getting ready

I have been doing Markets on both Saturdays and Sundays recently at the Wellington market.

I am supposedly meant to take a day or two "off" during the week.  But when you work for yourself that does not necessarily happen.  By about Thursday night I am thinking about getting ready for the weekend.

The things I love about doing the markets are the really great people you get to meet - both fellow stall holders and customers. 

Some of my market buddies include Michelle and Nick from Whirlwind Designs, who make a whole range of items and amogst them the coolest wind sculptures, which are very apt for Windy Wellington.  Here is Wendy...

And Jo from Blueberry Art with his soft German accent and cheekiness.  He sells bags and hats which are all hand made by his wife Maggie.  I will have to take some photos this weekend - they are amazing. 

I also have some very helpful assistants Jack (16) comes and helps me set up and Midget (14) keeps me company in the afternoon and Mr Stitchbird makes yummy lunches and comes in and spends some time.  Best of all it does not feel like work.  That's what happens when you are doing the thing you love, with people you love.

Craft 2.0 and Facebook

There has not been much time for blogging lately - partly because of winter colds and snuffles at our house and also because I was crazy busy getting ready for Craft 2.0 which was on last Saturday.  Now if I was any good at this whole marketing, self promotion stuff I would have told you all before the market... but... it just didn't happen.  Thank you Sue for organising a great day.

But I did take a photo...

This weekend I am back at the Underground Market.

Also on the whole self promotion bit - Stitchbird Fabrics has got it's own Facebook Page.  I am not necessarily good at this yet but I am trying and if you want to you can come and visit me over on Facebook and if you want to (no pressure :)) you could even "Like" us.

in production mode

I am at the Frank Kitts Market again this Saturday and I sold out of most of the reversible head bands last time, so today I have been in production mode.  These are some of the headbands that have been made.  I don't think any one would employ me to do this - I am too easily bored and too keen to skive off!

I also have some bears to make - I made a green bear a fortnight ago and he only lasted 5 minutes on my stall.  I did not even get a photo of him, he was bought by a young couple whose little boy was in the neonatal unit at Wellington Hosiptal, so I hope he is working some magic there.

I also have to vileisofix some more of these guys.  It is a bit of a trial to see how they go.  These ready to go appliques are $5 for a bag of 5.  I will also pop some into the shop - they aren't there just yet!

Also in production have been some more light shades - this one is on its way to its new home.  I love it, I hope the new owner does as well.  I realised that I seem to have photographed the side where most of the letters are upside down (duh) the print is multi directional and this is not a huge cock up - (although I have been known to do those - cock ups that is - they usually end up in our house, not sold to someone else).

 

exhausted

Yesterday was the Martinborough Fair.  A country fair/market held in a small town one and a half hours drive from Wellington over a big windy hill road.  The fair is only held twice a year and is huge.

I went over to help my sister Lesley with her stall and Miss M travelled over to help her uncle sell his toys.  As my sister says she has a "toy boy" for life.

The day was scorching hot, I think my feet increased two shoe sizes and I felt like I was melting.

It was great to spend time with family and we get to do it all again on the forst Saturday in March.

Daisy is getting ready

Daisy is a bit nervous about the market tomorrow, wondering if she and her friends will find a new home.

She will have to be up bright and early (no Saturday sleep ins).  She has been watching all the cutting and packing going on  - loads of fabric, cushions, lightshades, a gazillion head bands, hair ties and hair clips - a girl gets tired just watching.

P.S. If you would like to see Daisy and her firends she will be at the Christmas Knack Market at Berhampore School, 105 Britomart Street, Berhampore, Wellington from 9.30 am to 2.30 pm.

save the date

The trend now is to send out little cards letting people know when you are intending to get married and asking them to save the date.  Well this is a bit different because it is a save the date for fabric lovers.

Not only do you get to see what has been lurking in other peoples fabric stash but you get to feel good about it as Fabric a Brac is a fundraiser for the Mary Potter Hospice.

So note it in your diaries now - 13 November, 9 am to 1 pm, St Anne's Hall, Newtown.

See you there!

Thank you Palmerston North

Fabric a Brac in Palmerston North was fantastic.  Thank you to Josie and the team for organising this wonderful event and the lovely fabricaholics for attending. It was great to meet some blog readers and I am sorry if I did not have much of a chance to chat, but I do appreciate the hello!

This week has been extreme - what with travelling to Waimate (not easy to get to) packing up Dad's house (which was emotionally and physically exhausting), working, fabric shipment arriving and a market.  Yes, the fabric has arrived, just before lunch yesterday, so there was a lot of frenetic measuring and cutting ready for Fabric a Brac, and even then I only got some done!

I will be putting fabric into the shop over the next week - there is a lot. 

Including these wee fellas

And these ones..

I am hanging out for bed time - about 7.30 I think!

I hope everyone's weekend is going well.

freight arrival notification

That was the title in my inbox this morning to confirm that the next shipment of Kokka and Echino fabrics arrive next week.  This shipment has been a long time coming.  Heather Ross, buses, a bit of geek chic and some old favourites back again.

 

 

I have all the new Heather Ross fabrics, plus there will be robots, monkeys, more babushkas, nani iro prints, lots of echino fabric and patterns.

But, in the meantime, this weekend I am off down south to Waimate to pack up my Dad's house.  Dad has moved to Nelson and is not fit or well enough to do this himself.  I am looking forward to seeing my sisters and brother but not necessarily the pack up part.

And next Saturday I will be in Palmy Vegas.  The Palmerston North Fabric a Brac is being held on Saturday 28 August for all you fabric-a-holics out there.  If you have not been to one of these markets before - they are amazing.  Now if you are reader of my blog and you come along to the fabric-a-brac or any other market I am at, don't be shy, please say hi.

So if there is not a lot of blogging going on around here I hope you understand!

to market, to market to buy a fat pig

It has been a bit busy around here.  Last Saturday I was at the Frank Kitts Market and this Saturday I will be at the Kapiti Knack.

The Knack is great craft market which is usually based in Wellington but this coming weekend it is on the move and will be held on the Kapiti coast.

I had sold out of bears so I have been busy brewing up a new batch.

Hubble, bubble toil and trouble - I feel very witch like as I dye the wool for the bears.

As a witch I could then cast an evil spell on those people who pick up my bears at a market, turn them this way and that and talk openly about how they could copy them.  The audacity, the rudeness, HELLO, I am standing right here and I can hear you.  As a witch I would go KAPOW and their sewing machine would jam, their seams would be horribly crooked and they would stab themselves with a needle.  BEWARE!

a cushy number and a market tomorrow

Cushions, cushions everywhere.  I am just trying to sort out all the details to offer custom made cushions in the shop and these are some of the cushions I have had made to showcase the fabrics. 

                           Circa 50 Cars - 100% organic

Echino Tiger on Flower in Fuschia

 

Echino Flower Bed in Blue

Bird Song in Green (one of my personal favourites)

I am also pleased to say that you can now order custom made lightshades in the shop.  This one is an 18 inch drum in Quiet Ground in Natural.  This fabric has sold out but there is more coming in the shipment in August.

And because there was some left over fabric that I did not want to go to waste I created some instant art for the lounge wall. 

Plus if you need a fabric fix tomorrow I will be at the Frank Kitts Market in Wellington from 10 am to 4 pm.

Have a great weekend and happy stitching.

Holiday Joys

I really love my kids, I really do, but they are not at their best when the weather is bad, their friends are away and the netball holiday programme for one of them is cancelled. 

Today we have had the "sock incident" a major argument because one put their dirty sock in the hood of the other's hoodie while they were wearing it.  Crime of the century, which I did not apparently take seriously enough! (Bad mother)  Or another favourite line of the day was "MUM HE KEEPS LOOKING AT MEEEEE!"  Terrible, quelle horreur!

They also make me laugh.  Today Mr 15 was wrapped in his quilt on his bed reading and my phone goes off, with a text from him that reads

can u please bring me a biscuit im 2 warm to get it myself

Ah well let me think about that for a moment.... hmmmm..... ah... NO, but he did get points for cheekiness.

But all is quiet in our house, a quick trip to the library and hiring of the DVD Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief worked a treat.  Both my kids loved this book and judging by the hush, are both loving the movie.

Time enough to attend to dinner homemade Minestrone Soup and french bread rolls.

Recipe for French Bread

4 1/3 cups heavy duty flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
4 teaspoons Surebake Yeast (or another yeast powder of your choosing)
1 1/2 cups warm water

place all ingredients into bread maker select dough.  Form into rolls or french sticks when finished.

Let rise in a warm place (30 - 35 degrees celsius) for 30 minutes.
Bake 12 -20 minutes at 180 degrees celsius depending on whether you are doing rolls or a sticks.  EAT

If you are going stir crazy with all this bad weather and would like an outing this Saturday why not pop into the Frank Kitts Market undercover on the waterfront in Wellington, that's where I will will be.

no blogging, no crafting, no happy

My life seems to be filled with all the office / admin cr*p. GST (aka BST bull sh*t tax) needed to be done, as well as other yawn inspiring office work.

Tomorrow I am promising myself at least one hours crafting time with no interruptions (may even take the phone off the hook). 

Over the weekend I was at the Knack market in Wellington and despite the horrible rainy weather outside it was great day inside at the market.  The market was held in the new venue, the school hall at South Wellington Intermediate which was light and airy.  Thanks to everyone who stopped by.

I bought one of Ellie of  Cactus Flower's beautiful pincushions, which I have been covetting for a while now.

Ellie was worried that the bunting maybe a bit over the top, but I love it.

But I think I need to steal a matchbox toy from some unsuspecting child to tow my caravan.

fabric a brac wrap

Thank you for all those that particpated in the auction for the Far Far Away Quilt Combo to raise funds for the Mary Potter Hospice.  Victoria of Jolly Caravan was the winner of the auction with a bid of $120.  This money will be added to the total money raised by Fabric a Brac for the Hospice.

What a great day!  If you weren't there, turn away now, do not look at the following photos, you will be jealous.

I had a quick 5 minute look around and bought a few lovelies.

Half a metre and large off cuts of soft vintage linen.

Fabrics by Leanne Culy and Jane Churchill

Trims, including several metres of the what looks like handmade lace.

Wlikinsons Sheffield dress making shears.  They are mighty big ones.

And this was in just a few minutes shopping with Mr S watching my stall (and also watching how much fabric I was trying to sneak home) and only $20.  Imagine if I had more time...

An Auction for Mary Potter Hospice and Fabric a Brac

Next Saturday, 19 June, I will be one of the stall holders at Fabric a Brac in Wellington.  For those of you who have not heard of it, Fabric a Brac is a wonderful fabric market run to raise funds for Mary Potter Hospice.  The market offers a fabulous variety of vintage and new fabrics as people empty their fabric closets and destash.  I have attended two of these markets already and they are a must for anyone who is into sewing and crafting.

 Mary Potter Hospice provides an amazing service to people living with terminal illness and their families.  One of my very dear friends (a stitcher) and her family received immense support from the hospice and I think they are wonderful at what they do.  All the services they provide are free of charge and they rely on the support and donations from the community to fund their services.

So here is where you can help!  I am offering for auction a Heather Ross Far Far Away Quilt Combo Pack and the proceeds of the auction will be donated to Mary Potter Hospice.  To bid in the auction all you need to do is leave a comment on this post with your bid (please ensure I have your email address should you win).  At 12 noon on Saturday 19 June (the end of Fabric a Brac) the person with the highest bid will win the auction.  The bids will be in New Zealand dollars and I will pay the cost of the postage of the fabric to the auction winner.

This is what you are bidding for:

 A Heather Ross Far Far Away Quilt Combo Pack value NZ$95.50

The pack includes a fat quarter of each of these Heather Ross Far Far Away fabrics:

Unicorns Lime

Unicorns Orange

Snails Lime and Blue

Snails Orange and Blue

Dandelion Fields Orange

Dandelion Fields White

Frog Prince

Princess and the Pea Orange and Blue

Princess and the Pea Pink and Orange

Plus one fat quarter of the small blue dot and .75 metre of Winter White solid colour.

These are the fabrics that I used to make this quilt top:

 So who will give me $10, do I hear $10 please?

P.S. If you are reading this post can you please pass the word on, thanks :)

Edited to add - thank you for getting involved in this auction and making it a success.  The winner of the auction will also receive a one of a kind Wonky Bear in addition to the fabric.   My bears are made from upcycled cashmere wool or woollen blankets that have been hand dyed and felted.  Thanks again and good luck in the auction.

Living in a Parallel Universe

Well I am back home after a very topsy turvy 9 days.  I am pleased to say my Dad is out of any immediate danger and is recovering. I came home briefly (1 night) to repack my bags and head off to Auckland  and the Crafternoon Tea market on Saturday which was great.  It was lovely to meet people who have stopped by on my blog and website and meet the real people behind some lovely blogs I read.

It felt weird being away from my "real life" for so long.  It certainly was not planned for and it felt like I was living in some parrallel universe, with my real life carrying on somewhere else.  It was also an emotional roller coaster, thank goodness Jane, one of my sisters was with me! 

Mr S was very pleased to see me home he had had enough of being taxi driver, chef, launderer, procurement specialist, cleaner...

At Crafternoon Tea on Saturday I was very fortunate to be next to the lovely Jennie of A Little Vintage.  Jennie makes the most incredible dolls...

This lovely lady was there on Saturday.  Jennie also custom makes dolls using your own child's special clothes and will make the dolls to resemble their new adoptive "parent".  She does beautiful work.

I am really looking forward to doing some crafting of my own this week.

Hope your week is going well and happy stitching.

check it out!

Woohoo - next week I am going to Auckland to do some wholesale visits and also to got to tea - Crafternoon Tea.

And look who they asked to do a bit of freelance modelling:

The Ric Rac Modelling Agency of course had to agree a modelling fee ;)

The Crafternoon-Tea market will be held on Saturday 15th of May 2010, from 10am-3pm at the Trinity Methodist Church - which is on the corner of Sandringham and New North Roads in Crafty Kingsland.

You can also check out Luisa's blog to find out all the cool crafty people who will be there.

Can't wait!

And another check it out - Melinda is hosting a fabulous giveaway over at her Every Spare Minute.  Although why I am telling you this I don't know because it decreases my chances of winning that beautiful fabric.  So no, don't check it out, you will hate it, YEAH RIGHT!

Stashing and Rehashing

What are you doing this Sunday?

I will be at Stash Rehash in Christchurch (my home town) selling my wares:

Sunday 18th April 2010,

11am - 2pm,

at the Scottish Society Hall,

corner of Edgeware and Caledonian Roads,

St Albans, Christchurch

If you are in Christchurch pop by and say hi.  Entry is free but please note that all sales are cash sales.

This is a teaser photo from the Stash Rehash blog.

To drool over more of the goodies that will be at Stash Rehash market visit the lovely Deidre's Stash Rehash blog.  You will also be helping out a worthy cause - Arthritis New Zealand, so you can feel very altruistic as you buy up large on gorgeous fabric ;0)

Easter Weekend

No more embarrassing moments pulling a business card out of my handbag to find the edges bent or lipstick smeared on it.  A new business card purse is created. 

I have been meaning to do this for ages and the Easter break has allowed me the time (and head space) to do a few bits of sewing for myself.  I downsized the pattern from here , thanks to Every Spare Minute for blogging about this pattern.  The lining and zipper covers are in the little green spot and I love them.

The Frank Kitts Market on Easter Saturday was disappointing, very few people came through the market.  I had heard from others that it was slow, but thought it was worth a try.  The up side is I got to catch up with other crafty people who I have met at other markets.

Francois and his friends got a days outing at the market, but alas were not adopted.  I usually make my bears from woollen blankets that I dye and felt, but Francois is an upper class kind of bear - he is made from 100% upcycled cashmere wool and is very soft.

I am sad to see the Easter holiday come to an end.  It marks the real change of seasons for me.  The clocks have been put back, the leaves are falling and there is a chill in the evening air.

It's a little dark and some crafting

Oy - it's very dark in here!

I am getting ready for the Frank Kitts market this Saturday.  It is a first for me so it will be interesting to see how it goes.  Hopefully it won't be too dark; the market is in an underground carpark.

I have also been playing with some of the new fabric...

This bag uses Kokka Le Ballet Girls in natural, the base of the bag and the lining is made out of Red Spot Two Ways.  I have used the little spot in the lining and the big spot for the base.

I hate turning fabric when I am making handles, I usually end up getting very frustrated swearing.  So I use one these great devices...

A Tape Maker

If you don't already have one I would defintiely recommend purchasing one.  To make my handles, I make two lengths of tape and sew them together - easy peasy and no swearing involved.

Also off to the market this weekend is Bob

Bob is a bit of a "ladies' rabbit" (aren't they all) and likes to tango.  He doesn't like being upstaged by Easter Bunny. 

Thank you to everyone for the lovely comments on the giveaway - I am enjoying your fabric stories, it's not too late if you wish to join in.

Happy Easter

big weekend

It has been a big weekend and I am enjoying some quiet time at home alone, while the rest of my family is at the Phoenix's semi final.  Time to cruise some blogs and do some sewing.

Saturday was the second Martinborough Fair. Miss M and I go over very early in the morning to act as market assistants for my sister and her husband.  Lesley is a glass artist who makes beautiful glass jewellery and my brother in law is a toy maker.

One of Lesley's landscape beads at the market...

And one of the toys at the market, the snail's shell comes off and is a rattle.

Martinborough Fair is a long day - the market starts at 8 am and finishes at 4 pm and there is one and a half hour drive to get there and home again.  The market is outdoors, around the town square and we arrived to find that the council had dug up the area we have our stalls to lay some new cables, then it rained and we had mud, mud lots of mud.  Not a good way to start the day!

Luckily it did not rain for too long, we had a lovely day together and the market was very busy.  So busy at one stage that one "shopper" decided to take a 5 finger discount and stole a couple of bracelets off the stall.  We know who it was, but by the time we realised they were gone, so had the person.  We felt bad about it, but did not want to let it spoil our day. We also heard that one unfortunate stall holder had their whole cash box stolen.

Apparently markets have become more of a target with the recession and we have certainly noticed that more has been stolen in the last 12 months than ever before. 

Last night J had his Birthday get together/sleepover so we had six 15 year olds to feed.  Luckily gone are the days when Mum and Dad have to provide the entertainment, our roles are strictly catering and clean up duty.

Hope you have all had a lovely weekend!