School Holiday Break

Daughters 2,3 and 4 and their cousin on holiday last weekend at Pouakai Cabin in the Pouakai  hills at the base of Mount Taranaki .

We were so lucky with the weather. Taranaki turned on a great weekend for us. First time we’ve seen the mountain without any snow on the top!

Girls back to school tomorrow – Maybe some time in the studio this week. : )

R x

Knitting…

‘In through the front door, round the back, out through the window and off jumps Jack’
Daughter 3 working on her scarf:


School Holidays – learning to knit . Daughter 4 is very proud of her new wrist warmer  - well done.

Garden produce including the zucchini that got carried away and in the blue bowl some Cape Gooseberries that I made in to some strange tasting jam with passionfruit. Might try a chutney with them next time – still another kilo or so of them ripening up.
Rx

Bento and Bags

If you look on the side bar in the “Inspiration Blogs” you will see one of them is “Just Bento” .  A Bento Box is a Japanese lunch box and some times I make hubby and the children ‘Bento Boxes’ for their school and work lunches.
This is one I made for Hubby last week – not strictly Japanese but inspired by Bento.
There is a frittata made using leftover roast potatoes and veges, small salad and some bread.

Some times I make ‘onigiri’ which are Japanese rice balls. I’ll take a picture next time.
I made a couple of quick bags last week – trying out a new design . I’m using them to store my knitting and crochet.


And this is what went past my house today!




Have a happy and safe Easter break.
R x.

Screenprinting…

Today I printed some fabric using a screen I made from the drawing fluid and screen filler I shipped from Dick Blick Art supplies in the states:


A good first attempt I think.  Lots of design ideas in the pipe line. Watch this space!
Going to do some sewing this week I think…
R x

A New Book

The latest offering. I made a buttonhole binding book for hubby’s birthday – only a week late but he’s really pleased with it.
A before shot showing the 6 signatures and the hard case before binding:

I used black bookcloth for the cover and bound with linen thread. I used Italian paper on the inside cover , and a mixture of watercolour paper and lined and gridded papers for the pages.


The book lies flat when open which makes this a nice book for writing in.


The book measures about 8 inches square.
I have an orchestra rehearsal today but hopefully I’ll get to try out a new screenprint in the next couple of days.
Rachel xx