some pictures from the workshop

HELLO ALL!!

by george i think i may have managed a blog!!!

here are my pics from the workshop

xx

di

guerilla knitting in Roma!

hi everyone. At Julie's workshop some of us had a conversation about the phenomena of 'guerrilla knitting' or grafitti knitting as its also called. You can imagine my delight when I arrived at my rental apartment in Roma to find some guerilla knitting just outside my door. I told Julie (Oolie) I'd post some websites I know of that feature guerilla knitting, the best one is below which has loads of archive shots from around the world and wikipedia also has an explanation of the concept with links to interesting sites. The last web link is a project I did based on this concept, with a small group of rural Australian women knitters and crocheters - the result was lovely.

Jo.

http://www.knittedlandscape.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knitta

http://www.rav.net.au/projects/past-projects/detail/17

Happy Birthday Dehlia!

Here is the birthday cake that I decorated for Dehlia, my friend who turns 12 today!

Her mom baked the cake, but I had the honor of decorating it.

She is the one I made the "puff" necklace for the other day.

I hope she likes the cake...

Happy, HaPpY BiRtHdAy to YOU, Miss Dehlia!!!!

Seeing Linda..

Francesca and I met up with Linda at the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey on Friday and we had a delightful afternoon! The Museum was showing a stunning collection of Horrocks fashions, from day dresses to fabulous bathing ensembles, as well as some very glamorous dressing gowns!....what was so beautiful were the open sketchbooks and original paintings of some of the amazing 50's textile designs. Apologies for the shocking photography...I know Becky, I can hear you groaning, but I thought you would still like to see some pics!

Some things I have been up to

Hi Violets,

Here are some pictures of things I have been working on. The first one is my little Italy book. It is actually finished. More pages can be seen on my other blog.

This is a stitchery project I am hoping to finish soon. I'll show it again when I am done. I got the idea from an on line class I took with Teresa McFaddin of Paper Bella. She is very talented. Hmm Danielle, maybe you should offer some on line classes- especially one about crocheting. I tried to get my friend to teach me while in Paris and the result was only a very large laugh at my expense. Oh well, I'll keep trying.

As you know, I have really enjoyed hearing about and seeing what you have all done in France (and London). Please continue to post.

xx the pantry violet armchair attendee

Dehlia's Birthday Necklace

My friend, Dehlia, is turning 12 this Saturday.

Her mom told me that her colors right now are turquoise and yellow.

I had to add a touch of pink in there, too, though, to fill out the gaps.

This is the Suffolk Puff Necklace I made for her today.

It sits nicely on the neck and I am pleased with how it turned out.

I like the colors, too.

Just thought I'd share.....

Hanson House

What a wonderful week we spent with Danielle and her family in Surrey.

They opened their arms and brought us into the fold - real life with the Hansons!

It is possible that they were on their best behavior, but I prefer to think that they are always as delightful and charming as they were while we were there.

Thank you to Nick, Christian, Finlay, Francesca and of course, Danielle!

This photo is four/fifths of the family.

The boys were still in school, but Fran was in Thailand on holiday, having finished her last classes. What a gorgeous family!

Here is the house, from the front........nice, hunh?

(Hi, Sue)

And from the back garden, you get the real feel of the place. What a pleasant place to sit and relax in the evening, which we did almost every night!

My room.

Up in the attic is this tiny, white room with two cozy beds and a couple of windows with lovely views of trees and rooftops.

I loved it.

In preparation for going to France, Danielle pulled out all kinds of fantastic haberdashery!

We had such a great time going through it all and decorating ourselves, well, Sue did....

BBQ!

One evening, Nick filled the grill with all kinds of things and we sat in the garden enjoying the whole scene. The boys were honing their cricket skills in between checking the grill. Below, Finlay awaits a pitch (a bowl?) from his brother...

Another evening, Danielle made pizza and we ate indoors. What a cook, that one. She is able to whip up the most incredible meals, seemingly with very little effort. We were spoiled rotten.

After getting back from France, we were blessed with Francesca's return from Thailand - complete with all the stories and henna tattoos (!) to shock her folks.

Here she is meeting Flat Oolie while wearing Sue's "bling" from the workshop. She wears it well, don't you think?

What a perfect time we had. Thank you so much to all of you for your hospitality and generosity. Safe travels to the boys (that includes you, Nick) and all good things to you ladies.

Hope the rest of your summer is filled with laughter and adventure.....

A bouquet of beautiful flowers!

I hope you all are doing well!

Love

Vintage Fairy Tales Rebecka

Goodies

Here are a few things that people created at Briancon this year. My camera died and there are so many things that I did not get photos of - like Joanna's beautiful book and all the amazing bits and pieces from Jo and Julie Australia, Kate, Jamie, Clare and Oolie and Diane!!!

I hope that you will all share your photos of these things to continue the inspiration.

couldn't you tell these are SUE's?

the colors could be no one elses....

magical little worlds

SAM

amazing . simple . perfect

the house above is charlie's "birthday house"

sam spent charlie's day working on it without realizing it

that is something special that could not have been planned

below is the "puff" bracelet that inspired us all

and the set of bracelet, hair clip and necklace for miss charlie

DANIELLE

OMG!

nose to the grindstone

she came to france with so many ideas that doubled as the days went on

she wanted to get them all done.....and she did!

I am in awe of that discipline

BECKY

don't you love how the presentation is styled?

the babe below is asking "why?"

sums up our curiosity so simply!

why can't we spend more time together?

why is it the simple things make us soooo happy?

why is it 6 days can totally change our lives?

Cheers to YOU!

Dearest Jodie,

Thank you so much for thinking of us at Briancon this year!

Thought you might like to see the toast we made to you with the champagne you "sent"....

What a wonderful thing to do!!!!

It was much appreciated, I can assure you.

I told Taylor that you were all there in spirit - we could just feel you with us!

It was a great week and the new L'Espace is fantastic!

Hope your holidays are going well.

Love always,

xo Jone

L'Espace

For all of you that were not able to be with us this year at Briancon, here is an introduction to L'Espace, the beautiful new barn where workshops are held....wow.......

Across the field of corn, you can see the barn, surrounded by trees

At a closer look, you see the beauty of the architecture and how perfect the setting is

Once inside, the size allows such peace and majesty

We filled that space pretty quickly!

On our first "hike" up to the barn, we met the sparkling building.

The landscape is still unfinished, but the location is perfect.

When you walk through the double "cathedral" doors, this is what you see.

The ceiling of this photo is the bottom of the mezzanine dormitory.

Down a couple of stairs to the left is the kitchen

Up some stairs to the right are the bathrooms....and

up from there is the dormitory.

From inside L'Espace, there is a huge garage door that opens automatically.

This door let in the light and the breeze and that glorious view.

We were quite spoiled, but I do not think any one took it for granted.

Here is the door from the outside deck, which is also spectacular...sigh ...

We worked inside and out, with this door and deck.

This gives a perspective to the massive size of the space.

We are dwarfed by the beams and columns...

The wood is rich and the stone walls stay cool.

Something so soothing and inspiring about L'Espace.....

One evening, we were lucky enough to witness this sunset.

I ran up the 50 steps (!) to grab my camera and went out on the deck.

It really symbolizes the beauty of the week and this grace of each day.

How lucky can we get?

we are home....

"Count your age by friends, not years.....

Count your life by smiles, not tears."

This quote is embroidered and hanging in Sue's bathroom. I have looked at it for years and it always makes me smile.....I think it is the perfect thing for those of us who just spent that magical week at Briancon again....and those we shared it with last year.

Fifty stairs to climb up and down several times a day - we certainly got our cardio in!

It was like Fairyland, really, leading either to the glorious meals by the pool or up to the stone barn of creativity.....more photos of that soon.

The blocks that Becky will treasure. I am sure that they will live happily in Vintage Fairy Tales.

Wish we had actually set up each picture of the puzzle to see what they were/are.

Could you do that for us, Becky?

And meeting Billie......wow......

I am so grateful that we were able to meet her and see her world with Dean.

She is so lovely and I will be lighting my magic candle for her continued health and inspiration.

So many amazing things that we shared, along with the laughter.....and tears (!)

We missed the faces and people of last year, but have added some new, extraordinary members.

Pantry Violets will live on and on........

Thanks to Katie and Mike, Carol, Dave, Susu and Fiona for making our stay so spectacular!

les soeurs anglaises

Many thanks to the wonderful Soeurs Anglaises and relatives who looked after us so beautifully this last week and of course a huge thank you to the amazing Julie Arkell who continues to nurture and inspire us in our crafting adventures..... and to Jone and Sue whichever of you who took these 2 fab photos!

Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh.........

I know that half of you have not even unpacked your haberdashery laden suitcases yet, but I could not resist posting the first of what will be many happy snaps of a wonderful workshop with the amazing Julie Arkell at the equally amazing Lessoeursanglaises french venue! What a week.....really missing the sewing, chats and tea breaks and the company of some very fab fellow crafters!!!
looking forward to seeing the rest of the photos....

Italy

Violets,

I missed you. Please show me pictures of what you did, made and saw and fill me in.

Italy was beautiful. I am in love with Venice.