First print of Norfolk Pine Block

It has taken a few weeks from inspiration to first product print and here it is.  I have done six tea towels so far.  Really looking forward to using this block again.  I wonder what will inspire Peter next.

A couple of nice things happening .......

 The first nice thing to happen yesterday was I managed to find a copy of the latest Good Magazine, issue 24.  There on page 68 under Eco Style is one of our cushions, photo taken by me.  I am happy to appear in this magazine it means we are on the right track.

The second nice thing to happen yesterday was the arrival of my first sack of organic buck wheat husks.  "What?",  I hear you say, and "Why are you excited about some organic buck wheat husks?" .  The reason I am so happy is I have been searching for some sort of organic filling for cushions for a very long time.  I have tried other suppliers and got nothing back from them.  I found an email address eventually for Terrace Farm on the South Island, so I sent off an email and heard nothing.  Three weeks later I got a reply, and here they are at last.  I hope they work well.

Work in Progress

Peter's Norfolk pine tree is still a work in progress.  He is not happy with it yet and feels that more detail and depth is needed.

It looked good to me, so I managed to get one print of if before he made any more changes.  I can't wait to get printing when he is eventually ready to hand it over.

A message for Chris

If you are the lovely lady that came over to do some shopping today.  Can you give me a phone please.

The Completed Projects

Here are the pics of a couple of our new projects.  Yes you were all right project number one was a tea cosy.  I suppose the word tea gave that one away.  Are there any ideas about the second project yet. 

Your house number on cushions.  Perfect for a comfy chair at the front door on your veranda.  All I need now is a beautiful front deck to take the product pictures on, as it may be a while before ours is in place, does anyone want to lend me theirs.  We are still working on the font for the numbers, I think it needs to be a bit curvier than the one I used above.

A few sneaky peaks at up coming projects.

At the moment at Coulter and Coulter there is a lot of preparation work for future projects going on and not a lot of completed projects.  I thought I would share with you a couple of snaps of the projects so far.  The first is a giant pile of unused vintage white cotton that arrived today in a tiny little box.  I am itching to start printing on it, but before I can do the fun part it all needs to be washed, ironed and marked out for printing.

The next two images are just little sneaky snaps.  Can you guess what the projects are?  The one above is probably obvious.  But can you guess what the photo below is all about?

Helpful hands or not as the case may be......

 While I was taking photographs of the above really, really cosy vibrant retro blanket, somebody decided to add their own contribution to the photo shoot.  I think you can guess who it was, not looking at you Mr Peter Coulter.

Inspiration

I am not sure how we are going to interpret this, but I was so inspired by this vine I just wanted to share it with you all.

Snapshots

Every place I have ever been to, every place I have never been to even, remain within my mind. Snapshots of sounds and smells and particularly in my case pictures.

Hastings (UK), the first place I lived after leaving home brings forth visions of tall Victorian brick buildings, municipal gardens all laid out with bedding plants and walking along the promenade enveloped in mist and the smell of the sea. Edinburgh is a mixture of ancient winding streets and long straight Georgian vistas. The buildings are tall and close like walking in a box and pockets of greenery appear unexpectedly tucked in between. The sound is of never ending traffic and people and a soft Scottish accent.Morocco, even though I have never been there calls forth visions of courtyards and searing white heat, juxtaposed with crowded markets and the smell of smoke and cinnamon.

And now we live near Napier in New Zealand. And what do I see ? Norfolk Pines. Long stately rows of them their primordial silhouette backed against the Pacific visible from miles away.

Such a strong shape demands to be reproduced as some sort of print - so watch this space . . .

Vintage Scarf Beauty

One of the best bits of being part for Coulter and Coulter is getting to browse Op Shops, and know I am working, not shopping. Really. I love being able to find gorgeous bits of wonderfulness. The fabric above fits that description perfectly, I love floral on dark backgrounds. I took one look and it screamed scarves. A bit of a departure for Coulter and Coulter, but if the fabric talks to you, you just have to go with it.

And what better to finish off the ends than little black baubles. The finished item looks fantastic hanging in my hall and even better wrapped around my neck. If I can get Peter to take a good picture of me tomorrow, I will post it to let you see. I think Mother's Day is coming up soon this would be a perfect gift, and you can get one over here.

Out and About

Last Sunday we had a stall at the Taradale Primary School Gala. It was a beautiful morning. I thought you might like to see what it takes to set up the Coulter and Coulter stall. The first part setting up the marquee would have been amusing to see, but we were to busy having heated discussions on the best way to do it, to record it for posterity. Much to the amusement of the other stall holders.
Despite having set up lots of times before and planning it all out, I still have to think about where everything should go and then move it all around again.
The end result is never quite what I want it to be, but I think its getting less and less like a jumble sale. And......tada..........here it all is looking cosy and cuddly and welcoming - I hope.