So Tread Softly...

giant acorn cups

We're lucky enough to have a wonderful art space in the town next to us. Members of the public can just turn up and create. All of the equipment and resources are there and it's free! Can you believe that? If you want to do pottery it's all set up, needle felting, they have the know how, oil painting, not a problem. I've been wanting to learn how to screen print and an incredibly talented girl friend and artist just so happens to have mastered the technique and also teaches there. Friday's are women only days so a couple of weeks ago I decided to pop along.

Moments before going, Mr Tread Softly said that he had a present for me and handed me half a dozen giant sized acorns cups that he'd picked up. I've only been able to photograph two of them as Trumpet spotted them and they're now under the furniture!

Anyway, I decided that the giant acorn cups (I know that they're not acorns but haven't the foggiest what else to call them) would be my inspiration for my first screen print. I photographed the process for you step by step as I thought that some of you might be interested in this simple but hugely effective technique.

So I started off with a sheet of paper and my little bit of inspiration. I used newsprint.

I penciled in my random design...

..and then carefully cut out the shapes with a sharp craft knife.

The newsprint was then taped onto the front of a screen printing frame.

Hmmm, this photo is a little dark but at the top I'd spooned out a line of dark chocolate brown textile paint and then used the spreader to pull the paint down the screen. Can you see the Maori design on the screen? Whoever used it in the past didn't wash it out properly so the paint has stained. I plan to purchase my own frame in the near future.

Here you can see the spread of the textile paint. Doesn't look too pretty does it? But wait, now for the exciting part.

I carefully pulled the screen away from the fabric to reveal my design. I used natural linen to print onto.

Et voila! Here's my finished design. Next time I go I'll be using two colours.

So having heat set the ink I'm now in the process of embellishing it with a simple running stitch in three colours. If you click on the image you should be able to have a closer look.

I'm not sure what the fabric will be made into yet. Maybe a cushion cover - best to keep my first attempt simple I think. Whatever it becomes, I'll keep you posted.

Until next time...

update: apparently, the giant acorn cups are actually gum nuts - thank you helen for letting me know.

treasure

Can you walk past a op/charity/thrift store without popping in? I certainly can't. What if you decide to pass on by and there just so happens to be treasures waiting in there that should really belong to you? I couldn't live with myself!

I was looking for old books, ones that had seen better days and didn't mind being chopped up so that I could use them in a few crafting ideas I have in my head. Having had a quick whizz around the store I ended up at the book stand and immediately spotted a couple of volumes that had potential. Trouble was, they were way down in the corner and I couldn't get to them as another shopper was crouched down scanning the shelves. Being terribly English I didn't want to disturb him so decided to have one more look around the store until he'd finished. As I was passing the manchester section (for those of you not in New Zealand, Manchester means linens! Don't ask me why - I don't think anybody knows - at least, the people I've asked don't) and a volunteer placed an interesting looking box on the shelf in front of me.

My years of secondhand shopping has taught me that if there's a box, tin or suitcase, it always pays to look inside because that's where the treasures hide. As I opened the tatty cardboard box I gasped as I found it crammed beautiful embroidery that someone had started and not had time to finish.

The cloth had aged beautiful. Some had developed tiny rust marks that I just love.

Underneath the pile of fabric I found yards of wonderfully coloured embroidery silks that had been wound around cardboard and rolled up pieces of newspaper.

I looked at the price on the box and it said $2.50! For friends and family in the UK, that's about 80p.

I'm fascinated by social history and would love to know who this belonged to and when it was packed away and why. But if you look closely, the box holds many clues.

Having unraveled a length of floss wrapped around a piece of newspaper, I discovered that the original owner wound it around the time that Edge of Darkness' was playing at the Regal and 'Casablanca' at the Adelphi. I'll spend time this weekend unwinding each of the threads to see what other clues the box holds.

What can $2.50 buy you nowadays? Well,if you decide to pop in to the op shop and not walk on by, and if there's a sense of hope and a little of bit of luck on your side, it can buy you hours of pleasure.

Until next time...

on being thrifty

So food prices in New Zealand have increased by 28% in the past year and they're set to continue rising. Here in the so tread softly house, we've always tried to watch our spending. Each week - usually a Sunday morning - we sit down, plan our menu and write a shopping list. We started doing that about 8 years ago as we found that at the end of each week, we were having to throw out good food. Since planning our meals, not only have we saved money on the weekly shop, but we very rarely throw anything away.

Now we're about to embark on, what could be, if we're not careful, a pretty expensive building project (more about that at a later date) and were thinking of areas where we could be a wee bit more thrifty. Each day Mr TS takes a couple of biscuits to work in his lunch box and so he has decided to make his own in a bid to save a few cents, that, as we all know, soon add up. This afternoon he made a batch of Tiffin Cake (a recipe from my Mum) but it tasted so good that there's not a great deal of it left for the weeks lunch box!

This afternoon I've been curled up on the settee reading this book about the cotton farms in Alabama throughout the last century. Women then didn't have a rubbish bin in their kitchen purely because of the fact that they didn't have rubbish! The food scraps were given to the pigs and the flour, grain and sugar sacks, all of which were made from pretty printed cotton, were made in clothing, pillowcases and quilts. Thread was a real luxury so they used to unpick the cotton sacks very carefully and use the strands. If you happen across a quilt from the beginning of the last century and it's sewn with red thread, this was probably unpicked from the tobacco pouches and re-used. Quite amazing!

I'm determined to be more thrifty. We were pretty much self sufficient throughout the summer regarding vegetables and salads and our food scraps were turned into fabulously rich compost, but I will certainly think twice in future, before putting anything into the rubbish bin.

Now were did he hide that tiffin cake?...

Update: It seems that the increase in food is a worldwide issue looking at your comments. Thriftiness is on many of your minds. Mr TS's auntie wanted you all to know about a smell free composting method that you can use in your home. Here's the link. She uses the system and swears by it.

Keriann wanted the recipe for Tiffin Cake as she tried it once in the UK. It's so not good for you but we all deserve a treat every once in a while!

Tiffin Cake

6 oz plain biscuits

4 oz marg or butter

1 tablespoon of golden syrup (although Mr TS tells me he sneaked in 2!)

2 tablespoons of drinking chocolate

3 tablespoons sultanas

1 dessert spoon on caster sugar

Cooking chocolate to cover

Melt marge/butter, syrup, drinking chocolate, sultanas and sugar in a pan. Crush biscuits and add to melted mixture. Press into a greased swiss roll tin. Cool slightly and pour the melted chocolate over it. Allow to set and then cut into squares.

friday : blue

image: colour samples on the garage wall

image: we plumped for periglacial blue

image: the front of our little wooden cottage

image: the bathroom

image: me - wearing blue - especially for today

Thank you Leya for hosting another hugely enjoyable colour week. Looking forward to the next one!

thursday : red/pink

image: red cardinals on the fire surround

image: passion fruit grown in a friend's garden

image: agnes coy lavender heart in the guest room

image: red chilli grown in our garden

wednesday : orange

image: the only three flowers that are were left in the garden

image: the indoor log basket

image: lea and perrins Worcestershire sauce - great on toasted cheese

Today was struggle (but we persevered) because, you see, I just don't do orange!

tuesday : yellow

image: pen pot on the kitchen bench

image: coffee table books

image: lemon curd and toast at 7.30am

colour week monday : green

image: the laundry room soap-dish and cleaning sponge

image: vintage jug in the guest bedroom

the generosity of others

People's generosity and thoughtfulness out there in the World of Blog, never fails to amaze me. Jo from Craft Yourself was out shopping a couple of weeks ago and spotted a cushion cover that she thought I'd like. She'd remembered seeing some photos of my living area in a Christmas post and knew right away that the colours in the cover would fit in perfectly with my colour scheme. So, she brought it for me. How wonderful is that?! Thank you Jo. I love the cushion and it's made me want to get on and screen print more than ever.

My walk yesterday was a total contrast to the day before. In the UK, we'd call the weather a 'peasouper'.

The mountains were completely fogged out. However, it soon cleared as the sun begun to burn through. There's always something that catches my eye on a walk and was glad to have my camera with me. This tree house looks like such fun for a little person.

And what about this crazy old tree! I have no idea what species it is but it was crying out to be photographed.

The past couple of days have been spent in front of the computer restocking my shop that was looking a little sad having been neglected over the summer months. NZ post have just made some very strange changes to their delivery charges and it's made if very confusing for many of us. Therefore I decided to add a flat rate for postage within NZ that stays the same however much you decide to buy. Grab a cuppa and have a look around.

Until next time...

update: I'm going to be joining Leya in her Colour Week Project. Each day I'll be posting a photo dedicated to a certain colour. Here's the order:

Monday      :  green

Tuesday     :  yellow

Wednesday :  orange

Thursday    : pink/red

Friday        :  blue

I'm going to stick with taking photos just around my house which means that Tuesday through to Thursday is going to be a bit of a challenge considering the limited palate we have here! If you'd like to join in then nip over to Leya at Curiousbird and sign up.

walk with me

Whenever I can, I like to start my day with a walk. I roll out of bed, grab something warm and off I go for about an hour or so. We're so lucky here because a 4 minute walk takes you right out into the countryside. It's such a wonderful way to start the day especially if I'm planning to sit in front of the computer for several hours working on my website (guess what I'm doing today!).

25th April is ANZAC Day (australia and new zealand army corp), a time when NZ closes down out of respect for those who lost theirs lives in past wars. It's a public holiday and so Mr Tread Softly said that he'd quite like to walk with me first thing.

 

It was one of those mornings (in fact, it has been all week) when the air is fresh and crisp, the grass is dewy and the sky is blue. My most favourite mornings. We walked for an hour and a quarter and during that time passed a fellow walker, a farmer and a herd of cows!

By 8.30 each morning the day has hardly begun and already I've experienced something quite wonderful. What's your favourite way to start your day? I'd love to know.