Notes from the Patch

Bringing home the perfect souvenir - it's not always easy

When we travel I usually don't buy much, but I did have two things I wanted to bring back from London:

1. A mug from Emma Bridgewater

2. Fabric from Cath Kidston

My interest in pottery by Emma Bridgewater goes back to the 80's. I remember seeing her darling hand made English coffee mugs at a local gift shop and being totally infatuated with them. They were expensive and I could never justify their cost so I just admired them thinking, maybe, someday...

Then about a year ago I started reading Susan Branch's blog and her love of Emma Bridgewater rekindled my interest. I thought a Emma Bridgewater mug would be THE perfect souvenir of our trip to London.  

You can imagine my surprise and delight when I opened the cupboard in the kitchen of the house we rented in London and I saw these.

The woman that owned the house had an impressive collection of Emma Bridgewater and I enjoyed my morning coffee from a different mug each day we were there.

Okay. That's the background. Here's the rest of the story:

Friday our kids left for home and since we didn't leave until Sunday, Bill agreed to take "a little walk" to the Emma Bridgewater store with me. I Goggled directions and since it said it was just under two miles away we set out to get momma a mug. We walked, and we walked and we walked. Five hours later, in the driving cold rain we gave up, hailed a cab and went home empty handed and defeated. (At this point in the day I may or may not have muttered something under my breath about never going on another trip to Europe again).

Next day after a good nights sleep Bill asked if I wanted to try again. This time we hopped in a cab and let the driver find the Emma Bridgewater store. Not only did I find these two precious gems (it was so hard to choose and to limit myself to just two)

but we found the most charming shopping area called Marylebone High Street. The streets in this area are lined with small independently owned stores that create a most charming and unique atmosphere. I was in heaven!

We stopped for lunch in one of the darling little cafes and just as we were about to call it a day I spotted a Cath Kidston store across the street. Not just any Cath Kidston store, but the only one in London with a good inventory of fabric! (I know because I had already been to all of the other Cath Kidston stores in London looking for fabric).

Hallelujah....the heavens parted, the angels sang and the sun shone down upon us for the first time in ten days. (Just kidding about the sun part).

Yes, I know I have a store full of fabric but you can't get this stuff in the states and these came wrapped in RIBBON!

Awk, the cuteness...

Can you stand it?

Did you notice this trim matches the fabric I bought? Oh, yes it does!

I'm thinking I'll make zippered pouches from these hankies. Maybe not. We'll see. I probably will just look at them for the rest of my life, but I don't care they make me happy and did you see the ribbon?!

Here are a few things I learned on my trip:

1. The most fabulous house in London is just a big empty house once your family leaves.

2. Google maps are seldom reliable.

3. My husband loves me a lot.

Encourage one another,

Crumpets with Marmalade

Bill and I got home last night from our wonderful week in London with our family. I think we both will need a few days to shake the jet jag and get back into our regular routine.

Today it was back to life as usual. We barely got the doors unlocked at the store this morning when this arrived.

It's Marmalade by Bonnie and Camille. Forty pieces of fabric scrumptiousness in flavors like lime, orange, strawberry, raspberry and tangerine. Is that Earle Grey I see mixed in there? I love the blend of modern graphics with vintage florals. So fun!

 

Would you like Marmalade with your afternoon tea and crumpets deary?

Oh, yes please!

 

Cheerio.

Encourage one another,

I'll be back tomorrow to show you what I bought while I was in London. A girl has to treat herself to a souvenir or two don'tyathink?  

 

It's all but a memory

The house is so quiet tonight. Our family flew back to Kansas today .

Tonight we're high on sweet memories.

This house was such fun - huge by London standards: four bedrooms, three and a half baths - five stories. Vertical living at it's finest. Wait until you see my gluts! I swear if I have to go up on more flight of stairs...

Tonight Bill and I had a quiet dinner alone and lingeried over a bottle of wine reminding ourselves that Michael is only ten (that boy can negotiate a deal like you can't believe) and discussed Sarah's fierce need for friends and staying connected to them night and day. This trip confirmed that our baby boy is the most loving husband, patient dad and thoughtful son we could ever hope for and that our DIL is perfect for him, them - and us!

We are so proud of our family!

So glad we came.

Encourage one another,

Postcards from London

 

We're having a jolly good time.

Encourage one another,

 

Cheers from London

I had every  intention to blog while in London. Really I did. What I didn't factor in was traveling with energetic children and grandchildren who want to make the most of every minute of every day. By the time we get back to the house after a long day of site seeing this grammie needs a nap.

I even brought along Bianca's Mini Me. I thought it would be fun to have her show you all around London, but the first day here she had a terrible accident. She slipped and fell while boarding one of those big red double decker buses and dislocated her shoulder. Not to worry. She's fine now.

Bill performed surgery and pinned it. She's on the mend, but definitely in no mood for site seeing.

So here is a brief recap of our trip so far.

Bill and I arrived in London on Friday;a day ahead of Jen and grand kids Sarah and Michael. Our son Bryan was already here for work. Our thought was to arrive a day early so we could somewhat recover from jet lag before the rest of our family arrived. We stayed that first night at a charming three hundred year old boutique hotel in SoHo called the Hazlitt Hotel. The rooms were done in antiques with lace curtains,

and velvet couches,

wood paneling, a fireplace and a canopy feather bed.

Just lovely.

Saturday we checked into our home away from home for a weeks stay in a private residence. We've never rented a house in Europe before but thought with the kids it would work well and it's been great. We eat a light breakfast here before heading out for the day and usually return in the late afternoon to chill for a while before going out for dinner. Everyone has their own room and bathroom and it really couldn't be more perfect. Mid week they come and refresh the towels and change the sheets and tidy up a bit. We have full use of everything. The house is just a block from Buckingham Palace so it's within walking distance to many attractions. Monday night Bill and I walked to a nearby theater to see Billy Elliot. Tonight we take the family to see Lion King.

Speaking of family - here we are outside Buckingham Palace.

Michael is ten and Sarah is twelve. They are at the perfect age for a trip like this. Great kids who will eat anything and are able to withstand a full day of walking.

Sorry this is so brief, but I've gotta go.

Hope you all are well. Miss you all,

I'm such a Doofus

This week was Bernina Club. We've been doing it since 1997 I think. A long time. Bernina Club is free to those who have purchased a sewing machine or serger from us. We have a brief program, show the new fabric that has arrived in the last month and share things we've been working on. There are door prizes and sometimes goodies to eat.

To be honest I've been thinking about discontinuing our club meetings. The irritating business woman in me questions the profitability of our monthly meetings. But something just short of a miracle happened to me last night. I woke up at 3:00am and started thinking about those wonderful women (and one man) that I love so much. In my sleep deprived mind I visualized each of those dear people in their chairs around the tables and I began to cry as I prayed for each of them (I'm crying right now as I type this). As I went over the names and faces of each of those friends I realized nearly every single one of them had suffered the loss of a loved one (or two) or was facing challenging medical issues, but they were there to support our little store and one another. There was laughter, lots of fun and a room full of love.

Last night in the middle of the night God spoke to me and told me it didn't matter about the sales. It's the friendships that really matter.

Encourage one another,

 

Trick or Treat!

Some of you asked me to show you the other side of these and asked, what's up with the paper straws?

Since I made them to give to my team tonight during a staff meeting I didn't want to reveil to much, but now I can.

They are made from plain black and orange bags that I purchased at Michael's.

Although each is slightly different I made them all the same way.

Here's the schematic:

I just glued on some of the doodads that I'd been collecting (for years!). I especially love the dimension that the crepe paper gives. Love that I can gather yards and yards of the stuff in mere minutes on my sewing machine! The little round cardboard circles had sticky backs so the gathered crepe paper stuck really well without the need for messy glue.

I buy fun paper clips like these when I find them and then stick them in my little jars so I can find them when I need them. These black and white ones are perfect!

The fun flags are made from paper straws (very popular right now -  I'm pretty sure I have every color) and Washi tape. Have you used that? It's a great decorative masking tape from Japan. I just wrapped the ends of the straws and cut flag shapes. So cute and affordable when doing lots!

This is a great time of year to stock up on Halloween stickers and stuff because most places have them marked down 40% to 50%.

I filled the finished bags with mini candy bars and Halloween goodies. I just wanted to show my girls how much I love and appreciate all they do for me. Truth is, I always love an excuse to heat up the ol glue gun!

Happy haunting!

Encourage one another,

Weekend in review

How was your weekend? Mine was just about perfect, doing the things I love:

A little crafting

and sewing

some rearranging and display work at the store

and I even finished up my packing for our trip to London.

Hopefully I didn't forget anything.

Encourage one another,

I just had to tell someone

I just came home to a dark and quiet house. Bill is in Ventura watering the house plants one last time before our trip to London on Thursday. I stayed in Bakersfield to finish packing and to receive delivery on our new fabric cabinet at the store. Dennis delivered it after we closed tonight and OH. My. GOSH. It's GORGEOUS! I certainly don't deserve such beautiful fixtures.

I promised Bill I'd come right home after Dennis left but I couldn't help myself; I had to stay to fluff and puff a bit. Of course I didn't have my camera with me but I'll go back in the morning and snap a few photos to show you.

I stopped and got a latte on my way home and plan to sew and craft into the wee hours of the night. I foolishly have Ghost Adventures on TV so will probably scare myself to death!  I doubt that I'll be able to sleep much tonight anyway because I keep thinking about what fabric I'm going to fill the new cabinet with and how I'll decorate the top.

Tonight I'm one happy camper.

Encourage one another,

 

My past, present, future

Tap.Tap. Tap...is this thing on?

Just popping in tonight to let you know I'm alive and well. We were in Las Vegas for a trade show the first of the week and came home to no email service. If you think you're not dependant on the internet, try doing without it for 48 hours! (Breathe Suzanne. Breathe).

Bill and I had a great trip to Vegas. I found lots of new fabric and some fun do-dads that I think you'll love. It's a good thing our uber talented cabinetmaker Dennis called today to say our new cabinet is ready because we are definitely going to need the added shelf space once these fabric orders start arriving.

This weekend I'll be finishing up packing for our trip to London next week. We'll be spending ten days in central London with our son Bryan and his family. Bill and I are especially looking forward to sharing this trip with our kids and grand kids. Hopefully we'll have an internet connection there so I can share some of our trip with you all.

Encourage one another,