plus one.

My birthday came and went earlier this month. A year older, I'm on the verge of the big three-zero, eeek! Will be purposely keeping birthdays hush hush from now. Ha! I'm sure it isn't as devastating as it sounds (apologies to any wonderful thirty year old readers.) I'm kinda succeeding at keeping the wrinkles at bay so I don't I'm doing too badly. No one would believe it. Right?? :)

Anyway on the day itself I worked, something I haven't done for the last 4 or 5 years. But the 8 hours suffered during the day was quickly redeemed with a hilarious night at Tanuki's Cave, which more than made up for it.

A pic from the night (love this sign at the entrance of Aotea Square) and just a few of the beautiful pressies I received. The Karen Walker Wooden Acorn & Leaf pendant was a beautiful replacement for all the other necklaces I lost in our recent burglary. Adore the wooden acorn!

samoa.

As promised, here are some snaps from my recent trip to Samoa. The five days there flew by; our time was spent eating fresh mango and pineapple for breakfast, shopping at the markets, swimming in beautiful tropical waters, sipping from fresh coconuts, relaxing body scrubs and massages and bumpy tour rides. It also included food poisoning but I'm well recovered and food is my friend again! Where to next?

christmas gift tags.

For me, wrapping a gift is as enjoyable as picking out the perfect something. Even if it's just brown paper and string. I have new Christmas Gift Tags in my Felt shop, to help pretty up your packages!

espadrilles.

When it comes to shoes I'm pretty much a casual kind of gal. I wear ballet flats or mid-heels to the office and Keds on the weekend. I don't think I have amassed nearly as many shoes as some women have my age. Probably because I am uber selective/fussy and find most are too overpriced for what they are, especially here in NZ. So anyway, I've been a little bit obsessed with espadrilles lately. As a wedge or a flat I think they are cute, practical and still girly. Fitting for the imminent Summer.

Clockwise 1. 2. 3. 4.

melbourne, part two.

Here's some more Melbourne for you! The mobile phone edition.

Sunrise Auckland. Early morning flight.

My first macaron. The cupcake, not so nice.

Trams.

Graffiti covered laneways.

The best cupcakes in my so far discovered world.

My IKEA purchases. And pencil (or two).

IKEA wrapping table. Tempted to wrap EVERYTHING.

A view from the Eureka Skydeck.

In a few weeks time I'll be flying to Samoa! Looking forward to warm sand, bumpy bus rides and sipping from fresh coconuts. I'll be sure to share pictures from my first island escape.

melbourne.

Earlier this month we popped over to Melbourne for quick getaway. It's been on our hit list for quite some time now so it was very exciting to spend a weekend there exploring the city. 

We stayed in a hotel in Southbank which turned out to be a handy spot. We pretty much walked everywhere, except for a train ride to Prahran. Oh, and half a taxi ride to IKEA (it was a bit further than we thought). Next time we'll research the trams.


A few things we did ...
+ Had a delicious and well priced Eggs Bene from The Quarter on Degraves Street.
+ Got lost in The Chapel Street Bazaar in Prahran. That place is nuts! My goodness. 
+ Devoured cupcakes from Little Cupcakes. I tried the Carrot Cake and Passionfruit. Possibly the best cupcakes I have ever eaten. DIVINE!
+ Visited ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image)
+ Admired all the street art and graffiti 
+ Wandered around IKEA. Picked up some grey Bertil Chair pads, Molger storage boxes and Flata storage rack for our bills and letters
+ Breakfast with friends at the very hip Journal in Flinders Lane
+ Picked up a writing set from paper heaven Il Papiro.


The low point of our holiday was returning to a burgled home. If you have been a victim of a break in you'll know the feeling. Still, trying to stay positive and not let it ruin such a great time away.


Have a lovely weekend! 

delicious.

like most people I adore food. whilst googling for yum cha restaurants i stumbled across baking = love , a cute & relatively new little Auckland foodie blog. i am definitely going to attempt the eggs bene & dumplings recipes. mm mm mm!

makes me feel like.

Hope you all had a restful weekend. It was perfect rainy stay at home weather in Auckland. The lawn is all mushy and I didn't get any laundry dry. 

I've been listening to this new album on my headphones. I've liked this band for awhile now. Something about their music resonates with my soul. 

Goodnight.

Image: here. 

so sew.

Sew I'm (heh, see that?) a newbie at sewing. I see a lot of cute zipper purses & pencil cases at craft markets and on blogs and thought I'd try my hand at making one. Here is my first proper attempt. I'm not gonna lie, this took me nearly a whole afternoon. I had trouble figuring out what to sew where and which side was what. Stitches were ripped out and redone on more than one occasion. But I got there in the end and it doesn't look half bad. The lining is slightly bulky inside, probably because I was too lazy to measure properly. But it's passable. I even put some buttons on it before sewing up the lining which cleverly hid the stitching. Ha! Chuffed.

To you experienced ladies (or gentlemen), does it ever get easier? Will I get better at sewing in a straight line?

Thanks to twelve 22 for the tutorial, found here. 

the envelope project.

I read about The Envelope Project atleast 4 or more weeks ago on the Meet Me At Mikes blog. The idea is to send in a cute envelope filled with anything small and sweet - stickers, clippings from magazines, ribbon, paper goods etc etc. The lovely envelopes will be displayed in their shop front and at the end of the project one lucky person will win all the contents of each package. WOW! How exciting. I guess that's why they asked to keep it light, since they have to forward the whole lot on!

I only just got my A into G and posted mine off the other day. I found it hard to close my little envelope so had to double tape it shut. Let's hope it doesn't bust open in transit. And fingers crossed it gets there in time. Please be kind (and speedy!) Mr. Postman. 

nearly complete...

contents.

xx

foxes.

foxes, a new online shop filled with the best local art, craft and design opens this weekend! i am super excited to log on come Sunday and check out what's on offer. 

check out their site here.

l-r: bam bam creative, ethel & harriet, victoria n' bird, cara c, dear colleen. 


photos: foxes facebook page

knick knacks.

I picked these up at the Mt Eden Antique Fair last month. Tiny packaged food stuffs and a little Native American in a frame. Love the little bottle of sesame seeds and the apple box really opens!

losing streak.

I've been feeling a bit sad face these last few weeks. I'm normally very optimistic but I've been feeling a little bummed out for no good reason. So tonight I turned on my electric blanket, put on my Mickey Mouse jumper and reassured myself that I wouldn't be swallowed up by a whale. 

Images: Things We Forget

drexels.

Drexel's is an American style breakfast restaurant in Christchurch. It is always must visit for our stomachs when we are in town! You are seated in tall, black leather booths, very American diner style. All meals are served with toast, whipped butter and jam, which is a delight in itself. The handmade hash browns are my absolute favourite, which they make daily from scratch. The service is also very pleasant. Just remember to book ahead as it's insanely popular on the weekends. 

robin's egg.

yep, torturing myself again on the Urban Outfitters website. here we have the jet set storage bench in robin's egg tweed. i'd buy it purely for the colour name (robin's egg, cute!)imagine it in velvet... i'll take one please!

winter sale.

i'm having a little winter clearance sale of my pretend postcards! i'll be listing them here and there during the next week so come along and visit my etsy store. each is one of a kind and handmade. the link is other there, down a bit, to the right!

lucky.

i have been fortunate lately to win these lovely creations from fellow crafty friends. thanks to jess (bam bam creative) & bronwyn (r.w. scissors) for my "little birdie told me" brooch & hair badge. they are prettying up my notice board for the time being. 

rainy long weekend.

It has been a pretty miserable day weather wise. This morning I attempted to tidy up my work space. Here are a few snaps of my desk & the view from my window. 

kraftbomb time.

If you are in Auckland tomorrow, be sure to swing by Kraftbomb.

I will be there with some of my paper goodies. Be nice to see you there! Hope you all are having a lovely weekend and aren't getting too rained on.

mega doily.

I bet your nanna didn't have a doily as big as this one. Pretty cool huh?

For a cool $600 USD this rug could be sitting pretty in your living room. From Ladies & Gentlemen, their etsy shop here. 

 

oh, snap!

I bought these adorable SNAP playing cards online.  

No idea what I am going to do with them. Maybe put them into a kit?

Charming don't ya think?

crafty kiwis.

wowee, my typewriter print along with other fellow crafty folk made it onto the Frankie blog! The pic was plucked from the Auckland Craft Collective homepage so a big thanks to Jess & Kylie for including me. You can read the Frankie post here. Also be sure to check out the Auckland Art & Craft Fair site and sign up for the inaugural event happening July 24th, 2010 at the Auckland Art Gallery. A second round of applications has just come on offer so don't miss out! It's going to be HUGE!

Image: Auckland Art & Craft Fair Facebook Page. 

kraft paper couture.

I'm not a super make-up girl but I do appreciate a clever ad campaign. M.A.C Cosmetics recently launched their Prêt-à-Papier range; nudes & beiges inspired by kraft paper. Hello! love the stuff. Paper bows & buttons. Paper perfection! I really do wish the products came in the paper-like packaging though...

Images: Google