russian dolls and a palomino pony

This year I decided to paint my nieces their birthday presents. Actually, scratch that- last year I decided to paint my nieces their birthday presents, this year I finished them. For E I painted a palomino pony, for she is absolutely mad about ponies and horses. I haven't much experience with drawing or painting horses, but this one has developed a life of its own- look at the expression in its eye- like it was caught stealing apples from the farmer's orchard!

For G I created a family of matryoshka dolls, which I am hoping she'll like. It was lots of fun coming up with different designs for their bodies/dresses/scarves (?!) but also lots of work to paint them. I could only manage short bursts of painting before my hands were shaking or my patience was shredded!

This is most likely my last post for the year- I'm soon to head away to see my family for Christmas (and gift my nieces their paintings), then to be a Kathmandu-clad traveller off to Vietnam! Whew! So here's to a Happy Holidays and a relaxing and fun festive season :)

gingerbreadness

Well, it has been a while..! A lack of internet has put me well behind on blogging about the Amazing Gingerbread Cupcake Cookies... which I had made several weekends ago.

When I had left my last job, as part of my cupcake-themed farewell gift, I was given some cupcake cookie cutters.. what to do but make gingerbread cupcakes. Easier said than done, as there was some technique involved in getting the cut cookie to the tray without it turning into smoosh. Decorating was the fun part, with heaps of brightly coloured chocolately cookies being the result- which only lasted a few days in my household!

Recipe found here.

Are you ready for Lucky Penny November?

Hello! Its very nearly the start of a brand new month.. and you all know that means its time for a crafty catch-up! Just a quick wee note to remind you all that Lucky Penny is on this upcoming Tuesday- so don't forget to pencil it in to your diaries! See you there!

Tuesday 2nd November

from 7.30pm onwards

Mezze Bar

Durham Lane Auckland (above Whitcoulls/Glassons on Queen St)

Bring your craft to town!

embroider me a garden

So, I have been a little busy. After getting derailed by a some knitting I am now back on tack with my big project for the year- an embroidery for my niece. I can see a deadline (December birthday) which by the looks of things, I will miss. Perhaps another year won't hurt this project... So from my last update, you can now see that I've added a Ballerina Georgie, a French Knot rainbow, and now a chain-stitch garden (with rabbit) is a-growing. I am really enjoying working on this at the moment- I've managed to get past the 'intricate embroidery' a little and am working on more freestyle shapes, which allows more progress. Also if you happen to be working on a project like this it helps to have several motifs on the go at once- you can see here that the ballerina isn't quite finished- I'm trying to figure out how I will stitch her skin and face- and trying to find the calm space of mind and patience to do that! So in the meantime I'm working on a chain-stitch garden, which will eventually help frame the lower half of the embroidery. I've also added some more thread colours to my collection- I'm now wondering if I may need to invest in another thread box!

Time for some close-ups:

And signs of things to come:

on the border

Well, this is one of those epic projects that never really seems to end. Several years ago, not long after I picked up knitting again, I had the mad idea to knit a blanket... which kind of grew... as I decided that it simply must cover my bed. The last little section that I have worked on has been hovering on my conscience for quite some time (due to a lack of wool, and a high level of procrastination regarding a trip to the wool shop in town).

Adding The Grey Border has become a bit of a big deal for me... and now its finished! Yayyyy! I had even taken to using it in its unfinished state, as I had realised it may be a very, very long time before I could use it. Also it was cold, and its wholesome homespun look was very appealing.

The knitting of this blanket is a bit of a journey, considering that I started it back in 2007- by the time I am finished (maybe next year..?) it will have a bit of a story to tell.

Its quite satisfying to say that I finally can tick that one off my crafty-project-list (blank available here). Oh! But what's this? The Dark Grey Border. Uh-oh. This one isn't over yet...