I was incredibly lucky to win a competition from the lovely Captain KK - this beautiful Marimekko plate. Even my lone truss tomato looks thrilled to be there. Thank you Captain - it is absolutely magnificent and I smile every time we pass in the kitchen.
Like most of us, I've been deeply upset by the earthquake in Japan. I've donated to the Red Cross appeal (which my work gift-matches, effectively doubling my donation, which is amazing). In case you're feel like helping the beautiful country, the artful Swedish photographer Hilda Grahnat has set up a shop called 'Help Japan' which sells some of her prints and postcards. I'd thoroughly recommend donating or buying some of her prints: you are both helping Japan, and supporting a beautiful artist at the same time.
In an attempt to highlight the poor state of Britain's roads, Pete Dungey makes pothole gardens. I think they're so beautiful - tiny little oases in a sea of bitumen. Perfection.
A beautiful Christmas present from my Aunt - an old school map to hang above my sewing table.
Hope you have a wonderful day celebrating! Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year to you!
This is a sneak peek of the new quilt I have made. Recently, a number of very close friends have become engaged, and I chose the fabric for this quilt with one of my affianced friends in mind. I was feeling quite good about the whole enterprise, when The Pal mentioned we should probably supplement the gift with a more boyish present for the groom. And then I realised: will I look like a crazy, Tonia Todman-esque* "I made you a present" kind of freak?! Is this quilt far too girly to give as a wedding present?
*For my lovely international readers, Tonia is Australia's 1990s answer to Martha Stewart. Our Tonia is decoupage queen, and, as I discovered with a cheeky google, a very busy entrepreneur these days. I really use her name with love: if I was a little older, I would absolutely be her, sans decoupage.
Last night our external hard drive died.
Months ago, the Pal had very proudly hooked up a whole terabyte of movies and TV shows to a screen in our lounge room, and we relished in our (ahem, mainly his) cleverness. It’s like a TV! We cried. Only better and with nothing we don’t want to watch! It was a golden age of 30 Rock, The Wire, The West Wing (it will never be old to us) and so many more shows and films. I'm talking a TERABYTE of them.
But as I said, last night it died. For the last few months, it had been uttering strangled, gurgling sounds, which, as it turns out, is what the death rattles of a hard drive sound like. The Pal and I chose to ignore these sounds. Fearing a meltdown or a pricey replacement, we chose to tell ourselves that it had “always sounded like that” and that “it still works” so there was nothing to worry about. But there was something to worry about, as suddenly the drive said “corrupt” and that’s just how the Pal and I felt. In a moral sense, you understand.
Late last night, I came to terms with this loss. It is a first world problem, I thought. I can buy the DVDs again and rip them again. Worse things (but obviously not by much) have happened in the world.
Flash forward to this morning, when an over-eager electrician who was fixing our washing machine turned off the mains power. I wasn’t quick enough to turn off my computer in time, and sat, a little twitchy, waiting to turn my mac back on to see what I had lost.
In what can only be described in religious resurrection terms, I found all of my shit. All of it. The hard drive came whirring back and minutes later, in a Holy Grail kind of moment, I sat scrolling through all my long lost (ok, short lost) favourites. As I write, I am transferring all my precious files to another safe place, with a renewed sense of optimism and amazement at technology and its foibles.
We’ll probably need another hard drive, and we’ll probably lose some data, but isn’t it nice when you have little moments which burst through cloudy days with beams of sunny, sunny light?
The End.
My friend Darien turns 30 tomorrow, and came out from the UK to celebrate with her identical twin! I knew that Darien's lounge room has lots of blues and reds in it, and that she loves all things handmade, so I made this quilt for her to snuggle with in Manchester.
This new little label is made from one of my handmade stamps, and might be a recurring feature on my quilts. Now, to get to the huge quilt backlog!
Alongside my thesis, I teach English and debating to high school students, aged all the way from 11 to 17 years old. It's a real pleasure of mine, and I'm lucky to have a part-time job which I enjoy so much and which allows me to write for big portions of the day. Over the years, the most important lesson I have learned is that as a teacher, you need to be incredibly flexible with every new class: no student (or group of students) is alike.
Since this group is particularly competitive, I added a small table where I can put different stickers for their behaviour: yellow for effort, green for improvement, blue for excellence and red for bad behaviour (signified by a grumpy face on the card!)
Every few weeks or so, I will count up the good stickers and award small prize bags like these - they seem obsessed with both chewing gum and stationery - to the students who are either doing really well or trying really hard, or both. It seems to have worked so far: the students are happy, motivated and keen to contribute and concentrate, and I think they are really learning well.
Last year I participated in Sofia's Autumn Swap and this year, I'm really excited to do the same. The idea is that you make a parcel for your swap partner filled with comforting treats, and I had such fun putting it all together!
Last week I was lucky enough to win a giveaway on Kylie's blog. In fact, I won it on the very same day of my own giveaway - that's quick acting karma, for you!
It arrived this morning wrapped in red and aqua pretties. I'm so excited to sit down with this beautiful book Handmade Hellos and its presence alone is hugely inspiring. Thanks so much, Kylie! (You can have a peek in Kylie's shop, too, for some deliciously cute brooches. Also, I confess the soundtrack to Kylie's blog is so good you might just keep it open in your browser a little bit longer!).
Butterflies getting ready to fly away to new owners.
LPC who said: "Congratulations Kate. You know I think your stuff is super-cute. I agree, especially the map work."
Today marks two years since I opened my little etsy shop - and it has been such an adventure. I count myself lucky to have met so many lovely customers and such interesting, crafty folk.
Eeep! Have been featured on the Etsy treasury again! Check out the link while it's active.
