the organisers and the school where it was going to be held many times and every time we got the same response: Yes, of course! So, I patiently packed all my goodies in my lovely, big, white basket and booked a taxi.

We arrived at St. John's School in Highbury around 5.00; the market would start at 6.30, so we were quite early. That was the only time we could find a taxi available, the snow really paralises this city! When we got there, there were already a couple of other stallers and we started getting organised. We picked our table next to the heater, which turned out to be a very wise choice! The tables were much much smaller than I thought but I used the basket as an extension, so it wasn't a big problem, really.

Rob and I didn't expect anybody to turn up, instead, despite the weather, people started gathering around the school as soon as the doors opened and people kept coming and going all night long. I sold several things and had a lot of fun! My best sellers of the night were the little white crocheted doilies, hardened and tied with red and white polka-dots ribbons and the felt decorations. Definitely a lovely night!

Now, I look forward to my next fair on Saturday the 11th at Christ Church, Highbury. See you there!

October Giveaway

Can you believe it's already October? Where did Summer go? I want it back!!!
Today the sky in London could not be grey-er and more depressing and it has been raining since early this morning. I need something to cheer me up!

As promised a little while ago, it is now time for another valeasc giveaway.
It's almost that time of the year again and since I am getting ready to go to The States, I thought it would be appropriate to devote this month giveaway to halloween.
So here it is for you: a set of six happy halloween cards. from my little shop . The cards feature an original valeasc design, printed both on front and back, while the inside is left blank for your own message.

Not so much into ghosts and monsters but still a big fan of halloween? These cards may be for you then!

For a chance to win please do one (or more) of the following things:
1) follow my blog
2) leave a comment to this post
3) follow me on twitter (valeasc)
4) tweet about it (and let me know!)

All by Wednesday 6th. The winner will be randomly selected and announced on Thursday morning.

Good luck!!

Giveaway Heaven

{photo from this lovely etsy shop}

Hi folks!

Here are some good news for you. I have recently been contacted by the good people at giveawayscout.com

We all love giveaways, don't we? And now it is easier that ever to spot them! So, if you are looking for giveaways, look no further! Just visit and subscribe to giveawayscout.com

I also would like to take this opportunity to announce that a new valeasc giveaway is scheduled to be posted very soon, so watch this space!

Not successful, but fun!

As some of you have been asking about last Saturday fair, I figured I would write a little post about it to sum up the events of the day.

As you all know, I was VERY VERY excited to be at this We Make London fair. It was my first experience and didn't really know what to expect.

Well, we booked a taxi to pick us up at 9.15am. The fair was held at Chelsea Old Town Hall, in King's Road and we live in the London Bridge area. It only took us 10 minutes to get there, so we decided to have breakfast, well our second breakfast, in a cafe' nearby. At 10.00 on the dot we are heading to the Hall. Lots of girls with big boxes and bags are all around, it's a sign that we are in the right place.

Chelsea Old Town Hall looks beautiful and there are so many crafters around, I am overwhelmed! And scared...I look around and all the stalls look so professionally set up, you can tell it's my first time! My supporters, Rob, Ilaria, Elena and Amy, keep telling me that my stall looks great but I can see the others, and they are better, much better! Lots of inspiration for next time :)

The weather was just glorious and as we feared, there were not many people around. I bet all Londoners were at the park! I would have gone to Regent's Park myself if I didn't have to be there! My good friends Mike and Natalie came by too, which was super nice, and it was very good to have a chat with them.

Despite the paucity of visitors and activity, the day went by very fast and I had lots of fun! I was very lucky to be surrounded by best friends and to have two lovely girls as neighbours, both stalls looked amazing. I met very talented artists and brilliant people. Didn't sell much but it was wonderful to be in such an inspiring place surrounded by beautiful handmade stuff.

I am now looking forward to the next one...

valeasc summer fair

Hi everyone!

I am delighted to invite you all to my first stall sale! My hobby is about to become more public! valeasc is taking part to the "We Make London" fair this June, in London. Details on the invite. If you are in London, please come by to say hello and show your support! If you are not in town, I would really appreciate if you could spread the word!

Many thanks,
Vale

I would like to hear from you

{16 gift tags}

{happy birthday cards}

{two birds love cards}

I have worked on a couple of new designs recently and would like to hear your comments.

Do you like them? All three are available to buy in my etsy shop, spread the world!

New Giveaway

{Picture taken with the help of my colleague and friend Mike Priddy. Check more of his work here.}

Yes, it's time for a new giveaway!
It has been a while since valeasc has offered a giveaway and thought this could be a good moment.

valeasc is happy to give away a set of six beautiful thank you cards. A modern, sleek and cute valeasc design is alchool-free printed on white, 350 gsm paper. Together with the cards you'll receive six matching brown-chocolate C6 envelopes.

More pictures here.

For a chance to win, please post about this on your blog, tweet, comment below and spread the word! You have time until March the 6th to leave me a comment. A winner will be chosen at random on Sunday the 7th.

Good luck!

Paper doilies

New at valeasc. Set of three colourful A6 folded cards embellished with white paper doilies. Available in my etsy shop.

Pictures taken with the help of my colleague and friend Mike Priddy. Check more of his work here.

colorsartz

Have you checked colorsartz yet? If not, what are you waiting for??
Artists, designers, musicians and photographers go have a look! valeasc is of course already a member!!

http://www.colorsartz.com/home.html

October Giveaway

It's time for another giveaway!
This month two friends of mine have told me to be pregnant, another one is due in a couple of months, and one is in the very process of giving birth now (Ele, this is for you!!).
So, this month's giveaway MUST be a set of congratulations cards!

The set consists of four cards, one pale pink, one light blue, one lime green and one lavender, each accompanied with a cream C6 envelope. The original valeasc design printed on the front is simple, yet elegant. Congratulations written in different colours: gray on pink, navy on light blue, purple on green and orange on lavender. See more pictures here.

For a chance to win this giveaway, leave me a comment by the 13th of November and tell me what you would use a congratulations card for these days... (please, leave an email address with your comment as well).
I will announce the winner on the 14th. Good luck!!

The cards are otherwise available in sets of 8 in my etsy shop.