In the interests of research and inspiration I made it a priority to pick up some magazines whilst we were away. I managed to pick up a nice selection from Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway.

It's clear from looking at them that the handmade vibe is as strong over in Scandinavia as it is here in the UK. Even though I can not understand a word of what is written, the pictures were speaking to me loud and clear.

I love seeing Scandinavian houses featured in British magazines, with their clean, fresh, quirky styles, so it was hardly a surprise that I would love flicking through the pages of these magazines.

Whilst it was possible to get Scandinavia's version of Elle Deco and the like, it was these with a vintage, handmade feel that I had to have.

Don't you just love this armchair?

With the world growing increasingly smaller and with several Scandinavian goods regularly seen on our shelves (Greengate and Rice being the most predominant) everything seems strangely familiar.

To stroll in and out of stores and see them in their own setting and amongst others too, was strangely comforting. And to flick through magazines and have this same feel be at my fingertips is a real pleasure.

Colour is something that Scandinavia does so well. Not in room decor, where walls are normally painted white, but in accessories.

All this colour against a white backdrop gives such a fresh, clean, relaxed approach. So easy on the eye.

There's a lot to take in and I'm looking forward to reliving my Scandinavian experience in the months to come as I flick through the pages again and again.

We came back yesterday from a holiday of a lifetime. It was my Father-in-law's 80th, so he took all 17 of us, his sons, their wives and their children on a Baltic cruise. It really was a holiday of a lifetime.

Despite the fact that we are essentially holiday anti-socialites, preferring out of the way gites to busy, noisy hotels, we managed. Well, what's not to manage? Being taken to some of the most beautiful countries in Europe. Spoilt thoroughly by 24 hour attentive service. Oh and did I mention the all day and evening kids clubs?

Whilst I am not a convert to this kind of holiday, I certainly made the most of it and enjoyed not having to do any domestic chores of any description for 10 days.

I'll be reporting back, over the next few weeks, on the wonderful places we visited, but since this is essentially a crafting blog, I thought that would be a good place to start.

Our first port of call was Copenhagen. I instantly fell in love with this city. Not only is it beautiful and oozes charm, but it is such a laid back city. And I loved the way the whole city travels around on bicycle. It didn't take long for us to realise that bikes, with their own space on the road, rule the road. In our naivety as we strolled down the street, it soon became clear that you don't walk down the cycle lane as it is just that. The first cross tooting made us quickly evacuate the lane and made sure we never entered one again!

The shop windows in Copenhagen were beautiful. Quite Parisian in feel, I thought. The bead shop above is one such example. I loved the mix of vintage with bright colours. I had to be dragged out of here kicking and screaming.

The knick-knack shop across the road had a real vintage feel. I am quite cross I didn't get my promised return to explore to it's full potential.

This all highlights Frustration Number 1 of cruising...being given the merest glimpse to some wonderful cities. Whilst I feel privileged to have visited some amazing places at all, there were times when less is more really did not apply. Coupled with the fact that we were a party of 17 trawling the streets, with little folk amongst us, a lot of compromising took place.

I did however make the most of the very short time we had in beautiful Tallin. This was a much more compact city, so plenty of opportunity to break off from the group and catch up a bit later. Tallin was full of linens and embroidery work. Whilst some of it wasn't to my taste, I loved the crafting vibe. And I loved even more my find of this bag of embroidery threads. All this for less than £15...definitely worth breaking away from the group for and being a little late for rendez-vous ;-)

I'll be back soon to show you some magazines I picked up on my travels. All have a Country Living/Marie Claire Idees vibe and are going to be a great source of inspiration to my work over the coming months I feel.

A holiday isn't a holiday if you haven't a new, clean, fresh bag to accompany you.

I'm now ready for my holiday.

If you don't count not having done any packing...at least I have the bag.

I'm not sure who's going to be more excited on Ruby's birthday...her or me.

We've chatted for ages about her getting her own machine and I decided at 9 she was probably old enough. I wanted to wait until I felt she was old enough to have it in her room and be responsible enough to use it on her own there.

The night before her birthday I'm going to put it up on a new desk in her room, that will also be a surprise.

I am beyond excited to see her reaction when she wakes up.

I am well aware that I am going to have to have nothing else planned for that entire day, so we can both play at her machine all day. It's going to be a hardship.

I am also well aware that I am going to have to keep my fabric stash under lock and key from here-on-in...

Me and my obsessive personality...

I won't rest until I tire of a design...

I wish my obsession would stretch to tidying my studio...

It seems this week that alot of us are making things from our scrap piles. Maybe it's a belated spring clean...trying to tidy up a bit. Or maybe it's wanting a piece of a favourite fabric that all we have is a tiny scrap, not big enough for anything substantial.

I bought these sunnies this week super duper cheap in the Gap sale. So super duper cheap they came without a case.

So there was an excuse if ever I've had one to throw one together. I'm obviously going to be using this alot. It's going to be in and out of my bag all summer long. I want something pretty when I do. So a quick dive into my scrap pile to find the most beautiful, treasured pieces that I had.

I love Cloud 9 fabrics and Aunty Cookie's, so I'm over the moon that I get to carry a piece of these around with me every day.

And despite the fact that my sister (how very dare she) said she would like one, but without that awful yellow *gasp*, I love the little ray of sunshine peaking out.

For a long time now I've wanted to learn the art of screen-printing. As you well know I have a thing for hand-printed fabrics. I love the individual-ness of them and the depth of colour that you can get. I also love the less graphic and more individual approach. Screen-printed fabrics can be simpler, where just one image can speak a thousand words.

I got my chance today to begin, what I know is going to be, my love affair, my obsession, my new creative journey, thanks to Manda. Manda started this journey a few months ago and those that follow her know, as to be expected, what a natural she is. So what better teacher!

I began with a design that I have used quite a bit in embroidery and set to work by printing on various pieces of linen, just to get the feel for it. I have to say at this point that my, oh so wonderful, teacher had taken all the donkey work out of it and prepared my screen for me and all that was left for me was to play with fabric and ink...perfect!

As I imagined, I am hooked. I love it. And, as I anticipated, my head is bursting with ideas that I want to do and directions I want to take it. But I need to remind myself to slow down, take one step at a time. It will all happen...