Inspired by...

Section 740 at the library (drawing and decorative arts).

A bag made from plastic bags. a friend has one and I love it. Sturdy too!

cool, a soft toy for me.

This book has very nice and inspiring pictures

I might actually do that

a skirt made from a vintage curtain

I love the idea of making soft toys out of old socks. only problem is my socks are so used they're useless.

yes, this is a carpet

Love the sewn/ drawn bunnies

A bit creepy but cool idea

A tutorial for making granny square. 

And learn how to crochet

I want one for the deck. 

And one of these

Lino cutting

When we go away I often end up bored... One thing Josh can't understand, I actually like being busy. But it has to be with what I enjoy doing, not just looking after the kids. So at home I spend hours in the workshop, usually sewing.
I can't do that when we go away for the simple reason that both my machines are stuck to a table and bloody heavy. And as anyone with their own space will know, it's hard going back to not having a proper "crafts" space. So I give up and turn to other crafts that are less invasive. This might be a good thing, because I can explore new mediums or get into old projects I never usually have the time for.
So far I've made some little booklets (forgot to take some pics, next post) and some lino cutting.
Lino cutting is fun. I've wanted to try it for ages but it's pretty hard to find all the necessary supplies in a small town like Gisborne. The great thing is that the whole family got into it and we made one lino cut each (I cut out the one for Tahi, the cutting tools can be lethal!). I love the look of a lino cut. We made some prints on some nice thick paper. Possible Christmas cards? Very possibly...

Colorful african was prints... part 2

Some more photos of beautiful fabrics found online...

 Wondering where part 1 is? here.

kids craft

Tahi and I have been crafting at home, using old magazine covers and pages. I found a cool origami book at the library, and we made this cool crocodile out of it. I've tried quite a few kids activities type books now, and made a variety of stuff with Tahi including robots, planes, kites... and this book was one of the best in the sense that the project actually worked, looked good and was fun to make, easy for a 4 year old to follow and not too lengthy or complicated to make. We also tried other projects from the same book and they all came out great.

And the most exciting for me was that I finally got round to making our own glue. It worked a treat and I'm never buying any glue again (mark my words).

Source: sustainableecho.com via Natacha on Pinterest

I really like to liven up our living space with flowers, and Josh's mum's garden has got so many beautiful colors I couldn't resist bringing some inside...

Of books and inspiration

I've said it before, I'll say it again, I love libraries. They are such a great source of inspiration, I could spend hours browsing, pulling books from shelves and flicking through the pages, checking out titles on the spines of others (that was before I had kids, now I'll be lucky if I can escape for 1mn from the kids' section and squeeze a book on Tahi's library card (I lost mine, long story)).
So often I've come across a book that touched on a subject I've wanted to explore, or that had amazing pictures. There are so many or my wish list (hint hint).
Gisborne has got an amazing library and Wellington is also up there in the list of cool libraries Tahi and I like to hang out in. Here are a few of the recent "scores" (anyone ever wish the computer systems broke down?), maybe you'll be inspired too!

A beautiful book about african textile patterns. This one is for the eyes and it's a feast. There is also a great little blurb about the meaning of some particular prints too. AND it comes with a CD.

And then a book called "1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse".

This book I found at our local library in Gizzy. Went straight to my wish list.

 Awesome right? This book has been hugely inspiring. It's convinced me there is a real potential for upcycled clothing and motivated me to keep exploring this trend further.

And while we're at it, here's another book on my wishlist (because you can never have too many, hehe).