Dankeshen

Now, I know you've all been waiting to here more about my trip to Germany, and especially to see pictures of all the delightful things I got while I was there. In Berlin, we visited many flea markets, including a huge one which had many "craft" type booths, a Turkish market, and various shops. We also spent time in Gorlitz, Dresden, and the Saxon Switzerland region while paying super quick visits to Poland and the Czech Republic. The trip was fantastic and I'm so excited to show you everything I brought home with me ;)

First, buttons. Flea markets are always loaded with vintage buttons, but I happen to think I picked up an especially fabulous batch that my photos just don't do justice to.


A few of my favorites:

(the small flowers came in all sorts of colors, and I may use a little paint or polish to fix up their insides)

I found this great hat at the same flea market:


Later, I found this handcrafted felt hat at a sort of craft market set up near our hotel:


And got a lovely dress from some very nice crafters who gave me tips about the Turkish markets (for fabric):

(do excuse my mess of a room)

The advice was good, and I brought home 3 yards of simple, but beautiful, cloth.
I've already paired one of them with two pieces from my stash ;)
(The first 3 on the left are from the market, the two on the right are from my stash)


Close up of the printed one:


I even picked up these shoes at the same market! Any tips for how I can seal them so they won't get too too dirty?


My largest, and most favorite purchase from the trip had to be this fantastic messenger bag (Though the felt hat comes in close behind, it doesn't count because my mom bought it for me) ;)

The flaps unzip and are interchangeable... the walls of the entire store were full of flap choices. It was great! Visit www.taushe-berlin.de for fantastic photos of more of their bags and their shop. Plus, their name is a combination of "tauschen" (to change) and "Tasche" (bag) - how cool is that?

detail of back zip where you change the flaps:


Lastly, as a tourist in Berlin, I had to buy a small piece of the wall... even if I don't like the idea of making money off of things like this.

also pictured is an adorable "make your own matchbox diorama" set given to me by the woman at the toy museum in Gorlitz ;)

I know it seems like our vacation was all shopping, but we spent quite a lot of time exploring, visiting museums, and seeing beautiful scenery and architecture... I promise!

More from me soon, as we will be in the Berkshires this weekend, which, of course, means a trip to Joanne's ;)

Matryoshka's for my Travels

So, I have returned from Germany and had an absolutely wonderful time. I will, of course, soon have lots of goodies to show you from my trip, but first I'd like to show you the new wallet I made myself right before I left. I'm really pleased with it because of it's small size and the larger capacity it has than the last wallet I made, which is now ragged and falling apart.

It took a lot of trial and error, because while I loosely based it on a craftster tutorial, I was pretty much making it up as I went along, which makes me even more pleased with the results.

I used a discount print I found at Joanne's which I think is really charming, plus I had enough of it not to worry about wasting it with all my trial and error.

Anyway, without further ado, pictures:

front of the wallet:


opened:

3 card pockets, 1 clear ID pocket, two misc pockets (where the papers are sticking out) and of course, the cash money pocket.

inside the cash pocket:


and the part I'm proudest of (and what my last wallet was really lacking)- the zippered coin pocket on the back:

It proved quite useful in Berlin, especially since 1 and 2 euro are coins!

Since returning from my trip I've gotten right back on the crafting circuit.
Most recently I carved an "initial stamp" which I plan to be offering in craftster's SSS round 10. I'm so excited! :)


Anyway, goodies from my trip to follow soon, along with the final transformation of a WIP to a KIP which I know you've all been waiting for ;) haha