Mixt up

 My gocco prints, digital prints and huia brooches with ribbons are now being stocked at lovely Kingsland store Mixt!  It's at 502 and 504 New North Road for all your print, jewellery and beautiful vintage furniture needs.  It's also in close proximity to the Shaky Isles, so that you can have a siphon of coffee and make sure those caffiene jitters don't go away until sunset, and you might spot some Sophie Oiseau prints there too!

Sign language

Travelling through the central North Island the other day we collected a whole lot of photos of lovely signs.

Some were old and peeling:

Some were handpainted:

 Some were kind of trompe l'oeil, like this building in Taumarunui, with a fake building painted on the side:

 Some were informative:

 But I think I liked this one the best!

Why hello old friend

 

I've just been reunited with my childhood toy mouse, who has been languishing in my parents' basement for many years.  His name is Icecream Ears because back in the day the insides of his ears looked like fresh scoops of icecream (these days they're more of a French Vanilla shade).  His lolly-coloured shirt has always made me hungry:

And I've always loved the fact that his pants have a special tail-hole:

Here we are when he and I were much younger:

Welcome back old friend!

Wanganui je t'aime

Mr. Millicent Crow and I were laughing the other day about how our holiday destinations are ah, less than exotic.  Give us a nice backpackers, a place to walk around taking photos and we'll be happy.  And last weekend was no exception.  We'd been meaning to go to New Plymouth, but our favourite place to stay was unavailable.  So I suggested we head further south, to Wanganui.  We drove all day, past the snowy mountains:

And stayed at the Tamara, which had the best camellia bush: 

and the best deck for ukulele playing:

 We roamed around taking lots of photos and drinking lots of coffee.  We found a wallaby skin (not pictured, too gross) draped ominously over a sign at Castlecliff  and puzzled about its origins.

We made up a new rule that if you see a circus you have to go to it.  So we did, and found ourselves sipping hot mugs of tea ringside at Circus Aotearoa.  I was terrified that I was going to be chosen to be sawn in half, but instead had to massage an acrobat, and had a clown steal a hair from my head!

And we went up the mysterious Durie Hill elevator, up the 176 spiralling steps inside the war memorial:

 
and were rewarded with this view:

and Wanganui's best kept street 1972-1977.

Which was exotic enough for me.  Paris next time maybe?

Covered

 This one's a bit of a team effort.  Mr Millicent Crow and I have just finished designing the cover for his latest, Antarctic exploration-themed EP, which he has been promoting round the depths of the South Island this past week.  I designed a pattern for it, using these things I drew to represent Captain Scott:

And I did the basic layout of the back.  Mr. Millicent Crow did the text layout, based on The Voyage of the 'Discovery', and the layout of the front cover.  The ribbon is one of the ones I used for these brooches and the one that Loulu the cat had so much fun playing with here.  It's exciting to see the design all made up and I do believe we will be making another EP cover and an album cover soon!

I was going to post this to "My Creative Space" today but it has just finished in its current location.  Thanks Kirsty for all the "My Creative Space" goodness...I might just have to get myself onto Instagram!

Happy Thursday to you!

This is...

Have you seen Miroslav Sasek's "This is" books?  They're from the late 1950s to the 1970s and they're beautifully illustrated.  Since I discovered them I've been having a tour of the world from my own lounge!  These images  are from This is San Fransisco:

And these are from This is Australia:

Miroslav Sasek is an excellent tour guide, with a poetic way of observing things.  I wish he had done a This is New Zealand!

These retired buffalo are from This is Texas.

The series is described as being "for children of all ages, even adults!" 

 My next stop? This is Ireland.

Kraftbomb

 When I got home from the Auckland Art and Craft Fair yesterday I felt inspired to make some more brooches, so I rustled up these ones.  They're made with the embroidery from an old linen cloth I bought a while ago from a great op shop in Putaruru.  It had seen better days but had been lovingly mended in places, and was lovely and soft.

 

 I brought them along to Kraftbomb and here they are with my huia brooches:

And here's the stall:

 

There were lots of clever display ideas at Kraftbomb, and at the Auckland Art and Craft Fair, and I spent a bit of time today dreaming up ideas for displaying my wares better.  I'm thinking of making some kind of shelving unit for my prints, maybe out of the vintage spice racks that seem to be accumulating in my car.  Now that could be an excuse for an op shopping excursion!