heart-shaped

We have noticed that once you start looking for heart shaped stones on the beach, that they are in fact all over the place.  I love heart-shaped things and have collected some images.

This leaf photo is by Craig Gosling

 beautiful heart-shaped decorations, so simple and pretty ( sorry don't have a link )

eat my SWEET DUST: new dolly. birthday present

 My jam doughnut had heart-shaped jam.  

I would love some cool trees like this in my front garden, I would be so happy.  It's very Edward Scissorhands

Don't click on this link if you have some-where to go soon  The sweet little kittens on here require much squealing and ooh-ing and ah-ing.

heart-shaped peanuts 

And little tiny stones

We found many of these, have tried some with silver leaf and they look so pretty, but never sure if I am tainting the pure natural beauty of them, or making them prettier, it's a bit of both really, maybe.

I also silver leafed some hearts onto little round stones.

little robots and glass eyed owls

Acid Toys

My daughter showed me the acid toys blog, some cool little cartoon pictures, and this picture reminded me of the work of Jewels Vine, a Nelson Jeweller who makes these amazing little lockets and robots etc, all tiny and perfect.  They are sold at galleries around the country, and he sells them on etsy.  These are also for sale on the Nelson Saturday Market, near the asian supermarket end.

 These baby bubble lockets are funky, and you can put little beads like this inside

I love this silver pod. I think its tiny taxidermists eye brings it to life ( although I do know its not alive really)

And this little owl has glass eyes and you can choose the colour

A little cyclops robot with articulated arms and legs

there are lots more designs if you click on the links.   

home-made bunnies on the net

 We are rather in awe of TADAs revolution in our house.  My daughter has decided to learn crochet so she can make some of the animals.  There is a animaguri book on the site, in french, and so she has also decided that her big sister needs to learn french so that we can buy the book and she can translate it.  Cute crochet animals in fabulous sets, I guess they must be dolls house furniture and I am v. jealous of it.  Where does it all come from?

I love these heroes cheesy smiles.  The commentary is hilarious and leaves me with tears on my cheeks.  Check out the little panda working at the launderette.

I love any thing in a pink tutu, even better when it comes with cowboy boots

 also ther are lots of different characters, I have just found the rabbits, my daughter likes Nutzilla the squirrel.

This little mexican rabbit came from moonflower

As did these two, lots of gorgeous crochet animals on this site and with costumes aswell

This here rabbit looked kind of crazy

This green bunny was funny and spacey looking

and I liked pink cyclops bunny.

Some techno bunnies

This is "crazy rabbit", one of my creations

And a scootering bunny dress, on a sweet dust dolly.

dress material.

My sister printed this black and white material, about twenty years ago or more using a lino-cut made and designed by an amazing friend of ours.  An artist, and printer of furnishing fabrics, mother of five boys, wife of a sculptor.  She died at the grand age of ninety-three, although she was ageless, in 2006, just after we moved to NZ, and I was very pleased to have been lucky enough to have known her and her family and to have spent time visiting their home full of interesting sculptures ( her husband was sculptor George Kennethson) paintings, seed pods, fabric and furniture, much of it home made.  A world away from the street outside.    

My sister printed this on an old sheet, all very frugal, and made a skirt I think.  And years later still has some of the material under her bed in a box (  and my husband thinks I am a horder).  Luckily for me as I could then steal it for a little dress.  Maybe I could have ironed it first. 

 This print was I think one of hers, but it might have been her husbands, not sure, it was on her funeral service programme

 And this is her, and I haven't done her justice, there is so much I could say about her, but I do not have the words, just thoughts and memories and feelings in my head.

hand-sewing dolly dresses in the sky

Amelia and Dolly. These were from some old embroidered linen and a lovely old checked table cloth.  I rather fancy one of those embroidered dresses for myself. The way the scale of the design comes up on the dolls works really well sometimes as inspiration for life-size garments.

 Cosette and Rosie.  These little pinnies are not quite finished, they need buttons I think.  I've had this yellow material for about six years and have not been brave enough to break into it, a small dress is a small push in the right direction.

This was the little sewing package I arranged for the flight home from England.  All pieces cut out, some pins in a bit of old jumper and a pack of dental floss for cutting threads.  Useful tip from some-one on a sewing chat room. Thank you to them.

boxing inspired fashion

I could go to the gym dressed like this.  I wonder if Stella Mc Cartney does some. 

And maybe I could persuade my husband to go dressed like this. TeeHee.

I made it to body-combat class (boxing, karate plus other martial art inspired excersions) at the gym today after missing it for four weeks.  I was a scared that I would have lost  fitness and have a hard time  and I almost didn't go, but I did, and I loved it and made it through just fine.  I had a look for some boxing inspired fashion.
Good old Jean-Paul Gaultier came up trumps for his 2010/2011 collection, it was a mens collection but I liked the pics of the ladies blatting it out in the ring.  Also liked the stripes and the kilt with shiny vest.  On the aeroplane over to England I watched a documentary about Jean-Paul G preparing for his Haute-couture show "The Day Before" I can't find a link for it.  I didn't realise that this meant that all the clothes had to be hand stitched, it was so amazing to see the ladies putting his ideas into reality, a special crochet lady crocheted individual crocodile scales together to make an amazing dress, she was so happy.  Ladies sewed on thousands of sequins onto dress panels and then had to take them off again.  It was all so inspiring, he was so calm and so many ideas, I was ready to become a fashion designer, crocheter of crocodile dresses etc.
Maybe stick to dolly fashion.  I took hand sewing dolly dresses on the aeroplane to pass the time.  I felt slightly embarrassed but after watching above mentioned film decided that it was a fine thing to sew by hand.  Also felt rather subversive as had taken small blunt-ended pair of scissors onto the plane.  They did remove them from me at Singapore airport. Luckily I had a dental floss packet with useful floss cutter so I used that for the threads.

garden delights

Haven't got around to blogging much, I must blame jet lag though I am stretching it out a little far now.

It is cold and wet today and so I thought I would have a fantasize about warm sunny gardens, or just nice gardens that are finished and not full of weeds.

 Just fancy myself lying around on this swinging in the breeze

 Or this rather swish day bed on the porch

Or this super fantastic garden attatched to this rather fantastic house, check the link for even more lovely interior shots.  I am not envious at all.

This would possibly be nice and snug on a chilly day with a nice rug and a glass of mulled wine or something stronger.  

baby blanket knitting.

As I have posted before my sister is rather a hot-shot in the knitting department.  Rather sadly (for me) she was suffering from RSI when I was pregnant with my babies and couldn't knit much.   So here are a few more things that she produced for her baby, before he was born.  Lucky child.

 Gorgeous blanket of knitted squares

 beautiful winter blanket of lace knitting.  I love the triangly edges.

 tiny green cardi all soft and lovely

 I do love tank tops especially mini ones.

 and some rather smashing foot wear.

I flew back home to NZ yesterday after three weeks away in the UK.  Feeling a bit spacey.  I had a lovely time seeing all my old friends, which is always so easy, so sad to leave them.  Also my sister and her baby and husband who looked after me so well.  

It is sunny but a bit chilly here.  I have plenty of blogging to catch up with.