Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Project: Gypsy in Italy with Diane - Part 2


Where is the Gypsy now?

Hello everyone, this is Diane. . . the Gypsy wanderer. I am on vacation in Italy seeing the sites and discovering this wonderful new tool, the Gypsy, while we are wandering :)

We arrived in Milan and after a quick stop to drop off our luggage at our friend's home, we all headed into the city to see the sights. We visited the Castillo (castle) and the Duomo (cathedral). Milan is a fashion capital of the world and everywhere we looked, we saw handbags and shoes for sale. Here is one of the most outrageous pair. I don't know the price of these, but one pair we saw was 1500 Euros (about $2,250) - now that's a lot of Cricut cartridges!

Many of the shops are in the Galleria - a very old building similar to the modern shopping mall. This floor grate and tile design was in the Galleria - remember, design ideas are everywhere! I plan to try to design something similar with the Gypsy soon.

Rain was predicted for Sunday but we were very lucky and we were able to take a trip to Lago Maggiore on a beautiful day. Maggiore is a sister lake to Lake Como to the north of Milan. It is a very large lake and the top part is actually in Switzerland.

A very old and wealthy Italian family owns several islands in the lake. On one, Isola Bella, there is an amazing villa and gardens. Here is a view of Isola Bella from the ferry boat. What an amazing place for a "summer cottage."

Here is a larger view of the structure in the garden where I took the photo of the Gypsy at the top of this post. There is a unicorn at the top of this completely over the top centerpiece to the gardens. You can get an idea of the scale from the people in the photo.


We visited a relatively simple church on the "Fisherman's Island" where the workers actually live. There are so many beautiful churches in Italy with amazing artwork in every one of them!

We took the ferry back to the mainland (one more amazing view to the left - those are the Alps). Then we visited Stresa, another town along the lakeside. Our friends wanted to stroll along the lake but I was tired from so much walking, so I was happy to simply sit on a bench and relax.

I pulled out my Gypsy and started to make some titles. It was great to be able to do them while the town names and spellings were fresh in my mind. The Gypsy is so lightweight that it is no trouble at all to carry it along in my bag. I have been using the Gypsy Font for my titles. I like the style and it welds beautifully. Welding on the Gypsy is so quick and easy and I can even tilt individual letters if I want to and still keep them all in the same group. This is a great feature that Design Studio doesn't have yet.

Where will the Gypsy turn up next? Check back soon for the next part of the Gypsy Adventure!

Don't forget to sign up to be a follower and also to win 1 of the 2 Gypsies we are giving away HERE


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9 comments:

scrapbooking for others said...

How cool to be able to take the Gypsy along and scrap at the time you are making the photos!!

Sammye Jo said...

WOW Diane- Looks beautiful! Thanks for sharing!!

Stampinlynne said...

what fun, can't wait to see what you've created!

- - Sheryl - - said...

Great idea, capture the name and you are one step closer to your LO!!

Snowmanlover said...

Cap!!! How awesome you are doing this!! Great to see you in Italy!!!
Barb

Terry@ a quilting blog said...

So nice of you to show us the beautiful places you are visiting and how great that, with the Gypsy, you can continue to create while enjoying your vacation!!! Look forward to seeing your projects when you return. TFS

~Terry

Kimba28s said...

That looks amazing I am glad you are out having so much fun with the gypsy!

FitterTwit said...

I could do a whole scrapbook layout just on those shoes! Talk about your inspiration! LOL!

farmhouse-story said...

thanks for sharing!