Sketchbook this week

 

 

My sketchbook pages this week

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our new home

No I have not fallen off the end of the earth and I have not decided to stop Blogging.  We have had some major challenges with our move.  It has taken weeks to get Internet at my new house.  What we thought would be a minor issue has become a major one which now thankfully is sorted.

We have had other issues with the move which have left me with very little time or energy to blog even if I wanted to. Things seem to be coming right now though. I am hoping our life is going to get back to 'normal' (whatever normal is) and that I will be able to spend more time in the studio than at the doctors this year :)

Today I want to show you our new house.  It is such a beautiful spot and so peaceful and quiet.  A neighbor told us that the road is getting quite busy.  I said "oh I only saw 6 cars go down it yesterday" and He said "like I said it is getting quite busy".  I had a smile to myself as the last road we lived on probably got that many cars in a couple of seconds. 

 

The front of the house.  We thought it was built in 1910 but the next door neighbour who lived in the house for 40 years before they built a new home said they were told 1883.  So we're are not really sure how old it is.  We can say definately though that it is over 100 years old.

 

 

 

It is rough sawn and originally had toungue and groove walls.  Most are jibbed now with a few scrim walls still in a couple of rooms.

 

 

 

It is a lovely sunny house and keeps quite cool in summer so hopefully that means warm in winter.

 

 

 

One of our 3 paddocks.  The house in the distance is the next door neighbour.  The only one we have close to us.

 

A view up the driveway

 

The view from the garden of Mount Pirongia.

 

 

The view from the top of the driveway looking out towards Te Awamutu.

The view from the other side of the driveway.  We are perched on the flat of a hill so we overlook a beautiful valley. 

 

This is certainly a place to get a lot of inspiration from.  My hands are itching for new work to be done.  But first I have to finish another few projects.



 

Calm among Chaos

I am sitting here amongst a huge pile of boxes and 'stuff'.  I am very surprised what we have in our home.  I have already taken 2 full van loads to the charity shop and still I think we will be lucky to fit our house into one truck load.

I have finally packed my studio.  It took me 5 days.  I now know why my family roll their eyes when I bring someone's cast off's home and say I wonder what I can do with this.  I think what I can do next time is say "thanks, but no as I have no room to store it"   :)  I really didn't realise how many supplies I have collected over the years.

There were too many recyclables to count,  enough material to insulate my next studio, and so many fibres and threads I think I could make a Burma trail down the entire of New Zealand. 

I have discovered after this experience that some things are hard to pack.  How does one pack dowelling? free standing embroidery stands?  Dress dummies?  and how does one transport sewing machines with no covers?  antiques?  and large pieces of card?  (without getting them damaged)  

In the midst of this chaos though I am feeling pretty calm.  And how am I managing this?   I keep telling myself in a couple of months this will be a distant memory and all will be well.  The other big calming influence is that I am going to a workshop with Hollis Chatelain in one month.  I am so excited.  She is my favourite artist and I love her work.  It will be lovely to have 5 days of quilting after the move.  She is an amazing artist and so inspiring.  If you want to find out more about her you could visit her website below.

http://www.hollisart.com/

I'd best get back to the packing and keep thinking just one month to go!  Just one month to go! .....Just one month to go.

Photos this week

My Photos this week are taken in Ponsonby, in Auckland.  The people in this road celebrate Christmas by decorating all their houses.  It is wonderful.  The atmosphere is brilliant with musicians playing,  people singing and lots and lots of lights. 

 

We couldn't get parking so all these photos were taken with out a tripod in a car.  A real challenge as we were moving quite a bit.  The best that you can do in this situation is take photos leaning on an open window sill of the car keeping the camera as still as possible and to take as many photos as you can when the car is stationary. 

 

 I apologise about the quality of these photo I can't upload from my computer at the moment for some reason so I had to cut and paste from my flickr account.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creativity

I am supposed to be packing up my sewing room :)   The prospect is daunting to say the least so I thought I would spend a couple of minutes writing my blog this morning instead.

 I am sitting here contemplating where our world is heading.  I have just finished reading the news and cried for 5 mins as one story after another bought so much heart ache,  Shootings,  murder, natural disasters,  rape domestics.  I breaks my heart to see so many people suffering.  I think this is one reason why I choose to be creative.  Even though over the past few months my health and other commitments haven't allowed time and energy for a lot of art I am always being creative.

 There are so many ways to create something new.  Creativity allows me to gain more energy,  have something to look forward too and to allow positivity to happen in my life.  I wonder if these people that commit these terrible crimes had had an adult in their younger lives that taught them to be creative and to direct there lives positive way?  I wonder if they had would they have done the things they have done?  I don't know if any studies have been done on this but I would like to think that it certainly would have helped them to choose a different path. 

To be creative means to me to create something new that wasn't there before. So that is not too hard is it? So many people can't see they are creative is so many ways.  So often people tell me that you are so lucky to be 'talented' and that you are 'creative' like it is only reserved for a few people in our world.  My response usually is that every one is talented and creative.  No one is immune from this wonderful blessing. We just have to find and recognise our talents, practice them and apply them.
I love to cook, creating something from raw ingredients that is yummy is so satisfying.  It would be nice though if I could find something everyone in my home likes :)  It is a great way to be creative.  I love adding the "master chef" touch with garnishes,  beautiful presentation and nice dishes........well o.k dishes that aren't broken or chipped........ I do have a few!  It is nice to make something simple like mash potatoes into my own masterpiece. 

So how can we be creative every day if art isn't happening? (for whatever reason)

• Cook-creating from what ever is left in the house before groceries are due to be done always brings out the best recipes
• Bake and decorate what you bake.  Even fresh flowers look fantastic (make sure they aren't poisonous first)
• Take photos of your family or the place you live
• Blog
• Write a children's story
• Write a journal
• Fix a bike
• Go for a walk and soak in our beautiful world
• Read a story to a child-try adding your own voices for each character.  My kids love it when I do this
• Play an instrument or better still what a great time to learn one. 
• Do a jigsaw
• Read a book with a friend and talk about it. 
• Do some gardening. 
• Sort out your house.
• Put up a picture
• Make an arrangement of flowers or objects.
• Groom a dog
• Polish a piece of furniture
• Brighten up someone's day with baking or flowers or a card
• Make a card
• Listen to someone
• Do housework- not the most exciting chore but there is definitely some thing there that wasn't before :)
• Throw painted balls at and old sheet outside on a wall
• Prune a tree
• Learn a poem
• Make something from recyclables and masking tape
• Surf Pinterest for some really simple and great ideas
• Pay a compliment
• Paint a wall
• Teach a child a new skill-yesterday I taught my 2 boys how to make sushi.  We had lots of fun and it was yummy!

The list is endless.  When I think of each part of my day being creative the day seems to flow better and I seem to enjoy my day better.  It also helps me see niceness in a world that can be very negative.  Well I'd best go and be creative and box up my sewing room.

 Have a wonderful day

Happy new year

We have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.  It was wonderful celebrating the birth of our saviour and spending time with my family.  I love giving gifts and seeing the light shine in my children's eyes when they see all the gifts Santa left under the tree. ( We still have the theory in our house that if you don't believe you don't receive) 

The younger kids really loved their amp and mike set. ( the older sister aren't really sharing their enthusiasm-think we will rock you at 7am on holiday :)  My eldest daughter loves her new luggage.  She is waiting to find out her assignment for her mission for our church so the luggage will come in handy.  My second daughter is desperately waiting to try out her new (secondhand) sewing machine.  She is working such long hours that it is just sitting there waiting to be used.  But once she hits university again I bet it will get a lot of use.

I feel truly blessed to have such a beautiful family and a wonderful life.  

My big news today is that we are on the move.  In 3 1/2 weeks we are moving 1 and 1/2 hours further south.  The house is in between Pirongia and Te Awamutu.  2 small towns under Hamilton.  We have bought an old farmhouse on just over 1 acre of land.  (I will post some pictures when blog spot allows me to post a picture)   We are all really excited but as you can imagine I still have alot to do before we move.  The property has a wonderful garage which I am going to have converted into a art studio.  It will be lovely to have my own space outside of the house.  I have some wonderful plans for it.  I will let you know of our progress over the next few months.
 

A wee break

Hi everyone !

Merry Christmas

 

The year is already nearing the end.  I don't know where all the time has gone.  It just seems like yesterday when we were celebrating last Christmas.  I love this time of the year.  I love the smells, the secrets and the love. 

 

 

 

 

But this year things have just been getting on top of me so I am going to be taking a break for a few weeks from blogging while I make a few presies,  get my health back on track and take children here there and everywhere for end of year Christmas functions.

 

 

So I hope you all have a lovely few weeks with your families and celebrations.  I will be back later on in the year or early next year.

 

Thanks for your continued support

 

Catherine xxx