Return to Venice...

At last I have some time to myself...

...where I can enjoy a long-awaited return to Venezia.

I had so much to do for the show that I couldn't even think about it before...

...but today is another day!! :-)


I simply HAD to paste in a GAZZETTINO heading...

...being a big fan of Donna Leon's Brunetti novels!!

...and some postcard bits that I picked up while there...

We loved our hotel - Casa Sant' Andrea, a converted monastery...so peaceful...

Along the front wall we found some lovely small Byzantine-type mosaics...

...of Santa Chiara and Sant Francesco of Assissi.

My fingers are already itching to begin cutting out tiny squares of coloured paper!!

We found them after going under some  arches one evening...

...so this stencil came in useful :-)

AND....I noticed the word "Venezia" on the piece of a page that I'd stuck on!

Serendipity always plays with you eh?

Some of my photos of our first glimpse of the Grand Canal.

Rather than cutting square, I've used a fancy cutting die for all of my pictures...

...and used some Distress Inks to darken the edges.

I'm lining pages with Italian handwriting paper...

...and some pages from a Savanarola book I picked up for £1 in Hay-on-Wye.

Plenty more pages to go yet...

Have a great weekend folks

x C

Snowtime Stitching!!

The weather has been absolutely VILE!!!...

...but, if you can't get out...

...it's always a good thing to sort out some small pieces of fabric...

...and use them up with some stitching! :-)

As you can see...

...even though my world is white...

...my mind is still in Venice...

These small pieces of Aida came out of a bag of (almost useless) scraps.

It's pleasing to take a few strands of red thread...

...and stitch something lovely....

...in hardly any time at all.

I hope you are all warm and dry...

x C

Venetian goodies

I'm not going to bore you with loads of photos of Venice...

...I'm sure most of you have seen more than enough on the internet/TV etc...

...but...

...I will show you some of the goodies that I picked up on my little trip :-)

NOTE:-

We took a decision to buy ONLY from LOCAL artisans/businesses. There is so much far-eastern crap being peddled by Kashmiris...and they have managed to get most of the prime pitches! They sell dreadful glitter-encrusted masks and with anything you can think of with "Venezia" stencilled onto it, PLUS...selfie-sticks if it's fine...and plastic rain-ponchos if it's not!! We were sick of seeing them...as well as the (mostly) African beggars - the fit/healthy young men, quite capable of doing a day's work,  who have bobbed across on a boat from North Africa and stopped at a place where they can get money for nothing! Some were VERY persistent and got quite angry when told "NO!!"

So...

...from an artisanal mask maker in Canareggio...

...hand-made lace from a shop in San Marco...

...some "moth" fabric from Benevento in Canareggio...

...a tiny Murano glass pen & inkwell and some "handwriting" paper from Il Papiro in Castello...

...some Murano glass beads from a specialist in Canareggio...

..and some gorgeous yarns made especially for Lellabella in San Marco.

These are made up of several different textured yarns joined together. It's designed to make a scarf by simply knitting garter stitch from one end of the yarn to the other...but...being me...I've wound it off into small individual skeins and will use it for other things!! :-)


Although we were only there for a short time...

...and despite the fact that my knee severely restricted what we could do...

...we still managed to set foot in every siestre - Canareggio, Santa Croche, San Marco, Dorsoduro, San Polo & Castello.

We ate in small, local restaurants/trattoria...

...had coffee in small local bars...

...and stayed in a lovely converted monastery that has been there since the 15th century.

I took over 1000 photos...

...and shall re-live my trip for a long time.

We loved Venice...but will not go back.

Apparently they had just dealt with 3 million visitors for Carnivale (the weeks before we got there)...

...and have over 30 million visitors a year!

Sometimes they have 35,000 cruisers disgorging on one day...

...and huge liners churning up the waters of the Giudecca canal causing a LOT of damage.

All of this is too much. Venice is a victim of it's own success.

The graffitti  shows the sentiments of some...

"Less tourists...More rats!!"

No translation needed...

To  lighten the mood...some colours from the Rialto Market...

...and a couple of "Venice" shots...

Enjoy!!

x C

Venezia - at last!

We don't normally do anything impulsive...

...choosing to think and plan well ahead before going anywhere...

...or doing anything "big".

This week however...

...we've been very impulsive...

...and despite having loads of stuff to get done for workshops, shows etc...

...I took yesterday off...

...and made my travel journal...

...for Venice...

...which we will be visiting in a couple of weeks! Yey!! At last!!

Thank goodness I had a sheet of Cavallini paper with a map and lines of Grand Canal Palaces...

...all of which have been used in my journal...

...that I made out of B&Q lining paper that's been gesso'd.

The front cover has the name... a picture map and some stencilling.

Some of the pages have been stencilled...and a line of palazzo stuck across the bottom edges.

Little pockets for extra little books lay snugly in between page spreads.

Finally, the large map has been folded and stuck to the inside of the back cover....

...which has another map, more palazzi and stencilling.

I have some appropriate rubber stamps to use...

...but I'm minded to see how much of the book I fill while I'm there.

It will all get finished off when we get back...

...and I've come back down to earth!!

Between us:-

3 cameras; several spare/charged batteries; spare sim cards...

...we are planning to take ga-zillions of photos!

Walls...windows...doors...details...and much, MUCH more :-D

I am EXCITED!!

x C