Mapano

Enjoy a visit to our featured Etsy shop Mapano http://www.etsy.com/shop/mapano. You will find amazing handcrafted 3D fabric flower wall art and fiber art creations!

"My name is Alessandra. I live in Italy, near Turin and I am a happy wife and a busy mom of two little girls tempted daily to stay in yoga pants. I'm crafter and creative and I like everything is original and unique.



Last year I opened my little shop on Etsy, MAPANO', with some creations entirely designed and assembled by me. I create 3D framed wall ornaments, home decorations, baby dummy keepers, hairbands and fiber jewelry decorated with delicate fabric flowers, copper spirals, beads and pearls.
Cotton, linen, silk and lace, but also twine and burlap are my favorite materials.

What's Mapanò?

MA, for MAMMA in Italian (mom in English)
PA, for PAPA' in Italian (dad in English)
NO, for NONNO in Italian (grandfather in English)
Mapanò is a project that includes ideas and skills of all three!
A beautiful way to live my family and create something unique with people I love!



Above all I love handmade because is free expression of own imagination and creativity. No one is able to handmake something like another one. All handmade creations are always unique and unrepeatable.

When I was just a little child, I started looking at my mother sew and it looked so funny! She taught me to use needle and thread and to create something new using only fantasy and my creativity.
My mother has been a big source of inspiration for me. Simple and always present, she taught me to be honest and to work hard and properly. She died 8 years ago after a long illness but she's always with me and in every smile of my daughters.

When I sew I lose my head and my imagination runs away in a romantic French cottage where I find my inspiration.I love everything is country style and rustic but elegant and chic likewise.

When I'm not creating fabric flowers, I love listen to music (Broadway musical soundtracks, in particular), eat and cook (maybe too much!!) and dance like a crazy with my little two daughters.

At this moment I not know exactly what the future holds for me.
I'll probably have to leave soon my full time job to follow my daughters (very very hard if your husband works far away all week long...), so it's possible that Mapanò, started like a creative hobby, will become a real job.I'm thrilled and scared at the same time!
I'd like to be a mom that reads a story to her daughters before to go to bed and then works until midnight sewing in the silence of the night! Wow!

Ways to contact me:
My Etsy shop www.mapano.etsy.com
E-mail geninatti.sandra@gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/pages/Mapanò/115077835271835
Twitter: @MapanoGeninatti
Pinterest: pinterest.com/mapano
Wanelo: wanelo.com/mapano

Thank you for letting me share my creations with you!"

Obsessed With Lumps & Bumps

Enjoy a visit to Fiberpuppy Designs http://www.etsy.com/shop/fiberpuppy/ ,

 a wonderful etsy shop where they specialize in unique handmade natural fiber items. Fiberpuppy Designs carry a number of different felted and non-felted wool accessories that would be sure to keep you warm on those cold winter days, or even spice up that special outfit.

Fiberpuppy is currently donating 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the black cat hat to Doctors without Borders to help the earthquake victims in Haiti.

by fiberpuppy

I seem to be obsessed with texture lately, lumps and bumps or smooth clean surfaces. Most of my pieces are created by first knitting then fulling (or creating felt) using hot water and agitation in the washing machine. One of the ways that I can create texture is by tying a small object into the knitted piece before it’s fulled. This method among others is known as shibori felting.

Because of my love of shibori, I seem to have turned into a pack rat collecting all kinds of small objects of various shapes and sizes. I use nuts, bottle caps even hair curlers. This combined with the fact that I usually have between 30-50 balls of yarn and finished products floating around has created a bit of a storage nightmare for my one room office/guest room/studio.

One of the solutions I’ve found is to use one of those back of a door clear shoe holders. I can see all the little bits and pieces I might use without digging. Then I can close the door et voila it’s gone.

My actual work space is made up of two tables. One for the sewing and one for needlefelting or drawing or whatever else I might need. I guess I should also count the garage as part of my workspace. We actually have 2 washing machines there; one for regular washing and one for felting. I do spend a bit of time in there as well.