My Book! London Stitch and Knit

Lately I've been working on a big project that I'm super excited about. I'm writing a book! It's a guide to London's fabric, knitting and haberdashery shops and will be published this autumn. I'm also doing the photos for the book, which is wonderful because I get to go to so many amazing shops and capture how beautiful they are. It's been hard though to keep my wallet from jumping out of my purse at every shop! I've had the idea for the book for a while and I'm really happy that it's now a reality.

Melanie Barnes for 91 Magazine

A few months ago I had the pleasure of meeting Melanie Barnes of the beautiful blog Geoffrey and Grace when I went to shoot her cozy house and cute makery beach hut in Worthing for 91 Magazine. In addition to being a busy mom, Melanie is also a talented crafter who sews children's clothes and accessories from vintage fabrics. She also runs a shop with two other talented crafters out of their beach hut studio / shop named Margot.

Hello 91

I always love seeing a new issues of my favorite magazines, especially if the issue includes an article (or two!) that I wrote. In the current issue of 91Magazine I had the pleasure of writing a style feature on decorating with collections and a vintage piece on the history of wallpaper. Here's a look at my articles, but this issue has a lot of great other features as well, including a craft project to make embroidered cloth napkins, which I wouldn't mind making myself. The magazine is well worth the small subscription price. Also, in the current issue of Mollie Makes Home is nice print edition of 91Magazine, which is worth picking up if you haven't already. Happy reading!

Crafty with 91Magazine

In other related magazine news, I'm also really happy to have two pieces in the recent craft edition of 91 Magazine. Actually, one is a craft project I did, this doll who I've named Frances, and the other is a piece on our little abode which Caroline, the editor, wrote. I'm really happy with the way my dolly turned out, so I thought I'd share that first. This issue of 91 is really great! It has quite a few craft project features like how to make an origami vase and upholster a chair cushion, it includes a helpful guide to haberdasheries, and there's an informative Q&A piece on some of the makers from the London Renegade Craft fair. But back to Miss Frances for now...

Pretty Nostalgic in SE London

Also in the current issue of Pretty Nostalgic is an article I wrote on southeast London, specifically some of my favorite places in the neighborhoods of Forest Hill and East Dulwich. I live in East Dulwich but often find myself in neighboring Forest Hill since there are so many great shops and cafes there. It was hard to fit all my top picks in one short article, and few places I wanted to add needed to be cut to stick to the word allowance, but I'm still happy with it and happy to share information on some of my favorite places. Of course these are the crafty, vintage, and cute cafe variety of places because those are the types of places I like and the once I knew would interest Pretty Nostalgic readers. You can click on the article pages and zoom in to read it. I took many photos, but of course only a handful could be included in the article, so here below I've posted a more thorough visual tour of some of the places featured in the article.

The Making of Kedgeree

This week I received my copy of Pretty Nostalgic in the mail (a wonderful British magazine) and was especially excited about this issue because I have two articles in it, one of which is on Kedgeree, a delicious indian inspired British dish. Ah, kedgeree is sooo good! It has smoked fish, rice, coriander, lime, egg, cinnamon, and onions among other things. Sound strange or delicious? I had not heard of it before moving to London, and it's one of those dishes I wasn't too sure about after hearing the ingredients, but then once I tasted it, I became a kedgeree devotee!

Stitching Naturally

If you are a quilter or just admire quilts and the quilting tradition, you are sure to be inspired by Maura Grace Ambrose, creator of Folk Fibers. Her quilts are predominately hand dyed and hand stitched, and all beautiful. In issue 29 of Mollie Makes I had the honor of writing the intro to the denim quilt she made for that issue, which you can read there or here on the Mollie Makes blog. Check out issue 29 for more on how to make a denim quilt and head over to her web site to see more of her beautiful work. Her instagram feed is also a constant source of inspiration.

San Francisco for Mollie Makes

In issue 25 of Mollie Makes is an article I wrote on San Francisco shops in the Mission. I'm really happy with this one and sorry I didn't share it sooner! Issue 26 is already out on news stands but if you're interested in San Francisco shops that sell vintage and handmade items, you can read my article here below. And you can also get a back copy here. I also took the photos for this one while we were there in November, and overall I'm really happy with how it turned out. You can click on the images and then zoom in to read the pages.

Rooms for Wee Ones

A while back I wrote an article for 91Magazine on decorating children's rooms, and since I was out of town when it came out, I only recently realized I never shared the article. I'm still collecting little things here and there for Ellie's room and think I could use some of my own advice as a lot of it is piled up in a jumble of my own indecisiveness! If you're needing a little inspiration for decorating your wee one's room, here is the article.

A Merry and Bright Home Tour

I'm very excited that my most recent article for Mollie Makes is now out in the Christmas issue! It is a home tour on Jasna Janekovic's adorable, colorful apartment.

Good Reads

Whew, it's been a little busy around here! I don't know how people manage with 3+ kids. Two children is quite enough for me, and I think that way even with Lois in nursery school a few days a week! It's hard to keep up... laundry, cooking, cleaning, bathing, feeding the baby, errands, etc. Just taking a shower can be a challenge. And then there's a bunch of things I just want to do for fun that I feel lucky if I can even get to them, like reading the new issue of 91Magazine. This issue is really great! I've been trying to write this post for 2 days now telling you a little bit about the articles in this issue, so rather than drag it out a few more days, just make a cuppa and take a look for yourself. Here's a peek. Oh, and you'll find one article that I wrote, page 49, here below!

Lise Meunier for 91Magazine

I'm very excited to have another article in the UK based 91Magazine! This might be my favorite issue yet.  It's really a wonderful magazine packed with wonderful articles and lovely photos on all things craft and vintage. Here's a peek at my article on Paris ceramicist Lise Meunier. You can read the full article here on p48. You can see more photos from my photoshoot of her work and home here.

L'OisiveThé for Mollie Makes

Oooh, I'm so excited to have written another article and taken the photos for Mollie Makes! This time it's on the best knitting shop and tea room in Paris: L'OisiveThé. Aimee, the owner, is wonderful and her shop is equally great. If you like to knit or like tea, or if you just like to find cosy lunch spots in Paris, make sure to visit!

J&B The Shop for Mollie Makes

I'll get back to Paris posts soon, but for this post, we're headed to London. I was going to post about this tomorrow, but I'm so excited I can't wait! An article I wrote and photographed for Mollie Makes on Jessie and Buddug's wonderful shop on Columbia Road is in the current issue and on stands tomorrow. (You might recognize some of the photos from previous posts!) The editor emailed the feature to me today, which I was not expecting, so it was a fun surprise to see it, and here it is! Mollie Makes is such a great magazine. I can't wait to see the rest of this issue. If you don't already know of the magazine, it's perfect for anyone who loves crafts or vintage and even better for anyone who loves a great mix of both. I feel honored to be a part of it and to have shared a bit of Jessie and Buddug's story.

Tea Feature for 91Magazine

I've hinted at a tea project recently, and I'm really happy to reveal that it's an article on a few London tea rooms I wrote and photographed for 91Magazine! Here are some screen shots of the article. You can read the feature here. It's on pp. 18-25. And if you'd like to see more photos of these tea rooms, you will find many more in my "shop photos" flickr set.