drip-drip-drop little april showers

Ah - spring is here and how it has tickled my fancy and generally got me all staring-out-the-windae, smiling at the flowers and saying a cheery "hello" to every chirping birdie. How I love it so, almost as much as a 39p bunch of Waitrose tulips - bliss indeed!!


Well, I'm no Heather-the-Weather (nor Seán Batty for that matter) but I do predict a little April shower or two to be heading your way. So why not have your heid stylishly prepared for the inevitable with a fetchingly fresh shower cap soon to be drip-drip-dropping into a little tuwhittuwhoo near you! Yes indeedy, the much anticipated Japanese-y fabrics are getting stitched-up and be-photographed and into the shop toot suite. And I have heard it said, they are too cute to keep to your salle de bains!!


In honour of the seasons scattered-showers, I thought I should leave you with one of my favourite little springtime ditties (after that is, the effusive Mr Blackbird and the knock-knock-knocking of my local woodpecker). But not for you just the run-o'-the-mill version of this dear chanson: no, no. I took it upon myself to conduct a gruelling research project and compile a best-version-of-Little-April-Shower-in-a-Foreign-Language chart. (That's more than what the Oscars would give you... but less than Eurovision, perhaps) So without further a-do:

in at number THREE: They won't let me embed-it but it's ICELANDIC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMbNvB_Jtt0&feature=related

running-away towards number TWO: say "yay" for GERMAN:

pipped-to-the post by NUMBER ONE: it's SWEEDISH!

three good kings (and a little princess)

We had a lovely trip to Glasgow last week to see our dear friends for a long-postponed Christmasy get together. It turned out that we were visiting on Three Kings Day (which Le Petit Pot was getting very excited about here), another tradition I may adopt to make Nöel last a little longer and give me even longer to finish-off my handmade gifts...!


I picked up this super-smart Mini Pen Tote by Cuppa Tea & Cake at The Spider and The Fly and thought it just right for a budding artist to carry her work to-and-fro. It was a perfect fit for this sketchbook which I monogrammed with cut-out fabric and a prit-stick (which worked but really, I need to get some Copydex for these Blue Petery situations). The paper inside is thick brown kraft which I thought might y'know, be a slightly differnet 'ground' for working on with wax crayons, y'huh?!

I've been intending to make these Simple Bibs from Bend the Rules Sewing for many a month now but eventually got round to whipping them up in my typically last-minute stylee. I didn't get off to a great start by not reading the instructions before cutting (tsk!) and generally forgetting that the whole mission of Amy Karol's brilliant book is to make your sewing life easier not more difficult. If you don't know the book, it's full of brilliant tips and cunning methods to save yourself time and effort. Oh, how I need her advice. Hence, even the not-so-eagle-eyed may spot the last-minute emergency welding job required after I mistakenly thought I could hammer popper studs in place and cook porridge at the same time. Still, I think it got the 9 month olds drool of approval!

To carry our Three Kings gifts I made these Kingly carriers which de-stashed (some of) my brown paper bag collection and made use of the Xmas cracker hats which were still hiding under our cushions and down the back of the setee. Course I asked the resident artist for a little help to decorate each bag which she did a superb job on. (Bear in mind the bags were full at the time) She asked me to draw some of the features on her Mummy's bag. I wonder if her additional details in black marker pen are a suggestion of eyeliner?

Stacey's gift was a replacement for the first shower cap I ever made which unfortunately was fire damaged last year. That's some of the fabric I took back from the famous Tomato in Nippori Fabric Town (the link takes you to Asking for Troubles in-depth write-up). I have a few more of these to whip up for the shop as soon as I get some more elastic. (I buy that fresh - don't harvest it from my knicker drawer or anything horrible!)


Course we received some loverly gifts in return but I'll be saving those for another posting. Now where's my lady hammer...

はい喜ばしなさい、ありがとう!

All be it within monetary and luggage-allowance restrictions, I think it's reasonable to say that Japan brought out the raging-blood-thirsty-foaming-at-the-mouth-consumerist in me. Oh dear, sounds nasty huh? And for the unfortunate by-standers: believe me, it was.


Most of this rampage was conducted in a couple of Ұ100 shops (not to be compared with Poundstreatcher's) and the fabulous five-storey fabric shop Tomato but I found many opportunities in which to open my purse and shell-out the yen and some other occasions in which, I regret to inform my dithering indecision had me walk away from a most opportune moment. Shame on me!

So I thought it only appropriate to show off the spoils of my shopping-spree now that the gifts have (mostly) been given...


1. Tapes, tapes and more tapes mostly collected in Ұ100 shops and some from a brilliant wee stationery shop somewhere near the Carrot Tower. The sweetie bags up the back by Aiueo came from Tokyu Hands. In case you can't tell from where you're sitting, it's a cartoon lady face with purple / yellow hair and when you fill the bag and tie the top you give her a wee pig tail - eeek!  


2. I got some very special stickers for adding to my 'part-made-in-Japan' items soon to be coming to the shop, with 'hand made' written in both hiragana (?) and English. A commendable example of one purchase justifying another! The lovely floral fabric is soon to be a shower cap. And the pink squared speech bubble tags - oohlala need I say more?! 


3. Kitty watering can: I found this on the way to the temple of kitty you can get a slightly larger one here too! The plastico maple leaves were decorating shops everywhere, I suppose the way plastic cherry blossoms do in spring. They were Ұ100 of course. Also spottable: a ceramic Miffy salt cellar (not a knock-off I'll have you know!), a second-hand Miffy book (temple yard-sale) for practising my Japanesees, and lovely cherry and mushroom patterned fabrics (Tomato) and a plastic potato. Don't ask.


4. The only snag about Tomato for me, was that apart from the pre-cut pieces on the quilting floor, like this stack of fat-quarters, all fabrics were cut at a minimum of 1 metre. Dang. But compared to FQ prices in Scotland (or say in John Lewis) they were mighty reasonable at between Ұ130/270 or £1/£2 and of course Japanese! The green Mitsubishi pencil in the foreground I admired for it's slogan: 'Made by elaborate process'. 


5. I got a lovely selection of stationery items like these cute froggy envelopes (when you fold the top down his eyes pop out!) an exercise book with a dormouse on some spotty red envelopes and more spotty fabric. 


6. The deliciously dainty little chocolate box hanky came from RAAK a beautiful knicker-twistingly exciting shop that I stumbled upon in Kyoto. Very Japanese orange and red fabric with a lovely square pattern woven in, was yet again from Tomato and purchased in three colour ways! Can't wait to get working with it.