More snippets

Portable Art
When I travel, or even just visit small towns, I like to take my watercolour pencils and fine tip waterproof ink black pen.

It feels like I have really etched every detail of something into my brain when I have really looked hard enough to make an artwork. They usually go straight into my journal, but this time I took a sketch pad, the current journal has become too heavy to travel. i don't worry whether or not they are good - that is not the point.

A little vignette from our friends' beautiful kitchen

To use watercolour pencils, you can either pencil sketch and colour in, then add pen detail later - or add pen first if you want - there are no rules. The bottle top is for holding water, because after colouring you then wet it with a wet paintbrush and it all turns to a watercolour. Find a book for more technique, but it is so instant and portable.

From a previous trip to Rarotonga

Lush
Any products I mention in my blog are just ones that I personally like, and are my own opinion - not paid, sooo...
In Australia I happened upon the most beautiful smelling shop "Lush". They sell handmade soaps, toothtabs, cosmetics etc.

They are against animal testing and have their environmental statement on their website. They try to reduce their environmental impact by reducing packaging. I bought some of their toothy tabs, which come in a little box, plus some bar conditioner, which I hadn't seen anywhere else. It works fine and means another plastic bottle I can do away with. They told me there is a shop in Auckland, and I can shop online! Yay!

Our Green Roadie
On Thursday night we attended a viewing of "Our Green Roadie," a film made by Emma Heke and her young son Connor as they took a road trip around New Zealand, interviewing people with green businesses and lifestyles. It was really inspiring, and there was a full house at The Old Butter Factory. You can find them on Facebook here. If you can, get along or give support, as she's hoping to make a tv series, and that would be great.