Summer polaroid pictures

The theme of the project was in and around your home, and as I’ve made a home in Newcastle (for almost 12 years now!) I decided to take a few shots out and about. First stop was the quayside! Every year the Quayside Seaside makes an appearance and I love it. There are beach huts, deckchairs and places to chill out, or to play a bit of volleyball if you’re feeling a bit more energetic! I love the palm trees too – they look great agains the backdrop of the Millennium Bridge and the Baltic

Speaking of beach huts, how lovely would it be to make one of these your home for the summer?

Or why not go on an adventure and make a tall ship your home? We went along to the Tall Ships festival at the weekend and it was fantastic. The ships race from Blyth to Sweden this year, and they certainly would make an interesting home! I loved all the colours on the ships, and the people were so friendly too.

In our home, we’ve been making the most of the sweet peas. They took a while to come out, but the beauty of them is that the more you cut them, the more they grow! They smell amazing and are just so pretty – definitely one of my favourite summer flowers, and they’ll certainly last for a couple more weeks yet. Hooray!

Using this instant camera

I have never used a polaroid camera before this project. The Fujifilm instant camera is a great one to just pop in your bag and take out and about! A couple of the photos I took didn’t turn out that well, but that’s polaroids I guess. I really liked being able to have an instant print to hold in my hand. I’ll definitely be using this camera to record more memories! What have you been up to this summer? What’s your favourite memory?

This is a sponsored post, for which I received the Fujifilm instant camera.

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Despite the weather, our wildflower meadow in the front garden is growing really well! This is a photo from earlier last month, and it has filled out much more since then. It must be all that rain with the odd bit of sun that has actually done the trick! My favourites are the poppies and we’ve had a good variety of them. I love that they just grow wherever they like too, especially the ones growing out of the doorstep!

I read lots of great things in July. I really enjoyed reading this post by Melanie at Geoffrey and Grace, which is all about slowing down – life dictates that we do things right now, but it’s good to slow things down a little sometimes. Appreciate the little things. I have also been reading The Crossroads of Should and Must by Elle Luna which has been a wonderful companion to Pip Lincolne’s Craft for the Soul (click here to read my review of that). I’ll get around to writing a review for this one soon too – it’s a great book.

My YouTube channelwent live this month – thanks so much to everyone who has watched so far! I’m currently working on a few more projects to share with you so watch this space. I’ve been doing a lot of sewing recently so hoping to blog about that soon – got a couple of new patterns to try out, including the Bettine by Tilly and the Buttons which I love!

What projects have you been working on?

The post Bits & bobs: July 2015 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

So the main event in June was obviously my trip to London for Blogtacular (click here and here to see my posts about it if you haven’t seen them already). You can now see Grace Bonney’s keynote speech here – well worth a watch if you weren’t there. I am still coming down from it to be honest! I was wondering if that was a bit weird, but it seems like so many other people feel the same way. So many ideas have come from it for us all – it was just frustrating to not be able to work on them last weekend! Although, having sat down this morning to write this and make some plans, I think the enforced time out has been a good thing for me. I am ALWAYS busy, and I do love that, but I am really bad at switching off and doing nothing! So today I am planning and making and feeling grateful of the time to do that. Happy days!

I took so many photos whilst I was in London and I do have a couple more posts planned, so look out for those! One of which is about Columbia Road flower market, which I think has to be one of my favourite places. Here’s a taster for now:

I really enjoyed the coverage of Glastonbury last weekend (if you didn’t see it, I think you can catch up on iPlayer). Lionel Richie was amazing! I’ve actually seen him live in Newcastle, and he’s such a talented musician. You can see why he’s been around for decades, and he was obviously overwhelmed at the response he got last weekend. Also loved hearing Leon Bridges sing an acoustic version of one of his new tracks. If you haven’t guessed, I’m a huge fan of soul music and I love his old-school style. Very Sam Cooke-esque, so if you like that sort of thing then you should have a listen.

My on the train reading for my journey to Blogtacular was Pip Lincolne’s Craft for the Soul, and it really was the perfect reading for my trip. I enjoyed it SO much that I read half of it on the way down, and the other half on the way back! I’m actually reading it again now, and will hopefully write a little review of it for you soon. I don’t think it’s actually out in the UK yet – I bought mine from Australia as I couldn’t wait! Pip’s lovely blog Meet Me At Mikes is one of my always read blogs, and I’d highly recommend it.

July has started well so far, and I’m hoping to be posting more regularly again Hope you all had a super month! If you have any recommendations of things to do/see/hear then just leave me a comment below!

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Early last Saturday morning, I joined the other lucky people who were picked to go on the Blogtacular 2015 photowalk with West Elm. We met at the London Eye at 7am (!!) and were split into two groups – one with Xanthe Berkeley and the group I was with was led by Samee Lapham. We explored the Southbank which is such a vibrant, colourful area with a LOT of photo opportunities. It was brilliant to meet some lovely new people before the main event, and we got to know each other well along the way!

West Elm Blogtacular Photowalk 2015 Official Photos by Piers MacDonald

West Elm Blogtacular Photowalk 2015 Official Photos by Piers MacDonald

We were all asked to wear something Instagrammable, so I wore my bright pink coat There was a lot of Instagramming going on along the way – you can see more by searching for #WestElmLondonScenes The balloons were a big feature along the way too – how brilliant are the big balloons?! I was very excited to have the pink one for a while, as you can imagine!

A huge thank you again to Blogtacular and West Elm for organising this photowalk, and also to Xanthe (seen in my last photo) and Samee for being so welcoming along the way!

Post updated 12th February 2020.

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One thing that I have been working on my dress for the Simplicity blogger challenge this month, and managed to get it finished just in time before the deadline (which is actually today!). Once I had finished it took a while for the weather to calm down to be able to take photos of it, but we managed to get some in the end.

I have spent a lot of time reading this beautiful book called Snail Mail by Michelle Mackintosh. It’s such a gorgeous book, filled with ideas for sending letters to friends and family and it’s so inspiring. I’m definitely going to set aside some time for doing this next month!

We visited Craster this month (click here to see photos of that) and stopped in Alnwick on the way. The castle looked beautiful as ever, and we went down to the river to take a few photos. Tom took this with the snazzy camera:

And I took this through one of the crosses carved out of the bridge (I have this thing about taking photos through gaps!):

Even though we’ve been to Alnwick so many times, we still haven’t been to the castle! We could hear some sort of jousting tournament going on (well, there was a lot of cheering so something was happening!) and it sounded like a great atmosphere. Something to do when we’re next on holiday, I think…

It was lovely to be playing music again this month, as we were in the band for the production of ‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?’ at The People’s Theatre in Heaton. Tom was Musical Director and we played lots of traditional jazz tunes in the show, which is about the dance marathons held in America during the depression in the 30s. The cast were incredible, and they are genuinely the best amateur company I have ever seen. We had great reviews too, which is always nice! One of my favourite things about the show was that we got to wear a costume and sit on a platform at the back of the stage to play. I wore a fab dress and hat, which were both 30s originals. Even though the show ended last week, we are still singing the tunes! Here’s a photo of the band – a lot of fun was had by all!

We spent this weekend in Leeds catching up with lovely friends – the kind who you don’t see for ages, but when you do it’s like you only saw each other last week Fab! We talked non-stop, had an amazing Mexican meal and went to Roundhay Park, which was so lovely as I haven’t been there since I was young. We even found the Chelsea Garden section, where the Leeds Council gardens are brought back for people to enjoy. Here are a few photos I took:[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” interval=”3″ images=”7677,7678,7679,7680,7681,7683,7684,7685,7686,7687,7688,7689″ img_size=”large” column_number=”2″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1433097635431{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]In other news, I have decided to set up a personal account on Instagram as there are so many photos that I want to share but I don’t always want to share them on my blog account. So you can see even more photos there, and I’ll also be posting my 365 Grateful posts on my personal account too. If you’d like to follow me, you can find me @clarealbans – but there will still be plenty of stuff to see on my @hellohoorayblog feed too!

So June has more fun to come…the main thing that I’m looking forward to is Blogtacular, and I’m so excited that I got a place on the photowalk with Xanthe Berkeley! Excited doesn’t actually cover it I’ve been checking out new (to me) blogs written by attendees and profiles of the speakers, I’ve ordered my Oyster card and have been planning what else I can squeeze in to the weekend…look out for another post about that soon!

I hope that May was a good month for you What are you looking forward to in June?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post Bits & Bobs: May 2015 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

It was my Mum’s birthday in April, and I made her this top. It’s my favourite top to make and wear – cool and comfy for summer and the only really tricky-ish bit is the neck binding. I got the fabric in the sale ages ago and it was nice to finally make it!

I also made her a caramel cake for her birthday cake, and I haven’t got around to sharing the recipe yet – but I will! It’s from the Clandestine Cake Club book, which is brilliant. I want to make everything out of that book!

Our dear friend Hannah got married earlier this month, and I stitched this sampler from Hoopla! magazine. It has been ages since I did any hand embroidery like this, and I had forgotten just how much I love it! I painted the hoop a lovely turquoise colour and it worked really well with the design. Hannah and her husband went off on honeymoon straight away, so I hope the last bits of disappearing pen had actually gone by the time they opened it! If you want to download the template, you can get it here from Bakercourt (designed by Stacey Siddons).

I also have to share the wonderful cake that Hannah made – if you’ve been following my blog a while then you might know that a Hannah made our wedding cake. Well, this is the same Hannah! She’s so incredibly talented. Just look at those flowers!

This month I have found some lovely things in the blog world.

How gorgeous is this outfit by Lucky Lucille? I love everything about it, and the styling of the photos is just gorgeous. I know I used the word ‘gorgeous’ a lot there, but it really is!

So is this floral DIY for your bike – makes me really want a bike! A pink vintage style one, obviously…

My lovely crafty friend Dizzy Miss James was featured on Beak Up Crafts this month – yay! Her story is really inspiring, so well worth a read.

I have also found some cool new things via Instagram this month. Stylusboy (aka Steve Jones) commented on one of my photos and so I checked out his music on his website. It’s great! It’s billed as ‘handmade indie folk music’, and that’s a good summing up I reckon. It turns out that he’s supported lots of great people on tour, and I’ll definitely be adding some of his music to our ever-growing collection. Have a listen here!

Have you heard about Caboodle Magazine? I also found this through Instagram, and the first edition was released this month. It’s a super mix of craft, fashion, food, vintage…lovely, lovely stuff. It’s also produced in my home town of York! Really hope that the team can keep going after such a great start – looking forward to seeing how the project develops. I’ll be reviewing it properly on my blog for you soon!

The Blogtacular speakers were announced this month – even more excited now! Check them out here. You can also listen to Kat Molesworth’s podcast for A Playful Day here – it’s all about creativity in blogging. Fab!

What new discoveries have you made this month? Share them by leaving a comment below! Hope you’ve had a great April

The post Bits & Bobs: April 2015 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

I have loved taking part in Make It March this month! I found the prompts really helpful and it has been so good to see what everyone else is up to as well. There are some very inspiring people on Instagram and it has been great to connect with some of them. You can see a little round-up of Kate’s favourites over on her blog today.

I’ve been following Xanthe Berkeley on Instagram for a while now (and I’m keeping everything crossed that I can go on the photo walk with her at Blogtacular in June!) and love her stop motion videos. Anyway, she has been sharing her trade secrets in this post and I’m hoping to give it a go next month. I’ve never made a video before (other than silly little ones on my phone, like being on a carousel at Beamish!) so it will be good to learn a new skill.

This month I have mainly been listening to Bear’s Den. I saw them for the first time on TV when they played whilst Dermot was doing his mega dance-a-thon for Comic Relief and I loved them. I love how their voices blend together – they played the track ‘Agape’ live and I bought their album straight after hearing it. It’s great for crafting to! I imagine it will be on repeat a lot in April too…

I do want to share a few of my March photos with you too! We celebrated 10 years together this month, and I am amazed at how quickly that has gone by. So much has happened, and so much is yet to come

I am constantly admiring and snapping the beautiful spring flowers that are appearing all around. My friend Tiffany came to stay with us for a couple of days last week and we had a little wander along the river. The blossom had bloomed and we played Pooh sticks on the bridge – fun times![/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”7259,7260,7264,7268,7261,7262,7265,7266,7267,7263″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1427962008335{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Next month, I’m really looking forward to making a Tilly and the Buttons Coco dress with Daria – after a lot of searching we have both finally found suitable jersey fabric! Neither of us have sewn with jersey before, so wish us luck…I’ll be sharing photos here I’m sure, so you’ll get to see the results!

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1427962321249{padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]I am really looking forward to spending some time with Tom this weekend and we’re hoping to get out in the garden if the weather is ok – fingers crossed! It’s a tradition to have hot cross buns on Good Friday so I’ll be making some today (so they’ll be on the blog tomorrow). Whilst looking for a recipe I did come across this hot cross bun fudge, which might have to wait until next year if I can hold out that long!

I hope you enjoyed my first Bits & Bobs post and that you had a lovely month too. Feel free to share anything you enjoyed in the comments below! :-)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post Bits & Bobs: March 2015 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

You’ll be pleased to hear that the kitchen is now complete! We are SO excited to be getting back to normal-ish now. But I’ve been so poorly over the last couple of weeks with this flu-like virus that’s been going around, that it’s taking longer than we hoped to get everything in the house back to where it should be. I had a few days off work, but then went back before I should have, and I’m so slow at doing anything at the moment! It’s really frustrating. Pretty much the whole of our team has the same thing (except for Tom!) so it’s been a tough week in the day job. Thank goodness for reading week next week… I’m hoping to share some photos of our new kitchen with you this weekend – yay!

In amongst all the busyness at home and in the day job, we’ve had both a birth and a death in the family over the past couple of weeks, so all in all it has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Keith wrote a lovely post on his blog, which included some poignant words by Henry McKeating (Tom’s Grandad).

I went to Richmond in North Yorkshire with my Mum yesterday. We had a lovely day, but I felt bad for coughing the whole time! We had a good wander around, visiting lots of places we used to go when I was younger. We spent a lot of time there in the 90s, so it was lovely to go back. The river has changed so much – I used to take my fishing net and my jar with a string handle (as made by Mum) and fish for tiddlers, and back then you could cross the river here. I don’t think it would be possible now that the course has changed so much, and we reflected on the power of nature as we wandered along the banks. Here are a few shots from the day:

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We spotted this gorgeous door on our wanderings – isn’t it beautiful? I would LOVE a front door like this!

I think that just about covers everything! I’m really looking forward to feeling better and having the house back to normal I’ve got some more exciting news to share in a post later today, so look out for another post! What have you been up to?

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I took these first few photos on Christmas Day – we managed to head out just as the sun was coming out! I love the Christmas flag that we spotted in someone’s garden.[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”6582,6583,6584,6585,6604,6605″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1420025641502{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]We celebrated Tom’s 30th birthday whilst we were there – I made a special smarties cake (which was quite big, but I was pleased with how it turned out!).[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6607″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”large” css=”.vc_custom_1420027047916{padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”6608″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1420027166152{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]These final photos were taken on our last day in Maryport. The light was amazing, and the colours were so beautiful –  we could even seen snow on the peaks in Scotland as well as snow on the Lakeland fells![/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”6589,6590,6588,6591,6592,6593,6595,6596,6611,6597,6598,6599″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1420027524801{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]I hope you have enjoyed these photos, and that you had a wonderful Christmas break! :-)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Lots of stuff happened in September, so there was quite a bit to document. We had a day out at Beamish, and this part is still work in progress! I’m using these square pockets for the first time in my album, and they’re great!

I’ve got some more photos to add to this, along with the tickets from our ride on the steam gallopers! I’m also going to be adding some photos of the Great North Run opening ceremony on the page after too. Then next comes a few pages of holiday snaps!

As you can see, I included the days of the week cards from the Blush kit – it was really good to document something from each day. I’ve used some textured coloured cards on the opposite page, and I like how the colours work together. I can decide what to write on them at the moment, so I’ll fill them in at a later date when inspiration strikes! My final holiday pages show some of the photos we took when we were chasing the sunset. The cards from the Kiwi kit work perfectly here – I’m not really a fan of orange, but it works so well here. I decided to mainly use big prints here to get the full effect of this beautiful sunset.

If you read my post about my time living in Newcastle, then you’ll already know that last month marked out 10 year anniversary of living here! Obviously I had to put together some scrapbook pages about this too, and it was great to be looking through all our old snaps. The first page is a selection of photos of me and Tom over the years  – as you can see, 2014 is blank, but this is because I can’t decide which one to choose from this year!

On the next couple of pages, I’ve included a few photos and little stories of things that have happened over the years – like the time it snowed a lot, and when we grew our first carrots! Then I also wrote about my little tour of Newcastle, and I love the camera cards from the Kiwi kit here – such a cute little sketch which is perfect on these pages.

As you can see, I’m all about the colour! I like that I can keep things simple by just using cards and photos. There are so many different ways of scrapbooking, and before I started I thought it was mainly dull colours and embellishments (which really aren’t my thing). But obviously not! I am still enjoying this so much and if you’re interested in starting then I guess the best piece of advice I can give you is to do it your own way. You’ll see loads of ideas on Pinterest but don’t feel you have to do it in a particular way. An article on A Beautiful Mess this week got me thinking about this, which is why I’m mentioning it. Anyway, I’ve started working on the pages for this month and I’m hoping to do a page of Autumn photos – I found this textured card pack in TKMaxx and I’m putting it to good use with these gorgeous colours:

I think they will look fab with some of my Autumn snaps – I’ll be sharing the pages with you next month. Happy scrapbooking!

The post Project Life: September 2014 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

We seem to have been out and about loads over the past few weeks, so I’ve got so many photos to share! Highlights include a trip to the Northern Quilt Show with my Mum, a trip to Beamish, our holiday to Maryport, and we also had tickets to the Great North Run 1 Million Opening Ceremony! We managed to get a spot right at the front on the quayside, which was amazing – a brilliant night!

I’m so pleased with this photo from the ceremony!

When I went to stay with Mum and Dad at the end of August, I made my Dad a very special cake to celebrate him working his last ever overtime on a Saturday – he’s done it for over 30 years! He loves his records and we recently gave him our record player, so I made him an LP cake. For those of you who don’t know, ‘Mornin’ avids’ is how Brian Matthews opens his radio show on Radio 2 every Saturday morning – Dad will be able to sit and listen every week now The cake is a Victoria sponge with buttercream and homemade blackberry curd inside, and I made the LPs out of icing, using a cocktail stick to make the ridges.

You might have caught a glimpse of some photos from the quilt show in my Project Life post yesterday – I will be writing a post about it, so you’ll get to see a bit more! There are some photos on Instagram so have a look there if you can’t wait… Other exciting things that have happened include: booking my ticket for Blogtacular 2015 (I didn’t go this year and really wished I had, so I can’t wait!), making top secret things and starting making Christmas stuff (sorry for using the C word!) and getting into Project Life. And there are so many exciting things coming up too! What have you been up to recently?

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The post Catching up… appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Can you believe it was a year on Sunday since we got married?! I can’t believe we celebrated our first anniversary this weekend! Last year, my blog was full of wedding-related posts and the run up to the big day went so fast, but this year has actually flown by as well. It has been lovely to reflect on our special day and our first year of marriage Hooray! To celebrate we had a really lovely day out and a stay in a B&B which was fab – and a lovely surprise which Tom had organised! It felt like we were on holiday…but we did have to go to work on Monday!

The first place we went to was Tanfield Railway, which is just outside County Durham and it’s the oldest railway in Britain. I had never been on a steam train before, and the past few occasions when we’ve tried to go on one the steam train has been replaced by a diesel engine!

I’m pleased to say that it was a steam train – yay! We had a little potter around the train shed before we went on it too, and in keeping with tradition I bought a pencil and eraser! Here’s a little selection of some of my photos (I took quite a lot…):[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”nivo” interval=”3″ images=”5381,5382,5383,5384,5385,5386,5387,5388,5389,5390″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411070641466{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]We had a yummy lunch at the Black Horse pub afterwards which set us up for the afternoon, and then walked along to Birkheads Secret Gardens, which is just the most wonderful place! The owners, Christine and Mike, created the gardens from a field (amazing!) and they also have a little nursery, shop and a cafe there. It’s the perfect place for a lovely day out, and we bought a season ticket so that we can go there at different times of year. I can’t wait to go when all the helibores are out – they have so many there and it must be wonderful to see! Here’s a little gallery of some photos I took:[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”nivo” interval=”3″ images=”5394,5395,5396,5397,5398,5399,5400,5401,5402,5403″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”Large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411070678403{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]We stayed at Hedley Hall B&B, and I’d definitely go there again for a little weekend away – it was fab!

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The post Our first wedding anniversary! appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

I’m really pleased with these photos of footprints in the sand on Tiree. The wonderful thing about them is that I’d never be able to take them again – once the waves come in the footprints are gone.

This last photo isn’t of footprints, but an amazing pattern left in the sand – I’ve never seen anything like it!

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I’ve just realised that I still have a few more photos from Tiree to share with you! So much has happened over the past few weeks and I’ve had so many blog post ideas that I just forgot about these lovely photos.

These were taken on the western side of the island – I’m not sure which little bay we drove to, but it was great for beach finds and rock pools.

In the middle of all of the stones I spotted this little flower!

My wellibobs made beachcombing so much easier!

The post A wonderful week on Tiree (part 3) appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Whilst shopping in Madrid, we found the best fabric shop ever! Situated on Gran Via is the Julian Lopez shop, and I think that Beth and I could have spent about a week in there. They had the most amazing selection of fabrics and then a home section upstairs too! It was simply beautiful – a crafting heaven!

These were the window displays – so inviting! It was like being in a sweet shop!

I managed to restrain myself when it came to purchases, although I could have bought the whole shop! I settled for a metre of this pink fabric which I’ll use for a quilt that I’m planning to make:

And I also bought two metres of this lovely fabric – I think I might make a maxi skirt or possibly a dress out of it:

It will probably be some time before I start making a skirt – I’ve got the wedding waistcoats to finish first!

The post Possibly the best fabric shop in the world… appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

On Sunday morning, Beth took me to El Rastro – the most popular market in Spain. The atmosphere there is amazing, an if you’re planning a trip to Madrid then it’s a must see! Be careful with your bag though, as pickpockets are everywhere. I bought a few things at the market – a couple of bowls, a bag and a necklace, so quite a good haul! Here are a few photos of our trip there.

And when you’ve finished shopping, there’s always time for a coffee and a bite to eat!

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Last weekend I visited my gorgeous friend (and bridesmaid) Beth, who has recently moved out to Madrid. We needed to go bridesmaid dress shopping and Madrid seemed like a good place to go to do that! The dress is all sorted but I can’t show you just yet – but I thought I’d share some of my photos. We packed quite a bit into a weekend!

Our first destination was Mercado de San Miguel – a really amazing market where you can buy pretty much everything food-wise, sample the sangria (although I had iced tea!) and generally soak up the atmosphere. Fabulous!

The following day, we shopped in the morning before doing some more exploring – starting in Buen Retiro Park. There is a beautiful rose garden there, and one or two of them were in bloom. We even spotted some cute ducklings!

We also visited the Crystal Palace and spent ages taking photos there. Inside, there was a lovely art installation.

Here we are enjoying the sun (briefly!) – it was a pretty chilly weekend!

That evening we went to a little tapas place, which seemed to be very popular with the locals! The food was amazing – we had feta and caramelised red onion tortilla with some chicken and some ham and cheese croquettes. Yum!

This is already quite a long post so I’ll write about our visit to El Rastro in another post, but the first photo gives you a sneaky peek!

The post A weekend in Madrid: Retiro Park, the Crystal Palace and some tapas appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Whilst on Tiree, we visited the little pottery there and it was a really inspiring place. It must be an amazing place to work – making gorgeous pottery and chatting to people who come to visit. The pottery has a very distinctive style and takes inspiration from the island.

I absolutely loved the workshop space, and what was really good was that you could see people making the pottery at different stages.

I bought a couple of pieces from the pottery – a bowl and a heart garland. Great souvenirs from our visit!

If you want to find out more about Tirii Pottery, you can visit their website. Or even better, go and visit!

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