Travel – Page 3 – Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

March 10, 2015

travel tuesday: the doors of bruges

In 2014, I did all sorts of traveling. I love to look back at a calendar year, especially one as full as the year past, and tally my adventures. I visited one new country and two new states – 1.5 countries if we count Wales as a half. England, Wales, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium. Minnesota, Arizona, Florida, Ohio. A lot of planes, my favorite, and a lot of packing, my least favorite. But the new and exciting makes all the packing worthwhile, from the best schokocroissant ever in Basel, to the incredible apple fritters at the Donut Wheel in Tucson.

Okay, maybe I do travel mostly for the pastries.

As a blogger, I’ve been terribly remiss in sharing my adventures. Much of this is due to my somewhat new belief that, when I’m traveling, I want to do more than capture the place: I want to soak it in. I can’t see, breathe, or explore a new place while observing solely through my camera lens. I’ve started to capture the photos that will recall a memory, rather than the photos of the sights we all know. Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales? Yeah, it’s a gorgeous mountain. But a picture of a brussels sprout leaf on the edge of the path? A reminder of the man who, on the day I climbed the mountain, was on his fourth and final day of pushing a brussels sprout up the mountain with his nose as a charity stunt (true story). Talk about dedication… and misery!

In the end, regardless of the photos I have and haven’t taken, I want to share bits of my trips. Moments, ideas, thoughts, foods, whether they’re from last month’s trip or last summer’s trip. So, due to my love for alliterative post themes – which owes itself more to the fact that it makes an easy habit, rather than that I think it’s “cool” – I’m starting Travel Tuesday.

This week, I was sifting through photos and noticed that, as ever, I am consistently drawn to doors. Whether it’s the doors of deutschland or Cleveland meets Boston, doors are my favorite because they have so much character. A quick trip to Bruges revealed a stunning assortment of wonderful doors, and I love this small, and entirely accidental, collection.

Bruges is a darling, tiny city. Rivers and cobblestones and church towers; chocolate and mussels and, of course, frites.

Who can say no to a mini bucket of frites?

I spent three days in Bruges with friends and we found good food and great beer. I don’t think the town lends itself well to a longer visit, but it is a magical place to see for a few days.

The wooden doors may be my favorite. Throughout Europe, I have seen so many gorgeous wooden doors, and they’re all so different. Wouldn’t it be fun to be a door designer? You don’t have to agree… but I think it sounds great.

And here’s a window for good measure.

Last but not least, some green and orange for Brad and Sam. I will always stop for a good green and orange picture.

February 18, 2015

wiwo wednesday: chasing february warmth

I spent a long weekend in South Carolina warming up. Warming up from DC’s frigid temps, and warming up for Katie’s upcoming wedding! It was a relaxing and bonding girls’ weekend, with food-stuffed bellies and joy-filled hearts.

Now that I’m back in the snow, I’m trying to savor the quiet, content moments of the trip. The grays of our last beach walk, the batting-like cushion of the clouds underneath our wings, the golden sunrises and the brilliant stars. I’m working on saving it all up, an inspiration cache.

Of course, what’s a bachelorette party – especially in the Pinterest era – without a bit of DIY? My Silhouette and I have been having fun lately. I’ll be doing a lot of white-and-lacy projects in the next few months, and I can’t wait.

Marie started wiwo wednesday: What I’m Working On. I try and join her as often as I can to give you a peek into my creative process and my works-in-progress. See all my wiwo wednesday posts here.

February 3, 2014

favorite places: barberton, ohio’s fabric and freight mart

Tucked up in sleepy downtown Barberton, Ohio is the ultimate trash-to-treasure hotspot, the Fabric and Freight Mart. My mom’s been going to this store since the days of her youth, and I always remembered it fondly from family trips to Ohio. We’d stop by, dig through the fabric, and my mom would laugh because, more often than not, they’d still have a few bolts left of prints that she had purchased 15 years ago.

I was always intrigued by the unique, naturally vintage fabrics to be found at what we called “the Barberton store”, but it wasn’t until my last semester of school in Cleveland that I discovered the glory to behold in the unclaimed freight half of the store. Bins upon bins of, well, everything.

As you can see, it’s a complete mess. A glorious mess. They have wooden handles for any tool you can imagine. Door knobs and drawer knobs, odd nuts and bolts for any occasion. Casters, light bulbs, lamps, ropes, and chains. You can’t enter the store with a particular project in mind, but you will leave with a million brand new projects once you walk out the door with your goodie bag.

The fabric side isn’t lacking in surprises, either. They have bolts of funky home-dec weights, zippers and buttons galore, and strange trims and patterned elastics.

It’s a magical place, and it’s different every time. One of my favorite treasure-hunting locations, and well-worth a quick stop if you’re ever passing through northeast Ohio. Just make sure you save some treasure for me!

This is the prime treasure from my latest trip: super kitschy vintage faceplates. Made by GE in 1977, only the Barberton store would have a full stock of unopened 37-year-old faceplates waiting to be claimed! And claim them I did, at $1.25 apiece. They look absolutely fantastic on my wall.