Lent

Conversation with (8 yr old) Georgia yesterday, went something like this:

G: Mum, what're you giving up for Lent?
Me: Oooh...is it that time already? (Man, time flies...)
G: No. but soon though. We've been talking about it at school.
Me: Ah.
G: So...? What are you gonna give up?
Me: Well...(frantically racking my brains). What're you going to give up?
G: Chocolate.
Me: Ooooh...that's gonna be a tough one. Are you sure?
G: Yeah (nods thoughtfully). What about you?
Me: Well, I s'pose chocolate's a good one. I'll give that up too. We can keep each other honest.
G: Cool.

Short pause while she thinks abit more.

G: Know what (?) is giving up? ("?" is a boy in her class)
Me: Nope - what? (Thinking to myself "this'll be good...")
G: Vegetables!

Darn it - why didn't I think of that?! The boy's a genius.

I'll leave you with this gem of a kiwi music vid...remember Mikey Havoc's band "Push Push" from the 90's? (Note: if you're not a kiwi, you won't - don't think they were massive overseas or anything). Well, I found this when I was cruising YouTube (yes - again! Don't start with me) this arvo.

That hair!
Those outfits!
My eyes! My eyes!

(Still rates as a great song though - just close your eyes and listen LOL!).

"Take me to the gardens of Babylon" indeed...

Kiwi music

YouTube: you should have guessed by now that I love it. So much on there that's fun! And tonight I've been looking at music vids again - specifically, New Zealand music. Here are a few that I really love - I hadn't realised until recently how great NZ music really was/is. Very cool.

Enjoy!









This is by no means a definitive collection of my favourites - just a few - a slice, if you like. More to come - have just found some awesome classics which I'll post next time - bands like Split Enz, Th' Dudes, Dragon - come on, "April Sun in Cuba"? It's a claaaaaaaaassssssic man! What kiwi hasn't danced on the tables to that one?! (And no - they are NOT Australian. Sheesh...).

Oh, well, OK - here it is then (no waiting after all LOL!). Drum roll please...direct from (sometime in the 1970's) - DRAGON!!!!!!



OK, that's enough excitement for one night :)

-A

The Big O

I was walking down the main street this morning and I realised how lucky I was to live somewhere so beautiful. The sun was shining, there were friendly smiles to greet me in every shop I entered, and I was full of the joys of spring. Somewhat sappy, but true!

When I left Opotiki (and home) at the age of 16 to go and live in Auckland, I couldn't wait to get out of the place. I hated the complete lack of anonymity in a small town, I longed to be "just one of the crowd". But after 16 years of living in cities (Auckland, London, Edinburgh), I really looked forward to living in Opotiki again. Apart from all the other bonuses of living here (like being a 5 minute drive from one of the best beaches in the country - which, by the way, is NEVER crowded, and the complete lack of smog), it's a great place to bring up kids. Chilling out and taking it easy are a way of life here. It's good for the soul.

So, here are a few photos of my hometown, Opotiki (or "The Big O", as my cousin and I always used to refer to it!).

Elliott St/Church St intersection (Masonic Hotel).
My work is half a block to the right of this intersection.

Waiotahi Beach (5 mins drive from town and my house).
White Island (active volcano) is smoking away in the distance.

Hiona St Stephens church - Church St, Opotiki.

Whale Island, as seen from Waiotahi Beach.

Thanks so much to Noeline for taking these photos, and for allowing me to share them with you all :)

- A

Singing along to the car radio

I found myself driving Georgia to school today, while singing along (rather loudly, I might add) to this great song by Anika Moa - "Dreams in my Head" - it always puts me in a good mood. And you have to TURN IT UP when you sing along!! You just HAVE to!! Who cares about the weird looks you get from passing motorists/pedestrians/your 8 year old daughter who's sitting next to you thinking "Man, she's doing it again...I hope none of my friends see me...". Yah. Whatever. I had to put up with it when I was your age, kiddo, and I'm not damaged (much). Besides...you get used to it.



Other songs that are damn near GUARANTEED to make me crank up the radio and sing along are:

Pearl Jam - "Daughter" - reminds me of the good old days - when I was single and used to dance on tables with my friends alot :)
Counting Crows - "Mr Jones" - great memories of some awesome nights out!
Lynard Skynard - "Sweet Home Alabama" - Willie says this one should be at the top of the list, but I'm not doing this in any particular order so I don't care. Good to know he's noticed tho.
Santana ft Rob Thomas - "Smooth" - mmmmm....smooth indeed!
KT Tunstall - "Suddenly I See" - always makes me wanna boogie
Sandi Thom - "What If I'm Right" - memories of a great car trip Willie and I took
James Morrison - "You Give Me Something" - cool song, very sing-a-long-y
Live - "Lightning Crashes" - love the way the music builds to a crescendo. Reminds me of my trip thru Europe in a van in '97 - totally thrashed this song! God, was it that long ago? Now I feel REALLY old...

(The links are to the music vid's on YouTube).

C'mon - share - what makes you sing along?

- A

Inspiration's a funny thing

Recently I was asked (again) where I drew my inspiration from, for my jewellery designs predominantly. It's a hard question, one I always find difficult to answer. The truth is, my inspiration comes from all over - I swear, I store stuff away in my memory banks and then months (sometimes even years) later, it comes tumbling out and I have to try to make something out of it. There's no rhyme or reason to it. TV, movies, landscape, an item I've seen someone wearing - it can come from anywhere. I often see things that I like the look of - whether it be the combination of colours, the style of a piece, something that evokes a particular memory or time of my life - like I said, no rhyme or reason.

One artist I've admired for several years is Cindi Albright. She is American, and specialises in beautiful beaded crosses and crucifixes - for hanging on your wall/garden, and for wearing. Cindi's website, Rustique Art, is one of my favourites! Such beautiful designs! It was actually Cindi's designs that inspired my "Isolde" pendant:

So, thank you Cindi, for your amazing inspiration for this pendant, and for your beautiful website, so full of lovely things :)

Here are a few of Cindi's beautiful crosses, for your viewing pleasure:

Isn't she amazing?

- A

Drink up!

I found this on YouTube recently and every time I watch it I giggle (alot!). So I thought I'd share :D

If you're a "Supernatural" fan, you'll love it (and you'll get all the in-jokes - even better!!). But even if you're not, I think you'll get the picture!

So, here goes...The Official "Supernatural" Drinking Game (Hardcore Edition) - just the thing for your next girls night in (or whatever! Any excuse really!).

PS: You cannot hold me responsible for whatever happens when you play this...I'm just sayin' :D



PPS: I can't actually REMEMBER the last time I played a drinking game (having a hangover with 2 small children in the house is NOT my idea of fun - especially when they get up at the crack of dawn no matter what day of the week it is, and they have no volume control...if you have kids yourself, you'll understand why "hangover" and "children" do not mix...). My recommendation? Get a babysitter and make the kids stay overnight at their house...with instructions not to bring 'em home till at LEAST 4pm the following day...

My studio

Just a wee "behind the scenes" of my studio (in case you're interested!). I love my studio - it's bright, airy and a very creative space. I love hibernating in there, away from the rest of the world. Occasionally, my hubby comes in to kip on the sofa in there, read his book, have a cuppa etc. I kick him out when he starts snoring though ;D The kids also wander in and chat to me. It's heaven really.

Here's my jewellery workstation - I have 2 benchspaces - this one and another one, which is my sewing workstation (used for cutting fabric, storing all my sewing essentials etc). The desk fan is an essential at this time of year as our house is north-facing and therefore very hot during summer. Also - note my little pink iPod in it's speaker docking station - gotta have tunes while I work!


This is my very first cupcake pincushion - see - I do use them myself!!


My hubby and I bought this vintage set of china cups and saucers (with matching side plates) in Tauranga (NZ), about 8 years ago (a few months after arriving back in NZ from Scotland, cos they reminded us of "home" with the thistles and suchlike). I still use them as "props" in my photos ocassionally. We still use them for cups of tea (being china, they keep the tea REALLY hot for AGES!). But I keep them in my studio...just 'cos I like to look at them.

I just adore decorative teaspoons - the prettier, the better! These ones came from all over - some are old, others are new. I get them from antique shops, car boot sales, op shops etc. I like to store them in this 1950's glass sundae glass. They just make me happy, for some inexplicable reason?

All my handbags are stored hanging on the back of my studio door. I like to keep them crease-free for as long as possible. Pretty aren't they?

This tiny table is gorgeous - it belonged to my hubby's grandmother, she bought it in Austria in the 1970's apparently. It's a gorgeous marquetry sewing table - when you open the lid, it holds threads, buttons etc inside and it plays the "Blue Danube" to me. I love that I still use it as a sewing storage table, much as my hubby's Nanna did when it was hers. I put my favourite design books on it, as I like to pick them up and flip through them fairly regularly. "Like I Give A Frock" is hysterical - Mum gave it to me last Christmas - every time I pick it up it makes me giggle :D. Apparently it was my Dad who spotted it and pointed it out to Mum.

This is a corner of my sewing workstation. It tends to be abit of a dumping ground for stuff I can't fit on my jewellery table (much like my laundry room ends up being a dumping ground for stuff that the hubby/kids can't be bothered to put away............).

I borrowed Betz White's idea of using wooden embroidery hoops filled with my favourite fabric scraps to decorate this wall in my studio, recently. I love the look - do you get from these pics so far that I love colour?! And thanks Verna for scouring the Auckland craft shops for me and sending me the hoops :D Oh, and you can also see my little (what I laughingly call) "photography studio" underneath. I'm nothing if not creative! 4 student lamps from the Warehouse, 4 daylight bulbs from Bunnings and a piece of $2 white A3 card from the stationery shop, blue-tacked to the wall and the desk - good old Kiwi ingenuity!

Hope you enjoyed the tour! BTW - my house is very similar - lots of colour and "pizazz"!

- A

A Weekend to Remember

Our 10th wedding anniversary was spent at the Chateau Tongariro, at the base of Mt Ruapehu. What a weekend - so romantic :) We did abit of tiki-touring about during the 3 days we were there (Waiouru - for the Army Museum, Ohakune, a bush walk into the National Park etc), and had a great time. Lovely to have a few days to celebrate without the kids (they had their own holiday right here at home!). Cammie did say that he "missded" me when we got home though (awwwwwwwwww!).

Here's a few pics - man, it's gorgeous in that part of the country:

Here's to the next 10 years!! Wonder where we'll end up on our 20th wedding anniversary? (If I play me cards right, it'll be PARIS - woooohoooooooooooooo!).

- A

Who else loves "Supernatural"?

I do! I got waaaaaaaaaaaaaay "into" this series during series 1 (last year sometime) and now it's back for season 2 - yippee! Just found a whole heap of stuff from Youtube - you can watch the whole of series 1 and 2 on there - who knew?! (probably everyone else - I'm usually the last to know these things...).

Anyway, I stumbled across these bloopers from series 2 while I was digging around in there - hilarious! Gotta love those boys :)