My present from my father, brother, sister, and my sister’s family
I didn’t get any Steampunk-inspired presents for Christmas – I’m guessing my family thinks I have enough clothing, hats, and gadgets. I did get a lovely, lovely bag, some books, and some shinies. I’m a magpie and I like shiny things.
The seal and the butterfly, from my husband and youngest daughter. Shiny!
My most interesting book is a collection of Christmas stories. Most of them are sad or morose. And here I was thinking that the book would be uplifting and full of Christmas cheer.
This will be my last post for this year. See you all in 2023. Have a safe and joyous holiday period.
One of my first pictures of the new Zealand countryside outside of Auckland – so GREEN.
I live in South East Queensland and it can get very green here in the Spring, particularly after rain. However, I didn’t really know what green was until the visit to New Zealand. Aussie trees – particularly gums – have a grey tinge. It’s not unpleasant, but the greens are subdued when compared to other tree species. Our grass tends to be bleached by the sun into a grey-gold; again, not unpleasant. In winter, the frost turns the long grass grey-brown. But I tend to get excited when we’ve had proper rain and everything looks lushly green.
Since the New Zealand trip, to my eyes, our local landscapes just look drab and undramatic. My late mother came back from Ireland raving about a hundred shades of green. New Zealand give Ireland a run for its money.
Green to the tops of the hills!The green of ZealandiaEven the river water looks green.The green of the mountains
As I mentioned in my last post, I made a scrapbook for our New Zealand trip. My arts & crafts projects tend to lean more into making Steampunk accessories and jewellery, so this was a new experience for me. I didn’t want to throw away all the mementoes I had collected, and this seemed to be the perfect way to preserve them. It would be a way to relive the trip, I thought – and even putting it together gave me a great deal of satisfaction.
I had some problems getting an actual scrapbook. Spotlight had all the gear for scrapbooking except for the actual books! I thought about ordering online, but ended up popping into Target on the off chance they would have any. They did! Just ONE! But one was all I needed.
Double-sided tape is the scrapbooker’s friend. So are really sharp scissors. I had bought these in preparation. I decided the sensible thing would to be set out the scrapbook to follow our day to day adventures. And off I went.
We went to Zealandia and the Cable Car Museum on the same day.The Larnach Castle Page
Items too bulky for the scrapbook were put through the photocopier, such as the Larnach Castle Christmas ornament and my patches from Lumsden and the Steampunk Headquarters. I included several coins in New Zealand currency for a bit of bling; they were thin enough not to cause any issues. I also photocopied a few photos to add colour and backgrounds to some pages. As I haven’t taken any scrapbooking classes, I have no idea if I was doing anything the right way. I just arranged things to my liking.
The Steampunk Headquarters, Oamaru, page in the scrapbook.
It took me a week to complete the scrapbook, working about an hour a day after dinner. When it was finished, I gave it to my husband to flick through. his comment: ‘I wouldn’t have thought this would have turned out so well. I didn’t think we kept so many souvenirs. How did we get all of this home?’ ‘The magic of saving mainly flat items like brochures and maps,’ I replied.
My next goal is convert my handwritten diary into a computer file. That way, I can add in details that I may have skipped while travelling.
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