Friday, November 25, 2011

Rainy days

It has been raining solidly for 4 days. The little hint of summer that we had here in Sydney last week has been convincingly washed away. In some ways this makes me very nervous - our wedding reception is outdoors - and it also makes me sad because it means the dahlia season for Sydney will be delayed, and dahlias were my number one choice for wedding flowers (which I am doing myself).


However, I am trying to find a positive outlook on all this rain, and I didn't have to look very far:


 My zucchini plants are going absolutely beserk. Would you believe I paid $2 for a tiny punnet of seedlings from Bunnings two weeks ago?


Hello, delicious zucchini flower. You will soon be stuffed with fetta and fried, and on my plate for dinner.


Maybe the rain can be forgiven just this once.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Cushion project



We have an area at our upcoming wedding reception that needs some colour. It is a plain space, with white couches and a couple of coffee tables. I saw the photo above months ago (and I don't have a credit for it, sorry!) and was really inspired by the colours and textures used in this little collection of cushions. 


Off I went to IKEA and, 2 hours and a $1 hotdog later, I emerged with a stash of 8 cushion inserts ($1.99 each! You can't beat that!) and a mission to make a lounge area full of colour.


We don't really have a colour scheme. We have Mexican influenced decorations, which includes a bold emerald green, magenta, midnight blue and royal purple. I have decided to make cushions in solid colours using some interesting textural techniques, like the ones above. I particularly like the woven yellow and the circular pale blue with the pleats coming to the centre. I can't quite work out what's going on with the circular pink one, but it looks cool too.


Stay tuned for the results of my cushion sewing project!

Friday, November 18, 2011

It's been a long time.

Is anybody out there? *tap tap* Is this thing on? Hello?

Oh HI! It's me, Emma! I'm back and I do apologise for the silence. What have I been doing?

Well, planning a wedding. I get married in 3 weeks, you guys. THREE WEEKS!! That's pretty soon. 

Also, mucking around in the kitchen.


Clockwise from top left: Raspberry and vanilla buttercake with cream cheese icing (a version of this); corn fritters with avocado, bacon and coriander; raspberry scones; and spinach, bean and chorizo soup.


And a bit of fancy dress, of course! This was for a friend's 30th Safari themed party.


So what's happening with NeverEver? Why did I abandon it for so long? Why so quiet? To be honest, I felt a bit over it. I was starting to not enjoy making all my handmade cuties on demand. I like to make things at my own pace sometimes, you know? And I found that I was feeling resentful every time a sale came through, instead of jumping off my chair with joy as I did when I first started making sales. I needed a little break, to step away from Etsy, and I am glad I did.

But now (and it does seem a strange time to feel this, in the middle of crazy wedding stuff and just before Christmas), I do feel like I would like to jump back in again - with a bit of a twist. I am going to sell mainly one-off pieces out of gorgeous fabrics from my stash. Classic denim and my bib range will stay, but everything else will be an as-I-feel-like-it production line. I have a huge exciting cupboard overflowing with bits and pieces, and I can't wait to use them.