A CRAFTY WEEKEND!

It's been a long weekend, literally, with today being Labour day and all the hopes of creating lots of new pieces went out the window! Instead I celebrated some friend's good news, (they bought a house), got my haircut by my friends fiance (free!!!) and went to Kraftbomb.
Kraftbomb was great, quite busy, I spent lots of money, saw lots of stallholders from Crafternoon-Tea and met a lot of new stall holders for the next Crafternoon-Tea.

I also bought some wonderful old cases off Trademe, which I intend to use as part of my stall display.






Here's what I bought at Kraftbomb on Sunday.
A Huia brooch from Birdspoke, a gorgeous little owl necklace from Lily's Make Believe, a ring and two brooches from Cheek Pinchy.








The squirrel is a cute little ring and the owl is a brooch. Cheek Pinchy had so many wonderful things on display, that I had a hard time choosing! Good job she'll be at the next Crafternoon-Tea so I buy even more wonderful things!













Super-macro! I love this little guy! I'm going to have to think of an appropriate name for him!
















I'll definitely be wearing him to work tomorrow! I don't know how Olivia from Lily's Make Believe does it! These guys are tiny and it must take her ages to make them. She also makes amazing framed Where I Belong framed maps, which I am so buying at the next Crafternoon-Tea! Check out her blog, www.lilysmakebelieve.blogspot.com





For those that don't know me, I have a thing for NZ birds and I have a large tattoo on my arm of Huia birds, so when I saw this brooch I couldn't resist! Very cool from Birdspoke, who also make framed prints, bunting and plushies.













Here are my weekend purchases off Trademe! The two littleish ones on top cost $10 together, and suitcase on the bottom was only $5.50! I love Trademe! The idea, if it works, is to somehow incorporate these into my market display, meanwhile they're great storage for my bits and pieces and look great in the house!










THE THREE NINJAS!












I whipped these little guys up on the weekend and I love them! They're little brooches and will be for sale at the next Crafternoon-tea.













Here's a label that my ever clever partner and graphic designer extraordinaire created for me!











This is a cuff that I attempted to make, it's all completely handsewn, although I probably could have saved myself a lot of time by using the brand new sewing machine I recently bought (which I really don't have any idea how to use!!!).
It's slightly too big for a child's wrist and could probably even be a bit smaller for an adult, it fits a mans wrist quite well however, I can't really see any guy wanting to wear this though!!!

BROOCHES!

With the next Crafternoon-Tea fast approaching I really need to get a move on and start making more things! My problem is that I keep getting distracted with all the wonderful, crafty blogs out there, that I never end up making anything! On top of that, it's school report time! Eeek, that will undoubtedly be another nightmare! This year I'm going to try and keep things separated and not bring home any school work to do (yeah right!), and keep my evenings free for all things crafty.
My new obsession is felt and all the pretty fat quarters at Spotlight! So, I'm trying to incorporate them together and I've been making brooches and necklaces, I'd like to attempt something in the way of bracelets and earrings, but haven't quite figured those out yet. Anyway, here's a sample of what I've been working on:

I'd like this one to eventually be a necklace, but I haven't quite worked out how to finish it yet, I'm thinking blue ribbon? Which would mean another trip to Spotlight. What a shame!

You'll have to excuse the quality of the photos, my camera ran out of batteries, the charger is at a friends house, so I'm using my phone! Terrible I know!

Button, fabric and felt brooches. I'm keeping them as is, I kinda like the rough and ready look.

These skull brooches have proven quite popular, especially with my students!

My seagulls! At least, that's what they're supposed to be! I don't know why, but these little guys have really taken my fancy, I might have to do a whole range of them!

ABOUT TIME!

Well I thought it was about time that I got my own blog up and running! I've managed to keep the Crafternoon-Tea blog up to date, so no reason I can't do the same here.
The first ever Crafternoon-Tea market happened on the weekend and it went off without a hitch, although I have learnt what not to do and what to bring! Somebody should create a checklist for organisers of craft markets, perhaps that's something the clever ladies behind the Auckland Craft Collective could do?
After seeing all the wonderful crafts over the weekend, I'm now even more inspired to create more items. This was my first real craft fair, so it was surprising to see what crafts of mine people chose to buy, it also taught me to have a bit more faith in myself and my pieces, as I opted not to bring a lot of my stock, and then promptly sold out of what I had brought!
I loved wandering around the market and seeing what other people had done, so many visitors commented to me on how nice it was to come to a market that had such a variety, no two stalls were the same.
I don't think people have quite grasped yet just how much 'craft' and handmade items have changed in recent times, I guess that's partly one of the reasons I started up Crafternoon-tea, hopefully with all these wonderful markets now around in Auckland, people will start to realise just how talented and creative people are.
Luisa x