Mountains

This has nothing to do with crafts, but I really wanted to show off all our amazing mountain pictures from our visit to Mt. Blanc. That's right, I'm still going on about my honeymoon and we haven't even got to London yet! I think Mt. Blanc was my favourite place because it was so beautiful everywhere and I love hiking in woods and (apparently) on mountains. I've never been on a mountain before and I can't wait to go back.

When we arrived in the afternoon it was very cloudy and it soon began to rain. The picture at the top is the view from our hotel window. We could see glimpses of the mountains and even a snowy glacier right from the balcony! But it was so frustrating having clouds covering everything and it really began to pour in the evening. We spent quite a while walking around town looking for a raincoat for me.

The second day things cleared up a little and we took a train up the mountain so we could see the ice caves and this glacier:From here we did some hiking and even saw a marmot hiding under a rock. It was very scenic despite the foggy clouds that were still lingering.
I love this view of the mountain because it looks like it could be in Narnia.
Lucky for me, Bradley LOVES maps and did all the navigating so I could just follow his lead. He bought a fantastic map at the tourist place that had details of all the hiking trails throughout all the mountains that surround Mt. Blanc on either side.
On the second day it was still overcast so we went hiking again in forested areas of one of the mountains across the valley from Mt. Blanc. The scenery really looks similar to forests in Canada.
There are chalets up in the mountains where you can stop and have tea and cookies or drinks and a meal. The chalets are quite picturesque but there was a sign asking us not to take pictures of the house. On a clear day this picture would have had snow-capped mountains in the distance.On our way down the mountain we came across a field of blackberries. I picked lots of them (I love picking berries) and we had a picnic of baquette, goat's cheese and berries. We were in the habit of having baquettes everyday in Paris so we had carried them with us on our hike!
Up until this point we had a great time but Bradley was sorely disappointed about the weather particularly as he had wanted to take the cable cars up to the peak of Mt. Blanc and there was no point going with all the clouds. So on our last day it started out foggy but by 10 o'clock we were so thrilled to finally see the sun peaking out and see this glimpse of snow-capped mountain tops.
On that day we took the train partway up the mountain then did a five hour hike across to where you take the cable cars. It was so beautiful!I did not realize how goofy my sunglasses are until seeing the photos...

This is the kind of path we were following, in some areas it was quite steep and the path was very narrow. We got a bit of vertigo in places and decided not to look down too often! Believe it or not some people were actually parasailing from the mountain tops.
The autumn colours were gorgeous... more berries...
This is the area near the cable cars - a huge snowy glacier.
Here is the view into the valley below:
And the view in the other direction:
If you look carefully you can see tiny mountain climbers in the snowy expanse of the picture below. They are the little row of dots near the bottom of the picture. This was the view from the top of the mountain once we took the cable car up.
This is the view from the top across the mountain range towards Italy. There is actually another cable car that will take you across to Italy where you can descend and spend time in a village. We had wanted to do this but it was too late in the season and that route was closed. It was disappointing but at the same time this trip looked a little scary!And here you can see how happy (and emotional) Bradley was to finally reach the top of the mountain on our final day there. Thank goodness the rain cleared up! After this we had to rush down and run to catch our next train - which we did with only minutes to spare.

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Had a little swap

Recently we have been very busy fixing up the apartment. When we were away we were staying in hotels and just seeing simple rooms with only a suitcase (and weekender bag) full of things. And when we came home the clutter was so obvious. Also there were lots of things I've been wanting to fix for ages but we were busy with wedding planning.

So I've been sorting through everything and getting rid of things and it feels great. I had lots of things I didn't really want but couldn't quite bring myself to give away - but now I'm trying to be quite ruthless about it. It's better because in the end you enjoy the things you have more.

My favourite change so far is finally removing the horrible flourescent light box fixture in our kitchen. It turned out to be a much bigger job than expected but we've finally filled the huge gaping hole left in the ceiling. I say we, but Bradley did the hole filling part and I just patched up the crevices and smoothed everything out. We have a very nice fixture for Restoration Hardware that we're going to install, a simple schoolhouse semiflushmount light. I can't wait until it's in!

The other improvement is a window treatment. I finally figured out how to have a sheer curtain and a heavier curtain at the same time. IKEA has fixtures with two curves on it to hold two curtain rods. The inner curtain rod is plain and you put the sheer curtain on that (for privacy that still lets in the light) and then the outer rod can have a fancier knob on either end and that one has the heavier curtain. A very simple solution I didn't know about before.

But in the meantime I did manage to fit in a swap with Cindy from starrydesigns.etsy.com. She requested a custom cosy for her telephone with the same berry design embroidery I had used before (picture at the top of this post). She didn't want a clasp so I had to measure everything exactly to make sure it would fit her phone snugly - I guess it worked because she was very happy. These are the pretty earrings she sent me in return - I love them. And I love that I can be in Toronto and trade a cosy for a pair of earrings with someone in Singapore.

Ok now I have to get back to sewing my new curtains...

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Lyon

After Paris we took the train to Lyon, and had a couple of days there. It was the weekend so a few things were closed but we still saw a lot. The first evening we walked to the town square and saw some people dressed up in big white balloon-like costumes. (The picture at the top was a big red balloon floating away in the sky. By the time I was ready to take the picture it was quite tiny...so it's not quite the picture I was hoping for but I like it because seeing that big red balloon float away reminded me of one of my favourite films.)
The next day we took a bus tour and did some hiking at the top of the cliff that overlooks the city. There was a wonderful view.Lyon is the birthplace of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and we found the statue that has the author sitting with his creation, the little prince. We also came across a market by accident - it was wonderful - full of fresh fruit and vegetables, baked goods and even some tables of fabric. It was set in a long avenue of chestnut trees, just like the ones they have in Paris.
Then we visited the textile museum which is one of the city's main features. I took a lot of pictures like this in Paris too, there was so much nice stonework detail on buildings.
This is the outside because unfortunately photos are not allowed inside the museums. The main building on the left has a history of textiles and the building next to it has a museum which shows textiles and other furnishings as they would appear in a home. There were so many beautiful things there.
The other reason you might like to visit the textile musuem is that there were several stores nearby selling yarn and fabric and other crafts/textile related things. I saw this display of wool felt in a window and was disappointed because it was closed and I couldn't go inside!
So that was Lyon - after that we took the train to Mont Blanc...

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Happy baby

Before I post about crafting in London I thought I'd take a break and catch up on current projects. Since we've come home I've gotten very busy again with the crafts. This one was a baby present.

My friends Sogut and Murat are having a baby girl who will undoubtedly be the cutest baby ever. Sogut asked for a handmade present so I made this blanket and matching lamb. They decided to paint the nursery pale blue so I made my present to match. It's made with a creamy white micro fleece which is nice and soft and also washable. The blanket is edged with pale blue satin trim. The trim wasn't quite evenly pressed so I had to hand stitch it on. It took some time but it really wasn't working trying to do it with my sewing machine.

The lamb is made from the same fabric with a ribbon collar and pale blue cloth with tiny daisies on it to line the ears. I used a pattern from here. There is also a Flickr group to post your lamb pictures!

I hope I can give it to them soon because this lamb is so sweet I'm not going to want to let her go!

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Paris Flea Market

So it was getting towards our last couple of days in Paris and I found out about the Paris Flea Market - Marche Vernaison. It turns out it's the biggest Flea Market in Europe, and even better, it was a 20 minute bus ride from the bus stop half a block down from our hotel! We didn't have much time but decided we could go on our last day. Needless to say it was wonderful but heartbreaking to have to rush in a panic through everything with a growing realisation that there was no way I would be able to see everything.

It's really really huge. There are alleyways with garage size openings for shops lining them, large buildings filled with floors of shops, and streets and avenues lined with glass windowed shops. There are over 300 shops altogether. This is a typical corner:I took a few pictures, but the whole thing was quite rushed. I was also trying to be frugal and didn't buy very much. I was looking for one thing in particular, which you will see.

This was an example of one of the posh shops. There were lots of these. One had a stunningly lovely sewing box with little mother-of-pearl ornate spools, lined with velvet and with little pearl handled scissors, etc. and a beautifully inlaid box but I knew there was no way I could afford it and I didn't even ask for a price. Some of those things are more like museum pieces - nice to look at but you know you shouldn't touch!

Then we come to my favourite store. As soon as I saw these huge tables out front I got excited. This wall of buttons was also out front. Things like this tell me I have found my kind of store.
It was quite large, specializing of course in textiles, sewing things, and other related collectables:
Such as these antique umbrellas:

This was my favourite shelf and a glimpse of what I was looking for.
I really love little sewing kits, made from materials such as bakelite, that have little spools inside and a thimble for the lid. And this store had a whole box full of them!!! When I saw it a man was looking through it and I had to wait until he was finished. Which drove me nuts because he was obviously some sort of dealer and had made a stack of the ones that he was going to buy. I was worried there wouldn't be any left.

Sometimes these sewing kits are figural which is lovely, ie. they look like a little person, and in some cases they're shaped like things like walnuts and acorns. They had some shaped like acorns, which I really wanted but he took every single one of them! The worse part is he asked the woman at the counter what they were for and she had to tell him they were sewing kits, and show him how they have spools inside for thread.

I did end up buying this pretty red one, so I was happy after all. I added thread to the spool once I came home and as you can see you can put needles inside the spool which has its own lid too. Then the outer lid is a thimble which fits me perfectly. It's pictured next to the only other thing I bought, a nice little tin. It was originally for corn caps which is a bit icky but the inside is nice and bright and clean. I suspect I will put buttons inside.
So this was my favourite store, it's called Daniel et Lili (Marche Dauphine stand 128) and you can be sure I'll be visiting it again next time we go to Paris. Coming up next - craft shopping in London - and yes I did go to Liberty!

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A crafter in Paris

Here are some of the pictures from the first part of our honeymoon, which was five days in Paris. Believe it or not we went the traditional route and left for the honeymoon on the same day as our wedding. It was tiring but I actually recommend it. If we'd stayed at home for a couple of days first we would have felt compelled to do chores and tidy up!

We stayed at a nice little hotel in Montmartre which was inexpensive but had everything we wanted. I haven't been to Paris before, so I was really excited and it turned out I loved the neighbourhood. It also turned out to be quite close to most of my favourite stores (and bakeries). We did spend hours walking around looking at all the museums and other attractions of course, but luckily Bradley doesn't mind humouring me while I looked at plenty of crafty type shops.

We were staying quite near to Sacre Coeur, which is a basilica at the top of steps above a merry-go-round and featured in Amelie. That neighbourhood happens to be the site of tons of fabric stores. My favourite was called Tissus Reine. Oddly enough I ended up buying Liberty fabric - which I love - and which is actually from England. I was wondering if it would be cheaper in London but I wasn't sure if I would find it there so I took a chance. It turned it was actually cheaper than in London, but still expensive at 21.90 euros per metre.
Here's a picture of Tissus Reine. The cute thing is that every table of fabric had a miniature mannequin with a fancy outfit made from those fabrics.
The fabric on the left was actually featured in Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine as a backdrop and I was wondering where it was from (and covetting it of course). Now I know it's Liberty - and I have some! The pink one on the right is one of their older patterns. My first Liberty thing was a little cosmetic case made with the pink fabric. I bought it a few years ago in a London airport on my way home. The pink patterned piece I bought in Paris is actually a pair of child's pants that I found in a discount store for 1 euro!

My other favourite shopping neighbourhood in Paris was the Marais district - near the Pompidou museum. I found a wonderful store filled with felted wool items. We passed by it in the evening and I took this picture of the window display: Then we came back the next day and I saw all the wonderful felted purses, small odds and ends and giant pieces of felt. The Marais neighbourhood also had my favourite boutique, called azag. I bought a few notebooks and loved these little rabbit dolls:I have a few more pictures to show but this post is getting long...I will save the Paris flea market pictures for my next post!

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First month

It's been exactly one month since our wedding, so it's the perfect time to show some more of the pictures. Also Bradley requested a post today, so this one is for him.

As I mentioned everything was really lovely on our wedding day and we felt so lucky with how everything went. But before I go on I have to mention that these pictures are from our wonderful photographers, Heather and Lindsay from HRM Photography. I couldn't recommend them enough, we were so delighted with our pictures!

When we first met with Heather I was so impressed with how professional and talented she is - it inspired me as a freelancer. Later on, Bradley knew I was excited about the photographs and he secretly arranged to have Heather stay for an extra hour as a present for me. Lindsay came along too, and as you can see they take gorgeous pictures - plus they're both sweethearts and we loved having them with us all day. After lunch, we both changed into casual clothes and took some more pictures in the orchard. I'm so happy to have those pictures as well as the dressed up wedding pictures.

I think I've shared most of the other wedding crafts so far, but this picture shows the veil which I made myself to match the dress. I bought the tulle and comb at a Sussman's Bridal Supplies, a store on Queen West, then looked from fabric store to store to find the satin to trim the edges. I couldn't find satin bias tape in the right colour so I had to make my own. I wanted the trim to match the embroidered satin at the waist of my dress. Making my own veil took hours and hours but I was happy I did in the end! This picture also shows the pink floral vintage tablecloth (that I've shown in a previous post) that we had on the table with the wedding registry.And here's a picture of the favours I made - we found chocolates wrapped in the wedding colours and I used my watercolour of Spadina House for the tag. Each person's name was written on the back.And finally, here are two of my favourite pictures of Bradley. In the first he is whispering to me, and the second is one of the pictures from the orchard. Happy first month husband!

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Back home

I'm back! I have so many pictures and so many things to talk about that I didn't know where to start. Plus for several days I was feeling really jet lagged and we were still busy sorting things out at home. Including fun things like using our wedding giftcards.

I've decided to just start at the beginning and show you a little bit at a time. First of all I was hinting about wedding crafts that I had to keep as a surprise. One of those was the beautiful knitty pattern for the best friend evening purse. I made it as a gift for my lovely bridesmaid Jaimie.

I started out with some pink merino yarn but it was too pink, I wanted a softer colour like the one in the original pattern. I found the perfect yarn at my favourite yarn store Knitomatic, Fable Pure Baby Alpaca. After knitting it up I had to find the purse frame for it which turned out to be quite difficult. I finally coaxed my friend staying in New York to buy it for me directly at mjtrim. It turned out this big craft supplies store is in a neighbourhood he described as the "ribbon district". I can't wait to visit myself!

Once I had the frame (and blocked the knitting) I just had to find clear beads to decorate the outside and line the inside. I added an extra little pocket inside and then it was finally finished. And of course I made two so I could keep one myself. I definitely recommend this pattern, it's one of those ones that turns out just the way you hope it will.

Which is how I would describe our wedding... I was nervous about all the little details but everything turned out perfectly. We even got the one sunny day in the middle of two chilly, rainy weeks. I'm still a little shy about posting pictures of myself, but I'll probably get around to it in my next post. In the meantime here are some more pictures of some little details like the table flowers (on top of polka dot paper mats) and cake. I made the bouquets using pink roses for Jaimie and white roses for myself. The beautiful cake was created by the brilliant Don from Dessert Trends. The inside was lemon strawberry - and like all their desserts absolutely delicious!

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Wedding Day!

It's our wedding day today! I'm up early after tossing and turning last night...I had to get up and make a list of all the little things I wanted to remember. I finished the flowers last night, my bouquet is creamy white roses, the pale pink are extras for flower girl petals. The bridesmaid bouquet is dark pink roses. It was so much fun choosing flowers yesterday!

We found lovely pink snow berries to add to the vases.
And finally, one of the boutonnieres:
Thank you so much everyone for all your best wishes for our wedding, see you when we return!

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Speaking of flowers...

That's right, I'm going to breeze in and post as if I haven't been neglecting needle book. I finished my graphic design contract on Monday and I'm starting to catch up with everything. Our home is starting to look a little more organized! I'm also doing lots of wedding crafts which I wish I could show you but I want to keep most of them as surprises.

Today I made some paper mats to go under our vases in the centre of each table. We found nice ceramic vases at IKEA a long time ago and thought we might as well get them. It's one of many things we're so glad we did do at the time because the wedding date is now coming up so fast. I can't believe it's this Sunday, I keep feeling there must be an extra weekend in there somewhere.
I had a great time today flower shopping. There are a group of four flowers shops on Avenue Road just south of Davenport and I've always loved them but rarely get up there. But they're perfect for the wedding flowers because they are all just full of rows and rows of beautiful, fresh, inexpensive flowers. I noticed to my delight that most of the flowers are arranged nicely in bouquets already. For example, they have pretty roses already arranged to form a dome with the thorns trimmed. I'm tempted to consider roses now for the bouquets because they were so nice - white roses would be really elegant, but the white ones tinged with pink may be my favourites. The shops also have buckets with large leaves that you can buy individually, so I can frame my bouquet with leaves.
I picked up some flowers to try out for the table decorations. The tiger lilies are my favourite because they also have a wonderful scent. Now I have to go finish working on the seating chart...p.s. Thanks for your comments Heather, as always! I love the green jar too, I think it's vintage and it's probably meant for cookies but right now we have granola bars in it. I put a measuring cup in the background so you can see how large it is.

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Bouquets

Today was another day to do odds and ends to get ready for the wedding. It's in TWO WEEKS! It's starting to seem very very soon. We were very happy with our idea for favours. Three people today asked me what favours are (although to be fair one of them was my four-year-old niece) so I will just mention that they are the little chocolates or suchlike that you take away with you as a treat/thank you/memento. Much like the loot bag but of course more weddingish and elegant. I spent most of the afternoon assembling the favours, printing out labels and writing people's names on the tags since they will double as place cards. Of course I can't show any pictures so it's a surprise for my readers who will also be guests!

Speaking of my niece/flower girl, I just talked with her on the phone this afternoon and as always (believe it or not throughout our year-long engagement) she was greatly interested in hearing more about the wedding plans. She was asking to see my wedding dress a year ago before I'd even picked up a bridal magazine. She was very excited today to hear about the cake and the favours and told me she was really looking forward to the wedding.

Today I also did a practice run with my bouquet. I'm actually making the two bouquets and four boutonnieres myself since I felt I could do it. I don't know if it's a good thing or not but knowing so many crafts I just assume I can make anything. But I really don't know much about flowers. The style I like best is just tied in the middle with floral tape, then covered with a thick ribbon, then a thinner ribbon in a bow. I have special ribbons which I am saving for the real thing. I love white flowers but I wasn't sure they would work since my dress is off-white but I held up the bouquet next to it and it looks very nice. I wanted gardenias but I've heard they need to be wired because they don't have substantial stems. I do really like carnations though.

Here is a close-up picture. The final thing will be more carefully done, I just wanted to try it out generally. I will make sure the ribbon covers the floral tape. But I do prefer simpler, more natural-looking bouquets anyway, with just one kind of flower. I may add leaves around it though.
And finally how lovely do Blair and Peter look on their wedding day? I love her anniversary photograph too.

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