favorite spaces: the alhambra palace at granada

There are places in the world that seem just too magical to be real-- for me, the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain is one of those places. 

  

 I first fell in love with the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, when I read The Constant Princess by Phillipa Gregory.  It's a beautiful and heartbreaking imagining of the story of Katherine of Aragon, who eventually married Henry Tudor.  The beginning of the story is set in the Alhambra, and the descriptions of the beautiful carved plaster walls and ceilings absolutely mesmerized me. 

  

This is the ceiling of the Hall of the Two Sisters.  In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful and impressive tributes to the ingenuity of the medieval Moorish people, who originally built the Alhambra Palace.  Not only is this ceiling stunning to look at, but the mathematical complexity of creating this design, and ensuring it would be able to be supported by the surrounding walls, is astonishing.

 

Isn't it incredible that every bit of the beautiful carving in the Alhambra was done by hand?  The sheer amount of work is mind-blowing.  The combination of incredible design and phenomenal, patient craftsmanship, created without modern machinery, is hard to comprehend.

One of the most wonderful things about The Constant Princess was hearing the perspective of a teenage girl living in such an incredible place-- and yet, to Katharine, that was just the latest event in a tumultuous childhood.  This photo, with the views out of the intricate windows, somehow makes the palace seem like it could have been a home to a girl who was the same age as I was when I first read the book.  Incidentally, if you're a fan of the HBO series The Tudors, I think The Constant Princess would be an interesting bit of (fictionalized) backstory to give the television show's portrayal of Katharine more context.  She comes off as cold, stubborn, and kind of one-dimensional in the show (in my humble opinion), but I think that reading The Constant Princess gives much more insight into her character's motivations.

The Court of the Lions is stunning... The arches and plaster tracery are so delicately detailed, and the bolder, more solid lions around the base of the fountain offer such a strong contrast. 

These detail shots of the arches into the Court of the Lions show such beautiful, thoughtful design, and again, an absolutely massive amount of exacting work.

 
I would love to visit the Alhambra someday.  I can't even imagine how it would feel to see and touch this incredibly inspiring work of art in person.

Thank you for letting me share this beautiful space with you!
♥

photo credits: 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8

friday favorites

Hi there chickadees!  I am switching my 'Much Love Monday' feature to 'Friday Favorites'!  I am not online much over weekends, so it just makes more sense for me to share my favorite bits and pieces from around the interwebs on Fridays. Then I've had the week to poke around online while having breakfast every morning or while cuddling two certain kitties.  Without further ado, here are my spring-inspired picks this week.

 

This bedroom is so beautiful and calming.  

 

These crewel embroidery flowers are so pretty.  This would look beautiful on the bodice of a dress.

 

Nutella pops.  Ooooooh.  I just purchased a popsicle-maker so that I could make healthy no-sugar-added popsicles this summer.  Naturally I'll be trying these chocolate-y, hazel-nutty ones first.

 

Good thing I have these wise words on my side.  Those Nutella popsicles will be basically like frozen vegetables.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  

 

Alphonse Mucha's La Primavere is so evocative of the relief of spring's arrival after a long, cold winter!

 

This beautiful living room, photographed by David Christensen, is so inspiring.  I'm currently redecorating my living room in white, tan, and robin's egg blue-- I love the pop of coral to warm it up.

I love the delicate hand-coloring on this photograph of the actress Winifred Barnes, taken in the 1910s.

Have a beautiful weekend!

♥

spring spring spring!

"Spring is the time of plans and projects." -Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Hello hello!

As you may have noticed, it's been pretty quiet around here lately.  Two possible explanations would be that I have been traveling the world on a secret mission and had to maintain radio silence, or that I have been trapped in a time-space continuum paradox and had to avoid contaminating the timeline.  However, neither of those explanations is actually the case.  It's just that in the winter, I can't stay awake past about 9:30 at night.  The sun goes down and I can't resist the siren song of my warm, cozy bed.  Now that we're well into spring, though, I have a lot more energy and I'm hoping to get back to posting more regularly.  Really.  I am.  In the meantime, though, I've been posting relatively frequently on Instagram!  I'm JulieRoseSews over there, too.

Here are a few of the pictures I've posted over there lately, to give you an idea of what I've been up to.

One of my favorite thing about spring is seeing all the flowering trees.  My walk to and from the train to work has been beautiful for the past couple of weeks!

I went home to my mom's house for Easter, and the daffodils that my dad planted a few years ago have spread throughout the whole yard.  It was wonderful to see these cheery signs of spring that he planted.


Bucky and Cocoa remain cats of leisure.


I'm still knitting hexipuffs for my busy bee blanket!  I knit this little guy out of Koigu KPPM with thin stripes of Claudia's Handpainted Yarn.  Ridiculously, this is the first striped thing that I've ever knit.


I've also been trying out some art journaling.  This spread was inspired by the lyrics from this song by Of Monsters and Men.  I think everybody feels like that sometimes-- like their internal world is moving at a wildly different speed than the external world.


Another journal page, which is kinda-sorta a self-portrait.


I started on a project I've been wanting to tackle since I moved into my apartment-- sewing new slipcovers for my two living room chairs.  My original plan had been to use the old slipcovers (not pictured) as a pattern, but the more I looked at them, the more I realized that they were probably just sewn as a one-off, with lots of weird little darts and tucks and oddly placed seams to make them fit onto the chairs.  I decided to drape my own muslin pattern instead, and I'm really glad I did.  (Friends who sew:  yes, I totally did fix that bit of sagging and pulling on the back panel.  It lays nice and smoothly now.)  I washed my fabric this afternoon, all 8 1/2 yards of it, and tomorrow I'm going to begin cutting and sewing!  Yay!


Last but not least, Bucky would like you all to know that he works very hard and needs lots of naps.  After all, he and Cocoa helped me drape the new slipcovers.  It's no small task for them to make sure to plop themselves exactly where I am trying to pin or mark at any given time.

I hope you're all doing spectacularly well and enjoying this beautiful spring weather-- finally!  Hooray!

♥

snow to sunshine

Hey there chickadees, I hope you're making it through this crazy winter weather.  And the last, y'know, six months or so before that.  Sometimes that's just the way it goes.

I was lucky enough to escape the NYC and Jersey snow for a few days last week with a little jaunt down to Florida.

 

Bare legs!  In February!  (And yes, I really am that pale.  Let's call it 'luminous,' shall we?  Although I'm sure I blinded a few people who caught the blinding glare off my legs.  I'm a walking geriatric opthamology accident.)

 

 

The walk to the beach through the mangroves is just as lovely as the beach itself.

  

 

 

 

I'm holding onto the sunshine from this wonderful vacation to get me through the rest of the winter.

♥

snippets ♥

Hello lovelies!

Here's a peek into my life lately.

There's something so pretty about the simplicity of pale pink carnations.

 
Bucky has recently discovered mirrors, and he is obsessed with his own reflection.
He gazes adoringly and occasionally gives the handsome cat in the mirror a coy pet with his paw.

 

Sunset views are one of my (admittedly many) favorite things about my apartment.

Can you believe it's already almost September?!  We're so close to autumn-- my favorite season!  I'm so ready for sweaters and hot tea (which I drink all year, but it'll be extra-cozy when it gets chilly outside) and pumpkins and apples and eventually snow!  I usually don't get excited for winter-- in general I'd rather go from fall straight through to spring, with maybe two weeks of winter.  But my apartment is going to be so much fun to decorate for Christmas that I'm looking forward to it!  I want to hang twinkly lights and watch the claymation Rudolph movie and I have the perfect spot for a tree in my living room.  There will be mistletoe, and my doorways will be festooned with  garlands-- it is going to be a seriously festive event.  I have a sneaking suspicion I'm going to become one of those people who puts up their holiday decorations the day after Thanksgiving.

Have a beautiful day!

♥

rainy beach day

Happy Friday!

I went to the beach a few weekends ago.  I like rainy days at the shore-- the beach is quiet and empty and everything seems a little soft around the edges.

        

Have a wonderful weekend!

♥

tiny owl knits swap: received

Hello lovelies!

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.

Today I'd like to share with you what I received in the Tiny Owl Knits Common Room Swap on Ravelry.  I was very, very spoiled by my sender, who goes by SoEffie on Ravelry.

 

Here's a group shot of everything that was in the swap package I received!  Isn't the tissue paper and ribbon adorable?

 

This is right after I unwrapped everything-- it was so exciting!   The tea is delicious, and the little cream-colored case is perfect for storing my cable needles.

 

This owl card was filled with a sweet message from Effie.  I love the beautiful patterns on the owl's wings!  I'm going to frame this and add it to the gallery-wall I'm working on in my front hallway.

 

The beautiful green flowered project bag in the lower right corner of the group photo is reversible-- the inside fabric has this charming owl print, I just love it!

 

I am in awe of Effie's embroidery skills!  This little owl pouch is so precious.  I haven't decided what to put in it yet-- maybe a little lavender sachet to keep my knitted items nicely scented?

 

Effie had filled the owlie pouch with these beautiful hand-made stitch markers.  They're so delicate and pretty!

 

Isn't this owl stationery set so sweet?  It was so thoughtful of Effie to send a desk set.  I love all things stationery-related!

 

Effie also included this beautiful yarn.  It's Araucania Ruca Multi, a DK weight yarn made of sugar cane in the prettiest pink, pale green, teal, violet, and gray.

Last but certainly not least are these two lovely leaf washcloths!  They're so soft and cushy.

Thank you so much, Effie!  Everything in the package was so lovingly crafted.  I love it all!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone!

♥