Marche’ Saint Pierre – 6 floors packed with fabric.  Need I say more?

My daughter displaying my rapidly growing stack of payment tags for my purchases – as I am intently wheeling myself and amassing my booty.  Good thing I left room in my suitcase to bring it all home in!

He loves me, but fabric shopping is not his idea of fun.

I on the other hand was in heaven!  (Yep – that is my new avatar.)  Paris fabric shopping induced bliss!

I will be blogging over at Beneath Our Feet with more pictures of our travels in France, so be sure to stop by there and check for updates.  After we left Paris we went to the Rhone Alps region where we are hoping to launch our dream venture from.  More on what that dream is later…

Let me know if and of you are inspired to give it a try and be sure to pass the word on!

I did get some knitting accomplished during the last week of the trip. Before then it was just too busy and I was too fragmented to be able to give enough brain power to my project.  On the last day, on the trip up to Seattle where I was flying home from, we stopped at Shipwreck Beads (which proudly hails itself as the largest bead store in the country) and my mother generously bought me way more beads and tools than I had intended on getting.  I am now stocked up and ready to play.  Beading and making jewelry is a relatively new pursuit to me so I am looking forward to exploring what I can create.  Watch this space for what comes out of my dabbling.

I’m not quite ready to really start writing much so this is going to just be a short post.  My returning home routine seems to include taking a few days or weeks to settle back in before I am up for much in the lines of writing.  Much in the same way that it is difficult for me to write whilst on holiday (you will have noticed that my best intentions to write while away fell by the wayside) writing when I come home is a bit of a challenge.  Those first few days are spent reacquainting myself with the familiar surroundings of my home and everyday life with my eyes still in visitor mode. I even woke up the second night back and didn’t know where I was.  I wandered around the house trying to sort it out and at last I remembered that this was MY home, it is in England, and that my pillow was waiting on my bed for me to lie my head on it.  Having figured this out I returned to said bed and proceeded to sleep for many long hours, lost in the comfort that you can only get in your own bed.

Its good to be back home.

I brought along some knitting to do and so far I have not even cast on yet.  I really need to get working on it as it is my part of a trade.  Hopefully I will have some quiet time in the next day or two and be able to get it going.  If not, then it will be this time next week before I get to it.  Luckily we are here for a whole month so I have some time.

Until later – hopefully with some progress on my holiday project to report – Happy July!

With that lets get to the business at hand – The giving of awards!

This is my first actual passing on of an award. I did get one before, but it was during a time that my posting was less frequent. Which is a round about way of saying I blew it off. Bad blogger that I am. However, in an effort to be better at showing my appreciation to both those who read my blog and to those who’s blogs I read for being a part of my day – I am going to participate in this one.

I mentioned yesterday that Barb at Craft Therapy was one of my latest discoveries. We found each other through EntreCard and I quickly added her to my daily blog reader. Last week she gave me the “The “Arte y Pico” award, which I was very flattered to receive. Thank you, Barb!

“The “Arte y Pico” award was created and to be given to bloggers who inspire others with their creative energy and their talents, whether it be writing, artwork in all media’s. When you receive this award it is considered a “special honor”. Once you have received this award, you are to pass it on to at least 5 others.”

Here are my five Divine Picks for the Arte y Pico award:

The first goes to the blogger who gave me my first award that I flaked on giving a proper shout out to. Jo at Mom Of Heathens is more than just another name in the blogosphere to me. We have been online together for several years at a couple communities and this past February, she opened her home to me on my healing journey to New Mexico. Jo is like no other out there. I won’t even try to describe her – go see for yourself. You will fall in love like I did.

The “other” Katie, The Wool Food Mama, is next on my list. Another crafty mama that I have been online with for several years. (Yes, I have a slight addiction to the internet. This is not news.) I am honored to share both a name and an obsession with wool with Katie. Her stuff is cuter than I could dream of making myself. She just posted some new insanely cute offerings on her blog. I am coveting the nesting dolls. Katie is a deep thinking, down to earth, and very talented mama. And she has chickens, which just make her even cooler in my book.

Keeping with my theme of great women I have been privileged to share the web with, I would like to give the nod to Danielle, at Princess Nimble-Thimble. Danielle is a fellow crafty mama with Fibromyalgia. She has really been kicking the fibro’s behind this past year too. She gives me hope that there is a way out of this somehow. She has been a crafty idol of mine for many years, and I am sure you will see why. Take some time to look at her work.

Cinders is also one of my choices today. I found Cinders through Ravelry in a fibromyalgia knitters group. It’s a great group of knitters who share a common bond and support in the illness we have all been so lucky to draw out of the hat. She has recently entered the wonderful world of selling her lovely hand painted yarns in an etsy shop. She out shines me in the productive with fibro department – I am in awe of how active she remains and as a newbie over here in the UK, Cinders is great for me to find out if I’m on track with all things fibro related over here.

Val at Hobbies of a Domestic Goddess is my final pick today. Val and I go back to when I lived in her corner of the US. We also met through an online community. The same one that I met Jo,Katie,and Danielle through in fact. There have been many good relationships to come out of that particular community. Val is a creative and committed lover of all things about gardening, homeschooling, and making of yummy healthy food. You will want a cup of tea and some time when you go see Val. She has loads of interesting stuff and beautiful pictures on her blog.

I want to say thanks, again, to Barb at Craft Therapy for giving me this award and the chance to share a little bit of love with a few of my favorite people on the web.

Now, I am outta here. I have got so much to do and the time is rapidly going by. I will try to get in at least one more post before we go, but if I don’t then look for me to post at some point during my travels. See you then!

It was with great amusement that I found myself making this yesterday. Because I needed it. Now.

I made it to go with this dress:

Which by itself is a great idea and it will look stunning. But when you consider that I have had the dress for 2 years (though it didn’t fit properly until recently since I have lost weight) and I have had the beads for nearly a year, the folly of it becomes apparent. It wasn’t until I was struck once more with a bout of pre-holiday making madness that made to order jewelry became an imperative. It is oddly reassuring that everything is right on track, and despite being far from where I had hoped to be physically for this trip my old habits and routines have survived in tact. I am thankful that I have creative outlets for diffusing stress and energy. I know I should probably be trying to be more still and reserving my energies for the upcoming journey, but truthfully I think if I were to try and sit still I would waste way more effort fighting the urge to be active than I would just surrendering to it.

The big blue beads were brought back last year by a friend from her summer in India. She gave me a beautiful silk bag filled with gorgeous glass and stone beads. The small pink and green beads were purchased on our trip to Barcelona last year. I love the idea that I took beads from other travels and used them to make something to wear in a time of traveling.

Tomorrow I am going to be doing some long over due showering of love to some of my most recent finds and favorites in the web world these days. I’ve made some great new discoveries, like Barb over at Craft Therapy, who is not only a fellow crafter but is after my heart with a blog by that name! She gave me an award last week and its my time to give some of my own out. So be sure to stop by tomorrow when I share some Divinely Crafty Finds!

I finished the Log Cabin blanket that I started back in early May for the wedding of our friends. Finished size was roughly 48″x42″. The perfect size to throw over your lap and snuggle up with a cup of teas and good book. True to the best of gifts, it is a bit difficult to see this one leave my home. Made of odd bits of yarn left over from projects over the past couple years, making it was a fun trip down memory lane and they type of item that would give warmth of heart and body on as cold day. Several yarns were those that I dyed myself, including a small bit of my very first skein of hand painted yarn. There was even some that I spun from sheep which were raised on the farm where the happy couple lives. Definitely a project that I will do again once I have a good stash of leftovers that needs using up. I have a few new projects lined up to work on that will start me on that quest. It feels good to have made a “big” knitting project. It wasn’t the most complicated of patterns, but it did take time. I often shy away from the longer projects because so often I will go into a flare and not work on it for a time. (Not too different than me and my blog in that respect.) If I chose a smaller, quicker piece then I have a better chance of finishing in a reasonable time frame. I didn’t rush through this one, and only at the end when I was in a time crunch did I push myself to work on it when I didn’t really want to be working on it. True to my form, I finished it the day of the wedding with 3 hours to spare. Just enough time to get my daughter and myself cleaned up and ready to go. She was the flower girl, which in the world of a 7 year old girl is a much honored role. She was up first thing in the morning asking how long until the wedding. When I told her she had 7 hours to wait (an eternity in her eyes) she groaned and asked how many minutes that was. 420 met with several more groans.

We are in our final week before we leave for our trip to the Pacific Northwest of the US. My brother is getting married and it will be the first time back for my whole family except for me. I went last year to gather with several of my sewing mama friends, where I taught a little workshop on wet felting and then I went to a course on using hypnotic techniques as an element in the childbirth classes I teach. This year I went to get started on a holistic course of treatment for my fibromyalgia. Very different reasons. So much has changed. I know from my own experience that it will be odd being back in a place that used to be home and have it seem so foreign. It’s remarkable how much we have settled into life here.

There are always a million details that pop up at the last minute. With this being a month long trip I am expecting twice that. We are moving house (again) shortly after we get back so all that needs to be squared away this week in addition to all the normal packing business. Fortunately it is still pretty calm today with a week left to go, and maybe it will stay that way if we are lucky. Cross fingers and hope for the best!

I don’t usually do this, but today I am posting the same thing on both of my blogs. (For those of you who haven’t been over to see it, I blog about my family’s adventures at Beneath Our Feet.  I invite you to  have a look around and see what we have been up to. ) I was so moved by the beauty of these apple blossoms this weekend that I had to share them with all  my readers.

I haven’t been to the new orchard in a very long time (It may have been as long ago as during the last harvest unless there is a gap in my memory.) So yesterday was a real treat when I finally managed to get over there to see all the pear trees that Axel and his crew have been busy planting. All 7,500 of them. In three days. I kid you not. Did I mention how hard he’s been working?

While I was there I noticed that some of the apple trees that were recently planted were still in bloom. I was very happy to see this since I missed the primary explosion of blossoms in early May. One row of these trees in particular caught my eye. The color of the blossoms is a deep vibrant, almost on the verge of purple. I had never seen such a color in apple blossoms, most of which are a white with hints of pink. I asked Axel what variety it was and he could not remember exactly, but said that it was either sunlight or moonlight but that he would have to check his list to be sure. They planted a few new varieties to test this year. I also learned that not only are the flowers an unusual color but the flesh of the apples they produce will also be unusual. They will be red inside as well as outside! I don’t know much about this type of apple, but from what I gather its a rare variety that they are introducing back into the market. I can’t wait to get a look and a taste of them.

I had brought my camera along (double checking that I had my memory card) in hopes of getting a good picture of the new pear trees, which as it turns out don’t make much of a photo right now. Maybe once they take root and start getting leaves. So much to my delight I was able to take some pictures of these gorgeous blossoms and even managed to get some snaps of a bee busy doing it’s part to help with the apple growing business.

Here are a couple more shots. I could sit and look at these flowers all day. They are so beautiful, and exactly what I needed to lift my spirits.

And so the search began. Pages and pages of lovely creations passed my eyes. A cup of tea, some rice cakes with almond butter, and a cup of coffee later I had looked at hundreds of pieces of jewelry, but nothing was jumping out at me as being the perfect piece. And anyone who has ever bought something for a 16 year old with very specific style and taste knows – it needs to be perfect. Especially when prom is involved! So onward I went, click by click, forging on in my quest. Then I found this seller. Brought to her page by one piece, I was drawn in looking at all the wonderful offerings in her shop. Such lovely work! And better still, I found at last a piece that I thought just might be what I was looking for. And bonus – she stated in the listing that she could make matching earrings. oooooo – I was intrigued. So I convo’d her (that’s etsy speak for I sent her a message) and asked what the cost of the matching earrings would be and if perhaps she could make a bracelet as well. I figured hey, it doesn’t hurt to ask, and a complete set would be great. She replied back – very fast – with a very reasonable price for the set and able to accommodate my time frame. (Yes, I procrastinate. A lot. ) After giving it some more thought, and spending time looking at my daughters dress, I had concerns if the color of the pearls would be to stark for my daughter’s dress, so I convo’d her back about this and a few other things, fearful that I was close to crossing over to potentially irritating buyer who asks a gazillion nit-picky questions territory. Again, she replied very quickly, giving me her honest opinion and making mention of some other colors that she had available. All whilst reassuring me that my questions were no bother and better to be safe than sorry when shopping online. How true that is!

When my daughter came home that evening, I eagerly showed her my discovery. (No way am I going to try and surprise her and risk her hating it!) She was pleased, but not as thrilled as I had hoped. So we talked. And we considered what it was that she didn’t like, and what she would want to change in order for it to be perfect. Eventually, after much imagining and discussing we had come up with exactly what it is that she would like. I sent another convo to the seller, asking her if she could make what was now a fully custom set and what the cost would be. True to form, she replied without delay, happy to make it exactly as we wished and at a price that was unbeatable. She would get started immediately and ship it the next day. My daughter and I both went to bed dreaming of the lovely custom made set that would be arriving at our home.

Today I received another convo from the seller with a picture of the set. If I was eager before, I am twice as much so now. And my daughter is beyond thrilled. It is indeed perfect – better than even we had imagined when creating it in our minds!

I hope that the seller – BeadsByEvelyn – doesn’t mind me posting a picture of the set that she sent me. It is just too beautiful not to share. She assured me that it this is a quick photo that doesn’t do it justice, but even so, the beauty of it is breathtaking. I can’t wait to see it up close and personal.

Made of Swarovski pearls and crystals in white,almond,peach, and bronze.

For reference this is the dress that it will be worn with.

The set is matched perfectly to compliment the dress and will be even more stunning with my daughters rich ginger/brown hair. I can’t wait to see them on her, in her lovely dress with her hair done up, ready for what will undoubtedly be a magical night.

What are some of your best tips for travel chronic pain and illness? I will be on the road for 6 weeks, going between two primary locations with long haul flights on either end. What are some of the best ways to prevent stirring things up more than is needed. (Do I invest in a foldable cane? Seriously. Do I?) and how do you recover from the stress and pain that can’t help result?