A Shoe In

We have only been away for two weeks, but somehow we have ended up with the hugest pile of shoes next to the door in our caravan. Rain soacked, dirt covered shoes. So today, being a rainy, indoors day, I decided to draw them.

Skipping Stones on Salt Spring Island

'The voyage of discovery lies not in finding new landscapes, but having new eyes.' - Marcel Proust

 

 

Volunteering - Salt Spring Island

At the start of the week we arrived on Salt Spring Island, a 3 hour ferry ride from Vancouver. This is where we are doing our first stint of volunteer work.

We are staying with a lovely pair of Canadians, Andre and Martin, helping them landscape and build a cottage on their newly purchased piece of land in the forest, overlooking the ocean on the island.
They bake us kiwifruit muffins and stream NZ news over the internet every day just so we feel a little more at home.

We are loving the cool weather, freshly cut firewood, our cosy campervan, all the deer and squirrels running around, the trips into the sleepy seaside village, and their deaf cat called Geek.

Who knows, we may be here for a while...

Twilight Zone - Seattle, Washington

                                                                Image from http://www.wta.org

On Sunday afternoon we tagged along with some friends across the border to Seattle, Washington.
The trip is about 2.5 hours from Vancouver give or take a little, depending on the wait time at the border crossing - an interesting interrogation experience in itself!

Driving through the rural back roads felt a little like being in a movie, with moody skies, naked winter trees, open fields and big red barns with white trim and half hexagonal roofs.
In fact, a little further in and I swear we were in vampire territory in 'Twilight', with shiny wet roads, misty hills, towering trees and layers of thick green moss covering every possible surface.

We spent the afternoon at a designer discount shopping outlet. Two pairs of Levi jeans, a pair of tramping boots, some trackies and a jacket for $150? Yes please! And not to mention drooling through the window of the Michael Kors store!

The scenario for dinner on the way back home was hilarious - Four 'Tawa-ites' eating at an Australian outback style steak house halfway between Seattle and the Washington/BC border. You don't get much stranger then that!

BC Blossoms

There are beautiful blossoms out all over Vancouver at the moment, I love how the petals get caught in the breeze and whisked off like snow flakes. Spring has arrived in southern BC.

The Mighty Cup

America, you really don't do things by halves do you?

I asked for a 'large' sized drink at BK LAX yesterday (which by the way was the most disgusting take away food I have ever tasted, take aways for me have hit a new low, if that's even possible...) and this is what I got.
A cup I could have fit my head inside. In fact, I should have taken a photo with this ON my head just to emphasize that point. The size of this cup is insane! It should be called the Mighty cup. Mighty stupid that anyone would want to drink this much fizzy drink as they would seriously be bouncing off the walls afterwards!

I then happened to order a medium sized drink at Wendy's today (this is starting to sound like I'm a take away freak) and I got what in NZ or Australia would be a large size. Suddenly, all those documentaries and articles I've seen or read about America having obesity issues are starting to make sense... sorry American/Canadian readers, no offence here, I'm just saying...

Va va va Vancouver

I meant to take lots of photos today, our first day in Vancouver, but I didn't. I didn't, because sometimes it's nice to just use your own senses to explore and discover a new place, rather then looking at everything through a lense. I often think that if you're not careful, thinking with the mind of a camera all the time can cause you to miss what's really going on... well at least that's how it seems sometimes. But there will be more photos soon.

This is one of two photos I did take. See the snow? Yup, going from a country with 40 degrees one day, to another country with 2 degrees the next... so strange! But I am loving being rugged up for once. I miss feeling 'snuggly'.

Sun Up on a Wing Tip over L.A.

Recorded in the Rock

Yesterday afternoon I left the boys to their swim in the somewhat cooler Pacific Ocean at Thirroul beach, and wandered towards the rock pools at the sand's southern end.


There, the rock faces are fractured by rusty threads of mineral ore, and between the red and purple streaks are the carved names of beach visitors and sweethearts from long ago. I couldn't help but wonder where these people are now, and whether these romances have lasted as long as their wave-washed imprints in the rock...

Hello, Sydney

Yesterday we arrived in our first stop of the big journey which is Sydney, and so once we were off the plane we jumped into a rental car and made our way to the beautiful little town of Thirroul, about one hour south of the city.

We decided to take the Grand Pacific Drive as opposed to going straight up the highway, and wound our way through 40km's of luscious bush scenery. I stuck my head out the window, somewhat dog-like, and was amazed that the air smelt like the New Zealand bush, and I couldn't place my finger on the reason why, until C said that the smell I was recognizing was the mustiness of damp undergrowth, something that Perth has absolutely none of. In such a strange way, that small similarity made us feel a little closer to home, at least for a while.

Gradually, the forests became peppered with sweet little weatherboard bungalows, some with verandahs, some with quaint but wild flowered gardens, some homes lovingly restored, others just as lovingly worn and weathered and 'pre-loved'.

The pacific ocean heaved on the left, and massive bush clad cliffs loomed on the right, with more little cribs and baches dotted between the two. This is where we found the little town of Thirroul where we are staying with some lovely friends, enjoying frisbee at the park, swims in the ocean, beers on the balcony and meanderings through the 'old school' township. A blissful start to the adventure.

Goodbye Perth...

                                                   Image from www.darkroastedblend.com

... it's been great. You've introduced me to new friends, shown me beautiful new places, fed me scrumptious food, and provided many an eye-opening experience. I'll be back...

My Week in a Nutshell...

Cheats Chocolate Croissants

Delicious chocolatey, pastry goodness... all bundled up in sweet little bite size bits!

Step 1: Cut pre-rolled sheets of puff pastry into quarters, and then diagonally cut each quarter to make 8 triangles.

Step 2: Take a piece of chocolate... any chocolate... even some of those chocolate drop things would do. Place your piece of chocolate at centre point of triangle, and roll in the pastry til you reach the other side. Give the ends/other traingle points a twist and scoop around to join the body and wollah!

Step 3: Pop them in the oven til you can't stand waiting any longer, take out and EAT.

Top Tip: Always remember to buy a block of chocolate with more pieces then you need for the croissants. That way you can be fair, and say, 'one for the croissants, one for me...one for the croissants...' You know how it goes!

Doodling Houses

A quiet, old avenue from somewhere in my mind...

A Weekend in Greenhead

Hello lovelies, I'm home from a brilliant long weekend away. I'm back to boxes, and back to packing up this house of ours. Just so I can prolong my holiday buzz a little bit longer, I decided to make a wee video to sum up the sun drenched weekend I had, instead of sharing photos. Enjoy!




The song is 'Through Your Eyes' by Nina Kinert.

Ta Ta

I'm off to the beach for the long weekend, for a bit of...well... this... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz hehehe.

Have a good one!

Show & Tell

I don't really like to post too much on my real 'work' life. I think because it seems so far removed from what I normally talk about on here. But I thought I would make an exception this time, as I am quite proud of this particular job.

These images are from the house I worked on for the better part of last year. I contributed in many areas, from designing furniture and cabinetry through to choosing fabrics, sourcing accessories, and placement of the clients $3m dollar art collection! Yikes! The company I worked for, Yael K Designs, designed the entire house, start to finish.

There is such a tiny market for designing homes of this scope and budget in NZ, whereas Perth is a whole other story. I've certainly learned a lot during the time I've worked here, and had my eyes opened to how the other half live, and how to design for them!

Song of the Week: Jess Penner - All Smiles

Yeah yeah, dance around a little because you know you want to!

Two Rabbits

A work in progress... maybe...

I Dream of Clouds

Out at dinner last weekend, I was talking with a friend about the things we miss from 'home'. For her, 'home' is Scotland, and of course it's NZ for me. One thing we both agreed on was how much we miss wearing coats, scarves and slippers, sitting in front of warm fires, and the wild, wonderful landscape and weather.

Perth has some of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen, but I have not once seen clouds like these which I took photos of over Wellington harbour a couple of years ago. Perth can't produce anything close to this amazing sight. This just takes my breath away.

Full House Flashback

I have just come across re-runs of my all time favourite tv show Full House, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it!

I was practically raised on that show, and as I grew up those girls did too. It was often the highlight of my day. What ever happened to good, 'wholesome' tv shows that you could happily leave kids in front of and not have to worry what it was teaching them?

Those hairstyles and outfits from the earlier episodes are classic. Some stunning examples of 80's perms and quiffs and shoulder pads.

And a small confession? I remember watching this about the time our family got the internet, and I would spend ages alta-vista'ing (google wasn't around yet) pictures of Stephanie Tanner so I could copy her outfits. Eeek!

I'm such a nerd, I'm sitting down every night to watch it now... it's brilliant.

Photos from http://materialgirlsblog.com/dallas/2009/12/

Knit It: 2

I've finished my headband/hat; it's turned out so so.

I have decided that I made it a little wide, but at least it covers my ears, and my hair can come out the top, hooray!

I actually cheated a little, as I originally knitted a fair way before I realised that for some strange reason each row seemed to be getting more and more stitches to it. It took me a while to work out that because of the type of wool I was using, each row ended up with more and more stitches as the wool split. Instead of  a rectangular strip I ended up knitting more of a triangle, with one end starting out with 15 stitches cast, through to 40 at the other end. Woops! So I actually carefully un-ravelled the whole thing and started again, this time counting the stitches as I knitted each row.

I think I will be able to rock it, even though if you look too closely the stitches are a little all over the place, but for first attempts I'm stoked. Thankfully the bobbly wool was very forgiving to my troubles with the tension. I think it wasn't til I got near the end that I got the hang of the perfect tension, but hey, practice makes perfect!

A Bit of Global Culture

C decided a couple of weeks ago that he needed to 'represent' (said in a way a chic as white as me really shouldn't say it) our kiwi'ness overseas and bought two t'shirts from Global Culture for $28 NZD each.

The red one says 'Choice, eh! (chois, aye) Translation: pretty good, don't you think?'
The brown one says 'Can you handle the jandal?'

Might be a good conversation starter... that, or he'll just get a lot of other kiwis talking to him!

Design Portfolio 2003-2008

Seeing as in my last post I mentioned that eventually I will have an online portfolio documenting all the various things that I do, I decided to create a link to my most recent design portfolio, which showcases work from 2003 - 2008.

It's a combination of work I collaborated on during my first two years working in the design industry, as well as some projects completed for my degree.

Have a nosey if you like, just click the 'portfolio' link to the right and it should take you to it!

Blogging Anniversary... Sort Of

I just figured out that I've missed my 1 year blogging anniversary by 2 weeks... I have officially been blogging for just over 12 months. Crazy!

I haven't really got any give-aways or anything like some organised bloggers do - so just thought I would acknowledge it and say thanks to everyone who comments on some of the random things that I put on here, and to the others that I know read quietly. That's all good too! Over the last 12 months I've met some really awesome people through blog land and reading all the happenings on your blogs makes me realise that I'm not as alone in my head as I once used to think. It's also unbelievably inspiring, I love surrounding myself with other creative minds, even if it is through cyber-space!

I started this blog as a way to keep sane, as I was freshly moved to Aussie and un-employed. After having followed a few other blogs for 6 months or so prior to starting my own, (BobbyRobin I think yours was the first!) I noticed that you didn't have to be the likes of the fabulous Design*Sponge to participate in this world. If anything, it's the seemingly most insignificant posts that people comment on.

Another reason for my blogging is to slowly build up my self confidence, and in the long term help to establish my place in the design/art/craft world. That's still the plan, eventually once I'm back in NZ in a year or so, and more importantly when I decide what exactly it is that I do, I'll make things and sell them and have my own little enterprise. My blog will go hand in hand with my online shop and my portfolio. In the mean time, you all just get to see the random wacky world of Nikki, and I hope you enjoy reading it.

OK, spiel over, back to whatever it is that I do.

Thanks fellow bloggers, I look forward to 'catching up' with you every day :)

Bedrock bracelet

I made these beads so long ago, I only just today got around to stringing them into a bracelet.

I feel like i've walked out of the Flintstones wearing this, but it's kinda fun.

The beads are simply made from white fimo with a clear glaze over the top, threaded onto tiger wire with a basic clasp.

'Rodney' the Redback Spider

This is 'Rodney', the redback spider. He moved in some time over the last day or two. We've been having words, because as much as I get a little lonely in this house on my own while C's away, Rod turned up, uninvited.

And to make matters worse he's moved all his shit in with him. He's taken over the corner of my laundry, down by the back door, and he's leaving half eaten flies and other bugs all over the floor. Not to mention I found his web in my shoe.
I tried to explain to him that if he had been in there when I went to put my shoes on it could have turned nasty, for both of us! But he's hanging around and he's making me nervous.

Here he is hanging around in his web like a lazy bugger in a hammock, legs in the air, and completely ignoring me with my camera up his butt. Typical.

UPDATE: Rodney had an unfortunate run in with the vacuum cleaner....

Packing Dry Run: Number 2

To all you lovelies who suggested after my last dismal packing attempt that I roll my clothes, you obviously all know what you're talking about. And the 'shake well after packing' method suggested by Jacqui? Brilliant.

I culled a lot of clothes this time round, because to be honest, I don't think I'm going to need 10 singlet tops in Canada in March/April!

 This round of trial packing has seen a massive improvement since the last one;

Ease of access & method of packing: Good
Weight: 11 kilos, yes you read that correctly, 11 kilos
Not included: Another pair of shoes, wopping Lonely Planet book
Now includes: Clothes, toiletries, socks & undies, shoes, and even my sleeping bag!
Result: Very Good

I think I've nearly got it sorted.