{ sunday stash - tessuti spots }

Decided to join in on the Sunday Stash - you can too, join here

I've been covering buttons with the orange fabric, very cute. Decided I better get another half a metre while still in stock. The white one was an impulse buy, I find it very difficult to go past spots at the best of times but when it's on sale? Impossible!

{ down to work }

After my couple of days wandering Barcelona, the reason for my being there came to pass. Saturday morning was our conference but really it's a morning of entertainment, there's little to no work to be done.

I've mentioned previously that in the lead up to Global there's lots of debate about who would be the guest speaker at the conference. We've had Lance Armstrong and Bob Geldoff in recent years but it is really all guess work beforehand as it's all kept top secret. During the festivities some flamenco dancers came out on stage and I was thinking, nice a bit of the local culture but from behind them appeared someone in a cape and jeans - weird! Well, it was actually the entrance for the Virgin Group head honcho Sir Richard Branson.


Small selection of the 1500 or so of us

He had a pretty responsive crowd with travel agents filling the room, but even so I was a little surprised to hear some notes of nervousness in his voice. It was an interesting chat but in that setting he's not the most charismatic orator (not that I would even get in front of a group of 100 let along 1500, I do keep it in perspective!).

The highlight for me was the emcee. In the past it's been staff that have done it but this year we got a professional, and what a professional - Lenny Henry. He was awesome! So funny and brilliant at keeping things moving and interesting.


Sorry about the poor photo, my little camera doesn't do indoors at a distance!

We finished up at the convention centre at about midday (told you it wasn't an exactly taxing conference!) and I headed into town with a group to hit Zara. There are so many outlets it's just insane. I came out of one store, walked past 3 shops and there was another Zara outlet! The specials in all shops were brilliant, none of this 30% or 40% we get here in Australia, most was at least 50% off with many shops 75% off. How can you say no to a $6, good quality, t-shirt?

We had a lunch of tapas, paella and sangria for lunch - yum!

Back for a nap and quick change before the formalities of the evening Ball. Lenny Henry hosted again which was a godsend because we needed something to lighten the 4 hours (yes 4 hours) of awards! It got pretty tedious, I have to admit.

Entertainment was another pre-Ball conversation point. Previously we've had Jet, Shaggy, Ronan Keating - very eclectic and some hits and some misses. A number of people had been scouring online for what bands were in or around Spain that week and there was some serious odds on the Kaiser Chiefs and Snow Patrol, either of which I would have been very happy with, so there was a general huh? when the stage was revealed. It took some working out before we discovered it was DJ's Groove Armada. Kind of went over my head, I'd heard of them but had to do some internet searching on my return to find out who they were - whoops. Sorry for the Groove Armada fans out there that are just embarrassed for me not knowing them!


Yes, we were sat behind South Africa!

{ B E S T }

I'm part of a the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team - BEST - and we're holding a virtual BBQ Scavenger Hunt this weekend, August 1-3. The winner gets a $30 gift certificate! All you need to do is browse the amazing offerings at 18 participating shops, locate hidden items and submit your finds to enter. You also get a chance to win for each purchase you make during the event.

Check our this post on our book team blog for details: etsybooks.blogspot.com

Most of the team members are in the Northern Hemisphere but with the beautiful weather in Sydney at the moment, it's not too much of a stretch to dream of summer BBQ's.

Here's a selection of some lovely books made by my team mates (note, these aren't necessarily the participants in the scavenger hunt!):

{ walking the streets }

I spent my days in Barcelona wandering, it's a really great city to do this particularly in the old town. Often I did this on my own but I did do two walking tours which were wonderful. They went for 2 - 2 1/2 hours each which is the perfect time for a tour I think. Enough time to learn lots but not too long to get bored.

I just booked the tours through the Tourist Information Centre in town my first day. The company I went with are called 'Barcelona Walks' and they have 5 different walking tours. The two I did were:

"Gotic - Stroll through Barcelona's Gothic Quarter where past and present meet and discover the charm of its streets, squares, hidden corners and hundred-year-old buildings.

Gourmet - Enjoy a flavour-filled journey through the old town and discover Barcelona's gastronomic culture. During this walk you will find out about the history of Barcelona's cuisine as well as some of its flagship shops and food outlets, and sample some of their produce."


There's nothing quite like having days of unstructured time in a different city - no working, washing, cooking, cleaning to think about (let alone do), just days full of time to do whatever the mood strikes. One day I sat in a park in the sun watching the world go by for about 3 hours - wonderful!

{ en route }

I’m back after a wonderful week in Barcelona, arriving at my hotel 42 hours after leaving Sydney! I travelled British Airways via London and had a 12 hour transit there. Long transits are usually a pain but I took this as a wonderful opportunity to wander London for a couple of hours.

Flying is the only time when I'm grateful for being short! Infrequently on work trips I'm lucky enough to travel in Business Class, but the vast majority of times I travel I'm in Economy. I can't imagine what it would be like being really tall and squashed into an Economy seat all the way to Europe. Even short distances must be a nightmare.


It’s about an hour each way from Heathrow on the Tube so I had about 6 hours after travel and re-check in time.

My first stop was breakfast – Club Sandwich from Pret a Manger! Probably a strange choice in most peoples minds, but I love these sandwiches - the bacon is insane!


Went initially to Covent Garden but was a bit early for the shops so wandered around, through Soho, Tottenham Court Rd up to Oxford Street. Not completely knowing my way between these points, I just walked down whatever street looked interesting.

I must say, the shops in Oxford St have really deteriorated. Not that they were ever all that good I guess (mostly chain stores), but it now seems really run down and cheap.

From there I made for Liberty. What a beautiful looking storefront! I was kind of surprised how little fabric there was. The floors were filled mostly with bags, cosmetics, jewellery, homewares and even carpets! I did eventually find the fabric and made some purchases. I’m not really a traditional floral pattern kind of girl so the fabrics I bought weren’t actually Liberty but it was a nice shopping experience.


Fish and chips for lunch in a pub and some more wandering before heading to the airport and onward to Barcelona.

{ barcelona bound }

Every year the company I work for holds it's 'Global Gathering'. It's a celebration and recognition of high achievers for the previous 12 months. They really go all out with a brilliant party somewhere in the world and this year it's Barcelona. I'm lucky enough to be attending as the representative of my team as we were the most improved shop in our area. I head off on Monday afternoon, spend Tuesday in London and then the rest of the week in Barcelona.


Each year there's lots of pre-talk and guesses as to who our guest speaker will be at the conference that's held during the day on the Saturday. Last year in Honolulu we had Lance Armstrong and in Dublin the year before it was Bob Geldof! The main money is on a European as there seems to be a pattern of having a local, possibly a Spaniard but who could it be? All will be revealed in a little over a week.

A couple of years ago my husband and I spent a wonderful couple of weeks travelling through Spain however we didn't make it to Barcelona so it will be all new to me.


I've been super busy at work and only found out a week ago that we made the cut, so I haven't had any time to research and plan my days in Barcelona. Once I give it a couple of minutes thought, I'm know filling the day on London will be NO problem, but do you have suggestions for either city? I'd love to hear them.

{ custom order + a new design }

Very proud of myself - finally remembered to take some snaps of a just completed custom order. A friend picked up a fabulous holder for the recipes you accumulate from magazines, friends and family, etc that usually end up in a pile somewhere. Upon seeing it I thought to myself - ‘I can make that’ in the true fashion of crafters the world over.

The process for new designs is a fairly consistent process for me. I think through the technical aspects of what’s needed (measurements, etc) then have a first go. I make a few more with modifications as necessary and farm those out to close friends or my mum to put into use and give me feedback on anything that needs altering.

A final run past the in-house quality control supervisor:


And then all things go.

The first version of my recipe holder went as a birthday present to my friend and then she ordered this one for a relative.


I thought this paper was spot on for a recipe holder and I have another couple in my paper draw that will be excellent too. I haven’t yet worked out pricing so once that’s done I can get a few made and in my Etsy store for sale.

Of course there has to be a link to Japan and for this one it’s the plastic sleeves inside. I haven’t been able to find good quality ones here at a reasonable price but I found them in Tokyu Hands - no wonder I was over my luggage limits coming home!