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…

      Now that Christmas, New Year, and two family birthday celebrations are over, it's time to settle in to the summer holidays ahead of us: about three more weeks' worth (for the children) and one or two more for Tom. On the agenda for the children are many playdates: they love inviting their…

  Happy new year, everyone. The sun is shining brightly here and the air smells like flowers. I think 2010 is going to be good. Instead of my usual (half-hearted) New Year's Resolutions, I'm going to try to find more peace, more contentment, more kindness towards my family, myself and other people. Wishing you a…

    I so enjoyed making the yellow needlebooks last week that I decided to do another set: this time inspired by some delicate little violets I discovered whilst weeding the vegetable garden. And so these four needle cases are all embroidered free-form-style in shades of purple and depict things that are growing in our…

      We had a blissfully un-busy weekend, so I took the children for a play and walk at a nearby river. Truth be told, I had an ulterior motive because I've been dreaming about making some wreaths for Christmas and I saw my chance: some spare time, a forest, a pair of scissors…

    When I opened up my package of wool felt the other day (I often buy from here), I'd forgotten about that lovely golden yellow colour I'd ordered. The first thing that came to my mind was a small collection of needlebooks, with this yellow felt as the inside pages. Of course, I can't…

    When I first started making things to sell a few years ago, these apple t-shirts were my favourites. I had a custom order for one last week, and enjoyed doing the hand-applique so much I couldn't stop at one. 🙂 So I made a few in baby-sizes for my shop update tomorrow, using…

      I finished sewing up a summer top for K using the 'queen' embroidery from the other day. I used a drapey kind of light weight cotton, good for wearing over other things, I hope. And she seems proud to have her artwork displayed like that. And I'm rather proud of the new…