Some treats for sale at the Auckland Art and Craft Fair…

And some fuzzy photos of my lovely snuggly Sea Horses and Scallops.

Come and say hello, take home something lovely and have a delicious cupcake at Kraftbomb, in the Grey Lynn Community Centre, 11am – 2pm. x

Only five more sleeps til the Auckland Art and Craft Market!  Wohoo!  You’ve probably heard the adds on the radio and seen posters up around town, so you’ve been saving up and planning your shopping list for AGES.  We’ll I’ve been planning for agaes too and I have some sweet treats lovely Scallop Snuggly softies and new Sea Horses too, as well as gifts for craftsy peeps!

So.. if you need to know the details, visit the website, or look here!

Saturday 11th June 2011
11am to 3pm
Aotea Centre, THE EDGE
Auckland Central
Gold coin entry donation

Did you see all the artist interviews?  I have been reading them too, here’s my one…

We were at the last one, and it was fun, so we couldn’t miss the show this year.  This time there was a Zoo collection, and it was a bit smaller, with less exhibits, and they were more traditional.

Cute craft supplies shop!

A bicycle, so retro.

So much detail!

I know!  It’s very exciting!  Just two weeks away, the Auckland Art and Craft Fair will be spreading the craftsy goodness around for you guys who are lucky enough to be in the city.  You can read my artist’s interview here.

Saturday 11th June 2011
11am to 3pm
Aotea Centre, THE EDGE
Auckland Central
Gold coin entry donation

See you there!  x

This is really just showing off, here is Luna’s birthday cake…  It took a good too nights to complete and she actually helped me mix and bake it, and it was a kind of torture for her, learning about having to wait until the following day to eat the cake.  I was a bit worried that the picture of the cake in my head would fail to appear in the layers of cake and off white chocolate icing, but after adding a couple of craters and astronauts, it turned out pretty close.

And one more…

The cake was made in two pieces, one double mixture in a large roasting tray, then one large cake in a round cake tin, stacked, with icing in between, I also had to poke a couple of skewers through to stop the top layer sliding off!  Then I trimmed the bottom layer into a circle, larger than the top round cake, and then just sliced off at angles all the way round, kind of fitting the off-cuts into the space between layers…  Phew then really carefully I iced it, trying to avoid the kind of avalanche effect (when the icing picks up cake debris and drags it off  the edge and onto the tray exposing the choc cake underneath…) this was tricky, and I thought it would all fall apart!  But a bit if careful smoothing and some strategically placed moon rock/marsh mellows and all was well.

Then the craters were fun and the icing sugar was all that was needed to make it look more white and less creamy.

And Mermaid’s Purse will be there.  I’m so excited, I’ve been mad busy sewing, stuffing, cutting, trimming and naming loads of lovely treats for you to take home.

Tomorrow I have some pretty snugly sea horses needing new homes, and a nice bunch of Don’t Give Me The Chop! Carrots, and some very exciting Make Your Own Cupcake Pincushion Kits.  The pincusion kits have been a while in the making and I figure this months Auckland Art Craft Fair is THE place to launch them for all you craft loving shoppers..

See you tomorrow at the Aotea Center Foyer from 11am to 4pm!  Wohoo!

The sea gardens crochet coral reef that started this year at Auckland Museum will be setting down for the summer at The Estuary Arts Centre in Orewa, the opening is this coming Saturday.  I will be there and I’m planning on make some more crochet pieces for it, it’s probably one of my favourite projects, I’m so pleased to be a part of it.

So get hooking and make something to contribute!  Check out this website for the how-to’s and other info on the international Crochet Coral Reef project, The Institute for Figuring.

Also worth a look is Daina Taimina’s blog, Hyperbolic Crochet, she has also published a book on the mathematics involved with loads of beautiful photos.

It’s been way too long, I know.  What’s with all the gaps?  No posts?  No updates?  No news?

These days posts are typed one-handed while baby Blake sleeps on my other arm.  I’m actually getting really good at it.

Big news around here is that Mermaid’s Purse will be at next month’s Auckland Art and Craft Fair, and I’m so excited.  So excited in fact, I have been busting my guts to get some new products completed just for you.

Look out for my ‘sew your own cupcake pincushion kits’ and some more beautiful new sea horses.  You really should take one home, they are so cuddly.

Some photos from the exhibition…

Above and to the left are two of Lynnemaree Patterson’s paintings, and you can see Toxic in the centre and Suzy Crow’s to the right.

Zoe Nash’s work to the left, and Marion Bawden’s on the right..  And below, Toxic again.

Finally I made along to Kraftbomb today, even through the daylight saving timeshifty madness… argh.

Found some lovely goodies, a very sweet purse from Ruby in the Dust, I have wanted one for just ages and do you think I could actually make up my mind which one I wanted??  Well, no, but this one was SO pretty I couldn’t leave it behind.

And because need TWO purses, I also look away one of these little lovelies… from Flossys Fancy.