Dunkleys Great NZ Craft Show South Island Road Trip

In New Zealand we like to think that our winters are mild in comparison to a lot of the world, but in the past week we had a polar blast sweep across the country.   And wouldn't you know it, it was the week that we chose to travel south for the Dunkleys Great New Zealand Craft Show South Island Tour!
We were surprised that the weather was fabulous - a perfect winter's day right over our notorious Takaka Hill, the equally notorious Wangamoas.  But when we got to the Kaikoura Coast in the east the sea was mountainous! 

There were waves the size of buildings coming right up to the road.  Fortunately we got there just after high tide - the water had been right across the road and there was lots of debris dumped there.

Even the poor seals that live there were right up by the road on the rocks trying to avoid the sea!  I couldn't get a photo of them, sorry - and I apologise for the quality of these shots - they were taken from the moving van - there was no way I was getting out of there, and we wanted to get away from there as soon as we could as the wind was buffeting the van alarmingly!

Up through the Hundalees the road was really icy.

Then we hit heavy snow through the Greta Valley

But the good news is....that we made it!  We set up the  show on Thursday afternoon and here it is!

And we won FIRST PRIZE for Outstanding Display!

Woohoo!  Thanks, Dunkleys!

Thanks to those people who dropped by to see us - and I apologise for being so busy that it was hard to chat - the crowd was overwhelming at times.

At the moment we're taking a couple of days out at Moeraki Beach - one of my favourite places in the world - just walking and cloudwatching.  The weather is now glorious!

It's a great place to just sit and watch the sky.

And there's lots of treasure to collect on the beach - it's a great place for sea-glass.

And I found a T-Stick!  Very topical at the moment as that's how I'm using the internet here ;).

New Books and the big draw

One of the preparations I love to make for a trip is making sure that I have some nice books to read. Here's my little stash...I think it will last me for a bit longer than three weeks!
We leave here on Wednesday for Christchurch - weather permitting. This snow storm is putting the trip in some doubt - Oh! I do love the joys of traveling in winter! I wonder how the Christchurch Craft Show will be in this weather? Perhaps it will all have blown over by opening day on Friday - I do hope so!
Ironically, we are having beautiful days here in Golden Bay - the sun is high and warm, but the wind is cold.
And the winner of the Blog Giveaway is....drumroll, please...

Carol Soutter-Earle! Congratulations, Carol, I will be in touch!

Something New

Taupe and Grape Tiger Beads

I told you recently that I was working on some beads that were driving me crazy.  I was trying to get a subtle colour effect using a gorgeous very pale handmade brown glass - it's really almost not brown, more of a soft taupe.

I made it into Tiger Beads - it's actually very dark purple and white twisted stringer (for those who might be interested ;)) heavily encased in this lovely brown glass.  I've spaced the feature beads with etched beads made from the same brown glass.  I think you get a better idea of a "colour" from the etched beads.  The insides of the beads are softly taupe-y, cream-y purple-y.  The little crystal beads in between are Swarovski crystals in Light Topaz - slightly larger (round faceted) beads than I normally use.  It may be one of those designs that's better seen in real time.

And here is the first of the Raindrops Series that I'm fiddling with. I'm really loving making these, but because we're in the middle of preparing for the Great NZ Craft Show South Island Tour, I've been rather distracted from them. I will make the other pieces up when we get back in mid September, I think.

They're based on very very soft transparent colours with etched beads and crystals. There's a little twist with some of the newer pieces, so I'll leave that as a surprise for later.

Don't forget to make sure that you have registered as a member of my blog so you go into the draw for a free pair of my "Roses" earrings!  I will do the draw on Monday.

Found at the Bottom of the Garden

Flowers are inspirational for me.  And I also love bulbs - you plant these brown, boring looking lumps and a few months later, when there's nothing much else around, up come these little jewels.

These are little rock irises, and for some unknown reason, they remind me of feathers.

I would love to be able to reproduce these in glass!

Blog Giveaway!

As a very special thank you to my newsletter followers and as a follow up to my website sale, I have decided to do my first online giveaway.  There is one condition...as there always is!

If you register as a blog follower you will go into the draw to win this pair of Sapphire Blue Rose Earrings.  You will also need to let me know how to contact you if you are the lucky winner.

I will draw the prize before we go away to do the South Island run of the Great New Zealand Craft Shows and will post them off to you at my cost - this includes overseas postage.

Mark these dates on your calendar

Christchurch Show - Addington Racecourse Friday 19th to Sunday 21st August

Dunedin Show - Edgar Centre Friday 26th to Sunday 28th August

Invercargill Show - ILT Velodrome Friday 2nd to Sunday 4th September 

There is a printable discount coupon for these shows on my Facebook page.

You can "Like" the page to receive updates from the studio.

And don't forget to enter the draw for those earrings!

This giveaway is now closed, and the winner was Carol Soutter Earle.