I was looking through some old photos and found these that I took while preparing images for my book. They were taken about this time last year, on a late-afternoon walk down at Lyall Bay beach. The project I was photographing was the 'winter coat' pattern (pg 112) which is a very simple design for…

I found a use for that cake plate I mentioned yesterday- displaying cloud cakes. We had family around for dinner and I decided coconut macaroons and oranges would be a nice dessert. And there were enough leftover for morning tea on Sunday. Not bad at all. I used this recipe from a while back, but…

I don't often go opshopping these days, but I still love finding useful and beautiful things to buy second-hand when I get the chance. Here are three recent finds that I bought with 'making things' in mind. – a beautiful old cake plate. I have a couple of pudding bowls in this same anemone-type pattern,…

A watercolour pattern for today, a sunny Friday in June. I'm imagining this printed on fine linen curtains in a log cabin with the windows open. In a summerhouse in Sweden by a lake. That's about as far away from a Wellington winter I can imagine right now. Speaking of good imaginary places to visit:…

This week I wanted to show you another favourite Wellington place: The Massey Memorial, which is a short walk up from Shelley Bay near Miramar. It's a great place to visit if you want a quick dose of (very) fresh air and a good vista of the city. The memorial is the mausoleum of former…

Last week I wrote about a new gig I have- contributing craft projects to this magazine each month. But I'm worried I mislead you- it's only a very small job, and I actually have another, as a journalist writing about science. It's my first ever job in an office, which is pretty different, but good.…

HANDMADE this year was the best one yet, I reckon. My classes went well- I put quite a lot of time into preparing for them and it definitely paid off in making the whole weekend smoother. I made these baby pants with a tiny elephant for one of my classes, and did a bit of…