Colourful things this week

Over the last week I have made time to sort through some of my craft bits and pieces which are currently tucked away in boxes throughout the house. I'm hoping that I can transform a corner of my spare room into a creative space with some fab shelving to put lots of colourful things on to get me inspired. So I started with something easy ... buttons. Lots of lovely buttons! I knew it was worth saving all those coffee jars - they are the perfect size to house this wee collection. The small folk have been having a great time playing with them too. One jar at a time mind you, it took long enough to sort them out the first time around - I don't want to do that again in a hurry!
Next up will be wool then fabric. Yikes - I think I might scare myself by how much of both things I have hidden away!

There have been quite a few more hexagons made, here are just a few of them as I was trying to see what they will look like joined. I was umming and aahing about whether to join them as I go - but decided against it as I like to play around with the colours once they are all complete. With my granny square blanket the whole family had their say about which square should go where - I think this will be the same! I'm still not entirely in love with these but I know the finished look will be fab. I did however spot an amazing granny square bed cover during the week (on Pixie's blog) which I think is out of the latest Mollie Makes magazine. Now I want to make one like that instead. For the first time in a long while I am experiencing project commitment issues. Time to make a decision. Aargh!

So to take my mind off crochet for a second, I turned to baking. Delicious vanilla cupcakes with very, very pink icing - yummo! I had found these cute cupcake papers while out shopping earlier that day and just had to make some as soon as I got home. They are circus themed and oh so adorable.

They made two small folk very happy when they got one for an afternoon tea treat.
And speaking of afternoon tea treats ...

I joined some fabulous girlfriends for a high tea treat on Saturday afternoon. A wonderful opportunity to dress up and get the heels out from the back of the wardrobe! We went to Hippopotamus restaurant which is part of the Museum Hotel here in Wellington. It was my first time there and it was truly gorgeous. The surroundings are colourful and playful and the food is amazing. All the waiting staff were French and the accents made the food sound even better when they talked us through the tiers of the cake stand.

Delicious!

The Museum Hotel is known as the art hotel and it blew me away. Every wall had something amazing on it and the darkened surroundings meant the art stood out even more. This chandelier was incredible. It's hard to see in the pic but all the strands are made of tiny glass beads/shapes. Gorgeous.

This was one of my favourite pieces - beautiful native New Zealand flora. Oh to be wealthy enough to own such gorgeous art.

I am off to visit my favourite op shop tomorrow in the hunt for treasures. So no second hand bargains to show you so far this week. However I did spot these lovely beads at a local shop a few days ago. They were only $2.50 - incredible and they look fab. The green is quite bright but didn't photograph so well. I love them! Now if I could find some red ones I would be over the moon!

I did have one naughty splurge this week. I have subscribed to Mollie Makes so that I can get a copy direct from the UK as there is no guarantee it will be stocked here in New Zealand. From what I have seen on other blogs recently - it is a fabulous mag and I absolutely can't wait to see it in real life! I just wish I'd been able to see the first two issues, oh well, I'm sure the future ones will be just as wonderful.

Thank you so much to Grateful 4 Crochet for giving me this award. It was so lovely to receive this and has made my day! If you haven't seen this lovely blog already, you should definitely take a look. I really love the way we find our way to different blogs - always fun and more than a little addictive.
Have a fabulous week!

Crochet in the sun

The weather has been a bit up and down lately so any opportunity for a quick few rows in the sunshine is wonderful. I have had my eye on this scarf pattern for ages and even though it's still summer here, and a bad time to be making scarves, I just couldn't help it. I found this pattern on Ravelry and it belongs to Kathryn Nunes and is called a Van Ness Scarf. It starts with four magic rings joined together, then you work from the middle up. Once that length is finished you go back to the middle and work from the middle down until the scarf is complete.

I can't believe how fast it is growing and just how easy it is. I thought it would have been so much trickier when I first spotted the pattern. I can see this becoming a regular gift idea!

For a treat I have ordered myself a new crochet book today which should hopefully arrive in the next week or so. I'm sure it will fill me with inspiration!

Three Days in Wellington

I have just had the most wonderful three days in my lovely city. Two dear friends had their wedding on Saturday at The Boatshed on Wellington's waterfront. A beautiful venue with the most stunning views of the city. It was the most special day - for two very special people. The bride and groom had travelled home from London, where they now live, so it was a fabulous chance to catch up with old friends. A great reason to get dressed up, have a few drinks, eat amazing food and have a bit of a boogie on the dance floor.

These are just a few images to remind me of the lovely time I have had. You really can't beat Wellington on a good day!

My Wellington

After a wild, stormy night on Monday - Wellington has said goodbye to the horrid weather and hello to some beautiful summer days. We had a fabulous afternoon at one of Wellington's prettiest spots, Oriental Bay. The beach is still showing the remains of the storm, lots of seaweed washed up on the sand but all we cared about was playing in the warm weather. My little ones rode their bikes then stopped to have a paddle in the sea. Oriental Parade is an amazing place to spend an afternoon. I love people-watching and this is a great place to do it!