Greetings from a very festive Prague!

We’ve had a few little snow flurries over the past couple of days, which is only adding to the christmassy feeling! Opposite our flat we have a small Christmas market, and there’s a slightly bigger one down the road at Namesti Miru

The lights are very pretty and there’s quite a few different craft and gift stalls, the Lindop family might be receiving a few bits and pieces from here this Christmas!

The biggest market is in Old Town Square, there are plenty of food stalls here – crepes, waffles, roasted chestnuts and of course the traditional trdelnik.

This is also where the huge Christmas tree can be seen; I think we need to up our game when it comes to lights!

   

We still have plenty of lovely Christmas card designs available on our website, so if you’re looking for something special, have a quick look over here and for a festive little garland or bunting, what could be more delightful than Penny’s handmade bunting which you can see here

We hope you have a very merry Christmas from everyone at Penny Lindop Designs!

Emma

Country Living and Country Delights

With so little time away from sending out orders, here are just a few of my favourite things from the recent Country Living Magazine Christmas Fair

Hilarious tea towels from Poppy Treffry - way too lovely to use

One of our favourites at many shows, these potato print pictures from Red Hen Originals

For perfection to detail in wood, check out Jenny Burt's work

And I love this amazing reindeer from Pollyfields

This cute little dog caught my fancy, from Angel Bill. I like the wooden hares too...

Bill Brown bags are a favourite in our family, with some in Wales and Prague. Mine travelled around Australia with me filled with iPad, sketch book and pens.

And if I were still weaving, I'd be proud to be producing these (from The Swedish Rug Company)

Just a few of my favourite things from the show. What a wealth of creativity and inspiration from some grat British designers and makers.

Which ones grab your fancy?

 

A note from Prague

Hi from Prague!

I’ve been living here in Prague for almost four months now, teaching English, and I’m very much enjoying it. I’ve met some really interesting people, and made some good friends.

We’ve already had our first snowfall here! Learning how to work our heating is quickly becoming a priority! There are already a few Christmas markets popping up throughout the city, they do a very good “hot wine” and cinnamon trdelnik ( a rolled pastry). Yummy!

We’re used to celebrating birthdays here in the United Kingdom, but what about Name Days? In the Czech Republic, everyday corresponds to a different name, and people celebrate on the day that relates to their name. It is most commonly just a family celebration with a few gifts or flowers….and I’m sure a lot of beer! You can find out when your name day is here (any excuse for a celebration!)

My name day (Ema) is April 8th, but sadly Mum's name doesn't seem to exist over here

I’m having a great time here, but am slightly jealous that I haven't been able to help out at the big London shows that Mum is doing – they’re always a lot of fun!

Emma

Kaeru - Enchanted Garden

An unexpected discovery today was finding the Kaeru project at the Hamer Hall Arts Centre in Melbourne. It's a collaborative work involving a Japanese artist in residence (Hiroshi Fuji), Melbourne's Slow Art Collective and the people of Melbourne. A transient exhibition about renewal, transformation, sustainability and collaborative art.

If it hadn't been so wet I may well have sat in this tyre for a while, next to the little green frog......

If this interests you you can fine out more here: http://www.hamerhallopening.com.au/opening-celebrations/kaeru-environmental-public-art-project-%28japan%29.aspx

I wonder whether this sort of creative project would work in a small Norfolk village..............



 

Today we went on a koala hunt....

and took the woodland walk through this beautiful landscape of banksia and gum trees on the east side of the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne.

We didn't find a koala up in these tall paperbark gum trees, but what a lovely place nevertheless.

We walked through the woodland, across an estuary,

to the coast (where a large sign warned pedestrians to be aware of large trucks!)

and back through woodland to the wetland area (where I sited my first black swans)

So I didn't find koalas, but what an amazing variety of landscapes in a one short hour's walk.

Thank you, Moira, for a lovely walk.

A Farmer's Market in Prague

One last post about Prague. We stumbled upon a farmer's market while going for a tram. I love the colours and richness - yummy!

Mouth watering....

Our New Display - from scrap wood

The other day I was thinking about a new display for all our pictures - the boxes we use at the moment are great but they're heavy and very bulky. I came across a pile of scrap rough wood at a local garden centre with a sign reading "Free wood" - hmm, I could maybe use some of this, I thought, so came home with these:

 I took them apart and rebuilt them to the sizes I needed

 Bought some dowel

 Painted them in our "house" colour

 And there you have them

And then decided maybe I needed some bumpers to protect the mounts from marking. We get lots and lots of elastic bands from our printers; I usually send them back when I've collected enough, but thought I'd use them for my bumpers 

So there you have my new print displays that cost me £2.50 and made mainly from rubbish.

Papelote - Body and Soul of Paper

If you love paper, then you'll love Papelote, gorgeous Czech stationery. We stumbled upon the shop when totally exhausted at the end of a hard day's walking, and our visit there completely revived us. We went back twice more, and did come out eventually with some purchases.

To find out more about this wonderful place click here and enjoy!

The Patterns of Prague

Just a few things that give me inspiration, from our wanderings around Prague. You need to look ahead, look up, look at the pavements - and also look where you're going so that you don't trip as I did several times!