Do you ever wonder who has influenced or inspired you................without you maybe even realising.

When I was at university many moons ago I 

did a Bachelors degree in Art History.

When we came to study Frida Kahlo

I absolutely loved, was fascinated and at times disturbed by her 

and her work (as are many people).

Several years later I worked part time in a restaurant up on Ponsonby Rd in Auckland

that was dedicated to all things about Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

It was a fun, beautiful place to work.

I came across this verse by Frida recently.

Nothing is absolute,

everything changes,

everything moves,

everything revolutionizes,

all flies and goes.

This sits well with me and my year of change.

It also made me think throughout my life Frida Kahlo and her work
have popped into my life.

How has Frida Kahlo influenced me and my work, 

my life without me even thinking about it ?

Laughter, love, friendship, beauty.

 "Nothing is worth more than laughter" ~ Frida Kahlo

Here she looks so beautiful you almost miss that her earrings are little hands!

Is she not just stunning!

Have you been influenced by her?
Maybe in your dress sense, your love of beautiful things, flowers, jewellery,
art works, written word.
Frida is long gone but she is still influencing people today.

Sewing, Sewing, Sewing...............

 I have been sewing away a few shop orders, a few personal orders 

and a few things for my shop which I will hopefully load over the next few days.

Here is a peak at some of what I have been working on.

It's all about the purse, the kindle case the mini ipad case and the ipad case

Heart and Vine Range

 

 Hydrangea Range

Heart and Vine Range in Pink

Fox Range

Shower

After 1 month and 2 days we now have a shower.

Oh it was such bliss to shower in ones own bathroom.

We are still working on the finishing touches but once it is all done 

I will have pictures.

I am still working away on my new designs.

I found a little bit of leftover teal blanket that I just had to use.

 I am loving the Teal and the Red together.

This year is all about being open to change in my household.

So I thought I would share with you this weeks saying

as it is a rather lovely one.

Hearts and Vines

Well our bathroom adventure still goes on.

We are at day 27 of no bathroom.

Light is however at the end of the tunnel and we only have days to go now.

I am so excited.

Around all the chaos I have been working some more on my new range

"Hearts and Vines" 

I decided to add some rabbits in for a bit of fun.

 Ipad Cases

Mini Ipad or Kindle Case

These new designs are all loaded in my online store.

plus

More of them will be at next weeks art show

"Affair of the Heart"

What was I thinking!

So it has been 18 days without a shower in my house.

We have been showering at the neighbours, at the local pools and

we went camping for 5 days.

In amongst the chaos of having ones house in an upheaval whilst renovating,

plus going back to teaching part time, and filling orders for shops.

I thought it would be a good idea to start a juice detox.

With headaches for two days and no shower at home to relax in.

With my juicer deciding it needed a little fixing as it started to leak into the motor.

I decided that the universe was telling me 

"Now is not a good time to be doing this!"

So I just had to listen and go and buy myself a feel better chocolate bar.

I will share my juicing journey when I get there (and the time is right)

sometime this year.

One of my lovely stockist "The Petal Store"  in Christchurch

is going to have a stall at the "Ellerslie Garden show".

For the last two years they have won gold medals for there stall display.

So I feel very honoured that they wanted to stock some of my designs

on there stall this year.

Here is a sneak peak at some of the designs I worked on for them:

While I sew I listen to music and TED Talks.

I am just loving this  John Mayer version of "Free Falling" at the moment.

Have a wonderful week and Valentines day.

 

Right Now : Challenges

So our bathroom is all demolished.

The trades are all booked.

The builder came yesterday and dropped off all the wood to start today.

Then at 7am this morning we got the call to say that our poor

builder who is 72 has put his back out!

I am a true believer that everything happens for a reason.

So now Mr O is on the search for a builder at short notice.

It certainly is a challenge!

Yesterday I started juicing.

I certainly ate my way through Christmas.

So now its time to make a change.

Juicing I have found is best started slowly as it can knock you around as you detox.

So I plan to start with juicing one meal a day and work up to two.

Then three meals.

I am hoping to go on a 4 day fasting and juicing retreat the middle of February 

(depending on how the bathroom renovation goes)  

so I am slowly working my way towards a healthier slimmer me.

Here is yesterdays juice : 

BEETROOT ZESTER

2 medium carrots

2 apples

1 medium beetroot

1/2 fresh lime

1 piece of ginger 2cm by 1cm

Feed all ingredients through the juicer, stir and drink..................it is yummy and very filling.

Right now here is my work table:

I am finishing off a few shop orders before I start some new designs.

Master O still has a week of school holidays so I am not fully back into the swing of things yet.

I did however just design these new Kindle or Mini Ipad cases.

I have just received this great book it is all about making paper flowers 

but I think it is going to inspire

me greatly with some new felt flower designs.

I am looking forward to painting some felt and trying out some new designs.

Aren't these paper flowers just gorgeous.

I cannot wait to start these new designs.

My fingers are itching!

Change

 Change comes from thinking thoughts you've never thought before.

Showing up to meet them down streets you've never walked before.

2014 is here and I feel for my family it is going to be a year of change.

The changes that will be coming about are across the board in our lives

and I although I am excited about change I am also a little scared.

I think we often look at change as a bad thing, 

when more often than not change is a good thing.

I read the other day :

Making a big life change is pretty scary.

But you know whats even scarier ?

Regret

 For the past few years I have a motto or a saying that I think will help me 

stay positive through the year.

Last year it was:

"Don't look back your not going that way"

I loved this motto as it was so true for last year and building

up my craft business and not returning to a career I had, had most of my life.

The year before it was:

"You only live once, live beautifully"

As I looked for a new motto this year among hundreds of change sayings.

This lovely simple one struck my heart as the right one for me.

Make a wish

Take a chance

Make a change

It sounds simple but for Mr O and I change is big as we are not real risk takers so

 taking a chance on something new can be scary.

 

We came home from holiday a few days ago and the first change occurred.

A very exciting change.

Mr O started to demolish our bathroom.

We only have one bathroom so this change I am sure will have its ups and downs.

But the builders, the plumbers the tilers are all booked.

So hopefully weeks from now my bathroom has moved on from what it looks like right now

and changed into an amazing new space.

 Do you have a motto or a saying that suits your life right now ?

I would love it if you would share it with me.