1. Matryoshka Kimono Dolls, 2. Colour palette: Green, 3. Tamarillo chutney, 4. Cutest of cute hats!, 5. West Coast adventure, 6. Hands-on dog food!, 7. Pirates treasure bag PART TWO, 8. Autumn, 9. My new crafting space, 10. Friendly cat toys, 11. Birthday pancakes, 12. Magical toadstools, 13. Bush bath bliss, 14. Coral, shell and bone, 15. Autumn Blues, 16. Big skies, 17. Garden meditation, 18. The joy of wood, 19. Gratitude, 20. Birthday bunny

 1. My shop is now open!, 2. Cosy Friday evening, 3. Kimono paper tape PREVIEW!, 4. Happy weekend papercut, 5. Colour palette: Red, 6. Tin can lanterns, 7. Shop update: Tom Cats, 8. Spring love: magnolia blossoms, 9. Poultry PS, 10. …and the winner is…, 11. Display jars for treasures, 12. Pin board inspiration, 13. Monday’s inspiration: Honour, 14. Happy Equinox!, 15. Fresh start and a GIVEAWAY!, 16. Paper Fan Inspiration Cards, 17. Morocco on my mind, 18. Midwinter mandarin lanterns, 19. Rainbow eggs and a basket of flowers, 20. Vintage kimono palette

1. London by night, 2. Travelling feet, 3. Poultry Show, 4. Kimono paper tape PREVIEW!, 5. New things, 6. A new season…, 7. Hand carved stamps: lanterns and blossoms, 8. Monday’s Inspiration: Creativity, 9. Rob Ryan’s shop on Columbia Road, 10. Happy Christmas!, 11. Happy New Year!, 12. Plant skeletons, 13. Header artwork, 14. Paper Fan Inspiration Cards, 15. Earth Hour 2010, 16. Contact me, 17. Monday’s inspiration: Communication, 18. Pirate’s treasure bag, 19. More gratitude, 20. Olive Harvesting

This series is from Morocco. So many different kinds of tiles – in the patios, stairways and rooftops of traditional riads and dars where we stayed; in the great courtyard of an Islamic school in Fez; on the street of a town’s cobbled medina; and the pastel-bricked step of a pottery factory. Oh, and a monkey in the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas, sizing up my bag of peanuts!

These photos are all taken in the Black Forest in Germany where my half-sister and I stayed in a fairy tale 400 year-old traditional farmhouse. We spent the weekend walking through misty forests filled with Autumn leaves, mossy rocks, mushrooms, twisted roots, wild blueberries and chattering streams. Pure magic! Just wait till you see the farmhouse itself…

…And these photos are in the UK. The many different floors of the Victoria and Albert Museum, great ammonite fossils and sea-worn pebbles on the beaches of Exmoor, an ancient stone bridge and fallen berries on moss (also in Exmoor), and the floors of the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich (opposite where my brother lives and, more excitingly, where the most recent Pirates of the Caribbean film had just been shot!).

I’m slightly alarmed by how many of the photos feature the same pair of jeans and shoes… I’m ashamed to say, for a fairly seasoned traveller, I actually don’t travel lightly at all, and practically had my whole wardrobe with me, but you certainly wouldn’t know it! These photos must have all been taken on days when I was wearing my most comfortable, practical, walking clothes… : )

In Sofia Coppola’s film Lost in Translation, Charolotte remarks “…every girl goes through a photography phase, like horses, you know dumb pictures of your feet…” Well, it seems I’m still going through that phase! Somehow, photographing my feet in different locations has an irresistible immediacy that I still can’t quite get past.

I don’t know about you, but I’m always bringing home shells and pebbles and bits of polished glass or broken pottery, beads and vintage buttons, a patterned feather… and then I never quite know what to do with them.

Well, my lovely friend Amy has come up with a great solution.

On the windowsill of her bathroom she has a collection of large, vintage jars filled with found treasures. Once the jars are full, the lids are screwed back on, the jars turned upside down, and voila! simple, beautiful glass display cases. 

There are shells and bits of coral, a smooth pebble, mint coloured kina shell (sea urchin), and the wings of a monarch butterfly. 

Don’t you love how the lettering on the jar looks against the shells inside? She’s also used a jar to create a terrarium with a succulent plant inside.

Simple, beautiful ideas using recycled jars to preserve found objects. Perfect!

Thanks to Amy and Tipsy for the feedback on my original post and for their helpful suggestions of ways to do the skull’s face.

I followed Amy’s suggestion of embroidering the teeth with one long horizontal line and then several vertical lines, and I did Tipsy’s suggestion of doing the skull’s eyes in reverse applique: sewing an outline around the eyes and then cutting the felt away within the outline (very carefully, while not breathing!), so that the fabric underneath shows through. I have to admit I was a bit nervous about doing this. What if I cut a hole right through the bag?! But it was actually much easier than I thought – using very fine and pointy scissors – and I’m really happy with the result. Thanks, girls!

Now onto the treasures inside the bag!

I cut out a square from some Japanese-Hawai’ian rayon print fabric that I have, and hemmed it to make a headscarf. To that I added a bought eye patch and clip-on pirate’s earring. Arrr!

I then made two little pouches out of the same fabric as the headscarf, sewed simple ties on the sides, and filled them with “pieces of eight.” In one of the pouches I put a collection of cool foreign coins (picked up on the pirate’s various voyages, of course!), and in the other pouch I put a few chocolate coins. Once the chocolate’s been eaten, the empty pouch can be filled with whatever treasures the little boy finds to put in there himself.

Time for a sea shanty, me pretties!

Gratitude
I am grateful for all the gifts life gives me
even those I don’t yet understand

It’s been a painful week in our family and this card feels like a sweet gift to my heart. It reminds me to notice all the many blessings in my life and also, that even in dark moments there may be gifts that we can’t see yet but which will reveal themselves to us as events unfold.

So, here’s a list of the things that I’m grateful for right now (in no particular order):

For wonderful family, near and far
For being loved and cherished
For two crazy dogs who are always happy to see me
For a warm fire and snug house on a wild and stormy night
For a wonderful email from a friend I haven’t seen for years (hi Deb!)
For being forgiven when I let others down
For a good friend to phone up and cry to when it all gets too much
For singing!
For laughter and praying mantises
For macaroni cheese cooked with love by my man
For my teenage nieces (I’ll write back soon!)
For TOAST catalogues arriving at the perfect moment
For dreams of Morocco
For lovely travel agents when you need emergency flights
For “coincidences”
For thunder and lightning
For Reiki hands to soothe anxiety away
For inspiration and beauty
For THXTHXTHX: a thank you note a day for always making me smile
For Hawayo Takata for reminding me to “count my blessings”

What are you grateful for today? I’d love to hear your list of gratitude.

Have a great week.
Lucy xx

PS You can read more about my Paper Fan Inspiration Cards here on this new page, and I’ll hopefully have them in my brand spanking new Etsy shop this week! Watch this space… : )

This afternoon I grabbed some time to make a present for a little boy whose 5th birthday party we’re going to tomorrow. Mum had the idea of making him some kind of treasure bag that he could put small, precious things into. I developed the idea further into a pirate’s treasure bag. We’ll put some old, foreign coins into it -”pieces of eight” if you like – and he can add his own treasures after that.

I started by creating a skull and crossbones pattern from a piece of scrap paper, which I then cut out of dark blue felt. I then gathered together various fabric scraps: denim, vintage kimono silk, indigo Japanese print, some red and white linen upholstery fabric… The idea was for the bag to look like it was made out of various bits of old flags. I then sorted through my metal buttons and mother of pearl buttons for added embellishments.

I wanted it all to look like it had been roughly patched together so I sewed everything a bit wonkily with stitches showing in contrasting colours. I sewed a little hidden patch pocket inside. The skull and crossbones I sewed on by hand with small red backstitches. I then added little brass beads from India, vintage mother of pearl buttons, and three old metal buttons. The bag closes with a blue zip, and has a long strap so he can wear in slung diagonally across his body.

Here’s the (almost) finished bag, front and back. The strap is actually only held on by pins but the light was fading and I wanted to photograph it in natural light! I’m still undecided whether the skull needs eyes or not. I’m thinking of maybe embroidering them on in red. What do you think?

I love the colours – scarlet, yellow and jade, pale pink, florescent orange and green, all on that brilliant blue satin. And how great is the tail?!

Look at those eyebrows and the three little teeth! Not forgetting lovely Arlo inside the hat, of course! : ) All together now: Ohhhhhh!

I made a very simple pattern from scrap paper (uneven peanut shape for the body and long ovals for the ears), and chose two different green polka dot fabrics. 

While I cut the fabrics out and sewed the ears, Mum embroidered some green felt with a. bunny to go on the front. Then, while she turned the ears right way out, I zigzag stitched the felt onto the bunny’s tummy.

I then sewed the front and back together (with the ears pinned inside), turned everything right way out and pressed it all.

The ears somehow ended up a little wide and just needed a couple of stitches to give them more shape and reposition them.

Then stuffing and sewing closed, button eyes, embroidered mouth and a jaunty little rick rack scarf… 

…and voila! One cute little bunny.

A bunny for A. Bunny! Happy birthday, little man.

We decided to go to Anawhata, which is actually the next beach down the coast from where I live, but to get there it’s an hour’s drive (with the last part being down a long, winding, unsealed road), and then a half hour’s walk though the bush from where you park the car. I’ve actually never been to Anawhata before (shame on me!) which made it even more of an adventure. 

The walk down through the bush was beautiful. Twisting Manuka branches silhouetted against the sky, a great fallen Rata tree that you had to duck underneath, and an unexpected carved face nestled in the tussock.

Just before the beach we came across a hand painted sign. Half hidden in the bushes, with lichen growing amongst the letters, it said: Keep our world clean and green it’s the only one we have. Every beach should have one of these signs!

Anawhata is a typical West Coast beach (rugged, wind-swept, black sand, rocky islands and outcrops, surrounded by bush, river running down through it), but with its own unique personality. It’s much more enclosed than the other beaches I know, with lots of nooks and crannies to explore.

The first thing we did was sit down and have a picnic. We’d come prepared. Actually, we’d come over prepared! Amy had brought toasted pitta breads with three different filling options: cheese, green pepper and herbs; cheese, olives and herbs; and fried egg and herbs. Yum! She’d also brought dried apricots and almonds. I brought carrot and courgette sticks with homemade basil pesto, apple slices, and bottles of our home rainwater with mint leaves.

Replenished, we started exploring.

We kept finding spirals of seaweed, and there were great tangled masses of bull kelp.

We’re both avid beachcombers, and made collections of flotsam and jetsam: coloured plastic and seeds, a crab shell and a Pohutukawa leaf, white spirals from inside of deep sea squids, a segment of a sand dollar, and a line of driftwood crowned with Neptune’s necklace seaweed.

We discovered that most of the human-created flotsam we found was all in one colour palette: industrial orange, vivid blue, jade green and red. Bottle caps, various bits of string, a faded orange rubber glove that looked like a lobster’s back… and my trainers!

We drew in the sand…

And on the way back we made a bridge out of driftwood across the little river.

We climbed back up the hill to the car physically tired, but really happy. It had been exactly what we both needed. A perfect Autumn adventure at the beach.

I also love vintage kimono fabrics (as you may have gathered!), and had the idea a while ago to combine these two loves of mine together into Matryoshka doll cushions. 

The dolls below are ones I made for Christmas presents a year ago for my closest friends. The faces were simply hand drawn, then scanned into Photoshop and finished there. They’re then printed onto transfer paper and ironed onto white cotton fabric.

Most of the kimono pieces are from the 1930s. Probably the most time consuming part of making these dolls is choosing the fabrics and cutting them out. The kimono is then appliqued onto a cotton background.