Here's the view from the last flight I had from Chicago O'Hare to the Eastern Iowa airport.  I'm happy to say that all my travels went extremely smoothly and all my baggage was under the weight limit AND made it all the way home with me which is always wonderful.

Although my mom was disappointed with the petiteness of her Welcome Home poster I was happily surprised and grateful for the effort.  Thanks Mom!

Despite the my little 10 hours of sleep in the past 2 and a half days, I've been rather productive, I think!  Here's a few sneak peeks into my craft productions... 

First I'd like to introduce the new gocco'ed face of Creep Mouse Toys (formerly Poor Lost Bread), for the croissants, baguettes, etc. They're printed on a high quality felt too, 30% wool I believe.  Exciting!  I printed 60 faces yesterday... they're taking over the entire living room so when I move into my efficiency I'm going to have to drape my entire place in faces and avoid the place for a day or two... ha.

Et voila!  My long anticipated personalized labels (sitting atop a new piece of fabric scored yesterday at Crowded Closet--I love that place)!  Saved me soo much time since I'm no longer making me own, oh economics.

Since nobody likes goodbye's I'll say "see you soon" as I pack my last bag tonight in order to have tomorrow, my last day in France, open to do as I please.

As you can see in the photo above that I took only hours ago -- France isn't making it easy to leave with such beautiful weather, but I suppose it's good I leave before it gets TOO hot...

Anyway, a few more photos of my favorite streets in Montpellier, and next time I'll be writing here I'll be back in the states (although still busy with my brother's graduation and my entire family being in town).  BUT very soon I'll be posting photos of current and upcoming products so keep checking back and have a wonderful beginning of the week!

I woke up early this morning to ensure I didn't compromise my final chance to visit the Sunday flea market at Mosson.  Although I seem to have lost some  trims out of my sac during my trip home -- I'm still happy with the results.  (A few more goodies were found but they're to be given out so have to remain secret for now.)

A sweet pair of chef salt + pepper shakers.

An entire BOX of floral - pig pins.  The man at the booth explained that the cochon (or pig) if a sign of bonheur (or happiness).  So with about 300 piggy pins I'm ready to spread some happiness... I'm just nervous about pricking myself before I have my doctor appointment next week at home (I'm overdue for a Tetanus shot.. yikes).

When I arrived in England it was warmer and clearer than it had been earlier that day in Montpellier!  After lunching and visiting Chartwell (which was beautiful!), we arrived at Jim and Angela's.  Where a little Socks (the fox) was waiting for some supper.

We took a hike through some fields inhabited by sheep (this bull was on the other side of the fence), to the seaside at Birling Gap.

Angela also hunted down this blue bell forest that she'd heard of.  Since it'd been so unusually warm and dry a lot of the flowers were crispy -- but there were still so many blue bells!  It's hard to capture in just one photo, but I think you can get the idea.

The weather was beautiful every day until the last (which was only gray in the morning -- and I spent the day in London inside the Tate Modern anyway).  I especially love the beach-side houses where people keep their water + beach supplies...

And I'm not talking about the weather, I'm talking about craft fairs!  Today I got the notice for the second craft fair I'll be participating in this summer.  Which is actually also in June, just seven days after the first!  It's the Madison, Wisconsin Summer Craftacular thrown by the wonderful Glitterwork shop and friends.

 

Also, the Craft Saturday has their vendor list up and it's looking pretty exciting!

 

That's all my crafting news for the moment though.  I arrived in England today to spend about a week with some family, then I'm back to Montpellier for my last few glorious days in France.... Then it's craft-city for me, all summer long.

Munich, Germany carnival + a pretzel the size of my head (so much salt!).

Vienna, Austria.  Saw an opera (2 euro standing seats), bought 5 books for their amazing covers only, fell in love with this cannibalistic ice cream mascot, and  supported the cutest little lady craft store ever by picking up this x-stitching pattern (fishing for ducks?)... too cute.

Krakow, Poland was falling apart, literally, but in such a charming way.  I especially enjoyed this chipping-away sewing machine advertisement...

If I spoke german I'd be living in Berlin!  We took the most amazing free bike tour and saw so much wonderful graffiti / art.  Also, if you're ever in Berlin on a Sunday be well-prepared for thrift shopping--there are tons of flea markets on Sundays.  Just walking around we ran into a really small (but plentiful) one where I picked up this yellow sweater and purse you see me sporting here.  Oh, and that's part of the wall behind me.

Amsterdam was as crazy as it was cute--still unsure as to if that's good or not, but I wish I would have gotten out to some of the smaller towns.  Anyway, yes I ate that entire strawberry-frosted, sprinkled waffle and yes that flower shop is not only filled with flowers on the ground but the entire ceiling was covered in hanging, dried flowers--it smelled so, so pretty.

And finally, Dublin.  Where we spent the last few days of our trip.  Here we have an amazingly detailed SAND sculpture--note the button, it had so much detail it was amazing.  Then the intertube with the disclaimer that this could save YOUR life so not to vandalize (sort of gloomy), and finally a packet of vintage plush patterns I picked up in a bargain bin!  It's not complete, but I think it was worth it just for the photo on the front!

All safe and sound back in Montpellier, France... but very much exhausted. 

Today I packaged up the plush for the Crammed Organisms show that I'm going to get into the mail tomorrow, hopefully they'll get there in time for the making of the book!!!

Also, these photos are close-ups and the complete image of the birthday embroidery (or broderie in French) that I made for a nice little former roommate of mine who just celebrated her 21st birthday while I was traveling...

During my travels I did pick up some craft-related excitement but the sun is already setting so the photo shoot is postponed for later, but they'll be posted as soon as I find time (which I suppose truthfully might be a little bit since I have a total of 20 pages of French papers due by next Wednesday, ew).

Hope everyone is having a nice Sunday!

Leaving Krakow, Poland tonight, which marks the official half-way point in our Europe trip!  I miss France more than I thought I would....

 
Krakow is so charming though, highly recommended!  There are lots of wooden dolls everywhere, although I'll admit the one pictured here is not Polish (I don't think), but it's within the relm of wooden dolls (found at this antique site).  Quite inspiring I think, might have to test my wood-working skills...


ALSO, as posted on the homepage, the etsy store is set to officially open it's virtual doors on June 15!  So, I'll have a busy few weeks once I get back but I'm very excited!

WOW! I also recommend visiting this Sara Cole Studios if you're as intrigued by wooden dolls as I am now.

I finally finished the last of the set of dolls for this show that is taking it's time to respond to applicants, but oh well. 

For the rest of this lovely day I plan on going back to the train station to continue straightening out little bumps in our spring break travel plans, and doing some school work--only 3 weeks of classes left, with a 2.5 week break in the middle, I have a feeling starting tomorrow time is really going to pick up!

On the other hand, I've already put in a few applications to a couple craft shows in the upcoming months so it seems that this summer has lots of potential!

I thought I was getting a head start with birthday presents since there are 5 - 6 in the months of April and May--but I already feel behind, and probably none of them are going to be home in time....

Oh well.  Here's a little sneak peek (about 1/5 of the final product) that I stitched up last night for a little someone having a birthday back home very soon.  Pretty cute knee-dimples, huh?

After a morning of laundry adventures, I'm going to head to the train station with a friend and try to ensure our spring break train adventure isn't going to be a disaster, and then hopefully grab a honey crêpe or some café and sit in the Esplanade. 

In addition I believe I'm hosting a "sewing party" at my place tonight, so expect some entertaining creations very soon.  Luckily it's been plenty warm enough that even though they close the internet café over the weekends, I can sit outside without a time limit (besides my battery), and update as often as I have entertaining snippets to share.