Made By Me May - Day 24

 

Just a quick one today.

My favourite colour is Green, you may have noticed that already as nearly every room in my house has been painted green including the lovely green you can see in the photo below, that is on one of my workroom walls. I think it runs in the family my Gran's favourite colour was green as well.

I used this frame to display one of my favourite items out of my Gran's sewing box.

Close Up

It still has some of the original needles in it as well.


Jen

Made by Me May - Day 23

You may have noticed in the hallway earthquake pics all the books, well that photo was taken 15 months ago, here is the Hallway now.

That's right I'm a reader.  I'll read almost anything and find it impossible to walk pass a book display without having a look.  I once read 31 books in one month, it must of been a really slow month, I generally get through about 4-10 a month.  All the books here are secondhand and mainly unread and these aren't all of them.

More books

Books I haven't even unpacked yet

 
I generally only keep a book until I have read it, then it makes it's way onto it's new owner either via the charity shop or bookcrossing, I've even given books to random people I've seen reading on the bus.  I try to always have a book on me, you never know when you'll get a few minutes or a hour if you're waiting for a doctors appointment. 

One of my favourite authors is Catherine Cookson, and I still have a few of hers that I have read before, one of the only authors I have kept, others being Jodi Picoult, John Grisham and Robert Goddard.  I made a special bookcase to display my Cookson collection, a set of 5 kitchen drawers I got for $1 on Trademe.  The woman selling them wasn't sure that anyone would want them and was fascinated when I told her what I had planned, I send her an email with photos when it was first done.

That photo was lost, and this one is from after the quakes.  The top draw fell off and the bottom is a bit off kilter.

Close Up - Bottom Two Draws

Close Up - Top Two Draws

I lined the draws with pages from an old book that was falling apart (I couldn't of sacrificed it otherwise, plus I read it first) but other than that the draws didn't need much added to them.  I couldn't let the 5th draw go to waste, so now its a cat bed for next to where I sit at the computer, although they don't seem to appreciate the effort.

Jen

Made By Me May - Day 22

 

My mother picked me up from the Airport and she drove me home.  It was midnight Fri 25th Feb and I had no idea what I was coming home to.  The power was still out and once I had coaxed Mr Wobbly out from under the house all I could do was go to bed.  The next morning I was shocked to see how little our home had been affected, we live on the edge of the city central, the footage of which I had been watching for days.

Fallen items in the kitchen

Buttons everywhere in my workroom

More Buttons

Hallway

Close Up of  DVD's

Top of Hallway (more buttons)

After only 1 hour of tidying up, the house looked like nothing had happened. Non essential travel was not recommended, I was now stuck in our home.  Looking in our kitchen cupboards I found all our wine glasses had fallen over but remained intact, for the first time in my life I was furious, I wanted to smash everything, it all seemed so unfair, instead I sat down and cried and cried.
Luckily our power was restored that evening, I don't know how I would have managed on my own in the dark.  The Mr came home a few days after me and we set about seeing how we could help.  But didn't know what we could do, and that's when I went onto TradeMe and ended up with these guys

Here are five of the six kittens we took in, in early March.  Then while our heatpump was being installed, the kittens were overheard and the installer mentioned the earthquake had left him with a new cat who had given birth under his house.  The shelters were all full and he didn't know what to do with them.   Now guess what I said?

That's right meet the new four. Luckily the others had found homes by the time these guys showed up. Except for Jack that is.

We consider ourselves to be very lucky, everyone we love is safe, our home is ok and where we live life is reatively uninterrupted.  I'm proud of the way we came together, everyone reaching out to the neighbours they had probably never met.  I love Christchurch even more now than ever and I have no plans of leaving.  I'm in this relationship for the long haul.

In the top earthquake photo you can see that we had a huge lack of storage in the kitchen, we used this bookcase until I could get my new shelves built.  I bartered for these shelves with a builder friend by babysitting his son's.

As you can see, I painted this wall a deep green, I so love this colour.  He built the shelves from odd pieces he had stored in his garage.  The original idea was to paint them white, but I liked the rustic feel of them.

I filled the shelves with all the eclectic pieces I had collected.  The scales my Gran used to bake with (far right), the mismatched glasses, decorative plates as well as practical items.  The basket on the bottom shelf holds our cutlery, we don't have any draws, that's weird right?

Jen

Made by Me May - Day 21

I think the whole city was in shock after the September quake but we picked ourselves up and dusted ourselves off and moved on in the best way we could.
In December we moved into the house we are in now and out of my Mum's.  For us it was a pretty uneventful few months then in early Feb my Gandfather passed away as well as a close friend.  We were in Hamilton for our friends funeral when the February 22nd came around.  I was on the plane on my way home, the Mr was staying on in Hamilton to visit with his brother, and 10 minutes from landing we were told that the plane was turning around and going back to Auckland, Christchurch had had another Earthquake and the airport was shut.  That's all I knew until we landed.  So armed with my meal voucher and no where to go, I sat outside the airport and rang everyone I could think of.  My Mum was ok, My Dad was ok (he was still in ChCh after my grandad's funeral) my friends were ok, but I couldn't reach my brother.  All around me people were talking "the Cathedal has collapsed" "there are dead people in the streets" "no flights for the rest of the day" I wished I had been there, I could do nothing to help from here, I was trapped in Auckland.  I went inside the airport to the bar and joined the crowds around the TV as they showed the latest footage.  I've never seen a bar so quiet before, apart from crying.  I had tears streamimg down my face when my phone rang, it was my brother, he was safe and well and he had sent his wife and kids to her family in Oamaru.  I've never felt so relieved.
I spent the next three days, until I could get another flight, in Hamilton glued to the TV and feeling more useless than I have in my entire life.  There were people without homes staying in tents just down the road from where we live, an empty 3 bedroom house going to waste.  I finally got home midnight friday, I'll share more tomorrow.

You can read more about the February Quake here or watch this youtube video.  At approx 4.00 you can see what used to be the Iconic Bar (Our Favourite Bar) the woman screaming for her brother was inside the Iconic with her brother.  They had to drag her out as she didn't want to leave him.  He didn't survive. This video only covers one block of the inner city


It feels kinda inappropriate to add a refashion to this post, but as that is what Made by Me May is about I'll just add these pics

Cute shoes that I added some fabric flowers to.

 

Shoes - Close Up on Flowers

Jen

Made by Me May - Day 20

I got some exciting mail today.  When I first started this blog I also made my first comment on one of my favourite blogs.  That comment won me an amazing pendant from Agy at Green Issues.

I chose the one on the left.  And it arrived today,  I love it, thank you so much Agy.  If you want to check out her tutorial you can find it here.

Inside the parcel also came a lovely note

I have mentioned before the Earthquakes that have destroyed parts of the city I love.  But I haven't gone into how they have affected me.  Today we had a strong reminder that the earth still has the upperhand, a 5.3 10km deep quake.  Here in Christchurch we are up on the lingo but basically it was a really good shake, enough to get you running for the doorframe in ordinary circumstances but here, we just pause in mid conversation for a few seconds and when it doesn't develop into anything carry on as if it never happened.  It hardly even warrants a mention on facebook.

Before Sept 2010, the last quake I remember feeling was in 1992, in the middle of a high school art history class. Comparatively small now, it was terrifying at the time. So, 4.35am Sept 4th was a huge shock, I was at a friends and after a long night we were about to head to bed.  I sat shocked on her couch while she ran for the doorway screaming.  I can remember clearly the sight of her being flung across the room. We spent the next few hours under her dining table, ringing and texting everyone we knew.  The power was out and we had no water and no way of knowing what was happening in the rest of Christchurch except rumours.  Rumours of people fighting over water, bridges collapsing, buildings falling down. Never before would I have believed them to be true, now I know better.

 Her family soon came over as they had a new baby and no way of heating their house and she had a fire.  I got a ride back to my place, at the time we were staying with my Mum, and was shocked to see our chimney, guttering and fence in the neighbours driveway.  The Mr had not mentioned this on the phone.  Luckily our power had been restored, and I spent the next two days on the computer and watching TV shocked at what I was seeing.  I couldn't sleep for days and even then I had to have the light on for weeks.  We were so lucky, noone was killed and few hurt.  There was a lot of talk about what it would have been like if it happened in the middle of the day, and we felt relieved, everyone had a story and we heard them all, it was the main topic of conversation for months.  I think we were in shock and we all turned to each other, I know I have never valued my friends and family as much as I do since that day.  7.1 on the richter scale they told us and it was just the beginning.  Part 2 Tomorrow.

For more information look  here

Here are some more of my button jewellery items.

Brooches

Multi Coloured Button Necklace

Necklace made from Shell Buttons

Jen

Made by Me May - Day 19

I have always wanted to go on a cruise.  I've never thought too much about doing the big OE, travel just isn't that important to me, but a cruise.  Ever since I was young and watched The Love Boat religiously I have wanted to wave goodbye from the ledo deck and sit at the Captains table for dinner.  It's the romance that gets me I think.  You can imagine how jealous I am of my MIL at the moment, she is on the high seas visiting beautiful places and drinking colourful cocktails.  I received an email from her today and although she hasn't said too much or sent any photos I'm sure she is having a wonderful time.  I think she would be a lovely romantic interest  for Captain Stubbing......

 

I'm not a huge fan of shirts.  I find them uncomfortable and unflattering.  I loved the colour on this shirt but not the collar, so off it came.  I sewed some crochet lace onto the new neckline and added a crochet spiral, much better.

Made by Me May - Day 18

We turned the heatpump on for the first time today, Man it's getting cold!  For me to say that you know it's true.  The Mr and I are so different when it comes to temperature tolerance, he can be sitting with 2 jerseys and a jacket on complaining about the cold and I'm sitting next to him in a t-shirt feeling comfortable.  So, when to turn on the heatpump is always an issue.  We were lucky enough to have a heatpump installed by EQC (Earthquake Commission) for free just before last winter and I have to say I don't know how we would have managed without.
It's been long enough that I can show you more pictures of our fur babies right, don't want you to get sick of the sight of them. I took a photo of each of them today and have to say they encompass who they are quite nicely.

Here's Jack.  Sleeping in Mr's suitcase, which I refuse to unpack and has been sitting in our lounge until it's empty.  Jack loves to climb into things to sleep, we have found him in some weird places.

Mr Wobbly, looking regal and giving me his usual, "What do you want?" expression.

And lastly Kitty, who as soon as she saw the camera wanted to know what it was and wouldn't sit still. I usually have to sneak up on her for a decent photo.


About a year ago I found an old mirror frame for free, I had a vision and grabbed it.  I filled the space where the mirror used to be with some old wallpaper I had grabbed from my Granparents house, it had been left over from decorating their bedroom and stored in the top of their wardrobe for I don't know how long (that wallpaper was up when I was born).  The frame still had the metal tabs on the sides that held the mirror and I used them to criss cross some string over the front.  I used pegs to hang some black and white photos plus other bits and pieces to decorate.

This is one of my most favourite free items ever.

Jen