A Little Bit of Shopping...

I must confess that I love to shop. I know it's a stereotypical "girl thing", but I just can't help it. My favourite places to shop are little quaint independent shops, charity shops, markets and antique centres. So I took an opportunity to have a mooch around the sweet little local towns of Shrewsbury yesterday, which is just full of lovely shops and quirky little nooks. 

 I had a small but quite exciting haul - a hardback copy of the "Tamara Drewe" graphic novel, an adorable ceramic bird and some brightly coloured plastic bead necklaces (to be split for bracelets!) all from the charity shops, and a very sweet 1940's brooch from the antiques centre, which apparently is a "Sweetheart" brooch, with dried flowers. I've tried doing a little bit of research online but haven't found anything out yet, but I love it and all of it's pretty pink and floral goodness.

My Week..

It's been a very busy week, and between our trip to London and a lovely family wedding yesterday, I've barely had time to take a breath!

As so often happens, my work and personal life overlapped - my cousin, the bride, commissioned thirty-five of my vintage embroidered fabric birds as wedding favours for her guests, so I've been quietly working away on them since January, and had the last one finished in June. It was just splendid to be part of her special day!

So here they are, on the tables in pride of place, and I thought I would share my favourite of the photographs that I took -  a slightly blurry moment between the bride and her brother. Just lovely.

Louise Bourgeois

During my visit to Tate Modern on Monday, I popped into the Louise Bourgeois "Works on Paper" galleries. I was lucky enough to see the Retrospective of her work in 2007/2008 at Tate Modern, and was of course struck by the scale of her work, but also the sheer volume of notes, sketches and small pieces that she had made. I am fairly obsessive in my note making, and try to keep a sketchbook continuously, so I always find it interesting to see the processes and 'behind the scenes' work. 

These were some of my favourite pieces in the "Works on Paper" exhibition - 
"Scissors" 1994
One of the "Ode a Ma Mere" collection 1995
"My Inner Life" 2008
Close up section of "Look Up" 2009
"What is the Shape of this Problem?" 1999
"Ode a la Bievre" 2007
"Spiral Woman" 1999
"Be Calm" 2005
"Hours of the Day" 2006

Off on an Adventure

London is one of my most favourite places to visit, and I'm lucky to spend so much time there. Our little adventure started on Saturday, here are some of my favourite moments...

Sunday at Tate Modern for Matisse and Malevich, followed by a visit to the Twinings shop and museum.

Monday at the London aquarium followed by the V&A Disobedient Objects exhibition, particularly liked the Guerilla Girls section, and the "Nike Blanket" petition. We had a mooch around Covent Garden too, it's a lovely place.

I love the aquarium, it's a curious and interesting environment, so different to the every day experience. 

And on Tuesday we had a second visit to the Harry Potter Studio Tour, and it is absolute happiness. 

It's back to normal today, in my stall chatting to lovely customers, and working on pompoms for Big Knit hats!

My Week...

It's been a funny week, busy with lots of boring everyday things like haircuts and various appointments, but these are some of the little highlights...

Sunday - hanging out at home with the cats, where Norman made the most of his access to my crocheted rug

Thursday - Blueberry and Coconut cake at one of my favourite tea shops 

Friday - the start of Groot, from the pattern by Twinkie Chan, after a day of hat knitting for Innocent Smoothie's Big Knit Campaign 

Cosy Crochet

Lately my making seems to depend on the weather - every time it starts to rain I just want to spend the day cosy and crocheting. 

I started this blanket on Sunday, during a day of rain and howling winds and as the days are starting to get shorter it's the perfect project to work on in the evenings. It's big enough to wrap around me as I go along now!

Shopping and Makings...

I had a lovely little mooch around the charity and crafty shops in Chester on Tuesday and came home with quite the little haul of goodies...

Cotton for crochet flowers, a see-through flower bag, some children's clothes to re-purpose, a Cath Kidston Cowboy cup and a sweet Budgie ornament.

I spent this morning sewing - making an age 14-15 dress into a cute skirt, and a little girls shirt into a tote bag. So now I will be on the lookout for more dresses to up-cycle, since it was such a bargain at £1.50 and so easy to alter - all it needed was a waistband and a zip!