Sun, sea and sewing - a week in France

I have been on holiday for a week in the south of France. It was utterly gorgeous, and the surroundings were very inspiring with lots of old French charm, a slower pace of life and plentiful lavender plants and vineyards. Although I was happy to be back in our little cottage at the weekend I was very sad this morning to return to the more hectic pace of London and work. I was nearly in tears when I first got back to my desk, such was the overwhelming feeling of being in the “wrong place”. In France we were away from the worries of bills, interest rates and hubby’s redundancy. Now we have landed back in England with a severe bump.

Whilst we were away I took the opportunity to relax with some hand-sewing. I printed the tutorial for a lovely little purse from the beautiful and inspiring Mairuru blog. I really find Mai’s blog a happy and inspiring place to visit. It is always very informative and contains beautiful pictures of her work and of Japan where she lives. Often she does little tutorials, I have only tried this one but I enjoyed it so much I am going to try one of her surobobos next (I expect mine will be nowhere near as cute and perfect as hers though!)

Using Mai’s instructions I made myself two little purses. I was pleased with how the first one turned out…

But the second one went a bit wrong…
I cut the material badly in my rush to get it ready and packed the night before we went away. But I do like the colours. So my lesson learned is: preparation is key! Don’t cut your fabric at 11pm the night before your flight after two glasses of vino.

I used my new purse to carry home some lavender from the garden of the house in France where we stayed…
I will dry these flowers and use them to make my first bath-bomb (results to be revealed!)

I saw many inspiring things on holiday in France. Here are just a few of my favourites:

Mosaic ice-cream signs in Saint Marie Sur-la-Mer..
Little one in bed, BBQ fired up, wine poured, table set for two..
A clear blue pool on a clear hot day..
Lovely French villages and towns...


(That lovely little girl in the blue dress is my daughter.)

My mother was also on holiday at the same time in Spain. When I went to see her yesterday to compare our tans (mum = brown, me = off-white) she had bought me a little present in the form of a mosaic elephant magnet!
I cannot tell you how pleased I am with this!

I had a lovely sunny time with my family last week and although I am a little glum to be back in the rat-race, I am very glad to be home :)