crafting like mad

i updated my cloud of birds blog with the new crafts i made in the past couple of weeks. crafting lately has been a stressful but also a kind of rewarding process...i've been enjoying experimenting with new materials.

castles in the air

i found these prints at the salvation army the other day. i love their magical moody atmosphere. i hope i get to travel to a place like this one day...

dad as a young fella

here are a few cool old picks of my dad in the 50's and early 60's. from top to bottom: on a trip with a mate to ninety mile beach (nice wheels eh); hanging from a pylon cleaning an insulator (he was a linesman for many years); and posing with his cuzzies.

aroha nui

well, it's been a sad and surreal couple of months. my dad passed away, so there has been little time and inspiration for blogging. dad and i were really good buddies and he will be sorely missed by me and all of his family. this pic is one of the few i have of us together when i was a tot.

splendid find

the fair at houghton bay school was ok, a little bit crowded for my liking. we bought a food processor that didn’t work when we got it home (note to self: test electrical equipment before getting partner to lug it home in a bitter southerly rain). however, the find of the day was this neat book called “the amazing pranks of master till eulenspiegel”. it follows the shenanigans of a rapscallion called till, whose pranks amuse and infuriate his fellow town folk. it has wonderful photographic illustrations of 3d models…


then i remembered when i got home that i actually have another similar book, this one is alice in wonderland. it was also printed in 1948 by the same publisher, Max Parrish and co. it is probably my favourite book in my book collection, the colours are so beautiful and i love the mixture of 3d and flat elements…

bring on the white elephant

it’s that time again…this is me with my very jubilant older siblings. i suspect they are hopped up on lollipops and 50c mixtures. anyhoo, i went and checked out the dowse in lower hutt today—saw some decadent and whimsical hats by philip treacy and some boring german fashion photos (i realised that bad 80’s western fashion taste infiltrated every corner of the world). i also got to see julia deville’s taxidermy jewellery (the kitten rug was repulsive, but it was my favourite—it had a wee pearl in its mouth). AND it’s gala season again—hurrah!! houghton bay school gala is on tomorrow. i’m hoping they have a good white elephant...

cooler than mtv cribs

recently i found an amazing book called krakow-rzeczywistosc i fantazja—it’s all about christmas cribs made in poland. every year there is a competition in the kracow market square for the best miniature structure depicting the nativity. i think this book is from the 70's but i believe that the competition is still going on today. the time and patience that must go into these is phenomenal; who knew such wondrous scenes could be created from coloured tin-foil, wood and glue. it is crafting at it’s most extreme.

visitor from the deep

a whale came to visit the south coast the other day. i didn't have a camera so i thought that i would try to recreate it...ok, he wasn't wearing a top hat but he was a very beautiful, noble creature. it was a right whale, big and bluey grey with white barnacles. he rose to the surface every 10 minutes or so for air. and...he took my breath away.

sparkle and shine

here are few artists that i have stumbled upon in the last year that i find really inspiring. gracia haby creates amazing worlds through collage. she sometimes collaborates with louise jennison to make wonderful artists books and litho prints. their new online shop can be found here. i love the aesthetic of gracia's work and her titles are very clever...


{Everything that reminds me of you makes me unbelievably sad.}


{Coins in every fountain.}


{It had to be said, it reminded them of home.}

angela singer is an animal rights activist who often uses recycled taxidermy in her work. these works are from her series "my dearest, dearest creature 2006"...





and last but not least, julia deville—an amazing jeweller and artist. check out her beautiful website . she has a show out at the dowse at the moment which i can't wait to see. like angela singer she is a total animal lover, and she has a very healthy attitude towards mortality and death. a good interview with her can be read here...

rewind and fast forward

this picture was taken when i was five and i went up mt. taranaki with my lovely sister. it was the first time i experienced snow, which was magical, but it was also the first time i got smashed in the face with a snowball (courtesy of my sister’s dumb boyfriend) which was not so cool.



my sis and i are doing a half marathon in new plymouth this weekend. we are walking not running, but it's still quite a mammoth event for my atrophied and geriatric limbs. i have taken to walking around island bay in hopes of gaining some kind of adequate fitness level, but i imagine i am going to be a shaking, shambling mess afterwards. so, wish us luck…

from chaos there is order

this week has been slightly shambolic (and what’s with this insane weather??) but there have been some lovely catch-ups with friends. yesterday i went for a quick op-shop blitz to the wairarapa with two buddies. we didn’t score much but it was nice to get out of town for the day and we had a beaut feed in greytown. the carterton salvation army wins hands down for old school ambience! there i found a couple of frames, a candle in the shape of a ladies head, and a bracelet with green glass beads that broke five minutes after I bought it. however, i restrung it when i got home with some other beads, and then i got a bit keyed up and restrung some other necklaces. it was immensely satisfying to complete something…

time flys

my giddy aunt, is it friday already? where did this week go?? i have lots of cool books i want to share with you but i don't have time to scan them all in quite yet. so here is the obligatory flashback picture. my family were on the way to rotorua for a holiday. but when we got there, my older brother (the one in the dallas cowboys sweatshirt) had some kind of weird reaction to the sulphur in the air and his face blew up like a balloon. i like how each one of us kids is in our own little world in this photo...



p.s. i was on the radio this morning. i emailed the pic of the walkway i took last weekend into more fm's my taranaki photo competition, and i was this month's winning entry. i got a voucher for a framing gallery, which will be handy dandy, but i felt like a total dork talking on the air!

p.p.s. if you are anywhere near island bay this sunday, check out the marine bioblitz at the island bay surf club. i'll be doing face-painting there (i'm nervous!). it should be an interesting day and a neat way to celebrate local biodiversity.

the weekend that was

i had a nice weekend catching up with my dad and my siblings. i got to see my nephew for the first time in ages—he is so big now (almost two) and so fun to hang out with. my bro and i went to the 24 hour book sale and we found some neat books. my best find was this book called “down easter bunny lane”. it is quite strange, like those walter potter tableau, but at least the animals in this book are still alive (I think)…





i also found one of my favourite childhood books, “the sailor dog” by margaret wise brown and illustrated by garth williams. it is about scuppers the sea faring dog. the part that tickled my fancy as a kid is the part where he is shipwrecked, and he makes his own wee house…



i found this lil' vase in an op shop in wanganui on the way up to new plymouth. i raced over to the salvation army during our 25 minute lunch stop. hee, it's too cute!



and one of the nicest things i got to do over the weekend was to hang out with my sister. we went for a lovely jaunt along the walkway in new plymouth. i just wish we lived closer to each other...

another flash friday

it's another flashback friday. this is me and my brother in the 70’s when my family lived on the east coast. both the pink koala and the baby’s bottle were actually mine, but i don't seem too miffed about it. i'm off to new plymouth today to see my pop. hope y'all have terrific weekend!

fudge, toast and wildfire

this past week has been very busy. i've been doing quite a lot of writing lately, so this ol' blog has been stagnating a bit. here are a few highlights from the past day or so. i made some lavender-scented fudge last night but i realised this morning when i found a cake pan of runny goo, that I hadn't cooked it long enough. so i gave it another good boil. the soft-ball stage is really hard to figure out, but since i didn't have a thermometer i just kept testing a droplet in some cold water. it turned out ok. it is a bit crystalline and the lavender an acquired taste. i took some over next door for my neighbour and she said her dog would eat it if she didn't.



when i got home today i found a package in the mailbox from the delightful and talented Toast. inside was this beautiful bag...



we did a swap and she made me an amazing hoody out of the fabric i bought from global fabrics. it fits perfectly and is so pretty. what a clever lass...



the felt horse looks so celestial and magical against the diamond fabric. thank you so much rhiannon! you must check out her etsy shop.



finally, as the afternoon was so calm and warm i took my scooter out for a ride. poor old wildfire has been sadly neglected for months, so it was surprising he started up on the first try. i ran out of petrol and had to push him a couple of blocks to the station. then we were off! we flew like the wind to owhiro bay.

odds and sods

i'm camera-less again, so let me take the opportunity to introduce you to the time-sucking vortex that is stumbleupon. basically you sign up, plug in subjects that are of interest and it randomly finds sites for you. there is a lot of junk to be seen, but just keep stumblin' and before long a gem will fall into your lap. as i won't be posting anything for a while, this link will hopefully keep you occupied until i come back. these are just a few sites i discovered (with the help of my stumble buddy a.g)...


ice worlds


storm clouds


vege art

birds and bbqs

the other day i printed out some of the images from the victorian birdhead series and framed them. my intention was to sell them at juniper but my paint job on the frames was a bit sloppy so i kept them and hung them on the wall...


the kingfisher boy was also framed


today we trotted over to a friend's house for a bbq. i made a lemon and rosewater cheesecake to take. i thought you couldn't really taste the rosewater, but it ended up going down a treat ;-) the bbq was yummy and the company most excellent. hopefully there will be more barbies as the weather gets warmer