Fab Five

This is my 500th post! I'm struggling to imagine how on earth I've found 500 things to write about? But Blogger tells me it is so. So I'm going to have 5 giveaways to celebrate! I can't promise they will be five in a row, cause I'm a bit more realistic about my time management than I used to be (that and I've got a crazy couple of weeks coming up). But there will be five giveaways here over the next few weeks!

I had a fabulous time at Fabric-a-brac over the weekend! I was next to a very lovely lady (more about that in a post soon) and I finally got to meet the lovely Anissa from the Growmama blog! A few blog readers introduced themselves too! Which was a really lovely surprise. I came home with a few new pieces, my stall was really close to the Hospice donated fabric stall - dangerous. I bought a leather hide and another leather piece too, I'm hoping that some bag making will happen in the very near future. I didn't really have a good look around, which for a fabric hoarder  lover like me it could be a very VERY dangerous thing to do. Anissa very generously gave me a couple of "boyish" pieces for Mr A, I can't wait to make him some Winter pants from them, thanks again Anissa! I also managed to score some home made Guava Jelly, all for a good cause right? When I got home I was on pikelet duty and the Guava Jelly was the perfect accompaniment!

Check back tomorrow for a review and a yummy giveaway!

weekending part 2 - Tiny happy love!

My super lovely stall neighbour was Melissa from Tiny happy. We had a great time chatting over the day, I asked her probably a million excited questions about her new book! It was really nice to get so much time to catch up with her, we've been blogging friends for many years now and I've met up with her on a couple of other occasions at the Auckland art and craft fair. But those meetings have been brief, we haven't had a good chance to chat (and share a few laughs). I was lucky enough to purchase a few things from her table of lovely things. A long eared bunny to send to a baby in a far off land, a beautiful embroidered pencil case ( I think I'm keeping that one!) some of her beautiful paper cut flower cards and for miss E some little viola hair clips! I can't think of a better neighbouring stall holder to have at a market - Thanks Melissa!!!

weekending part 1

It was a really busy day on Saturday at the Auckland art and craft fair! I had an outside table this time so I was so relieved to wake up and find the sun shining (even though it was all under cover- no one would want to come out on a rainy day). The day went by so fast and I didn't get a look around all the other stalls which was probably good on my pocket! Next time though I'm going to enlist a helper so I can get around and have a look at what everyone else was up to.This year I had the best table neighbour ever and I'll write about that tomorrow!

weekending

I took part in a local handmade market on the weekend, at (and spilling out of) our local art gallery. It was a great day and I did much better than I expected, a great way to ease into next weekend at the Auckland Art and Craft Fair! I was under a tree at the front of the gallery, where an artist was inviting market goers to "write a wish" to be added to the tree.

 Akiko Diegel had made all the tags from left over woollen blanket pieces from her installation.  It was so nice to see all the wishes flapping around in the breeze, and the tree was pretty full by the end of the day. Some people seemed to take a long time to think about their wish, while others (mostly the little ones) seemed to know straight away. I didn't really read any of them, it seemed a bit intrusive, however there was one that was right above me that took my eye - " I wish for a playstation". The are going to be removed from the tree and displayed in the window of the gallery - I must pop down and take a pic.

hanging out

I often get stuck in an accessory rut, end up wearing the same earrings and necklace with every outfit, if I wear any at all. I suppose it's a lot like the outfits I wear too. I once heard a statistic that we were 10% of our clothes 90% of the time. The biggest obstacle is seeing what I have in order to wear it - of course along with that is having easy access to it.

Last Christmas I made my mum one of these earring holders (using some of the special fabric stiffener that I use to make my crocheted Christmas ornaments) with a doily and an embroidery hoop. It's taken me all year to make one for myself to hang my earrings on. I'll  have to track down the rest of my earrings, they seem to be hiding away somewhere, I do have more than five pairs.

I've made a few for my up coming markets too, I'm trying to decide which one I'll keep for myself. I do love the geometric one in the bottom pic. Luckily the doily was big enough to make a couple of hoops!

progress

I'm making slow progress, transforming some thrifted tops into part of my Summer wardrobe. I have a panic each year about this time as the weather starts to warm. It's like I totally forget what I used to wear the previous Summer and nothing seems to go together. I'm not a fan of showing off a lot of flesh so I never seem to find enough comfortable Summer clothes.This year I'm hoping it's going to be different. I've sourced about 5 tops from local thrift stores, they all need some changes before they will be a comfortable addition to my wardrobe. The one above I hope to finish tonight, it's change has been the most dramatic!

In other news, I'm going to be a stall holder at the Auckland Art and Craft Fair in December! Exciting and daunting all at the same time! It was a last minute application after I was accepted for another local fair. It seemed to make sense to craft for two fairs at the same time. So that's what I'll be doing!

dyed doileys!

Dyed doileys? Try saying that five times as fast as you can.I've been busy crafting away in anticipation of up coming markets and - dare I say it Christmas! This is what I'm currently working on, a large pile of dyed doileys that have been stiffened! I've got a few plans for them, Christmas decorations, jewellery and mobiles! What other colours would you love to see?