The friday letter....D....

Ah, Friday at last. Not that it makes much difference to me now that I'm officially unemployed. I was hopeful that this would mean plenty of free time for the sunday project, but it looks more like I'll be busy helping my partner prepare for his final exams and then packing to move up to Auckland for Christmas, followed by.... who knows! But the sunday project is moving countries in January, most likely to back to Australia, if only for 6 months. There's something quite liberating about being so up in the air, but it's also quite irritating when all I want it a studio! Anyway, back to matters at hand....This D was taken in Wellington a couple of weeks back. It's on the top of an old building on the corner of Cuba St and some other street. I love the old yellow paint. If you're in that area, you should really get along to Ernesto for breakfast. We knew it must be good because it was sooo packed. When we finally got a table we were not disappointed. Try the scrambled eggs and spinach on homemade hashbrowns. Delicious!

This week Jen of painted fish studio is delivering an N. You can check it out here. Have a great weekend everyone!

Anonymous postcard....the finale....

And so it comes to an end.... This is the last postcard I've made for Aroha Lamour and it's my favourite. I've beaded it with glass beads in a grid pattern, which is an idea I borrowed from Eveline Kotai, an artist who's studio I used to potter about in trying to be of assistance (and drinking lots of cups of tea). Her work is beautiful and I'm lucky enough to have a few pieces.

What I particularly love about this postcard is the feeling of the beads. It reminds me of braille.

Well Aroha Lamour, I hope you've enjoyed the postcards I've jammed in your door each fortnight for the last couple of months. I'm considering doing this again with another business, but first I have to find a worthy one (who makes lovely postcards that I can steal and play with).

If you'd like to see the other postcards I made for this project, click on the 'anonymous postcards' label somewhere over there. No there, to the left....

Etsy shop update....

Well, it's been a while coming, but my cushions are now in my etsy shop. I've only listed one of each, but will get some more up during the week. They really are special and I'm not truly convinced I want to part with them!

In other exciting news, I had my first etsy sale today. It was my very favourite Best in Show brooch. A fine choice.

Project chair....

I've had to put the Pania stencil for my chair on hold for now (which is frustrating!) so I've moved on to the frame of the chair. I sanded it back yesterday and this afternoon I waxed it with some delicious smelling furniture wax. It obviously wasn't a very fancy chair when it was produced as a couple of different types of wood were used. I think it's come up well though, and quite like that it's a bit of a hodge podge.

I really want to get started on cutting the Pania stencil but I need to print it first, and it's an A2 stencil so I can't do anything until Tuesday (no Sunday trading plus Monday public holiday)! I've decided to use a combination of screen printing and freezer paper stencilling, so I also have to track down some freezer paper too (not as easy as I thought). Then, with any luck, the whole thing will be sewn at upholstery class on Thursday. (I can be such an optimist).

I'm feeling very impatient. Perhaps an afternoon beer will take my mind of things....

Inspired goodness....

Thanks to Inspired Goodness for lovin' my brooches enough to promo them....

:)

The friday letter....E....

I headed into town this morning (to take a photo of Pania - see below) and found the place swarming with photographers. It's a long weekend here and I think they must've been a national photography group having a holiday. So, wandering around with my own camera, I felt like a bit of a tourist myself.

Anyway, I took the opportunity to take my friday letter while I was there. This one comes from outside the Hawke's Bay museum which is currently showing an exhibition called 'Raising Boys', featuring works by 5 New Zealand ceramacists/potters. I'm only familiar with the work of one - Martin Poppelwell, and I think his stuff is great. In fact, his style has influenced the designs I've come up with for some ceramic decals (which I look forward to sharing with you in the coming weeks). Hopefully I'll get down there over the weekend to check it out.

Getting back to the friday letter.... you can check out jen's letter here!

Pania....

I started an upholstery course a couple of weeks ago and my project is a one of 2 chairs I found on the side of the road. It's not really the best chair for an upholstery class, as it's more of a re-covering job than full upholstery, but that's just the way things turned out. I'm optimistic I'll be able to do a second chair anyway.

Anyway, with our imminent departure from Napier, I thought it might be nice to create something to remind me of our time here, and this chair is going to be it. I'm covering the chair in black denim, but using the soft grey 'inside' side. It's the same fabric I used to back my cushions, and I love it.

I decided a screen print of Pania would be perfect. Pania is a maiden in Maori mythology who lived in the sea off Napier and there is a statue of her down near the water. You should check out this wiki link for her lovely but tragic story.

My photoshop skills are EXTREMELY basic, but this morning I took a photo of Pania and have now created a 2 colour stencil to paper cut and screen print (stages shown below). I'm pretty pleased with myself! Of course, I still have to do some work to turn it into an actual stencil and am considering doing a headshot (as above) because just looking at that grass skirt makes my hand cramp!Best get started....

Ruby tiki....

Well, following the success that was the label for Porto de Sorrell, I created a label for another student. And how could I not? - Beaker (as he's known) provides us with delicious homegrown asparagus, herbs and walnuts (plus the occasional bottle of wine) so of course it was nice to be able to give him something in return.

Unlike the Porto de Sorrell label, this one only took a couple of hours. I'm still not sure about the colour of the font, but time was short so it ended up having to do. (For some reason this image is blurry, but I assure you it's crisp in reality).

I need to note that the photo I used on the label was taken by a New Zealand artist called Fiona Pardington. Her work is beautiful and I hope she doesn't mind me using this image for what is a tiny run of homemade port for personal consumption only!

Drink up....

The post age no.8....

Hmmm, I thought I'd already shared this one, but it appears not. It's hard to keep up when postcard monday rolls around so often (every 14 days to be precise). I hand stitched some canvas while yapping on the phone to my monday postcard swapper and then posted it to her. I think we can all assume that Elly won't be taking part in the postcard swap anymore, apart from being the lucky one who receives them. I'm starting to wonder if this was her plan all along. I guess she's just too busy planning a wedding. Congratulations El!

This one was from 2 weeks ago, and I haven't done today's. I'd feel bad except for Elly's formentioned inability to take part in the swap she started.

Best get something started though....

(If you want to take a look at some of the earlier postcards, just click on the 'postcard' label to the left).

Porto de Sorrell....

Please, could someone tell me how to photograph dark glass bottles without getting annoying reflections! I think I've taken about 100 photos of this bottle today and have settled on this compilation, though it's still not great.

This port label has been a work in progress for a while. My partner recently made this port for his wine science degree. Initially I tried some classy looking labels, but instead settled for this pirate-esque look as it suited the bottle shape and, considering the limited resources available to students, the port has an element of haphazard pirate luck in it's making. Having said that, it's pretty damn delicious.

I'm a photoshop novice, so it was a good learning exercise. I'm not sure this photo does it justice, but you're just going to have to take my word for it.

Cheers, me hearties!....

The saturday project?....

Yes, the plan was to post these cushions as my sunday project, but I've been so productive this weekend, that they can be a saturday project.

I started by dying the white cotton squares which make up the 3x3 grid in the centre, then stitching them onto fabric I cut from my collection of wool blankets. The back of the cushions is a delicious black denim, but I've used the 'inside' of the fabric so it's actually a soft dark grey. I'm not sure if you can see, but the stitching to attach the dyed squares goes right to the edge of the cushion. It might be clearer if you click on the photo.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these. Without an overlocker, the internal finish is a bit amateur so I'm not sure that the finish is good enough to pop them in my etsy shop. Then again, I am a perfectionist so I'm probably being a bit hard on them.

Until tomorrow.

The friday letter....T....

I'm so on schedule this week, that it's still Thursday at painted fish studio. I'm on the ball because I took this photo a while ago in an airport on my 3 leg return from Queenstown, and I've just been waiting for the right moment to share it. Yes, it's a little blurred, but I was waiting for my final (extremely delayed) flight so was a little tired and grumpy.

I believe that this week Jen is doing an 'S'. You can find it here, but not until it's Friday in Minnesota.

Have a great weekend....

Sneak peak....

Here's a little preview of the cushions I've been making. I should have them finished on the weekend so I'll show you more then.

Until then....

Hold the press!!!!....

Thanks to Jen for alerting me to my inclusion on the etsy homepage last Friday! And a huge thank you to spongetta for liking my brooch enough to include it in their Treasury.

I am beaming....

Ooh, look at me....

In exciting news, look where one of my brooches turned up! Yes, look here! I had been wondering why the views on one of my brooches in my etsy store jumped from 30 to 450 in one night, and after a bit of clever googling, I found the reason!

It was another case of being reminded that I'm out there.... Most exciting and of course flattering. I still haven't actually sold any, but I'm down with that.

So thanks very much Creature Comforts!

(A not so) anonymous postcard....

Well yes, my anonymous postcard recipient has found my blog, but that's not going to stop me delivering the postcards I've made for them! Again, I dropped this off on my way to work this morning, bright and early when only the street cleaners and a few mad joggers were about. If you'd like to see the other ones I've made, you can take a look here and here. Next fortnight will be my last postcard drop to Aroha Lamour. It's been fun, but it's time to harass someone else.

In other news, I've been busy working on some cushions and should be able to share the results later this week. There was no specific sunday project report yesterday, as I had a much deserved weekend break in Wellington. I managed to catch the Craft 2.0 fair. Brilliant to see such talent right on my doorstep! I wish I'd been organised enough to take part!

Until later....

The friday letter....N....

I couldn't possibly not include an Art Deco letter in this collaboration. I do, after all, live in THE Art Deco capital of the world! Well, allegedly. There are some absolutely amazing buildings in town. Why you ask? (Come on, humour me). Well much of the city was rebuilt after the 1931 earthquake which killed 256 people, and injurred hundreds more. It was hugely devastating for Napier and neighbouring Hastings, but as a consequence of the rebuilding in the 1930's, there is today an impressive selection of Art Deco and Spanish Mission style buildings in the region. End of history lesson. But! If you found that interesting, you can find out more from wikipedia. it's actually a pretty good read!

This week Jen photographed an 'E'. And you can check it out here.

A stitched fish for the painted fish....

(Admittedly, I'm not sure if he's dead, drunk or asleep).

A huge thanks to Jen over at Painted Fish Studio for featuring my etsy shop on her blog. It was a bit crazy to see a big photo of me on a website! When you just type away at the dining room table, yakking on your blog or doing your etsy shop, it's easy to forget it ends up 'out there'. But when you find yourself on someone else's site it kinda hits home! And I got some lovely compliments so I had a pretty sweet smile on my face to carry me through the day.

Thanks Jen!

Here's one I prepared earlier....

Back when I was the production manager for a high profile exclusive label (I may be exaggerating slightly), my good friend and fashion designer, Elly, dyed these squares of fabric for stitching onto tops. Somewhere along the way, I inherited the leftovers. I stitched some onto this beautiful yellow wool blanket some time ago and today I dyed some more squares. Admittedly, the ones I did today are far more dyed than the originals (not necessarily intentional), and I'm not sure which I like more. (Feel free to give your opinion - I'm keen for some feedback).

The plan is for this idea to be turned into some some lovely cushions (which will feature in my etsy shop!!). I have a collection of pure wool blankets which are begging to be cut up and reused, and who am I to say no? Alas, my wool blanket collection resides 5477 km (that's 3403 miles) away. Thankfully, my assistant is going to send me some panels to play around with (thanks, ma). Stay tuned for the results....

In other news, I've been super inspired by Heather and Jesse's ceramics for quite a while now. I've started making contacts locally and designing my own range. I'm really excited about what I've come up with. I look forward to showcasing my wares in (hopefully) the not too distant future.

Until then....

The friday letter....I....

That's a capital 'I', not a lower case 'l'. In case you were wondering....This is from a sign I've passed over and over again for the last few years. Would you believe that today, on the day I decide to photograph it, I find it's been repainted?! Outrageous, I tell you. Having said that, I hope you can tell that it's an 'I' masquerading as a painted vertical line. I promise it's an actual letter though!!

The thing about living in a semi rural area (Hawke's Bay is known as the 'Fruit Bowl') is that you get to see handpainted signs, which is something lacking in the cities I've lived in. They're lovely.

This week Jen has the letter 'H' to photograph, and you can see it here.

Until next post....

The post age no.7....

Well rather than wait for the postcards to build up I'm going to share the postcards Elly and I send each other more regularly. Mainly because, quite frankly, my long rambling posts probably don't get read. It's ok, I can take it.

This is the last postcard I sent Elly. Number 7. I'm going through a bit of a yellow phase at the moment. And a button thing. Alas, Elly still hasn't worked through her fear of postboxes, so is a little behind on her end of the deal. I'm sure I'll have something to show from her soon.

Catch you tomorrow for the friday letter....

I've been sprung!!!

My anonymous postcard drop recipient has found me!
They seem to have followed me back from the link on my page. What a fool I am!!

Well if you're reading, hello Aroha ladies.... :)

skinny laminx....

Skinnny laMinx is a blog by Heather Moore in South Africa. I think I found it through Jesse's blog. It's one of those blogs I take a look at every few weeks, and each time I do, I wonder why I don't look at it more often. She is one talented lady! One thing I particularly like about her blog, is that she shares her methods and occasionally puts together an easy to follow tutorial. Very inspirational!