KoseBose's Nest

FURNITURE ILLUSTRATIONS

2012-01-26T15:37:00.010+02:00

The advertising agency I work for, CAS, is in charge of designing and printing the new catalogue of the Bulgarian furniture factory Riko Style. Traditionally, the catalogue features an illustration of a certain piece of furniture on the cover and on each of the title pages. This year, I was the one doing the illustrations. You can see some of my drawings below and some of the actual pages where the drawings were featured.

The illustrations were done on Wacom Cintiq 21ux. Drawing on this tablet is so cool!

Check out CAS's website for more of our projects: www.casbg.com

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COOL T-SHIRTS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

2012-01-20T23:29:00.004+02:00

So it's 2012! Happy New Year to all of you who read my blog! I have tons of cool stuff I've been meaning to post, but it seems like the new year will be very, very busy! Still, here is the first thing, which is a project I finished around the holidays: t-shirts for photographers!
As you might already know, I really like graphic tees, and I am also quite the photography enthusiast! Last year I made a "Photo Babe" t-shirt for myself, which I quite like, and this year I made a male version of this t-shirt. I was thinking I would do a "Photo Dude" shirt, but by popular request I ended up making a "Photo Babe Hunter" t-shirt :)
Anyway, here it is below! Enjoy our nerdiness :)

LOGO & T-SHIRT FOR LILLY

2012-01-02T20:37:00.004+02:00

My friend Lilly and I have known each other since kindergarten. We've stayed close through good and bad times, and through years when we were on different continents. We've given each other countless presents, of course, so I was racking my brains as to what to get her for Christmas this year. And then it hit me - I work in an ad agency, and I like to dip my toes in various graphic design projects, so what could be more perfect than something custom made with a print design of my own making!? So I sat down and made her a personal logo, which I had stamped on a red shirt afterwards. I really like the outcome, and I do hope that she wears it with pleasure.
Check it out below:

HI-FI EXPO 2011 PHOTOS

2011-12-29T21:23:00.006+02:00

This year was the second HI-FI EXPO Sofia, a trade show for high-end audio and video equipment (check out the website for more info www.hifiexpo.bg). Since we barely had any photos from last year's show due to lack of time and well-prepared photographers (seriously, how would you feel if you got a bunch of totally dark and grainy photos?!), this year we decided that we will be taking care of the photos ourselves. My goal was to take photos of all four days of the expo, so that we could post them on the facebook page of the expo and the website. I am not saying that I am the best of photographers either, but I tried to do my best, and I had lots of fun photographing everything! You can see all the photos here, but I have selected a few of my favorite ones to show you here on my blog. Of course some of my favorite photos are of little details in the equipment that I found interesting :) I guess I like shooting little details :)

COMPANY LOGO: ЕТ ШАНС

2011-11-24T19:39:00.005+02:00

In the summer I had the chance to design a logo for a company, ЕТ Шанс (or Chance Ltd.), that is a construction products retailer. The company wanted a logo in one color that they can use on the signs outside of their shop, so I gave them some options that were more abstract and an option with a hand giving a thumbs up (because of the name of the company - "chance").

Here are some of the abstract designs:

And here is the design with the hand giving a thumbs up, which is actually the one they ended up choosing.

I actually really enjoy designing logos. I hope that I have more chances to do that in the future.

TWO FALL PORTRAITS

2011-11-02T19:15:00.003+02:00

I just wanted to share these two lovely portraits that Pavel took of me a few weeks ago in the park - I really love the fall colors. They are so beautiful to photograph.

FIRST FALL PHOTOS FOR THIS YEAR!

2011-10-27T23:17:00.004+03:00

It's fall, an awesome season to photograph! I took some time last weekend (even though it was very cold) to take some photos in the park. I also wanted to try out a Lensbaby Control Freak lens that I borrowed, so my shutter button finger was itching :) Here are some of my photos below; they are my experiments with the Lensbaby and with my own lenses. I love shooting rose hip :)

WATERCOLOR WEDDING GIFT

2011-10-21T10:55:00.003+03:00

After more than a year of not painting any watercolors, I made the time two weekends ago to paint a couple of small fall scenes as a wedding gift for a friend. Watercolor is the medium I probably know best when it comes to painting , since I've been working with watercolor since I was a kid, and it was nice to do something familiar. Birches are also very interesting to paint, all white and gold and delicate.

DANI & ROSSEN'S WEDDING PHOTOS

2011-10-19T12:00:00.004+03:00

After the sneak peak at the beginning of the week, here are some of the photos from Dani & Rossen's wedding last Saturday. I was not the official photographer of the event, but I was invited to photograph Dani while she was getting ready, so I have a bunch of photos from before the actual ceremony and fewer from the rituals. Still, I managed to snap a photo here and there, and I am posting some here for you to see.

SNEAK PEEK AT DANI & ROSSEN'S WEDDING PHOTOS

2011-10-16T23:39:00.002+03:00

Stay tuned for more photos from the wedding soon!

DANIELA AND ROSSEN'S WEDDING LOGO

2011-10-04T12:30:00.007+03:00

Daniela, a colleague and friend of mine, recently announced that she would be getting married to her boyfriend of several years, Rossen. I get so happy and excited whenever there is a wedding, I guess it's a girl thing. Anyway, my colleagues and I set out to design her wedding invitation. I ended up designing several logos for her and her husband-to-be. All of the designs have what I call the "short version" of their initials and a "long version" with their full names as they are spelled in Bulgarian (Даниела и Росен). I was really happy with all designs, and forgive me for not being modest, but I think I love them all. My favorite is probably the first one, but Dani ended up choosing the third logo, so that's what we put on the invitations. Check out the three designs below:

COLLAGE: CURTAIN CLOSING

2011-09-26T17:10:00.003+03:00

Here is an abstract collage that I did recently as a birthday gift. I started making collages like this after a project we did in painting class in Colby, and I've loved doing them ever since. The funny thing was that such collages were really hard for me to make at first, but later turned out to be my favorite assignment. Like I told my professor back then, I can see more of myself in these than in some of the other art pieces that I've done.
The collage below is called Curtain Closing, and it's actually a group of three collages.

OURANOUPOLI AND ATHOS BEACH BREAK PHOTOS

2011-09-18T23:58:00.004+03:00

This summer was quite tiring; in between work, moving, and various art projects, I've barely had time to relax properly. I really needed some time off, a week of not going over task lists in my mind all the time or tossing and turning in bed thinking about campaigns, events, or about getting cable TV for my house. That's why I was really looking forward to my second Greek beach break this summer, this time not just for a short weekend, but for a full week. I spent it luxuriously lounging on the beach with my Kindle, taking photos, catching up on my sleep, and clearing my mind of work clutter. I also went on a short cruise along one side of Athos, enjoying the views of the monasteries. The sun, the crystal clear water and the beautiful pink sunsets made me feel like I was in a different world, one where there was no stress and no crazy deadlines. Ah, if only...

BABY JORO'S BAPTISM PHOTOS

2011-08-30T18:10:00.003+03:00

I was so incredibly happy to photograph baby Joro's baptism this Sunday, and I love how the photos turned out. The church "Света Богородица" (St. Mary) in Haskovo, built in 1837, is absolutely beautiful and made an excellent backdrop to the event with its ornate icons and woodcuts, gorgeous chandeliers and lit candles. But most of all, it was the smiling faces of everyone present, including baby Joro's, that made the atmosphere really special and festive. Some of my favorite photos are the one with the grandma holding the baby's hand, as well as the whole series where the priest dips baby Joro in the water!
I am really happy that I got to shoot in a church, too, since it will be great practice for (hopefully) shooting weddings in the future. I love that I had time to shoot some of the details of the place, like the water fountain outside, the side doors, or the candles.

WHITE NECKLACE

2011-08-15T09:46:00.004+03:00

I made this necklace about a week ago, but I couldn't post it earlier because I caught some sort of nasty summer flu that seemed to last forever...blah. I wanted a big chunky white necklace, and since I couldn't find anything in the stores that was nice and fit that description, I just made it myself out of polymer clay. It's part of my White Collection, which you can see here.

FOOD PHOTOS: OMONIMO RESTAURANT

2011-07-16T15:35:00.007+03:00

I completed my first food photography assignment some weeks back, photographing food for the menu of a new restaurant in Sofia called Omonimo. Let me tell you this: I was terrified! I think that food photography is very, very hard, and I was completely daunted by the fact that I had to do such an assignment. The good part was that I wasn't going to be alone but with the other photographer in our agency, which was a definite relief. It was reassuring to know that there would be another person shooting some of the same dishes, just in case. Also, the owners of the restaurant weren't expecting some sort of photographic masterpiece, but just photos that made their food look tasty and recognizable in the menu.

Let me tell you something else, too: the food smelled, looked and tasted amazing! I was salivating the whole time! The photos turned out OK, too. Now I can definitely see some things that could be improved and I'm sure that my photography teacher will find even more such things. Still, I'm pleased with the result, especially given the fact that we didn't have much in the way of lighting equipment. See for yourself below, and be gentle with me :)

P.S. Just as an aside, I love my polarizing filter! I never thought it would be so useful, but now I can't go anywhere without it! If you don't already have one, get one!

The restaurant has a wood-burning pizza oven, which is what I photographed here on that last photo.

KERAMOTI, GREECE

2011-07-06T22:30:00.006+03:00

After all the long and grueling work days last week and all the excitement and exhaustion of working on a TV commercial, I just had to take a couple of days off and escape on a relaxing weekend beach break. The destination this time: the picturesque village and gorgeous beaches of Keramoti in Greece and the resort city of Kavala.

With its white sand, light cerulean water, sparkling blue sky with perfectly white cotton clouds, and the blue-green outline of the island of Thassos in the distance, the beach in Keramoti feels exotic and luxurious. I could easily imagine myself staying there for a week or two, the perfect amount of time to decompress while sipping my freshly squeezed orange juice, enjoying mouth-watering seafood meals and reading my book. An added bonus were the dazzling sunsets, pink, violet and gold on a clear day and a glorious mix of oranges, purples and blues when there are clouds in the sky.

Enjoy some of my photos of the place. I've selected those lovely little details and beautiful landscapes that create the atmosphere of Keramoti, Kavala, and the lake monastery near Porto Lagos, and I hope that afterwards you will be able to close your eyes and imagine that you are there. I know I will.

SOFIA BREATHES: DESIGN

2011-06-20T22:26:00.007+03:00

As promised, this post is about Sofia Breathes: Design, the conclusion of Sofia Design Week 2011. A true summer day, sunny and hot, this past Saturday was a perfect day to spend outside on Shishman Str. In fact, I think half of Sofia was there at one point or another, lounging on the sidewalk or in One More Bar, or otherwise strolling around, taking photos (just like I was), drinking a bottle of organic lemonade, playing Foosball, or looking through the stands and the posters with logo design projects for Sofia as an European Capital of Culture.

All electric transformer kiosks (or switchgear kiosks, or whatever these are called in English) were painted with different images and designs, which was probably my favorite part of Sofia Breathers, along with the window frames turned into white sculptures by studio Lumagi. Check out the photos below (I apologize for the deep shadows and bright areas, but it was around 3 in the afternoon when I shot these, and the light was far from optimal).

I'm loving the bird theme here (what a surprise..hehe)

This one is also a favorite of mine. It's so summery!

The one with the painting of the square in front of the National Theater is just plain awesome! That's also my favorite place in Sofia.

Stands for clothes by independent designers:

One of the Lumagi "windows" and a real window of The Gourmet House, which is still quite cool:

The handmade paper workshop was a nice touch. It's good for kids to know how things are made!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SOFIA DESIGN WEEK 2011 - SEMINAR DAY 2

2011-06-12T21:17:00.009+03:00

Since I started yesterday's post about the first seminar day of Sofia Design Week with a small fashion review, I thought I'd continue the pattern and do this again today. Day 2 was the day of scarves and iPhones. You're bound to wonder why I'm referring to the iPhone as part of my so-called "fashion review," and my answer is that at this point I believe that for many people the iPhone is more of a fashion statement than anything else, or at least a kind of statement that doesn't have that much to do with functionality. Of course, from a design standpoint, the iPhone is a great choice, so I guess what I want to say is that I'm not judging but merely observing a trend. I loved all the scarves, of course, since I am a scarf person myself, and also the handmade earrings, again for the obvious reasons.

The seminar day started with a lecture by Michael Marriott, who talked about objects, what they mean, and the stories they tell. He talked about the idea that the way people put together objects tells an even more complex and rich story, which I found to be something that I can agree with. He talked about the poetry of the "misuse" of objects, or the beauty and humor that can be seen in the way people use objects outside of their original purpose - rubber boots as door stops, bottles as chairs, and so on.

The second lecture was focused on creating visual identities for companies and institutions and was presented by Walter Bohatsch and Julia Krauth from Bohatsch und Partner. The projects that they presented were great illustrations of excellent design that employs the grid system, careful selection of type, and very successful use of patterns that are especially created for their clients with the specific project in mind. Even the logos that they design are usually formed in such a way that they can be used and stacked to produce a pattern, which I thought was very interesting. I especially enjoyed their work on Schulzentrum Krems and Bad Radkersburg.

It's a pity that the website of Bohatsch und Partners doesn't work at the moment, but hopefully in the future you would be able to browse through and see all the work they did for the school center - from wallpaper through pictograms and maps to outdoor signage - as well as their work of other clients, such as the mountain resort Arlberg.

Krassen Krestev's lecture on the Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet was definitely one of the high points of the day. Krassen is an excellent presenter, and his lecture was exciting both visually and intellectually. He presented some very interesting characteristics of the Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet in comparison with the Russian Cyrillic and the Latin alphabets that I had never thought about before. It turns out that the Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet is more readable and dynamic than its Russian counterpart, even if it is not as efficient in terms of the space it uses. A curious tidbit to learn was that the letter t, or "m" in the Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet as compared to the "т" in the Russian Cyrillic alphabet, is the one that makes the text take up more space. The conclusion was that the Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet has a strong identity that has to be protected by all of us; it is the kind of legacy that should not be left in the past.

Here is one of Krassen Krestev's fonts called DTL Paradox BG, which is an example of Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet.

Nelly Ben Hayoun's lecture about interactions design was so much fun, not only because of the projects themselves, but also because of the amazing enthusiasm of the artist. Nelly focuses on recreating thrilling experiences - seeing a volcano erupt in your living room, living through a liftoff into space by sitting on a special chair, experiencing a sonic boom in a balloon tunnel that mimics the Kamioka neutrino observatory.

"The Other Volcano"

"Super K Sonic BOOOOum"
Photos: www.nellyben.com

Dessislava Vardjieva-Eckhardt took us through some design projects that her students at the School of Visual Arts in Leipzig are working on, followed by the guys from Rich Brilliant Willing, who talked about some of their designs using ready-made components. They use off-the-shelf and ready-made parts to design their furniture and just tweak these components to create design objects. It was DIY turned into a design business, which I thought was a very nice idea.

The seminar concluded with a lecture by Konstantin Grcic that contained lots of images of chairs:). It was a nice overview of the evolution, or rather the life and variety, of chairs throughout the years, followed by some of his designs of chairs.

All in all, this was definitely a great, informative, and fun day of design lectures. Still, Sofia Design Week is just beginning, so there's lots more to see in the coming week. I am also looking forward to its conclusion next Saturday with a "Sofia Breathes" day of design workshops on Shishman Street, which will be closed for traffic. See you all then!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SOFIA DESIGN WEEK 2011 - SEMINAR DAY 1

2011-06-11T21:20:00.020+03:00

Day 1 of this year's Sofia Design Week Seminar was cloudy and cold, but that did not stop it from being quite interesting and exciting. It was a day of cool bags and Converse sneakers, as I think that for the most part everyone from the audience was wearing one or the other, or sometimes both. Seriously, the number of great bags I saw today was staggering; even the guys had very cool bags. The Converse sneakers definitely seem to be back in style among creatives, although this makes me wonder whether I can count myself as a creative person if I don't actually own a pair...the thought is worrying:) Anyway, I guess it was fitting, since the cherry of the cake in the first seminar day was actually an awesome interactive campaign that the studio Perfect Fools has created for none other than, yes, Converse! Check out just one of the videos featuring the Converse screen of sneakers, where each sneaker is a pixel:

Most of the product designers, such as Matali Crasset and Ding 3000 studio were circling around the idea of the multifunctional and convertible object that reflects the fact that life is always changing - a chair that turns into a table, a coaster for a small pot that flips and turns into a coaster for a big pot that looks very different are just a few of the objects mentioned. Even Johanna Agerman Ross, who is the creator of the new biannual magazine Disegno, talked about this idea of the double-purpose object. I loved Ding 3000's ideas about humor in design. I do believe that people should have fun and it's a good way to bring some designers back to Earth, since there are a few out there who take themselves way too seriously. The "Dividing the Cake" cake mold was one of my favorite objects stemming from the idea of humor in design. It has different size pieces because some people want a smaller piece and some want a bigger piece, and it's just not practical to cut a cake in pieces that are the same size:).

Photo by Ding 3000: S-XL Cake

Photo by Ding 3000: INENDOUT Coaster

I enjoyed Thomas Feichtner's design of a crystal chandelier and wine glasses.

Photo: thomasfeichtner.com

David Pearson's lecture on book design and book covers was refreshing, funny and full of great visuals, and it was one of my favorites from today, since I just love books. Head over to his website by clicking on his name in the previous sentence and make sure you browse around, because there are some great book covers there. After him, Gerard Saint from Big Active took us to the world of design for the music industry, and I was very excited to find out that Big Active worked on Keane's Under the Iron Sea visuals, which are usually on every blogger's list of great CD covers.

Book Cover Designs by David Pearson

Photos: davidpearsondesign.com

Keane - Under the Iron Sea

Photo: bigactive.com

There were so many great ideas and products that were presented today that it's impossible to put them all down in a blog post, but I hope that the ones I've mentioned would still be inspiring for you and will give you a taste of what the first day of the seminar was like! I'm sooo looking forward to Day 2!

PHOTOS FROM CELEBRATION IN THE PARK

2011-06-08T17:20:00.010+03:00

I've had a hectic past two weeks. Believe it or not, I had to work for 10 straight days because we were organizing several events at the ad agency I work for. I'm all rested now, though, because I took a few days off to go on a mini SPA vacation and soak my tired self in some mineral water springs. But enough with my rambling :)
One of the events I was working on was the "Celebration in the Park," an event for kids in one of the parks in Sofia, which featured concerts, dance, painting and sports workshops, chalk art contests, bike races, and, of course, free balloons for everyone! It was so much fun seeing and photographing all the incredibly cute kids! Also, check out the incredible dance jump photo I managed to snap below!

These two photos of the chalk are like an exercise in depth of field...haha:)

Just look at this little guy with the cool shades!

This gorgeous couple teaching the kids how to dance salsa is the team from PaLante Dance Project, where I dance in my free time: http://www.palante.eu/

MUSIC STORE OPENING PHOTOS

2011-05-31T23:43:00.006+03:00

A few weeks back I had to photograph the opening of a new Music Center Ikonomov musical instrument store in Sky City Mall in Sofia, and I have to say that I enjoyed it very much. I had tons of fun taking photos of the drums; the shiny reflective surface of the drums made for very interesting photos, where you can see the reflection of the photo wallpapers or the other instruments.
The celebration ended with a Grafa, Toma, and Juratone&DiVine concert in front of the Mall, which I was also very excited to shoot. I have tons of photos from the event, but since I can't post them all on my blog, here are just a few of them.

NICK AND ISKRA'S PHOTOSHOOT IN THE PARK

2011-05-23T23:29:00.008+03:00

My first couples photo shoot is now a fact! I am so excited to share with you the photos of Nick and Iskra, a truly gorgeous couple who love each other and love having their photo taken. They were such a breeze to work with! Nick and I went to high school together, and Iskra went to college with my best friend. I was really happy that I got to do this photo shoot of my friends in the beautiful South Park in Sofia! There was also a really cool graffiti wall on the way there which made for a great backdrop for photos!

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EVEN MORE SPRING PHOTOS

2011-04-29T23:06:00.005+03:00

I just can't get enough of the blooming trees!

MORE SPRING PHOTOS

2011-04-25T10:32:00.010+03:00

The weather was gorgeous yesterday, so I just had to go out and photograph some blooming trees. See, blooming trees are somewhat of a weakness for me; I really think they are amazingly beautiful. Today's photos feature a pink tree from the park. Don't you think that the blossoms look like they're made of candy?

NOW I BELIEVE IT'S SPRING AND I HAVE PHOTOS TO PROVE IT :)

2011-04-23T16:57:00.008+03:00

Finally! After weeks of suddenly chilly weather and a freak April snow, we have sunny and warm days at last! Birds are chirping, trees are blooming, I'm kneading dough for Easter bread, so everything is in its proper place.

Happy spring, everyone!

PHOTOS FROM THE DRUKEN FOREST

2011-04-22T13:16:00.005+03:00

No, it's not that we got drunk in this forest. It's called the Drunken Forest because the trees look drunk, not the photographers:). The trees grow in all directions and the whole forest is covered in thick green moss that is like a magical soft carpet. When you walk, you feel like you're walking on a green mossy cloud. Plus, it's an amazing place to photograph - like something out of a fairy tale! My photography instructor said that I probably left no tuft of moss unphotographed (I have no idea if that's an actual word, but I can't really think what word I should use in English). Anyway, he was right. I just love photographing teensy weensy details I see here and there.

Here are the photos. Enjoy!

WE GRADUATED!

2011-04-14T10:10:00.008+03:00

As of last night, my photography course is officially over. I'm happy and sad at the same time, to be honest. I learned tons of things and met some awesome people, and I even got a diploma, but I'm a little sad to see the whole experience end.

Anyway, the photo that I want to share with you now is sort of our graduation photo; well, it was actually meant to be a gift for our instructors (which they loved, by the way), but we had so much fun doing it that it was a gift for us as well. The "throwing of the cameras" was my idea, and I really love it how it shocks people until they realize that of course we didn't throw our cameras in the air, are you crazy?

EAGLE EYE

2011-04-05T23:15:00.009+03:00

Check out the views from the unique observation platform "Eagle Eye" in the Rhodopes and from the way up there. The platform is at 1563 meters above sea level and the panoramic view is amazing (even if the getting there was kind of hard if you try to go on foot).

GREEN SPRING EARRINGS

2011-04-01T16:12:00.004+03:00

I just made these earrings last night and guess what? They are for me! Yey!
I had a pair of green earrings, but they broke not long ago, so I decided to replace them with a pair of my own. I'll even get to wear them tomorrow on my photo course trip.
Here they are (I apologize for the not-so-great picture, but I was kind of in a hurry):

THREE IS A CROWD

2011-03-27T17:18:00.006+03:00

Some say that two is a company and three is a crowd. Well, three of myself is definitely a crowd...or is it?

THE WHITE COLLECTION

2011-03-21T20:57:00.008+02:00

White is a snowflake, light, a cloud, sea foam, a snowdrop, an edelweiss, ivory, a waterlily, marble, milk, a pearl, a swan, purity. The shiny white is the color of the day, of angels, of goodness, of faith, of hope, of peace. These pieces of jewelry are born from the white.

Бялото е сняг, светлина, облаци, морска пяна, кокиче, еделвайс, слонова кост, лилия, мрамор, мляко, перла, лебед, чистота. Светлото и искрящо бяло е цветът на деня, на ангелите, на добротата, на вярата, на надеждата, на мира. От бялото са родени и бижутата в тази колекция.

Head over to my Facebook page to see the full collection: KoseBose Creative Designs on Facebook

Contact me if you would like to buy any of these pieces. Prices: 15lv
Свържете се с мен ако искате да купите някой от моделите. Цени: 15лв

2 COOL VIDEOS :)

2011-03-08T15:18:00.005+02:00

Here are two videos that I find really interesting and couldn't wait to share with you:

Oren Lavie - Her Morning Elegance
Ok, let me just say that I find this video completely awesome! It is a stop-motion video created with 2096 still photographs that were sequences to create the illusion of movement. By the way, this was also made into an art exhibition later on, where you could buy each separate photo from the video.

Actual Video

Behind the Scenes

Diane Birch - Valentino
Weeks of rehearsals leading to a single-shot video...pretty cool, huh?
Check out the behind-the-screen (hihi) footage to see the crazy costume changes.

Actual Video

Behind the Scenes
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Any other cool videos you've seen?

Oh, and just an aside: no copyright infringement is intended. I just really like these videos.

Честита Баба Марта!

2011-03-03T15:43:00.006+02:00

Ето и малко снимки на мартениците, които сътворих по поръчка за този 1-ви март. Има дори мартенички с Косе-Босе :)
Пожелавам на всички, които четат моя блог много радост, щастие и здраве и да са винаги румени и засмени!

WOW!

2011-02-27T23:58:00.005+02:00

The best birthday present ever!

Handmade by the person who gave it to me and full of memories and meaning! Oh, and there is a little KoseBose birdie poking out of the window there!
This is the most amazing thing I've ever gotten!

SELF-PORTRAITS IN LOW KEY

2011-02-18T20:17:00.011+02:00

I really like portraits done with low-key lighting. There is something mysterious, contemplative and dramatic about them that I really enjoy. This is why I was very happy to be able to learn how to take such photos in my photography course this week. Our homework was to practice shooting low-key images, which I did with great pleasure, and since I didn't really have a model available, I just took photos of myself. I think the results are very nice for someone who's done this for the first time.

P.S. As a person who's done her fair share of self-portraits, I feel obligated to say a few things here. It might seem to people that those who take self-portraits are the kind that enjoy looking at themselves in the mirror. Well, you couldn't be more wrong. Sure, there are individual photographers that you'll encounter who are enamored with their own image, but the truth is that most of us who take self-portraits do it for reasons that have nothing to do with our looks. Sometimes it's just that you have nobody else to shoot but yourself, or nobody that wants to do those crazy poses or express those strange emotions that you would like to capture. Sometimes taking self-portraits is a form of healing; it's putting your feelings out there when you feel like you can't put them into words or have no one to share them with. For me, taking self-portraits often involved getting to really know myself, which is something I think everyone should aim to do. Just something to think about for all those self-portrait skeptics out there.

SCARY MONSTERS FOR GOOD LUCK?

2011-02-11T17:27:00.006+02:00

Yes, you heard that right – around here, scary monsters (a special breed of them anyway) chase away evil spirits and bring health, prosperity and luck into the new year. Welcome to Bulgaria, and welcome to the Surva International Festival of Masquerade Games held every January in the town of Pernik!

The games attract more than 5000 participants aged anywhere between 5 and 95 from Bulgaria and abroad, who fill the streets of the town with vibrant colors, unbelievably loud noise and lots of craziness. With their impressive handmade wooden masks decorated with feathers, elaborate costumes covered in wool or ribbons, and enormous bells that clang with every movement of the person wearing them, the Bulgarian Kukeri dancers are all part of one big ritual meant to scare away sickness, bad luck, and evil spirits. The scarier the costume, the better; according to local beliefs, the masks and the deafening sound of the bells both protect from harmful influences and ensure that everyone is blessed with health and prosperity.

Of course, this event is every photographer’s dream, amateur and professional alike. The elated atmosphere, the energy, the rich palette of colors, textures, and shapes, the dancing and the parades all beg to be captured on camera. It is easy to lose yourself in the crowd of masked Kukeri and Survakari, as the audience can freely interact with the participants along the parade routes and the stages throughout the town. All groups end their participation with a grand performance in the main square, which is judged as part of the contest for best masked troupe.

Step into the surreal world of the festival and enjoy my photos of the event below:

FLOWER JEWELRY

2011-01-19T10:46:00.004+02:00

I filled a custom jewelry order last week, and I think the finished pieces turned out really well. This pendant and earrings set was going to be a gift for someone I've met, so my task was to create jewelry that would suit her and that has a "flowery" feel to it. Check out my designs below:

SAVORY MUFFINS

2011-01-08T23:46:00.003+02:00

I have caught the muffin craze, which means that I have been making muffins like crazy. Turns out, muffins are very easy to make!
I've already written about the Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffins, which were mouth-watering. I've also tried a recipe for Banana Walnut Muffins, which were also great; unfortunately, I wasn't able to photograph them. However, I did photograph these delicious savory Spinach, Feta, and Baked Pepper Muffins that you see below. Believe me, they are very very tasty. I got the recipe from the First Cook, Then Look blog, so head over there to learn how to make them and enjoy!

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

2011-01-05T13:01:00.007+02:00

The new year is here, and for the first time in what feels like an insanely long time, I felt great celebrating it.
This past year was a year of changes and of putting my life back together after it fell into pieces in 2009. I moved past a heartache that threatened to unglue me completely (and almost succeeded), I changed jobs, I took a much deserved relaxing vacation. I signed up for a photography course, I gained some of the weight I had lost due to stress, and I got a new haircut. Maybe I don't have thousands of close friends, but I have been blessed with a few close friends and loved ones that stood by me and supported me through the difficult things, for which I am eternally grateful. All in all, it was a good year, and it was definitely better than 2009.
I don't really have a ton of resolutions for the new year, even though I could whip up a list of things to do in 2011 in something like 3 seconds. I just want to be happy. I want to feel like my life is back under control where possible. I want to be healthy and happy, and I would like to think of myself and my own well-being a little more. Life is short, so I guess I should try to enjoy it as much as I can.
Thinking about resolutions and hopes for the future, I looked around for interesting quotes and sayings, and I compiled a small list of the ones I liked best. I hope that they inspire you like they have inspired me.

1. This first one is what I have begun to call my New Year's Resolution. It's a quote from a poem by Mary Oliver. The design is mine.

2. This one is wonderful, and when I read it, I thought to myself "this is exactly what I've been trying to explain to people all these years." :) I found it here.

3. This third one is quite true. I found it here.

4. This is also good for a New Year's Resolution. Check out i can read for more stuff like this.

5. I strongly believe in this one below. I would like to be loved like that.
I found this quote online with a similar design, but I decided to make my own, which is the one I'm posting here:

6. Finally, a really cool quote I found online. I love this quote. Again, this design is mine.

A CHOCOLATE BOMB

2010-12-28T22:07:00.005+02:00

Triple chocolate chunk muffins! Yes, you heard that right - triple chocolate chunk muffins. I don't care how many calories these have, they are amazing. Now that's what I call delicious! The recipe for these beauties is from the same cookbook that has the Nutella Cinnamon Almond Cake. It's an awesome book, full of decadent desserts...

RED AND BLUE CHRISTMAS

2010-12-23T23:36:00.010+02:00

Here are some more ideas for decorating your Christmas tree, this time in blue, silver, and red. This is not a combination you will see often, but I think it looks nice. Back in the day when I was really obsessed with blue, I used to decorate the tree in my parents' house only in blue and silver, but as the years passed, we decided to add some red and make the decorations look warmer.
Here they are in order from top to bottom, left to right:
- an ornament we bought from a Christmas shop in Bar Harbor, Maine, USA, where I took my parents after my college graduation
- Christmas fairy on a laundry pin - it's so cute
- a green fairy godmother, which was a gift from a friend of ours, who knows where you can get the coolest things ever
- a snowman carrying a stack of snowballs, which I bought years ago
- a "sugar apple"
- a disco ball, so that our tree is a party tree...haha
- Christmas bells (notice my reflection there)
- a blue ball (again, notice my reflection because I think it turned out pretty cool...my camera looks huge from the distortion)
- a big red glittery ball that is just gorgeous

CHRISTMAS CARD

2010-12-22T16:24:00.006+02:00

I am quite proud of myself.
Before you ask why that is, I'll let you know, and I'll do it in a very smug, self-satisfied sort of way (hihi): I made an animated Christmas card all on my own! Yey me!
Of course, I only did the animation; the drawings were free vectors I found online, and while the audio choice was mine, the sound was edited by 4040. The card is nothing special in terms of effects, but I think that it is really quite funny in a crazy ad agency sort of way. Of course, the firm where I work is a crazy ad agency, so its' all good :)

CHRISTMAS DECOR

2010-12-12T22:25:00.006+02:00

The holiday season is upon us, and I've been decorating like crazy. Since I might be moving soon, I bought a Christmas tree and for my new place and set out to make it pretty. At first, I was thinking of going with the traditional red and gold theme, but since my living room is in the white-beige-chocolate brown theme, I decided that red would be too gaudy. Then, I went to the other extreme by thinking about having a tree decorated entirely in white, but I decided that it would look to plain. Finally, I settled on a gold-silver-white color scheme, which would be Christmasy enough, while still stylish and elegant.
I bought a bunch of sparkly decorations: golden and silver balls, silver hearts, golden bells, white icicles, and fluffy white balls that look very much like snowballs. I wanted to have an angel on top of the tree, and after an extensive search, my mom actually found a suitable porcelain angel that is just adorable. She got me a bunch of smaller angels for the tree and the house, and I also got several golden angels who play different musical instruments. Instead of garlands, I decided to get a bunch of Christmas ribbons; this turned out to be a great idea because they made the tree look really classy. As a finishing touch to the decorations of the living room, I put a bunch of pine cones that I had gathered in the fall in big glass vases.
Here are some photos of my tree and my decorations:

MAGGIE STIEFVATER IN SOFIA

2010-12-11T18:59:00.013+02:00

As you already know (from several of my previous posts about books), I enjoy Maggie Stiefvater's writing very much. Her book Shiver is one of my favorites, both in terms of writing and in terms of the design. Shiver makes even the cold winter season seem magical, providing a wonderful backdrop for the story of the boy/wolf/poet/songwriter Sam and smart and practical, yet fascinated by the mystery of the wolves, Grace. The covers of the three books from the series are all designed by Christopher Stengel, and the text in every book is in a color that matches the respective cover: Shiver is blue, Linger is green, and Forever will be red.

Today I was very happy to have the chance of meeting Maggie Stiefvater here in Sofia during a book signing in Pingvinite bookstore near the Sofia University. There was a good turnout of people, mostly girls, of course, but also a bunch of guys.

Maggie was great, and I was very excited to get all my books signed, here in Sofia of all places. It's really great that the publishing houses in Bulgaria have started inviting authors. Her visit was also a part of the winter book fair, which is going on right now in the National Palace of Culture (where I purchased a big stack of books yesterday). Check out the photos from the book signing:

WINTER HOLIDAY JEWELRY COLLECTION

2010-11-15T20:16:00.007+02:00

The new WINTER HOLIDAY Collection of hand-made jewelry is out! Dazzle the night away and feel extra special wearing these magnificent metallics!
Price: 15 lv
For orders: kostadina.nacheva@gmail.com

SOME FLOWERS ARE STILL BLOOMING

2010-11-14T19:13:00.003+02:00

We've had a relatively warm fall this year, and it's great to see that there are many flowers still in bloom, just like these beauties that I've photographed. I took a ton of photos of them last year, too; they are so pretty that they are hard to resist. They are called Calluna Vulgaris and they bloom pretty much all year because they are mountain flowers that are used to colder temperatures.

FALL, FALL, FALL

2010-11-08T22:19:00.003+02:00

Since I've had no time and also no energy whatsoever to take self-portraits (something that I must remedy soon), I have resorted to taking the occasional photo of the gorgeous foliage and plant life around me. Fall is a beautiful season, and this year we've had quite the colorful one.
Here are some photos of a plant/bush/tree (?) that grows next to my building:

A PLAY ON WORDS

2010-10-31T21:06:00.006+02:00

To be honest, I feel terrible right now. I've had a brutal week and a half, and what is worse is that I'm not really sure when things are going to get better. I haven't taken a single self-portrait in something like a month, which makes me feel terrible. I mean, photography is one of my favorite things right now, but stress in my real life has sort of left me without any inspiration or time to spend on my Flickr photostream.

Whenever things get rough, though, I have a trusted escape route - reading. My salvation, my door to new worlds, my way to let my imagination run wild.

I find that there is a lot of beauty in the written word, literally and figuratively. The words belong to Maggie Stiefvater and her beautiful novel Shiver. The vision belongs to me, my gloomy mood, and my inner romantic.

MORE FALL PHOTOS

2010-10-26T21:21:00.003+03:00

Since lately I've been ridiculously busy, and hence crazy tired, I decided to do the easy thing and upload a few more of my fall photos. A short post, but a sweet one:) Check them out below:

FALL COLORS

2010-10-10T18:13:00.002+03:00

It was a beautiful day yesterday, so I headed to the park to take some photos of the colorful foliage. Last year I kind of missed the fall season and didn't take any photos, so I was really happy that I had a chance to catch up this year:) It's a pity that we don't have those gorgeous New England maples to add some of that vibrant red to the landscape. Still, everything looked beautifully golden!

LOVELY BOOK AND BOOK COVER: FOREVER

2010-09-29T23:12:00.008+03:00

Remember when I posted a list of some of my favorite book covers (if you don't, go see it here)? And remember that really gorgeous book cover of the wonderful novel Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater? Well, since then, she has written a lovely sequel, Linger, and has also just posted the cover of Forever, the third and final installment of the series. Yes, you guessed it: the cover design is by Christopher Stengel :)

I can't wait for this book come out!

You can pre-order Forever, the last book in the Shiver trilogy, here:
http://www.fountainbookstore.com/autograph-maggie

BELOGRADCHIK ROCKS

2010-09-24T23:59:00.004+03:00

Belogradchik has been on my list of places to visit for a long long time, but somehow I was never able to go. This summer, however, I finally got the chance to go and it was a wonderful trip. I had a great time and the place is beautiful. The cave Magurata is close to the town, and so are the famous Belogradchik rocks, which are quite breathtaking!

I realize that I've been posting photos of the places I've visited a little out of order, but I didn't originally plan on uploading photos from Belogradchik. It's just that I was going through them today and realized that some of the photos are pretty nice, so I thought "no one cares about order, right?" :)

PHOTOS OF BEAUTIFUL BALCHIK

2010-09-22T20:21:00.011+03:00

A couple of weeks ago I happened to be in the seaside town of Balchik, enjoying a beautiful Saturday. I was very happy to be able to visit the town's landmark - the Balchik Palace and Botanical Garden, which was absolutely gorgeous. The complex consists of a Revival style central palace with a tower and a bunch of villas scattered around, all nestled in a lush park with bridges, romantic paths, colorful flower beds and a fragrant rose garden. The stone alcoves and wrought iron gates create a fairy-tale feel and make you wish you were wearing a ball gown. The sea view from the palace complex is simply breathtaking.
All through my walk, I kept thinking how this would be an amazing location for a wedding and wishing that I could photograph one there. It's got everything - beautiful garden, lovely old buildings, romantic stone arches, a small stream with a bridge going over it, the sea just beyond the gates...you name it, it's there! So while I'm waiting for someone to invite me to photograph their wedding there, check out some of my photos of the place and the flowers there.

THREE SEAS

2010-09-11T18:59:00.006+03:00

I just realized that this year I have dipped my feet in three seas - the Aegean, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea! Yey me! Last year I didn't even manage to have a proper beach vacation, so this year I was desperate for the seaside. That's why I wanted to brag a little and post the image of the three seas before I post anything else from the stack of stuff I have waiting to be blogged about:

PACKAGED

2010-09-06T20:13:00.004+03:00

I really enjoy wrapping gifts, so I'm posting a few photos of a gift I wrapped in this really cool colorful paper that I had lying around...the lucky recipient was my cousin Tsveti. I just hope that she enjoys the gift inside :)

On a side note, I would like to say that I do realize that my posts have been on the short & sweet side lately. I wish I could say I was sorry, but I'm not, as I've been quite happily distracted, and if there is one lesson I've learned, it is that a people should enjoy being happy when they can and should live in the moment. However, I promise that there's some interesting stuff on my laptop waiting to be blogged about. So there will be cool stuff coming to this blog in the next few weeks (yey!)

Oh, and before I forget, if you would like to make me a present (even if it's not wrapped like the one below), you could become my follower by going to the bottom right of this page, clicking the "follow" button and logging in with your google/gmail account :) Yes, it's that easy!

ROSES

2010-08-23T23:22:00.003+03:00

Some things are beautiful even when they fade:

MORE FROM MY GARDEN

2010-08-22T21:44:00.003+03:00

I am pretty much addicted to taking photos in my garden. This one was taken with my new camera, too :)

BODRUM PHOTOS

2010-08-17T20:12:00.005+03:00

Finally, a few weeks late, here is my Turkish vacation post. Read what I wrote on one of my last nights there and enjoy the photos below:

As I’m writing this post, to be published after my return to Sofia, I am sitting in the Tea Garden of a beautiful holiday village in Bodrum, Turkey. It is close to 10:00 pm, but the air is warm and smells faintly salty, like the Aegean sea, and also slightly perfumey, infused with the scent of the blooming bougainvillea trees.

It’s one of my last nights here, and my close friend from college, Joerose, who I came here with, has already flown back to London. I miss her already, of course; five short days are not nearly enough to catch up properly, talk enough and laugh enough, mend broken hearts and remind each other that life is beautiful. Yet, I am not lonely. The tea garden is alive even at this time, with people playing backgammon on the small wooden tables and drinking their Turkish tea served in little glass cups. I sip my tea, too, and I am content to gaze at the lanterns lit around us, the calm sea and the ships that are so beautifully lit at night like they’re coming out of a fairy tale. The staff talks to me, and I am thinking that I really like the friendliness of these Turkish people. Even though it is their job to be friendly to the tourists, their attention and smiles never seem fake.

I also think about how this vacation was exactly what I needed and, therefore, completely wonderful. A good mix of relaxation, excitement, sightseeing, and spending time with a close friend, my time here has flown by. I tend to be a worrier – a trait of mine that I am trying to work on, albeit not entirely successfully, so it is with great pleasure that I discover that in between lounging on the beach, parasailing, touring tombs carved in rocks and beaches where giant turtles lay their eggs, and eating insane quantities of crispy sweet watermelon, I have forgotten to worry. Now that’s what I call a good time.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that even remotely knows me that I have also taken about a million photos, all sunny and beachy and looking like they belong on the cover of a travel magazine. Of course, I love the ones that document what we did and how much fun we had on this trip. There is another batch of photos, though, that is all about the feeling of a place, those small details that string together like the beads on a necklace to create the jewel that is the atmosphere here. The straw umbrellas and the stripy shadows that they throw on your skin, the white villas surrounded by blooming trees, the footsteps on the beach and the radiant blue of the sea. Those are the ones that I want to share here, as those are the photos that I believe will make you close your eyes and, just for a second, feel like you are really here with me.

СТЪПКА ЗА БЪЛГАРИЯ

2010-08-08T21:55:00.002+03:00

Преди около месец имах огромното удоволствие да допринеса и аз към работата на фондация "Стъпка за Балгария," която организира обучения за деца, лишени от родителски грижи. Моя приятелка от гимназията, Жени, се свърза с мен с идеята да се включа в работата на фондацията като отделя няколко часа и направя творчески уъркшоп за правене на бижута с Хриси, която е едно от момичетата в образователа програма на фондацията. Това щеше да бъде нейната специална награда по случай края на тазгодишната програма. Аз бях страхотно поласкана от предложението и веднага се съгласих.

И така, една слънчева събота се видяхме с Хриси и майсторихме бижута в едно кафене на открито, като си бърборихме на воля :). Жълтите обици на точки, за които писах в миналия си пост, бяха измайсторени точно на тази творческа среща. Хриси направи два чифта много красиви обици - едните в лилаво и бяло и другите в синьо и жълто-зелено. Снимки от нашата среща можете да видите по-долу, а повече за фондацията и как да се включите в нея можете да прочетете на www.stepforbulgaria.org.

Аз и Хриси

Хриси майстори сините обици

Жени с лилавите обици, изработени от Хриси

EARRINGS

2010-07-30T23:50:00.006+03:00

Since I haven't posted anything in a while because of my vacation in Turkey, I thought that I would at least upload a photo of a couple of earrings that I sold recently. The blue-green ones were made to match a pair of sandals (we girls are obsessed about our shoes, everybody knows that). I will write more about the yellow ones in another post, as they are part of a more interesting story.

Coming soon will be a photography post about my trip to Turkey this summer!

PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWERS

2010-07-16T19:41:00.007+03:00

I can't get enough of the flowers in my garden! They are just so pretty that I lose myself in photographing them, and before I know it, I have taken about a hundred photos...I think I need to invest in a macro lens sometime in the future.

FAMOUS IN BRAZIL

2010-07-11T00:28:00.005+03:00

It's a crazy world we live in. Some decades ago, going away to study or live in another country was like an end of an era. It meant leaving people behind and not seeing them or hearing their voice for months or even years. Now, my four closest friends live in different corners of the world - in the US, London, Brazil and Sofia, but I still get to talk to them all the time. Now, I am designing logos for Brazilian companies while sitting comfortably in front of my laptop on my desk in Sofia, Bulgaria. The world has never been smaller.

Leo was probably the very first person I met in college. He was, and still is, one of my closest friends from Colby; I don't think I can even count the number of movie nights, tango lessons, or conversations about Harry Potter we've had over the years, but I'm sure that the number is insane. Leo is from Brazil. His grandmother, who decided that retirement is definitely not for her, is opening her own company, so he asked me to design a logo for her. I was thrilled to do it. After all, how many times does a Bulgarian designer get to work on a project for Brazil!?

He gave me the following info:

- The name of the company is D.I.A.-D CONSULTORIA E ASSESSORIA EMPRESARIAL LTDA, which stands for Develop.Integrate.Self-Knowledge (Auto-conhecimento in Portuguese).Dynamic (to make dynamic).
- The company's objectives are to provide guidance, assistance and consultancy in the field of corporate management, in particular about health services and pedagogical and educational matters.
- His grandmother wants the logo to include a spiral to show that things are always moving and that her company is very dynamic.

Following these guidelines, I came up with the some designs:

The lucky winner was the logo on the top left. Now, when the company becomes wildly successful, I'll be able to brag to everyone about my part in it. I'll be famous in Brazil. Isn't that completely awesome?

GARDENS ARE BEAUTIFUL

2010-07-06T23:50:00.003+03:00

Beauties from my garden:

Oh, I love it when the flowers are blooming...

PANCAKES!!!

2010-07-04T14:28:00.003+03:00

I treated myself to some blueberry pancakes! Yum, yum, yum!
They came out really tasty, so I devoured them in record time :)

COOKBOOKS

2010-07-03T16:40:00.007+03:00

After my cooking post last week, I got quite a few questions about recipes, cookbooks and food. It's always nice to know that people are reading the blog, even if they prefer to post comments on Facebook or send me e-mails instead of commenting here.

Anyway, I decided to write a little something about the cookbooks/books about food that I own for those of you who enjoy cooking and/or reading mouth-watering fiction and need some suggestions. And if you are not one of those people? Well, it's always nice to try new things! I enjoy cooking immensely - something about the mixing of ingredients and all the luscious flavors - and maybe after trying it out you'll love it too.

1. The Book of New England Cookery is a very nice book that, curiously enough, I picked up at the Colby College campus bookstore one day after classes. I am really happy that I got it because it contains a ton of delicious recipes that remind me a lot of my Colby days in the US. Whenever I get nostalgic or start craving something like American-style pancakes, muffins or clam chowder, I turn to this book. I haven't been disappointed yet.

2. Cooking in New England. Now this is kind of a touristy cookbook that I bought from Boston, but it has such nice photos of New England that I couldn't resist. Actually, the recipes in it aren't bad at all, so buying it was definitely worth it.

3. 101 Cakes and Cookies is that little gem of a book that had the Nutella Cinammon Almond Cake recipe and has a 100 more very tasty looking dessert recipes that I'm determined to try out. Of course, converting from the American measurements can be annoying at times, but I've almost gotten used to it. I often resort to jotting down the metric equivalents of the measurements in the margins, so half of the pages are filled with notes :).

4. The Бон Апети cookbook collection is a must-have in my opinion. I've tried many recipes from the Бон Апети cooking show or from the various Бон Апети cookbooks, and I have never been disappointed. In fact, my famous tiramisu recipe is a very slight variation of the Бон Апети recipe. I have a bunch of small cookbooks devoted to different kinds of food and one big cookbook with 1500 recipes that I bought as a present to myself this past Christmas. I recommend these to anyone who can read Bulgarian.

5. Нови и класически коктейли. I have other cocktail books, but this one is actually my favorite. It might not have as many fancy photos as the other books, but it has the highest number of cocktail recipes, and they are very well organized. Also, it has a couple of intro chapters on types of drinks and ingredients and the kinds of glasses and various other tools used in mixing cocktails.

6. The Bulgarian classics: Българска национална кухня and 1585 от най-добрите и изпитани рецепти от Пенка Чолчева (pictured on the third photo). These books are a must for every Bulgarian who cooks! They are priceless with their great authentic recipes for traditional Bulgarian meals. One of my specialties - "peppers with colorful stuffing" is what it's actually called, no kidding - is from Penka Cholcheva's book, and everyone who's ever tasted it has always loved it. I guess Penka Cholcheva is our equivalent of Julia Child :).

5. Last, but not least: fiction about cooking and food!
- Crescent by Diana Abu-Jaber: lovely, lovely book about exile, being an immigrant, finding your home, falling in love and letting go of the past, all infused with the lush scents and flavors of Middle Eastern food.
- Aphrodite by Isabel Allende: the Sheherazade of Chile presents a book about love, lust, and the aphrodisiac that is food, and she even gives us a bunch of recipes to experiment with.
- Chocolat by Joanne Harris (not pictured, but a vital part of my collection): don't read this book without a stash of chocolate nearby, as it will make your mouth water with every page.
- Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel: a book about frustration, love and hope, all mixed in with Mexican food in every sense of the word. It can be a bit melodramatic at times, but it is magical nonetheless.

NUTELLA CINAMMON ALMOND CAKE

2010-06-27T15:44:00.003+03:00

So, after a month and a half of not really having any time to cook for pleasure, I was feeling a little adventurous on Friday (and also hungry for chocolate), so I tried a new dessert recipe from a cookbook I bought from a little bookstore in Boston. Nutella Cinnamon Almond Cake!

Yes, it's just as yummy as it sounds!

1. Mix a cup of brown caster sugar, three eggs, a cup of flour, 4-5 tbsp of milk, 3/4 cup of butter, baking powder, cocoa, and cinnamon in a large bowl until the batter is smooth.
2. Butter a cake pan and sprinkle with flour, so that the cake doesn't stick.
3. Pour 3/4 of the mixture in the pan. Add four large blobs of Nutella and pour the remaining batter on top. Swirl a few times with a skewer and add almonds or walnuts.
4. Bake until nicely browned and springy.

The result - pure deliciousness!

GARDENING

2010-06-20T21:53:00.005+03:00

After a stormy night, I spent most of my day hanging out in my garden.

I guess you could say that I was gardening, even though on a scale of 1 to 10, the intensity of my gardening was probably like 3. Still, I did pull weeds, I did trim bushes, and I did clean up the garden, and I believe that all of these activities fit into the definition of gardening. I even managed to do all that while listening to some lovely quirky songs by Fanfarlo, a band that I just discovered last night. Talk about multitasking :)

It was a nice day to poke around in the garden - it wasn't too hot - and I finished right before it started raining again. The wind last night had scattered peony and rose petals everywhere, which was kind of lovely, but still chaotic enough for me to want to clean up, so I did just that. I also gathered up most of the fallen tiny quince fruits from under the quince tree. It's a pity that so many of them fell victim to the storm, since the fruits, when ripe, make for a lovely jam. Still, that tree actually grows a lot more fruit than I can ever make into jam, so I wasn't too disappointed.

But you know something interesting about gardening that I realized today? Even the trash looks pretty when you are gardening.

SUNSET OVER THE CITY

2010-06-10T23:58:00.003+03:00

Look at that sunset!!!

SUMMER ORANGE

2010-05-25T21:59:00.004+03:00

If I had to write down my top three earring designs, these orange lovelies would definitely make the cut :) They are so summery with their small coral elements that I can almost smell the island air, and I can almost feel the hot sun on my skin. I actually wish I had more orange clothes, just so I could make a pair of these for myself. Anyway, their lucky owner e-mailed me that she did, in fact, own a orange-coral colored top, so I guess the earrings have found their home:)

Check them out below:

BIRTHDAY GIFT PINK SET

2010-05-16T22:38:00.002+03:00

I got an order for a set of earrings and pendant that were meant to be a birthday gift for someone from her co-workers. I was pleasantly surprised when, a day later, they sent me their company newsletter, which featured a photo of the birthday girl with the pendant that I made, along with a mention of Kose-Bose Creative Designs. Check it out below; it made my day!

THE SPRINGTIME EARRINGS

2010-05-07T16:21:00.003+03:00

It's spring, everything is green and blooming, and I guess the nice weather has gotten to me, because the earrings I made for a recent order definitely have a certain "springtime" feel.

By the way, I do realize that my posts lately have been mostly about jewelry, but, well, it's because that's what I've been doing...:) I promise that more variety is coming soon!

BIRTHDAY GIFT EARRINGS

2010-05-03T22:55:00.004+03:00

These were done as a gift for a friend's birthday...I bought the scarf first from this little shop downtown, and then I made the earrings to match. I think this turned out to be a nice little set, and I do hope that she'll wear it :D

SOME MORE JEWELRY

2010-04-16T23:30:00.004+03:00

Remember the set of pink earrings that I sold around Christmas? Well, the person who ordered them came to me with a request that I make a matching pendant/necklace, so here is what I did:

I quite like it, actually :)

SPRING IS HERE!

2010-04-05T21:47:00.002+03:00

I love it when everything is blooming!

PAINTED GLASS BOTTLES: RED

2010-03-22T21:14:00.005+02:00

Enjoy my newest creation (the dark green bottle with red butterflies) along with a slightly older creation (the clear bottle with red roses).
The theme for this post: the color RED (obviously)
:)

***

Насладете се на най-новото ми творение (зелената бутилка с червените пеперуди) заедно с едно малко по-старо творение (прозрачната бутилка с червените рози).
Темата на този пост: ЧЕРВЕНОТО (очевидно)
:)

GORGEOUS BOOK

2010-03-09T20:57:00.004+02:00

A few weeks back I managed to get my hands on a really gorgeous book by author Laini Taylor, called Lips Touch: Three Times, which features some wonderful illustrations by Jim Di Bartolo.

Now this is the kind of true gem that can make a bookworm and art nut like me jump around the room with enthusiasm like a little kid.

Not much is conventional about this book: not the format, not treatment of the topic, and definitely not the design and illustrations. It is a book about kisses, and yet there is nothing ordinary about them or what they mean. These kisses are life-changing, but they are neither cliche-sugary, nor for the faint of heart. These are not your average Disney-like fairy tales, but compelling - and maybe even a little haunting - novelettes with a twist. The illustrations, all done in shades of black and red, are just as eerie and delicious as the author's prose. Clustered in the beginning of each story, they reveal past events that we otherwise only glimpse at in the plot. The design of the whole book - from the ornamental backgrounds and red initials to the red and black borders of the illustrations - is done with great care and attention to detail. This investment definitely paid off, as the book was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2009. It also paid off because people are in love with the beauty that is this book.

And, honestly, how cool is "Spicy Little Curses Such as These" for a story title! VERY cool, this is what I say :)

Enjoy some images of this book that I took this weekend (and I hope I'm not breaking any copyright laws or anything by posting them; that's definitely not my intention):

P.S. Have you guessed who did the cover design yet? Christopher Stengel, of course. Man, this guy is good.

FUN TEES

2010-02-08T00:32:00.004+02:00

Today t-shirts are not just a piece of clothing. They are a fashion statement. They are a personal statement.

Everyone has a favorite t-shirt or a bunch of favorite t-shirts. They can be rock concert tees, crazy or unique tees, branded tees, tees with artwork, typetees with funny slogans and whatnot...you name it, it's out there and people are wearing it to define themselves in a certain way.

Personally, I love graphic tees or typetees. I was browsing the stores for a new addition to my favorite bunch of tees, but since I was being picky and wanted something that would scream "this tee is soo 'Kossi'," you can imagine that I didn't have much luck finding anything. That's when I decided that if I can't find anything I like, I might as well try and make something myself.

I decided to start with something easy, such as making a t-shirt with some kind of slogan, and move to something more complicated (like a drawing of some sort) later on, when I know what I'm doing. After some thinking about what I wanted the t-shirt to say, I chose "curly crazy bookworm." It is very "me" (which is totally what I wanted) and it had a nice symmetry, which I could use in making the design.

I got lucky finding cheap basic t-shirts with a nice fit because of all the sales that have been going on for the past few weeks. I also got Marabu paints for textiles, which you can buy in various art stores (for example, Импресия and Слънчоглед in Sofia).

I played around with the text in Word in order to find the right font with a clean but not too boring look. I printed the final design and cut out the letters with a crafts knife to make a stencil, like the one you can see below:

Next, I painted the "curly crazy" part of the design in pink, attaching the stencil to the t-shirt with some tape and placing another sheet of paper under the fabric to keep me from staining the back of the t-shirt. I wasn't overly careful with applying an even layer of paint, though, because I wanted the t-shirt to have a kind of untamed, very slightly grungy look to it.

I let it dry and then ironed the design with a hot iron to fix the paint, following the instructions on the Marabu textile paint bottles. I repeated the same process for the "bookworm" part of the design, and voila - I had my t-shirt!

Anyway, some of my other favorite t-shirts include:
- my geeky Harry Potter inspired t-shirt that says "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good" at the front and "Mischief managed!" at the back. I made three such t-shirts (using fabric markers) for me and two of my best friends, who also happen to love the Harry Potter books :)
- my Happy Bunny tees. Man, I love those. Especially the holiday tee that says "So I've been naughty, so what?" under an image of the bunny wearing a Santa hat. That one cracks me up every time. Check out Jim Benton's Happy Bunny website
- a bunch of Billabong, O'Neil and Roxy graphic tees that don't have any cheeky sayings on them, but feature some awesome designs.

Finally, some useful links for great graphic tees:
- Threadless: www.threadless.com
- IndieShirts: www.indieshirts.com
- BustedTees: www.bustedtees.com

PAINTED GLASS BOTTLES

2010-01-14T21:19:00.005+02:00

Another shorty-short post from me: I just started photographing some of the glass bottles that I've painted in the last year or so, and I decided to upload one of the photos here. Painting on glass is another hobby of mine (yes, I have lots of them). Besides, painted glass bottles or glasses make great gifts. They can be used simply as decoration, or they can serve as candlesticks or vases.

***

Още един кратък пост от мен: започнах да правя снимки на стъклените бутилки, които съм изрисувала през последната година и реших да кача една от снимките тук. Рисуването върху стъкло е още едно от моите хобита (да, имам доста такива). Освен това, изрисуваните стъклени бутилки са супер за подаръци. Те могат стоят просто като декорация или да се използват за вази или свещници.

MORE HANDMADE EARRINGS AND PENDANTS

2010-01-11T21:52:00.006+02:00

CUY68CEMWYXS

Over the holidays I sold a bunch of my handmade earrings and pendants (which was pretty great), so I though I'd share some images with you. I'm also thinking about setting up an Etsy shop. If you don't know what Etsy is, go check it out right now because there's some awesome stuff there: www.etsy.com

***

Около празниците успях да продам доста от моите ръчно изработени обици и медаьони (което беше супер) и реших да ви покажа малко снимки. Освен това мисля да си направя Etsy магазин. Ако не знаете какво е Etsy, веднагически отидете да проверите, защото там има страхотни нещица: www.etsy.com

GREAT BOOK COVERS

2009-12-20T17:55:00.003+02:00

OK, I admit. I am a book-lover. I am addicted to books.

I can, and I do, read everywhere – on the bus, on the plane, while waiting in line, in bed, on the computer, during my lunch break. I go kind of nuts when I have finished a book and I don’t have anything new that I would like to read. It’s crazy, I know.

Seeing as I am also crazy about design, the amount of time I spend in bookstores is getting close to ridiculous. I look at the actual content of the books for about 70% of the time, and then I spend the remaining 30% oohing and aahing at some gorgeously designed book cover. While it’s true that it is the content that really counts, if a reader doesn’t actually pick up and open a particular book, the amazing story that is hiding inside will never be appreciated like it should. Besides, it is fantastic to have the satisfaction of holding an altogether great product in your hands, one that is beautiful both inside and out.

So below is a small selection of what I think are great book covers, one s that speak for the stories inside and compliment them. These were ones that made me do the mentioned above oohing and aahing or that have just screamed at me “come buy this book!” from across the bookstore.

Of course, I don't claim that these are the best out there or the only ones that are good. This is not an exhaustive list; it's just a small collections of covers I like. For more, check out the useful links at the end of the post. Also, here is a disclaimer: all posted covers are copyright to their respective holders.

1. Book: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, Cover art and design: Christopher Stengel

This is, hands down, one of the most gorgeous book covers I’ve seen lately. It is so in tune with the mood of the book that I get goose bumps by just looking at it. Just like the author’s prose, it is lyrical and poetic without being overly ornamental. If I ever write and publish a book, I want its cover to be this wonderful.

2. Book: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly, Cover art and design: Robert Ryan

This one is also a big favorite. I love Rob Ryan’s papercuts. Once again, the cover image reflects the tone of the book really well with its fairy tale look and ominous overtones.

3. Book: Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, Cover art and design: Jon Gray

These are just plain cool. Sometimes working just with words and typefaces can produce a great result.

4. Book: Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, Cover design: Tom Bean, Cover image: Russell Munson

This one is actually not new at all, but it is timeless. It is a proof of the beauty of simplicity.

5. Book: Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, Cover design: David Wardle

6. Book: Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork, Cover design: Christopher Stengel

This is another Christopher Stengel. I guess he's pretty great.

Oh, and here are some useful links about the designers mentioned in this post and about book cover design in general:

David Wardle
Rob Ryan's Blog
Jon Gray
Fwis Covers
Book Cover Archive
Chip Kidd's official website
Cover Browser

HANDMADE EARRINGS

2009-12-14T20:21:00.008+02:00

I love handmade things. There are a few small art shops around Sofia that sell all kinds of handmade things – plates, mugs, candles, scarves – and I just love to browse their shelves for hidden treasures. I especially love handmade jewelry. It is interesting and unique, and I always get compliments when I’m wearing something like that. You can see some of my favorites from my collection in the pictures below (from left to right: earrings made out of wire, earrings made with peony petals, and handmade silver rings and earrings):

Of course, I can’t always find exactly what I’m looking for, so at one point I started making my own jewelry. I have made a bunch of earrings and a couple of necklaces, examples of which you can see below:

Just this past week, I filled an order I had for two pairs of earrings. The order was for one pair of “black earrings that can be worn with a dress” and one pair of “kind of crazy blue and green earrings.” The black earrings were easy enough in terms of the design, even if they weren't so easy in terms of execution:

However, I had no idea what to do for the “kind of crazy blue and green earrings.” I decided just to browse the shelves of a couple of bead and art supply stores and wait for inspiration to strike. I got a bunch of different jewelry elements and some funky blue-green beads, but I was still wondering what to do with them. Then, I rummaged through my drawers and found some wooden jewelry elements that were leftovers from another project. I ended up painting the wooden elements in blues and greens and gluing the beads to them. I actually love the final product so much that I think I’m going to make something similar for myself (hopefully without gluing my fingers together this time).

Check out the earrings below:

A few days ago, I made another pair in a similar style, this time using grey and black beads of various shapes and sizes. While these have a more classic look because of the conservative color scheme, they are still interesting and unique:

I’m ready to make more, just say the word :).

THE WALL MURAL: BIRDS FLYING HIGH, YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL

2009-12-13T15:47:00.005+02:00

I have to admit that I been extremely lucky in some aspects of my life. For example, I have pretty awesome parents. When I came back to Bulgaria after studying abroad for four years, their extremely generous gift to me was a place of my own. Of course, that meant that I got the opportunity to go wild with the design and decoration, something that every artistically inclined person dreams about.

In reality, I can’t say that I really went wild: I didn’t use ten different colors for my walls, I didn’t choose eccentric furniture that nobody would ever sit on, and I didn’t put a fake leopard rug in the living room (thank heavens!). What I tried to do was to color coordinate and to work towards a clean and modern look, while adding creative touches here and there in order to keep the artistic feel of the place.

My pride and joy in that respect is the bedroom.

THE BEDROOM

My bedroom is on the top floor of the house, with one wall almost entirely taken up by glass doors leading to a terrace, which overlooks the city. There is another window on the southern wall, which has the most gorgeous view of the Vitosha Mountain. All in all, it’s an awesome space. I also wanted this to be the space that felt the most like me. Those of you who know me well would know what this means; for those of you who don’t, I’ll tell you one word: blue. Not only do I love the color blue, but every room that I have occupied in the last ten years or so has been decorated in blue. This time, I chose a light shade that went nicely with the scheme of lighter and darker shades of beige with chocolate brown accents that I had chosen for the rest of the apartment.

The Design

There is one peculiarity of the wall behind my bed. Due to the structure of the house, that wall is actually divided into two parts, with one part standing out more than the other. Most people would view that as a flaw, but I think that such “flaws” provide great opportunity to create something really unique. That’s when I came up with the idea of painting half of the wall light blue and having a light blue flock of birds coming out of it and flying into the light beige half of the wall. In the past year or so, birds have become something of a recurring theme in my art and photography. The image of a bird in flight conveys an amazing sense of freedom and movement, so the design seemed like a good choice for my bedroom.

Surfing around the internet for ideas, I looked at companies that produced wall decals. Even though I found some nice wall decals and stickers, they were ridiculously expensive and not in the color that I wanted. Then, I decided to browse through flickr, and I stumbled upon this photo of an awesome wall mural by Austin '81

The idea was very close to what I wanted, and I was very happy to read in the description of the photo that the people executed the whole thing all by themselves using stencils and having a lot of patience. I used some of the bird shapes from the photo for my design, adding others that I had drawn myself.

The Way to Do It

I was familiar with the idea of stenciling, but as I had never done it, I had to do a bit of reading on the technique. From my experience, however, only about half of the information and tips that you can read online on the subject are actually useful.

For example, most do-it-yourself websites suggested that I use cardboard stencils or stencils made out of thick transparent plastic sheet. In turn, I discovered that it was better to make them out of self-adhesive foil for several reasons:

1. You can find really cheap self-adhesive foil. Since it doesn’t matter what the color or the pattern of the foil is, you can buy whatever is on sale. In Bulgaria, you can find self-adhesive foil in most stores that have home improvement and construction products, and it is quite cheap.
2. Cutting stencils out of the soft thin foil is a lot easier than cutting cardboard or plastic sheets.
3. Self-adhesive foil stickers are very easy to stick to the wall, just like their name implies. Also, you won’t have to worry about the stencil moving and ruining your design in case you have to apply paint several times.

The self-adhesive foil idea was actually my dad’s, so a big shout out goes to him for suggesting it.

What You Need

What I ended up using for my project was the following:

- light blue and light beige paint
- self-adhesive foil
- craft knife
- small paint roller and small art brush
- lots of enthusiasm

Getting It Done

Armed with all the necessary materials, inspiration and patience, I followed the steps below:

1. I mapped out my design, taking into account the measurements of the wall. Based on that, I calculated the approximate dimensions of the different bird silhouettes and drew them on the self-adhesive foil.

2. I cut out the bird shapes using my craft knife. An important thing to remember is to cut on a cutting mat or other protective surface, so that you don’t destroy your furniture.

You should use the "negative" part of the self-adhesive foil cutouts for your stencil, which leaves you with the "positive" cutouts of the birds (see images below for the "positive" bird cutouts). If you like the color of the foil that you have chosen, you can play around and decorate something else with these birds.

3. I placed the foil stencils to the wall as per my design. I made sure that the edges of the bird shapes had adhered well to the wall, so that there would be minimum leaks of paint once I start painting.

4. I used the paint roller to apply an even coat of paint and achieve a clean “silhouette” kind of look. It is best to apply the paint from the outside to the inside, so that the edges of the shapes stay clean and sharp.

5. I applied several more coats of paint until I was satisfied with the result.

6. I took the stencils down carefully, pulling diagonally. It is important to take the stencils down sooner rather than later, so that they don’t get really stuck to your wall (even though the danger of that happening is actually not very big).

7. I left the wall to dry for a day.

8. Since some bird shapes had to overlap in order to create the “flock” design, I had to repeat steps 3-6 over a couple of days until my design was done.

This is what my wall looked like at this point in the process. Some of the birds were stenciled already, but not all:

9. Finally, I used the small art brush to fix any leaks of paint or other minor flaws of the painted image.

You can see the finished wall below. I dare say it turned out great:)

To finalize the décor of my bedroom, I bought light blue curtains and light blue bed covers. I also have these lovely sheets with a cloud pattern that go really well with the overall sky/birds theme. My mom suggested painting one of my laundry baskets in blue, which also turned out great. You can see some of these additional decor touches in the images below:

OTHER IDEAS:

Other things that you can do:

- Paint a wall in a darker color, like dark blue, dark green, etc, and have a design in lighter color on top of it. If you match that with light furniture or a light rug on the floor, you’ll have one classy room.
- Stencil your ceiling. Imagine how cool it will be if you stencil the flock of birds on the ceiling and look at them first thing in the morning.
- If you want something funky for your children’s room, you can have them do handprints in different colors.
- If you have the money and you are not too picky about the color, you can get wall stencils. I have found some pretty awesome ones available online at the following addresses:
www.thesurfacestore.com
www.applepiedesign.be
www.miraentuinterior.com

Добре дошли!

2009-12-12T14:55:00.004+02:00

Добре дошли в Гнезденцето на КОСЕ-БОСЕ, дом на моите творчески идеи и седалище на KOSEBOSE Creative Designs.

Имало едно време една птичка на име Косе-Босе...е, всички знаете приказката, нали?

В България името Костадина често се съкращава на Косе, което веднага кара всички да се сетят за популярната народна приказка за Косето Босето. Разбира се, като малка много мразех този прякор, защото всеки разговор започваше с “Косе-Босе, дай ми едно яйчице.” По-късно, обаче, когато мислех да създам “персонален бранд” за себе си и творческата си работа, осъзнах, че вече имам перфектното решение: КОСЕ-БОСЕ! Името се знае от всички и се запомня лесно, използвала съм го откакто се помня и определено е забавно и закачливо. Подрасках си малко....и първото яйчице (или първата идея) се излюпи!

Kosebose’s Nest е опит да сложа всички яйчица в една кошница, така да се каже – графичен дизайн, фотография, приложно изкуство и живопис, както и всичко, което ме вдъхновява. Връщайте се честичко тук и обещавам, че ще ви чакат много визуални лакомства.

Фразата “Косе-Босе, дай ми едно яйчице" придобива ново значение...:)

PS. Ще се опитам да поддържам този блог и на български, и на английски, но предварително моля за извинение, ако се окаже, че по-често пиша на английски.

KOSEBOSE'S NEST

2009-11-30T22:00:00.002+02:00

Welcome to Kosebose’s Nest, the home of my creative ideas and the residence of KOSE-BOSE Creative Designs.

Once upon a time, there was a blackbird named Kose-Bose. The bird lived happily on a tree in the woods, taking care of her nest and eggs, until a sly fox started taking one egg at a time. Finally, Kose-Bose had only one egg left. The bird was sad; she didn’t want to lose that last hatchling. So on the next day, the bird told the fox that the egg was hidden in the bushes, knowing that a dog was waiting there. The dog chased the fox away, and Kosebose saved her egg and lived happily ever after.

In Bulgaria, the name Kostadina is usually shortened into Kose, which immediately makes people think of the popular folktale about the blackbird Kose-Bose. Of course, I hated it when I was little; every conversation started with “Kose-Bose, will you give me an egg?” However, when I was thinking of creating a personal brand for myself and my creative work, I realized that I already had the perfect solution: KOSE-BOSE! It’s well known, I’ve been using it for as long as I can remember, and it’s fun! I doodled a bit…and my first egg – or should I say my first idea – was hatched!

In Kosebose’s Nest, I will put all my eggs into one basket, so to speak – graphic design projects, photography, crafts, art, inspiration. Check back here often, and I promise that there will be fresh visual goodies waiting for you.

I guess that the phrase “Kose-Bose, give me an egg” takes on a whole new meaning!