Mini pavlovas

As I've had friends staying, I've been trying to do a bit more in the kitchen. If I'm just cooking for myself I tend to do really easy things - throw something in the slow cooker, fruit for dessert etc. However, I pulled out the stops for a recent dessert treat - mini pavs decorated with strawberries and blueberries. So nice to see the summer berries starting to appear.

Bon appétit!

Hanna Andersson

I'd never heard of Hanna Andersson until someone mentioned the company on the Studio Calico forums and recommended their kids' clothing. I put in a small order for my niece. She's only one, but is on the 95th growth percentile so I ordered a 3-4 year size that she can grow into.

Very pleased with the quality of the garments so far. Obviously they're yet to be worn, but the reviews say they're hard wearing and wash well. Might be my new go-to store for girls' clothes.

This is the classic 'day dress/play dress' with leggings. I also bought a fully reversible skirt which I thought was a great idea.

Christmas packaging

Haven't had much time for crafting lately as work has been so busy. But I have been writing Christmas cards and making tags. Here are a few examples. I was really pleased with the gold embossing.

The cute reindeer pegs are left over from last year:

Being a tourist

Nothing quite like having to show overseas guests around your city to get you investigating and researching what there is to see!

Friends have been visiting from the UK. Unfortunately, they've had terrible weather for most of their stay but we took advantage of one slightly better day to head out to west Auckland to the Waitakeres and west coast beaches. Piha is always worth a visit for the amazing black sand and waves (if you happen to be into surfing!) Too dangerous for swimming in my opinion as there are lots of rips. But some hardy souls were in the water on the afternoon we were there:

The beach is patrolled between the flags: