tiny happy

I've been harvesting rhubarb from the garden over the past week or so. I made a rhubarb and vanilla bean tart and the rest was stewed then eaten by the kids for breakfast. Next on my baking list is this amazing-looking rhubarb slice recipe.

It was when I was chopping it this morning that I realised how beautiful the colours of the stalks are- that dark plum pink and the yellowy-green of the sourer parts, and how I've been capturing that colour in a bit of crafting and photography lately. Rhubarbalicious.

This is a little set I made for a friend's new grandson. I used this technique to applique a t-shirt with my 'climbing trees' printed fabric and sewed up some reversible slippers to match. Tidying up my cupboards the other day, I came across lots of old papers and have been employing them as gift-wrap. Here I used the instructions from a vintage sewing pattern (for a baggy 90's jumpsuit with shoulder pads and a cat applique, I don't think anyone will miss it.)

I do love making things for new babies, and that's lucky because there seem to be so many new little ones around here right now… maybe it's a spring thing. 

I hope you've had a good and restful weekend. Mine was great but busy and I have a gigantic pile of weeds and cut-up hands to prove it. See you tomorrow!

Poppies are popping all over the garden right now- those papery red ones with a crinkly sheen. I love them. I made a small folk-style painting and got it professionally printed into card sets to give to friends at Christmas time. 

And speaking of Christmas, I made my first decoration of the year- a grey dove with some embroidery. This is in preparation for teaching a class this afternoon, for an English-teaching organisation I've been volunteering with this year. The women we work with are recent refugees to NZ, and they are all really into making things by hand. Working on projects together, the women can practice their English and I love chatting with them- it's a great way to end the week. After a few sessions of making these, we'll use them to decorate a Christmas tree in our local cathedral. I'll be sure to show you how it turns out!

Have a lovely weekend, blogfriends.

Full-moon light with rain allowed me to take photos late last night from the front door- I love that manuka tree but it is especially beautiful in the moonlight! Other good things from the last few days include a picnic rug with books set up permanently outside (at least, until the wet weather started) and a crochet-covered stone I got from Margie's shop arriving in the mail- aren't I lucky? It's small and perfectly formed and I can't believe her tiny crochet loops… mad skillz. 

Oh, and fruit cake. The best every day cake for children and adults alike, in my opinion. I use this super easy and friendly recipe.  

Here are some things that I made for my etsy shop update today- inspired by the lily plants in my completely overgrown garden. One good thing about having lots of weeds- there's plenty of embroidery inspiration. But maybe I need to start spending some more time tidying up the garden beds before the riot of summer arrives.

I hope you're having a good Wednesday! See you again tomorrow.

This embroidered pattern was inspired by a very tiny poppy growing from the crack in the pavement outside our house. (It should be open by tomorrow, I'm thinking- right now the closed bud measures about 2cms.) I started the design by scattering little poppies over card with watercolour paint, added some other flowers, wallpaper-style, then translated them to dark grey linen via needle and thread.

These all-over embroidered designs always take much longer than I think they might, but I do so enjoy working on them.

– I loved seeing these pictures of Fliss and her family in West Timor this morning. They make me want to go adventuring with the kids!

– Here you can find the marvellous Good Stuff: Holiday Guide by clever Pip. It makes for fun and colourful reading and you'll love it.

Thanks for joining in with the giveaway over the weekend. The random number selector chose Gracia so congratulations to you, G.

Last week I found some old papers and books at my local recycling shop. There was a box with old sheet music, some maps and two books missing their covers and spines- one was a gardening book from the 1960's and the other was about mountaineering. Over the weekend I had fun (the kids did too, actually) cutting up the tattered pages and collaging together these 'alpine condition' cards. I made some sets of three for this upcoming market I'll be attending, and some more for friends. 

Have you seen this beautiful murmuration clip? Happy new week.

After I wrote about this great cookbook here the other day, the publishers at Weldon Owen Publishing asked if I'd like to hold a giveaway on my blog for another shiny new copy for one of my readers. 

I'd just baked some coconut macaroons (you can see them in my first photo above) and last weekend Tom made a red rice dish and both recipes came from the colourful pages of this book. So we're really enjoying it- you will too!

You can find out more details about the book here, or here on Facebook. They've even made a little video to promote it. 

The publishers will send the book to the winner, wherever they happen to live in the world. Just leave a comment on this post telling us what's cooking in your kitchen these days.

I'll draw a winner randomly on Monday. Enjoy your weekend!

I wasn't ready to put my Indian woodblock stamps away after this project from last week, and I had a lot of fun playing around with some old linens from my stash. I used the woodblocks and red ink to print some fine cotton lawn handkerchiefs I found as well as some old linen napkins. The ink easily covers any small stains that might exist on such old pieces. I also had some very fine white linen which I printed with stamp-blocks and cut into fat quarters. These I plan to give to friends this Christmas for their fabric stash.

In other news…

– If you're in Wellington this coming weekend you might want to check out Fabricabrac on Saturday. They tell me it's going to be the biggest fabric sale they've held yet, so it should be a lot of fun. You can find more details here. 

– Aren't these cards by Swallowfield just beautiful?

– I discovered this amazing TED talk by feminist Eve Ensler the other night, entitled Embrace Your Inner Girl. I found it very moving and definitely worth a listen.

– Come back tomorrow for a book giveaway! See you then.

Are you getting tired of seeing wildflowers from my garden? I promise, this will be the last time this week. I just had to show you what is really growing crazy along the edges of all the garden beds and in amongst the strawberry plants. This month belongs to the forget-me-nots and I've found them in both white and blue. I had fun embroidering them onto a piece of grey wool fabric (it was a gift from Ella– thank you!) and making this cushion cover for my shop update today, along with some other things. 

It's a seriously grey day here today. Clouds and cold and rain and wind. I was kept in a cheerful state by my baby niece Noa dancing to this song and smiling widely whilst eating her marmite toast.