Making and Markets...

As you may have noticed, I've been a little bit quiet on the blogging front recently. It's been because of a combination between being really busy and not having anything super exciting to blog about! But this week has been pretty exciting for me — I've been booking flights to Wellington for March and will be attending the amazing Craft 2.0 in Lower Hutt on the 6th March! I am really looking forward to meeting more crafty peeps. Plus, I'm not heading down there alone... Jess from Bam Bam Creative will be going too! Not to mention the lovely Heleen from Ruby in the Dust will be there aswell :)

So as you can imagine, I am now busy working out what I need to organise between now and then — don't want to arrive unprepared! I've got a couple of new items I plan to launch at Craft 2.0 so the next month is going to be a busy one.

In other non-Skipapple news I went to the movies the other night to see the pre-screening of "I'm Not Harry Jenson" which is officially being released in selected cinemas tonight around NZ. It was the second time I had watched it (it was also in the NZ Film Festival last year) and I enjoyed it just as much the second time around. If you get a chance I highly recommend seeing this fabulous Kiwi film. It was made a on very low budget and set in the Waitakere Ranges, but features an awesome cast with lots of twists and turns in the plot.
And if you've seen my facebook name recently (Harry Jenson) you may have heard about their awesome marketing campaign. Anyway... definitely head along and check it out soon (before it finishes at the cinemas).

Click on the poster above to see if it's playing near you

I'm busy packaging up beads and findings today, which I am popping on Trademe on sale so I'd better get back to it ;)

xx

Getting Sorted

The start of this year has been so busy that I haven't really had a proper chance to sit down and assess what my plans and goals are for this year. Of course I already have a general idea in my head about what they are — but I am a "list" person and feel much more organised and motivated once I have everything down on paper. Now I am not one for "New Years Resolutions" because let's be honest, who actually sticks to them? But I've decided that I am going to take some time out this week to get my metaphorical crap sorted and work out a plan of attack. So if I appear to go into hiding for a few days, don't panic... I'll just be hidden under the piles of stuff that I am sorting through in my office and bead storage room!

In other news, things have been progressing really well with the Auckland Craft Collective and I am getting more and more excited about the pending launch in March. Jess and I have been working tirelessly on securing some fabulous Guest Speakers, designing and making our website, booking a venue and designing our flyers and brochures ready for print. You may have noticed that our blog and twitter page have both had a make over to align with our new branding. The website is all on target to go live this evening, so come Monday morning we'll be online and you'll be able to check it out and subscribe to our mailiing list.

Yesterday was Crafternoon Tea — the first craft market for 2010. It was the first time I had attended the market at it's wonderful location in Kingsland, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I met some lovely new people and got a chance to have a good chat to many crafters. It's a lovely hall and Luisa and Trent have set it up really well. I'm really looking forward to the next one. It was a little on the quiet side, but I still had a pretty successful day all things considered! I took a couple of snaps when I first set up, but got sidetracked for the rest of the market and forgot to take some more. I think Jess remembered too, so I'll link to them when she puts them up :)

It's been such a beautiful, warm weekend — I think I might head out into the garden for a couple of hours to read a book and soak up some Vitamin D.

Chat again soon x

It's Tea time again...

That's right... Crafternoon Tea is on this Saturday! And of course, I will be there along with many other talented crafty peeps.

It is back at it's fabulous regular location — the Holy Trinity Church in Kingsland from 10am til 3pm.

I'll have some more bags available aswell as my collection of pendants, card wallets, coffee cup sleeves, belts and more.

Hope to see you there xx

Time Flies

I cannot believe that we are nearing the middle of January already — where has all this time gone? I guess I should firstly wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, as I just realised it has been almost a month since I last blogged!It feels so strange (and perhaps a little difficult too) getting back into the swing of things after a lovely break over the festive season, but I am very excited about what this year will bring.

The end of 2009 was a quiet one for me, with Love Handmade market being the last crafty event for me for the year. Unfortunately it was not very fruitful, but as always, it was lovely to chat to fellow crafters.

L to R: My Table, the lovely Bronwyn from R.W.Scissors 

and the ever sweet Jess from Bam Bam Creative.

Christmas was very low key for me — I only managed to take 3 photos the entire couple of days surrounding Christmas! Although it was a quiet one, it was very enjoyable and it was nice to be able to relax. Over New Years I went away camping with a big group of friends for a few days out at Murawai. It was a fab few days and I managed to soak up lots of Vitamin D (possibly a little too much on the first day!).

Left: The view from our campsite.

Right: A pretty 2010 dusk sky.

(Photography by one of my best friends... the talented Miss Baines!)

So far 2010 has been busy with lots of planning being done for Skipapple and lots of work and planning being done on the Auckland Craft Collective. Jess and I decided the old look of Auckland Craft just wasn't quite fitting, so we have had a revamp ready for the New Year.We re-did our logo and have just about finished the website. All we need to do is put in some finishing touches, and it will be online and live this week! I've also surprised myself this weekend and gotten pretty savvy with Blogger by creating a new blog template for the Auckland Craft blog so that it ties in nicely with the new website. Of course it's not up just yet, but will be up at the same time as our new website.

As for the plans for Skipapple... you'll just have to wait and see! I'm designing a pattern for a new product at the moment, and am deciding on another style of bag to make. I've also got a couple of other accessories lined up to add to the label, but I plan on trying to only work on one thing at a time this year (we'll see how that goes!)


xx