tiny happy

changes...

Keira drew this picture this morning- I believe it to be her first truly 'representational' piece of work, and I was so excited. And then I asked her to tell me about it. 'It's my Very Grumpy Mama', she replied.

I had thought I'd been quite cheerful all morning. I had visions of Keira visiting a child psychologist and drawing pictures for them that reflected my bad mothering. And them forcing me to go on courses for 'Effective Parenting' or something similar.

But when I really think about it, I am often impatient and cross with K, rushing her from one activity to the next, and wishing that she would go and play quietly with her toys when i am busy. And that seems to be most of the time.

Sometimes children can be great catalysts for change though, and I think I'm ready to make a few. Over the past 6 months or so, I've been sending my work to varying design stores and baby clothing shops around the place, and above is the last parcel of this kind. I want to say a big thank you to all the retailers who have supported me - and those who have bought my things, too. I was so proud to have my stuff in those lovely shops.

And I'm also going to take an extended break from my weekly market stall, too. I will miss my fellow crafters, early morning coffee and chatting with the lovely mums who came and supported my work. Thank you if you were one of these!

And now, I'm feeling quite excited about the possibilities that lie ahead. I'm hoping to be able to concentrate on my online shop, making things for friends and family and trying out some new ideas I've had in mind for a while.

Oh, and tomorrow- finally that dress pattern I promised...

lanterns and links

This was the view standing on the edge of the harbour at night, watching the paper lanterns float away. I attended a wonderful party on Saturday and our friend Anna organised this fleet of lanterns to be sent out to sea to celebrate a 30th birthday. They were made from pieces of bamboo, skewers and tissue paper, and inside, bark on which to rest the tea-light candle.

It was a great night with music, pizza, dancing, new and old faces, dress-ups starting with "D" (dairy farmer for me), and a star-lit walk back to our cabin just before the sun came up again.

And, because I don't have much else to show you today, here are some of my best finds online over the past week or so. Click away...

Podcast to download of an interview with Amanda of Soulemama here at Craft Sanity

beautiful crafts at poppyshock

turkish coffee

petal + leaf jewellery by Elizabeth Scott

she's crafty vintage-inspired NZ knitting patterns

amazing collection of japanese craft books: chocolate swirl

art, cards, magnets and monsters at NuitBlanche

lovelydesign - stationary that is, well, lovely.

heading out

Some of the freesia bulbs in our garden have flowered and are basking in the sun by the geranium plant. Is there a nicer scent than these? Perhaps daphne, but they're a close second. Inspired by all the new flowers popping up in the garden, i made a small set of baby shoes to go in my shop today.

And yesterday, my mum dropped around a gift for Arlo- this beautiful jacket she knitted. I love it and he was rather pleased to wear it all day, too....

The pattern is from Debbie Bliss' Celtic Collection book. I love the little pockets, and shawl collar.

Tom and I are heading out of town tomorrow for a friend's 30th birthday party. Without children. Hope you have a great weekend too... 

birdcage

Last night I tried printing fabric using my print gocco and a new order of supplies that arrived last week. I'm very excited about experimenting with this technique, and was kept awake at night, thinking of the possibilities that were opening up....

I started off with a very simple design for a child's t-shirt, and printed a small batch of them for my market stall. It was definitely an easy process, but I learned a few tricks with regards to ink application and amount, placement of fabric, etc.

To find out more about how the gocco works, there is a great tutorial here.

I can't wait to try more!

And, because i'm an impatient person, I also started playing around with the tree-printed linen from my last post, and made this bag for my shop. I really like the combination of linen and wool, and i think it gives the bag more structure and strength. The back panels are both made from brown tweedy wool fabric.

   

calm every day

Thank you for your great suggestions and comments yesterday, on the knitwear. I think I know what I'm going to do simplify them, thanks to your help.

This is some wonderful new fabric I received last week from the lovely Amisha (origin: superbuzzy, i think) I love the tiny line drawings and helpful phrases- 'time of healing', 'calm every day'- hmmm, that's something i need to work on...

She also sent these seasonal cottons: blossoms... (perhaps for cushion covers?)

and some more of this great autumnal fabric (i have in mind some northern-hemisphere gifts to make already:)

Also in the mail (I've been lucky) this week was this printed linen. Berries...

and green trees:

I found these, and other seriously nice linen fabrics, in Namolio's etsy shop. She has some great stuff, and I notice she now has a special shipping listing for New Zealand. Excellent.

My Mum has joined the world of blogging- you can find her here at her aptly-named site. Ever since i can remember, she's had a work-in-progress in every room of the house, and in every bag hanging on every door, so of course i have her to blame for my own tendencies to do the same. She'd be thrilled if you went and said hello.

   

breakfast in bed

It was a warm and sunny weekend, and we celebrated Father's Day yesterday. The tradition is a sleep-in, then breakfast in bed and a present. The present (a book voucher) is also fast becoming a tradition in itself because I am highly unimaginative when it comes to presents for men. Luckily, Tom likes mooching around the bookshop almost as much as I do.

Arlo had a friend to stay the night, so he helped make the cards and supervised the picking of parsley for the scrambled eggs. Such early mornings with small children are getting easier now it's spring.

In crafty news, I've been working on a design for recycled wool jackets for boys, similar to the wrap-cardigans I've made previously. Original designs for boys seem to be few and far-between, and i'm hoping that my next shop update includes a few.

Last week a friend gave me a bag full of his work shirts to 'upcycle' and one idea i had was to cut them into bias binding, and use them for jackets. Here I've recycled two men's wool jerseys and one shirt. There is also an interior button to fasten the other side...

I'm not entirely convinced that this design is 'just right' (I feel as though it needs to be less 'fussy' somehow), but it's a start. Any feedback would be much appreciated!