tiny happy

the sukita project

The Sukita Project is an initiative to help preserve the traditional weaving practices of refugee women in my hometown, Nelson.

I used to volunteer with a group of Kayan women who had recently settled in NZ via a Thai refugee camp after fleeing civil war in Myanmar (Burma). We made some things and practiced English. The women are resilient, brave, creative and beautiful. I really enjoyed my time with them.

I donated a copy of my book to the community and as a thank you I received this beautiful scarf hand-woven by these women. You need to touch the fabric to see how exquisitely woven it is. The threads are as fine as sewing cottons.

The non-profit initiative was established by Kay Sneddon in 2010, and you can read more about it here (including some stories about the women involved) and find the woven scarves at a few different places in Nelson, including Sweet As Cafe (Trafalgar St) and the Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatu.

raw chocolate fudge

Following on from yesterday's post about ---handmade---  I wanted to write about this yummy chocolate. I was sent this recipe by Nicola to share here- she made her raw fudge at our event and talked about the different ingredients and possible variations. She passed around enough finished fudge for everyone to share, and it was beautiful. 

Thank you, Nicola and happy chocolate making!

in person

Nicola took this photo of our evening last week- this is me talking about blogs and my book and a few other things. It was fun! I was quite nervous at first, but then it gradually became less scary. I was very grateful to have Nicola joining me and Stella and Lucy from Page & Blackmore Booksellers too. 

My favourite bit was looking out and seeing so many friendly faces in the crowd, and chatting afterwards. I joked about blogging being a more comfortable way to 'chat', but it was fun to do it in person too. Thank you for coming along, everyone. 

The trip away was my Weekend of Being Brave. The following night I joined in with a Pecha Kucha event- I gave a presentation about parcels and mail and the way we make meaningful connections online. I love the PK format- it was really interesting to hear such a diverse range of subjects passionately spoken about.

handmade evening + summertime photos

It's Friday today but I don't have a pattern prepared like I usually would! I'm in the South Island for this which took place last night- and it was a nice evening of chocolate, crafts and chatting. I got to see friends I've not seen in a long time. And talk about blogs and making things. What could be better?

If you came along last night- thank you for making it so special. And thanks to Prego for the venue and wine, Nicola for all your hard work and Stella and Page & Blackmore Bookstore.

Apologies if you missed out on tickets. Nicola and I are thinking it might be fun to do another evening like this sometime- maybe in Wellington or in Nelson again. Will keep you posted.

I found these photos on Mum's computer- I took them last summer. The top is the Cobb River where we went tramping with friends, then there are some campground hydrangeeas at night and the last is one of my favourite places ever, a windswept forest in Golden Bay, at Wharariki.

See you next week...

sets and shoes

I used to have a tartan pencil case when I was at school. It was skinny and perfect for pencils. I made some matching tartan pencil cases for my shop, inspired by that old one. And a few other things, too. The baby shoes are made from a very old, very fine linen tablecloth. Most of it was torn and stained, but one corner had this sweet rosebud and lily-of-the-valley hand embroidery. 

In other news: have you seen this great watercolour tutorial? It's very informative. Makes me to sit down with my art supplies and get painting.

also seen in H&G

My second little contribution to NZ House and Garden magazine arrived in the post the other day- I wrote about designing your own ceramics. This photo was first used on my blog back here, but if you want to read more about how I made these cups I first wrote about them here and here. I haven't done any of this work in ages- now i feel like breaking out the ceramic ink!

squirrels, etc

I've been playing around with paper again. I was sorting out a cupboard and came across some old papers I was saving for something or other. They were black and white pictures of plants and animals and clouds. So I made some stationery sets. Postcards with brown card, gift-envelopes with pictures of squirrels and birds and some gift tags featuring St John's Wort plant, among others.

Some of these are on their way to friends. And I put some stationery sets in my etsy shop, because I thought it might be fun to share my love of papery goodness. And that shop has been so abandoned of late.

I was sent this link recently which got me inspired to do some needlework with the kids. Maybe even in their school, if that's allowed.

Happy new week! See you tomorrow.

pattern friday- 18

On my way home from work this afternoon, I couldn't resist stopping in at the local flower shop and buying this bunch of stocks. They were calling me from the window.

Today's pattern is inspired by their goodness. The scent, the memories of childhood springs, the peachy-pink and soft green. I can imagine summer linen curtains with this pattern delicately printed.

Hope you have a great weekend.

This is the song I've been listening to on the ipod these days. Sufjan continues to be a sonic companion. And the video is nice, too. 

other julys

I haven't had much luck taking photos lately. I'll blame the grey weather, rainstorms and office work. So I thought I'd look through my flickr photostream to see what I got up to in other Julys. There are so many projects and moments documented on that page. I was surprised! And pleased that I had put them somewhere. Mostly they make me long for more light and warmth. 

1. Tomato soup for winter- recipe can be found here

2. Keira starts learning the violin

3. Chevy our dog-neighbour comes for a visit

4. Lemon shortbread (more about that here)

*****

- Registration for The Craft Sessions is now open- exciting!

- I'm looking forward to this event/book signing next Thursday night and the tickets have all sold out.

- I'm also speaking at this Pecha Kucha evening as part of the Winter Arts Festival. It's my first PK and I'm planning on talking about MAIL.

- Have you seen this rubbish bin couple music video by the Magnetic Fields? I think you should.

 

stitch sampler

I have a few vintage embroidery books, but I don't spend enough time learning new and interesting embroidery stitches. But this is something I'd like to try - there are countless stitches to learn. Also I like their old-fashioned names.

One of the workshops I'll be doing at The Craft Sessions will involve learning new stitches and making a beautiful sampler to take home and frame. Learning some different stitches can really boost the embroidery confidence, I think.And the stitches worked on natural linen in one or two colours look really gorgeous and I like the slightly hand-made aspect to them- (not too perfect- there has to be a bit of the 'hand' stamped on them).

In this sampler I worked some of my favourite stitches. These include herringbone, feather, fern, and one I made up which is kind of like polka dots.