and we’re back

So we have been away for a while, a combination of holiday and things being very busy in the day jobs.

Our holiday was brilliant; a 10 day adventure exploring Seattle and the surrounding area. We started with four nights in an artists loft in the International District – a find from airbnb, which was cheap, interesting and well located. From there we ventured out around town, taking in the tourist hotspots and some lesser known attractions, with plenty of stops for coffee along the way. Then we moved on to Whidbey Island, for four chilled out nights in a tiny pine cottage just north of Langley. Honestly it was 2 steps between kitchen, sofa, bed and bathroom, but the view was beautiful and it was such a peaceful spot. The pace of life was distinctly slower, but we still found plenty to do as well as lots of good food and wine. We finished up with two nights in Ballard, an interesting area about 30 minutes north of the city centre, which is full of independent shops, cafés, bars and restaurants; my idea of heaven.

My favourite things about Seattle?
The walking – Seattle is very easy to get around on foot, even the city centre is surprisingly pedestrian friendly
The coffee – from tiny counters to impressive shops, I lost count of the number of independent places we tried and pretty much all of them were good
The stationery – Seattle is home to a staggering number of small companies who make and sell beautiful stationery, favourites included Paper Hammer, brush and mallett and an awesome fancy paper shop called de Medici Ming Fine Paper
The scenery – flanked on two sides by mountain ranges and with water never very far away, Seattle has a stunning backdrop and plenty of green spaces in the built up bits too

So now we’re back to the normal routine in sunny Sussex. We were at Rye Arts & Crafts Fair at the weekend. It was a quiet day for us, but a lovely fair as always. We caught up with some familiar faces, including Sue of Diomo Glass, whose pumpkins were the surprise hit of the day. There were some new stands too, including some beautiful knitwear that was very hard to resist.

We’re booked for more fairs nearer to Christmas and are busy working on some new things for them, including some jumbo Christmas gift tags, which will make a lovely finishing touch for your Christmas presents. We’re also working on our stand display, so if you pop along to our Christmas fairs it will all look a bit different…pictures to follow.