Creative pursuits?

I'm still alive. Hooray!

Sooo, here's why I've been quite absent. Currently I'm the Quality Manager for a $130m construction project. As of last week, I'm also the Quality Manager on a separate $50m job. And my work life was relatively busy before. Sigh. I will still post here when I find inspiration (this is even more of a problem than finding energy). I'm always available on Twitter for a chat, too.

I have done very few creative activities in recent months. A tiny bit of crochet. A wee spot of sewing. And a monstrous amount of house-fixing and family-visiting. Shout out to Deirdre and Kirsti, for the fun Dessert Day when I was in Melbourne though!

One creative thing I've done lately is create a calendar for 2014. The link is at the top right of the blog. A few years back, I made a similar one for a few family members and it was wildly popular. If you love pictures of New Zealand, this is the calendar for you! It makes a BRILLIANT Christmas gift too, especially for extended family members or if it needs to be posted.

Here's a little preview for you! (no watermarks on the printed calendar, of course):

Order early to get one in time for Christmas!

Scary September - prints!

Beajay, I have not forgotten the challenge! I promised to finally sew some clothing in a printed fabric. The colours even match those in my swatch.

See, I checked my swatch. It's all good!

During a month of unpacking, dealing with tradespeople, throwing parties (all the normal house-moving things), I have indeed managed to sew something. It's not exciting, it's not even a new-to-me pattern.

I present Style Arc Mia, in a knit WITH A PRINT.

There isn't much to add to my earlier review of the pattern. I used some clear elastic on the surplice front edges, to minimise stretching them out. I didn't use any facings, as they would have caused more problems than they would solve in this slinky knit. At this stage the front is held with a pin, but I'll add a snap or hook and eye when I get a chance.

Clear elastic is useful if you sew knits regularly. I just attach it with a zig-zag.

This dress is such a great "throw it on and go shopping" style.

Now that the house is (kind of) sorted, I should be able to post more regularly!

New sewing room! Hooray!

The next post will have actual sewing

Now that I've written it, it *must* be true.

In the last twelve months, I've been overseas twice, gotten engaged, sewed my wedding dress, got married, bought a house, and turned 30. I also learned to crochet! What I'm saying is that I've been busy.

Of course, I also pledged to BeaJay that I would sew an item of clothing WITH A PRINT in Scary September. Because I need more challenges in my life, apparently! Seriously, my whole wardrobe is block colours. I need to branch out. BeaJay has given me a bit of much-needed inspiration.

So that will be the topic of my next blog post. I promise. In the mean time, here are some tidbits from my last few weeks. In that time we moved house, [I turned 30], and we travelled to Akaroa via Christchurch.

All our new neighbours stopped by to say hello within a few days of us moving in. One of them brought cupcakes! This is such a friendly neighbourhood.

This is the sunset view from our deck. South Auckland is prettier than people think!

The guestroom/sewing room is slowly taking shape.

Akaroa is gorgeous. This was the view from our motel patio.

It has some of the oldest surviving buildings in New Zealand (the warning tape is on one that was earthquake damaged in February 2011).

The harbour there is pretty darned scenic too.

Lyttleton Harbour was breathtaking, though.

We also went to Christchurch when we were down south. I took a lot of photos there, but I'm not sure about sharing them. Seeing the damage (two and a half years after the quake) was really upsetting to me - and I've never even been there before. It feels somehow too raw and intrusive to publish the photos... maybe later. I don't know.

Have you snapped any photos that took your breath away when you reviewed them? In a good or a bad way?

Crochet in Canterbury

I've finally got a new finished object! My sewing room hasn't been unpacked at all, so I'm still having a crack at the more portable craft of crochet.

This scarf is my first project, and I quite like it. I wear scarves most days through winter.

We're currently at a model aeroplane rally in Canterbury, south of Christchurch. Apologies for any odd formatting on this post; I'm using my cell phone. Winter here has a lot more bite than in Auckland, so I'm snuggled up in the car...

It's a stunning landscape. Don't be too jealous though; it's only about 3°C and windy!

Are you working on any projects that seem to be moving too slowly? Let's talk about it!

Some crochet, but mostly boxes

Hi everyone! I've been reading your blogs to relax, and love seeing all your creative/entertaining/unexpected pursuits.

As I said in my last post, we were house-hunting. After months of finding nothing suitable:

• We saw a house on TradeMe;
• Visited the next evening;
• Made an offer on the spot;
• Offer was accepted the next day;
• Settlement was agreed for three weeks after our offer was accepted!

So this Friday, I'm taking the day off to get the keys and start moving in. It's been an exhausting whirlwind of lawyers, mortgage brokers, banks, utilities companies, landlords, etc... but thankfully it will be over soon. Because I'm so excited to be buying a house, here are a few preview snaps.

It's not a fancy house in a fancy area. It is, however, completely renovated inside. There's a new fourth bedroom with ensuite downstairs (for our future guests!). It's on about 650m2, which is pretty big for Auckland. And check out that huge front deck - it has views over the Manukau Harbour, with no houses in front of us.

The view from our footpath across the foreshore park. It's a really nicely maintained and well-utilised area. There is an ongoing project to pull out some of the mangroves - I'll be happy to help!

In crafting news, I'm teaching myself to crochet. I've started with the classic beginner project of a scarf. Really enjoying it so far! It's a peaceful hobby, and very portable for when we travel. I've got a couple of Doris Chan books for when I'm feeling more adventurous.

When I'm set up in my new house, hopefully I'll get straight back into some more interesting posts!