holiday greetings.

Merry Christmas!

Beautiful Christmas Ornaments from victoria n' bird

...to all my blog readers, how many or how few of you there might be, I really love and appreciate all your comments. Hope you all have a fun and safe holiday season and enjoy spending time with those dearest to you.

Bee xo

gocco party.

We were very lucky to be invited by our good friend Richard AKA Podgypanda for a little Gocco Party in his new studio space. I'd never seen a Gocco in action before so I was extremely interested. I whipped up some cupcakes that morning and quickly drew my print...

Food treats consisted of fresh out of the oven choc chip cookies, cocktail sausages, fairy bread, cupcakes, crackers & dip. Mmm.

Becky & Frank's print (left) very cute in a forest green, the Gocco (right)

My print - my new typewriter, drawn on a tablet in Photoshop

We tried gold for the little heart but it didn't come out that good.
But I still think it looks ok, do you?

getting older.

It was my birthday last Thursday! Yes one year older. Actually, once you embrace the fact that growing old is inevitable birthdays can be quite enjoyable. Minus the whole getting wrinkly and saggy part.

A super sneaky surprise gift. A beautifully framed painting of Pinwheel by Becky of Tiny Kitten Teeth. Adorable!

A gift I chose for myself...

It was a toss up between this and a Karen Walker dress. I've been wanting a sewing machine for yonks so this won. Plus I can't justify spending nearly a weeks pay on one dress, as pretty as it may be! Who knows, I might be able to sew myself a fancy frock one day? I am free to dream.
Ps. Sewing Machine World in Onehunga is the place to go!

And we ended the day with a delicious dinner at my favourite, Tanuki's Cave.

mt eden antiques fair.

I went along to the Mt Eden Antiques Fair last Sunday, the sort of thing that's right up my alley! I am more than happy to pay $3 to fossick through treasures of all kinds - antique toys, linen, books, china, ornaments and jewellery to name a few.

I was pretty chuffed to pick up this old manual Brother typewriter for $20. I saw a very similar one in the window display of Iko Iko on K'Rd which I so lovingly longed for. It's in top condition and only needed a ribbon change. This takes my total collection of typewriters to 3 (I have an electronic Brother and old Consul), although one may get the boot very soon as storage at our house is at a minimum.

Great for sending in requests to the North Pole

Previous owners assignment on dinosaurs found tucked in the case pocket. Ha!

And these pretty cats, the set $2!

kraftbomb november.

Kraftbomb was crazy busy last weekend. So good to see such a fantastic turnout and lots of people buying handmade.

Picked up some goods from Podgypanda, Sprout (my stall neighbour), R.W. Scissors, Luxford St and Bunny Party. All but one are presents so no show I'm afraid! I also picked up a copy of Extra Curricular magazine which I will look through again this afternoon. Love the card stock and rounded corners. Can't wait to devour it!

Pic from the Extra Curricular blog

And I just had to post this darling Christmas card by Fred. Isn't it the coolest?

Thanks to Karla & City for another wonderful Kraftbomb and to all the visitors who stopped by my table.

Be sure to pop along again on the 20th for another dose. Your last chance before Christmas!

Have Yourself A Handmade Christmas.

I have a stall at Kraftbomb this Sunday the 29th November 2009. There will be an assorted of talented crafters so hope that you'll be able to drop by and pick up some handmade presents for Christmas. I plan to buy handmade this year and I have been real successful in my shopping so far, picking up things from various markets and even the Trade Aid store.

Here's a sampling of what I'll have on the day.

+ Button cards. I have lots of buttons and am not much of a sewer so thought I'd sell them for others to enjoy. Bows, owls, flowers... something for everyone.

+ Pretend postcards. These debuted many moons ago at the last Kraftbomb I attended. I say "pretend" because the postage stamps on them are already used, but they come with a cream coloured envelope to pop them in. I have slowly amassed a collection of vintage stamps from around the world and I have put some of the prettiest on these cards.

+ Hanging Owlies, a Purrsie staple. Hand stitched with love, great for the Christmas tree or any where you want to hang a little cute. This is the last of the bunch as I have run out of their large vintage button eyes. These little lovers will be there with some of their mates and then you might see them no more!

See you Sunday! x

Early Surprises

I have been opening quite a few Christmas presents lately, but not because I have been busting to, but because the person giving them could not keep them a secret!

I received two books from my Amazon wishlist, Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design and The Boss of You: Everything A Woman Needs to Know to Start, Run, and Maintain Her Own Business.

But my favourite by far, "Stormfront" a 5 colour screen print by my all time favourite cool dude Jim Houser. I blogged about him a while back. And print number 12/100! Woo! Fresh from the framers it is now sitting pretty in the lounge.

Craft Market Mad

Craft markets have been popping up all over Auckland and I just can't keep up.

Marc and I went along to the very first Love Handmade market this weekend at the Rose Centre, Belmont. We saw our good (and very sleepy) friend Richard of Podgypanda and it was so nice to finally meet Jess of BamBamCreative and Kylie of Skipapple and see their crafts in person. I purchased up some lovely items from both but can't share as they are potential Christmas presents.

I also picked up some neat hand cut stickers from Ferrit for $1 each. I adore kraft paper and bows so this was a win win for me.

The next Love Handmade market is on the 12th of December.

And if you are on Twitter, lets be friends.

it's kraftbomb time again kids!

Yep, it comes around fast huh? I will try my best to get there and check it out. You should too!

Oh and it also happens to be on Armageddon weekend. But I reckon Kraftbomb is soo much better ;-) Heh.

ActionMan Adam: Hot off The Press!

If you are into comics and cartooning you might like to head along to Comics on K this weekend, 12 Beresford Square, Karangahape Rd, Auckland.

My lovely hubby will be there with his hot off the press ActionMan Adam book as well as other NZ artists and guest speakers.

He will also be at the Armageddon Expo, ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane on October 24-26th (Labour weekend). Our friend Podgypanda will also be there so pop by their table and say hi to the boys!

ActionMan Adam books are $9, pick one up from either event or through the website!

happy weekend!

What are you up to this weekend? I suspect that summer may be skipping Auckland this year as it is flippin' cold! Where for art thou sunshine?

I:
+ Am currently trying to keep warm. Slippers and borrowing boy hoodies help.
+ Have this album on my headphones
+ Am thinking of chicken burritos for dinner
+ Am feeling thankful for life & loved ones

Enjoy your weekend x

lovely package exchange: update!

My lovely package exchange partner Katie received her parcel a wee while ago. Thought I would post a few pics of the goodies I sent her. These small packages were sent within a larger brown box that I packaged in red candy stripe wrapping paper, then covered again in brown packaging wrap and string.

- - handmade cards - -

- - Tim Tams - -

- - NZ Fashion Quarterly Mag - -

I really enjoyed taking part. I'll keep you posted if I get word of another exchange. Hey, maybe we should do a little NZ package swap? What do you think?

500 days of summer

Yipee! This comes out in NZ on the 1st October 2009. That's tomorrow!
I have watched the trailer like a zillion times. Come on, who can resist Zooey? I want to be her best friend. And I must say that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is looking rather cute these days too...

If you see it, pop a review in the comments! x

Here's the youtube link to the trailer

Ch-check it out!

Just added a few new items to my etsy shop.

lovely package exchange

I recently took part in the lovely package exchange hosted by oh, hello friend.

I was paired up with a lovely girl named Katie from Washington State, who I must say has been very patient. With all that has been going on lately I only just managed to get her lovely package away earlier this week. It's on its way Katie!

Well, the other day I returned from work and found this little candy striped box sitting in my letterbox. How exciting! Looks like MAF got excited too and inspected it before me.

Luckily I remembered to document the unwrapping as we are to post pics of our lovely packages on a flickr page dedicated to the exchange.

Here are just some of the items I received in my lovely package. Thanks so much Katie! I adore every single item.

moving places, new spaces

We purchased our first home less than a month ago and we just completed the mighty move. Living out of boxes for the last couple of days has been a right nuisance and I wish everything could just magically find its correct place! Oh dear, all in good time I suppose.

An exciting part of owning your own space is that you get to do it up however your heart desires. Our new place is in need of a serious makeover so I have been working on designing our new bathroom. I decided on a light oak woodgrain vanity because well, I am nuts on woodgrain! A quick flip through the Ikea site confirmed my decision. My bathroom won't be as fancy pants as these but I can certainly try, right?

all screen grabs from ikea.com

misery + james jean

A few pics from NZ artist Misery's "The Heart of Misery" show & the James Jean book launch we attended last Thursday night. We picked up a copy of Kindling and had it signed by James himself.

"The Heart of Misery" is at Plaything gallery, 21 Dacre St, Eden Terrace, Auckland until the 29th August.