Bonjour cherie!

Ah, Paris. City of lights, and love, cafe au lait, pain au chocolate. Chic fashion and Gallic noses. I love Paris - who doesn't?

These days though the budget doesn't quite stretch to Paris of course ... damn that mortgage!

And so instead I look lovingly and longingly at my new Bonjour Cherie cushion, all red-white-and-blue like the flag (so patriotic, I know).


When I discovered this month's design challenge from Finki was European Travels, I knew I had just the thing.

So I whipped this up using a wonderful printed linen that recently arrived in the mail, with a beautifully soft indigo denim on the reverse side. And - naturally - my favourite feather and down insert to make it super comfy and wonderful.

Isn't it delightful? I've taken it to the Shirt and Skirt Market with me today ... I wonder if it will be going home with someone else? How utterly, totally French that would be.

Turning Japanese

I'm joining in with Finki's January design challenge, which is all about turning Japanese.

I've created some little kimono dolls, out of kimono fabrics my younger sister (Scalpel Bettie) gave me for Christmas; plus some oddments donated by my mother. Japanese fabric is beautiful, so I was really happy to receive these bits and pieces as a present. And because they came as a giant bundle of offcuts, I don't have The Fear about cutting into them the way I do with really BIG bits of lovely fabric. It's almost as if the smaller genre enables me to be freer with what I make!

Then, to top it off, My One True Love returned from his cycling weekend and brought me a present .... of these lovely Japanese fabrics! There's a wonderful shop in Bright that stocks Japanese materials, buttons and beads.

I love the way he does this. How many husbands would go away on a blokey cycling weekend and still manage to find the fantastic fabric shop and go in and pick out a whole range of incredibly wonderful stuff, for their wife? My One True Love is certainly a king among men.

Love the Thornbury market

OH MY GOODNESS, the Thornbury market totally rocked today!

Yes, there were lots of people coming through, and quite a few of them buying, and that was fantastic. Whoever did the marketing for this event really knew what they were doing.

But more than that, I got to actually meet some of the crafters whom I've only known through their blogs before. It was like walking down the street of a movie set and meeting all of your favourite characters.

Curlypops and Tinniegirl were sharing a spot next to me (I ordered a lovely orange corduroy bag and admired the beautiful orange Happiness apron until a very clever person bought it), and Finki was showing her beautiful jewellery behind me.

Buttons by LouLou was just across the way - I now own some lovely navy blue polka dotted bobbypins that I coveted all day long, and I'm musing about buying a gorgeous chocolate brown brooch with a bird on it .... and Beccasauras stopped by and shared with some great op shop tips, and Hoppo Bumpo introduced me to Bargy, and Lara from Thornberry had her lovely laptop bag on ... and I'm sure I spied Taccolina and Dear Fii there for a moment as well.

And then (drum roll), then I met the High Priestess of Handbags, Nicole Mallalieu. Of You SEW, girl fame. Yes, the very same one! I nearly fainted with excitement. I may have danced a little jig.

This is the Nikki Mallalieu of the wonderful purse kits - and purse feet, people, feet, which cannot be bought anywhere in Melbourne that I know of apart from her shop - and patterns, and marvellous bias-tape-making geegaws; and we had a wonderful conversation. I am SO going to visit her shop at the first opportunity.

Honestly, if I hadn't sold a thing I'd still have been happy to be surrounded by such lovely neighbours whose blogs I read nearly every day. Okay, maybe I'd have been slightly miffed about not selling anything, but let's not worry about that.

It's so lovely to have found a crafty community, especially one which is both so geographically and philosophically close. It really has helped to bring everything to life for me.

Ahhhhhh. Hear that?

I am breathing the contented sigh of the sated admirer.