Up in the deep north

Arrived in Auckland at 5.30am - collected our car and turned left and had a great long drive to the north - popped into Kawakawa to out Hundertwasser toilets - discovered my camera battery was flat and charger back in Perth - sadly the cord doesn't fit Ian's camera so when I remember how to send pics from my phone I will.

In the meantime we slept in until 10am which was very good and booked in for our anni dinner. Been walking and exploring. Thanks for all the lovely messages.

yes folks another year has crept by

Yes - it is that time of the year again and here appears a familiar photo - I did say last year I would look for a new one but I haven't but it is us and we are sneaking off to NZ for our 43 wedding anni today and back again on Sunday. busy day to day before we go but I will post while we are away.

We are flying to Auckland and then driving north to new lands - Doubtless Bay - we haven't been that far north before - we have sailed in Bay of Islands but no further. We shall dribble our way up there tomorrow and hopefully get to enjoy some pohutukawa trees if they are out yet

We are staying in Mangonui - looking forward to it very much.

Off to work first though - lots of orders to do - they will be posted at noon here which is 5 and half hours away - and then a bag to pack and all of that. And I have to admit the list is still rather long but some of it will have to wait until we get back - thank goodness there is always another day.

love that sari ribbon

 Watching the Rugby Sevens this afternoon, I unravelled a hank of sari ribbon. Doesn't it look beautiful - almost too lovely to cut into. But I did.

 This is what I made with some of it. I think it will be a journal page. Maybe.... I am enjoying playing with buttonhole stitch.

slow progress today

thank goodness it is Friday - it is cooler but it has been so humid and I seem to have fallen the short straw and had to work in the non air con parts of the house packaging. the latest Art Quilting Studio arrived in dribs and drabs with more to come probably on Monday. Some came with Fed Ex and some by post. Very interesting. We have sent out all to the people on the list but there are plenty left as I ordered lots. This magazine is always very popular and I did have a quick read when I had my lunch and it looks good - inspired a few ideas in my head.

We also got a bigger bag of the silk string as the first lot has almost all gone. It's pretty yummy stuff - I am going to use some over the weekend. My list grew today so when I checked the ticks all was not promising but then tomorrow is another day and now I am off to sit outside and sew ab utton on Ian's trousers whilst enjoying a glass of Reisling.

summer has arrived methinks

It's horrible here today - 37 and hot and sticky - time to move off methinks.  The reticulation is working and needed but the birds do love our garden with the trees and the waterlily water. There are fires out of control down in Margaret River and properties lost - I am not sure they ever learn from the past.

I can report that my list does have a few ticks although more are needed and it is nearly the end of the week. I couldn't resist starting another little piece using sari ribbon and stitch. I am stitching on a background of flower stitches. Silly I know but this is one from one of my many demos and they pile up. I shan't cover them all anyway I really like the way the loose threads hang out everywhere.

following my muse

Today my list did not go down much at all because I needed to follow my muse and create a little piece of stitchy. Well I have done that now and I can get on with my many tasks which have to be completed this week. I have used a lot of sari ribbon with a great deal of satisfaction.

tidying up - losing some things - finding others

Sometimes when you tidy up you lose things. Like - I have lost my hand sewing needles all gathered on a felted thingy. While I was hunting for it, I found this African inspired neckpiece I made for City and Guilds. I spent ages at the time studying Angela Fisher's Africa Adorned which is full of wondrous photos. It was about this time that I was making hundreds of metres of machine stitched cords and copiously stitching hand painted calico.

These are the matching earrings - I used to make a lot of them and sell them at the markets. Past that phase but it is always good to look at things you did ages ago.

I thought I was very organised but then I realised I actually have a huge list of things to do this week but no list and I was pottering from one thing to another. So I did the right thing and wrote my long list down (I really AM a list person from way back when) and now I can start my ticking things off habit - that always gives satisfaction. So I still have a large number of piles but with some structure. However rather than completing anything today I started stitching sari ribbon down. Tut tut!

I have been working out the requirements for my classes at Victorian Embrioderers' Guild summer school in January - I am teaching 2 two day classes and trying to work out what the students need and what I can take. Thanks for the response to my hands-on workshops here at my studio - some of them are filling up quite nicely - I may have to change a couple since our calendar for the first part of 2012 is getting rather full.

It is hotting up in Perth and going to get hotter during the week. I have been watching the weather in Wellington and on the West Coast - gales and water.

another anniversary

It is a year today since the Pike River mine disaster and I imagine a very sad day for many families - there still seem to be few answers.

In Perth it is a lovely day - sunny - not too hot - bit of wind - the more of these the merrier. There is a concert tonight at the oval and they have been practising all afternoon - they are not very good as yet so I am happy to be going out for Kaz's birthday.

I have been playing with a few things including water soluble paper and have loaded a new taster

I had some drama with my laptop last week and lost all my programmes when a new hard drive was needed. Some I have started to reload but it won't talk to my printer as yet which is a bother as I have the only inkjet printer necessary for all this strange printing stuff. in the meantime I am revisiting as I work through the last of my Okarito pieces - I am putting together a few different books and journals and then I will be finished. This above is one of my photos printed onto water soluble paper and after a bit of this and that, twin needled onto a fibrousy background.

I have also been playing with rust powder but maybe for tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Kazuko

and hope you are having a lovely day.  Have a good night and we will see you tomorrow!

it's thursday

Just had a very nice night out with Val and Jim at the West End Deli - and yes, Ileana, we do cook at home - like last night we had lamb chops in a special Indian spice wrub on our bbq.

A new rubbing plate arrived today in with other things - Doodles - rather nice isn't it - all rubbed over with Shiva Stiks

I have started working on my next project - note to self - do not lay water soluble fabric out in the rain to take a photo - even if it is Romeo. It didn't disintegrate but I did have to open it up afterwards.....

For those interested - I have loaded some handson workshops on my workshop section - for 2012

Tuesday just rocks up and along

I have been trying to get going on my next big project but apart from pages of words spread all over the table and the fabric ready at my sewing machine I am making slow progress. Mainly because we are busy. Loads of parcels appearing and lots of packaging needed to be done. We used to sell Corriedale wool in 200gram packs and when they sold out I dropped them off the catalogue and didn't re-order but a couple of weeks ago I was using some with my needlefelter and thought - these really are good and the needlefelter loves them - so I placed a huge new order and Ian popped them on the web - mostly to package in 3 shade sets of 150grams - and I was quietly waiting for them to arrive so I could quietly package them. Murphy popped in and all these people started ordering them - before they got here. but they did rock up yesterday afternoon just in time to package the first lot and today I have been working away like a little beaver and getting ready to place a new order. This above is Pansy. For felt making I love our 18.5 micron merino which Jacinta and Martien dye for us and we sell it natural but the NZ Corriedale has a wonderful springy texture to it.

Here he is - Ian is pretty sure it must be a South Island one... I used to spin an awful lot when we lived in Wellington and knitted and crocheted copious garments for everyone including the public when I worked at the markets. Spin up and crochet up during the week and sell it all on the weekend - something like that.

 As well as that (and a pile of other goodies to arrive) CPS Pages rocked up too. I ordered a lot because I thought it might be good and it is - they will all go out tomorrow and there are about 5 copies left if anyone is interested.

Studio to get on with big project? Tomorrow....

Busy Saturday and Relaxing Sunday

I had 6 lovely ladies here yesterday for a wonderful workshop - I hope they enjoyed it - I haven't done this before and it involved cleaning and clearing my studio which in retrospect has been excellent. I had, of course, far too many on my list of things to play with   but we used transfer paints, painted fusible webbing, played with Lutradur and Evolon and TAP - so I think we did pretty well. Ian was the chief chef and he did a very good job too. I enjoyed it enough to start thinking about some more for next year which I shall pop in my Workshop tag soon for a response of interest.

Afterwards, we went up Beaufort Street to check out the Beaufort Street Festival - this was the giant sock bird created by Wendy Herrington. one of the best parts of having a festival is that Beaufort Street is closed to traffic and there were lots of people wandering enjoying themselves. It is very good for the local businesses and should happen more often. Maybe it well now we have a new mayor who is pretty active. We queued up at GoGos for a take away and then decided to rest our weary feet (I had been standing all day) inside GoGos restaurant where we had a very nice curry and made some new friends with the people at the next table who had been at the races all day - say no more...

Karen brought me a lovely bunch of wheat - I expect from her farm - I have been doing a few sketches.

Today I have scrubbed the studio floor (it's polished stone and came up a treat) which was well overdue and I Have cleaned out a few more things and created a few more spaces and put most of my big baskets of work in progress back inside. Ian has cleaned all the decking and re oiled it so we are going to be looking pretty smart for the coming times.

not really my studio

I have been in the studio most of today - cleaning it up for tomorrow's workshop - of course lots of it is in our bedroom but I did see Ian's eyes light up when he saw me carting a couple of bags to the rubbish bin.
So this is not my studio but the wonderful garden in Marrakesh - don't you just love the colours?

I guess lots of people have been there and fallen in love with the colours. I could easily go back to Marakkesh.

I shall be up bright and early tomorrow - at least the studio is ready - I hope they all enjoy their day.

Happy Wedding Anni

 It's Kaz and Bruce's wedding anni today - well done you two - you will catch up with us one day. Hope you both have a lovely day and night.

 Talking of lovely things - one of my holiday finds arrived today - silk string. Each hank has 10 different colours of silk fibre which look string like but can be pulled apart - fluffed out - whatever you like - fab to use in your silk paper making. They are $5 each or 5 for $20 Ian hasn't put them on the web yet because he was busy popping the silk cocoons up. We haven't been able to get these for ages and these ones are in excellent condition - not hairy like the ones we had before. I had almost given up on them.

Do check out my next taster - it will be up for 5 days.
I am just starting my tidy up for my Demystifying the Distressables workshop on Saturday.

Tonight we are off to the final ACO concert for the year - looking forward to it.

Provence - not quite a slide show

I was going to create a slide show of our Provence photos - the real ones taken by Ian - but Slide show is closing down so while I search for a new one I shall pst lots of pics instead for you to enjoy.
What I have discovered is that if you click on the first photo it brings them all up so you can look at them all liks a slide show. 

 Arch at the top of Menerbes

our hire car at the bottom of our steps in our very own car park

 Dale in Le Petite Luberon - walking day

 view from Menerbes

 wonderful roofs (rooves?)

livng area in our villa  - as you can see I am trying to load up the table like I do at home with my stuff.

 Street in Menerbes

 street in Menerbes at night

 La Veranda where we had two wonderful meals and only a few minutes from home.

 grapes in Menerbes looking down from our villa

the gate to our villa

 grapes of course

more grapes

Hope you enjoy it - we had a wonderful time. Busy as beavers back here now. Such excitement - our face book page has over 1000 likes (strange word) so thank you all - check out and leave a comment because I am giving away 10 daily prizes for 10 days  - that's one for each 100.

Happy BIrthday Grant

Happy Birthday Grant - hope you are having a great day in London. Many happy years ago on Flutterby on Lake Rotoiti - up bright and early while we were still asleep down below! But now I think about it - someone else must have been up to take the photos.....

Those were the days for sure - Ma and Pa style sailing - including relaxing and barbecues in our private bay (until others arrived). Lots of tadpoles coming home at the end of each weekend if I recall correctly.

texture

Not particularly good photos but I have been working on the next holey moley club lesson which is rust and rort and I wanted to work with some texture. Khadi paper has a wonderful texture (the khadi books are walking out the door but once they have gone there will be no more until next October - they are too heavy to have sent) and I have rubbed over the surface with Shiva Stiks and then sprayed over the top with some ink. It actually looks rather yummy as the Shivas are a great resist. I am planning to stitch once it is all dry etc. Khadi paper being a cotton rag paper, is wonderful for stitching and I think everyone must know, almost my favourite. When I had the books sent to me at Ally Pally, I also got some very large pages which I have plans for but I am going to have to be frugal with these as there aren't many and it was quite an effort working out how to get them back with us.

For this one I used a Stylish Stencil - Chicken Wire - so simple but effective. Rubbed the stiks over the surface and used a toothbrush to spread it and blend it. I find an old toothbrush better than  stencil brush.  Then I sprayed it with a Moondshadow Mist. Again it looks a bit dark here but trust me it looks great.

K.D. Lang (always wonder how bad people's names are that they won't use them - after all I am stuck with Dale - wonder what the response would be if I started calling myself  D.E. ) - the concert was good - this is the third one we have been to - we both decided we enjoyed the earlier ones better - this one was rather more like a rock concert and she didn't do many of her lovely soft ballad songs. But it didn't rain and the only eventful thing which happened was my brand new chair which broke under me - all replaced now and a new one in the shed for next time.

Back to the mags - I have found 1 copy each of the latest CPS and the CPS Gifts if anyone is after them. They had managed to hide away where I could  not see them.

Thanks for the comments about my new French books  - bed time reading for me....

flower stitcher and some lovely little books

So many people have bought the flower stitcher and my book in the last few weeks so I thought I would show one of my pieces. It is very similar to the cover on the book - lots of different stitches and all using one thread - Carnivale. Variegated threads are my favourites - the colour plays all over the place. I am working on a few pieces on Romeo but they are not for showing yet.

When we were in Provence I bought a number of beautiful little books - all in French of course so it will encourage me to practise my French as well. This one is a cook book - using fleurs - I got it for Jacinta as well for the magnificent colours. Expect to see some of these combos coming up before too long.

Full of exquisite drawings -

and another

 and this one is my diary for 2012 also full of lots of recipes. Should keep me out of mischief. Since I coudln't find any Provencial fabrics (other than table cloths and napkins and the like) I think these are more my scene anyway.

Tonight we are going to the KD Lang concert at Sandalford winery. It is expected to shower so we have plastic for under us, our low chairs, our picnic and plastic to cover us. We can only get wet but we are looking forward to it.