I bought a copy of this Japanese book: Lovely Girls Clothes by Akiko Mano from this etsy shop a little while ago. I fell in love with the patterns and styling of course – I mean, come on, look at those gorgeous little models! In truth it was a bit of a cruel tease as…

Some small colourful things were brought into the house from the garden to inspire a little bit of stitching: these miniature plant portraits (brooches) on wool felt. I'm getting ready for the upcoming Auckland Art and Craft Fair.  A new favourite blog: 44 ways of looking at an apple, by Sarah Laing. It's sweet and…

I made K this new cardigan/jacket this week, and it seems to be just the right thing for this cooler, damper weather we're having. I asked if I could photograph her in it before school, hence the 'it's-too-early-for-this-mum' expression she has.  I made it from a discarded adult's cashmere sweater, and kept the original hem…

I've been a good girl, working hard today which I must admit hasn't happened for a few weeks. I feel as though I have been rather distracted by other things, lately. A new shipment of my fabrics arrived so I've been cutting them into pieces and sending things off. And I was very happy to…

My partner Tom went away for a couple of days on a work trip, and I had started to make him a case in which to keep his toothbrush, etc. Typically I didn't finish it before he left, but it can wait for his next journey.  I'm quite pleased with this new design which I…

Here are some favourite items found on my travels lately. The migrating birds chart (I've long coveted an antique one of these) was found at the Recycling Centre – it's just a poster that someone removed from the inside of an old National Geographic magazine, but I'm enjoying it being on the wall and have…

Thank you for joining in with my blog-birthday-celebrations over the weekend! I loved reading your comments. There are so many good films that I'm going to have to watch this winter. Can't wait. Two films I saw recently that I loved were directed by Mike Leigh. They were Another Year, and Happy-Go-Lucky. If you like…

Good afternoon. It turns out that I've been blogging for five years this week! I wanted to say thank you to you, sweet readers, for following along and being interested in my work. I've loved writing in this space each day over the past five years. It's been a lot of fun so far.  As a…

I've been enjoying reading this book lately: Dick Frizzell: The Painter which is full of Frizzell's paintings and drawings and written in a really entertaining way by the artist himself. I enjoy his pop art work a lot and also his grand landscapes. Like most NZers of my age, one look at his drawing style brings…

The little West Coast town we stayed in last week was Granity. It's just tiny- about 200 people and consists mainly of a main road with old houses huddled alongside it on both sides, with wild sea behind one side, stretching out all the way to Tasmania or maybe beyond. I loved the greyness of the…