Park Slope

Alot of new fabrics have come in over the past few weeks and as of today I will be showcasing them right here! First up is Erin McMorris's New collection "Park Slope" for Free Spirit. I fell in love with this collection the minute I saw it, especially the sweet retro florals.
This is how Free Spirit describes the collection:
Erin McMorris’ new Park Slope collection is a springtime walk in a modern garden. Playful abstract florals and fresh organic shapes create a pure, clean color palette with eye-popping pinks and tomato reds, cooled with subtle yellows, grassy greens and nighttime teal.
Says it pretty well, I guess. The fabrics can be found here.

kardamyli

A beautiful little town very near to where we were staying in Greece was a town called Kardamyli. There are some lovely old buildings, several quaint cafes and a couple of unique shops there. One shop that really stands out is run by a french couple, Isabelle & Fabrice Servera. They recently moved to this area of Greece from Paris, and decided to open a shop in Kardamyli and see how it goes! Isabelle designs and sews beautiful bags and jewellry which they offer in their shop. They also offer bags, sarongs and children's clothing from "la fiancee du mekong", organic cotton clothing from a French company based in India called "ethos" and really beautiful (and affordable) jewellry. This shop would do well in any major city and it was really special to find it in such a small place! The images above are all from the shop and although they don't have a website yet their email address is: anokhi@live.fr in case anyone would like to find out more about them and their shop.

holidays

Well, I am back to Berlin and the three weeks we spent in Greece just flew by! We went to the Peloponnese this year to an area called the Mani. We stayed in a small village at the foothills of the Taygetos mountains, so we swam in crystal clear water while looking up at an impressive range of mountains. Sigh!
I did a fair amount of driving and that is quite an experience! I think that Greek drivers understand speed limits and double solid lines as suggestions that they either can take or reject as they please. Rejection seems to be the general rule of thumb and they do not shy away from some of the hairiest passing maneuvers I have yet to experience. On the other hand if you know what you are up against, you slow down at the first opportunity and just let them pass and then you do have a good chance of surviving. All in all, I would say that driving in Greece is definitely not for the weak of heart, on the other hand maybe I am just a sissy. Here are some pics for you.

gone fishin'

Volksfaden is taking a summer break from Tuesday, July 8th until Tuesday,July 29th. You can if you wish place an order during our break but your order won’t be sent out until after July 29th.
Wish you lots of long, lazy and sunny summer days!

Volksfaden macht Betriebsferien von Dienstag, dem 8.07.08, bis Dienstag 29.07.08. Sie können in dieser Zeit eine Bestellung aufgeben, die Bestellung wird aber erst nach dem 29. Juli verschickt.
Ich wünsche euch allen viele endlos faule sonnige Sommertage!

ninainvorm

Many of you may be familiar with this blog but for those of you who aren't (and if you love fun, colorful independent design) then I would heartily recommend you check this out......ninainvorm. Nina, who is the mastermimd behind ninainvorm is a Dutch student who has a love for art and crafts and is a creative whirlwind. She has an etsy shop where she sells her own ceramics and collages. I love these bowls and this collage and her patchwork wall and just about everything on her blog . It really is worth paying Nina a visit, you will leave inspired!

vernähte zeit

The amazingly beautiful quilts pictured here are Bosna Quilts. The Bosna Quilts Workshop was created Through the iniative of Lucia Feinig-Giesinger, an Austrian artist, in 1993. Women refugees from Bosnia-Herzogovina who had left there homeland during the Civil War and were staying in Vorarlberg, Austria, created the first quilts that Ms. Feinig-Giesinger designed. After the war ended, the women returned to their village, Gorazder and continued making their living through their quiltmaking. Bosna Quilts provides jobs for twelve women and is publicly and privately funded. To find out more about the women and their quilts please go here. Recently a book was published full of fabulous photos and the history of Bosna Quilts. The book is in German and English, "Vernähte Zeit, Time Sewn Up" and it is number one on my list of books I deperately want!!! To find out more about Bosna Quilts, please go here.

toy society

This is a reaaly sweet street art project that I found via whipup. It is called The Toy Society. Toys are sewn and left out on the streets (protected of course so they aren't victims to rain and whatnot!)wearing a "take me home" tag.

In their own words:
Welcome to The Toy Society
The Toy Society is a small project spreading the love throughout the streets. Nothing to it really, just a bunch of handmade toys looking for a nice home.
Should you come across a member of the Toy Society on your travels collect them up and take them home with you! But don't forget to let us know about it here.
thetoysociety@gmail.com

Here is the link to find out more about it.