This Week 16th June 2012

We're being bears this week and hibernating - there's been snow on the hills and a first for me, I had ice on the windscreen of my car this morning.  Yeah, I know, all you tough southerners and folk from cold winter climates are telling me to harden up!  Winter in Golden Bay is very mild and the beaches are looking truly spectacular!

I've had a great week - there's lots of creative juice flowing in the studio and into my journals.
1.  I was really inspired by a blog that I visited from Liv Lane's Weekly Little Bliss List Links (and for the life of me I can't remember where, the blogger's name or her blog name - apologies), who had entered a challenge to decorate one index card every day.  It got me thinking so I pulled out a wee notebook sent to me by my dear friend Kim and decided that I would fill in a page every day - just to remind myself to pick up a pen, paintbrush, whatever...and ink the page.  I'm enjoying the process...

2.  I bought myself a little treat this week from Healthpost - Royal Honey Nectar Moisturising Facelift.  This magic potion is made in a tiny area I lived in for 3 years called Tapawera - right up the top of the Motueka River Valley.  It's been developed by the local beekeper from bee venom and is apparently Botox in a jar.  Kate is reported to have used the Face Mask in preparation for THE wedding.  Anyhow, it's really nice to use - feels pretty natural and I can really feel my skin tighten up.  I put my normal moisturiser on over it.  However, no-one's commented that I look twenty years younger...yet :).

3.  We have a new venture in Golden Bay called Village Milk .  A local farmer is selling milk from his cows via a vending machine at his gate.  It's A2 unpasteurized - that means that the cows naturally produce milk with certain beneficial fats - they're checked fastidiously so the milk can be guaranteed healthy and can therefore be sold unpasteurized.  Read up more on their site if you're interested in the science of it - it's fascinating. It seems that lots of local people are as into authentic consumption as we are - it has become so popular that we often find a small queue at the vending machine.  It's lovely to see our alternative little community helping one another out with the technology of it too!  I met a friend there last night who recommended V8 juice bottles as the perfect receptacle - even better than the bottles available in the bottle vending machine - as we have.

Wild bird seed and dripping

Melt the dripping and add the seed.  Pour into plastic containers (so you can run a knife around them to release the pudding)

Put them out in the garden and watch the birds come from far and wide - it can take a little while for them to realise that it's there.

4.  I've been making "birdie puddings" this week.  I make them every year at this time for the poor wee birds who have so little to eat right now.  I figure it's my way of making up for the occasional victim of the fur babies.

5.  The Toy Boy - who has braved ice and snow to take the toys to The Nelson Market this morning - made me up a fresh batch of bead boards this week.  I'm so lucky to have his help with the little finishing touches.  Now all I have to do is stamp them all!

6.  This week I've been playing with red, black and grey - I  have three necklaces on the go in these colours and some pink Swarovski pearls combined with some silver and a transparent glass heart...and I've been working on a new version of the Chakra Beads...the studio is the cosiest place in town!

How about you?  Have you had a good week?  How about making a (mental or actual) list of six things that warmed your week...

We Are All Weird!

This is the cover of a book I've just read.  Yes, that's a pretty individual look alright!

It's called We are all Weird: The Myth of Mass and the End of Compliance by Seth Godin .

His premise is that the world has changed from the mass compliance of the 20th century, where we found safety and acceptance in complying with the norm, where mass marketing was efficient and cost effective, and a few very large companies became even larger - the larger they became, the more influence they had on our everyday way of life.

He says that the introduction of the internet and our easy, instant access to information about everything from sky diving clubs in Mongolia to Star Trekkies groups in Amsterdam has made us all able to express ourselves in new and unique ways, which means the demise of the mass market and "normal" societies are becoming a thing of the past.

It's a little book - I'm sure a faster reader with an a day to spend could gobble it up - and an interesting read.  It's well written and interestingly laid out to accentuate his points.

And I think he may be right - we all want to express our own individuality, and certainly in New Zealand, I think that we feel free to do that.  It makes me wonder about other oppressed populations and to appreciate the gift of freedom that we have here.

 I have been changing things around in the workroom this week, putting my bead stash on display for sale - it's always been available but I haven't had the place to show it off till now.  If there's anything you need in the way of Swarovski Crystals or sterling silver beads and findings, please just ask - I'm happy to sell bits and pieces for your own projects and I love hearing about your creative juice!

While I was going through everything I came across some beautiful Swarovski Light Sapphire 8mm bicones that are just begging to be made up into something - I've been enjoying tossing around some ideas.

 I have also just got in some Swarovski Rondelles for a project I'm planning with pearls - they're pretty gorgeous, and I'm thinking that I might need to get a range of sizes in these.  They're silver plated and nickel free, so should be nice to wear.

Have a wonderful weekend, and if you need a little treat and a pick-me-up, sit with this clip of galadarling talking about her Radical Self Love Project on TED.

One Gorgeous Week!

It's been a good week.  Firstly, the weather, apart from one day of rain - which the garden really needed by the way - has been drop-dead-gorgeous.  I mean perfect day after perfect day!  It was so clear the other day that we could see Mount Ruapehu from our living room.  Now this may not seem remarkable to you, but Mount Ruapehu is hundreds of kilometres away in the middle of the North Island!  We couldn't believe our eyes!

Dawn at Pohara - Mount Ruapehu is the little cone in the distance

We had friends in for an evening meal three times this week so I was able to potter away in the kitchen to my heart's delight making meals that we wouldn't usually bother with.  It's been great to catch up with old friends, though I think the waistband of my jeans is a little more snug that it was.

My gardening friend brought me a gift this week - do you remember the gorgeous flower I showed you late last year?

She brought me some "pups" - apparently that's what they call succulent cuttings - already potted up and ready to sprout.

Epiphyllum "Flamingo"

I love having precious little treats in the garden - I love having  treats whatever the context, really! AND I have the body to prove it!

Speaking of bodies, I had a Cranio-Sacral treatment with local naturopath Carolyn Simon this week and it was absolutely AMAZING!  Don't ask me how it works, but I'm here to tell you that it does.

The movements are so subtle that as my body moved and relaxed into the treatment I kept asking Carolyn "How did you do that?"  and "How did that happen?"  She finished off with a flower essence treatment which was also really fascinating - I had essences of New Zealand native plants which relate back to the chakras, which are a particular passion of mine.

My head has been buzzing with ideas for beads this week - well, with ideas for jewellery to be more precise. 

This is something a bit different for me and as I was making it I kept showing it to visitors to the workroom, asking for their opinions.  They were all really positive, but I still feel a little unsure about it.  Does it lack texture?  I love the colour wash of purples and teals and I like the weighting of the beads, and it's quite dainty... Is this a new direction for the work?

I also made a set of plain ivory beads a couple of weeks ago - they're heavily graduated and round.  The ivory glass worked differently across the piece so it has a little subtle variation.  I'd like to make something similar, but I'm not sure what colour to use.  Perhaps lime green?  I made these for Julie, who is a redhead and they look fabulous on her.  She calls them her glass pearls.

Some friends of ours have been doing loads of fishing lately and have been keeping us in beautiful blue cod - our favourite fish - piquant and fine textured - perfect fried in the pan with a little butter!

Look what they found in the gut of a fish they caught - they are so beautiful that it's hard to do them justice in a photo!

Exquisite!

New Swarovski Crystal Designs

Erinite (Sea Blue Green) and White Pearls Necklace

Erinite & White Pearls Bracelet

 As I mentioned in my Bliss List, I've been making a few new designs in Swarovski Crystals and silver.  I love to  just sit and ponder over a tray of beautiful beads - how lucky am I to be able to do this regularly?

The Erinite and White Pearls will go with almost anything - it's one of those pieces that will go anywhere, night and day, casual or dressy.   Such and exquisite colour and my absolute favourite in the Swarovski range!

The crystals are so perfect and so full of dancing light and colour that it's hard to resist them - no matter who you are - I think they bring out the magpie in all of us!

Jet Black Drop & Pearl Necklace

Aquamarine Drop& Pearl Necklace

These two necklaces are a little longer and quite fine and dainty in a very flattering shape.

I've (very poetically) put them in a category called "Other Crystal Designs" on my website.

Sadly I've just heard from Swarovski that they are putting their prices up, so I will have to follow suit in the new financial year.  

So that makes this a great time to buy!