Verona artwork

We had such a happy, relaxing time in Verona earlier this year and I wanted to make something as a personal reminder. Something small, but something I could look at and smile while I remembered what a beautiful few days were spent with my little family.

My house is a little bit old fashioned on the inside - we have a country style kitchen with small blue tiles on the tops and up the walls, stained glass in our cabinets and blue trimming sneaking out around our house with the lower half of our walls painted eggshell blue (it's ok, it's not as weird as it sounds). I wanted something classic and blue, I thought kind of like a Willow dinnerplate but with a difference.

While we were at Juliet's house (as in Romeo and Juliet, as in the girl who inspired the novella that inspired Shakespeare to write his play) I saw some plate fragments that had been unearthed and pieced together and I knew they might help me in my quest.

I also wanted to incorporate some Italian phrasing I'd seen on a travel show. Apparently, on a bridge to Tiber Island, in Rome, there is grafitti which reads "Ti amo da qui... alla fine del mondo.. di nuovo qui... all'infinito..." which roughly translates as "I love you from here.. to the end of the world.. to here again, on and on forever." It's the sort of way we feel about each other round here!

So here it is: rocks, waves, leaves, love... and since it's done in sharpie, it will last infinito!

And in case you were interested, here are some of the plate pieces from Juliet's house:

Mr Z managed to sneak into this one ;)

and me on Juliet's balcony ;)

and he's done it again!

So... what do you think?

Shutterbag

Last year I was lucky enough to win one of Shutter/bag's lovely Safari camera bags.

I was so excited to be a winner and to have won such a gorgeous product to boot. When the bag arrived, I was not disappointed.

 

To begin with it was wrapped with care and when I opened the box, I could see I had a high quality product on my hands. Thick, strong leather with heavy metal findings and strong stitching - I knew this bag was built to last.

I loved that the bag separators were fixed in with velcro, so that I could convert this bag from everyday/nappy/overnight to camera bag with a minimum of fuss.

Here is my gorgeous bag, peeking out the window at the French countryside ;)

The only minus, that it was heavier than other bags I'd owned, was *really* a plus. I felt confident that this bag could protect my camera from almost anything.

For a few months, I put off using this lovely bag - knowing it was the most expensive one I'm ever likely to own and afraid I might tarnish it.

...but three weeks ago, it was time to bite the bullet. We were headed overseas on a bit of an adventure and I wanted something that would take care of my precious camera, be multi-funtion and survive the trip. While I was afraid it would return bruised and scarred from travel, (and budget travel at that) it kept its shape. The stitching stayed put despite last minute additions to the bag, the leather survived unscathed and the metal tags did not lose their sheen.

This is me, carrying my bag. Yes, I realise my kids are pushing the baby away!

Thank you Shutterbag - while I've won lots of competitions over the years (holidays, appliances, money) this is my favourite product. I love it!