Read of the Week

I have been reading 'The Urban Homestead' by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen. It is an inspiring book for anyone that has dreams of living the good life within the urban setting. 

We have a reasonable sized garden and I have lots of plans to build a large vegetable garden as well as get a few chickens. After seeing the photo's of Cat's garden, I am feeling more motivated than ever to get onto it. 

This book is great as it lays out all the basics of setting up and caring for a garden as well as many other useful topics such as composting, chicken care and preserving. 

A great read for anyone, who like me, has ambitions to be at least partly self sufficient.

My Read Of The Week

The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule

A copy of this lovely book has been calling my house home for the last couple of years. I find myself returning to it over and over again for inspiration and motivation. Many know it's author Amanda aka Soulemama for her beautiful blog.

This was the first book I read when I was looking at an alternative to the mainstream way of raising children. It is about living with less but having a whole lot more. Finding toys in nature, creating and sharing with your children and finding joy in the home.

This week, I find myself again returning to this book for ideas for activities I can do with a little girl who is quickly transforming from a toddler into a pre-schooler, and as she does, so to does her abilities. I never tire of this lovely book, I seem to get something new out of it every time I return to it's well thumbed pages.

Lovely Books and Lovely Blogs

Recently, I was lucky enough to win this beautiful book 'Stitches' from Salty Oats blog. It is a stunning book full of hundreds of embroidery templates, projects and how to's. It is one inspiring little book that I know I am going to be using for many years to come. If you haven't checked out Salty Oat before, you really should, she has a lovely blog and is an amazingly talented gal.

Quite some time back, I also won there 3 lovely books from Quilt Dad's blog (Yep a Dad who quilts, how cool is that?!). Sorry, it has taken me a while to show them to you, the first is on making pillows and the other  2 are on making quilts- perfect for a novice quilt-maker like me. Now I just need to find the time to actually start making one!

Off to buy a duvet cover today and maybe, just maybe, some fabric, if I can slip that one past my husband!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend in your little corner of the world.

World sweet world

I won a copy of this lovely little mag over a bobbyrobin's blog. It is a lovely little crafty read full of inspiring articles and ideas. Sadly, this is the last issue. if you can get your hands on a copy it is well worth the read. If not, check out their blog for a bit of crafty inspiration. 

Extra Curricular

It was with a touch of excitement, I opened the envelope which contained a copy of the magazine extra curricular earlier this week. I had heard about this mag from several sources in recent weeks and have to say, it lived up to expectation. This is a great little publication for anyone who has an interest in the New Zealand arts and craft scene. Of particular interest to me was an article titled 'craft living'. A great read about fellow crafters making a living from their crafty endeavors. It included fellow bloggers BamBam Creative &   Skipapple . If you are able to get your hands on a copy of this fabulous little publication, it is worth every cent.