Friday, June 21, 2013

A cuppa with... Stella


I have a confession to make... I'm somewhat addicted to the blog 'The golden adventures of a very dark horse'.  I can't put my finger on one particular aspect that draws me back again and again, but it does.  I love Stellas natural writing style, which oozes her personality and really makes me feel like we've just been hanging out.  She has a wonderful approach to parenting, and I love seeing photo's of their adventures, crafty creations, product reviews and parties.  Her parties are amazing! So amazing, I couldn't make a decision on which photo to include, so I've included most.  She's super talented at illustration (the drawing of Poppet & RaRa is testament to this) and she has put this talent to great use making a variety of adorable decorations.  Recently she's done a few tutorials on how to make super cute photos using picmonkey, check out her snow day photo tutorial here, including some free illustrated overlays to use. Such a clever lady, and such a pleasure to introduce you...

Tell us a bit about yourself...
I'm a northland girl, born and (mostly) bred.  In my previous life I studied Film and English literature, and then during my pregnancy with Eleanor completed a Grad Dip in teaching at Auckland uni.  Now, rather than making use of those degrees, I spend my days chasing babies and trying to keep the house tidy.  And to be honest, I think I am living the dream!  I am an aspiring children's writer and hope that one day soon I will find the time to finish my manuscript and send it off.  In the meantime, I blog and I create things and I watch my babies grow, way faster than I want them to!

What are your favourite activities to do with your kids?
We enjoy doing crafty projects, and lots of outdoors activities.  We do have a list of favourite things, such as listening to music, dancing, reading stories and working on puzzles, but at the moment what I most enjoy is teaching them to help me with the housework ;-) 

When did you move back to Northland and what are you loving most about living there?
We moved back to the Northland when Eleanor was two, and Garland was a few weeks off being born.  We adore living here, it feels like the best place in the world to raise our children, and nothing makes me happier than seeing how at ease they are in their natural environment.  Of course there are lots of city luxuries that we miss, but they are more than made up for by the beautiful landscape and the wealth of outdoorsy activities at our fingertips.

I just adore your children's parties (as will my readers), where do you find inspiration for them? 
Pinterest is a great place to start, but I do like to put my own twist on things, and I also find that birthday parties are the perfect time to indulge in my love for paper crafts.  It's kind of just me in my element really, though I do leave the food to the professionals, for the most part!
What is a typical day for you like? 
Usually I start with a coffee in bed (lucky, I know!), and then we either settle in for some housework, or head out to one of our morning activities (Mainly Music, Playcentre, play dates or grandparent visits).  In the afternoon we rest with storybooks, and patiently await that turn in the lock that tells us that Papa is home.  We sit down to dinner together before popping the kids in bed, and then I spend what is left of the evening getting work done.  We can be night owls, so we have to be pretty strict with ourselves about going to bed on time...

What is your ideal weekend like?
It definitely involves adventure of some kind!  There is nothing more fun than packing our car with essential items and heading out in search of adventure. 

What are your favourite New Zealand blogs?
I have so many these days!  That's a tough question and we could be here a very long time if I listed them all, but some recent discoveries that I really love are thebestnest.co.nz, www.duniaduara.com and www.hazellovesdesign.com

What do you most enjoy reading about?
I love reading blogs that make me feel like I'm spending time with the blogger themselves.  Day to day ramblings mixed with crafty inspiration, a dash of humour, and some good looking pictures.

Do you have a favourite pearl of wisdom you'd like to share with us?
I love this quote from Maya Angelou 'Do the best you can until you know better, then when you know better, do better.'  I would say that I try to live by that mantra!

Thanks so much Stella for joining me for 'a cuppa', it was great to chat!  Be sure to check out Stellas blog (did I mention she does AMAZING giveaways?), you'll love it.


Sarah x




5 comments:

  1. Yep, love her blog, and I love your one too, you both have such great style and I am not even sure you realise it! This series is so great, I look forward to them each week.

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  2. I really do feel like I'm sitting down for a cuppa with Stella when I read her blog - love her writing style, down to earth-ness and AMAZE-pants (to coin a Stella-ism) photos! What a lovely interview!

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  3. Great feature, I love her blog too.

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