A big blog post that's long overdue!

My gosh, it has been well over a month since my last blog post! There has been so many changes in my life recently that I literally haven't had the time to sit down and write a post. But things are finally starting to fall back into place and settle down so I am back on board and ready to get into the swing of things.

Some of you may already know, but I am now a full time employee again. After being self employed for 9 long months, I am now back into a 40 working week (not that I didn't work hard when I worked for myself!) I took on some temp work back in March that was supposed to be only for a month or 2, but they offered me a full time role in my first week and it was too good to turn down. That doesn't mean that any of my other ventures are being put to rest however — I just need to find some extra hours each day to squeeze them in. Funnily enough though, I have started becoming more productive and my time management has improved immensely. Who would have thought? Yay to working again!

So here is a brief overview of the last month for me. Shortly after Craft 2.0 it was my birthday :) I had some lovely celebratory drinks in Takapuna at the new Irish Pub.

One of my best friends, Hayley, and I on my 24th Birthday.

A few days later followed the first Auckland Craft Collective evening. It was on "Online Marketing" and was a huge success. We had 2 fabulous guest speakers — Esther from Toggle.co.nz and Elliot from Endemicworld.com. I learnt so much from this evening and am currently working on lots of changes for Skipapple as a result (new blog post on these soon!). You can check out the 10 Top Tips from the evening on our blog.

The lovely location of our Auckland Craft Collective evenings — Ponsonby Community Centre

The next week was Crafternoon Tea. It was a lovely day with lots of craft goodness (as always!). I was sat next to a fabulous new up and coming baby clothing label, Bubbarino. They have the most adorable childrens clothing.  

The gorgeous childrens clothing by Bubbarino

Then the following week I attended my first Kraftbomb. As I imagined (and as it has been every time I have gone along as a shopper) it was buzzing with people. I had a lovely time sitting next to the delightful Desiree of   Flossys Fancy (I hope I spelt that right!). I only had a half table of goodies for sale that day, but it was still great to be able to be there. I'm going to apply every 3 months, and *fingers crossed* will get to see what each season is like at Kraftbomb :) 

Also on the same day as Kraftbomb, two of my best friends from back home (Perth), Caitlyn and Liam, had a gorgeous baby girl, Hudson Olivia and I think that one of those dresses from Bubbarino (above) would look absolutely gorgeous on her.

Left: Mine and Desiree's tables at Kraftbomb. 

Right: My Antique Bronze Pendants

I had a rather relaxing long weekend, with nothing exciting to report! I caught up housework, paperwork and me time. It was so nice to be able to relax. I also managed to get the time to sew a little present for my best friends new little girl. You'll have to excuse the quality of the photos — I took them just before I wrapped it up and took it the post office :) I even did my first ever bit of embroidery with her name and date of birth. I was pretty chuffed with how it came out — not too shabby for a first attempt! The blanket is made from baby pink and white chenille, the back is lined with baby pink flannelette and I put some cute stain blanket binding around the edge to finish it.

A cuddly baby blanket for little Husdon Olivia :)

Devonport Craft Market and Crafternoon Tea were both fabulous for me this month. It was lovely to see some more punters at the Devonport market, it was noticeably busier there this month which is great. There was also lots of new seller which I love to see. Unfortunately forgot to take some photos though. I did get some time to have a browse around Crafternoon Tea however and made a few purchases & swaps and also got a few snaps of some fellow stallholders.

Some of the April Crafternoon Tea stallholders

Skipapple goodies for sale

Phew.... what a big overview of the last month! Of course, there was also the Auckland Craft Collective "Book-Keeping" evening last week which was another great success. You can check out the top tips for evening over at the blog.

Now I have lots of work to do on a couple of exciting things coming up (it's a secret for now... but you'll know soon enough!) so I had better get back to it.

Hope you have all had a fabulous weekend. 

Chat again soon x

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

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

Preparations

I managed to sneak in an hour or so of photography in this morning before going to catch up with Jess for our Auckland Craft Collective meeting. I'm planning on getting a lot done tomorrow, to continue my super productive week, but for now here is a snap of a few of my completed headbands.

I am going to finally get myself sorted and get my Etsy shop loaded with some products this weekend. Wish me luck x

The Auckland Craft Collective is here

After much anticipation (okay, so perhaps just from Jess and myself, but still!) the Auckland Craft Collective is finally born.

What began as a discussion with Jessica of Bam Bam Creative about the Auckland crafty community and a couple of suggestions for ways to help bring it together, ended with the creation of this fabulous idea. It had been Jess' intention for quite a few months to try to connect all the craft peeps of Auckland together to form a support group. Okay so perhaps not in the "I need help" sense, but more in the "I'm sure there is ways we can help each other" sense. And for me — anything that involves craft and business, you count me in!

So we've had a very busy and productive time putting our plans on paper and deciding what it is exactly that will be offered. We are super excited about it and hope that you all will be too. Our mission is to provide practical business support to the Auckland craft community. We 110% welcome suggestions, feedback and ideas, as the Auckland Craft Collective is about everyone in the crafting community — and that includes YOU!

You can read up on what it's all about on the blog and keep updated with all the happenings by following on Twitter and becoming a fan on Facebook. That way you are sure to not miss out on any progress!

xx