Back from overseas

Amsterdam vintage purchases
Originally uploaded by elletrain

So, we just arrived back in Nashville yesterday after visiting friends in London and Amsterdam for the last week. We had such a lovely time and really fell in love with Amsterdam. It's such a beautifully unique city with lots of vintage/cool/crafty shops. I got some lovely hand-embroidered items, including a cool apron and two table runners.

I also went to one of the department stores in London and found this really cute case for all my knitting needles. I think the lady that makes it is kind of the Martha Stewart of London, from what I hear. It's cool that the department stores sell yarn, fabric, and other crafting supplies. Pinky could get a coffee upstairs while I shopped :)

We had such a lovely time and really do want to make it back to both places. It's great to travel to cities where you have friends to show you around and take care of you. It's wonderful! We got to take a boat ride with my stepbrother Todd all around Amsterdam on our last night.

I'm now really getting into sewing. I got a few great books that I'm about to dive into: Weekend Sewing, Last-Minute Quilted Gifts, and Quilts by Denise Schmidt. I bought fabric to make us some cloth napkins so we can be green AND fashionable at dinner time.

I'll post pics of things I'm sewing soon. Happy weekend!!

Embroidery

Embroidery
Originally uploaded by elletrain

So, I've picked up another craft again. I did a bit of embroidery a few years ago. I rediscovered it I think due to me watching Martha Stewart on a regular basis again. I think it'll make great gifts...I'm making tea towels out of this project. It's pretty quick and not a difficult craft. There are many many instructions and templates online and you can just trace them onto your project. There's also fabric transfer paper you can buy so you could trace any drawing you want onto different items like towels, pillowcases, bags, etc. Have fun!

resources: marthastewart.com, Hoop Love group on flickr for templates