To Market...

Crafternoon Tea time tomorrow.

Its been a couple of months since i have been at Crafternoon Tea so I am excited for tomorrow.

10-3pm at the Trinity Methodist Church in Kingsland.

See you there!

To Market...

Eastern Bays Mid-Winter Evening Craft Market on this Thursday night.

Come along and check out the offerings from Songbird and a bunch of other lovely crafters!

The where and when:
St Heliers Bay Church
Thursday 22nd July
5-9pm
98 St Heliers Bay Road
St Heliers

A Craft Affair Road Trip - Executive Summary

Well. It was awesome. Christchurch sure knows how to craft and shop! They put on a pretty good fair.

Our day (our= Cat and myself) started very early. A 3.30am wake up call. Really. But we were pretty excited so it made it worthwhile.

A very fast plan ride down, we hit Cafe Roma for breakfast and much needed coffee. I would recommend a breakfast stop there (thanks Emma and Rose for heading us in that direction). A mere 50m walk from the Cafe and we were at our stop. Our City O Tautahi. What a lovely venue. Very beautiful on the outside and exquisite on the inside.

Photo courtesy of Christchurch City Council

We had spots upstairs in the hall. Down one end (check out the crowd shot below) was a beautiful stained glass window which made the hall radiate with a soft light. Perfect.

We unpacked and started to set up and before we knew it it was 10.20 - time for shopping, swapping and looking around. I got really excited then - there was so much to take in I had a quick look and thought.. I'll go back later and get a few things. (insert Tui beer advert here).

The two minute call from Lucy came and we were OFF. It was like a tidal wave of people turned up at our tables. Scary stuff when you weren't expecting it. I had 4 deep of people in front of my stall. I am sure I had a fixed and slightly manic smile on my face for the first hour. Actually the whole day probably as the crowds and the people kept coming and coming.

And they were so nice and so supportive. There was a great feeling in the room throughout the day. I can only speak for the room as I had not one moment where I was able to get away from my table! 

I can safely say that this was one of the best markets / fairs I have ever been to as a seller or as a buyer. Lucy from Felt puts on a damn fine event. THANK YOU Lucy and your team for all  your hard work. It was much appreciated.

The end of the day came. I looked up and everyone was gone. So much for me getting to buy those things later. Beginners mistake me thinks!

The day would have been perfect if it wasn't for our plane getting a sore paw and having to have its tires changed (one by one) delaying our departure. Christchurch, it wasn't that we were desperate to get away from you, its just that it was a long and energy filled day and by then, we had run out of steam and needed bed.

Some photos below:

Morning Breaks - view from the plane

Some mountains - I should know which ones...

Cat's Table and my table

My table - it looked good at that stage...

A closer view of my table - scored from A Craft Affair Facebookpage

Photography courtesy of Julia from Relique Vintage Jewelry 

Big Shout outs to those people I did get a chance to meet: Rose; Maddie; Emma; Colleen and Jo and to those I didn't Julia; Elisabeth - will catch up to you next time! If I met you and I can't remember - SORRY Please forgive me - it was a whirlwind!

Double big shout-out to my road trip buddy Cat - a great road trip companion!

Sx

To Market

It is time for the Devonport Craft Market again! Yay. Hopefully we will be swamped with those people choosing to stay in Auckland for the weekend!

Devonport Craft Market
10-2
Devonport Community House
32 Clarence St Devonport

There are lots of new Songbird things on sale this weekend. Check them out below.

 

 

 

 

 

These last two products aren't for sale. Someone wanted to help out with the 'photo shoot' excuse the eclectic jammies!

 

Hope that you have a wonderful time this weekend - whatever you are doing. For us in NZ it is the last long weekend until October!


Sx

Encore

Let me introduce you to Encore. Encore is a new part of the Songbird Designs family. The recycled part.

I have gathered up all sorts of pieces from all sorts of places and lately I have been gifted loads of yummy fabric scraps from lovely crafty friends. After finally getting it altogether, Encore was born.

 

All of the items that are branded with the Encore by Songbird Designs brand have recycled materials in them or will be made using a sustainable process and recycled paper (for the paper goods). Not all of the components of the product in Encore by Songbird Designs will be recycled. Thats cause it won't be possible. You would buy a hair tie from me using a recycled hair band?? Would you? (if you would let me know and I will see what I can do).

Encore made its Unbranded debut at Crafternoon Tea last weekend and proved to be popular so its making its second round of debuts - branded this time - at the Royal Oak Market this Sunday and with any luck, in my Felt store later on today.

There are only a small number of products in the Encore range but it will grow as time allows me to develop them.

I hope you like the idea and I hope you like the products. Any feedback is welcomed. Now go recycle!!!!

Sx

 

To Market...

This is a full market month for Songbird Designs. I 'promised' myself, The Husband and The Child that this year I would minimise the number of markets I did before Christmas - That's clearly working out well for me....

This weekend I am excited to be at the Royal Oak: Susataible Communities Market - hosted by CCS Disabiilty Action.

I was a stallholder at the Pre-Christmas market and had a lovely time. The food, the crafts, the environment was really lovely.

I can't find the programme but alongside the Art & Craft and food stalls, there are usually talks on seasonal planting with tips and tricks. A whole 'experience'.

You should come and check it out!

Market Round up

I had a wonderful day at the market yesterday. Catching up with Crafty Mates and meeting some lovely new crafty talent!

Songbird had a good day. I was happy with my new table set up (including shiny new table cloth! and some new packaging).

The lovely Lisa from Kozo tape was there and was seated across from me, which is dangerous really cause I got to drool over the awesome variety of tape she was selling. Check out a couple of snaps of them below.

Lisa is just finalising her website and then we will run a feature and a giveaway here.

My other purchases were from Spirocreations - an NZ / Canadian, Husband and Wife team who have recently resettled in NZ. They drove up from Mt Maungani for the day and it was so cool to have them there. You can read their blog here and their Etsy shop is here. They are still setting up so didn't have their full product range but from the looks of what I purchased (see below), the shoes must be amazing!

Welcome Barb and Issac - hope to see you again soon!

My purchases below - YUMMY

And the last on my trip of yummy things was the work of textile artist Adele Du Barry who was here from Adelaide (a kiwi now living in Oz). Adele make the most beautiful pieces that can be stretched over canvas or incorporated into a project of your own. I thought they were divine. Hopefully Adele will make it back to the market soon. (please note - my terrible photography does not do her work justice!)

So, we get stuck in to another week. I get to have a lovely discussion (read argument) with Courier post to try and get my beads from them so I can make some more things!!!

A quote from Audrey Hepburn to finish. I really liked this

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."

Craft love

Sx

Its time for a cup of Christmas Tea

Its Crafternoon Tea time.

I do enjoy this market.  There is a really nice vibe and it is great to just concentrate on the lovely customers and all things Songbird.

This month the market is to be held at Mt Eden Normal School. Click here for map

Christmas cards and tags will be 50% off this weekend which makes them a really good price!!!

The other thing I wanted to tell you about was Blendy. Belinda from Blendy approached me at the first Crafternoon Tea about supplying some items for her Yarn Sampler boxes. This is a really cool idea for those into Knitting (and for those looking for a cool marketing opportunity!). I am a avid knitting fan from a distance... I am hopeless at it but really love the idea of it and it looks so relaxing. My version of knitting wasn't relaxing as i spent all of my time undoing what I had down 5 rows previous as I found a hole....
Anyhoo, I will be submitting some cute knitting gift tags for the sampler box. I was supposed to have finished them by now but haven't quite finished! They will be to you by Christmas Belinda!!!

There are loads of other cool suppliers that you will know and love RW Scissors and Nut and Bee to name too! Check it out yo!

Crafternoon Tea is going to be my last market until February!! I am sad as I will miss out on seeing my crafty friends but I am also quite excited as it has been a busy year - especially the last few months - so I am looking forward to a well deserved rest (if I do say so myself).

I won't be far from the computer this summer as I have some cool new ideas to realise!!

Talk soon
Craft Love
Sx

Me Stand, Me Stand

The lovely Bronwyn just emailed me some photos of my stand from Sunday. See below:

The end of a long but fun weekend!

My first two markets are now over and they were relatively successful. Beautiful weather in Devonport today meant there were lots of people around.

Sarah did a wonderful job at promoting the market for us all and I think it will get better and better.

The husband and child (:-)) didn't make it down today to take photos but the lovely RW Scissors took some to put on her blog so I will grab some when they are up.

It was great being out and about people who MIY rather than being holed up on my own in my 'craftspace'. There are some wonderful things being made out there and it was great to be amongst it.

Now I have the mammoth task of loaded the rest of my wares up to my felt site. I spent the last month making up stock for the markets and not placing a lot of new stuff online. That changes tomorrow.

The child and I will spend the day sorting and photographing and loading - hope he likes it!

I will also spend part of the day catching up on all of my favourite sites and blogs as it has been a while since i have had the chance to really have a good look around!

Anyway cheers to a successful weekend.

Three Lamps Club Market - One down - one to go

Good day for first market! A little slow but it was very COLD outside so I am not sure how many people ventured out!

I will post some photos tomorrow after the Devonport Market.

I will also be loading a whole lot of baby t-shirts and onsies on my Felt site over the next couple of days. Remember 80% of what I make can be customised so please contact me if there is anything that you want!