A magazine called “Shop til you drop” you say… sounds dangerous! And that’s precisely where my wee upcycled teaspoons have been featured, in the latest August 2010 issue (pg 163). I’m a little reluctant to flip through the rest of the mag at the mo, seeing as how I’ve already been on a little crafty purchasing bender as of late. Check out my recent acquisitions…

From left to right: “I’ve got the skills…” tote bag from Dear Colleen, a gorgeous hand stitched felt monarch brooch from Undercover, limited edition merino arm warmers from Kate Watts, and a “pugs not drugs” tote bag from Gemma Correll.

This is just a small sampling of the crafty wares that were available on the day. From top left: Ceramics by The Busy Finch, Fancy brooches by In My Backyard, Pee Wee Designs’ gorgeous stall, ridiculously intricate hand-stitched boxes by Undercover, and of course one of my favourite sellers Dear Colleen with her lemon print and rosettes. More pics can be viewed over on my flickr page.
And of course, last but not least, a massive thank you is in order to the lovely Lucy from felt for organising such a great event!

The countdown is on to Christchurch’s very own craft market,
A Craft Affair! Not only will there be a whole host of amazing local talent, but we’ve attracted a few out-of-towners from Dunedin, Wellington and as far afield as Auckland! Our City O-Tautahi will definitely be the place to be Sun 11th July! And of course I’ll be there too, selling my Black Swan goodies. You’ll find me upstairs in the debating chamber between Miss Millie (sock monkey maker) and The Sewphist (all the way down from Wellington). Hope to see you there!

I had a lovely little surprise on the weekend when my flatmate spotted one of my Mt Cook Lily brooches in the May issue of New Zealand Gardener magazine! There’s nothing like a little bit of unexpected press to brighten a rainy Winter day!

Phew, the last few weeks have been busy busy! Last Saturday was Craft 2.0 up in Wellington, which is always a fun mission despite the 5am start to the day! I finally got to meet the lovely Elisabeth from The Sewphist, chat with Mel from Wildflower Designs and her fellow Napier crafty buddies, and the talented Colleen from Dear Colleen, to whose stall I made several visits, purchasing the lemon print above, and the ‘loser’ rosette below. I also treated myself to this lovely new reversable bag from Emma Makes…

Then instead of a nice relaxing Sunday post craft show, I spent the day shifting office! For those of you that don’t already know as well as Black Swan Designs I also run a graphic design firm, Board of Design, with Lucy from felt! (I know, I’m a sucker for punishment!) We were previously based in New Regent Street, but were rapidly outgrowing our space there, and through a serious of recent serendipitous events came to purchase another graphic design firm and move into their premises in Bedford Row!

So week one in the new office has been manic to say the least, but I’m looking forward to everything settling down, and of course A Craft Affair, which is coming up in 3 odd weeks time! What’s that they say about no rest for the wicked?…

I’ve been hanging out to get my hands on a copy of the latest issue of Frankie magazine ever since it hit the Australian bookshelves in late April, after I received a tip off from one of my International felt customers because… my wee stirrer spoon made it into the Frank Bits section!!
(Happy dance!!) Not only did a get a lovely little write up, but there’s even an article on my favourite band, The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra inside! It’s like they knew… thanks Frankie! x

Hot off the press! Two new necklace designs made from kauri and recycled vintage wallpaper, just in time for Mothers Day on May 9th!
If you’re stuck for ideas on what to get for Mum there are some great gift guides over on felt too…

Yes, that’s right, it’s Stash reHash time again! This Sunday from 11am to 2pm in the Scottish Society Hall in St Albans, Christchurch.
A perfect opportunity to add to your crafty store for all those cold winter nights ahead. Come along with your best fossicking skills
and a purse full of stash cash…

Felt’s fancy full page ad in the latest issue of Peppermint magazine, featuring a Black Swan lily brooch! Nothing beats being in print, and in such a beautiful magazine too… so much prettiness to covet…

Following on from the last post about my collaboration creation with Hera, (in true six degrees of separation style), I was lucky enough to meet my favourite author Neil Gaiman on the weekend up in Wellington at his Arts Festival talk, who has just announced his engagement to Amanda Palmer, who is currently touring NZ with Hera as support, who I’m off to see play tonight!!
Neil gave an excellent talk at the Town Hall, and we were even priviledged to have a new piece of work read to us. He drew a large crowd of fans and literary/geek types, and was there signing books after the talk for 3.5hrs!! I had a bit of a dilema deciding which book I would take with me for signing, but was pleased with my choice of “The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish” when Neil drew me a little fish and signed it off with “best fishes”! One of my favourite books just got a whole lot more special.