tiny happy

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 I have a serious shortage of time at the moment and other Pressing Matters that don't include making wool capes for my own children. But I will make them, for sure. And one of those coats. And a bubble dress.

Anyway, I thought you might enjoy a quick flick through the pages too. 

P.S The book's reference number is ISBN978-4-579-11289-0 and there are a few more photos on my flickr page.

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 crunchy. 

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 and ribbing around the cuffs. I used vintage rayon fabric to bind the edges, and then covered a set of buttons using the same material. I was given a fantastic little button-making set by Fiona a while back- (she bought it in Singapore I think but I've found more on etsy here.) I love covering buttons. 

Have a great weekend, friends. See you again on Monday.

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 have three reasons to bake today. The kids had a cake stall at school, there's a new family just moved in next door, and I'm going to see my grandmother and I like to bring her something sweet now and then. I made ginger crunch, which is a classic NZ slice that you often see in cafes and tearooms around here. Except that my version isn't crunchy at all for some reason, but more like a soft and spicy shortcake. I used a recipe pretty similar to this one. Whilst making my second batch I ran out of ginger, so used an assortment of other spices I could find, like allspice, nutmeg and cardamom. Not too bad at all.

I hope you're doing well and enjoying your Thursday.

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 call the Manly Washbag, because I've been wanting to have something for men in my shop for a while now. It's made from vintage tweedy wool fabrics (a different one on each side) and lined in waterproof fabric. It has a strong cotton cord and toggle closure. Quite 'manly', in my opinion, anyway. I have included a few in my shop update today.

I hope you are enjoying your Wednesday. Here we have rain, fog, and then a bit more rain. It's rather cosy.

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 learned about all sorts of American birds, too. The tiny little glasses came from the same place, for a total of about 50 cents each, I think, and I had to get them even though we rarely have a bottle of spirits in the house these days. They have galleons painted on them. How could I leave them there?

And the last photo above shows a length of fabric I bought from my local antiques store. It's a drapey kind of cotton/rayon. I'm trying to decide what sort of dress it needs to be made into. I'll be sure to report back soon. 

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 watching other people and delving deep into their (at once beautiful, tragic and comedic) characters, these are for you. 

I used the 'random number generator' to pick a number, and the giveaway winner was Heather. Thanks again for playing along.

The youngest child was home from school today due to sickness, so we spent the morning together making these felt puppets. Fox and Bear are slightly wonky-looking friends, they live in that house you can see there. Art Direction and Set Design by K, handsewing by me. Next on the list is to make is, apparently, Flying Fish. Help!

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 celebration, I wanted to offer up a little giveaway. I'll send you this embroidered drawstring case, useful for keeping your small projects in order or for keeping anything in, really. I'll also send a mixed set of printed cards and a piece of my 'heidi' fabric (and others, if they've arrived in time.) 

Thanks again for your support and friendship here at tiny happy. It's much appreciated!

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post- you can write anything you like but it would be interesting to hear your film recommendations. (I'm hoping to get lots of film-watching in this winter, and maybe you are too?) Last year's blog birthday comment section produced some great music recommendations- you can check them out here if you like.

I'll post to anywhere in the world, and leave this open till Monday morning.

Enjoy your weekend.

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 me back to my early school years- D.F would illustrate many of our reading books and journals. I'm pretty sure he even illustrated the government-issue Plunket (baby health) books of the 1980's. So he's a bit of a legend. (You can see more of his work here.)

I hadn't seen his flower paintings before, but there are quite a few featured in this book. I love his use of colour and the way each painting is described in text somewhere along the side (e.g. 'Yellow Roses', or 'Large Vase'). His Yellow Roses inspired me to paint something from my garden. I guess I'll call my small painting Pink Zinnias.

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 sea and sand and stones, and then the deep green of the vegetation leading right up to the shore. 

Granity inspired a new watercolour painting in my sketchbook, in dark yellow, grey and blue. I had the painting printed into card sets for today's etsy shop update. I had in mind those wild grey waves and fair-isle cardigans. It would be a good place in live in fair-isle knits, I believe.

I was honoured to be asked by Stephanie to answer some questions on her blog today- you can see my interview here. And also, thank you to Annika who featured my work here, too. 

Wishing you a happy and cosy day whatever you might be doing.