#theteacupseries winner or should that be .... winners?

Those who joined in with the #theteacupseries challenge on Instagram this month will know how tough the winning choices will have been for judge, Gill Weavers @mudbird_ceramics, who co-hosted the competition with me.

(Thanks Gill, it can't have been an easy decision to come to!) 

Gill is, of course, more than qualified to judge photographic competitions having been a photographer herself for some years.

So after browsing and browsing and um-ing and ah-ing,  Gill decided that the entries were so good that she chose to give not one, but two prizes.

So, first prize goes to  ..... drum roll please ....

The main prize of a ceramic star with liquefaction soil from the Christchurch earthquakes and the whimsical ceramic tea bag tag, goes to @janegraystone. Gill says of Jane's entry:

"This image captured my heart, the beautiful inviting blue layered wash of colours in the teacup 

and the clever teacup painting mimicked on the saucer in amongst the rustic dried 

and fresh flowers, is just gorgeous. I would just love to see what else was 

painted with those divine colours"

And the second 'surprise' prize of a teabag tag, goes to @fourcornersdesign- Amy Duncan.

Gill says of Amy's entry:

"This image grabbed my attention right at the very beginning, it has such a depth and story behind it, almost like a painting. I thought the subtle colours were just beautiful and the ticket in the cup perfect. This needs to be framed."

There were many more beautiful entries, but these special mentions go to:

 

  @the_warehouse_at_woodside

"I love the juxtaposition of this image from the darkened old wood to the delicate jasmine flowers and teacup set, drawing your eye around the image. All arranged with the fresh green leaves and botanical book. Just lovely.

@theblackhen

"I thought the teacup and saucer, Julie chose for this image is perfect. The book, lighting and even the remnants of the tea look perfect...well done, I love it.

@keepingwiththetimes

"The image is so different to the others, white on white isn't always so easy to master. I thought it was so well planned and composed with a bright but subtle colour palettes that was spot-on with gorgeous details like the spoons and bird button. Barb had a few delightful entries."

@barbaracarrollaz

 

"The pop of beautiful aqua blue drew my eye to this image right away. Beautiful layers of colour, gorgeous China against the antique silver pot. The details are lovely as is the lighting"

Well done to you all and hope you had fun participating. Look forward to seeing all your entries next month!

- Claudia x

Courageous collab partner for April's challenge

Meet my April collab, Gill Weavers, a super-courageous women. Gill is a wife and mother and talented ceramist who started Mudbird Ceramics in 2008. Gill and her family have lived through the most terrifying earthquakes in Christchurch over the last four years.

In some parts of Christchurch and where Gill Lives, the intensity of the earthquakes shook the ground so violently that liquefaction occurred. What that means is that soil particles below the surface were so tightly squeezed that it made the soil take on water-like properties. This concoction then bubbled up from below ground, turning houses into islands, ruining gardens, properties and lives.

Huge back-breaking clean ups ensued. But no sooner had they been completed and there would be another earthquake and another liquefaction event. This occurred again and again.  Through all this adversity, Gill stood resilient and turned a disruptive disaster into a creative opportunity. She played with the silt and marbled it into the clay of her products naming the product line, Emerge - the Liquefaction Silt Range.

On top of all of all this upheaval in her life, with a family to look after and continuous earthquakes to endure, Gill continued to be creative and generous too. Last year she took part in Samantha Dunne's Creative Exchange project. I was lucky that Gill was allocated my name. And so I received the most beautiful gift box of items -  each and every item carefully selected and creatively presented. What a talent!

What's more is that I got to meet her when she visited Auckland soon after - we clicked immediately and chatted away. It was amazing to catch up with her and hear her life story and find out about her creative journey.

So thank you Gill for collaborating with me to judge this month's @adiandbert challenge and to provide such lovely prizes for the winner. 

To view Gill's products visit her Felt shop (like an NZ Etsy shop)  at   http://felt.co.nz/shop/mudbird - Gill also generously donates 30% of her profits to Christchurch charities.

Find Gill's blog at http://mudbirdceramics.blogspot.co.nz/ , her Instagram account at

https://instagram.com/mudbird_ceramics/ and her Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/MudbirdCeramics  

 
The prizes that Gill is offering are below - a  tea bag tag (but not the jar!) and a star ornament from her Emerge range. 

To be in to win: You need an open account on Instagram

1. Follow @mudbird_ceramics and @adiandbert
2. Tag a friend and invite to join the challenge
3. Post a NEW picture with a teacup theme and tag to #theteacupseries

Competition closes midnight, Sunday 19 April 2015.

 

It's time to put on the tea -  see you on Instagram !

- Claudia x

 

Winner of the March Instagram competition

The @the_gooses_bridle is the winner of this month's Instagram competition for #the_diamond_series as chosen by the talented and industrious Australian potter, Ana Maria Hernandez Jensen @anamhj77

Nita wins the lovely ceramic spoon donated by Ana Maria. Well done Nita- thank you for entering and your interesting capture of the theme. 

Thank you too for these lovely entries by @carolynbarkerjewellery @kingsway_design @twoinateacup and @lingyeungb
Visit their IG accounts for more inspiration!

 

March Instagram Competition - Collab with Australian potter, Ana Maria Jensen

Ana, based in the western district of Victoria, Australia, is offering one of her beautiful ceramic spoons as a prize for the March Instagram @adiandbert competition. Ana sells her wares at the Ballarat 'The Design Exchange' market, at regional and private art galleries and at several shops around Victoria. So if you live nearby, look out for her work and stall.  

Ana says about her products, "I make a range of domestic wares, in different colours, for everyday use. I do also make sculpture pieces and a small collection of spoons!. I love working with clay, is a great material!"

 

Recently Ana introduced a new black glaze to her range, which adds a sophisticated look to her pots as you can see demonstrated by this beautiful salad bowl.

 

 

This month's challenge for the competition is DIAMONDS! The idea was suggested by the delightful Carolyn Barker a jeweller who I featured in last month's #the_heart_series competition and who provided the gorgeous silver gingko brooch prize.

 

The new tag is #the_diamond_series

 

 

 

Hope you will join in the fun and enter to win the beautiful ceramic spoon like the one featured above. 

 

To enter, you need to be on an open account on Instagram

1. Follow @anamhj77 & @adiandbert
2. Tag a friend & invite to join
3. Post a NEW pic featuring a diamond theme to #the_diamond_series

Competition closes midnight, Saturday,28 March 2015, and the winner will be judged by the talented Ana.  

 

We are excitedly awaiting your creative interpretations!

Simple sushi

My teenage daughter loves sushi and so we decided to try making it ourselves. She is 13 and was able to do most of it with a little help preparing ingredients, like cooking the rice.

This recipe makes approximately 24 slices.

100 g cooked chicken breast
Half a red capsicum
1/3 cucumber
4 nori sheets
1cup sushi rice
2 Tbsp sushi vinegar
100 ml soy sauce
1 Tbsp sliced ginger
1 Tbsp of wasabi paste
Sushi rolling mat
Cling film

Slice the cooked chicken breast into strips.
Slice capsicum and cucumber into 5cm strips.
Cook rice. Once cooked, stir through sushi vinegar & let it cool down for 20 minutes.

To assemble the sushi.

Lay cling film on top of sushi rolling mat.
Place nori sheet on the cling film and wipe with moistened paper towel.
Scoop handfuls of rice and firmly spread over nori mat. Keep a clean bowl of water handy so you can clean your hands between scooping rice onto the mat.
Leave a 2cm border at the top of the nori without rice for sealing.
Place sliced vegetables and chicken at the bottom edge of the rice-covered nori sheet.
Roll the sushi mat into a tight, firm roll.

Remove the sushi roll and set aside and cover with a damp tea towel.
Fill remaining nori sheets and repeat the above steps.

 

With a sharp knife carefully slice the longer rolls into slices and store in the refrigerator until ready for serving.
Serve with soya sauce for dipping,  sliced fresh ginger and wasabi paste to taste.
Enjoy! 

Not bad for a 13 year old!
 

White ceramic dish handmade by Mudbird - on Facebook on Felt  on Instagram @mudbird_ceramics

View the recipe as a Steller story features in the Food and Drink collection recently.

 

Pears in red wine

This delicious recipe is so easy to make and can be made the day before a dinner party, so no rushing to get things done on the night when having guests around. It can also look very elegant if presented nicely.

Steller published my Steller story of how to make it in the 'Food & Drink Collection'. You can find it here :
 

Winner of #the_heart_series

Carolyn Barker creates beauty out of precious metals and decorates her artistic products with Australian gems. It was nature that inspired her to create startlingly blue opal and gold and shakudu earrings embedded with tiny white diamonds. Her walks along a glistening aquamarine ocean and golden sands helped her to create these beautiful  bespoke handmade items, sure to be treasured by its owner. Visit her website to see these lovely pieces. 

Carolyn has generously provided a prize to the winner of this month's  competition that I ran on Instagram called, #the_heart_series. The lucky winner's prize is a sterling silver brooch in a gingko leaf shape and from Carolyn's 'Fallen leaves'  series.

Carolyn who judged the competition has awarded the prize to  @juliabesidethesea for this beautifully composed photograph which enchants with its marine inspired theme.

 

“The black of the seaweed complimented by the subtle blue mussel shell

hearts captured my imagination in the early days of the competition” says Carolyn. 

“Many wonderful entries followed but this one lingered in my heart."

 

Congratulations Julia -  such a lovely entry.

 

Special mentions chosen by Carolyn for their lovely and creative entries also go to:

 

@jenhawk123

@thebeecreative, 

@katherinedorrington

@sapa

 

A big, heartfelt thank you to Carolyn for providing such an amazing prize and to all of you who joined in  #the_heart_series challenge.
- Claudia xo