tiny happy

I made a new batch of notecards using watercolour paints and some index cards. I was inspired by some of the pages in this vintage book I wrote about a while ago. I love the simple, muted designs of the old Swedish embroideries. And the vine and tulip motifs that are featured quite often in the book. And I also loving having new stationery to use.

It was rainy and quiet yesterday. Perfect for listening to music with the children and painting together. At least, that was my idea, but they preferred to argue over dress-up costumes and eat biscuits.

Wishing you a happy weekend…

p.s. If you live in New Zealand and enjoy listening to Radio NZ National, would you consider joining this facebook group to show that you're worried about the proposed funding cuts to our public radio? (Actually, you don't have to be in NZ to listen to our top-quality national programme – go here. 🙂
Thank you!

I don't know what the collective noun for 'bag' is, I just made that up… I've always liked the word 'jubilee'. And I had fun making all these bags for my shop update this week. I made a couple for grown-ups, including a market bag from sturdy striped wool. But some are for children- they're like an older child's version of these foraging satchels that I've been making for a while now. My kids are getting taller and seem to require more things when they go out. Things like heavy books, swimsuits and bits of lego. It's so great now they can carry their own stuff. For the first ten minutes of any trip, anyway.

I love this music video… it's beautiful. 'Blood' by Middle East.

Happy Wednesday to you…

It's been a very good week for second-hand shopping. I went looking for some preserving jars at the flea market and recycling centre on the weekend. I didn't find any of the right size, but I did find an asortment of nice blue and white things. A new duvet cover: blue and white stripes, with wooden buttons. Some creamy ceramic cups. An antique tin of pins. A book for Tom to take to his office (they don't make government-issue school books like that anymore.) And my favourite: a new shopping bag, blue and white striped denim with wooden ball-handles. It's quite big and seems to be handmade. I don't know what it was doing at the flea market, but needless to say it has found a good home.

Even though these wild carrot flowers (Queen Anne's lace) are considered noxious weeds here in NZ, I do like them. Especially their incredibly delicate white petals. I found these on the roadside over the weekend. For me, they are synonymous with my childhood summers, as they grew abundantly all over the family farm and alongside the path we walked down to reach the school bus in the mornings.

Of course, I had to try embroidering them.

The light here was lovely this morning, so I took some photos around our bedroom/my workshop area. Then I found these necklaces that I made recently, and thought I'd show you. I've been collecting wooden beads for a while, I really like them. And then I realised that I could combine cotton or linen with wood for a nice, natural effect. So I strung some of the beads on cotton bias tape to make long necklaces that can be looped over the head without necessarily being untied. The big white beads came from a Noa Noa necklace from Norway that was always a bit too big. The little red beads (that I threaded onto linen embroidery thread) are just plain wooden ones that I covered with pieces of Liberty lawn. (I used fabric glue for this- I think I first saw this idea in this book.) Threading beads in another one of those calming activities, like cutting and pasting. At least, it is to me.

Hope you have a relaxing weekend! See you on Monday.

Did you see this post on card-making at angry chicken blog? It inspired me to sort out some of the many papers and old magazines that I have been hoarding, and make some stationery from them. I cut up images of botanical paintings from last year's calendar and glued them to index cards (using the same method that Amy describes in her excellent post.) Then I made some more from some old Peppermint and Frankie magazines, being sure to credit any artwork used (on the other side of the card.) After glueing, I placed my cards under a heavy stack of books to dry flat.

There's something very soothing about sitting down with papers, a pair of scissors and a pot of glue.

Another hot day here, so K and I are staying inside this afternoon to escape the sunburn. I've enjoyed taking some pictures around the house where it is somewhat cooler. I've included some photos of things I made for today's shop update, including some new hairbands with tiny handsewn hydrangea petals.

I found the red dahlias growing in the pile of garden scraps around the back. Even though they're kind of wild and old-fashioned, to me they're somehow the kind of flower that a modern designer might think up.

A confession: I much prefer second-hand bedding to new.

Okay, so perhaps those 'instructions' might be useful for their measurements only. Sorry about that.

Hope you had a great weekend- mine involved the beach, cake, coffee, family, friends and picking plums and apples in my Mum's small orchard. So good!

I received my copy of The 2010 Kiwi Diary recently, and have really enjoyed flipping through it, checking out the great artwork, photography and poetry within. My friend Freda is co-founder of this lovely publication, and I've used one pretty much every year since 2004… I think.

Last year I was excited to be able to submit a couple of crafty ideas for this year's diary, and one of those was a design for a handy dandy market bag. I realised the other night that I hadn't even made one of these for my own household. So I used some stripy red and blue fabric and followed my own pattern to make this rather nautical-looking one. Its box-like shape meant I could fit lots in at the supermarket today. I think I need to make a few more this weekend. Hope you have a good one!