tiny happy

Autumn gold from my mother-in-law's garden, plus a wee spot of embroidery by the fire. Now that's a good afternoon.

I wanted to mention an upcoming event that I'm taking part in- it's called Handmade, and will be held at Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington, June 4-6. It will consist of two busy days, jam-packed with classes, workshops and lectures on such things as quilting, traditional Maori weaving, fashion design, soap making, the Te Papa collection, and so very much more.

I will be teaching three classes in the 'heirloom' section: one on making embroidered needle cases, another on lockets and one on sewing small bags. I'd love to see you there if you can make it. And I'm looking forward to checking out all the amazing goodness on offer myself. You can go here to download the programme in pdf format and book tickets.

The school holidays are over now, but last week we visited the West Coast of our South Island; hanging out on the beach, visiting abandoned coal mines and caves, walking through little rural towns and sampling the tearoom fare. We also found a former gold miner's village, hillsides covered in nikau palms and pancake rocks. We rented a little old house with a garden that backed onto a deserted beach. The beach had the best (smooth and flat) pebbles! I thought of Margie and her crochet work- I think you'd love it there, M. What a beautiful and wild place the west coast is! I had forgotten.

Thanks for your kind words on my last post. During the school holidays I was feeling overwhelmed by everything and as though I had completely run out of steam with blogging. I'm feeling better now I've been away for a bit, though. Hope you had a great weekend.

I'm going to have a little blog-break- just until next week. I hope to return with a full sketchbook, a giveaway, and some new ideas. 

X

I hope you had a good weekend. We had a warm and friendly Easter time, surrounded by more family and friends than we've seen in a long while. We celebrated with roasted vegetables and chicken, wine and walnuts, homemade bread and cake, feijoas and apples. And chocolate eggs, of course. It's certainly a great time of year for food around here.

It's misty-grey and smoky outside, but I still managed to find lots of green. The perfect day for staying inside by the fire and reading novels, if the children will oblige.

When the sun catches the yellow leaves of the birch trees outside our window, it looks like they're sparkling gold. Jewel-trees.

We're on holiday here, the children are running around outside and the day's baking (afghans with almonds) is cooling on the kitchen table. I'm enjoying this song- Heirloom, by Sufjan Stevens– it seems so perfectly suited to this golden autumn-time here. I even spent the morning pulling out wilted heirloom plants.

I wish you a happy Easter weekend, if you celebrate it. See you back here again next week.

We don't have a sweets shop in the town where I live, which is rather sad, I think. When I was little there was one that we'd go to sometimes with my Mum. It was tiny and dark with lots of shelves holding clear containers filled with candy of every description (here in NZ, we call them 'lollies'). My favourites were the pastel-coloured powdery bonbons because I was sure they had come from France. 

Pictured above are garments I sewed up for my shop update today. When I was finishing them off yesterday, I realised that I was going for a bit of a sweet shop theme without realising it! But I couldn't resist those colours: mint-green, strawberry-pink, grape-purple.

The cardigan was made from an oversized Laura Ashley garment I found at the opshop. The intarsia butterflies spoke to me, they didn't want to be on an adult's sweater anymore. The edges are finished with pink bias trim and the buttons are sewn over plastic snaps for ease of wearing.

I heard on the radio yesterday that groups of monarch butterflies are over-wintering at the tops of trees in the warmer cities of NZ. They cluster together and wait out the cold season and we can contact the NZ Butterfly Trust to report sightings. I'm very keen to find one of these orange clusters- I need to start carrying my camera with me everywhere!

When Keira turned six last month, her aunty and uncle gave her a small disposable camera and a blank album, with a card suggesting she could document her life at six. It turned out to be such a great gift- the actual taking of the photos over a week, (great fun in itself) then waiting for me to remember to get them developed (perhaps not so much fun) then collecting them and looking through for the first time. Next it was time to stick them in the album, and she's half-way through labelling each one.

I plan on copying this idea and giving disposable cameras as future kid's birthday gifts.

It's going to be such a fun thing to look at later on, this week that she turned six. She went to the beach, the supermarket, to visit her grandparents, and had a tea party with her friends. Looking through the photos gave me insight into what it's like to be her, too: the photos of people seem to be taken from so far below them. I'd forgotten what it was like to be so small.

This cooler weather we've been having makes me want to knit every evening. And because hats seem to be the only garment I have the attention span for these days, Arlo got another one made for him last week. For this I used one complete ball of dark grey yarn (Moda Vera, 8 ply) and a 4mm circular needle, and I kept the purl stitches on the outside. The pattern was just sort of made up as I went along. The pompom was a request from A, and I tried to get him to make it himself, but he quickly lost interest- you know what it's like. 

Two links on the internet that made me smile over the weekend:

these handmade felt animals, and a french cousin for my patchwork bird.

Enjoy your Monday!

 It seems too grey and cold here today. Let's go somewhere else. Perhaps rest under some white trees in a desert. Or hide under a branch with a patchwork bird. yes, that's much better.

Have a happy weekend, blog friends!

This is another recent library book find of mine: Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People by Amy Sedaris. I found this to be a hilariously funny read. I think it's a must-have for craft blog fans, and not just because the dust jacket can be turned into a stylish bonnet (instructions are given on the back flap.) There is also the plain fact that someone has sharply parodied the handmade movement. And you must admit, we were asking for it.

'Simple Times' draws inspiration from those retro craft books that your Mum used to have on the shelf, you know the ones I mean. Packed full of strangely-technical projects for household items that are more decorative than useful. Amy's book is packed full of such projects, and many more, complete with ambiguous directions and hilariously styled photos. Some projects are extremely dodgy and suggestive. Just so you know.

It's so hard to pick a favourite, amongst all the wonderful ideas packed into this book. There are many things to make with acorns, for example. There are instructions for a fake fringe (bangs) that you can sew inside your hat or wig. Popsicle sticks are another well-used medium. And who doesn't love a well-photographed guide to before and after-crafting stretches. But I think by the end I most admired the Mouse Ghetto (a thoughtfully derelict home you can make for a dying mouse or rat to spend their last moments in.) I love the way A.S thinks.