'Cos I'm leaving on a jet plane...

'Cos I'm leaving on a jet plane

Don't know when I'll be back again (but I do)

Oh babe, it's great to go...

Apologies to John Denver (who wrote it) and Peter, Paul and Mary (who made it theirs)

My bags are packed, it's early morn, Toy Boy's waiting, he's blowing his horn...

My little sister and I leave tonight for 12 days away - 

first stop is Bangkok, Thailand, 

2nd stop, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 

3rd stop, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

3 countries in 12 days - WOW!

The "reason" for the trip is to collect my niece (my sister's daughter), who has been at school in Cambodia for a term, but we will stop in Thailand on the way to have a look around, and in Malaysia on the way home to have a wee rest and some fun together.

I can't wait to see these amazing countries - here's a little taster photo from Cambodia

Not something we see everyday on the main street in Takaka!

I can't wait to get on that plane - don't you love that feeling of taking off for somewhere exotic?

I'm very excited!

A Memory Tree

This month two years ago a friend of our family's passed away.

We didn't know him all that well, but he was a good friend and mentor to Number One Son, especially during his university years.  I think that if we had known him for longer we would have become life-long friends.

He was a gardener, so when he passed we planted a tree for him, and now every August it blooms beautifully in our garden.  It's small yet, but really is becoming stunning!

I can't count how many trees I have planted as memorials for people and pets.  Past and present gardens are full of trees and shrubs with sweet memories.

We raise a cup of British tea to Ray.

This Week 14th July 2012

Pohara Beach in July!

Some weeks have their challenges, and others seem to sail through fairly unscathed.  This has been a relatively unscathed week - I've been toiling at my bench and finalized some pieces I'm rather proud of and have also had some lovely time to play and sort out my somewhat chaotic life!

 

1.  I had a day at home this week and moved my home office from a draughty corridor to a sunny spot in a window.  Why didn't I do this years ago?  It's so nice to "go" to my office rather than pass it every time I go to my bedroom, and it's just a so much nicer space all round.

2.  I always walk on the beach in the very early morning with a group of friends.  We rip up that beach like terriers and I'm puffing like a train by the time we get home.  My dear friend Tracey and I went for the other sort of walk during the beautiful sunny afternoon hours - it was truly  gorgeous!  There were little children playing (it's school holidays here), but it was so calm and peaceful - a real lift and a gift mid-week.

3.  It seems to have been a week for my old Dad.  He turned 86 last Sunday and we took him out for grown-ups afternoon tea (that means red wine and antipasto platter)  at Jellyfish Cafe in Mapua.  It was another of those glorious sunny winter's days...

4.  I had an oxygen bottle issue this week - my old regulators which have done 9 years of solid service - mostly outdoors - finally coughed and spluttered and needed a trip to the repairers. Now my Dad was an engineer and taught welding in his later years at Polytech and had accumulated an impressive and precious collection of antique welding equipment.  We've had a lot of it stored at our place and when the emergency struck (I WAS mid creative flow...) the Toy Boy rummaged around and found this lovely old regulator for me to use...

It works a treat and is actually much nicer to use than any other I have tried!  Gives and lovely clean, even flow - some of them pulse, some choke...My old one was pretty nice, but this old sweetie, though she doesn't look glamorous, certainly does a lovely job!

Do you know by now that I LOVE old things? I would generally rather re-use most things than buy new, so this totally reenforces all I think about old things and quality!

5.  Speaking of old things, in my clean up on my day at home, I found some old URBIS Design magazines from about 10 years ago, when I was studying interior design.  And, you know, good design is always good design!  Some of the technology advertising was a hoot - cutting edge cellphones with clumsy plug in cameras, mega expensive CD players, and some of it was still pretty sexist, surprisingly.  I'm still flicking through them and found these "medals" (brooches?) which were quite inspiring...

6.  And finally, one of my friends posted this picture on Facebook this morning - it's just so right on so many levels!

Winter tropical escape on a plate

So how was your week?  Did you stop to think about the good stuff?

 

The website sale continues - simply by using the code BUYBEADS in the box at the checkout you received 20% discount on anything on the site.  Sale ends 31st July.

This Week 6th July 2012

How was your week?  It seems that Mother Nature has been busy creating havoc in lots of parts of the world, with storms and bushfires in the United States and floods in Australia.  I hope you were all safe.

1.   Just apropos of nothing I got an envelope full of love and glitter from one of my sisters!  A hug in the post!  Photographing the envelope, complete with its stamp made me think how little we use the regular postal service these days, but how very special it is to get really personal mail.  I have made a “note to self” (a regular occurrence) to send more personal mail!

2.      I’m excited about the Website Sale – I’m offering 20% discount on absolutely everything on my website – it’s been fun to hear from old friends and new.  You have until the end of the month to shop, but it’s probably a good idea to get in before the pieces you have your eye on are gone.

      A little reminder of how to do it...Just sign up for my email newsletter on the "News" page , then select your pieces, proceed to the checkout and enter BUYBEADS in the discount code box.  Simple!

3.     I’ve finished some lovely work this week – I made the Chakra Lotus Flower Necklace and bracelets that I showed you earlier in the week, and I have finished a red and grey necklace for someone and am in the middle of the design process of another two necklaces for people – one orange and red and the other of brown based CanCans.  This is when I think I have the best job in the world!

 .4.  There has been the most amazing full moon this week.  I love a full moon – I know that some people find them unsettling, but I feel enlivened and in touch with the elements when the moon shows all her glory.

5.   I had a small brainstorming session this week with the fabulous local artist, Robin Slow.  I just love his work – he paints using kokowai (paints mixed from ground local stone used in traditional Maori art), soot and acrylic paint and his beautiful earthy toned artworks have a distinctly Maori flavor. 

Here’s a little taster, but if you want to see more go to www.kokowaiartist.co.nz

I’ve been looking at symbols, talismans and amulets lately and thinking about the things that are of my world and that I understand.  I learnt so much in that short time!

This is the symbol for Aroha - the Maori word for love

6.    The poinsettia plant that grows outside our bedroom window is flowering madly, despite being hacked down at ground level last summer because it scratches against the wall when it blows around.  It was planted as a pot plant after Christmas one year and just grew and grew, till now it becomes a large shrub every year.  I’m not a big fan of them, but how can you not love something so vigorous?

Inspired by Liv Lane's Bliss List.

It was Time for a Break

We're just home from a wonderful two week holiday where we did a loop of the South Island of New Zealand.  We traveled down the beautiful wild West Coast, passing through Nikau Forests in the sub tropical north.  We stopped at the pancake rocks at Punakaiki...

where the sea was disappointingly calm so the blowholes were quiet...

but the cheeky wekas were busily begging from the tourists...

This wee fellow almost got into the car!  There was a gang of three working the car park like rather hardened operators!

We stayed a night with family at Moana on beautiful Lake Brunner and went bushwalking there.  The peace and quality of stillness there is exquisite.

This collection of old English cars at Dobson is so typically old West Coast!  The Toy Boy is a bit of an old petrol head, so we had to have a "scenic" shot here!

The drive from Moana to Queenstown was long but very diverse and beautiful - from poor pasturelands and stony beaches, through dense rainforest, past the glaciers and into the dry, rocky interior.

The purpose of the trip was a visit with Number One Son and his partner MM.  They live on the shores of Lake Wakitipu in the very busy year round tourist town of Queenstown.  

It's quite a place, with the picturesque old town nestled on the side of the lake in amongst towering mountains.  We had a little flash of snow on the tops while we were there, but in a few weeks the whole town will be focussed on magnificent world-class skifields.  

Number One Son has always been a mad keen fisherman (check out queenstownfisher.com )

and he took us for a drive up the lake to Glenorchy and the Dart River.  We stopped off so he could have a quick fish, and lo and behold he caught a lovely brown trout!  There was great excitement as the fish was landed and safely returned to its home!

The Toy Boy and I bade a reluctant farewell to the kids and headed off towards Moeraki on the East Coast (the place where those beautiful boulders are born).

 

I love the look of the dry, brown-cloaked hills of the inland country.

Our road trip was topped off with a couple of nights at Hanmer Springs and a day soaking ourselves wrinkly in the hot pools, then quietly home.

It was a lovely break, and it's good to be home!

A Weekend in Wellington and a Wedding

As I think I may have mentioned once or twice, friends of ours got married in Wellington last weekend, and we were among the very fortunate guests to share this fantastic day.

My little sister The Stitchbird and her family live in Wellington, too, so it was a great opportunity to spend some time with them as well. 

She has a stall at the Frank Kitts Market in the central city so we went along on Saturday morning before the wedding, because we are market connoisseurs, naturally!

She is the Toy Boy's Wellington outlet, too!

*****

Our friends wedding was held at Zealandia in Karori, which is a beautiful predator fenced bird sanctuary.  The groom calls himself a twitcher (with a wicked little smile on his face ;)) - which means that he loves to see and catalogue birds, and the colour scheme for the whole day was based on our beautiful native bird, the Tui - he has richly coloured blue/black/green feathers on his wings, and a white bobble at his throat.

They are among the cheekiest of all the cheeky birds in the New Zealand bush, and have the most amazing song - they actually have two voice boxes which they alternate and use as their own symphony!

The wedding was an exquisite affair, complete with a sting quartet in the garden before the ceremony

The couple are so delighted with one another that their joy becomes quite infectious!  The vows brought tears to the eyes of most of the group - it was a real privilege to be there to see them made.

 Once again, apologies for the awful photo - I only took my phone, and not my camera!  However, happy faces are always a pleasure to look at, right?

You can't see the bride's jewellery in this shot, but they're lovely Erinite and Indicolite Swarovski Crystals very simply done.  They reflect the colours in her accessories and in the groom's outfit.

Arohanui, Janet and Ken!

*****

Sunday was spent helping my sister at the Craftea Market at the Mirimar School Hall.  This is a really cool little market which is held quarterly - well worth a visit if you're in Wellington when it's on.  

I found some really gorgeous little fabric brooches for gifts.

*****

We had a break in the middle of the day and went into the central city to the Farmers Market - the weather was glorious for the whole weekend and as their slogan says "You can't beat Wellington on a good day!"

 

 

Green and Red Broccoflower

My brother-in-law took us with him to buy their weeks produce - the choices were fresh, varied and colourful!  The market is held on the waterfront and there was even a small fishing boat pulled up selling fish directly from the boat - trimmed and filleted right there and then to your instructions.  

 

There's something very jewel-like about fresh vegetables in the sunshine!

Food stalls from all corners of the world were really tempting, too, and we had delicious indian roti rolls.

There was only one flower seller that I saw, but don't you love the colour of these?

I've come home quite inspired and renewed and ready to create!

Being Inspired

Years ago I read a life changing book called The Artists Way by Julia Cameron and one of her suggestions for re-fuelling our creative tanks was to have regular "Artists Dates".  That's not exactly what I did this week, but I did have two days out visiting with family, shopping and just generally browsing.  The effect was similar, however, and I have come back to the workroom with my head bursting with new ideas!  Yah!  I just cant wait to get back on the torch and convert some of those mind pictures into form.

 I stayed with my darling big sister and we spent some really special time together.  She took me to a new cafe in Nelson, situated in an old historic house on the Nelson foothills called Melrose House.  We had lunch there, served on beautiful china and drank an artisan tea from a gorgeous tea pot in china cups.  Not only was the food amazing, but the staging and setting are to die for! 

I had a fresh fish cake - YUM!

Jane had Chicken Liver Pate with Toasted Walnut Bread and Caramelised Onion Relish

  We've decided that we will take our little sister there when she comes to visit next month. - oops!  Did I let the cat out of the bag?  Was it to be a birthday surprise? Maybe the treat will be magnified by anticipation!

There's a tea wagon loaded with cups, fresh flowers and a gorgeous old garden to wander

Gorgeous Fabric Giveaway

...not mine, but my sister's!
Lyndy is giving away some serious goodies on her blog Stitchbird Fabrics this week.
Her fabrics are just fabulous - she has a real "eye" for a gorgeous piece of cloth
There are six packs in all...

And all you have to do is tell her which ones you would like to win!
How easy is that?
Follow this link or click on her link in the sidebar.

A Weekend in Melbourne

I am lucky to be the middle daughter of three girls, and I consider my sisters to be one of the greatest gifts of my life. Every year we try to get away for a weekend together - sometimes it works and sometimes family ties and responsibilities get in the way, but this was one of the years that it worked for us. We have just returned from Melbourne, one of the most beautiful cities that I know. Everywhere we looked there was a visual feast, from street art to architecture, food and craft markets to high end fashion stores. We explored as much of it as we could in the little time we had, and I have come home refreshed and inspired.

The city is flat and we walked everywhere, apart from taking the odd tram. We constantly stopped to ooh! and aah! over things that caught our eye.

I wonder what lies behind this doorway?

The Victoria Market was full of eye candy - these are flowering cacti that a guy grows from seed and pups.

We found this amazing little stall selling foodie goodies from the Middle East - their nougat was to die for, their walnut stuffed fresh dates the food of the gods, and their retail display one of the more inspirational sights we saw.

Even the fruit and vege sellers made sumptuous displays.

And I'd always wondered what to do with a pomegranate!

And I found an amazing little shop in one of the beautiful arcades making murrini out of sugar, (as opposed to glass)which I stood and watched for ages. They start off with a fat roll of rock on a heated pad with the image layered through, and slowly roll and pull it out to thin strands which they break off into sweeties. The smell of this was amazing!

You can see the image of a raspberry in the end of the cane.

This is one of the glorious little arcades that are dotted throughout the central city.
I could go on and on with the photos, and bore you all to death, but you get the picture? We had a ball!