It was Father's Day here last Sunday, and this is what I made for my Dad who (I think I've mentioned before) has a pretty sweet tooth. He liked these sweets that I made for him a while ago, so I thought I'd give him a new supply of fudge, but this time chocolate. This…

A little in-progress shot of something I'm working on. Simple running stitches on black linen, nothing flash yet somehow pleasing to stitch, slowly and a bit wonk-ily. The idea was inspired by this photo I found on Pinterest a while back, from Anna Maria Horner's blog, but I can't find the exact location. This album…

Here's what I've been working on over the past week- three sets of three for my etsy shop update today. Not sure why I like making things in trios, but I do. I couldn't resist another wool embroidery session after last weeks' fun, especially once my fingers had recovered from some extreme stitching action. And…

I've always loved the look of hand-printed linen, and it occured to me the other day that I could use my own hand-carved stamps on fabric. Not sure why it took me so long to figure that out.  I used some of the simple small stamps that I made a while ago, and carved a…

+++ playing with ceramic paints +++ mountainview from the beach +++ spring freesias +++ baby niece in a basket +++ father's day morning +++ It was a bright and shiny weekend here, with a night away in the country, cousins to visit, fabric shopping with a friend, a symphony orchestra and father's day too.  Thank…

When my friend K left our town for London in the middle of wintertime, she gave me a pair of gorgeous old linen curtains. They had originally been hanging in the living room of her beautiful house before she bought new ones (you can see them in their previous home here…) I'd long admired their…

I had a bit of a do-it-yourself victory this week in the kitchen after finding a package of pearl barley at the back of the pantry. The children love that special lemon and barley drink you can buy in the supermarket and I decided to try making my own syrup. And also very satisfying, I…

I must admit that my fingers are a bit sore after some recent serious embroidery sessions. I rediscovered a basket filled with vintage embroidery yarns that I'd bought in Norway. It's quite fun to stitch with them- they feel sturdy and vibrant under the fingers and I like the strong effect you can make with…

I've been working on this set of embroidered pins over the last few weeks. Each one was inspired by a different native NZ plant, many of them ferns. They were commissioned by Pauanesia, a great little design store in Auckland and they're headed there now. It was great fun researching the plants and working out…

There seem to be magnolia trees flowering everywhere in our neighbourhood right now, and they look so beautiful I was getting jealous that we didn't have one in our backyard. There's not really room for any new big trees, but I managed to find this Little Gem magnolia plant, which I'm told will grow to…