New Years Eve 2009

Tomorrow will be the start of a brand new year. A year when I will turn 40. A year when both my boys will be teenagers and attend high school. A year that I predict will be my busiest yet!
I have just spent the last few days revamping my shop 'Lisa & Lily'. It now boasts turquoise and green feature walls. The whole shop glows a mysterious greeny colour.
Happy New Year! Lisa

Christmas Crosses and Angels

Christmas is just around the corner so I have filled the shop with lovely crosses and lots of angels. My garden is over flowing with roses at the moment so I have a fresh vase everyday. I have also recently made some rings to co-ordinate with my necklaces.

New Colour Scheme

I just realised I had not posted a photo of my new colour scheme in the shop. Dark brown certainly makes all my bright colours really pop out.

Red!

This is the end of another order. Reds and creams were the theme.

Letters Galore

Here I am in my studio today showing you some letters. These letters are 2 of 84 letters which I have been making for the last three weeks. Thank goodness its all finished. They will be going to Port-O-Call Cafe in Napier this week. Everybody who came into my shop thought they looked absolutely lovely because there were so many of them to choose from.

Hot Coloured Butterflies

Sorry I've taken so long to blog. I just don't know where time goes.
This set of three butterflies were part of a customer order. They turned out particularly lovely and now adorn a office wall for a gorgeous girl called Rachel.

Ruby Star Trader Treat

This is one of my favourite buys whilst in Sydney. Its from Ruby Star Traders in Glebe. I love the turquoise colour and the fabric is velvet for added luxury. I painted the interior of my shop dark brown! I'll post pictures shortly.

Great Holiday

Here is the only photo I have of me in Sydney last week. I had an absolute ball. I even experienced a dust storm which most Sydneysiders had never seen. Fortunately the dust was all gone by lunch time. I walked everywhere and my poor feet really suffered. Visited some amazing shops and especially loved Oxford Street.
Got lots of decorating ideas and tomorrow I plan to repaint my shop. I want a different look.

New Brooches

Today I made some new heart brooches. I am using new paint which will hopefully be more durable. They are made from scraps of metal sheeting rescued from a local factory.

Flutterbys.

Today I created some lovely butterflies to send to 'Toi Toi' in Christchurch.

Spring Fever

Today I had the priveledge of going out to 'Middlerun Farm' for bubbles, nibbles and daffodils!
They just look lovely on my counter top.

All Heart

I thought I would add this photo too. Its one of my standing frocks made from old corrugated iron. I just thought the colour was lovely.

www.harmanandharman.net.nz

Yes I know its sideways! But I'm rather tired. I worked on this letter until 1am last night so that I could get it finished for a little girls birthday tomorrow. It matches a fabric that her Mum sent me to copy.

Better Scale

Heres a better photo showing Brett putting the chandelier up. This is the first layer.

Gorgeous Chandelier

I've finally managed to get a photo of this beautiful
chandelier that my husband Brett made. He was commissioned to design and make it for a new shop in Greytown. This photo does not really show the scale very well but it is rather large and incredibly heavy. The glass dangles are the insulators off power lines. Isn't Brett clever!

Dummy

Today a dummy arrived at our house! Pefect for displaying my longer necklaces. However it needs a bit of work............a heavier base, a new covering fabric and a change of colour. Watch this space!

Spring greens

In the last week or so the weather has taken a turn for the better. Spring has sprung! Everything in our garden has started to bud. This is a photo of some magnolia leaves. Just look how many greens there are in the one photo.

Red

Look what happens when you group objects in the same colour tones.

Frocks on Hangers

These frocks on hangers were part of a large order that went to a shop in Queenstown. Its really great being able to use lots of colour and pattern in whatever way I fancy.

Art form of Nature

I was looking through some holiday snaps the other day (to remind myself of Summer!) and came across this one of a shark egg. Apparently the shark winds the casing into the sand with the eggs hidden in the folds. This was found on Arrawarra beach just north of Coffs Harbour in Australia. My son Mitchell spotted it amongst the flotsam and jetsam on the beach. I think its a beautiful little art form of nature.

Frock Combo

Heres another lovely frock.This time I've combined it with a tin butterfly and a pastel letter. Pink and turquoise are really fresh together.

Tin Frock on Hanger

Isn't this little frock just lovely!

It looks so old fashioned.

Embellish!

I made these tiny tin hearts today. They could be used to decorate parcels but I made them to embellish some wooden textured hearts and crosses. I really like the little flash of colour against the neutral background.

Hot Colours

This is what I made today for a customer. I just love the hot colour combination.

Painted Sideboard

Here is the final result! I'm really pleased, it was just the perfect shade of green.

Colour from nature

This morning on my way to the workshop I couldn't help but notice that the outer leaves of this red cabbage are the exact colour that I was looking for to paint an old cubboard I had acquired.

Interior Beads

A free standing cross provides a wonderful way to display my 'interior beads'. I hand make the beads from clay and get them fired by a friend with a kiln. For more photos of my beads go to my website www.harmanandharman.net.nz

Lisa and Lily

A gorgeous photo of my shop 'Lisa and Lily'.

On the cushion is my siamese cat 'Lily'. She is expecting kittens in two weeks so I will need a bigger cushion to accomodate her new family!

I intend to show you all the lovely things I make, things that inspire me, and hopefully things that will inspire you too.