Happy Friday. Here's a painterly, blue pattern for today. I've been reading about Leeanne Shapton and her design work (I wrote about her a few years ago) and looking at her beautiful painted book covers. I really like her style. Today's pattern was definitely Shapton-inspired. I am about to start reading Was She Pretty, and hopefully…

I've been trying to write letters, lately. Along with everyone in the world, I love receiving letters. But I don't write enough myself. The old email is just too easy and (sad to say) sometimes the act of handwriting (as opposed to typing) can feel laborious and foreign. But I'm determined to write more paper…

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…

A printed pattern this Friday- inspired by my favourite plant: ferns. I'm getting ready for my workshops this weekend and hand-printed this length of vintage cream silk to bring along to my hand-carved stamp class at HANDMADE as an example of what can be made. I'm not sure what I will do with the fabric- but I…