vous parlez francais? russki?

Occasionally I hear people talk about having duplicate copies of book. They buy one and it sits on the shelf and forget about it and then buy another at a later date. This seems a bit bizarre to me. I don't have piles and piles of books so mostly I know what I have got. I file that sort of story with the one about not feeling like eating all the chocolate bar and putting it in the fridge for another day. They are filed in my head under "people not like me"
However I have ended up with a duplicate book but for a very good reason. The book is The Art of Embroidery by Francoise Tellier-Loumagne. Its a very good book but even so I do not need 2 copies.

Now I know you are quite observant so you may have spotted that they have different covers. there is a reason for it and I am coming to it, I promise.

I bought a copy 5 years ago on holiday in France. It is the French edition. I saw it in a book shop and loved the images so much that I bought it even with my meagre french.

Do you browse craft sections in foreign bookshop? you see, I told J I wasn't the only one!

Anyway a while ago, maybe birthday? I was given the English edition and have finally got round to actually getting rid if the french one.

I have photographed 2 of the pages, they are identical other than cover and language.

This is where this becomes a sort of giveaway. If you would like it then leave a comment/email and I will draw a name. If you haven't seen this book before it has the most inspiring photography and covers how to take ideas from nature and turn them into designs, sort of. It has some projects but its more of an inspiration book. Its quite heavy so I will only send it within the UK but if you would like it then leave a comment. I will leave it open till the weekend.

Russki?

Now I need something from you!

The good old charity shops shone again when I picked up this Russian wood print for £1:99 in Oxfam. I have a soft spot for Russian crafts after visiting 12 years ago.

When we went to Russia I learnt the Russian alphabet to help us along. However there is no way I could read the label on the back.

Any ideas? I would love to translate it to find out a bit more about it. I think its from Irkustk and sold in 1985 but then I get stuck. Finally I want to say thank you for all you lovely comment/emails about the idea. I appreciate you taking the time to say something and it has really pushed me to get going. I have started it with some images of cutlery. I will keep you posted as to how it goes.