brooches

I was having a pleasant time browsing in the Lopdell House Gallery shop before a poetry event on Friday night when I spotted these pretty little beaded felt brooches made by artist Tabatha Forbes sitting on the counter. I think she calls them 'Mrs Darcy's' brooches. They come packaged in a paper doily envelope tied with red ribbon, which I thought was very pretty, so I made a quick purchase of a pair in grey and crimson before the shop closed.

The new duo make a nice addition to my oddball assortment of brooches that includes a tin butterfly, a scenic slide brooch, a plastic vase that I bought from the Hawke's Bay Art Gallery shop during the Black Dress White Vase exhibition a few years ago, and a cute brooch by Justine Fletcher with a circle of vintage fabric sandwiched between two plastic discs.

Here are a selection of close-ups:

a mother-of-pearl rickshaw - a gift from my sister

A coral brooch by Meliors Simms festooned with French knots that I was lucky enough to win in one of her blog giveaways.

This striking piece was a gift from my friend Mark back in 1992. It had a long silver snake dangling from it but it overbalanced the brooch, so I removed it. I was never told the name of the jeweller who made it, but I'd love to know.

This lovely blue bead cluster was made by my ex-hubby in 1992. It looks great on my black wool jacket.

And this ribbon star cluster was made by jeweller Areta Wilkinson who kindly sent it to me as a PhD graduation gift.

I hope you're having a lovely Sunday. I'm supposed to be writing a catalogue essay, but the contents of my jewellery box distracted me...

Sanderson Prints

When I was in Wellington recently, my brother Greg and I visited the gorgeous craft / florist / furniture store Juniper in Newtown where he splashed out and bought a sleek, reupholstered 1960s couch with black vinyl arms and charcoal coloured cushions. He asked if I could whip him up a couple of cushions to accessorise this chic new addition to his lounge. I knew the exact fabric I wanted to use, having spotted a display of 1950s inspired Sanderson prints in the window of Firefly Light & Design in Devonport a few weeks ago. The very friendly manager kindly sold me the 3 metre drop that they'd used for the window display, at a considerable discount, along with two other designs from the range. Ordinarily, I wouldn't be so indulgent, but I know that this beautiful Sanderson linen will be turned into a perfect pile of Christmas presents for family and friends this year so the investment was entirely worth it.

In the meantime, here are the cushions for Greg and Celia

and here's a cute pencil-case I made for my first week back at Massey

Japanese dolls and paper flowers

I was admitted to hospital unexpectedly last week with suspected gallstones. The timing was particularly bad because Jack was en route from Australia, so instead of arriving home to a nice dinner he arrived home to a grumpy cat and a note on the coffee table telling him to make his way to North Shore hospital. I was super happy to see him because the only bed they could find for me was in the transplant ward with a trio of demanding old ladies with joint replacements who were not the best company. In fact, I ended up disconnecting my drip many times to assist them in various ways when the overworked nurses failed to materialise when buzzed.

When Jack came to see me during visiting hours on my second day he gave me a copy of one of my favourite books as a child, Miss Happiness & Miss Flower by Rumer Godden (1961) with illustrations by Jean Primrose. I have been looking for a copy of this book for ages, so he couldn't have given me a more perfect present. The book is about a little English girl called Nona whose mother died when she was a baby and who had been raised on her father's tea plantation in Southern India. When she turned eight, Nona was sent to live with relatives in England where she felt scared, lonely and very different from the other kids.

A gift of two antique Japanese dolls named Miss Happiness and Miss Flower from an elderly Aunt ultimately brings happiness, friendship and a sense of purpose and belonging into Nona's life. Through the process of working out how to design a replica Japanese house for the dolls, she forms friendships with her cousins, her school teacher, her classmates and the local bookstore owner, who all help her to build and furnish the house.

Reading the book again with its detailed descriptions of the process of constructing the house, sewing the tiny silk quilts and cushions, painting a miniature paper scroll and making new kimonos for the dolls, I'm certain now where my love of handcrafts came from and I'm so happy to be able to add this precious book to my collection.

Appropriately, the designs for the two paper flowers come from my Yamada Ito Paper Craft book and I used a couple of pieces of fine handmade paper to make them.

To make the camelia cut the spiral and roll from the outer edge. Let it loosen in your hand and gently feed the innermost part of the spiral through the hole and secure it in place with a blob of craft glue. I made a smaller black spiral to go inside it. To make the leaves, cut out a leaf shape, score a wavy line with a knitting needle to make a central vein and carefully bend the card into shape.

 The other invented species of orange flower is made from three variations of the pattern above that were inserted inside each other to make outer and inner petals. 

A stash of paper flowers like these would make beautiful decorations for presents and they would also look pretty perched on top of a birthday cake.

books glorious books

I can't think of a happier fate to befall a bibliophile than to rent a home that comes complete with a family library. I'm so happy that two of the poets in my family, Therese and Lee, are now living in such an idyllic place on the Kapiti Coast, and I couldn't resist showing you a selection of pictures of some of the pretty books I discovered while I was staying there last week.

The guest room I was sleeping in once belonged to the only child in the family, and there was one special bookshelf filled with his old children's books that caught my attention. Because M's books were only handled by one little pair of hands, they are still in pristine condition, and it was a delight to take each one out and carefully leaf through them.

My favourite books in the children's section were these seven tiny books from the series 'Stories of the Ballet' published in the 1940s. 

Even though I was too shy to take ballet lessons as a little girl, I would have loved to have owned these beautiful books. Look at these gorgeous illustrations:

In case you're wondering about the pretty floral background in some of the images, I posed the books on the back of a handmade rug that looks as if it dates from the same era as the books.

I can see that I'm going to enjoy my trips to Wellington from now on, taking the 40 minute train ride to get to Tazey and Lee's bach. Let's end with a rainbow that we found right outside their front door.

Have a great weekend everyone.

suit pockets

The ash cloud delayed my travels last week so I found the time to make another pocket bag as a gift for a friend in Christchurch before I eventually flew out. For this one, I used the curved edge of an op-shop sports jacket and lined it with bright red satin. Further delays with my flights meant that I didn't end up making it to Christchurch at all. Instead, I spent the week helping my sis and her hubby move into a perfect cottage on the Kapiti Coast. I took some pretty pictures of the library that comes with the cottage to show you in my next post.