a little bit of craft

Sometimes, a little bit of craft is all you need. I made this cute little pincushion for my sister. I'm really liking this working with text and embroidery thing at the moment. I thought that the green colours would go perfectly with her vintage sewing tin (unfortunately the photo of it turned out frighteningly bad, so you can only see a snippet of it in the first photo).


This little sewing tin has some seriously good finds in it, including 'The Glenda Double Fold Bias Binding' and the remains of an old- fashion rose sewing kit. Very tempting to use I say, but somehow they just belong in that tin- I think that it would almost be a waste of a little time capsule (and lovely vintage typography)...

...don't you think?

make me over

I'm in the midst of a blog make-over. So bear with me over the next week or so as I put my plan to action! Things may be a bit funny as I battle hmtl coding and other things....

the black seeds

No, I'm not writing about the band. But this little sketch appeared in my diary not so long ago. I'm liking the idea of working with a seed shaped motif at the moment.

the distraction dangers

Let me educate you on the dangers of distraction. I think I have a distractive personality, you know, my attention can flitter from thing to thing. So as it happens I started drawing this little ballet girl after being inspired by this post on littlepaperbird. And then I got distracted while looking at my sketch this morning and at the same time cutting fabric swatches with a rotary cutter... and somehow wound up cutting my finger. Oops! At least my drawing looks cute (but typing with a plaster on your finger, not so easy).

pins and needles (version 2.0)

Do you ever get pins and needles? I do. I have what some people would call a bad habit of sitting on my leg when I'm at the computer, and usually wind up getting pins and needles.

However I do like pins and needles of the sewing kind, and what they can create. I have never owned a pincushion, so when I was on holiday, with my craft lite kit, I decided to make one. I'm really into this mad coral pink colour, and I just can't seem to get enough of using it. I did try to be good and do nice handwritten feminine script, but I don't seem to be that good with it, so freehand text won out in the end. Which I don't mind. The grey marle felt offsets it perfectly- I really want to do some more work with this fabric. If I was more ambititious and didn't sleep much I think that it would make a great background for an applique or embroidery of one of my fashion figures.

I drew this needle a while back and have been trying to figure out a good home for it. Part of me says that it would make a great tattoo as it would have great trompe l'oiel effect. But I think that I may try my hand at putting it into a print repeat. Now that would be a learning curve.

ps. I'm calling this post version 2.0 as blogger gobbled up my newly finished post, threw a tantrum and decided not to post it (grumble). I think I have managed to remember most of what I had to say.

little bits

This is what I would a mix and match post. I have finally gotten around to updating my links list, so here are the new extras:

• Glaswegian jeweller Abigail Percy for pretty things.
• Kitty Genius for a good sense of humour and the bearded guys.
• Of Paper and Thread for prints and art.
• perfectbound for inspiration and girly gorgeousness.
• And last but not least I have also added my nephew's band, A Town In The City. They're good.

Bye for now!

the art and culture weekend

I have just been on an art and culture weekend to Wellington. Well, it wasn't exactly a weekend because it wasn't the weekend, but it felt like one. 2008, I had decided would be the year of design for me, and this was a great way to start it. I normally don't make much or any effort so see art exhibtions at home in Auckland, so here I certainly made up for lost time. I often forget that an art exhibition offers a decent dose of inspiration.

On Wednesday my mother and I went around the museums and art galleries in central Wellington. The city was so so quiet, as everyone was away on holiday and alot of the shops we shut (very good for my wallet!). In a typical Wellington fashion the day was a bit on the blustery side, but pleasant nonetheless. We began by walking around the waterfront near Te Papa, then checking out the Museum of Wellington City and Sea, which was interesting as neither of us had been there before. After that we ambled around to the City Art Gallery. The highlight of the trip was checking out the Bill Hammond exhibition at the City Gallery. Amazing- I have long admired his anthromorphic, stylized and ever so Egyptian like birds. Seeing them up close was fantastic. It was interesting to see how his work has progressed over time, and also to see the incorporation of print and pattern in a tattoo-like manner into the bird motif. After the art gallery we had short walk to Te Papa, where we had coffee and checked out the national art collection, which was also very inspiring. I often think that the greatest indulgence would to be an artist.

Yesterday was 'the shopping day'. We went around Lambton Quay and had a peek inside Kirkcaldie & Stains, which had some gorgeous art nouveau inpsired pieces of Moorcroft pottery. I nearly fainted at the pricetag, but then some unreasonable part of my brain started to calculate as to how I could accumulate a piece. Wellington also has the Shoe Connection chain of shoe shops, which has some great shoes, if you like to have fancy feet. I tried, but I didn't buy- I have learnt the hard way not to impulse buy shoes when away on holiday as I have often ended up with shoes the wrong size...
We then made our way up to Lower Hutt where we had lunch and admired the exhibtions at TheNewDowse. The main drawcard was the When Philip Met Isabella: Philp Treacey's Hats for Isabella Blow, which was amazing and well worth the detour out of the central city. The cafe at the Dowse is also worth recommending- quick service and good food.

I'm back home now, with only the real weekend left, then it back to work and back to the real world.