Kintsugi is the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with a special lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. The process creates an object more beautiful than before. Embracing the flawed and imperfect as it tells of a journey/history.

When it rains, the moss fills the cracks in the concrete.

the birds and the bees

peachy, plum pear, autumn instagram

grapes before they were jellied / avocado doing its best / sunset

staying with the best of friends / handmade mug / lemon verbena tea

love-in-a-mist /  east coast penguin territory / velvet curtain banner

Pecha Kucha Christchurch #19

Pecha Kucha Night is a terrific event where 20 speakers present 20 slides for 20 seconds each. The evening is a total blast with fast-paced, concise information/entertainment being thrown at you by a bunch of talented people. And I totally jumped at the chance to design the latest poster for Christchurch.



The theme this time is the performing arts, which for me meant painting tiny acrobats and magicians. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Locals - get along to this! I know 6 of the speakers and I promise you, they will deliver - comedy, facts, art and glitter.

You can view previous nights from Christchurch and other cities all over the world on the Pecha Kucha website.

Hope You're Feline Better

So we all know I'm terrible at regular blog posts, but we will all forgive me as I have been painting orange fluffy cats.

Available in my Etsy shop and my newly stocked Felt shop. Links are over here ----------------------------->


Heard some nice feedback the other day..
Billy Connolly was in Christchurch a couple of weeks ago and went for a bit of a wander through Re:Start Mall stopping in at Hapa where he saw my cards. The lovely ladies sent me an email to let me know he bought one of each design and roared with laughter - particularly over Owl Be Your Baby Tonight.
I felt very, very chuffed.

Thanks Mr Connolly for making a small little business swell with pride!

A new animal, a new pun

Available very soon - Wish You Were Hare postcards.

Going out to all my adventurous country hopping friends.

(hopping... get it? ha!)

picking up the things that fall

Sweet-pea seeds, $2 for 30. They've been a sellout. 

Seed-in-a-pod, Love-in-a-mist.

A sneaky cutting from the local park - lemon verbena. 

Put some leaves in hot water for a delicious tea. 

Now to grow my own plant to curb the sneaky cuttings.

For our wedding, Gareth and I were utterly spoiled by our incredibly talented friends. They helped with everything! People donated tablecloths, fairy lights, jars, napkins, flowers, seeds, plates, glasses, their skills and time - including our wonderful friend and photographer Emma Brittenden (go take a peek around her site).
Without them the day couldn't have happened. Such marvellous people, we owe you big time.

This banner was made for the day itself but now hangs above our bed.
Thank you, my dearest Annie.

Community classes.

For several months I have been going to pottery classes - every monday, just after lunch, with a mixture of women, at the Risingholme Community Centre.

I think I touched clay just a handful of times while at university and have always been very nervous around it - the cracking, oh the cracking! It seemed my hands could suck the moisture out of a watermelon. But now ... ho ho! I love it.

I've even had a go on the wheel and it feels like magic.





A couple more photos on my Instagram.. *bowls, and cups.



* I now understand why there is such ugly pottery filling the secondhand shops - glazing is a mysterious, uncontrollable, full-o-surprises beast. These turned out completely different to how I intended.  Learning, learning.

The last of the roses softness.
Making a scarf.