Please pass the salt and pepper...

... or could that be, the kitsch?


What delights! Our first stop in Amerrr-ica included a Saturday in Seattle, and while he went off to the Museum of Flight and the Flying Heritage Collection, I went to Pike Place Market.

Now, I admit that I am a spoiled girl, with Melbourne's Queen Victoria Market right on my doorstep, and so while I enjoyed Pike Place Market, it wasn't a life-changing experience (You see, I had that, in the Queen Vic, and I went back to the UK and applied for a visa. That's definitely life-changing.)


So, you can see why I wished that the girls of blogland and the TCB could be here with me when I hit the motherload of all salt and pepper kitsch. An entire shop devoted to crazy character salt and pepper sets.


(I'm sure they're used to women circling their windows and aisles, giggling quietly to themselves.)

But I wasn't sure if they'd want me taking pictures, so there are just a few.

B

Looking and thinking, travelling to some summer

I've been playing out in the wide world, looking at the colours and thinking of pictures and creations. As usual, getting away reminds me of who I am and of all of the images and ideas, colour and creations I want to be part of my life.


Travel opens possibilities. It wipes the veneer of weekly, daily, monthly work and routine out of my head and reminds me that life is short and is here to be lived to the full. Bloom and fade: celebrate and burst with colour.


The things I see make me want to draw all day, paint all evening, dream all night.

I did do a little painting on this trip, and lots and lots of drawing. Constant doodling. I made the commitment not to worry if it was any good; just to do as much drawing as I could. Even though we're back and the wind is wuthering (and we've got the traditional post-air journey sniffles), I'm doodling most days. It feels great.

And this is one of the photos from the trip that I find most wonderfully, richly satisfying.


Doesn't that just make you tingle? They look rich and full but pokey and prickly all at the same time. Can you see how big these barrel cacti are? I purposefully poked my toe in the bottom of the photo so you could see just how bloody enormous they are. I imagine if you sat on them, they'd pop. Or slump. (And poke billions of little cacti-holes in your delicate derriere.)

These photos were all taken one sunny fine day in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as I went around the botanical gardens and sculpture park. Big thanks to my lovely host, Jennifer, for suggesting it -- somehow I never fail to find inspiration in a great garden.


Especially one with vistas like this that remind me of the summers in Canada and big fields of wildflowers.

Now all I need is a big floaty dress and a sunhat. (Too bad they lost my luggage and all I had was my Melbourne winter black. But that's all forgiven and in the past now, right?)

Ahh, holidays. > dream <

Homemade In Epicure

HomemadeInEpicure
Originally uploaded by smallcloughs

I'm on holiday at the moment -- did you miss me?

I'm on the patio, sitting in the sun in Canada, enjoying the summer breezes, the prospect of more barbeques and swimming in the lake.

Meanwhile, at home, the little cookbook we produced for the bushfire benefit has attracted some attention and was in Epicure last week. Yay!

If you don't already know all about it, go to www.handmaderecipebook.com. (I promise you it's delicious, I edited those recipes and some of them looked great...!)

More soon, just wanted to share the (belated) news. If you'e already ordered a copy of the book, apparently they have arrived and will be shipping very soon if not already. Double yay!

xx
B

The wedding quilt is finished!

I've spent nearly every spare hour these past few weeks stitching on this quilt, which I can finally reveal to you! It's an exciting day when a quilt's done, mingled with sore fingers and pride. And I'm really, really happy with this one -- super-snuggly, just the right size for sofa sitting and curling up in style.


I made this quilt as a wedding present for a very dear friend and her husband. It was started many months ago just after they ran away to Italy to get married in a fabulously romantic rush. (A proper elopement.)

I had already decided that red would be the main colour, when she and I went for a shopping spree in Amitie one summer day. She oohed and ahhed as I oh-so-casually unrolled bolts of red fabrics across the table. 'Ohh, this one's nice! What do you think of this one?' Apparently, she didn't suspect a thing: I'd already bought half of the fabrics and had them in my bag. Little did she know that we were choosing the other accents to go with the red and large print floral. Should it be dark blue? Grey? Or even sage green?

I settled on a scheme of red and white with little bits of pale blue. Sky blue, a lovely colour.

And then the sashing: I'd been thinking very dark grey, or that sage green, even maybe a linen or linen blend, but the black with a subtle pattern, well, that just sang.

So, lots of hand quilting in sweet silver perle thread, a backing of black and white check, and a white bird appliqued on the back as a label. Red, red binding. A red, black and white quilt to go with their modern apartment and their big red and black Italian poster. Yay!

I was sewing the last stitches on the bird label today when she arrived. Oops! After the presentation, I had to take it back and set the last few stitches. But that's quilting to deadline!


Faithful to the end. >Toby thinks: Perhaps jumping on the sofa right now would be a BAD idea. Can I have a biscuit instead?<

Whew. Now I can concentrate on trying to get ready to travel halfway around the world. Only 6 more sleeps!

B

Sleepy Sunday

Ribbon that's good enough to nibble...

Sweet stitching, working on a project I can't show you yet (she reads the blog), drinking tea with a lovely friend while kids go wild on an old pogo stick out in the yard. They're popping up and down on the path and they occasionally hit the grass, where the pogo plug takes out a round ball of grass and dirt. Surreptitious looks at us inside, pretending we don't notice as they quietly pat the grass and dirt back into place. Nice kids, her pre-teen and a friend.

I've had a headache all day and it puts me in a dreamy space. Not unpleasant, not really, apart from the ache and the way things sort of -shift- as I look at them. Won't be on the computer for long.

But what I have been doing is astounding me with the beauty of what people create. Look at this.

Illustration by Finnish artist, Hanna Konola - whose quiet little people are deceptively simple.

And this, also by Hanna Konola.


And so many things at the Buy Olympia site - such as

- Papercuts by artist Nikki McClure, who inspires and delights with her intricate and quirky 1930s-looking papercuts of people, trees, and the world.

- Or these gorgeous cards from Jill Bliss and Saelee Oh. How tempting to order up big and have them delivered to my North American address, for happy hopping all the way home with me...

And planning for travel. I've been researching gorgeous crafty destinations in the Seattle area, as it turns out I'll be there for the weekend, the weekend after next.

Hunting online for markets, studios and interesting places. Finding out about neighbourhoods (seeing as I choose the hotel, I'm choosing one somewhere near a good market, right?) And great suggestions would be welcomed! (I've never been there before and so it's a solo craft adventure while Mr Tacc admires aero-planes.) I find a weekend on my own in a new, foreign city inspires me with equal parts anxiety and glee. Excitement at exploring; fear at not knowing how things work and where they are, but mainly concern that I would miss something WONDERFUL, AMAZING, FANTASTIC.

Do you get like that at times, too?

On my desk

I've forgotten what day of the week we do this, but this is a recent picture painted and drawn with a crafty soul in mind.

I wanted to paint it as if the sun was shining through the tree and it was a brisk spring day. The house was in a photograph of -- San Francisco, I think. I look at this and see how far I still have to go -- but a lot of distance covered, too. Halfway towards a goal and walking steady.

Inspiration and some aspiration have been coming from UPPERCASE today. Have an explore. I'll be showing some of my favourites this weekend.

--

Just joining in My creative space for the first time in months! Much more gorgeousness over at Kootoyoo.

Fun for me

I love buying myself presents. Today I wandered to the station and missed my train, so of course I just *had to* go in and explore the lovely shop in the Degraves St Subway, The Cat's Meow.

I saw many things I liked very much, but I'll be wearing my one of these tomorrow. Yay, Friday! Hoorah, pretty crafty clothes.