Street art

I had wanted a giant map to hang on the wall in the dining area of our reception room for ages when I spotted the perfect thing outside someone's house by the rubbish bins round the corner from our flat. It was a bit battered but I was sure it would scrub up a treat. It looked like they were leaving it out as rubbish but I didn't want to just assume that was the case. I was a bit too shy to knock on the door and ask so I walked on by and went back to the flat kicking myself all the way. When I went home I told Mr Crafty and he immediately went round to the house and knocked on the door. What a hero! It turned out that they were more than happy for us to take it away and it is now proudly displayed on our wall:

Apologies for the picture quality - roll on May and camera phone upgrade!

I particularly like the fact that the map is slightly old, pre the fall of the iron curtain. It's like a relic of the political history of the 20th century. When we picked it up it had map pins in - someone had obviously charting their travels and I almost left them in because I felt as though they were an integral part of the map's past but in the end aesthetics won the day and I removed them all. Perhaps Mr Crafty and I should start charting our own travels...