Last year when I was in Wales I went a bit mad buying wool and fabric as I came across some great shops & woollen mills. As this trip was not so much a holiday but a research visit there was less time for such things as shopping but I did find a nice little wool & fabric shop in Newcastle Emlyn where the flowery cotton is from.
The groovy Noro wool was from the excellent wool shop in Fishguard. I came across the bags of brown wool & cream Peruvian in a charity shop in Aberaeron.
Whilst I've been away I've started crocheting some new squares for a blanket. I think if I try and make at least one square every evening then it shouldn't take me years to finish as the only other blanket I started has been on the go for about 4 years and is still a work in progress!
There's something nice about Fishguard, (not just cause it has a fab wool shop!) even though the name sounds fishy so probably best to use its Welsh name, Abergwaun.
Stayed in Fishguard for just one night on this trip, the weather is always lovely in Fishguard and it's so nice to stroll by the harbour and see where the ferry leaves for Ireland. I feel a strange sense of freedom in Fishguard, maybe because it's a place for journeys across the sea.
Hadn't eaten out in the town before but prior to the trip I read a review about a restaurant which sounded hopeful and it was rather nice. The place was The Lounge @ No. 3 and whilst the veggie choice was limited the food was very good and reasonably priced. I had a garlicky mushroom dish for starters, followed by a spaghetti dish and chased with some lovely brownies & ice cream, served on a slab of slate. The decor was cool & classy and the rear windows looked across the bay. Shame it was so quiet for such a nice place but maybe the season hasn't kicked off yet.
Just arrived back from a trip to Wales, certainly had a mixture of weather! Anyway, lovely here today so need to make the most of it before I sort out some Wales piccies.
A friend of mine is approaching 50 in a weeks time and generally we don't make a big thing about birthdays, I don't think we've mentioned numbers since we were 40 so I could be risking it a bit with this card. Oh well, I'll take my life into my own hands and hope the whopping great '50' stitched on the front doesn't offend her!
I have recycled one of the butterflys I used in my Spoonflower fabric collage to embellish the card.
On the subject of the Spoonflower butterfly fabric, the results were in last night and I had my best (in terms of number of votes, 390) result to date which was encouraging. I will be ordering a sample of the fabric and then releasing it for sale in the Spoonflower Marketplace.
I did a few more encaustic wax pictures before packing it all away for another few months. I love doing it but then I do it to death and get too experimental and the pictures go all 'muddy' looking so at that point, best to pack it away.
Because I've finally settled on a soya milk brand I'm quite happy with, I don't often stray to another brand unless things like Alpro are on a special offer. But, as I'm a fan of hemp based foods I did succumb to this carton of hemp milk. I'm not sure where I got it from as I've had it in the cupboard for a while but I thought I better use it and I have to say it is rather nice and nutty, and not too sweet which some of the alternative 'milks' often are.
Also new in the kitchen this week was a pot of vanilla & chocolate yoghurt, very tasty and the dark chocolate is very dark and to my liking.
Finished a few half started bits n pieces last night. There are some more knitted pencils and a cherry lavender bag.
Goodness me where has the week gone, I've been so busy with work that I've barely stopped to appreciate the nice spring weather.
I've also hardly looked at this new fabric which arrived at the beginning of the week. I ordered these 2 batches from ebay and I quite like these unusual, text based designs.
I did want to have a go at creating my own text fabric but that will be at a later date.
The fabrics shown here consist of the top photo from Frumble and the bottom pic are heavy linens from Oriental Direct, both have some lovely stuff on their websites.
http://www.frumble.co.uk/
http://www.orientaldirect.co.uk/store/
Today was one of those Vintage Fairs in York which seem to happen twice a year and which I eagerly look forward to. I think this one was bigger and better than ever, definitely more busy than last Octobers.
The lady with the wonderful vintage fabric was in her usual spot and I bought this Scandinavian farm scene fabric and also the groovy 70's piece you see here.
A stall I hadn't seen before was handmade quirky jewellery by Dolls & Molls, I couldn't resist this cute bunny ring in powder blue. They also had some lovely rings & brooches with vintage caravans on.
Another stall new to me was a lady with all sorts of stuff & craft things & clothes and I bought these antique wedding gift cards which might make a nice collage or maybe I'll take elements and create a fabric design.
Found a stall with fab, nearly new books on and the Indie Craft one was only £3, I think the other was about £5, absolute bargains.
What a wonderful and inspiring way to spend a morning!
Over the weekend I discovered a fabulous, authentic Italian restaurant in Scarborough called Gianni's on Victoria Rd. A place I have walked past many times and never had the pleasure but some friends suggested it and I'm so pleased they did.
The portions were very generous and very delicious, my pizza was lovely and thin crusted but with heaps of flavour.
On the pics we have mozzarella salad, roasted goats cheese salad (amazing taste), and a rustico pizza.
