* Manukapua *

big day out

2008-01-21T12:50:00.000-08:00

i kind of forgot to post these pics from the big day out last week. 'twas a very tiring big day out for this old lady, what with the sun scorching a hole in my noggin and the shirtless, head-bangers getting more aggressive and inebriated over the course of the day. but it was well worth the effort... bjork was so good! and arcade fire were also very amazing--such energetic, catchy tunes...

salvage

2008-01-21T12:33:00.000-08:00

my friend james recently took me to this amazing fabric shop in auckland called salvage. they have an amazing selection of vintage fabric, buttons and patterns. i especially loved the old hand embroidered aprons and the bakelite belt buckles...

box o' birds

2008-01-16T03:38:00.000-08:00

the andrew bird show last night was sublime. he is a brilliant performer and whistler extraordinaire. by the end of the night the audience was in complete rapture and most of the female fans were ready to make a nest with him and lay his eggs. i totally recommend seeing him if he happens to come play in your neck of the woods.

i found another crazy max parrish book. this one details the travels of the rambunctious baron munchausen. i think the cover is so very neat...

oh so lovely!

2008-01-03T02:18:00.000-08:00

j came back from the states bearing xmas presents from janet and george. from top to bottom: an antique make-up mirror that janet found in her mum's button box; a beautiful handpainted victorian picture george found in an antique shop in cleveland; a shell bird brooch that also belonged to aggie (grandma H); a neat horsey pin; and the teddy my mum made for aggie--which was well crafted and dearly loved. lucky me! thank you j and g with all my heart!!

crimson season

2008-01-03T01:35:00.000-08:00

it is a fresh new year and the pohutukawas are blooming like ruby fireworks.

crafting like mad

2007-12-22T22:59:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-22T22:54:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-22T22:21:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-22T20:54:00.000-08:00

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

2007-10-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-26T00:46:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-10T13:31:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-03T18:16:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-27T03:40:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-20T12:08:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-19T00:33:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-07T23:36:00.000-07:00

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

flashback

2007-09-06T14:42:00.000-07:00

i thought i would jump on the bandwagon and partake in flashback friday (even though it's saturday here in nz it’s friday still in the states right?). this somewhat relates to this weeks theme of weddings/formal/sunday best. this is me on my parent's wedding day. mum gave me a bath outside and dressed me up for the occasion. but being a wee water baby i was determined to take another dip...

books to enchant

2007-09-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

when i worked at powell's bookshop for a year in portland, i discovered some beautiful children's books. one day i will show you some of the contemporary illustrators i adore, but today i want to show you a few of my favourite illustrators from the first quarter of the 20th century. the first, and perhaps the finest, is kay nielsen (1886-1957). his wonderful illustrations mix rich, sumptuous details with minimalist, zen-like compositions. these images are from the twelve dancing princesses...

another inspiration is edmund dulac (1882-1953). his illustrations are a little warmer, less rigid than nielsen's, and his use of colour was gorgeous. these images are from the nightingale and the little mermaid...

and last but not least is arthur rackham (1867-1939). his palette is somewhat more sombre than the other two artists, but his imagery is very dreamlike. he also did some very fine pen and ink drawing. these images are from the elder-tree mother and alice in wonderland...

to see more images from these marvellous artists check out the children's book illustrators gallery

belated birthday wish

2007-09-04T23:50:00.000-07:00

it was my mum's birthday on monday, she would be 65 if she were still alive. in remembrance i wanted to show you a couple of my favourite crafts she made. when we were kids our mum was always making magical things for us—splendid birthday cakes in the shape of dolls or trains, princess costumes created from curtains, little angora wool dolls dresses made to disguise toilet paper. she would have loved the current craft revival and i wish dearly she was here to make crafts with me.

this is a crochet dolls dress she made, complete with crown

this is the decoupage tray she made which i rediscovered in the faded fancy shop

this picture was taken of mum on her birthday. i think she got a new purse and bike that day

a magnolia tree that used to be in mum's garden is blooming at the moment. happy birthday mum!

brooklands

2007-09-04T17:14:00.000-07:00

dad, jj and i went to brooklands zoo for father's day. it was a short visit, dad managed to walk to the monkey enclosure before getting too sore and tired. i ran around and took a few snaps...

forget-me-nots?

purdy birdy

fat, vibrant kowhai blooms

famous taranaki rhododendrons

my bro appreciated the fractal patterns of these strange cabbagy plants

sea and mountain

2007-09-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

i just got back from a trip to new plymouth. the mountain peeked out from the clouds a couple of times while i was there. as an adult i really like the location of the town, between sea and mountain. but when i was a kid, i would often have vivid and terrifying nightmares of tsunami and volcanic eruptions.

lost and found

2007-08-28T15:44:00.000-07:00

i have a small collection of photos i have found in flea markets and second-hand shops. i love that these rich vignettes give glimpses into another person's life and world. i wonder why these photos were thrown out, forgotten, lost...it's maybe a result of death or divorce or people just not caring about their family histories. but it is nice to adopt these people and breathe some life back into them with our attention and imagination. this is one of my favourites from my collection. a wee girl showing off her butterfly costume...

there are several amazing sites out there which showcase collections of found photos including foundmagazine.com. here you can see a variety of stuff people have found, from photos to to-do lists. sometimes "the finds" can be sublime or funny, sometimes they are incredibly tragic or have that cringe factor. but i love that through happenstance they were rediscovered. i found these two images of dress up divas...

another very good site is look at me. it was here i found one of my favourite images. this little person is about to have the bejesus scared out of her...

i have saved the best for last. if you want to see some wonderful imagery check out square america. here photos are grouped into catagories. my favs are the book of sleep and in mid air. these two images are just lovely...

the wondrous

2007-08-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

i am camera-less for the next couple of days, so i am going to showcase a few of my favourite sites that inspire me. after seeing the splendid lunar eclipse last night, i thought it fitting to introduce you to a website that embraces all that is wondrous and curious in the world. it's called the proceedings of the athanasius kircher society. there is a cornucopia of fanciful and marvellous things to discover here, including the museum of food anomalies and the fish powered vehicle.

through the kircher society i found these images by photogapher victor shrager. he photographed of over 100 species of birds in the hands of an ornithologist. check out the bird hand book

also found were the enchanting sculptures of arthur ganson. you have to see the sculptures in action to actually appreciate them, so check out the walking artichoke petal or machine with 23 scraps of paper. who knew that moving inanimate objects could ignite child-like wonder and imagination?

another notable find was this blog paleo-future a look into the future that never was. this image by albert robida from 1882 shows folks going to the opera in the year 2000. if only!

finally i rediscovered the bizarre taxidermy work of walter potter. this fellow potter was certainly a little potty, but i am still fascinated by these odd whimsical tableaux

biscuits and badges

2007-08-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

i worked on some new badges over the weekend. check out cloud of birds for others. i quite like them, but i'm not sure if other people will.

kingfisher boy

i also made some mandarin melting moments (aka yo-yos). they were good...like a buttery, zesty party in my mouth. i was initially disappointed by how few the recipe made, but after stuffing down two i knew that one per sitting is quite enough. not exactly a slimmers choice.

spring springs II

2007-08-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

i wish i could take a smello-photo. they have a fragrant flower section at the gardens with pink and white daphne, paper whites, hyacinths, and other unidentified sweet smelling blooms. this little poppy garden i remember seeing last year, so pretty!

spring spings I

2007-08-26T14:26:00.001-07:00

i took a wander through the botanical gardens yesterday. i went a little overboard taking pictures so i will have to do two installments...

this magnolia tree was small but so vivid

there was a small grove of magnolia trees yet to bloom. i'm loving the naked trees at the moment, it gives us a peep at their wonderful structural patterns before they slip on their blossomy spring dresses and summer green jackets

look up

2007-08-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

j and i took a train trip yesterday. we did the op shops at tawa and walked around a bit. then we went up the coast to paekakariki. it was nice to get out of the city, see the sun set over the sea, breathe the fresh air and look around (and up).

I took this pic outside the paekakariki train station

don't forget to watch the lunar eclipse on the 28th of august

bird junkie

2007-08-22T18:10:00.000-07:00

i took this photo of a silvereye diving for food outside my dad's window.

and when i got home to wellington i found a little present from j on the table. it was this neato badge! check out the urban bird watchers society

mutant magnolia

2007-08-22T17:31:00.000-07:00

in stratford we were having a picnic by the river when i spotted this magnolia tree. it is perhaps the biggest mag tree i've seen with the most gargantuan blooms!

the king lives on

2007-08-22T16:44:00.000-07:00

my dad, my sis and i took a little road trip. we headed to stratford to check out the gallery there, but ended up heading further south to hawera to visit k.d's elvis presley memorial room . a befitting way to spend the 30th anniversary of when elvis left the building for the very last time. k.d had a wall of photos showing who has visited the museum, including the chills, push push and more recently jeremy ‘newsboy’ wells (who was doing a ditty for the unauthorised history of new zealand on people who obsessively collect). anyhoo, the memorial room rocks! so much eye candy. k.d graciously gave us a very thorough grand tour even though we came 15 minutes before the place was meant to close. bless him!

the chocka full memorabilia room. those are k.d’s suits

check out those bedroom eyes! hubba hubba

in the record room

no elvis collection is ever complete without a black velvet painting

k.d. and the king

best shop ever

2007-08-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

every time i visit my dad it is one of my rituals to visit this little shop in fitzroy called faded fancy. here you can find everything from vintage clothes, handbags, jewellery, linen, fabric and knick knacks. her prices are usually fair compared to wellington’s mental, over inflated prices. the coolest thing I found here was a tray that my mum had decorated with a lady surrounded by decoupage flowers. i recognised it the instant I saw it as something that my mum had made. angela (the faded fancy owner) said she had bought the tray at a garage sale around the time my mum passed away and had it tucked away at home for a couple of years before bringing it out to sell in the shop. i was pretty happy take it home!

I love the care that is put into displaying everything, especially in the windows.

tutus and petticoats! behind is a shelf of vintage fabric and embroidered linen

buttons and retro patterns

two chinese fellows, a ceramic king and a plastic cowboy

a shelf of kiddies stuff and above is a bunch of barkcloth

golden needle

2007-08-22T15:40:00.000-07:00

i took a stroll downtown and popped into an exhibit at puke ariki called the golden needle—an exhibition of traditional and ceremonial costumes from the yunnan. it was stunning! there was such a varied range of clothing styles, reflecting the diversity of people living in the province. a common appreciation for nature suggested in the patterns and designs was threaded throughout the whole exhibition. i totally recommend having a gander if you are into textiles.

I can’t imagine how many hours of labour went into some of the garments.

trip to the naki

2007-08-22T15:13:00.000-07:00

i went to stay with my dad in new plymouth over the weekend. my dad is a bit of a magpie like myself, but he likes mostly pretty things that sparkle and shine in the sun. here are a couple of the many beautiful objects he has packed into his tiny unit.

dad's friend wal made this paper weight. it is so pretty. wal also makes coloured prisms that hang in the window and throw amazing rainbows.

wal also made this head, it can fit in the palm of your hand nicely. it reminds me of the arthur c. clarke crystal skull..but less spooky.

swapsy goodness

2007-08-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

when i got home from town there was a package waiting for me...and inside were the best treasures from the lovely, talented melissa of tiny happy

beautiful swallow slippers for a 6-12 month baby to be

various embroidered pieces of fabric

an amazing birdy bag

images from children's books

a beautiful set of handmade poppy cards.
she also included beautiful fabrics with birds printed on them. so cool!
melissa, thank you so very much!

fabric fetish

2007-08-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

global fabrics were having a 50% off sale. i couldn't resist this diamond fabric. it instantly took me back to the strangely beautiful beginning of the "sapphire and steel" series. i might make a short sleeve hoody out of the fabric. a sign in the shop listed of guide to recognising your potential fabric-holic tendencies. tell tale signs of being a bonafide fabric-holic include an unconscious desire to “pet” the fabric, buying fabric without caring what you will do with it, asking relatives to leave you their stash in their will and hiding fabric under your groceries to smuggle it onto the house. the list went on, and I am forced to admit that yes, i do have a smidgen of an addiction.

first signs

2007-08-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

the first signs of spring are emerging. my daphne bush survived my overzealous picking last year, and the stumpy little bush is blooming. every sweet whiff reminds me spring is finally around the corner.

here goes...

2007-08-16T00:33:00.000-07:00

well, this is my first proper blog entry! i imagine my blog entries will be sporadic. this feels rather surreal writing for people out there in the ether! i thought it appropriate to show you my last purchase and perhaps my finest second hand shop find. oh enchantment! if only I could slip into this serene scene.