in the studio, a small tour/

zine by don't hang your head

Yesterday I couldn't stop cleaning. It started off with me thinking "I'll just do the floors" but it soon turned into a full assault mission on all things unclean and untidy. Like a woman on fire I tore into our 55 square meter apartment which also doubles as a home office, craft studio, illustration station, and, more recently, a bike repair shop. Needless to say we do a lot in little space and it can be overwhelming, hence the OCD cleaning bout. But after everything was clean down to the inside of my handbag, I sat back and admired my work.

"ahhh" sighed my inner type A personality, "that's so much better."

I don't know if you are anything like me but I have these two opposing angels on my shoulders, Type A and Type B, and they are always fighting for control. 'Get organised, be tidy, be practical' says one. 'Be spontaneous, be creative, the house will clean it's self.' cries the other. Type B may be more interesting, but Type A holds it together.

Anyway, here is the studio post whirlwind clean.
on my walls..... I give credit to my crafty friends. On the left is a collage by Kirsten at cheek pinchy, above that are some retro buttons in their original package from Melissa, and the beautiful Swedish linen is from the UK bound Charlotte. Many illustration on the walls are by henry darger who is not my crafting friend, but is still beloved by me.

the up close and personal view

soft sculpture-mobile thing I made, but I like the stucco walls more.

a tree for tape, scissors and pink sunglasses.

I've been making things too:

I have a few friends busily producing offspring so this is my first crack at baby bibs. It was much fun and a great way to show off fabric if you ask me. I still have to sew on the velcro or hammer in some snaps. oh those pesky details.

an autumn top shining in the soft sunlight.

It was finally the right time of year to dive into this fabric from helen (stripy socks). I've had it for ages but inspiration only strikes when it strikes. I used a pattern from a retro girls nightgown which I had to adjust a lot, obviously.
I'm giving me a self high five since this was the first time I have set sleeves.
(for those of you wondering, self high five just looks like you started clapping, then gave up abruptly.)

are my posts getting too long? I worry this is true.

signing off,
-kimberlee

My...

My

spectacular (projection of sunbursts -
I really admire the wonderfully talented Cybele,
who's making furore with her stunning designs)

birthday dress (woh ho, I love my dress)

Thank you Kimberlee for those kind birthday-cupcakes.
So yuh 37. Old? I might consider growing up, soonishly...

Thank you Ashley, for this lovely surprise (nice timing):

a blogging award, wow

Now my turn to pass it on. After a loooong think, I decided that I really admire a few strong (not shy in showing their likes, sometimes dislikes) , independent (proud to do their thing without advertising and product placement of others) and original (inventive, fresh, enthusiastic) people. Here you go :

Hyena in petticoats (Leah, so herself, fantastic)

Anknel and burblets (Charlotte has fabric dreams out of her ears all the way to London)

Tummy Ache ( Amy and simply sweet stuff)

Manteli (Hanna does magic photo-prose in and around new country house)

Simply Olive (a new one for me, dramatic, dressy, catchy, and green)

Please

1. nominate 5 blogs, which haven't had this award before

2. Each of the blogs must have a purpose

3.The nominated blogs must make a link back to this page

4. The logo from the award must be put on your blog and it must link back to this blog


I just want to (narcissistically) show you some more pictures of the top (I call it number one) I made, I wanted to sell it through the good old Etsy shoppe, but a friend just really really wanted it! I have to admit I kept the 'proto' for myself, because yes, it's a goody. The shot cottons (coal, chartreuse and jade) are really of a superior quality and my sewing was not too bad for a change. Also my friend Lulu has invited me to sell some of my adult range in her shop. Great, heh i better start designing some more of that adult range then. I've just cut out the pattern for number two - it will take a while yet (it always turns out so differently from what's projected in my head) but, yay! Also I've decided to label these woman garments 'anomaly', kinda in analogy with 'Anemone' for the girls-clothes, but more edgy and different. I've added a (rather blurry sorry) pic of the anomaly tag I made to go with the top.
Oh if you'd want one too - I'd be happy to post it for you on the Etsy after all - just send me a little Email or so X

And thank you so for your wishes.
Have a sweet week!
-Lies

once upon a time, you were born.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIES

I blew all my pocket money on.....

TIGHTS & MAGAZINES (but it was the right choice).


LULA: a random fashion magazine I found that is put together by women from a few places around the world. CURVY features upcoming female illustrators and designers, this publication comes out of Australia's and is connected to YEN magazine. which I had never heard of before.

lets have a look at LULA first.....

I love this typography, simple yet so whimsical with the images set behind it.
It's featured throughout.

artwork by Louise Robinson

now onto CURVY:

this artist works on wood

mail for arms!

this one is my favourite
by maureen gubia of Ecuador

I haven't the time to go through and credit them all, artist can be found in CURVY though. Just let me know if you want to find out more about an artist.


LINKS FOR TODAY:

adie loves polly.... 'my name is adie, i love my polaroid. her name is polly. i am four.'

werkhaus: yeah that's us. see my self portrait and play luke's new game

elsie marley's nursery at apartment therapy: "…stop looking in the baby section. Look anywhere but there, really. Kids don't necessarily need childish things...."

cheers!
-k

another post about food? ummm yup.

Yesterday my friend and I did some canning, or if you like, 'putting up food'. That's what they call it in the southern novel I am reading at the moment. Any Lee Smith fans out there? Can I get an Amen?

Canning is not necessarily for everyone, it is not cost effective unless you have your own fruit trees, or know someone who does, and it takes a long time. But there is something beautiful about this slowness of it all, and I, being a bit of a romantic, am completely wooed by the whole process. It makes me think about generations of woman who have done this careful work out of necessity, and to nourish those they love.

Today, woman's work is sometimes frowned upon (which considering the feminist movement and how hard people had to work/are still working to get equal choice and opportunity, I can kinda understand) but if a woman CHOOSES to do traditional 'woman's work' and is looked down on for it, well that is just the most misogynistic of all.

Okay, okay less talk, more rock. Let me take you through my day of canning, and I will do a general overview of the process for those who have never done it before.

1. GATHER THYSELF FRUITS OF THE EARTH

Mayana, my canning buddy, has a generous friend with some organic fruit trees.

Some Grannysmiths for applesauce.

Feijoas to star in our chutney

2. PEEL, CORE, SLICE, SCOOP, DICE
repeat
repeat
repeat

do this until you develop blisters, which I did.

The humble feijoa, which Lies talked about in her last post, is one of the best NZ fruits. I've heard that the feijoa tree is quite common in other countries but the climate in NZ is uniquely suited to make this tree bear fruit. I also think the inside of the feijoa resembles native Maori artwork. my contacts help block onion fumes, (I am IMMUNE! sorta) so chopping onions for the chutney was my job. (Glasses TRAP the fumes, has anyone else ever notice this?)

3) COOK!

THE APPLESAUCE: add a little water to the pot, and simmer until all the fruit breaks down. then add your sweeteners and spices. we just used honey and cinnamon.

don't forget to stir

when it looks like this, you are almost done!

time to concentrate on the chutney. We used a recipe, kinda. Feijoas, onion, apple cider vinegar, ground peppers, spicy green chilies, salt, lemon juice, green capsicum, diced apples, and raisins. all in varying amounts.

I'm very lucky to have a friend who cooks like me and thinks of recipes as loose guides. A sprinkle of this, a dash of that, then do a taste test and adjust accordingly. And for a change, I wasn't in charge of anything, I was just sous chef taking orders from the one who knows what she is doing.

keep stirring that applesauce


4)CHECK ON THE CHILDREN

(I put this as step number four but it's really step number 1-6 because you do it the whole time. unless you don't have kids. which I don't usually, but I did this day!)

Happy, check!

happy, Check!

5) SANITIZE

Wash your jars, even if they seem clean. You don't want bacteria growing in your canned goods.

boil your lids!

heat at about 150 C to kill more bacteria


6) CAN AND SEAL

NOTE: If you have children and they are old enough to understand, you might want to say something like this before you start this step "I m going to be very busy for the next little while and I won't be able to look at what you are doing/ get you a drink of anything/ respond to you in anyway. just for 10 mintues. but I still love you. And please stay out of the kitchen "

set them up with a nice activity, or just go ahead and put on a dvd. because IT'S GO TIME!

ok this is such an intense step that I had no free hands for taking photos. just imagine the ponies are hot jars being filled with applesauce and chutney. I know you have a good imagination.

a)take the hot jars out of the oven and fill jars pretty much to the top with your mixture.
b) tap them on the bench top several times to get the air out because air bubbles are canning's number two enemy (number one is bacteria, remember?).
c) take the very hot lids out of the water, wipe clean the rim of your jar, and screw the lids on.
some people then put the jars back into the oven to seal, but we didn't. They self seal from the heat and pressure of mixture. You know the jars are sealed when the lids concave in.

6) ADMIRE

yes you did it! now good gracious go put your feet up, the kitchen can clean it's self! (ok it can't but wouldn't that be lovely?)

I'm off to eat applesauce!
-k

*UPDATE: Vivianne has let me know that I actually mean preserving, not canning, since I am using jars. but of course! what an armateur I am.

eat mostly plants

sorry for the bad lighting etc, this produce is really quite beautiful in real life.

Fall harvest. This colourful bounty arrived last Thursday like clockwork from the wonderful box fresh 'home of organic delivery'. I really recommend their service to all you Aucklander's out there.

This is really all I have to show for last week because there was a lot going on. Without going into all the traumatic details, my dad has been quite sick. We found out the persistent migraine he was experiencing over the last few weeks was actually more than just a migraine. The MRI shows he had a series of strokes. This news shocked me so. He is only 57!

The good thing is he has almost zero residual effects from his strokes aside from some impaired vision in one of his eyes, but that is already on the mend. He is on a few different meds now and is feeling much better, thank GOODNESS.

Yes it is very hard being so far away from my family at times like this. But the many phone calls from my parents, siblings, and friends have been an almost adequate substitute. In a strange way, it has been a good time for catching up, laughing, and remember what you've got- between all the talk of blood pressure, neurologists, and C.T. scans of course.

18 days until I go home for a visit. Timing eh? I had no idea how much I was going to need this visit when I booked my trip.

Anyway, this should explain my absence from blogland. I am looking forward to catching up on all your blogs.

-k