Lucky Penny- Back for 2011

Just a quick note to say that Lucky Penny Crafty Club is back for 2011. Next catch up: Tuesday 1st February- details on flyer above. Would be great to see you there!

re-work

I've been checking the blogs... and have decided that mine is well overdue for a makeover. Expect more progress sometime soon. Have a fab rest of the weekend!

vietnam

Not long ago, I was in Vietnam. It was a spur-of-the-moment-hastily-booked-and-plannned kind of affair, but great all the same. I simply decided that I had a great opportunity- longer holidays and my brother planning on being in the country at the same time- it may be hitting me in the pocket, but was simply too much of a good idea to resist. I spent some time in the north around Hanoi and Halong Bay (the pictures show exactly why it is popular with the tourists). Hanoi is like Kyoto to Tokyo- so much more culture. I took a liking to the perilous and crazy traffic- my number 1 tip for crossing the road is to simply forget about your personal safety and walk across. In Halong Bay I went sea-kayaking, took plenty of pictures and endured badly sung Vietnamese karaoke on New Year's Eve. From there I ventured south to Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon as everyone preferred to call it- rolls off the tongue much better don't you think?) and hit the markets, sweltered in the Mekong Delta, and squished into a war-era tunnel. The south of Vietnam is so much warmer and relaxed than the North- less communist propaganda (which incidentally, contained some great illustration). I also spent some time hanging out with my brother there, which was fun- just sitting around drinking coffee/beer/tea/mojitos and watching the local life unfold around us- the streets really are your best form of entertainment there.

So where to next? I'm thinking perhaps Argentina.

embroidery for my nana

Craft has a strong re-purposing, 'make-do-and-mend' ethic about it. So what do you do when you kind of realise that you are just not going to finish an embroidery? Patch it up, frame it and give it to your Nana for Christmas! Looks good to me!

(There were meant to be 3 houses in the original embroidery, but the open-weave fabric and multiple other projects got the better of me. This bit of work is now cheering up my Nana's new room in the old folks home)