home again

I'm all back from Sydney now, and still adjusting to being back in NZ and am settling back into my daily dearly routine. I have been back to the real world for one measly day of work (then the weekend!)... I walked and I walked, bused, trained, planed and ferried here there and everywhere! Priscilla was a mad mad musical- the costumes were kind of insane and were worth seeing.

Then I struggled to pack my bags home due to some shopping.....

But can someone please explain this????

A.P.E.C. Wow, what a time to be in Sydney. George W Bush and 650(!) of his entourage were in town, as well as additional presidents and prime ministers from other countries... All this of course meant security. As in fortress style security and lots of cops everywhere. They even cordoned off the Opera House as they were using it as a venue, which was a little strange to see- normally the place is milling with tourists taking photos left, right and centre. And taped over rubbish bins in case anyone had the sense to put something suspicious in it. Crikey. Of course it gave everyone something to talk about.I missed out on all the protests though- I'm still not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing- nonetheless it would have been quite a sight for Anna in tourist mode... I of course was concerned that I would not get around the shops...

But on a brighter note:


The Hoppers. Or skippys. Or roo's. These two slightly bewildered and naive looking kangaroos and their joeys ended up coming home with me. My two nieces were delighted!

Holiday Craft. Do you think that I could be away from craft on holiday. No, not at all. As I was travelling with my parents, I knew that I would not be out and about every night. So I took this embroidery along with me. This came from a transfer that was with a 70's Needlewoman magazine, that I was going to put my own spin on it. It had been tempting me for a while, so I had a little start on it.
Of course I somehow left Sydney with some fabric... I found this black Tom Hedqvist fabric in a Finnish design store in Bondi Junction- I can't remember the name of the shop sorry! I have no idea of what I will do with it, but I love the slightly woodblock-ish feel about it, and the fact that it reminds me of books.


Cute as a Teapot. In my on-going mission to beautify my life ( I am reading far too many 'beautiful house' type magazines) I have purchased a teapot. Very cute. Lovely colour. Now soon I think that I will be on some kind of mission to re-organise and de-clutter and somehow turn a section of my room into a workable studio (instead of the mountain of clutter that it is)



The Shoes. I found myself yet another pair of mary-jane style shoes with a little heel. This is my third such pair of this style of shoe... But the nude colour would look fantastic with black tights or jeans. I am in a slight scrunchy-toe moment until I break them in (uh-oh).

It is still nice to be home- I got into the local thing this weekend and walked up to Kingsland village, got lunch from one of the cafes, and had a peek in Mixt and Royal Jewellery Studio- very nice pieces there. I'm still getting lots of ideas for design-y, craft-y stuff, but I have to remember to slow down and keep everything realistic. And clear my craft back-log!!!!

I was delighted to hear that Carrie has received my swap and loves the pincushion (I loved working on it too. Am planning to make a few more)!

I must be inspired...

I must have been inspired by all this arty-crafty stuff that I have been doing lately (yes, it is addictive), that when I was in Napier I went on a retro-craft shopping binge....

First up was a trip to Raku, a Japanese gift shop for some kimono fabric. I love Japanese design, both modern and traditional (my graduate collection was inspired by the world of Murasaki Shikibu, a Heian era Japanese author), so this was a treat. I have intentions using this for the fantasy quilt (despite the fact that the light fabric is silk) so I was looking for reasonably patterned fabrics on a smaller scale. I received these fabric beauiflly wrapped up and complete with a paper crane- I am very fond of paper cranes and have some hanging around the house.

Onwards and upwards I went to the Art Deco Centre (or whatever they call it now) where they have a mad range of antiques and vintage clothing. I picked up an embroidered doily with a cute little house on it- I'm not actually sure of what I will do with it but its cute!

I also brought an unfinished embroidery with an Asian -inspired seaside scene. I really like the simplicity of the piece and especially the shape of the tree. I think, in time I might finish the embroidery (in my own funny way), but for now I'm just happy to look at it (and possibly subject it to Napisan...).

The prize purchase was a couple of 1950's dress patterns. I love old patterns, and the quirkier the drawing, the better (I also picked up a couple of 70's numbers from an op-shop). I think these two are really cool- the one on the left has a lovely little jacket with tricky little diamond gussets in the underarm (try sewing them!!), and the other has "La Nouvelle Vaugue" in a kitschy font- the pictures totally sold it!

There were more than a few other things (including mustard yellow wool and knitting needles for that scraft I have been meaning to knit...) that I brought, but that would make this post a bit tedious, so I will leave it at that!

PS. Thank you to my lovely readers who have added me to their blogroll :)