tiny happy

I'm in the process of sorting and organising my workroom at the moment, and I found quite a few half-finished projects lying around and hidden under other projects. Since today is a cosy and rainy one, (my favourite sort), I thought I'd offer a 30% off sale in my etsy shop to tidy things up in there before the end of the year. Included in the sale will be my fabric designs, cards and some other small giftt-type items. Just use the coupon code TINYHAPPYSALE11 at checkout.

Hope you are warm and dry wherever you happen to be today.

I made a few batches of shortbread on the weekend. The first two lots were made with a moth or butterfly-shaped cutter and for the third, I just cut rough rectangle shapes with a knife. This batch was a bit chunkier and slightly less crisp, for that real buttery mouthful that I love so much. Who doesn't love shortbread though? Other than people on a diet. Luckily I'm never on one.

This shortbread has been wrapped up in some pony-printed paper (using my latest hand-carved stamp efforts) as a little pre-Christmas gift for a friend. I remember my Mum making batches of shortbread each December, and giving them to friends in giant biscuit tins. I think I'll do that this year, too.

If you'd like to make some too, here is the recipe I use (I think it originally came from the Edmond's cookbook…)

Shortbread– enough to fill a biscuit tin

250 grams butter, softened

1 cup icing sugar

1 cup cornflour

2 cups plain flour + a pinch of salt

Cream butter and icing sugar together (I find it easiest to make this mixture in a big bowl with a hand-held electric beater). Sift together the cornflour, flour and salt, and mix in to the butter. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, knead a little and roll to 1 cm thick. Cut shortbread into shapes and place on an oven tray lined with baking paper. Prick with a fork. Bake at 150 degrees celcius until pale golden (about 20 mins.)

Thank you to all the lovely people who came and visited my table at the fair on Saturday. It sure was a great time and I'm sorry I didn't take any photos of the event… I did take one of the people lined up outside the door just before it started, but then (typically) I forgot to take any more. I was pleased to be able to do a little Christmas shopping there, meet some great artists and check out some of the amazing handmade goods on offer.

Now it's time to work on a few gifts for family and friends. Inspired by all the roses climbing around our garden right now, and Nancy's version, I tried the corsage rose pattern from the Liberty Book of Home Sewing which has been waiting patiently on my desk for a free moment. The design is supposed to be twice the size, but I didn't have any way to enlarge the pattern at home, and you know how it is when you just want to get started? The petals of the rose are made from light cotton fabric joined together with double-sided interfacing which I think is an genius idea. The interfacing I had on hand was quite sturdy which made the handsewing a bit tricky, but I thought of it as my weekly finger workout.

I hope to make a few of these as little gifts for aunts, teachers, neighbours, etc. 

Happy new week to you!

I made a wee family of bears, some were from vintage cotton velveteen, and two made from natural linen. They were fun to make, especially their little softy ears. When I showed the kids, I noticed they touched the ears straight away, especially the ones lined with Liberty tana lawn.

The bears are kind of squidgy and have hand-embroidered faces and ribbon ties around their necks.

I'll be taking them with me for my table at the Auckland Art and Craft Fair tomorrow. It's at the Aotea Centre (I'm looking forward to checking out Occupy Auckland beforehand) from 11am till 3pm, so if you're an Aucklander come and say hi!

There are some other great crafty things happening over the weekend here in Aotearoa- 

– Craft Country in Greytown on Saturday (you can read more about that here) and

– Just Good Stuff in Wellington, from December 13th-18th

Last night I was doing the dishes and listening to the radio when I heard this BBC interview with the 108-year-old former concert pianist Alice Herz Sommer. If you have a few minutes, I recommend a listen to this completely inspiring woman. She has such an amazing way of looking at the world.

My friend Helen gave me this beautiful vintage skirt- it's made from cotton velveteen in black with mustard-yellow sprigs of flowers printed all over. It's so soft and comfortable- needless to say, I love it deeply. I found some black linen tucked away and wondered how I could replicate that bright-flower-on-black style that I so love, (a bit like I wrote about back here.) And then I remembered a little package of metal frames in my supply cupboard that I'd bought on etsy a while ago and never opened. The embroideries were a little challenging to frame up, and it was all on such a small scale. But I worked out a method after a few attempts, which involved lots of glue for the inlay job, and a velvet 'padding' inside. And that is how I came to make these little Russian-folk-style-inspired brooches, like small paintings in frames. I have made five of them to take with me to this fair on the weekend.

Not long ago, I bought a brooch from this etsy shop, based in the Ukraine. It's beautiful, and features unbelievably fine cross-stitch work. I hope my framed brooches are different enough in embroidery style and appearance to separate our work- but I do recommend a look around Skrynka if you are searching for any last-minute holiday gifts.

Now here are two happy links for you on this Thursday in December:

An extremely aesthetically-pleasing scalloped apple tart  and (also very beautiful)…

This song, by local Anna Coddington.

Here are some of the things i bought second-hand during November. I love to go flea-market and op-shopping very much. But these days I think pretty hard before I buy things, because I'm aware of how many things I already have. Also, how many things I have that I don't really use. You know how it is. 

So these are my new (old) things:

1) An Albrecht Dürer print of a rabbit. I'm sure my late Nana used to have one just like this on her bedroom wall. My Mum has an acquilegia print.

2) Haberdashery. My favourite thing to buy second-hand. Supplies like these always tell me what they want to become.

3) A little handmade pottery jug. I really didn't need it. But I love it anyway.

A rainy afternoon is the best for a bit of scissor and paper work. And don't forget the glue stick. I made these collaged cards (they're a bit like these ones) from my box of old papers. Old photographs from a book about birds around the world and a gardening manual.

Better go and brave the rain to collect the children. See you again tomorrow.

A few early-summer comforts: berry jam on toast, sweet peas on the teepees and embroidering some faces of the rabbity variety.

I drew a winner for Helen's book poetry book The Comforter– number 16 who was Delwyn from Australia. Thank you for joining in! You can find more details about and order copies of the book at Seraph Press, here.

Happy new week (and month!), dear readers. I do love December.

This is my friend Helen Lehndorf's collection of poetry, which is fresh of the printing press this week. Helen's poetry chronicles everyday life in an original, detailed and bold manner and draws the reader in close. She shines light on how it is to live in provincial NZ, the natural world, to be a mother, be in love. They are beautiful poems.

Helen loves to make things with textiles and many of the poems mention fabric, threads and stitches. Here is an excerpt from my favourite:

Mending pile

…

A hole is not a thing but the absence

of a thing. You broke this with all your wearing,

and I sewed and sewed until the holes

were nipped shut, the mend invisible

to all but the most discerning eye.

Hope is a darned hole.

You might recognise the cover image- the beautiful book design work was done by Sarah Laing and the embroidery is my 'winter branches' design. 

The Comforter is published by Seraph Press in Wellington, and you can order copies through their website here. 

I have an extra copy to give away here on the blog. Would you like one of your own? If so, just leave a comment and I will draw a winner (from anywhere in the world) on Monday morning.

Have a great weekend!

My workroom has been a busy little place lately, with one thing and another, mostly because I've been getting ready for this art and craft show in a couple of weeks. 

In a crazed sort through one of my drawers, I found a small watercolour painting done last year, and I decided to get it printed into postcard sets for my table at the fair. I've also made up some card sets that include one of each design, because I've always wanted to have a mixed set option in my shop.

Today's small update will be the last for this year most probably, and I want say a very big thank you for all your support of my work in 2001. It's pretty amazing to be able to make things for my job, and your support has allowed me to. So cheers to you, dear readers!

Here are two beautiful new music videos you might like to colour in your Wednesday- The Shrine by Fleet Foxes and this lushly forested clip by Feist.