Saturday 28 April 2012

Window shopping in Venlo

Craft shops are really hard to pass by, especially when there is a pile of yarns on the window. But as the saying goes, when travelling light, do not enter a yarn shop.
Here are some impressions of craft and souvenir shop displays in the small town of Venlo, the Netherlands.


Yarn, thread, ribbon


Venlo craft shop


Craft shop window


Sewing kit


Purple craft shop display


Dutch motives and tulips craft paper


Dutch tiles


Deco chocolates and fruit cakes


Flower tea pot and cake


Tea set with roses




Monday 23 April 2012

Inspiration from around the world

My weekend trip to visit Floriade, World Horticultural Expo in the Netherlands, quite unexpectedly proved to be interesting craftwise as well. Many participating countries had included souvenirs and textiles in their expositions, for some it was the main attraction with very little to show in the gardening area.

This tree with a colourful knitted sweater was probably the only living creature on the fair grounds not suffering from the fierce cold wind and frequent rain and hail showers of the weekend:

Knitted graffiti tree yarn bombing Floriade 2012


Crafty hands could easily make a garden sculpture like this cyclist from Luxembourg

Willow sculpture cyclist

or any other decorative willow object:

Willow art


Motive of a cosy knitted throw on a garden shed chair:

Knitted throw motive


Bobbin lace samples of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka lace

and how they are made by diligent hands:

Sri Lanka bobbin lace making


Chinese silk lantern:

Chinese silk lantern


Fine printed fabrics of Indonesia:

Indonesian textiles


Patterns from Afghanistan:

Afghanistan textiles


Colours of Tunisia:

Tunisian textiles


Moroccan sofa with a beautiful patterned fabric in chocolate and turquoise:

Moroccan sofa


Andean knits and textiles from Ecuador:

Ecuador textiles


And some more pretty textile patterns with mystery origin:

Sudan textiles

Ethnic textiles


Last but not least, some fashion ideas to steal from this performer's costume:

Floriade performer on crutches



Thursday 5 April 2012

Easter eggs and chirpy chicks

My first food post: the Easter eggs have not been dyed yet, instead this year's chicks are extremely bright and colourful. And absolutely non-angry. On the contrary, they have very soft characters and big warm hearts inside.
Have a happy Easter!

Easter chicks and eggs basket