uh oh I went shopping....

Recently Sean & I had to brave the crowds & go to a big shopping centre. Anyone who knows us is well aware that this is our idea of hell on earth for many, many reasons.

We do it so rarely that it's always a shock to the system for me.

Because we'd wanted to beat the freeway traffic, we arrived way earlier than the opening time of the only shop we wanted to shop in - IKEA for an expedit shelf for my sewing room.

I made the mistake of actually browsing the shops that were open and was amazed by the genericness (is that even a word??) of the items on the shelves. Despite going in to 4 or 5 "different" franchises it felt as though I'd just been into the one giant store.

Except for one shop (that I won't name) that seemed to be selling mass produced items - um let's just say - "inspired" by the creations of independent designers...calling them blatant copies may be a tad strong....or, you know, not!

I think I understand why people are a bit surprised in our shop now when they find things they've not seen elsewhere!

Wowsers - why do people go to those places?

Anyways, going there certainly justified my most recent purchase!

It's a hand made cushion cover with a complete map of the UK where my Sean hails from! I bought it online - from My Bearded Pigeon who I've been following on Facebook for a while now. Buying handmade online is very justifiable I reckon!

Made from 100% certified organic cotton - the printed fabric is exclusive to My Bearded Pigeon and not available anywhere else in the world! Now that is the kind of shopping that makes my day.

From her blog:

"My Bearded Pigeon is the grown up brand of crafter Cath Young from children's brand chunky chooky. Cath lives with her husband, daughter and big old dog on a few acres on the edge of the small green town of Bellingen on the Mid North Coast of NSW, Australia....My Bearded Pigeon is a homewares range mixing a love of vintage images and modern organic textiles."

Oh my goodness!

It's even more scrumptious in real life!!

xxx

PS Hope she doesn't mind my blogging about her!