I love working with natural textiles. Gorgeous Elitis linens come in a multitude of muted shades that are perfect for creating that classic chequerboard look.

It does seem like it was many moons ago, but looking over my pics I remember what fun I had on my recent trip to Paris, hunting for haberdashery.  The Abbesses area is great for textiles but I was hunting for trims and hardware. Rue de Saintonge in the Haut Marais has a handful of shops for maroquinerie, or leather work.  I walked past these on many occasions, but naturally I made my largest purchases on the day of my departure. Gerard Diffusion is a small  and dusty store near the apartment I was staying in in the Canal Saint Martin area. Not discouraged by Monsieur Gerard's gruff announcements that all items would require a ten piece minimum purchase, I blazed ahead in my best French, asked lots of questions, bought as much heavy metal as I thought I would be able to carry on my cheap flight to Milan the next day. By the time I left said Monsieur had transformed into a charming gentleman, keen to assist should I need to order any items from overseas. A big tick to Gerard Diffusion.

The time has come! I have decided to make my first foray into the hand made market scene! To that end I have been working on a collection of new leather patch totes that can take you to many places... There are many different colour variations - as usual, there are no repeats - all one-of-a-kind. Come see me at Primrose
will be held on October 4th

Trying to keep that tefal foot from going too fast when attaching the leather patches to the dress.

Architectural folds on a two-sided pouch.

I adore long walks along the beach. Although I am usually powering away, trying to burn some calories (it would be great to think that is of no consequence to me...) I do actually take note of my surroundings. They change every day and you could say, every minute. There is the movement of the clouds, the water, the birds, and there are also wafts of sea scents of all kinds. I always think to myself that if I were an artist, this is where I would get my inspiration. I find the walks invigorating and have never thought they actually inspire me in a literal sort of way until I was looking through these photos. What do you think?

With t-shirt sleeves  for straps and old pants for part of the front, this is the first bag made by me that my husband claimed as his many years ago. Although my skills have developed and I now have a more amazing collection of fabrics, I am still fond of this one - it's simplicity,  lack of pretension, and the colour combination of red, white and blue is still one of my faves.

Darling god daughter is making excellent progress with her "journey" (hate that word!) project. A little bit of unpicking had to be done on the gathered skirt to get it to the desired fullness but we got satisfaction in the end. Yay!

handiwork from my god-daughter. This time a very useful pincushion made out of Japanese summer yukata fabric. The firework design that wasn't able to be centred actually ended up looking like a shell. A perfect fit for my urchin shell collection.

I have recently spent some time with my darling god daughter - well, truth be told, she was never baptised, so I like to call myself the "fairy god mother". Sunny asked me to be her mentor for a middle school "journey" project she needs to work on over the course of the year. Let's just say she has made an amazing start. In the course of three days she has learnt to use both the regular and overlocker machines and has made two pairs of shorts. This sampler was later fashioned into an iPad cover. That's what I call amazing progress!

Think small. Better still, think mini. Mini bag, that is. Inspired to read that mini bags making a comeback, perhaps as a backlash against the oversized designer "it" bags, I set out to play the other day. This little number is simply a test run - checking to determine length of strap / handle, clasp placement and what would fit in it - phone, tick; keys, tick; lipstick, tick. What else does a girl need to carry? Oh yes, I forgot - the kitchen sink.