Black Swan Blog

What a lovely way to start the week, waking to find that one of my Wild Things images has been featured on BobbyRobin’s blog! It’s always nice to know that the hours spent on the internet promotion do actually work! Thanks to Emma from Freedom Creative for spotting it. And for all those Wild Things fans out there, check out Terrible Yellow Eyes which has many an amazing interpretation of the childrens book illustrations…

Wild Thing by Paul O’Flanagan

When did it get to be mid January already? Time flies when you’re on holiday I guess! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Years, and 2010 is treating you well so far. (If anyone knows where I can get myself a flying bubble car let me know). I’ve had a lovely relaxing time on holiday for the last 3 weeks or so, trying to keep away from the computer as much as possible and get my fill of Vitamin D while it’s on offer. One highlight of my holiday was a trip over to Akaroa to pop in to the Lava Gallery, where some of my goodies are stocked. Dean and Deborah have done a lovely job with their shop…

I love how they’ve displayed my necklaces, like peas in a pod (which coincidentally happens to be another habit I’ve picked up over the holidays, eating raw peas. My flatmates plant in the garden is now looking decidedly bare! Om nom nom…)

And of course there’s got to be a pano or two taken while I’m out with the camera, just to keep Photoshop on its toes…

The Lava Gallery – 61c Beach Road, Akaroa, Ph 03 304 8875.

The Night Market was a great success! People flocked to admire the wares of talented local crafters at Our City O-Tautahi, and I’m sure there will be many happy recipients of beautifully hand crafted goodies this Christmas! I managed to take a few photos during the evening while my lovely helper looked after the Black Swan stall, which you can see on facebook. I also had to treat myself to a limited edition pixel mouse made by the lovely Bridget. He’s so cute! Hopefully he’s the first of many craft meets geek creations to come…

There’s also been some exciting new features on felt recently, implemented by the talented Marcel, including the ability to create your very own showcase! For all of you out there who’d like to try making your own, you can find more information on the felt forum. So, in the name of trying out new fun things, here’s a showcase featuring some of my favourite local crafters who made an appearance at the Night Market…

Floral Kimono Silk B…

podflower

$9.50

Super Versatile Clot…

citrusdaisy

$79.00

Scented Mini Teardro…

roseinthorns

$36.00

Gold On Black Japane…

freedom

$13.00

Grey Felted Flower B…

shakyisles

$25.00

Redflax Original Han…

redflax

$29.00

Copper Frond Earrings

wishingtree

$45.00

Fancy Rabbit Brooch

inmybackyard

$22.00

Well, what a marvellous time we had at the Oamaru Victorian Fete on the weekend! Lucy from felt and myself adorned suitable attire and joined in the frivolities! These photos are just a small sampling that I took on the day, more can be seen on facebook. Some highlights included the Oamaru Intergalactic Ukulele Orchestra (photo of the Queen watching above), penny farthing stunts (or ordinary bicycles as they call them) and of course just getting to stroll about all day in my outfit! Delightful!

Christchurch seems to be settling into some lovely Springtime weather now, and with vibrant colours blooming all over the place I decided to satisfy my girly urges and add a stack of botanical photographs to my stock library. I’ve been hanging out in particular to take some kowhai photos, as I wasn’t quick enough last year to catch them in flower, and this year I just happen to be living in a house where there’s a tree right outside my window! Complete with regular little feathered visitors…

The Botanical Gardens are also gorgeous at the moment, awash with colour everywhere you look. I popped in the other day on a “work” related trip (honest!) but have to admit I did get a tad distracted…

And a touch of pink in amongst the yellow, while I’m being all girly…

My flatmate, and long time friend, is in the process of madly trying to complete a “30 things to do before you turn 30″ list before her birthday next weekend, so I decided to offer to accompany her on a mission to watch the sunrise! (#28 on the list)
When you’ve got to get up that early in the morning you may as well do it properly, so we headed up the Port Hills in my home town, Christchurch, to get a nice vantage point… overestimating the travel time by an hour or so in the process (whoops), but we had a lovely time hanging out on top of the hill in the early hours while we waited for the sun to make an appearance, and were rewarded with some stunning views for our patience!