Tis 10 on the eve of Sew September

Day one tomorrow... better strike a lunge!

Come along and join the challenge here!

Cosset Can Create

The beautiful day that was our saturday was pretty darn lovely...

... as lovely as a rum & rasin morsel

Some old friends met up, and some new friends were found in the warm, crafty paws of Cosset. You must visit this wonderous Mt Albert nook

We finished our delicious treats at Cosset, and headed in to the We Can Create market

I made a bee-line for Luu and her wonderous colourful stall. Que Linda! I could fossik through her goodies all day, swept up in memories of South American adventures ... 

I got a bit shy with practicing my spanish with Luzette, but I made sure I didn't leave empty handed

I did manage to slip the cam out over at Make Believe, an adventurous spot where all the maps were lapping up the sunlight, i'm now one step closer to India with a lovely magnet on my fridge. YAY! The girls sounded like they had a very busy marketful w/e head on over here to read more, and check out the many more gorgeous pics to boot!

and I could not resist one of these chickitita libros from Baka Design

The bell sounded and the crowds hoarded in from the lecture theatres so my camera couldn't get a word in, the other loooovelly stalls I came across were Odd One Out I especially loved the 100's and 1000's necklace - nom! And we met the charming smile behind Rekindle - gorgeous re-purposing of tea cups in every which way and we loved the gorgoues necklaces by all of these beautiful makers: Bliss in a Tea cup, Miss Tiki, & Clink Jewelry 

Here's to the sun, the smiles, and the sweetness of our city's crafters !!

Creative Spaces

Well and truly jumped on board with our creative spaces this week...

There's been a few birthdays lately so I've been a making

Watercolours ... I haven't touched them since primary school so that was interestingly fun!

Included are the lyrics to Shapeshifter, One - for my fav dancing buddy xx

For a sweet Mother of Mr Oratia, who loves elephants... some of my homemade paper, 

with an excerpt from an old 70's book of a man's journey through Africa, Nepal & SA. 

I had no glue, so I followed suit like Louana and sewed them together.

Much prettier don't you think?

And what's a birthday without some cake and a song?

Lastly, for the morning after the par-tay,

Toast + Poached eggs 

and....

Time for a nap one would think.

Nope! More birthdays are a comin'

for all things splorish...

A few weekends ago Mr Oratia and I ventured on a little mission down to the site of Splore


I wrapped my attempted cinnamon pinwheels into a picnic basket, and packed the billy for Mr Oratias necessary tea. With a hop, skip and jump we were headed south east to the sounds of Batucada…

My first time visiting the site of all things splorish, but for Mr Oratia, it was a sweet reunion with the park that was this time slightly less adorned.

We had come seeking inspiration, conversation and a prowl around the nooks  

We met with the creators and fellow art makers

A dawdle across the rocky beach tickled me into a peppery arty plan.

A sunny sit at the ‘lagoon’

A gulp of salty splorey air, 

We bid our farewells and headed to find a sheltered picnic spot.  

the goodies....

 We clambered down roots, and found a sheltered cove - not quite tinned biscuits nor lashings of ginger beer, but our fish and chips on the beach were delish! 

The cinnamon pinwheels & Mr Oratia were a bit disappointed I forgot the lighter to boil the billy, but the sun warmed us on the rocks where we lay, a-bubbling with ideas, from sea, to beach, to billy goat tracks... 

my daydreaming view

Creative creatures you must attend this wonderous weekend of colour and community

Check out the gallery for some inspiring pictures

and all submissions for art installations must be in by 9th September!!

Treats for all at Mr Oratia's birthday weekend away

The sun came out, and six60 was the sound. 

We hit the road north - The Barn we were bound

Mr Oratia's birthday treat

Friends a-merry came to meet

The Barn was full of lovely suprises...

furniture that made me feel so at home, dream home.

delicious tea in delicious looking mugs

and to accompany the tea..

an awesome collection of National Geographics 

Just a little down the road, we visited the tasty Matakana Markets 

But just around the corner ..... The best kind of stall ever, where I dusted off a sweet little suitcase and filled it with some found fabric goodies. Bliss.

Letting the fun and games begin...

 

 There was music

My homemade chips n dips

....and general shenanigans.

 Happy birthday Mr Oratia my lovely! & thanks to Mr & Mrs Barn Owners

Stupidity at it's best

On Friday night I went to see a film at the quaint Oratia Settlers Hall, a sweet hall with tea, bikkies, a sign for mulled wine but none present, pop-your-own-top beer, and all chairs to be stacked when the film was done.

The Age of Stupid is a doco set in 2055 reflecting on us now, us, in this age of stupidity, asking the question 'why didn't we save ourselves when we had the chance?'

One scene in particular that remains with me, is where a builder of wind turbines is ruled out 11 to 1 in a community court. Voted against purely for aesthetic reasons! They voted pretty over powerful and protecting the earth!?! 

"We could have saved ourselves, but we didn't. It's amazing. 

What state of mind were we in to face extinction and simply shrug it off"

- A poignant line from the movie

"We shouldn't feel powerless, we should feel powerful.

Because we are the most powerful people that ever lived - 

nobody has ever had the opportunity that we've got now to do something"

- Words from 'Im with Stupid' article by Tess Curran Peppermint Magazine Issue 04

Although I willingly do more than my share of hoarding and re-making of pretty much everything....

and being an avid 2^nd hand shopper for ANYTHING that is required, a word-spreader of a conscious consumerism and still I know I can do more to help!

Starting with....

A) Saving to buy a bike, so there is no more driving rolly to work

B) Claiming my few feet squared in the veggie patch for some spring veg.

Check this great website on their way to save the world by only 3things! Have a geezer and pledge your three things!

It would be great to hear what you want to do, so if you pledge, leave a comment below with your 3things so we can spread some seeds of green, rather than stupidity :-) 

Silly snowman!

Silly snowman on our sill at work. 

Auckland CBD

(let me know if you can't see the pic xx)