If there is an award for the worlds worst blogger, then possibly I'd win it. Apologies for the long wait for an update. Things have been busy in the studio with lots of creativity and dreaming and planning.  This month you can see a little of me working in my studio on Hearts n Crafts a new programme thats running on TV7, Saturdays at 6:30pm. My little piece will be on the 16th June.

With the weather turning colder, the hotties have been enjoying lots of wonderful publicity in features in Viva Magazine, NZ  and currently in Peppermint magazine , Australia. They have been zooming off to all corners of the globe and it alway lovely to hear stories about where they end up.

Today in the studio a little bit of a bird theme has been developing....

A little peek at what I've been up to over the last wee while. Its quite nice working with the vintage blankets during this colder weather.

This year is Marching on, At home we've been squirrelling away things for winter, and keeping true to the waste not want knot values, thats meant collecting tree fellings and trimmings for firewood and freezing the last of the home grown blueberries, we simply must have blueberry muffins for as long as possible.
It's also meant that I've been thinking of winter; and so I finally made up a few more Hottie cover designs that have been waiting patiently in my sketchbook of random thoughts and ideas.

Having a sketch book with all my ideas and thought that I dream up means that when I get stuck in a rut I can flip to a page and remember something I wanted to try but just didn't have time right then and there. Recently I looked at my stash of blankety goodness and found some solid pink blankets as well as some wonderful checks. I also through serendipity put one of the check blankets right next to an old favourite childhood book, and that is how the  Happy little whale hottie cover was born! I quite like the whale hottie cover it reminds me of  " save the whales" which fits in with my trying to recycle and remake to make new. Some of the new hotties have already been sent to Australia and Canada and germany, I love it when they go off on worldwide travels.

On feb 22nd I found myself distracted thinking about the Christchurch Earthquake that had happened exactly a year ago. While I was remembering I was working on my pattern for the Ellie purses, cute little elephant purses that unzip when you pull their tails, perhaps my subconcious was making me make elephants because they remember and care for their family groups. Those giant creatures really are quite special.

I hope you like my new hottie covers and blankety things which have evolved over Feb/March. Hopefully I'll remember to blog more often than I do * blush*

A late night blog post.
School went back today, which means I'm back into working regular hours in the studio- fantastic!

This week I'm making up  new things from pool table felt off cuts. A wonderful person gave me a box of off cuts. They are lovely quality thick 100% wool felt. I've actually had the box sitting in the corner of my workroom for about a month while the ideas  have bubbled away in my head. I've quite a few ideas, so check back at the end of the week to see what else has taken form...

A lot of the felt is a wonderful green ( funny that), and the pieces are mostly long strips. Over the weekend I worked on a pattern for a novelty purse/basket made from felt leaves stitched together. Each leaf is had cut and stitched before being joined together, a bit of a challenge to get the pattern pieces right and the leaves so that they would be stable and stand up around the edge of the purse/basket. My thinking was that the little bag could be used as small carry bag/ purse or as a storage basket in a room or on a desk. It could also be fun as an Easter basket, for flowergirls or perhaps dress ups.

I've also been playing with making baby croc's. Little Croc shoes made from the offcuts, still working on the pattern as I'm not 100% happy with it yet.

New purses/bags made from pool table felt

zippitydoodah.felt.co.nz

crocodile baby shoes made from pool table felt

pixie purses from snooker table offcuts

I also managed to find a bit of time to make up a few more pixie purses from snooker table felt! The pixie purses are fully lined with vintage fabric with little holly hobbie style girls sewing, and spinning. I managed to find some perfectly matching zips in my large surplus zip collection, so they are 100% upcycled, love it when that happens. Have a great week, easy when its a short week.

2012 Its going to be a goodie!

Wow. I'm quite possibly the worst blogger ever, my excuse is that if I get busy creating I often "forget" to blog about what I've been making.

This year I'm loving having my own workspace- thank you husband and Dad for creating my refuge where I can stitch and create and make a mess without disrupting the household!

Blanket zip purse, upcycled vintage blanket, doily and fabric

Bunting made from fabric pieces from the stash.

So here is a condensed update on whats been happening this January.

Tanners Point, low tide.

We had a lovely break away to Tanners Point, which is near Waihi Beach in the Bay of Plenty. It was wonderful to leave the city and spend a few lazy days kayaking, reading, eating local produce and just enjoying doing as little or as much as one wanted to do, and breathing the fresh sea salty air! While I was relaxing at the beach I knitted up 3 scarves and a pair of stripey socks from Happy Go Knitty hand dyed yarn. I hadn't knitted socks for quite a number of years so it was great to get a few tips from Helene of Happy go knitty and Belinda from Blendy knits again. I've worn my socks a few times( It is mid summer!), and other members of the household have expressed their desire for their own home made socks, so no doubt I'll be making a few more pairs for winter.

Its also been school holidays which means a little less productive "work" time but I have managed to sketch down lots of ideas for new products I want to create once we get back into the swing of school next week.

Last week I had a film crew visit for some filming in the studio. I tidied up because they were coming, and then the first thing they did was "untidy" as they wanted to show how I used vintage and surplus textiles to create my products. He he I should have realised my creative "mess" was actually of interest! I'll keep everyone posted with when my little spot will be on the telly.

Its Wedding season , and I have been busy with wonderful commissions for Weddings, some zip flower button holes for groomsmen, a few zip floral headpieces, and some custom blanket mice for table settings at a Alice in wonderland wedding reception. I love knowing something I made is part of someones very special day.

I also managed to find a little time to restore my vintage sewing work box. Its a rather wonderful useful contraption, the top layers open and extend out to house all my threads, and the bottom has drawers that I store my sewing tools in. When I found it the little wooden pieces that allow the tops to open and extend were broken, so I posted a few down to my Dad and he made up the replacement ones for me. It has squeaky caster wheels on the bottom so I can move it around the studio to where I'm working. I love it so much I bought another smaller one to store my buttons in, and to my delight when I opened it up I found lots of wooden reels of thread and some old lightening zips! Seems like it was meant to be!

the "before shot" of my sewing cabinet.

Currently I'm working on red zip flowers and a few little gifts for lovers of valentine's Day.... quite a nice way to pass the time...

Kisses for the Mrs, Blanket mouse.

Christmas Gingerbread sleigh, made at tanners point, iced with  an icing bag made from a plastic bag!

Spring Fling

I've been super busy lately with lots of fun projects. Firstly the Wooly Walk a Long which is a collective Yarn Bombing on the Devonport Wharf, Devonport, Auckland. It will hopefully remain there for the duration of the Rugby World cup. If you are in Auckland do take time out to go and see it as it is amazing, with over 90 pieces of knitting/ crotchet from over 9 different countries. Theres over 80 metres of knitted wooly goodness to see.

For my first piece I started out with the idea of travel; people would travel from around the Globe for the RWC, and also people would travel by ferry across the harbour to Devonport. So I came up with the idea of " the other side" which lead to " the grass is greener on this side" and well then along came sheep ( perfect since NZ has so many) so then the sheep became wooly walkalongs along the handrail on the wharf.

For my second piece, I spotted some impossibly furry red wool, which was just wanting to be made into Elmo - everybodies fav. furry red monster! I thought Elmo would be fun for kids to see when they went past the yarn bombing. Most of Elmos fans are rather short and I figured that if I made Elmos arms dangle from the railing they would spot them and interact with Elmo. Elmo has been enjoying meeting new friends and giving out lots of free hugs. He had a slight mishap when some meanies pulled off one of his arms, but luckily Elmo has an angel who found his arm and we were able to replace it!

My third piece for the Wooly Walkalong is called Lowri ( say Lowri like "low tree" but without the "t") in the sky with butterflies. Its a special piece for a friend who's missing their gorgeous daughter. You might wonder why its called ..butterflies when you can only see one there, sometimes you don't need to be able to see something to know its there.

I really enjoyed creating something that was just for fun, knowing that it would spread some random hapiness about Auckland. I hope you can find time to visit Devonport Wharf and have a photo with Elmo, and if not enjoy these photos and check out;

ttp://www.localist.co.nz/milfordtakapunadevonport/articles/devonport-wharf-gets-woolly

Spring has sprung...

September already, and I'm happily welcoming Spring into the garden and the new studio, which is nearly ready for visitors. I'll do another blog post about the studio with before and after photos just before opening day. Good things really do take time, and more so when trying to reuse and repurpose rather than buying new. With a lot of effort from my husband and some great help from my Dad the double garage has been converted to a studio and extra room. I'm lucky to have gorgeous picture windows that let the sun and garden in. I'm hoping a little futher down the track once I'm settled in, I'll be able to offer workshops or classes in the creative room. Anyone care for a cloche hat making class?

A few piccies of the outside of the studio/shop space, and know that I am super busy preparing for all the spring markets , lots of new handmade happiness on its way.Oh and a shot of my homegrown grapefruit & lemons because even though I'm not a fan of yellow, I loved the yellowy goodness of them sitting in the pot about to be turned into Marmalade. Perhaps Mother Nature knows that we need a shot of colour at the end of winter and send us the promise of sunshine in the colour of citrus! Mmmmmm I love spring!