Mom, Dad, and I made many a fun shopping excursion on our trip last month.  I found gifts for others (yay for early Christmas shopping!), treats for entertaining, eggs for my wire chicken, and, of course, new scarves from Paris.

There are three souvenirs in particular that I especially like, one from each country we visited.  First, from a marvelous stall at Covent Garden in London, three antique wooden “ex libris” blocks:

I don’t know who James Hoy is; but if ever I am going to be inspired to write a YA novel that rockets me to fame, it ought to be by finding an antique woodblock bookplate with a mysterious dedication in London, am I right?

Despite my drawer full of stamping supplies, I don’t have the right materials to properly use them.  These were the best results I could get:

And, as is appropriate with any art with exposed breasts, I hung it in my front hallway.

My home teachers’ response:  “Oh.  You got a new painting?  It’s… nice.”

They liked my third souvenir better, although they still did not admire it nearly as much as any of these items deserve.  This last purchase came from Nouez-Moi, a store in Paris which is apparently well-known for linens.  I did not buy sheets, but I did buy a red lacquer ocean-themed tray:

I love it.