Catching Up & Child Allergy....

I was trying to catch up with my blog reading this morning and found out that Google Reader is going somewhere so I needed to read my blogs another way.  Luckily others are more 'on to it' than me and have discovered Bloglovin is a good way to go. So I've been and organised myself over there this morning.  If you fancy you can 
Follow my blog with Bloglovin by clicking on that link.

I've been getting prepared to help out with Buddhas birthday celebrations next weekend.  (last year it upset my child allergies). This year I wanted to do something that didn't need too much 'pre-work', and maybe something that meant the children didn't need to hang around at our stall for so long.  So yesterday, with the help of You Tube I taught myself how to finger knit and made this scarf/cowl thing.

Next step in the preparations is to teach my sister since she's my helper for the day and make sure we can show others.  I know that it a nice thing to do,  the child allergy however, is making me a bit anxious....

I'll let you know how it goes :-)

Squared Away in May

I did the Square-a-day -in- May 'a-long' from a Ravelry group, and I've shown some of the results here.  I got off with a hiss and a roar, and you know.. I always do this... off too quick and then it stops.  I ended up finishing 20 of the 30 squares and I put them all together and gave them to a lovely couple of ladies who are making blankets for Christchurch before I just stopped totally!

 

I've also got a new addiction in Yarn Bombing, Yarn Graffiti, aka Guerilla Knitting and some other fancy names.  It's International Yarn Bombing day next Saturday (11th June) and there is loads going on around the world, keep a look out for something in your area.  

I've set up a separate blog to  keep up with my bombing , so if you fancy please go and visit Her Hook to see some amazing sights such as this: 

Blog carnival time!

The topic for this months Blog Carnival is:
In the southern hemisphere it's autumn right now, the days are shorter and the nights longer.

1. What's something interesting you have found out about living 'down under'? (yes the water does go down the plughole the other way :-) ) :)
2. If you have travelled 'down under' what did you see or do?

I chose these topics to show the international flavour of the EtsyBloggers team :-)

When my parents said we were emigrating to New Zealand this is what (as a 15 year old) I knew:

My granddad and uncle worked at the Captain Cook Museum in Middlesbrough, so I knew about the Moari people wearing grass skirts.
I knew about Captain Cook because the area that I grew up in in the North of England was known as 'Captain Cook Country'.
I saw Auckland on the TV once when the French bombed the Rainbow Warrior and I heard a lot of: "Oh, you're moving to New Zealand... isn't that attached to Australia by the Sydney harbour Bridge?"
(it's not by the way - Australia is a different country and a good couple of hours aeroplane ride away :-) )

A (ahhmm) 'few' years later I know that New Zealand has the most amazing unspoilt countryside in the Alps in the South Island, 90 mile beach in at the top of the North and the plains of the desert road in the middle. I enjoy going on holiday in the country I live in, even though I sometimes would love to pop to a country pub in Britain or a castle in Europe. So the most 'something interesting' thing that I have found out about living down under is that a new (in terms of history) country is just as beautiful as an old country. They just have different beauties.
Oh - and I personally think that southern hemisphere makes better red wine ;-)

Exciting things afoot

It's been a lovely crafty week this week.

Mel from Wildflower Designs did a brill feature of my creations on her blog

I sold some slippers!

And I also had a request for a baby beanie in the same kind of design as a coffee pot wrap.

Smylee at www.smyleephotography.co.nz was after a prop for her baby photos. What a cool idea!

This is the prototype which Smlyee will receive early next week...

Indulge me....

I've opened a new 'not totally crochet' related shop on Zibbet (this is just a Gill shop - I think I'm addicted to craftyness) and a new blog to match it, if you fancy a visit :-)http://broochnbauble.blogspot.com/ and I promise not to cross contaminate too often (I was going to say 'ever again' and changed my mind.... just incase!)

Also if you have a moment I do like this blog because she lets me say random stuff, and also check out her shop

this is not a teamy thing - just that Rebecca seems like a really cool chick and makes very funky gear that I'm crochet jealous of even though she hasn't been exposed to Dr Who

Day Walkers and Night Walkers

Getting back into my etsybloggers groove here is the featured blogger for the month of July:

There are 2 shops to browse through and I've named this post day walkers and night walkers because one the shops is Twighlight inspired and the other has fab photos (in the daytime)

http://sykin.etsy.com/ & http://nwwonders.etsy.com/

My sister and someof my friends are Twighlight addicts, I have yet to discover this delight, so my favourite is in the other shop :-), it reminds me of New Zealand beaches and conjures up all sorts of ideas of what to do with the drift wood :-)

There is also a very cool blog to compliment the shops and to learn about other Etsy shops which can be found here http://sykin-at-etsy.blogspot.com/

Crazy Days and Sunshine

5 weeks ago I decided that I needed a change, so I resigned from my job and threw myself at the mercy of the Universe.
Andrew has been great, encouraging me to do what makes me the happiest….
Of course my ideal would be to create constantly, however it has yet to pay for the lifestyle we're accustomed too!

Lucky enough the Universe was watching my back and I now have a fab new job, which I start in 2 weeks.
The new job means a move north closer to Auckland.
So far we've discovered that country cottages in spitting distance of the city seem to be a little lacking in their availability, crazy days :-)

Our blog has been honoured with 2 awards lately, which is so cool!
So'll spread them out a bit :-)



We were honoured to receive the Sunshine award recently from http://theartofzencrochet.blogspot.com/ and http://raigecreations.blogspot.com/

Here are the rules of this award...

1. Place the logo within your blog or post.
2. Pass the award on to 12 bloggers.
3. Link the nominees within the post.
4. Let the nominees know they have received the award by commenting on their blogs.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award

Here are 12 blogs that I love to read that bring the sunshine in :-)
http://krishenkavintagetreasures.blogspot.com/
http://alteredpages.blogspot.com
http://areleldesigns.blogspot.com
http://bellalinadesigns.blogspot.com
http://whentrulestheworld.blogspot.com
http://thecrochetloft.blogspot.com
http://jeanneselep.blogspot.com
http://redberrycrochet.blogspot.com
http://reloveddesigns.blogspot.com
http://fairrosie.blogspot.com
http://dropstitchblog.blogspot.com
http://softearthart.blogspot.com

And Tzipi is on her way here from France as I type!
Hurray!
Watch this space :-)

A mental step backwards

I love yarns, the colours, the textures and the inspiration of what might be.

This months featured etsy blogger is Vicki of DizzyDragonflies.

And looking at Vickis' shop

http://DizzyDragonflies.etsy.com and blog http://knittingdragonflies.blogspot.com has made me take a mental step backwards.

Vicki knits and she spins and dyes her own yarn........

Her blog has some amazing pictures that show how she progresses with the dying

And her shop has the results........

This one is called Tropical Waters and reminds me of the harbour around Tauranga :-)

Technology is my friend

Technology is my friend
Technology is my friend
Technology is my friend

I chanted as I set up a Facebook fan page with the help of a cold glass of Riesling, and then I tried to link it to my blog.
Do I really need one? Well apparently so!
Just like the blog, the twitter, the etsy shop and the artfire shop, plus I need to

Promote! Promote! Promote!
Forums and threads, chat rooms, join a team, do a challenge, do a giveaway.
Give out my card (after I’ve made one using some fancy pants computer application)
Wear my creations, go into local shops and show them my stuff, try and convince them to stock it and sell it.
Do the local craft market twice a month, and the other local craft market every Saturday.
Do the housework, the washing, the shopping and the cooking

(phew that I don’t have children as well!).
Read all the forums and threads that tell me to do all this stuff
Go to work at 7.30 a.m., get home at 5.00 p.m. and start all over again
No wonder I love it!

What a buzz :-)

Engaging writers block

I recently read an etsy forum thread that was called something like "you blog? why should I care?". It basically questions the writing style of bloggers, why they do it and how they engage the reader. So I've obviously been over thinking how I put together my blog because I now find myself with writers block.

So today I am going to show you some fab creations by a fellow EtsyHooker http://www.bagsandmorebypam.etsy.com/.

Just before I do, the etsy hookers team have a EtsyHookers Creative Challenge - Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose competition going at the moment and if you fancy having a vote, it's really easy just pop by here: http://etsyhookers.blogspot.com/.

Now back to Pam :-)

I like the name of this bag "Bead me up Scotty" it appeals to my Trekkie side.

The green in the scarf is one of my favourite colours, and the cats collar is something I've never seen crocheted before, very fab :-)

The World of Blogs

I love spending time reading through the blogs that I follow.
It's great to be invited to share someones thoughts, ideas and sometimes their creative process and I find it a more chilled out way of networking than Twitter or Facebook

Just today I've seen tutorials, recipies, interviews with people from etsy and ArtFire, giveaways and product features. I sometimes leave comments so that the author knows I visit, it's the same as most things eh? I like to read comments on here, so think everyone else likes it too lol!

From last weeks reading I learnt what Snickerdoodles were and made some and I also won a giveaway on a blog that I follow http://christiecottage.blogspot.com/ where every Wednesday there is a giveaway and I was very fortunate to win a gorgeous fused glass pendant from www.FirstLightGlass.etsy.com where I also love this bowl :-)

I've persuaded Andrew that since it's our blog he does need to contribute sometimes and so he's promised to have something written by Friday, so a new voice to look forward too.