This week I read the book Important Artifacts and Personal Property… by Leanne Shapton (published 2009). I found it to be the most enjoyable novel I've read in a long time- I think because of its unique format and style. I think it's a subtle, intriguing and romantic graphic novel. The book is…

      Arlo, who is now 6 and a half, has a keen interest in space and stars and planets. His favourite planet, he tells me, is Mars because it has icy lands at the top and bottom, and dried-up salt on its surface which means it might once have had oceans. I must…

      Yesterday, my friend Anna visited with gifts, including this big bunch of lavender and bay leaves. I've hung them in the kitchen to dry and they smell so nice. Thank you, A. It's been raining a lot here, for 12 hours. I love lying in bed and listening to the rain on…

  When I was cleaning out my sewing room the other day, I found a length of beautiful navy-blue linen in a box and remembered that I'd bought it a while ago to try sashiko quilting after being inspired by a library book. The book had been long returned, but I found some cream embroidery…

  Reading about what is going on in Haiti at the moment is heartbreaking- and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since I first heard of the earthquake and its devastating effects on the people there. We have a local connection to this tragedy because a woman from our small…

      Everything feels so lush and green here at the moment- summer is in full swing- at least, in our little garden plot. When I saw this very old printed linen tablecloth at the recycling centre (I happened to find the 'matching' little old leafy plate, above, on the same trip) I decided…

      The house next door to ours has lots of beautiful heavy hydrangeas spilling over the front fence. I've been admiring them for a while now- some are pink, some are blue and some are creamy-green in colour. They inspired me to make a headband to wear to a wedding we attended last…

  I haven't seen any tansy growing here this summer, but it was one of my favourite wildflowers in Norway. I illustrated these tea cups with a tansy design- using my new favourite craft supply- the ceramic pens mentioned in my last post. But- I must admit that i made a mistake- the pens are…

  I've been wanting to try drawing on ceramics for a while now, and the other day when I was at Spotlight (huge, rather hideous craft store found in NZ and Australia) I discovered that they stocked the pebeo range of ceramic ink and paint. I bought a black fine-tipped pen to start off with,…

    I'm half-way through this amazing book of short stories by Alice Munro, and in one of the stories, a character called Irene is boiling up a large sticky pot of strawberry jam. The next morning she writes labels and ties circles of red gingham around the lids of each jar. I made a…