coraline

I keep hearing and seeing snippets about the new film Coraline. Have you seen the trailer for this animated movie. I just love the look of this beautiful handmade film, very graphic.
Here is a sneek peak from YouTube of some of the making of this film. My daughter and I are dying to see it, though it says online that Australia won't get it till April :-(



Also see the minature knitting lady (found via Abigail Percy) and the Create a Flower (above) flash site.

gold love

Gold Love, sounds sort of James Bond! Thanks Etsy Admin.

aranzi aronzo

I had an email today from Jessica at Vertical Press who publish Aranzi Aronzo, and apparently there is more Aranzi Aronzo goodness, ten books translated to English. This is what she says:

Hi!
I came across your blog and read the excerpt about the book. I'm glad you
liked it!
One thing though, that is not their first English translation! We have ten
books by them! The Cute book is the first one, you can create mascots, the
Bad book is comics with those evil mascots, they also have four more craft
books -- Cute Dolls, Fun Dolls, and in two weeks Baby Stuff. (and Cute
Stuff). Then there's four comic books featuring games stories and fun
stuff with all their characters, Aranzi Machine Guns, three volumes and
then The Complete Aranzi Hour.
They have it on amazon so you can get it easily. Hope that helps, just in
case your niece needs more!

So there you go! Thanks Jessica.

cute stuff!

Look at this beautiful book my daughter got for Christmas. And yes, it is as cute inside as outside. (Apologies for the dreadful photos) I looked Aranzi Aronzo up online and I think this is their first book translated from the Japanese. My niece Rosie got it overseas at Urban Outfitters I think (oh I wish we had that shop!)
Anyway lots of fun easy projects, lots of embroidery, applique and felt and some little bags. We are in heaven and just trying to decide what to start first :-)

featured :-)

Another wonderful surprise in a fantastic week, today I had lots of views and guessed I must have been on Etsy's front page, Featsy, agreed with me (great new tool that tells you if you're featured on the front page or gift guides).
Well my front page turned up in Flickr and I was delighted to see it was an Etsy pick from Storque under Spotlight, more detective work and look what I found, this wonderful story from the fantastic SusyJack (oh dear, a new blog for my long reading list). This article is really worth reading. It talks about choosing a decorating style.

Here's a pic from Flickr Front Pagers

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be in another wonderful front page treasury called Earth Tones. Just adore that lichen pincushion. Thanks kittymeowmeow!

hot, hot, hot

My neighbour just told me that the thermometer on his back porch says its 43˚ (109˚F)!
Last night it was 26˚ (nearly 80˚F) at 1am. It's been a hot week and every day it has seemed to get hotter.

Luckily the kids have had swimming lessons at the local pool every afternoon. We aren't venturing out today though.We are locked inside with all the doors and windows shut and fans blowing and it isn't too, too bad. They are saying we have a cool change this afternoon. Fingers crossed! I am going to the Opera House tonight to see Madame Butterfly :-) My friend's cousin is singing one of the main roles so it will be doubly exciting.

Last night I got round to making these dumplings from my new favourite blog, Cooking with Joy. We all sat down and wrapped them (from the instructional video on the post). It was fun, (though our results weren't quite so neat!) but in the end it didn't matter, and they were delicious! Really, better than shop bought. I love Japanese Gyoza and I think these are virtually the same. We tried them boiled and fried/steamed. They were fantastic both ways and especially with this dumpling sauce from our local Asian grocer.

Poppytalk

Jan and Earl over at Poppytalk have been lovely enough to include one of my tea towels in a really beautiful feature they've done on tea towels for valentines over on their wonderful blog.
Lots of reds and pinks, they look so beautiful together and make me dream of a romantic valentine's afternoon tea, on a tray... I just love Leanne Graff's new design!
And speaking of pink (magenta!) I think it would look adorable next to my new design Bloom (named because this flower comes from my head not my garden :-). In the shop now.
I love the Eastern look these flowers have and I love this colour!

2008!

2008!, originally uploaded by flowerpress.

I'm seeing 2008 mosaics on all my favourite blogs and I think its such a wonderful idea I couldn't resist. What a great way to summarise the year and celebrate all the projects and progress.
It was nice to look back and see what I fitted into the year.

Click the title in the caption to see more information.

And it has inspired me so much for this year. What projects can i fit in to the next 12 months.
If you look closely you will see a new tea towel design which I'll be putting in the shop soon!!
Exciting things happening next week too, a celebration of the tea towel including a photo of me (blush) and some of my favourite designers. I'll tell you more soon...

home

Every year we go camping with family and friends, lots of them! We camp at a national park with limited sites and a 20m walk from your tent to the beach. It is bliss!

The best things about camping at the beach:
1. Having a swim before breakfast. Quietly floating over the waves by yourself as the sun rises.
2. Cocktail hour as the sun sets.
3. Catching up with family. Time to talk around the lamplight, eat together, beach together.
4. Simple pleasures - lying on the beach, snorkelling around the rocks, doing the cryptic crossword with others or playing cards after dinner.
5. Awards night, lots of laughs, prizes given for fishing, fashion and the coveted 'Happy Camper' award.

The best things about getting home:
1. The greeting you get from the dog when you pick her up from dogsitting friends (who spoil her rotten). I think she always worries we won't come back :-)
2. Sleeping in your own bed, clean sheets and no sand!
3. Having a long hot shower and washing your hair, clean towels and no sand!
4. Simple pleasures - the fridge, electricity, computer, internet, email, plumbing, washing machine!
5. Watering the garden and seeing how it has grown.

parcel

Waiting for me at home was this wonderful parcel from Carina full of sylko thread, just dying to be sewn! Isn't the paper, card and string she wrapped them with beautiful. I have been hankering for that beautiful bakers twine but hadn't seen it up close. (Does anyone know an Aussie supplier?)
p.s. Have you seen this list of 100 fabulous tutorials from TheLongThread, via Etsy. Lots of wonderful new projects for the new year!

passing through

Home briefly, to repack for a few days camping at the beach with the other side of the family (yes, we are spoilt!) On our long drive back we stayed a night with friends who have just moved to the country. This is the view from their front deck.
I will be back next week. And I am so excited about starting another year. My fingers are itching to get started - I have a couple of crafty projects I'm dying to try, the studio will be finished at last and I have two books on Adobe Illustrator just dying to be studied.

visitor

Yesterday at home on the farm we looked up and noticed this visitor, a tawny frogmouth owl trying to blend in with the pictures on the wall (isn't she beautiful), a few miles away my brother and his wife sat next to Paris Hilton at the beach, complete with bodyguards, Paris, not the tawny!

grasses

Happy New Year to everyone!! Here's to 2009.
I'm still away, in this beautiful part of the world. There are the most amazing grasses here and look, I found another ladybird :-)