tiny happy

Here are three good stitch patterns that have come my way lately:

– a beautiful vintage embroidery that was a gift from Louana. There are poppies, daisies and cornflowers stitched onto velvety fabric. I'm not sure what I'll do with it yet- I wonder if it might have been a tea-cosy at one time?

– this is a poster that I found at Asia Gallery, which is a local-to-me shop full of beautiful and strange things. It seems to be a stitch chart from Romania or perhaps another part of Eastern Europe. The colours appealed to me and I had to have it for the sewing room wall.

– I've been looking for a fair-isle cardigan this winter, and hadn't had much luck locally, as I decided that my dream cardy would be made from pure wool, and hopefully that from the Shetlands. I once found a Shetland wool fairisle cardy from an opshop when I was a teenager, and I wore it loyally every winter thereafter, until it was too holey to be warm anymore. Anyway, I found this vintage one on etsy- it's Shetland wool, a bit scratchy, and fits perfectly.

I just discovered that my camera can take black and white photos, and I never realised before. I took a few monochrome pictures of the children playing in the garden. It's fairly unkempt and hardly ever warm or dry enough to play in these days. There's an expansive wild bit down the end of the garden, overgrown with periwinkle and nasturtium, and the kids quite enjoy wading through the plants when they have their gumboots on. There's something about a dark winter garden that reminds me of being small and free.

I went to see this documentary the other night at the Embassy with some friends. Herbert Matter was a great artist and designer in my opinion, and his work has inspired me to get collaging and using my camera more. Which is exciting, because I've been feeling a bit uninspired by both camera and craft lately. I made these two collages after seeing the film, using some old magazines that were lying around and my trusty glue stick, of course. Collage is a bit of an espresso-coffee type of creative hit for me- short and sharp. 

I'm hoping to get another creative hit tomorrow when I attend Craft2.0 which is being held at Chaffer's Dock in central Wellington, 10am-3pm. Because of my studying lifestyle, I decided not to apply to be a stallholder this time, but plan to do a spot of shopping instead. I recently met Becky, who is the new organiser for the event, and she will do a great job. Maybe see you there?

I had a few almost-finished jars of jam in the pantry, (does your household also suffer this problem? noone ever seems to want to finish the jar), so I made some Louise Cake. I've written about this before on the blog but the recipe link is no longer working. I used this one yesterday.

In other kitchen-related news (do you think I'll ever be able to use that line when I'm a 'real' reporter?), our old coffee plunger (french press) broke into pieces, so I bought this rather cheery red one. What it needed though was a little coat for these cold winter mornings. I had some wool fabric lying around, so I made this matching red tartan jacket. (I shared my pattern for this a while back.) I think of it as a coffee swanndri which always makes me smile. My Dad used to wear a blue one out on the farm.

I wrote a tutorial for the embroidered needlebooks I make for the NZ magazine, Sweet Living. You can visit here to see it and make your own. Have a great weekend, lovely readers.

Thank you again for all your support on my last couple of posts. I'm lucky to have you cheering me on! 

The first week of my new course has been great. I've learned some newsroom writing protocol, and reckon I might be ready to write a real story in reporter-style, pretty soon. It's great to learn such new skills, but I must admit that the full-time student life is something that might take a while to get used to, after working from home and looking after children. For example, I've not yet been interrupted from my work or had anyone pulling on my clothes, nor have I done any washing at all in five days. It's just different, I suppose, and I'm sure I'll get used it soon enough.

I've posted three photos of some good things from the week. I finished a few new needlebooks for my shop, they are made from natural linen and feature botanical embroideries on the front.

A very kind friend sent me a set of milky-blue vintage cups and saucers. They have such a Scandinavian aura around them, I think, but they were actually made in Ireland. I'm looking forward to putting them to use this weekend.

And the last photo above shows some pieces of coconut rough. This was a childhood favourite of mine (both to make and eat) and I was reminded it of it recently by a friend, then came across this recipe, which is very sweet but pretty close to how I remember it from those days. I made this for the kids (and who am I kidding, myself too) to celebrate the end of this different kind of week.

Have a great weekend!

Thank you for your comments on my last post. They mean so much to me. Truly.

Wish we could all have waffles and coffee together. See you soon!

I got out the ceramic paints a while back, and worked on these tea cups in black, mustard yellow, and green. A few little winter trees and some dandelions. I put them in my felt shop, which I don't think I've mentioned before, but I opened it with the intention of listing some more locally-themed work, such as native flower brooches, hot water bottle covers (since it's so darn freezing here right now, and I hear hot water bottles are rather an Antipodean thing?) and the ceramics, because they tend to cost such a lot to post overseas. International customers can still shop at felt, though- it's a bit like a NZ version of etsy.

Also today, I found these very beautiful little seed pods when I was hanging out the washing. The seeds that remain clinging inside the shells are black and sticky. I'm not sure what the name of the tree is, but there is one overhanging our washing line, which is not ideal as the seeds stick to and stain the clean clothes. I still like the shape of them though, and the pearly blackness of them.

So yesterday I mentioned that I had some changes coming up. This marks the end of an era for me, because next week I am about to begin full-time study again. I have enrolled in a post-grad journalism course, and feel excited to be embarking on this fairly new path. It's been 10 years (or more- eek!) since I finished my last year at University, and going back to learn more has always been at the back of my mind. Living here in the capital has presented the chance to really do it. Also, now that the children are a bit older, the time seems right.

If I'm really honest, I don't think I'm as creatively inspired as I once was a few years ago and I think that has been reflected here in this space. I also have a desire to be able to financially support my family on my own, should I ever need to, and I've realised that I'm no businesswoman. I have no interest in building up my own enterprise. What I have liked most over the past few years has been the writing and creative 'making.' 

I have absolutely loved blogging here for the past 5 or 6 years and will miss my daily habit dearly. I've also REALLY loved making things for my job, and writing about them. I intend to continue both writing here and making things for my etsy shop, but probably more on an occasional basis. Maybe once a week or two, if time allows.

THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me, visited this blog and left messages and written emails. Thank you to all the lurkers, too. And thank you to all the wonderful friends I've met via the online world. I can't tell you how happy this life has made me. 

See you back here every now and then.

xxxxxxx

We went walking on Monday, high up in the hills at the edge of the city to look at the windfarm there. When we got home I stitched some of those amazing wind turbines- they looked so graceful working away in that rugged setting, a bit like wild sea birds. Pretty amazing when you see them up close and think about the construction involved. 

The embroidery was made into a little pouch for today's shop update, which happens to be my last Wednesday one, for a long while at least! I will write more about that tomorrow.

Enjoy your Wednesday, blogfriends.

I had a great time at HANDMADE 2012– thank you to those hardworking organisers and fellow teachers, and of course to all the people who came and joined in with the classes and talks.

I did bring my camera, but silly me- these are all the photos I got of the entire weekend (I got distracted by everything going on) but there are some here– taken by this lovely lady.

The last photo above shows a sample I made for the embroidered locket class I took- the participants were fab and embroidered tiny monograms, landscapes, ferns and flowers. Something I noticed was that lots of people started the class by saying 'I don't have any artistic talent, so…'

I think everyone has creative talent, it's just a matter of confidence and getting it out there. I always approach the teaching part with an attempt to get the participants to think freely and creatively, even though I'm invariably asked for embroidery transfers, kits or patterns to get people started. But they didn't need them really, of course. That was my favourite bit- seeing people go away with a piece of work they liked, and had truly come from their own mind and heart.

The other photos above show the first stamp-making workshop. I loved watching the class participants get into the work with gusto- and the end results were as varied as Japanese-character writing paper, bicycle-printed linen for cushions, fish-on-a-plate linen napkins, red poppy wrapping paper and mushroom gift tags. Very inspiring!