first post of the new year (no photos)

Ok, so laziness has gotten the better of me, and not only do I delay posting until halfway through the month, but also neglect to add some appropriately summery/crafty photos. Ah well, nevermind... So can I just go onto a 'new years' spiel as to how I'm going to change things around at the Violet & May HQ? I can...? Fantastic.

Somewhere in my new year's resolutions is the words 'blog more' (or was it 'be a better blogger?' Can't remember) Blogging can be a little tricky if you only have intermittent computer access on the sly at work. But blogging would be nothing without some kind of content, so I'm hoping that I can craft enough to make things interesting around here...

Another one of my new years resolutions is to finish the embroidery for my niece GG- think of it like a monogamous relationship with my craft- I won't be able to finish it for her 6th birthday if I get toooo distracted with other crafty things. 2010 is the now the year of the embroidery. Yikes! (If you are wondering at all what I am getting myself into... see what I made her big sister..)

I'm also calling it quits with any market-y or commercial crafts... as fun as they are, I found that I was losing the enjoyment of just making things. This may come as no surprise to those who know me personally, as I've been hinting at it for a while... but don't despair- I'm still a Kraftbomb groupie! And I'm looking forward to kicking off with the first Lucky Penny Crafty Club session this year (February 2, Mezze Bar, Auckland- be there or be square).

Other assorted new years resolutions include: learning something new (I don't what just yet... Am debating if a few words of Japanese for my upcoming trip actually counts.) and to do something charitable- I need to get in touch with my charitable self and contribute back to society.

There you have it. Something to thing about.
Bye!

the design inspiration rant (please bear with me)

Ok, so this will be yet another post without pictures, but that is what tends to happen when you own an archaic computer, and don't have the 'take your camera everywhere philosophy'. But I'm not going to post about my own work this time round. I'm going to talk about some design inspiration, simply beause thats what I'm looking for. I'm in two minds about those 'inspiration blogs', you know by people who are A. Well connected "my friend is a designer..."; and B. Seem have good taste in everything. Sometimes after a while they just seem to be a bit same-y, especially if you go through stages of reading lots of them. You might not like me saying that... But in the end it can take a little more now to impress or inspire me thats all.

So today I took a bit a backtrack to to 2005 when I did a couple of weeks fashion student-y internship (thats right- internship usually means handsewing) at Akira in Sydney. Akira is this Japanese designer based in Sydney who has been in my favourite books since, I'm guessing (gasp!) the late '90's. Lots of textile work and quite a distinctive silhouette. I remember a cloud print fabric that was in shades of golden yellow and purple, and somehow that translated into my line-y clouds that tend to pop up everywhere. Going overseas for what was essentially a uni assignment was quite a good idea in my books- I got to know a different city, and meet some new people. I left with a good dose of inspiration, yet when I checked out the website for the first time in a long long while, I found that the same sense of inspiration is still there. My graduate range was very Japanese inspired, but not necessarily in a beautiful, fragile way. A sense of softness and fragility is what I'm wanting to pursue more in my creative work, like embroidery on fine fabric and muted colours. I like the craft world and its community-mindedness, but sometimes I just want to create something that is beautiful, not necessarily kooky and crafty. I understand that what is considered 'beautiful' is incredibly subjective and not worth arguing about. All I would like to do now is get back into that creative frame of mind again. And perhaps make some beautiful clothes.

new places to go

I have a new job. Forget the last post where I was speculating as to whether I would finish making my new dress in time for an interview (I haven't. It is hanging on my wall in all its unfinished glory, awaiting to be lined).

Forget the tedium of preparing for yet another job interview- there is only so many times that you can explain your portfolio, and only so many times that you can explain why you're looking for work, and only so many times that you can explain how you work in a team situation ecetera (I'm a compromise-r, very Libran of me).

However it is far more fun to tell people that you have a new job. A new job where I'm going to have to prove myself all over again. It's good to start something new. I'm all about making changes right now. I'm making that move into working with womenswear which I shouldn't regret. In time, I hope that it can be creative. Wish me luck.

Have a great weekend!

the absent blogger

Well, here I am again. Not surprisingly with not much to show or talk about, so again I'm feeling like the laziest kind of blogger, but sometimes life just gets in the way. Or perhaps I should say that life is what happens when you're trying to do other things! I'm still looking for a new job. Very tedious I tell you, particularly when your industry is in a slow moment jobs-wise- since I started looking a couple of months ago I have only had a grand total of two interviews. Maybe I need to work a little harder at finding work!

I finished my graphics nightclass a while ago, the class was O-K, but not life changing- like it wasn't quite in depth enough for me. I think I've realised that it may not be quite as easy as I would have thought it would have been to take up graphics or do some kind of career change.

Im still crafting, but in a slightly schitzo kind of way- start one project, get partway through it- then start another! So maybe I should finish this dress (hopefully in time for an interview!):

oh, hello there

Hello, I hope this finds you well. I'm being a bit of a slacker and not posting any pictures remotely design or craft related, even though there are a few things I would love to show here...

Things have been more than a little bit busy in my world, especially as I have the rather lovely task of finding a new job... But you know, if I have any downtime my creative output may increase! It would be great to spend sometime on my own ideas... and I have a few interesting ones in the pipeline!

However, over time I have noticed that I have a very good ability to talk and talk about my ideas and then never get them of the ground for some reason or other. So for that very reason alone I won't air them on this blog until I have convinced myself that they will go ahead... I do have some envy of those more motivated people out there, but I know that it takes time, money and effort to get a great plan (or any plan) off the ground...

Anyway it is dark now and I'm going to go home and cook a curry and knit. Cold winter nights huh?? :)

stitch lines

I have a bit of a thing for drawing stitch lines. I think that it actually comes from patternmaking rather than fashion drawing as I often end up drawing a dashed line curve like an armhole shape on little bits of paper. So there is no wonder when this rather reptilian like figure appeared on a bit of paper, that I had to add more than a few stitch lines to her. I decided that she was a bit on the reptilian side via her dress, which reminded me a little of an art deco fashion illustration of a woman in a very reptilian dress. I also decided to differ my way of drawing for a change and tilt her neck forward a little, kind of like the Applet drawings at Inside a Black Apple. I think that I quite like it, but it has put her body out of kilter a little...

Anyway winter is encroaching here in Auckland, and I am kicking into my winter craft- and that means knitting! I am about halfway through a gorgeous dusky pink basket-weave scarf, which I will show you when its finished. And of course I'm adding a little to the blanket that I started last year- but I have promised myself not to spend all winter knitting obsessively!! I am also nursing an early winter cold (a sore throat and the sniffles), so will be in for an evening of chicken noodle soup and knitting tonight...

Sniffles or not this long weekend I am also planning to chip away at my sewing- I hae two projects on the patternmaking/cutting/generally very much unfinished (or unstarted stage). As I have a huge fabric stash, including some rather lovely Liberty fabrics, I'm getting behind the philosophy of the Use What You Have Flickr group. Using up your stash of fabric (or crafty bits) makes perfect sense to me- I now realise that there is no point in being too precious about your fabric and not using it!

And to make you smile I am looking after two of the cutest babysitting charges- my two little niece's mice! They are ridiculously cute (and very speedy on the mouse- wheel!). I will try and put a picture online of them.

Bye for now!

sometimes, I try cute

Sometimes, I'll try to create something cute. But you know what? I don't really think that it works, like its an aesthetic that I don't quite understand. I think that this picture is just too twee and kind of insipid. A friend once described my fashion drawings as 'sophisticated cute'. I think she's right- I work with a more sophisticated style with a touch of cute, but not 100% 'awwwwww' cute. But for those with an innate sense of cute design (I know a handful)- well done! Its harder than it looks!

PS. ...by the way this is post #100 woohoo! It took me a good year or so to get this far (I is not Miss Frequent Blogger). Here's to another 100!

a leap year day

It is a leap year day. And I'm going to post simply because this opportunity will only present itself once every four years. A 'Happy Birthday' to those that are born on February 29. This extra day of the year is a good day to think.

I've been doing a little inventory (as you may say) of all my projects and ideas that I am presently working on, or really really want to work on. It is a bit of a long list. A while ago I took the list of projects off the sidebar of this blog as I realised that I wasnt really working on them. This weekend I would looooove to start sewing again, as my high- rotation of favourite clothes are looking a little tired to me. My stash of Liberty is asking to be (very carefully) used up.

So my little long list is as follows...

sewing
... A blouse-y top for myself, made from one of my Liberty fabrics. I'm going to hunt for a good pattern.
... To finish the butterfly top for my sister.
... A couple of t-shirt dresses for my nieces.

knitting
... To work on my blanket every now and then.
... And to knit a basket weave scarf in a gorgeous wool in time for winter.

painting
... Simply to pick up my paints again after they have been in storage for so long. Especially when I have some ideas to develop.

embroidery
... To complete the first motif on the embroidery for Miss G.

crafting
... And to create a great cushion for myself (coat of arms)

design
... To finish my 'goodbye' illustration. Eventually.
... And eventually learn how to do textile prints.

jewellery
... To Finish the Neverending Cuff. By the end of the term. So that I can move on to...
... An extravagant necklace.
... And a brooch for my mother.


Now my question is- where, just where do I find (or make) the time?

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!

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.

hanging out

Yesterday was one of my nieces third birthday. It began with a bout of excitement and present opening (second Christmas???!) and then evolved into one of those quite idyllic summer days. While the girls went off to an animal farm, I busied myself with baking an eggless sponge cake (Miss G is allergic to eggs. If anyone knows of a decent eggless cake, please let me know) which was an experiement of sorts, as I am not the baker of the family. It turned out ok, probably not as enticing as if my mother had had a go at it, but pink icing, marshmallows and blue and pink hydrangea flowers made it a pretty cake. The afternoon was spent at the beach, hunting for crabs in the rock pools (none were found, but I spotted a little fishy), enjoying the sunshine and warm water. A little party with cake and candles and other goodies followed. Singing the 'Happy Birthday' song always brings a grin to kids faces.

I like times like these. I hope 2008 brings some more. Its funny reading all the blog posts and noticing how people are getting sentimental over 2007 and being optimistic over the upcoming 2008. I of course have read all the horoscopes in the newspapers (guilty pleasure) and have had several ambiguious futures mapped out for me. I think that you read into them what you want to hear. I haven't thought of new years resolutions yet! That is worthy of a new years day post I'm sure!

See you in 2008!