Berlin

Roof of the 'broken church'. A million tiny amazing tiles - simply breathtaking. The church was bombed during the war but was one of the few still standing. They haven't restored it but allowed it to remain as a relic.

Berlin

Massive bridge in berlin

View from hotel in berlin

Hi all! Sorry for lack of updates! Am in berlin now after spending 2 days in london then a ferry from dover to calais and then a bus through belgium to amsterdam. Amsterdam was ok- wasn't a massive fan of the main town but the canals were very nice. Voldendam in holland was Gorgeous-just like what you expect 'holland' to be like with windmills and quaint little houses. Love to you all- will try for more updates (jen- I might need a raise to pay for my roaming charges!!)
Xx

My Creative Space

This week for My Creative Space I've been painting/drawing again for the 'Cos We Can' group. Having fortnightly deadlines and a theme is really inspiring for me. It challenges me to get going and create something that I normally wouldn't set aside time to do. I'm having great fun doing it too! This week's theme was play......and here's my drawing

Check out all the spaces at Kirstys Blog Kootoyoo..

Have I told you….

That in 13 days Mr Honi and I will be travelling through here

...and here....

...and here...

for a whole month!

We start in London and go through Belgium to Amsterdam then to Berlin onto Prague then Vienna then Slovenia, followed by Venice then down to Rome, up to Florence, through the French Riviera and up through France via Arles, Avignon, Lyon and Paris then back to London for a week.

To say "I'm excited" is a dramatic understatement!! I've never been to the UK or Europe before, but I already have the feeling it's going to be VERY hard to come home!!

A bit of inspiration to warm the cockles*

I’m not one who normally posts “oo look at this cool thing” posts (although I do rather like them on other people’s blogs – as I like being shown many different inspiring things)

So to hopefully inspire you my dear readers, I just had to share with you the work of Emily Martin. Most of you are probably already familiar with her work as “The Black Apple” – she even appeared on Martha a while ago.

Her works are gorgeous eerie oil paintings of times gone by and peculiar whimsical characters. Her recent collection pays homage to the Carnival with the inspiration coming from a line of a song “lost on the mid way”. It reminds me greatly of the TV show “Carnivàle” which I simply adored (and was sadly cut waaay to short)

Do yourself a favour and check our The Black Apple and the collection “Lost on the Midway”

*my Mum always used the expression "to warm the cockles" and it has always tickled my fancy!

My Creative Space

Hands up who likes 'travelling crafts'?

I do- I love them! Something you can just whack into your handbag and take it with you anywhere. And when you have a spare minute you can just whip it out and stitch away! (this post was also done on the run via my mobile)

This week MyCreative Space is my travelling case where I am working on another hexy baby quilt-from gorgeous Beatrix Potter fabric.
I bought this great carry-all at the Craft Fair and its perfect for travelling as it keeps everything neat and tidy and very safe.

Checkout more Creative spaces over at Kootoyoo!

EDIT: A few of you have asked about my "traveller" case. I bought it at the Sydney Craft Fair at Darling Harbour this year. It's made by a company called Yazzii and details can be found here.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

This week’s sewing attempt was definitely a “back to the drawing board” effort. So I thought I’d give you a little bit of a rundown of The Good, The Bad and the just Plain Ugly.

The Good: The Business Shirt for Mr Honi that I’ve been working on. From a distance – it looks REAL good (unless you’re a tailor and you’ll probably be able to pick up the MASSIVE mistake pretty quickly) This is the first pattern I MADE MYSELF – so am super proud of that. This is a Good.

The collar is also Good as I managed to make those little holes where the bits of plastic slide in to make the collar sit nicely.

The sleeves are also Good as I managed to line up the stripes of the yoke, so they run nicely in a continual line.

The Bad: My Sewing machine decided to have a little ‘spack attack’ and I was left with nasty loopy thread all of the cuff.

The Ugly: The interfacing on the cuff bubbled and warped dreadfully. Like when you’d put contact on your school books and if you rushed it – you’d have nasty bubbles everywhere. Luckily this was on the inside, but it still looks just awful.

And MOST Ugly – 2 MAJOR flaws with my pattern making.

1. I made an adjustment to the front panel and committed a cardinal pattern making sin and forgot to adjust the collar. So I had to fiddle with the front panels again – but this just made it sit very awkward.
2. MAKE YOUR NOTHCES people!! I didn’t and hence the lovely French Cuff Sleeve now sits toward the front of the shirt, rather than the side.

Overall - i'm happy with this shirt and know what I need to do for the next one I make!! But this is a lesson for all of us. Make a mock up garment in calico or scrap material first if you're trialling a new pattern!!

My Creative Space

My Creative space this week is my stable table on the lounge in front of the heater. Too cold to sew-my fingers don't move properly in this cold!! So, I decided to do a little painting (also part of my fortnightly 'cos we can' art project)
Check out more spaces here at Kootoyoo!