Lucky Penny October (and some news)

Hello there!  Just a quick wee post to say that Lucky Penny is on next Tuesday!!  I'm going to be bringing a fine selection of crafty things to give away to the Lucky Penny-ers (uhhh.. something like- wool, origami paper, buttons, perhaps some fabrics and other interesting things).


Why, you ask, are you giving away your craft supplies?


I'm going to be moving to Melbourne at the end of October- there have been changes with my work, and I've now accepted a job as a designer (yay! But same-same but different).  So this will probably be my last Lucky Penny (unless I take it with me to Melbourne and hit the craft circuit there)  Perhaps I could become a Brown Owl and hang out at Meet Me At Mikes? I'm lucky that Melbourne is such a creative city, but I must say that I am kind of fearing the 40 degree heat that the summer brings...  But seriously, I think it could take me a good few months to even feel remotely settled there, you know, get used the changes with the job, find a new house (and decorate...I think Ikea is going to be making some money from me), and in between that really try and make some new friends. My brain at the moment is really ticking overtime- there is an incredible amount of things that I need to achieve before I board that plane, and connecting with the people who matter most is high up there (as is selling may car...) I remember my jewellery teacher once saying to me that I was nomadic as I seemed to change my address at least once a year.  Now I think he's right as this is the third time I've moved this year.  So I'm hoping that this blog can be a little outlet as I move into another chapter in my life
Anyway enough for now!  Catch you on Tuesday!

moving!

I'm moving blog!  to a slightly less confusing (to those who brought collars) sounding violet&may. Its very much nothing at the moment, but I will keep you posted as it develops.

Bye!

moving on. moving in.

After a good two weeks of hanging about, I finally moved into my new flat. Thank goodness! My last flat just didn't work out. But the new one is off to a promising start, and hopefully I will be happy there once I settle in. I did the move (of the heavy stuff anyway) in a record one-and-a-half hours. My room is still chaos and disorder, and I am now taking a liking to reading up on clever storage, as my room doesn't have a wardrobe, so I have a few things to sort out. And my sewing machines are out of their boxes and a small list of projects is floating around in my head. Fantastic.

hello February

Oh hello February, I hope you treat me well. I can't believe that it is February already, and here I am still adding '07' to the end of dates. Oops. I'm trickling into doing some new crafty things (more about that another post) and new other things...

...I'm moving flat again. To a snazzier part of town- walking distance to cafe's and Ponsonby Rd shop. I eventually found that living in a little space was getting me down- no sewing makes Anna go crazy! And I'm looking forward to the challenge of decorating my room- at least I will have a bit more space to unpack.

...February also tells me that it is time that I will have to make more effort into conducting my life to move the way I want it to. Sounds dumb, but I'm sure that Dr. Phil will agree, as I think that I'm moving into some mid- twenties crisis... So from now I want to try and focus on those important things, like friends (I find it really hard to maintain friendships, but am great at making what you would call acquaintances or friends-in-context), family and figuring out what on earth I will do with myself. The art of happiness indeed.

I hope the month of February treats you well too! Have a wonderful weekend!

one fish, two fish

I moved my goldfish (Onefish and Twofish) in the weekend. I sat them in the passenger seat and buckled them in. And my niece made them this card :)

Update (14.12.07): Sadly Twofish (the black one) passed away not long ago. I think possibly from the shock of moving, and not having the filter on for a long period. You will be missed little fish.

new flat (yay)

Another post with no pictures! And this is supposed to be a craft design blog...

On the flat-hunting front. Much of a source of drama and amusement flat hunting has been, but now I have a flat to move into. Very good. It means that I can play interior designer for as long as I can keep my room tidy-ish, which I suspect wont be for long. Its not too far away from where I used to live, so I am quite familar with the area. It also means that I don't have to pull out into hideous traffic if I'm driving to work. The flat is with a couple and a cat (a hunter I hear), and seems laid back, my room is pale blue and sunny, which is great. My room in my last flat was quite large, but dark, which made it feel ever so lonely, even though I loved having lots of space. Bring on the cozy flat I say!

On the craft front. I'm in a work-in-progress mess. Seriously, I keep convincing myself that I will finish a project soon, but then go and somehow make it more complicated than it needs to be, probably so that I can keep on working on it. Number of works in progress: 4. Number of finished pieces: 0.
I have warned myself not to take on any more embroidery related pieces, even though I want do some crafty Christmas presents. Not having a set postal address held me back ffrom participating in the Christmas Ornament Swap, which I'm in a weird way, kind of grateful for, as I'm sure I would have had too many crafts and not much time...

On the jewellery front. The neverending cuff is still neverending. Uh- oh. And I only have 2 classes left in my term at the jewellery school. This is quite concerning for myself and my tutor (I think he is wanting some closure.) simply because I cannot see myself finishing my piece by the end of the year. I spent last night tidying up the 'butterfly wing' pieces of the cuff, but there is so much more work to be done (more cutting, more filing, sanding, buffing, soldering, polishing....). It really makes you respect jewellery as an artform. I'm watching the graduating fulltime students work on their masterpieces- amazing, but I am hoping that they don't get too strung out about it, like I did over my collection when I was at uni. I'll take a photo of the neverending cuff at the end of the term to show my (slow) progress...

On the auntie front. Only 2 more days of being a live in auntie! I will miss my little nieces when I move out, as they have been so lovely to their old auntie :)

packing it up

My life is in boxes at the moment, well at least a good portion of my belongings are. I've just spent the day packing in anticipation of moving out of the flat on Saturday- I'm very much over it by now!. I know that I will miss it and will probably get all sentimental about it. Sewing machines have been stored, excess bits and pieces gone, and a growing charity pile is forming. And despite all this, I'm yet to find a flat to move onto- a few potentials though. I'm hovering over my cellphone like a teenager waiting to hear from her date...

Flat hunting is a strange thing- you meet an amazing amount of people and peer into an interesting number of houses- some relatively loveley, some definately not! There is always good stories to tell- I remember looking at a shockingly bad one when I lived in Wellington- it was in the Aro Valley and up a million step step stairs in the hillside. The place turned out to be dark, damp and very much a boy flat- and then it turns out my future flatmate had also seen the place and given it an immediate no.
Yet I just have to remember that on the other side, for the people finding a flatmate, that there is also a good number of potential flatmates (and crazy people who you just know that you wouldn't want to live with). I think that the right flat will find me. Optimistic here!

And the worst thing is that you can emotionally move in, you know, when you start thinking of how you will decorate your potential room- in my case this is not helped by a small pile of interior decorating magazines scattered on the floor. Very distracting, but I'm no Martha Stewart...!

Anyway, I'm going to start a new embroidery- a piece for my littlest niece...