Feed your mind

Finally made it to Wellington yesterday to see the Wedding Dress exhibition at Te Papa.

Gorgeous gowns - beautiful fabrics and lace and shoes and veils and fabulous designers - if you didn't make it or would like to look back at what was on show, check out these blog posts from Te Papa. So inspired.
Deb went with me to the wedding dress expo, and afterwards showed me another website to love -- gorgeous fashion and stunning use of fabrics : Mackenzie mode
Have at last caught up on blogposts from when I was away and had to share a few gems ::
Gorgeous quilted creations  and sketchbook workings in the Design Matters gallery of recent student work.
Gorgeous machine quilting too by Kate Themel
Amazing red thread journal dress made by Ruth Rae.
New discoveries for me : Kim Henkel whose talents include book making and gorgeous tea bag art.
Yes and Amen blog - Junelle Jacobsen creates simply lovely art journal pages.
Have also been enjoying some lovely library books recently :
Although I can't draw, there's still lots to inspire me in this book, including ideas for overcoming first page jitters, designing your pages and some journal prompt ideas. :

Take a peak inside via amazon

If you can't get hold of the book, or you just want more there is a blog too.
It also led me to discover Laure Ferlita -- she has come up with this really cool concept called Imaginery Trips....now that's something I'd like to try for a themed art journal :-)
And Pam Johnson Brickell does beautiful watercolours too - she calls herself a Nature Artist - but I am drawn to her work because of her calligraphy and lettering on her pages.
On the Fiction front :
Enjoyed this read over Easter - lovely cover, subject matter not at all related to Easter!

Currently enjoying

We are half way through our school holidays...hoping to get onto something creative this week. How about you?

Easter Holidays

Had a wonderful Easter break chilling out in Turangi and Taupo.
New experiences : kayaking from Kuratau

New sights : Orakei Korako

Happy family times

Enjoyed the rich variety of scenery all within an hour's travel from our bach.

Renewed our enthusiasm for walking - we will definitely be checking out walks to do more of this now we are home again. The mountain above and the 3 pictures below were all taken on the same 2 hour Taranaki Falls walk from Whakapapa village.



Gorgeous scenery in this wonderful country we are lucky enough to call home

Aratiatia Rapids

And then today - a wood pigeon in a tree in our front yard!

It's been a great week

Fun with Wax

My friend & I had a play day on Tuesday this week. We decided to try a few things using melted beeswax.

We had a proper melting pot and dipped various papers & tags in to see what we got.

LEFT after dipping in wax -- RIGHT before

Love how the music becomes translucent with the waxed layer.

LEFT = after wax

These tags were stamped first with my lovely Tim Holtz Papillon Stamp set. Love them every time I use them.

This tag came up so effectively - originally the cardstock was a very faint lavender, and the stamping seems more dimensional now.

Ordinary wrapping paper didn't have so much of an effect, although the feel of it is nice.

But this handmade paper from Trade Aid with leaves embedded into it looks lovely. The torn pieces lying on top of the original paper were stamped with another part of the Papillon set before waxing.
A simple technique, with lots of fun results.
Hope you have a fun and safe Easter long weekend.
Talk to you next week