tiny happy

I'm starting to make some new clothes for the children, and I found this great 1980's cotton fabric in a vintage store near our house. Something about those shades of pink and blue mixed with black really appealed to me. And the grid-like print reminds me very much of the exercise books we used for arithmetic when I was at school. Actually, I'm not sure if that is a good thing… I really loathed learning maths.

The cardigan was made from a much larger jersey-dress that just wouldn't have been flattering on any adult, I don't think. But it was in perfect condition, and black lambswool blended with soft angora made it too good not to use for a child's cardigan. I made bias trim from fine cotton lawn to edge the neck and front of the cardigan. And tiny vintage mother-of-pearl buttons to fasten, because I like them. I made extra clothes for my etsy shop update this week: the angora cardigan and some maths-book skirts-to-order.

K is trying to show that maths-book style doesn't have to be boring. Go, grid-paper!

From the garden to the embroidery hoop and linen. 

And a cup of coffee, of course.

Hope you're having a good Tuesday, too.

A few months ago, I was honoured to be nominated for this competition on the RikRak Studio blog. I have you lovely readers to thank, because in the end I finished second in one of the events. Thank you again for your votes back then. My prize was a voucher at this great etsy shop- Peppermint Bark. I had to choose the creamy ceramics you see above for my collection. Pretty lucky, eh? It's a 1960 Franciscan Cloud Nine coffee set. Amy from Peppermint Bark was very kind and sent them all the way here from the States. I love them and suspect that jug is too nice to actually fill with coffee. Perhaps water instead.

Anyway, the set inspired an afternoon tea, of course. I made some biscuits using what I had in the pantry over the weekend- which wasn't much, I admit. I'm going to call them 'cloud cakes' in honour of the lovely new coffee set, and because I seem to have a natural talent for talking things up. The mixture makes only about 12 in one go. They are firm and golden on the outside, and soft and coconutty on the inside.

Cloud cakes

2 egg whites

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 tablespoons plain flour

few drops of almond extract/essence

3/4 cup desiccated coconut

sliced almonds

With an electrice beater, beat the egg whites till frothy and stiff then beat in the sugar. Next add the flour, almond essence and coconut and beat until well mixed.

Cover a tray with baking paper and place small mounds of mixture onto the paper. Put almond slices on each then bake at 180 degrees C for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown on outside. Transfer to a wire rack for cooling.

The cosmos flowering continues unabated in the garden, and I couldn't resist bringing some inside to paint. I matched them up with some more favourite plants, (none of them seasonally accurate, but never mind that) and got them printed into cards for my etsy shop. I like their smooth and shiny surfaces- the backs are matte for writing on, though. Quite important in my opinion.

The last photo above is of some feijoa fruits from my parents' orchard. I'm pretty excited that it's feijoa season again, and intend to eat lots over the weekend. What a golden time of year this is.

Have a great weekend yourselves, blog friends. 

I was thrilled when Ellie asked me to write a pattern for the latest issue of her magazine, Extra Curricular. We settled on the idea of a sleep mask, which is always a handy item to have in summer. I'm sure if i had sewn one earlier, my last international flight would have been happier, too.  To make the mask featured in the magazine, I used striped cotton on one side and some vintage Japanese kimono fabric for the eye-side. A mutual friend of Ellie's and mine brought back the kimono fabric from Japan for me years ago, so it was good to use it for this project.

I think this latest edition of EC makes interesting reading. There are articles on many NZ artists and craftspeople, with a focus on ceramic work. I loved the article about Auckland's Wet Hot Beauties, a 70-strong troop of synchronised water-sirens. I hope I can see them perform one day.

I found this Japanese anemone while out walking: there are a few anemone-clumps I know of around town. They inspired some new illustrated coffee cups: these are vintage cream ceramic with hand-drawn anemones clustered near the handles on each one. I added them to my shop update today.

I think I need to plant some anemones in my own garden- do you think they're difficult to grow? I will have to look into it.

Have you heard the latest PJ Harvey album, Let England Shake? Each song is written around the theme of war, and the music is so beautiful. I recommend it highly, if you're looking out for new music.

It rained and it rained, and then it stopped. The clouds lightened and some light pushed through, and the birds came back, swooping and calling.

All of this made it hard for me to settle down and work, for some reason. So I spent far too long hand-stitching this tiny bird pin. A bluebird made from linen and embroidery thread. With a little movable wing. 

I hope you're having a good Tuesday, whatever the sky might be doing above you.

Some things from the weekend that is now over: giant tomatoes from the farmer's market (feet in picture are for scale), a last tangle of sweet peas in the garden, blackcurrant jelly made by J, red geraniums from the front porch. Gorgeous autumnal harvest.

Now I'd better go, because I have a lot of sauce to make. x

I couldn't believe my luck when I found a big piece of this 1960's fabric in the opshop last week. It's a kind of polished cotton/sateen with big brown roses painted on black, watercolour style. It's really the kind of fabric i only dream of finding for $3. (Sorry, fellow op-shoppers!) 

I made an autumny dress from it since there was such a good length. I lined the bodice in some brown brushed cotton for extra warmth, and I think it will be a cosy garment to have for these colder months ahead. I'll be able to wear it with tights, boots, cardigans, etc. Because of the old-fashioned fabric, I was going for a kind of vintage style with this dress so I chose this pattern. It's the same one I used for my 'spring dress', coincidentally (or not) but I made a few alterations to the bodice part so it fits better.

The leaves on the trees are turning brown and yellow now. Each April I'm surprised by how beautiful acorns are.

I love a good old-fashioned pinboard, with bits and pieces of this and that, all collected and held for future reference. But I'm bad at organising the one in my workroom. It's threatening to fall off the wall, actually, with everything I've tacked to it. Shown above is my latest, clean wall with just a few things to look at: some watercolour playings I did, as well as postcards and magazine cuttings too lovely to go into the recycling bin.

Recently I discovered Pinterest, which is an online tool for making and sharing such pinboards. I started playing around with my account last night and discovered that it can rather time-consuming, in a good way (though, that could be a reflection of my self-discipline more than anything.) I made three themed 'boards' which I'll use to file away lovely things I find on my internet travels. The next challenge is not to get too overwhelmed by all the images- sometimes i find myself feeling paralysed by all the goodness out there on internet. I know there are many other tools like this in use (tumblr, delicious, etc) but the simplicity of this one is especially appealing to me.