today we wandered ...

Sunday is a day for wandering, so wander we did ... around the streets of old Madrid (south of the Plaza Mayor) and around the streets near where we live (near Retiro Park) ...

I couldn't resist the occasional door picture too ... love, love, love them!

Wishing you a great week!

the LIBERTY book of home sewing ~ GIVEAWAY!

Whilst in London, I casually slipped a visit to Liberty into the agenda and picked up this new book ...

It's full of lovely projects and beautiful photography. I loved it so much that I bought an extra one to give away (it is blogtoberfest after all!). Just leave a comment on this post to enter ~ I'd like to know what you love/would love to make out of Liberty print fabric. I love Liberty print fabrics on almost anything, but I do like a quilt with a patchwork of the delicate floral patterns. Red and blue colourways are my favourite, but I don't think I've seen a Liberty fabric I didn't like.

This giveaway is open to everyone! Entries will close Monday 17 October at midnight (AEST). Giveaway now closed - thanks to all those who entered!

Cheers!

P.S. Did you know that there are loads of excellent giveaways as part of blogtoberfest? There is a full list here - enjoy!

a london jaunt

A last minute trip to London on Monday night has meant I have already missed a few of days of blogging during Blogtoberfest! Sorry about that ~ sometimes you just have to take the opportunities when they arise. A trip to London is always appreciated. It feels like our adopted home while we're living in Spain ~ we get a dose of our "normal" ~ great food, people who speak english, shopping, entertainment and the city itself ...

Living in a non-english speaking country when you don't speak the native language very well can be quite hard at times. It is nothing like being a tourist. Day-to-day tasks that you might take for granted at home can take a lot of effort and time. Everyday there is something new to learn - a new word, a new system, something you could not have anticipated, and sometimes things you just can't understand. This is all part of the adventure, but it can be pretty tiring, so sometimes it's nice to have a break and go somewhere that is just familiar and easy.

I'm not sure I could live in London (it is VERY busy), but I love visiting. I love the food, the fact that every third person is Australian, the fact that most Brits love Australians, that I feel like I have some sort of connection to this country (albeit generations ago), the history, the solidity.

We think it's great that our son can enjoy this place too. He's currently obsessed with knights after we took him to London Tower a few visits ago. He is so lucky to be learning the history that I learnt from books, first hand. He's at the age where everything seems completely normal and is not really phased by the enormity of what we ask of him and ourselves at times  - he keeps us grounded.

So that's been my couple of days. I didn't really mean to blab on forever, and I hope you don't think that I am ungrateful for this experience in any way. I am very grateful, but I think it's good to put some reality around these things ~ managing work, life and families is tricky no mater where in the world you live. 

Normal crafty programming will resume tomorrow!

Have a cracker of a day!

printing again

When I was home in Australia in August, I picked up a small screen and squeegee to take back with me so I could print. After a bit of searching around, I found some nice inks and today I finally printed something!

It's just a simple, hand-cut stencil of some bunting strings in fire engine red ~ my favourite! My printing/sewing/creative space is a bit small as you can see (just a table really), but at least I have one!

It's nice to be printing again. I find it relaxing and completely satisfying ~ I've missed that feeling (and the smell of red ink, but that's another story!). I'll be sewing this up today for a bit of show and tell later.

Have a great Monday!

styling with raspberries

The results of my (brief) styling stint during the week with some of my fabric and a bowl of raspberries!

I'm pretty happy with this shot - using only natural light and my (limited) skills using the manual settings on my camera. No photo editing required ~ it's au naturale!

The raspberries went on to be eaten with chocolate truffles after dinner ~ win, win!

Have a great Sunday!

day 1 ~ fabric shopping in madrid

Incase you didn't know, it's the first day of blogtoberfest, which means a month of extra-special-kenny-burger blogging and giveaways all across this sphere! To find out who's playing, more details and how to sign-up, go here.

Today, I'm sharing some pics from my fabric shop finding mission the other day. There are no Spotlight or Lincraft equivalents here. People sew, but mostly for a living - tailors and seamstresses. There are a couple of streets in old Madrid (Calle del Marqués Viudo de Pontejos and Calle de Imperial) where you can find small fabric stores and haberdashery supplies. These shops are classic ~ old school, over-the-counter service. It's all very structured and you need to know what you want. Needless to say I was "just looking" the first time!

The fabric stores remind me of the ones that were around when I was a kid in Australia - pretty traditional fabrics and LOTS of synthetic fibres. I looked at many stores and didn't find one bolt of linen.

So the search continues. I know of a good fabric store on the Grand Via and have been there a few times ~ I will keep you posted if I find some more, and actually buy some fabric!

Have a great weekend!