A few months ago, I started making small bags and other items to show what can be done with a single fat quarter. In the process, I developed this simple little design - it fastens in the middle into an adorable little bow, and opens out into a trinket bag.

I developed the design into a larger bow purse, and arranged it so that the smaller bags can even clip onto the larger ones.

The bags can also clip onto a wrist band, which is cute. I'm experimenting with other ideas for using the bags as cute, practical ornaments.

​I've always been a big fan of tentacular creatures - so much so that we used them as inspiration for our wedding table centrepiece.

Many of my designs are inspired by our beautiful home up here in the Western Hills, in our own micro-climate, away from the rest of the Hutt Valley. The idea for the 'meadow' theme came from all the lovely flora and fauna with which we are surrounded. I also keep being asked to incorporate more reds into my designs, so that drove the inclusion of the amanitae muscariae and the ladybirds. I wandered around the property for some more inspiration, and it came together really nicely.

Back in September 2013, I decided to make a soft-toy shark. I was enjoying my life in my tiny, colourful flat, spending most evenings crafting and watching wonderfully terrible movies (most of which involved sharks), and I had a delicious new nephew for whom to make something cool.

The Underwater Unexpected collection was the third winner of my 'inspiration' competition, just over a year ago. This has been one of my most successful designs EVER, so I thought its anniversary was a good opportunity to talk a little about its origins. 

Some time ago, a friend-of-a-friend was selling her beautiful creations to raise funds to pay vet bills for her bunny. We ended up becoming friends, and I have greatly enjoyed her posts about her bunnies, succulents... and axolotls! So when Beka suggested that I draw axolotls as a fabric design, I knew it was a winner. They're weird, they're recognisable, and they're fun to draw.

Plaids and stripes have always been an important part of my personal design aesthetic, especially when I mix patterns in the same outfit.

I was scrolling through Facebook last year, as you do, when an amazing photograph of an amazing rock crammed full of fossilised ammonites appeared in my news feed. I just *knew* that I had to draw it! I Googled for inspiration photos, and soon, I had enough to get me started.

A year ago, my nephew was turning three, and I was designing an artwork for his wall. People had been asking me for a Kiwiana range recently, and wee Mr. almost-3 was a big fan of robots at the time, so that's what I made. The number of characters was driven by the letters in his name - and the stripe in the background, as with many of my stripes, is actually derived from a word, written in barcode font. In this case, it's my nephew's name.

When you walk around a busy craft market, you don't often get the chance to take everything in. There are so many amazing things to see that it can be a sort of sensory overload. This feeling is why I always recommend that people take one walk all the way around first, then come back for a second, more detailed look. If you only go around once, there's so much you can miss!

We're going to break up our visit into manageable chunks. This post will cover the entranceway and the lobby.

Autumn has always been my favourite season. Growing up in Europe, it was clearly delineated by the falling leaves at the end of summer, and the onset of a real, often snowy, winter. This seasonal change was the thing I missed the most about Europe when we moved to NZ - that is, until we moved to our place in the Western Hills. Here, we have deciduous trees, mushrooms and toadstools, and even an apple tree to harvest.