So many pretties…

A few of the Christchurch Bloggers were meeting up at the Craft Love Fair at Mairehau High last night, so I went along.  I didn’t intend to buy anything, but there was a lot of temptation on offer (and all right, I may have bought a few small things…).  I was a bit braver about taking photos this time of displays that caught my eye (I always feel a bit nervous taking photos at craft markets, in case the stallholders think I’m trying to steal their ideas):




I already have a piece of art by this artist hanging in my hallway, and I was very tempted to add another to the collection – she does such wonderfully bright and joyful paintings. I stopped for a chat to her, and she was showing me the paintings of cats she’s been doing for an SPCA calendar – really amazing.

These wooden blocks are made from wood salvaged from demolished red zone houses. I ended up buying one for our new office at work (Did I mention we’re getting a new office, in the nicely refurbished building next door? We’re moving in next week, and it’s very exciting – no more cracks in the walls!) – seems like an appropriate decoration to have on my desk.

This was another stall using red zone timber, this time to make jewellery and ornaments. There was a gorgeous charm bracelet I was very tempted by, but I didn’t have enough cash on me (though I did make a note of her website…), so I bought a couple of little Christmas decorations instead.



After browsing the stalls for a while I caught up with three of the Christchurch Bloggers (TartanKiwi, Miriam and Squiltz, who I hadn’t met before), and we retired to the food carts to compare purchases over coffee and brownies. It was a lovely mild night after a week of rain, so it was very pleasant sitting outside chatting as the sun set.

In other news, I’m getting a promotion!  I met with my boss yesterday and he confirmed it’s all been signed off by HR, so I should get the formal offer early next week.  Not all of the day-to-day details of what I’ll be doing are worked out yet (because some of it depends on what other people are doing), but it’s looking like quite a bit more responsibility (which I’m both excited and terrified about!), and it comes with a pay rise.  Not a huge increase, but it’s enough to make me a little more confident that I can keep paying the mortgage, at least.
So, lots of excitement coming up at work next week, with new office and new responsibilities.  And most importantly, I’m finally feeling that I’m being properly recognised for the work I’ve been doing.

Nephew #1 made me a new skin for my Minecraft character.  He asked what I wanted it to look like (most players have skins based on their favourite cartoon characters or super-heroes), so I said I wanted a kitten in a tutu like my avatar.
That turned out to be a bit tricky within the limitations of the pixel size, but I think he made a pretty good attempt:

Ok, so maybe she looks more like a farmer in ripped shorts than a ballerina, but I like her 🙂