Christmas Celebrations

So Christmas is officially "over"I guess but I'm not back at work yet so the holiday isn't over:)

I have to admit I wasn't particularly into Christmas this year - most likely due to the stress of starting a new job two weeks before Christmas and a few other things that were going on at the time.

But I did get to catch up with a few of the girls pre-Christmas - got to hang out with Jess after work one night and have a gossip. Plus Jess gave me two of my favourite sorts of present - a handmade present and a present for me to craft with! Jess made me a wee bracelet which was very cute and also a badge making kit - excellent:)

Ange also came over for a catch up one night and dropped over a Christmas cake and drank tea with us and discussed the merits of "Deal or no Deal"(although Ange says we have some classy ladies on our version of the show compared to the women on the Aussie version).

I also managed to catch up with Celia and Simon for drinks and gossip on my last night in Wellington.

I headed to New Plymouth via plane on the 21st and when I got to New Plymouth it was SO hot! Carolyn came and picked me up at the airport and after lunch I filled in the afternoon by looking around town (I have to say New Plymouth is getting better all the time - some very cool shops there now).

In the evening I was Carolyn's "date" for her work function which was held in a Taranaki institution "Andre's'' - to start with I was a bit worried about going there as it's a "fine dining" kind of place so I thought it may all be duck liver pate and other vegetarian unfriendly type meals. But when the meal was served it was a smorgasbord and as well as being a whole bunch of meat there was also vege's a plenty and they were all so fresh and just fantastic!

On the Saturday my mum came over from Stratford to pick me up and take me home - and my little brothers look was one of happily surprised disbelief when I arrived home, very cute.

On the Sunday I had my first "Christmas"of 2007 with my family which was great fun - but as always I ate too much and felt stuffed **meh**

When it was time for my Bro and Dad to take off and milk the cows (oh the joys of the farming life) my mum and I went on a bit of a tiki tour and caught up with a few of mum's friends.

On Monday (Christmas eve) it was time for a bit of a North Island Odyssey for me - I left New Plymouth at about 7:50 am on a bus heading for Hamilton, I arrived at Hamilton at 11:45 am and then hung about the bus terminal until 12:30 when the bus left for Tauranga. The bus to Tauranga wasn't much fun WAY too packed and I got stuck sitting next to an overly talkative elderly woman, but I figure I may have made her day by actually listening to her.

So since Christmas eve I've been at Rich's parents place doing the whanau thing and eating and drinking way too much - we've even managed a trip to the Morton Estate Winery....now the only people left at the whare are Rich and I and we are taking off with Jo and Andre tomorrow for a bit of a tiki tour and then heading over to Hamilton for New Years.

So that was Christmas 2007 - bring on 2008!!

Happy 30th Birthday Martha!

Yesterday would have been the 30th Birthday of my dear friend Martha who passed away earlier this year - I've been thinking of her a lot over this holiday period - especially since it's the first Christmas in quite a few years that a Christmas card hasn't arrived at my door from Marth.

Happy Birthday Marth!

Some Christmas Crafts

So yes - it's that time of year again when the streets are mad with people trying to find "that" present. But I decided to make a few things this year - here's a couple of my efforts...

For my "little" Bro Jake - a wee purse type thing to put his cards in when he heads out.

Some beeswax candles I made - some for Rich's parents and some for my mum.
For some of my friends - scrabble necklaces! I really like these:)

Of course I will be sharing the love with fimo and barbie bling a plenty!

Craft 2.0

Last Sunday Rich and I had a stall at Craft 2.0 but there was much confusion leading up to the event!

Initially we were told that Craft 2.0 would love to have us but they had run out of room, they may be able to make more room at the museum (New Dowse Gallery) and if they do this then they will let us know and we can have a stall.

We waited and waited to hear if we had a stall - but after no word from the organisers we thought we must have lucked out but planned to go out to the New Dowse and check out the crafts at Craft 2.0.

But then on Saturday morning Rich checked our e-mails and discovered that we DID in fact have a stall at Craft 2.0 and the nice folks had sent us a map of where we would be sitting on the day.

We had a brief **yikes** what do we do moment - but decided to push on with doing Craft 2.0 so spent all our Saturday night crafting our wee hearts out.

Below is one of my new fimo designs that I came up with on the night - it's a pulled tooth (in a cute way!) which appeals to my dark side.

The Craft 2.0 markets were pretty darn cool when we got there - although we ended up being REALLY hot as we we stuck in a spot in the court yard of the New Dowse with no shade what so ever! But we seemed to escape the day with only the smallest amount on sunburn (due to the fact that Rich was smart enough to bring sunscreen).

There were a lot of really cool stalls at Craft 2.0 and I could have spend HEAPS of money - but I was quite restrained. I bought a soy candle making kit, which I haven't had a chance to use yet and I guess it will stay unused till after Christmas at this stage **sigh**.

But I did manage to pick up another super cute soft toy - I call this one corduroy boy!

A beautiful evening in Wellington

So many of my friends who live in "the other" big city in the North Island refuse to believe that we ever have good weather down here - in fact when I head up to the other city I'm often are hit with a barrage of comments like "you see that big round shiny thing in the sky? Up here we call it the sun".

Well - in the spirit of "you can't beat Wellington on a good day" (and there's been good days a plenty recently) here's some pretty amazing photo's Rich took from our deck last night.

Wellington ROCKS!

I FINALLY have one!!

Yes - finally I have one! I bought it last week - I think that fact that my gym continously plays ZM (ewww...) was the final straw - what the hell am I talking about?

I finally bought an MP3 player!! You would have thought I would have bought one years ago - I am the sort of person that MP3 players are designed for after all. I'm an urban dweller who walks everywhere, I go to the gym regulary and I'm a music nut (Rich and I own about 300 plus CD's).

But I just didn't seem to get around to buying one - it seemed like a lot of money to spend at once on something I didn't need (yes I am PATHETIC!).

But over the last few weeks I decided it was really time I got one - there's only so many times a girl can listen to pathetic top twenty hits and even more pathetic morning DJ "chat" first thing in the morning.

So now I have a little Philips MP3 player that holds up to 450 songs - not enough for my entire album collection but still more than enough to keep me happy:)

Rich has even loaded a few albums on it for me by bands that I actually like that actually have talent - so when I walk to work or go to the gym I can rock out to Iggy and the Stooges, Modest Mouse or TV on the Radio and this is only the beginning.

Only question now is which CD's get loaded onto the MP3 player and which get left in the cold?

....and the geeks shall inherit the earth...

Kat sent me this link to a really interesting article yesterday from Stuff about how us geeky types now rule the world. I thought it was pretty interesting and I think I must be part Cardy Rocker part Film Tradgic!


Revenge of the nerds: Geeks take over

Outsiders no longer, brainy, bashful, obsessive geeks are now the dominant force in popular culture. John Bailey and Melissa Kent report on the evolution of the nerd.

Not so long ago, experts considered The Geek an endangered species.
Their lack of natural defensive abilities made them easy prey for jocks, toughs and alpha males, and their lack of social skills reduced their reproductive opportunities.

Surely they were doomed to extinction. But somehow, the geeks have inherited the Earth.

They're running our corporations (take Microsoft's Bill Gates), gracing our glossies (musician Ben Lee), and dominating the ratings (TV's Rove McManus).
In fact, it's not "them" any more. In our tech-dependent, fantasy-loving, trivia-generating world, geeks are us.

Even fashion is full of geeks: Balenciaga's Nicholas Ghesquiere is inspired by robots, Miuccia Prada dressed this year's models in woolly knee socks and granny glasses, and Marc Jacobs found his new muse in Pixar's animation feature The Incredibles.

So what is a geek, exactly? Definitions vary. Some suggest that a geek is anyone smart who isn't ashamed of it. Others add a lack of social grace, or an over-enthusiasm for a particular obsession - say, Battlestar Gallactica or Nancy Drew.

You can subdivide the overall category infinitely: the film geek is a different breed to the maths whiz or the gamer.

But how did geeks come to influence all aspects of pop culture? From rock stars in nice cardigans to the world's hottest nerds, we're full of geek pride. Not convinced?

Take a look at Australia's new Prime Minister. Kevin Rudd's "Computers for all" and "Let's upgrade our broadband!" catchcries are both daggy and endearing - and what other world leader would celebrate election victory with Iced Vovos and a nice cup of tea?

GEEK PRIDE
The negative stereotype of the geek can largely be traced to teen flicks of the '70s and '80s. No image of a high school or college campus was complete without a resident bespectacled dweeb ready to be flushed down a toilet.
The epitome of this demonisation came with 1984's Revenge of the Nerds, justly reviled but somehow spawning sequels into the next decade.

At the same time, however, geeks were taking over behind the camera. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas drew on the geek lore of their adolescence to create blockbuster hits inspired by comic books and sci-fi stories - seducing a whole generation with power fantasies about lonely dreamers destined to save the universe.

In the '90s, the film geek gained ascendancy. Quentin Tarantino appeared on the scene as the Man Who Knew Too Much (about obscure cult movies), populating his hugely successful films with loving footnotes of pop-trivia scholarship.

There is no shortage of role models for the aspiring geek these days.
Wes Anderson's 1998 film Rushmore quickly gained cult status with anyone who had ever felt themselves the underrated individual in high school, and the director's 2001 follow-up flick, The Royal Tenenbaums, furnished us with a whole family of eccentric obsessives and genius outcasts.

Now he's inspired a whole wave of arch, dweeby indie filmmakers who know how to light a cardigan.

Napoleon Dynamite (2004) raised the bar higher, with a central character so unapologetically dorky that he instantly became a T-shirt, an action doll and a role model for the next generation of shy boys. Ladies, you have been warned.
Meanwhile, the Hollywood power producer/director/writer Judd Apatow - creator of successive box-office hits The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad - has proven that the geeks now rule Tinseltown. And just consider where his troupe got their start: short-lived late-'90s TV show Freaks and Geeks.

Now? We're all geeks now. Monty Python's Broadway hit, Spamalot, just opened a Melbourne franchise.

Hip-hop sex-god Pharrell Williams proudly names his musical side project N.E.R.D.

And where are the geeks heading now? Into the nightclubs, if reports from urban cool epicentres such as Brooklyn can be believed.

More than 50 science clubs have formed across the US to unite physics and partying, according to The New York Times, performing science experiments in bars while DJs set the beat.

GEEK GIRLS
She's as familiar with solariums as her boyfriend is with gyms. Her clothes are second-hand, customised, or hand-knitted.

She blogs about the books she's been reading but sniggers at Facebook's emphasis on friends. If she sounds like you, you might just be a geek girl.
The geek girl's rise has been as steady as her male counterpart.

Buffy finally gave the geek girl a heroine of her own, but it was as likely to be the vampire slayer's library-loving bestie, Willow, as the high-kicking blonde.

And there's a new girl on the block - Kristen Bell's Veronica Mars is the modern-day Nancy Drew (another girl geek icon), a wise-cracking brainiac proficient in the latest spyware. And if there were any doubt about her credentials, the Geek Magazine covergirl has just become one of the mainstays of Channel Seven's surprise hit, the geekfest Heroes.

Maybe Enid Coleslaw - the cynical brat of the movement's lodestone film, Ghost World - sums up our geek girl's philosophy best. When she describes the film's socially inept record-collecting dork, Seymour, it's like a motto for the movement: "I kind of like him. He's the exact opposite of everything I really hate. In a way, he's such a clueless dork, he's almost kind of cool."

HOT GEEKS
When New Woman magazine surveyed 10,000 women last year to find the world's sexiest man, the latest Doctor Who, David Tennant, outranked Justin Timberlake, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. The weedy Tennant may demur, describing himself as "the least sexy man on the planet", but even Kylie's spending quality time with the Doctor this Christmas.

Geeks have never had it so good with girls: in film, overweight, unshaven Seth Rogen played Katherine Heigl's love interest in box-office hit Knocked Up; on TV, the ratings battle was won by music nerds (Spicks and Specks), political pranksters (The Chaser boys) and manga fanboys (Heroes); and in music, a barefoot nerd called Gotye won a swag of ARIAs.

But it's the comics who really brought sexy back to geekdom, such as surrealist Demetri Martin and four-eyed storyteller Daniel Kitson.

WHAT GEEK IS THAT? A NERD-SPOTTER'S GUIDE
Gamers With the advent of online games in which players share massive virtual worlds, gamers can fend off accusations of antisocial behaviour by pointing to the incredibly gregarious avatar they've designed for Second Life.
Gearheads Like a walking copy of Wired magazine, gearheads show off their latest tech acquisition before you've even heard of it. And they're willing to explain - at length - why it's already obsolete.

Otaku In Japan, "otaku" denotes someone with an obsession so fanatical - with videogames, for example - that they seldom leave their bedroom. In the West, however, it's more often a positive self-description for hardcore fans of Japanese anime and manga.

Cyberpunks Combining enthusiasm for high-tech gadgets with a rough and dirty punk aesthetic, cyberpunk fans envision a future where we are all cyborgs - internet-enabled, prosthetically enhanced, and ready to rumble.
Cardy Rockers From the retro-geek rock of '90s-era Weezer through to today's Brunettes, Concretes, and Shins, the easy-listening sounds of neatly dressed, baby-faced bands have become the soundtrack to a new generation of dress-alike fans.

Librarians For some, books aren't just collections of words - they're faithful companions, though each comes with its own needs and wants. If a friend fobs off your drinking plans in favour of a secret rendezvous with a new novel, you might be dealing with a librarian.

Boffins Plenty of people are smart, but only some wear their brain on their sleeve. Usually possessing prodigious knowledge on obscure and, sometimes, completely useless topics, a boffin should never - ever - be corrected on a point of fact.

Hogwarts Alumni For a generation who've grown up with the series, the adventures of Harry, Hermione and Ron are today's answer to Luke, Leia and Han. Expect similar lifelong dedication.

Film Tragics Some buffs take the study of favourite films, directors and movements to new levels of obsession. And like a friend with a new partner, they'll find ways to relate any conversation back to their true love - even if it's Italian slasher movies of the late '70s.

www.craftster.org

So all my crafty friends out there will know about craftster - it's a crafty institution for modern/alternative crafty folk.

I couldn't really look it much when Rich and I were stuck in the dark ages with dial up but now we have broadband I'm a craftster junkie.

What is craftster - you may ask? It's a crafty online community - people can network, arrange swaps and the like. But my favourite thing about craftser is that people can post photo's of what they have made and other people can comment on what they have made.

I'd been thinking about posting a picture of some of my work for a while but I kept on chickening out - but then I decided maybe I should post a picture of the beads I made Jess for her birthday on there as I was particulary stoked with them.

Today I got a post from someone who said "That is one mad cool necklace".

Yah! Feeling the love for my craft:)

Finally - it's all over!!

Yesterday was my last day at work - so I'm officially unemployed for one WHOLE weekend:P

I can't believe how busy yesterday was at work and how much "stuff" I'd accumulated over 2 years! My drawers seemed to be packed with draft documents which should have been sent to the recycling bin some time ago.

So I spend most of the day going through my drawers, filling in "I'm leaving" forms and taking down stuff from my walls (I had a lot of stuff on my walls!).

I got the good old giant leaving card yesterday - but I was rather bummed at how many people spelt my name with an "h" but stoked one person said I was the "best dressed person in the office" excellent:)

I was equally stoked with my leaving present - a $100 voucher for Illicit Clothing:)

Last night I went down for drinks at the Dog and Bone with my work mates which was pretty fun but a bit sad as there are a couple of people I'll be sad not to be working with anymore:(

A few non-work friends came down as well so I was feeling much love.

So now it's time to relax and chill for one weekend - before I start at my new job on Monday.

Christmas is NEARLY here!

Maybe I'm too old to make a Christmas list - but I don't care! I made one anyways.

I admit that the list was primarily for Rich but if anyone else out there feels like being generous I won't object :)

1) Brass Finger Cymbals - you can get them from Indeja (My bellydancing teachers shop)

2) A book of how to make bellydance costumes or a pattern of how to make bellydance costumes - try trademe? The internet?

3) A "Blythe" Doll - you can get them from Iko Iko :)

4) A nice notebook with nice white pages that I can write down/sketch all the ideas I have for crafty projects - small enough to fit in my hangbag so I can have it with me all the time for when I am suddenly hit by inspiration

5) A felting kit (I'm not sure where you get one - I've seen them online on American Website but you can get them on trade me I am sure)

6) A Living Dead Doll - to keep my zombie doll company! They sell them at that comic book shop by Rex Royale

7) The Beauty Myth by Naomi Klein - I really should have read this by now!!

8) Stuff that smells nice from Lush

My Last Day at my current job!

I can hardly believe that today is my last day at my current job - this last month since I've given notice has gone SO quick!

This morning I have to hand over all my work and clear away all the stuff in my desk - last night I bought home some of the toys I had on my desk - which was a bit sad.

Today I'll have to pull down my photo's a posters and everything else.

It does feel a bit sad to be leaving behind the friends I've made at work - but at the same time I'm really excited about my new job because it's such a great opportunity and I'm sure I'll meet lots more great people at my new work.

But still I am a little sad but at the same time it's time to move onwards and upwards!!

Johnstone Hill Walk

On Sunday Rich and I felt it was time to get out and about and have a walk. Our original plan was to walk through Kaori Cemetary to Otari-Wilton Bush. But whilst in the cemetary we saw that there was a walkway to Johnstone hill and we had never been up there so thought we'd check it out.

Although the walk up was REALLY steep I'm so glad we did the walk - as we had the most amazing views of the city from the top of Johnstone Hill.

Bookclub Christmas Celebrations

On Saturday night we had our bookclub Christmas celebrations which was so fun - seems like the first time in ages the whole bookclub posse has been together!

We ended up going to my favourite restaurant Harem (I didn't even suggest it - but I was very stoked to be going there!).

Here's a photo of the bookclub posse after our dinner:)

It's ZOMBIE time!!

I'm sure the whole world is aware of how much I love horror movies - zombie themed horror movies in particular. So when Rich came across an ad on http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/ looking for people to play zombie extras - I was really excited!

So last Sunday, thanks to the big idea, Rich and I got to play zombie's in a Wellington made zombie film - which was really exciting. The makeup artist that did our make-up was AMAZING.

Here's a photo of us venturing into the world of the "Living Dead".

The zombie film is due for release (in an online format) in January - I'm VERY excited!

A rather busy Saturday night...

So last Saturday night was kind of nuts with two of my bestest friends having celebrations on the same night!

So it was a rather busy night for me - the first event was Jess' Birthday dinner celebrations at Flying Burrito Brothers which was awesome. I love flying Burrito Brothers but it's so hard to get in there if you haven't made a booking and you can't make a booking unless you have 10 people or more! So a birthday is the perfect occasion to head there:)

I made Jess a set of purple (her favourite colour) fabric coloured beads for her birthday - here's a photo of my creation - I have to say I was quite stoked with the way they came out.

Unfortunately none of the photos I took at Flying Burrito Brothers seemed to be particular good of anyone so they were deleted from my camera! How strange that I the "crazy camera lady" shouldn't be able to take a photo - it seems very strange? Maybe it was the lighting? Or the "electric lemonade" cocktail I had?

After hanging out a Jess' birthday for a while it was time to take off to my next "Event" (I'm like sooo popular).

Ange, Rich, Ross and I headed over to Kat's place for her cocktail evening - which was really cool. Kat's landlord had FINALLY cleared out her back garden and given it a decent mow and tidy up.

Kat and her flattie JP had dragged her old shop counter into the garden and were using it as a bar - and JP was a legend at making the cocktails seen as he was a bartender in town. Other features of the garden for the evening included sparklers (I missed out but Rich and Ross got one!), and a mannequin in the garden as well as an open fire.

It was one of the best parties I'd been to for a while as everyone was really chilled out and it was such a nice night to be outside.

Although - I think this last photo should be titled "Trees and her tall friends" (Ange is leaning over and is STILL taller than me!). I read somewhere once that 5'6 is the average height of a NZ women, I AM 5'6 - how did I acquire so many tall friends?

2 hours of bellydance and finger cymbals!

I've decided I want to take my bellydancing a bit more seriously - so I've decided to step up my classes a bit.

I want to get to the stage where I can perform at one of the Hafla next year - because I basically got into bellydancing because I liked the performance aspect.

I've had trouble getting to two classes a week though just because I have so much else one - so I decided I will do two classes - one after the other - on Thursday night.

Last night was my first double bellydance class - and I am still exhaused the next day! Both classes were so full on!

But I did get to start to learn finger cymbals in the second class which was so much fun - even at this stage I have a pair of REALLY budget ones - but Rich has been asking what I would like for Christmas. A pair of nice brass finger cymbals are now officially on the list:)

Back to the Future

You may or may not know that Rich and I hate the supermarket and I mean HATE it with a passion. There is nothing good about supermarkets - they are crowded dens of commercialism and I hate them! But then we have to eat so we have to go.

Then once we have done shopping we have to wait around for a taxi because we don't have a car - the whole things is just painful.

But our problems may now be solved - the other day whilst surfing the net Rich happened to check out the Foodtown site and it turns out that to get groceries delivered is about the same cost as the taxi we normally get home from New World.

Humm so lets see pay $15 and NOT go to the supermarket and shop online OR pay $15 and go to the supermarket get annoyed at everyone and everything and go home grumpy. It's not too hard a choice really.

I do feel slightly weird about getting groceries delivered - in some ways it seems like something that should be reserved for the elderly or people with disabilities.

But that weirdness quickly passed, when I realised I don't have to go to the supermarket this week!!

Our groceries are going to be delivered tonight between 6pm and 8pm - excellent.

How CUTE is this!!

Check out this link to a knitted tofu pin cushion - it's the height of cuteness!

http://bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/2006/06/15/tofu-for-you/

I'm a Barbie Girl - In a Barbie World

Seen as so many people loved my Barbie Bling (awww...thanks guys you rock) I decided to make some more as I thought it could help me make some coin in the upcoming Christmas market season. So I've now moved beyond earrings and into necklaces - I think when my next bundle of Barbie accessories turn up I shall make some charm bracelets.

Anyways - here's the current crop of Barbie Bling!

Pataka Markets

On Saturday I hung out with my friend Jo that I hadn't seen for ages - she took me out to Pataka Museum at Porirua for the markets.

I'd heard of these markets before but I had never been - they are very very cool! Much like Craft 2.0 - lots of cool local people creating lots of interesting things.

I bought these really cool watermelon earrings.

It was a bit annoying actually as a lot of people I know or at least have seen around at other markets had stalls there - but Rich and I never heard about a shout out for stalls so we weren't able to have one:(

Oh well - there's always Knack markets and Craft 2.0 plus the day was mostly to hang out with the lovely Jo.

Jacqui's Cell Phone Cover

A few weeks ago I was hanging out with my friend Jacqui, when she pulled her phone out of a fingerless glove! I thought her phone could do with a nicer home than a fingerless glove so I knitted her a cell phone cozy for her birthday. To be honest, her birthday was a few weeks ago now, but I did show her the cozy whilst it was in progress.

The cozy is now, however, complete! Here's a photo of it - all I need to do now is catch up with Jacqui and hand over her cell phones new home:)

Inspiration for a long term project!!

My new favourite website is http://www.craftzine.com/ and whilst checking it out the other day I found a project that is really inspiring that I want to make. Here it is -

How cool is this? It's like a rock and roll bedspread! Now I am the first to admit that the Black Crows and the doors aren't my thing. But with the right t-shirts I think I could make one that was pretty cool.

My vision is for a throw for our couch though rather than a bedspread - as after only two years our couch is looking a bit naff (my mum did warn me about buying burgundy coloured furniture and said it would show up every little stain and be hard to keep clean, but I wouldn't listen. Now I have a couch that shows up every little stain and is hard to keep clean!).

I'm not sure how many t-shirts I would need - but Rich has already volunteered three of his that are past their used by date (due to wear - not due to lack of being awesome) - so I already have Placebo, The Hives and Shihad for my t-shirt throw (I may also have Iggy Pop but Rich isn't sure if he can let Iggy go just yet).

I have had a look on trade me for music t-shirts but that was pretty slim pickings - they all seemed to be new t-shirts that people wanted to sell for around $25 a piece! Doesn't really work with my DIY dream!

So I think over the next few months I shall be checking out as many second hand shops as I can for band t-shirts worthy of our couch throw.

But if any of my dear friends out there have old band t-shirt of bands I may like - feel free to send them my way *hint hint*

For more information about the band bedspread above check out this blog -

http://wisdomofthemoon.blogspot.com/2007/10/oh-waitings-so-hard-to-do.html

Barbie Bling!

Here's a photo of my latest craft creation "barbie bling" - jewellery made from barbie accessories:)

The hardest part of this project was ACTUALLY finding barbie accessories - these days you can't buy barbie accessories separate from the dolls!

But never fear - that's what trade me is for - here's my first bunch of barbie bling.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR JESS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!!!!

A craft magazine that's actually cool!!

As we all know from the contents of my blog I LOVE craft - yes I really do!

There's something about creating something with your hands which just makes life better (especially when your day job is an office job where sometimes it feels like all you create is paper).

Some people laugh when I say I like craft, but they usually change camps when I show them the sort of craft I'm into - which is the alternative/DIY school of craft opposed to the crochet toilet roll holder school (not that I'm bringing crochet down! I have a crochet "how to" book I'm taking away with me on my Christmas trip).

Anyways - thus far I've bought some cool alt craft books and also searched the Internet extensively for alternative craft ideas. But the one thing I've been lacking is a decent craft magazine!

The other week I was waiting for a friend at Midlands Park and decided I'd check out Magnetix whilst I was there - as usually I avoided the "women's interest" section (what an oxymoron - a bunch of magazines made to make women feel insecure cannot be in our interest!) and checked out the Craft section thinking maybe I will find an interesting idea or two in the "Nana craft" magazines.

However, I came across an American craft magazine called "Craftzine" - the name was ALREADY a good start! Craftzine is my new favourite thing about crafting. It's a mix of stories about other crafters and "How to" for a variety of different projects:) I am looking forward to making the Japanese Candy Box purse.

Anyways - I loved it so much - I decided I needed more, more, MORE! So I have now subscribed to the magazine and have been kind of obsessively looking at their website over this weekend (so many many cool ideas for refashioned clothes!).

Here's the link for the magazine if any other alt crafters out there are feeling like they need some inspiration!

www.craftzine.com

Fireworks!

I love fireworks - growing up I think I anticipated Guy Fawkes evening with even more excitement than Christmas.

During the day mum would help me and my brothers make a Guy to burn (although when I was older and found out WHY we burnt a Guy I was kind of creeped out by it - but it was all good fun in the days of my innocent youth), then we'd help Dad collect wood and build up a bon fire and when it finally go dark Dad would like the fireworks and us kids would have sparklers.

The anticipation of each firework being lit was almost too much the handle - the joy when they lit up crazy colours and the surprise when it was one of those screaming ones and the disappointment when one of the fireworks was what Dad referred to as a "Fizzer" (put on a bit of a poor show or just didn't work).

But over the years the number of fireworks have diminished - when I was really young they banned double happy's. I remember this well as Dad bought up large and kept a pretty big stash in his writing desk which we gradually used up.

Next it was our friends the sky rockets - which I loved - especially when Dad would light a whole bunch at once.

I think other sorts have also been banned - sadly I haven't lit a firework in many years. Since moving in with Rich we have been confined to small units and apartments with no gardens or room for fireworks. But we are lucky enough to live in Wellington where the council does put on a beautiful fireworks display.

Public displays are all good - but they aren't the same as getting the whole family together in the back garden.

For years and years I've been against the idea of banning all fireworks. Not only is it a good chance for families to get together and have a laugh it's one of the few celebrations that hark back to my English (ok actually Cornish but close enough) roots.

Most other celebrations have been nicked from someone else but Guy Fawkes - even though it's kind of creepy in some ways - was mine! A celebration of my history! Of where I came from! It hadn't been commercialised and made tacky - it was just about the family getting together and lighting some fireworks in the back garden.

I was against the banning of Guy Fawkes because I refused to believe that as a country we were actually needed to have fireworks taken away from us - I mean - surely we're not that irresponsible?

But in the words of many a primary school teacher "One person's silliness will ruin this for everyone"!

On Friday night Rich and I were walking past the Mill Liquor Save - one of the flats at the top were having a party - nothing too unusual there...then we realised they were firing a Roman candle out of the window of the flat and down onto the street and the road. I'm not talking about silly 12 year olds here - I'm talking about people in their 20's who know that they are being MORONS!

Anyways, as we are walking along and thinking that this whole thing isn't too flash - they start aiming the fireworks on the foot path where we are walking. I'm going to give these moron's the benefit of the doubt and assume they were not trying to hit us directly and only trying to scare us. But either way - it's an incredibly stupid thing to do.

It was at that moment I realised that as a nation - we are too stupid to have fireworks and yes the government should take them away. We obviously can't be trusted. It's a pretty sad conclusion to come too after all these years of having a love affair with fireworks.

MO-vember

Yes it's that time of year again - I'm not sure if it's the same in all parts of New Zealand but I have to say in the public servant area of Wellington Movember has taken off with avengence!

I can't believe how many men there are around with mo's and there is a good wack of guys around growing the old school handle bar mo.

This year Rich is getting into to act as well and decided to grow a mo of his own - perhaps I'll be able to blog some photos of my "Mo man" at the end of the month.

If you have no idea what I am talking about you must be blind - or not living in NZ. Either way - if you want to know more about Mo-vember check out the link and you'll find out that this explosion of facial hair is all in the name of a good cause.

http://www.movember.com/nz/whatismov/07/What-is-Movember/?=adwords

"No new clothes" Manifesto

What the hell? Teresa not buying new clothes? What's going on? Well I tell you what's going on folks:)

Both Kat and I want to go travelling next year (to different parts of the world for different reasons) however, Kat and I are both clothes horses (I'm sure she won't be offended by my saying she's a clothes horse) which usually means spending a fair wack of money!

Recently Kat has been teaching me to sew and I have also been getting into the idea of altering stuff I already own and cheap and choice finds from the second hand stores into new stuff - great way to save some pingers and also to reduce my "carbon footprint".

Anyways Kat and I decided a good way to increase the time we spend crafting and decrease the amount of cash we spend on clothes was to make a vow of "no new clothes for the next 6 months".

This shall be tricky, and no doubt there will be slip ups along the way - but I think we can do it!

Here's my list of rules for "No new clothes" -

1. For the course of the 6 months I may buy fabric, second hand clothes (including second hand clothes from trade me), clothes from clothes swap parties - but no new clothes!

2. The exception to the first rule is I may buy new underwear, hoisery, togs and shoes (if they are a necessity - like if my gym shoes break)

3. Teresa and Kat shall have a regular sewing night!

4. At the end of the 6 months - we will much more fabulous, more personalised wardrobes than we have ever had before!

Let the games begin - as always - creations will be posted on my blog.

What is the tallest building in Melbourne anyways?

I didn't have too many plans for my final day in Melbourne, I was by myself again so felt like a cruisy day checking out the shops - but I did have one goal - I wanted to visit the tallest building in Melbourne and my guidebook told me this was the Rialto towers.

So taking the word of the guidebook as law I made my way to the Rialto towers and paid my money and headed to the top of Rialto towers.

When I was up in the Rialto towers I was damn sure that one of the buildings in the distance looked taller, and the staff kept saying that the Rialto tower was the "tallest residential building in Melbourne" so I thought something a bit fishy was going on - I got the distinct feeling my guidebook was sadly out of date!

After visiting Rialto towers I came across a man with an old fashioned horse and carriage - I'd seen them all over the city over the past few days and I kinda figured - I'm a tourist - I can do geeky tourist things! It was really great talking to the carriage driver as he gave me some insight into the city. Including the fact that the Eureka Towers was the tallest building in Melbourne at 88 stories high! He even gave me directions of how to get there - so I knew what my next task would be after the carriage ride was over.

My next adventure - head for the Eureka towers - which actually is the TALLEST building in Melbourne at 88 stories high (and the lift was much quicker than the one at work - even though that lift only has to servie 13 floors).

The Eureka towers were so tall my ears actually popped going up in the lift - but the view from the top was excellent.

A day of getting back to our childhood...

The Sunday I spent in Melbourne was a bit more laid back....which is good...that's what holidays are all about:)

After a slow start to the day (just to mix up the time difference even more - daylight saving started in Melbourne that day) we went out to Brunch and then headed to St Kilda for fun at Luna Park!

I think Luna park is meant for 10 year olds - but that wasn't going to stop Alaina and I - in fact it was an encourangement! We decided to go on the ghost train, the pirate ship (where we tried to out scream some adolescent boys) and finally the roller coaster! It was all so fun! Boggy had a fun time documenting our adventures - completing a "Photographic essay" of Trees and Ally in Luna park.

After hanging at Luna Park for a while Boggy and Alaina took me on a bit of a drive around Melbourne and pointed out some of the flasher areas with Amazing houses.

For the rest of the day we just chilled out and then Alaina and I headed out for Italian food - mmmm...tasty although one of the waiters was bloody cheeky - don't you hate it when someone thinks they are funny when they are CLEARLY not!