a taste of rainbow

This evening, gazing out to sea, Jed asked me if there were unicorns in New Zealand. This morning another small one asked me what rainbows tasted like. I was speechless each time. (Unusually). I love the questions and neither of them seemed in a rush to have them answered.

This pile of vibrant rainbow colour has been on our dining table since Jed and i bought it at Forest Folk, the gorgeous wee shop of our local Waldorf/Steiner school. I couldn't bear to put it away in the craft box just yet. It is making me happy sitting there in the sunlight.

We also came home with a book of this rainbow wax paper. Jed lies on his bed looking out his window into the treetops watching the birds and sky. His Waldorf rainbow window star has been part of that view most of his life and he was sad it had become faded and broken. Out of stock of the made window stars, Alex from Forest Folk suggested i make one myself. Wonderful!

I used Jed's old star as a guide. (There are many methods and patterns of window stars but to start you off, Gardenmama has a tutorial here). Kinda got my dimensions screwy the first time (hence the giant star above) but J loved it and has it on the window above his work table. More smaller window stars followed. I find it kinda soothing and meditational, the cut, fold, smooth and glue process.

There is something very magical about the light streaming through the bright colours of the paper when they are up on the window.

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Inside out

I wore my handmade vintage fabric dress inside out today. Oops.

I managed to go the whole day without realising. All through Kraftbomb market, my supermarket shop for civil defense supplies (all the rage here in post earthquake NZ ), buying shoes, a cafe stop...Nobody told me. Maybe i pulled it off with such confidence and style no-one noticed? Or my style is so eccentric no-one noticed? Ahem.

But really, it says alot about where i'm at.

We live in a very small house and have wanted to move from this beachy enclave for years now. (Three large personalities, band gear, sewing studio, 80 m sq, not to mention financially stretched being here...you get the picture). After looking at houses for 2 1/2 years i had given up, then tripped over one i loved. One that we ALL loved. We need to sell before we can buy. I call the lovely guy who had wanted to buy our house a year earlier. Did he want to buy it? He does. So far, so good. This all seems right. We are ready to move, in our minds we are packed.
I'll spare you more details (it involves dodgy real estate agents and reads like a bad B movie). The result? Contract null and void at the final hour before settlement date. Grief. Frustration. Disbelief.

Goodbye house we fell in love with. Argh.

I am kidding myself not validating the feelings i have about this house stuff because of what is going on in Christchurch. Yes, we are blessed to HAVE a house, water, electricity, no liqufaction and our health. We have each other. There is so much to be grateful for. And i am, truly grateful. I also have moments of deep disappointment, anger and sadness.

The emotional roller coaster of the last month in the real estate funpark has creaked to a halt for us. And, to re-visit an old life lesson: i am now allowing myself the freedom to let my emotions about all this flow. I won't wallow in them, just sit and feel 'em so i can move on.

And at least i finally have my dress on the right way 'round. Sheesh.


I am also working on a wee project to support the kiddo's of Christchurch. That feels good.

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fruit, fairies, queens

There are Kings, Queens and castles afoot. Jed made a huge castle/cave out of sheets, cushions and fabrics. Many an hour was spent in there.

Dragons.

Minstrels.

And fairies and their cohorts. (Jed found two gorgeous prints in the Habitat for Humanity store in East Tamaki this week). I love that none of the above was instigated by me. I am but the lowly assistant these days. I live to serve.

All this play is hungry work. We are loving fruit platters at the moment. Making the most of that fresh summer fruit as the season wanes on us. And it's too darn hot to eat much else in the middle of the day here. What are some of your favourite quick kid-friendly snacks?

Kraftbomb this Sunday Auckland dwelling folks. 11am - 2pm Grey Lynn Community Hall.

I will be there. (And possibly pulling an all nighter to stock my table at this rate! But stock it i will never fear)

Sending ongoing love and donations to those in Christchurch in the aftermath of yet another aftershock.

Click here for ways to help.

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earthquake...

....in Christchurch this morning.

In total juxtaposition to what some of my friends and family were going through, i was bodysurfing with three small kamikaze's when the earthquake struck (another, big one) this morning. I didn't have any contact with the outside world until late this afternoon.

My heart just isn't applying itself to the planned blogpost tonight. My thoughts are full of the quake and the pictures of the destruction. My mind full of my partner's brother talking about how he couldnt reach his partner and son who were right there in the thick of it, for hours after he heard. My partner's work mate who can't get to his family on the other side of the city. Another's life work in rubble. Christchurch's beautiful iconic cathedral is no longer. So much rebuilding to do. Grieving. And before that, the rescue's continue.

I'll be back tomorrow folks. Prayers, or whatever you call them, to those in Christchurch.

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thrifty love

I know it's freezing cold for many of you out there in the northern hemisphere, so forgive me when i say it's 28 degrees centigrade here and too hot to sleep.

To distract myself from the fact that its almost tomorrow, i was just having a wee reminisce about a church thrift shop that Jed and i stormed a few days ago. We had great fun there and
we came away with a bundle of goodies for $12. They apologised it was so expensive.

The fabric above is one of eight napkins. Wild! We get through alot of napkins around here...they save this mama from having to repeatedly wipe faces and hands after meals and they have small folks feel independent.

We scored (for $1) a big bag of this stuff...balls and balls of this 'plastic yarn', embroidery needles and shapes for stitching on. Perfect for teaching small ones to hand sew. Jed's first one he put proudly as dining table centre piece. I think the deal is you're meant to decorate each shape and then stitch them together to form a container.

A card game i thought too advanced for Jed. While i was on the phone he played a set by himself and proved me wrong. He likes doing that.

Geeky sandals for Mama. Seriously, i have been keeping an eye out for some like this for ages. Uh huh, it's all glamour around here.

A recycling rubbish truck for Jed's collection.

Also in the bundle were three cool shirts, two doilies, vintage handkerchief, a wooden framed mirror, a vintage biscuit tin...we were totally ripped off aye?

On a more serious note, i give thanks for little opportunity shops like these that help us stretch our money the large distance it needs to go. And all staffed by volunteers too. Bless!

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cuteness indeed

The new people in our world have inspired me to make baby shoes. Okay, so we all know newborn babies don't actually NEED shoes but the smallness of them just makes them too cute not to have. Am i right?! And you could frame these little morsels of handmade vintage deliciousness to remember just how new and tiny they were...

These are a few of the range i have available. So my work is accessible to folks who aren't in the Auckland region, and to those who can't get to my markets I have listed my original vintage kids gear and GrowMama creations on Trademe. These baby shoes included. Go, buy! Spread the word!

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back at it

This morning Jed and i went to see newborn Manu. Jed was smitten, typically. And is campaigning hard for a baby, sigh. There just is nothing like meeting a person new to the world is there?

I love crafting with Jed around. Together we come up with ideas i would never have hit on alone.
This cream cotton onesie got upcycled with a few strategically placed vintage fabric polka dot hearts. Made especially for you dear Manu.

I had wanted some comfy waisted linen widelegged summer trousers for ages. Comfort features pretty high on my considerations for clothes. Usually i trip across whatever i am wanting secondhand for $5 or something silly, but it didn't work this time. Er, excuse the creases, i had to take these off to photograph them.

Ah, in case you were wondering, i did have togs on!

New Look 6710 was pulled out for the basic pattern. I used cotton jersey (with a little spandex i think) for the waistband. I fell in love with these waistbands when i was pregnant. Unfortunately this one is possibly a teeny tad too big but i may grow into it.

I was short a sliver of fabric. I went ahead anyway and patched in a scrap to make up the difference. I have decided to do this more on my own clothes (not the ones i sell!). It's the old way. (Back in the day when you made do with what you had. My old neighbours in St Laurent de Cerdans in France told me they did this alot in war time and it was considered a high art)

It doesn't compromise the fall of the fabric at all and i like the character it adds.

Loving this lacework i found in an op shop peeking under the hem too.

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