Here's #27 again- in colour this time. I hope you've had a lovely week! Mine has been a bit quieter than usual. We've had wild storms. Each morning when I step out the door, the road is covered in petals and leaves. It can't be easy being a plant in Wellington. These things are on…

Threads, needles, scissors, linen, old embroidery books. These are some of the things I've been gathering today, in preparation for my classes at The Craft Sessions. For this particular class, I've written a little booklet for each student containing ideas, stitch diagrams and freehand embroidery encouragement.  Now I just need to get them copied and…

I had lunch (and saw this amazing show) with my friend Karuna and her daughter Poppy over the weekend. K gave me a huge stash of her embroidery threads which have inspired me to try all sorts of different stitches. The threads are beautiful hand dyed yarns in jewellery-box colours: rich gold, blues and greens.…

I got these yellow flowers from this lovely local shop on the weekend. They're a bit like protea but smell strongly of manuka honey. No-one knows what they're called- do you? (Please leave a comment if so!) They're greatly cheering up the kitchen windowsill, making the dishes a nicer job to complete. Their golden yellowness…

Today's pattern reflects the kind of week I've had. So it's half-finished, a day late and uncoloured. But I thought I would post it anyway- perhaps next week it will appear again in glorious watercolour. It was inspired by catching a glimpse of a Christmas card design in a bookshop (Christmas- already?) that featured some…

I had lonely granny smith apples in the bottom of the fridge and some small, hungry mouths to feed (school holidays) so I made some apple turnovers. Apple pies are one thing, but individual pies are really quite another. I might never make a big pie again. Any leftover pies should be freezable I think…

I made a stash of botanical-themed gift-tags, like the pine ones from last week, using some more old book pages sent by Dee. These were fun to make and greatly cheered a recent stormy afternoon.. It turns out I have many old botanical illustrations stashed away in drawers and cupboards, so I've been able to…

This pattern was inspired by a page in a 1970's craft book (one of those Golden Hands ones). There was a similar pattern on some wall tiles, probably a background to showcase a crocheted potholder or macrame owl. It stuck in my mind (more than the actual project did), in the way that those retro…

Do you know Lisa's blog The Red Thread? It's very beautiful, and packed full of craft and design inspiration.  Lisa has kindly featured me in her Space to Create series. It's a piece with an interview and photos of my work and home.  You can read it here. Thanks, Lisa!

I found a packet of silver hair snaps in my sewing box, so it seemed like a good time to make some spring clips. I used scraps of wool felt to make pairs of violet or pansy hair clips- I'm not sure which they are. Some for K and some for the etsy shop.  Speaking…