Tricot Too, Petersfield window now

On Saturday it was so hot  I changed the window to these hot weather whites. That seemed to send a signal upwards because the weather has been overcast and rainy ever since!


On the left the ruffle cardigan is by Lauren Vidal over an Out of Xile tunic dress and Myrine and Me broderie anglais shorts.
The other outfit is Masai see-through coat over ekta dress and Moscow linen trousers.

A trip to London

On that hot Friday I went up to London in search of the perfect birthday present for my mother. The only thing she's mentioned she wants is bathroom scales. Boring.
She used to collect white flower china. That was easy. 
But now she doesn't want anything decorative. She doesn't want any toiletries or make up. In fact she doesn't really want anything at all. And that's what I returned home with. Absolutely nothing.
 I can get the scales at Boots in Petersfield.
The photo was taken when I had a cup of tea at the top of Peter Jones. A-mazing view.

Jane's Bunting

Following on from the 'Making Envelopes' post, here's another idea for recycling magazines.
My friend Jane Owens sent me this pic of bunting she made by cutting up her old Country Livings! I like this a lot. Very decorative, no two triangles the same so lots of interest and, best of all, no sewing needed! Thank you Jane.

Giant poppies and crepe paper

These poppies growing near my house remind me of an article I read about an Australian woman and her daughter who make realistic roses out of dyed crepe paper. Pulling on the paper would create this wavy petal. In fact these giant poppies are so strange looking you'd almost think they were fake!

Basia Zarzycka

 This fabulous shop at Sloane Square is where Basia Zarzycka uses beautiful habadashery and jewels to decorate hats, shoes and bags. A bit like Faberge once decorated eggs. She also makes fairytale wedding dresses.  http://www.basia-zarzycka.com/

Splodging

 
We put a large sheet of watercolour paper (about 3ft by 2ft) onto a table in the garden and had fun splodging on paint and inks.
 The idea is to cut it up as card backgrounds, business cards and price tags. And now we don't want to cut it up!
 This is just a section.
 You'll notice the leaf print bottom left using simple lino printing posted about earlier in this blog.

Making Envelopes

  
Here's another excuse for hanging on to that pile of glossy magazines. Recycle them into attractive envelopes!


First carefully pull apart an envelope of the size you want. 
Lay it on a colourful torn out magazine page and draw round it with a ruler and pencil.


Cut it out and lay it inside your envelope right side down.
 Fold the envelope around it to create folds. 
Take it out carefully and glue where your envelope was glued (pritt stick is good for this).


Then put a white sticker on the front for the address.
Use a coloured sticker (this one is from a tin of Cavallini stickers) to seal the envelope when you come to use it.

A successful charity run!

Yesterday I found all these things in Petersfield charity shops. Above are velvet child's skirt, child's Liberty top and baby mug. All £2 each. I'll use the pretty fabrics in craft projects.

And this new condition skirt which cost £6 is by Lauren Vidal, a label stocked by Tricot Too.
Coming up - tomorrow I will post the first 'How to' craft project.

What would you call these colours?

What do you see? Do you describe some colours differently to your friends or your mother?
My mother sees some colours as green that I would call brown and visa versa.

These colours which are basically off-white and grey/beige I find myself calling 'oyster' and 'mushroom' but that is not quite right and sounds pretentious! 


Tricot Too sells a lot of greys and taupes but these clothes, by Out of Xile(pales) and Myrine and Me (lace) are neither grey nor taupe.

Celebrate!!

I am so happy to be back!! After over a week of being unable to add new posts my son discovered it was a simple time and date problem and fixed it for me. Hurray! 


I had even started a brand new blog but now I'll concentrate on adding a new post every day to Handmade Happiness.


Btw I made the bunting to see how hard it was to make bunting. Answer - not very hard especially if you don't bother with the bobbles - but as with all these projects it just takes much longer than you think it's going to!!

Knitting Roses

These rose brooches are fun to make and give me a good excuse to buy more yarn.

My favourite place is Peter Jones in Sloane Square. They have a great selection of cottons, yarn made from bamboo, yarn made from milk (well a constituent of milk anyway); silk and wool mixes and I admire the textures of Rowan tweeds and the fabulous colours of Noro that change as you knit.

If I meet my daughter we enjoy a cup of tea on the fifth floor looking down over the roof tops of London.

Spotted...

 These pretty bottles contain healthy tea drinks. You wouldn't want to throw one away would you?
When travelling I love to collect colourful food packaging papers to re-use in collages later.

Keeping Chickens

 When I was younger I used to  think I'll keep chickens, grow vegetables and be self-sufficient once my children have 'flown the coop'.
 But now, living in Petersfield, in the countryside where a lot of people  run small holdings, have an allotment and/ or keep chickens the idea has lost its appeal. I hear about the many ailments chickens are prone to. Of how it just seems to be a matter of time before the fox gets in and kills the lot.


During the war my grandmother kept chickens - for eggs and for the pot. And when rationing is in force I can see it makes sense to keep chickens. But now when Tesco does a good free range egg for around £1.50 a box it seems energies are better focused on growing expensive fruit or vegetables.
 Last night I traded rhubarb with my neighbour for my spinach. Right now I have lots of wild strawberries and the raspberries are coming on well.
Actually, what about quail? I've just heard that quail are more or less problem free ...!

Bloomin' hayfever season!

 Has anyone else got a dry cough that keeps them awake at night? Someone told me it's (allegedly) caused by rapeseed pollen. Those rolling fields of bright yellow. If I'm going to get hayfever I generally get it in June but everything seems to be a month early this year.

New Deryn Relph cushions

Deryn has just delivered this colourful pile of knitted cushions to Tricot Too, Petersfield. She is also currently exhibiting at the Theatre Royal, Winchester.

My favourite piece is this lampshade. I can imagine it in my hallway. One for the Christmas list sugar daddy?...!!

Tricot Too and powder blue ekta

 These clothes are so pretty and summery. The blue tops are by ekta; white cardigans by Lauren Vidal and white skirt and cut off trousers by Ultimate Mik's.

Wild Damson

 A new shop has opened in Dragon Street, Petersfield this week. Wild Damson sells painted furniture at reasonable prices. I particularly like the little kitchen table on the left.

Nice lights

Saw these lampshades in a cafe in Amsterdam.

Van Gogh Museum

 When we saw the length of the queue outside we nearly didn't go in.

 Van Gogh 1853 - 1890 was  determined to be recognised as an artist.He eventually went into an asylum and then shot himself in the chest, dying at the early age of 37. His younger brother, Theo  always supported him both morally and sometimes financially. Tragically, Theo died just three years after Vincent. They both seem like heroes to me.

It was interesting to see at the museum how Van Gogh tried to copy the popular artists of his day, and that when he developed his own style (The Potato Eaters) it just wasn't appreciated. He was good friends with Gaugin for a while but maybe Gaugin didn't battle with poverty the way Van Gogh did when nothing he painted would sell. Theo gave him the money for paints and I wonder whether some of the very dark work is just because he couldn't afford a range of colours.

Would he be pleased if he could see  hundreds of people now queuing and then paying 14 euros each to see his work today?
 Why are artists often only appreciated after their deaths?

Puccini, Amsterdam

We shared this delicious chocolate cake in Puccini's as part of a wonderful lunch on day one.

We would never have found this cafe if I hadn't been navigating.  Searching for the Pancake Bakery (west) I confidently marched my daughter east - to completely the other side of town.

We had already found Puccini Bomboni, a handmade chocolate shop with so heady a smell of quality chocolate you wished you could bottle it for sniffing in life's not so good moments.

At Puccini we ate toasted foccacia sandwiches stuffed with grilled vegetables, freshly made pesto and pine nuts. Heaven on a plate for vegetarian me. Then the cake with the best cup of tea we had in Amsterdam.

Aren't British people strange, always wanting tea to be just the way we make it back home?
http://www.puccini.nl/

Lauren Vidal in Tricot Too

 The top picture is all Lauren Vidal designs.
 In the picture above the top is Lauren Vidal over an Avoca vest and Out of Xile trousers.

Where we stayed

 This gorgeous old poster was on the door to our room at the Hotel Keizershof in Amsterdam. Our room was called the Rita Hayworth. We could have had the Mae West.

The rooms are clean and comfortable.Very central, overlooking a canal on one side and gardens the other, I would recommend this bed and breakfast to anyone fit and active. It's the stairs you see. We were on the third floor and the steep stairs go steeply up and round. It feels a bit like climbing a bell tower. But it's worth it.

The breakfasts are a credit to the friendly owner. Pancakes with stroop - a syrup a bit like maple syrup; all kinds of cereals with fruits. Tasty toasted fruit bread and mini croissants and pain au chocolat. Lots of energy for walking round the city all day!

Amusing sights

 Amsterdam is an easy place to walk around.
We saw the line of ladies in a market. They'd be scary in an episode of Dr Who don't you think?
The life-sized  upside-down penguins are on a shop ceiling. I practically fell down the steps into the shop trying to take a good picture of them!

Amsterdam shopping

We did a lot of looking, not much spending, but we did actually part with our money in the two stores above.

The pretty gift shop pictured top, had a fine selection of gifts and cards.

The fabrics in Capsicum were a delight. Crewel work, ikat, block printed linens, embroidered sari silks; patchwork throws; all carefully chosen. I saw a brightly coloured necklace each bead made of sewn fabric which I had to have. I was almost as pleased with how it was then wrapped and put in a newspaper handmade gift bag.   http://www.capsicum.nl/

Scotch and Soda clothes

 Soft, soft cottons displayed in a funky way.This Amsterdam shop inspired me.
Men's shirts hung with the hanger hook through the sleeve; t-shirts folded in triangles; jeans on butchers' hooks from a belt loop. Items bulldog clipped to hangers. Upstairs the soft colours and New England style made us want to try everything on.
 See the clothes at http://www.scotch-soda.com/

Come to Amsterdam with me!

After two days away I am buzzing with all I have seen!

Amsterdam buildings overlooking canals. Our hotel was like this.

The city is full of bikes, like swarms of locusts they pay no attention to traffic lights, people text and speak on their phones whilst pedalling. Pedestrians must keep their wits about them to avoid being run over!

 The tulips - I wanted to photograph tulips but apparently with the long hard winter it's not been a good year for them. The floating Bloemenmarkt was more a testament to the popular fabric and wood flowers than to the real thing. But walking through it - it's easy walking everywhere, was a joyful experience. People are relaxed and friendly, it's clean. Highly recommend it.
 Next post - the shops!