Emma Makes

May 7, 2013

Emma Makes comes from a love of vintage textiles, handmade objects and creating a beautiful home.

Emma sources an ever-changing array of short fabric runs to design and sew my own range of accessories, homewares and toys. In cooler months she works a lot with vintage wool, using blankets with names like Princess and Roslyn to create new, contemporary products for vintage-inspired homes.

Handmade is important to Emma: her notebooks are stacked, folded, sewn and trimmed by hand. Emma’s notebooks have travelled the world, carried the hopes and dreams of mothers to be – and also useful for jotting down everyday things too.

www.emmamakes.com

Categories: shops

Open for submissions!

May 7, 2013

Thanks to the wonders of WordPress we are now able to accept your submissions. Please tell us about your lovely shop, place, person, blog, vineyard or café – just fill in the form, add your images and we’ll check it over and publish it. Hooray!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Categories: announcements

Doing what you love – nominate yourself or place of work

September 27, 2012

Hey, calling all café and shop peeps and hospitality and service artistes.
We want to hear about your amazing places of work – what do you do and love?

Do you spend your day helping people choose a great outfit? Do you while away the hours crafting cakes, arranging books… perhaps you’re a cobbler and there’s nothing you love more than re-soling a leather shoe before the rain gets in. What is it that drives you, that gives you passion to do it every day?

We’ve always known plenty of artists who work in cafés – let’s hear from you; and how about the master craftspeople, the coffee afficianados, the fanatical meisters who can smell coffee beans and know their origin.

It’s always so great visiting a shop and you can see the person helping you loves being there. I remember when Sherry ran Ruby and Sol in Williamson Ave it was her passion. She was having a great time running her vintage shop, all her friends coming in to visit, surrounded by amazing things, a nice front porch.

And how about the guys you see outside their shop at the top end of Ponsonby Road, sitting on their chairs with a bottle of red wine and their roll-ups. I’ve always wanted to go and hang with them. Or, the guys at the basement bar in St Kevin’s Arcade – man it was always brilliant going in there to get a glass of wine and watch a gig – it was their home.

Another fond memory is of Ashley Ardrey under the Regent Hotel in town (back in the days when I wore posh shoes, ha!) – the ladies in there were always so helpful. I was but a skint and glam 19 year old putting $600 pairs of shoes on lay-by. Heck I had no other bills to pay at the time. No wonder they were friendly!

So tell us about your experiences. What’s it like working in the service industry? Do you love it, or do you loathe it?
What are the highs, and the pitfalls? Any problems you’ve had, or any secret tips on workplace issues and employment solicitors we should know about? My first job was as a fish and chip lady in the BNZ tower. I was sacked because I didn’t sweep behind the door one day. I don’t think that was the real reason but I imagine that kind of thing happens all the time in the workplace, and not just young kids in their first jobs.

Email us at hello@lovelynz.co.nz – we are looking forward to hearing your great stories!

Categories: people, shops

Tagged: artists

Little Bird Organics

September 25, 2012

Photos by Moirabot on Flickr

It’s exciting watching from afar (yes, we are still in London) that raw food is thriving in NZ. With our great interest in Raw Foods really taking off in London we were very happy when some friends told us about Little Bird in Kingsland – knowing we will have a raw haven in Auckland next time we visit.

Our friends are saying they do an amazing Pad Thai, with young coconut meat noodles and plenty of coriander. Young coconut meat is expensive in London – oh you lucky Aucklanders with such great access to an abundant supply.

Little Bird also does a lovely range of snacky foods that you can buy online or at various stockists, including their own shop of course. They do macaroons, in amazing blissy yum flavours like strawberry white cacao, passionfruit or cacao and raspberry. Oh, heavenly.

Their Unbakery is full of delicious creations, ranging from an $85 hand-crafted cheese cake that looks like it’s been ported straight in from paradise. If that wasn’t enough, you can buy black sesame truffles, cardamom cookies, fig and walnut clusters and divine savoury flatbread.

I just wish we could come back to Auckland sooner – Little Bird looks like the best raw cafe we’ve seen and that includes a trip to Paris last weekend where there were some seriously cool contenders.

LittleBirdOrganics.co.nz

Categories: food

The Culinary Explorations of Mrs Cake

January 22, 2011

The Culinary Explorations of Mrs Cake

How did you find out about blogland and what motivated you to join in?
I’ve been blogging since 2003 – I started my first blog while overseas to keep friends and family up-to-date on my movements. A couple of years ago I was making lots of cakes and started a blog to record those – and now my cooking and baking is less cake-oriented (though there’s still plenty of that kind of thing!) and I’ve just moved to a new city I thought it would be fun to document both my own cooking/baking and the yummy things I discover as I explore my new city.

Categories: food

Holiday Time

November 24, 2010

photo © dMap Travel Guide

Whenever we travel to and from New Zealand we always make sure we stop over on doctor’s orders. Since we’ve had children our doctor has, frankly, insisted we absolutely must have two nights in between wherever we are going from, to where we are going to.

Unless of course where we are going to is quite close. Then we must stay a minimum of seven nights. And good advice that is too.

Categories: featured posts, places, travel

My Villa Life

November 24, 2010

One of our favourite New Zealand blogs, My Villa Life is Ann’s blog about her new life in Auckland. Ann, a serial mover, hails from London, or is it Australia? And has a thing about villas. As Ann lives in what looks like Herne Bay, that’s a good thing, as it’s home of the Auckland villa.

Her most recent post about green plants and the odd white flower indeed does point one in the direction of Herne Bay. Her writing style is engaging and humorous with a certain sense of English irony. Ann’s photos are simply beautiful and indeed I rejoice in her love of white and her love of villas.

As we, Lovely NZ, sit and write in the cold English winter – it’s a joy indeed to be taken on a tour of Auckland, the familiar faces of English wit and beautiful photography included.

myvillalife.blogspot.com

Categories: blogs, interiors, people

The Kitchen Maid

November 24, 2010

A food writer for Frankie Magazine, Lucy has, at a glance, provided the baking tip I have been searching for, for years. That you can substitute banana for egg.

A piece of advice worth its weight in gold. Watch out spelt chocolate cake, we’re going to make you spelt, banana, chocolate cake.

Lucy has a lovely mix of music, food and musings on her blog.
Definitely a young foodie to watch.

kitchen-maid.blogspot.com/

Categories: blogs, food

Louise Douglas Jewellery

November 24, 2010

Starting her first jewellery company at age 18, Louise sold work to design stores in New Zealand before going on to design collections for jewellery houses and runway shows in New York. Her work has also been sold in high-end department stores in Japan, the States and New Zealand.

Now settled back home in Nelson, Louise creates a new and beautiful collection under her own label, Louise Douglas Jewellery.

www.louisedouglas.com

Tagged: artists, jewellery

Lovely Aussies

October 18, 2010

Being in the UK at the moment it’s certainly easy to overlook the Antipodean wines that are so readily available back home in New Zealand. We are truly blessed here with lovely European wines – my favourites being Beaujolais from M&S and the lovely organic whites and rosés available from Riverford.

Categories: featured posts, wine

Tagged: wine