Wandering in Whimsical Wonders: Crystal Palace Gardens of Porto, Portugal

It's been so long since last time I've visited the gardens of Porto's Crystal Palace, I almost forgot what a gorgeous and soothing place it is to be. These gardens were at first created during the 1860's, along with the construction of the original Crystal Palace building. Although the Crystal Palace itself has been (very sadly) demolished and given place to the current Rosa Mota pavilion, the gardens remain as a haven right in the heart of the city; the open designed spaces invite for snug sunbathing and the old, luxuriant woods whisper memoirs of a long past time. There is a semi-natural lake where the ducks and gooses swim and there are peacocks wandering around people in a wide and neverending avenue of centenary linden trees with breathtaking views upon the Douro river. There are dripping romantic grottos embedded in quiet verdant nooks and palm trees that reach for the sky. Alas, taking a walk through these immense gardens is like a journey to our deep inner selves.

I am currently working on a historic garden conservation project for the Crystal Palace within my Master's and managed to convince my boyfriend to come visit the gardens and enjoy the sun with me yesterday afternoon. Since he's such an indoor person, going out together is a really rare thing for us. We are total opposites in this matter; while I would grab a backpack and throw myself to places unknown every weekend if I could, he prefers to stay home cozy and at pleasure. Needless to say I keep telling him that for a person who enjoys nature and camping and stargazing so much, we spend way too much time indoors. Anyhoo... here are some pictures of the amazing gardens we've visited together for the first time in 6 years!

Also, today we celebrate Mother's Day in my country. I don't think I will ever find the words to describe how grateful I am for everything and all the love my mother has given me during these 24 years of life. I love my mom! We're having a family late snack to celebrate. Shellfish in such a gorgeous Spring sunday sounds the best! Yummy. But first, I'm off for the hard part... studying. Yay.

Buterfly wishes,

Ana ❤

Time for a Spring Cleaning

A few more silent days here on the blog...

As always, I have been carrying many ideas in my head and making lots of preparations. And, as always, free time has been so little! This Master's student life does not simply forgive anyone. But anyway... as we move towards a colossal shift here in Wilwarin Designs (can't say much about it for now, sorry!), I decided to open a new Spring Cleaning Sale. Many items have been selected and they are now 50% off - that's right, half the price! :) With the new (amazing) collection on its way, I need to get more space around here. Also, we're leaving for a completely different approach - oops, just did it...

Here are some of the products that can be found in the Spring Cleaning section (Mid-season Sale) on my Etsy shop. To browse all the items, click here (opens a new window). Enjoy it, because some of these products are completely unique, with no possibility of reproduction! ;)

Wishing you a lovely weekend - hopefully a sunny one as we're all tired of Winter right? ;)

Butterfly wishes,

Ana ♥

Wilwarin Designs is on a competition!

Easy Social Shop is carrying out a competition between online stores installed on Facebook using their application. Of course, I had to participate. :)) The prize consists on a great range of online advertisement (I need it so badly!). However, I would need your help to get it... yeah, this is another one of those typical Facebook contests functioning with votes... even I get tired of these kind of competition at times, but having access to this premium could bring Wilwarin Designs to a whole new level... so I'll just leave my plea along with the link, for anyone who might want to contribute. :)

VOTE

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Note: in order to proccess your vote, it is necessary to 'like' Easy Social Shop's page... but after the competition ends, you can always remove the interest of your list!

Thank you all!

Ana

Winter Clearance Sale!

Happy Wednesday ♥

(click on the image to visit my shop)

International Giveaway - by Wilwarin Designs & Ink and Iridescence!

Ahoy!

I know it's been a long time (again) since my last post; and that would thanks to my brand new "super time consumer": my Master's. A single week of classes was enough to make pull half my hair off as I realized it would be really hard to manage my routine and free time - because most of these days I simply don't have any. Although I looove to learn new things everyday, this course has been pushing me to the very limit, gifting me with many sleepless nights and too many hours of computer working (all landscape architecture and territorial development related). Thus, it's been a huge task to keep Wilwarin Designs and this blog updated. Anyway, here I am now. Right? :)

So this is a very special weekend for me, as one of my autumnal items is featured in this super, fantastic, truly delightful giveaway by the blogger Jemimah C. from Ink and Iridescence. I hereby invite you all to participate, as this necklace is one of my very favourite pieces and pretty much ANYONE in the world can get it... absolutely for free!! :) For a direct link to Jemimah's giveaway post, just click in the prize's picture...

Clicky clicky to enter the giveaway! :)

I personally would love to thank Jemimah C. one more time for this amazing oportunity and also for all the LOVELY feedback from her and all the other ladies who have already met my shop and work. I hope you all will enjoy your staying here and all my other pages. Good luck all!

Finally, I won't have to spend this weekend at college working, so I'll certainly dedicate some of my precious time working on Wilwarin Designs and updating my store (wee!)... so be on the lookout! :)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone,

Ana

My Medieval Journey

I've spent the last weekend at a Medieval/Renaissance Faire in Santa Maria da Feira (Aveiro, Portugal). I had been expecting it for so long! Although I've known the Medieval Journey faire for five years now, I had never visited it at night time. And my boyfriend and I have waited for the opportunity to camp during the event for quite of a long time. This year, we finally grabbed it. :)

Tent, sleeping bags, a change of clothes and fresh water and fruit was practically all we needed to carry in our trip (a long one since we have no car) to Santa Maria - and consequently to the 12th and 13th centuries.

Nowadays, the Medieval Journey is one of the events that most trill me each passing year (thanks to my boufriend and his mother :p) and, although I'm not a big fan of History, medieval times and its mystical character have always fascinated me. To me, being in the middle of the Medieval Journey means being surrounded by things I love: handicrafts, natural soaps and candles, incense, tea, crystals... and, also, in a big party! There's always a lot of music, food and drink, games, performances and many other unexpected surprises right in the middle of the street. And there is also a lot of... handmade jewelry! Amazingly or not, I can always spend a long time observing other people's work... and that is all I need to trigger my own inspiration. In fact, that's the best "study" method! :)

I can't forget to mention that Wilwarin Designs itself was also born of this same fantasy concept, associated with old, mystic times. Unfortunately, Wilwarin is still a too young business to have its own stall, but I hope someday some year I can bring my work onto a fair of this size.

Here are some of my best memories of this weekend:

Dramatization at one of the various meal areas; a young peasant is cheated in a tabern and forced to pay what he consumed with his own clothes. Very funny! :)

King D. Sancho I's royal paladin.

Visiting the Medieval Journey faire without yielding to a few temptations is not the same thing! Like this  forest fruits pie. Fancy a bite? ;D

Musical performance (artists unknown).

Birds of prey, always conquering everyone's hearts...

Nocture jousting show. Very entertaining!

The blacksmith and his forge, near the military camp.

Our tent right in the corner of the camping field. If only we didn't have to deal with the noise at night, the lack of a mattress (damn, my poor back), nor the slope which made us slide and "climb" the floor of the tent every 30 minutes of sleep! :)

Now I'm back to the 21st century, but having spent two entire days surrounded by so many things I love, I couldn't avoid bringing with me, besides the fantastic memories, some material souvenirs. Better show them another time as this post is getting too long already! ;)