fur coats

It is still summer here but browsing the lovely fashion blogs there are many northern hemisphere ones showing lovely fake furs.  So I day dream about trying to make one/ finding one in the op-shop, although I am not keen on winter and being cold at all.  Somehow winter clothes are better.  I like the fur trapper style ones best, a bit more lived in looking.

above from HARPER’S BAZAAR HONG KONG

 above the link for this is now defunct. was from smythelesvestes.com

 Fashion Quarterly magazine

from bleachblack blog which I love.

I look through these blogs written by gorgeous twenty somethings and feel a bit sad as some of the clothes are too young for me (I am in my forties) though I would still like to dress like a twenty year old sometimes (my nine year old has some cute stuff too).  Not sure where my cut off point for "she shouldn't be wearing that!" is.  I am not ready for middle age quite yet, but neither do I want to look like  "mutton dressed as lamb".  I think of designers who can pull it off, Betsey Johnson, Vivienne Westwood.  Mind you, they are fashion designers and don't live in small town NZ.

I have that feeling today that I want to get on with things, but the house is a mess and there are lots of things that need doing (boring things) before I can get on with anything nice and creative.  I need to "pull my finger out".    

10 minute sketch. wild flower

walked the dog this morning, up the hill, and came across these pretty flowers.  I don't know what they are, lots of stalk and little bits of pretty purple flower.  Not strictly a 10 minute sketch.  

doll face

My nine year old is still on summer holiday, for some reason her school goes back a week later than all the others.  Yesterday and today she asked me to draw her a face on some material so she could embroider it.  she is such a clever little thing and so patient with her little stitches.  Her friend came over today and they sat at the table for so long stitching away, it makes me a happy mum.  (they did also play on the ipod and watch some tele)

amazing.  I do remember at primary school, sitting on some steps at break time doing some tapestry when everyone got too annoying to play with.  I probably thought I was being frightfully aloof and artistic, age seven.

dollie no. 2

And the next dollie finally finished for Sophie.

above before stuffing and hair, with friend.

 above black tutu and rock chic t-shirt, painted in silver fabric paint.

 Purple pinafore with heart buttons (cute).

and a fabby ball dress, and I made a silver firemans trousers bag to put her clothes in.

beach walk

This morning we went to the rocky beach, guaranteed to get me all excited about drift wood and large boulders I would like in my garden, but am not allowed to take ( and are too heavy to pick up).  I got some small nice shape bits of driftwood to paint pictures on, which will sit in the back of the car for a few months before we throw them out.  The dog had a good sniff around too.

 someone had built a really nice driftwood tepee with rocks around the base, must have taken them hours.

 Hills, rocks and driftwood

My husband is from a small island, so he likes the sea.

Beautiful beach and scenery, nice warm sunshine, a good way to start the day.

first dollies of the year

I have made two more dollies.  One was meant for a birthday in October last year and the other one I wanted to make for Christmas but it took longer, as usual.  but I am pleased with them, I just have to make some more clothes for one of them.

 before stuffing and hair (below)

 She looked a bit sad to start off with so I had to put in a bit of smile.  and paint her eyes a bit whiter.

 She has a tablecloth back and kickers and shoe bottoms.

 a lovely white cotton frock

 a purple cordrouy pinafore with heart buttons

and a yellow crochet skirt and handkerchief top, with a little japanese kimono bag to put her spare clothes in.

lurcher

We have a new dog.  we were planning on getting a whippet puppy, but came home from a ten day break with a rescue dog, two year old lurcher.  She is very sweet and pretty and clingy and will only toilet on the carpet, ha ha. 

above this is her sister, who is also very pretty and sweet.
My daughter is writing a blog about her, at mollys blog

Moeraki

We have been camping in a little town of Moeraki in the South Island of NZ.  It is famous for the round boulders that lie on its beach.  It has a lighthouse with yellow eyed penguins and seals, which we bicycled to along a beautiful track to get to.

 there is a little beach just across the road from the campsite with rocks and sand and a lady at the campsite had photographed an orca swimming around the harbour the morning before we got there.  I wasn't very keen on going in after I found that out.  But it was very pretty.

Me and the girls walked along the beach to see the boulders this morning and we saw a dead rotted seal without a head and a dead conga eel.  My husband missed out on these delights by driving to the car park and buying coffee.  WE had a lovely time.

Things I like at my mums house

We are staying at my mums this week, in South Canterbury.  There are lots of pictures and other art works, some new and some I remember from my childhood.
This picture (above)used to hang over the cooker at home when we were kids.  It was given to my mother 30 years ago and heralds from Poland. 

 another picture from childhood, I never new what it was as a kid, but obviously it is waves crashing at cliffs, this is by George Kennethson the sculptor.

 and a not very good photo of one of his sculptures.  We were very pleased to be brought up able to visit his house and see all the amazing art works and inspirational finds that filled it.

 Old drawings by early white settlers in NZ

My mother has just painted this, I love the light, shape and forms, Gum tree obsessions.

10 minute sketch, rose

 Happy New Year to you all.  I hope you all had a good night last night, we had a wild night at my Mums, playing scrabble and going to bed at midnight.  Crazy heh!

Any way today we have had a lazy morning and then this afternoon me and the girls did some printing on my mums printing press.  The wild life never stops here.

 I drew some roses

 

And then carved the image into some MDF with some rather blunt tools. (poor work men....)

 This was my first print.  I always expect things to turn out better than they do, this was not what I thought would come out at all.  delusions.

 the next try was on some acetate, scratched in, we treid printing like a wood-cut, until we realised that it was more like an etching and then it worked a bit better, above and below

 The kids did some too