Good Wreath Exhibition

I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to create a wreath for Parnell Inc's Good wreath exhibition that is currently happening in Parnell Auckland. Twenty Artists were asked to create a wreath in their own style. Two weeks, 93 zips, a string of fairy lights, some very sore fingers and this is what I came up with....

I should probably point out that I'm a Christmas baby so I have a bit of a passion for all things Christmassy, especially twinkly lights and the colour red. Inspiration came from poinsettia flowers. pacific Lei's, and the greens of our native plants.

Constructing the wreath took a little longer than I thought, as there were a few logistical things that troubled me; finding a base that was strong enough to support the flowers( they can get rather heavy when you have so many), and stitching zips around the fairylights to make the flower stamens. The bow is made from dissembled zips sewn together to make striped ribbon and then wired so it sits beautifully!

The wreath is a little more large scale than my usual brooches and jewellery pieces, which was a challenge in itself, as I tried to keep true to handstitching each and every flower and only using unloved zippers( always hard colour matching zips for more than one flower)!

There are 20 wreaths in the exhibition, so its worth a trip to Parnell to see them up close and in person, if you can't make it to Parnell there are some helpful links below and each wreath is for sale on trademe , with part of the funds raised going to Charity.

Some more info here

http://www.parnell.net.nz/Auction/wreath3.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Art/Other/auction-333071566.htm

Christmas is coming......

Golly Goshes Christmas is nearly here, which means things have been rather hectic of late. There are numerous markets each weekend, plus I've been making a special large scale piece for " Good Wreath" which is happening in Parnell next week... More about that later, just a few piccies of some new zippitydoodah that have been stitched this week....

For the love of a good old blanket

Today, I'm madly preparing for Craft 2.0 http://www.craft2.org/blog/?p=4381

I'm slightly challenged trying to fit everything into my 22kg suitcase allowance and my carry on bag!

Recently I've been making new things out of a vintage blanket that came from my Great Aunt & Uncles spare room, it holds a few childhood memories for me, so I made some blanket bears, and then some great Owl hotwater bottle covers ( great for sending to the Northern hemisphere for Christmas pressies) and since the blanket is/was 100% wool I thought perhaps a few NZ Christmas decorations for homesick Kiwis. I was going to make little sheep, but changed my mind and made Kiwis ( perhaps some sheep will come later) ... So here is a little looksee at whats new from a good old NZ wool blanket

Taking time for Tea...Vandalised Vintage Tea Cosies....

This past week I have been finishing off some vandalised vintage tea cosies that had been languishing waiting for me to find the perfect floral fabrics to match up for the lining inside. I have a notebook full of tea quotes and word plays that I want to try on the cosies, plus I wanted to think of some "manly ones" hence the 007, and working under cover. I still have more cosies underway, but here are the ones I finished yesterday...

Busy, busy, busy...

Is it just me or has this year just flown by? I have lots of great fairs and markets scheduled in before Christmas , and so the preparations have begun. At the end of this month I'm off to Wellington for Craft 2.0, so I've been stitching up some new zippitydoodahs as well as working on some of my waste not want knot items ( these are new things made from vintage & surplus textiles). Heres a little peak at some of the things that have been completed this week.. Owl upcycled hotwater bottles (made from 100% NZ wool blankets- perfect for Northern hemisphere xmas pressies) Morepork Doorstops ( also available unfilled for posting overseas), Tea cosies made from vintage embroidered teatray linen and lined with Laura Ashley retro fabrics, and of course plenty of Zippitydoodahs

Once again , a totally shocking effort at blogging, but I have been remembering to update the facebook page, Forgive Me?

Lately I've been trying to organise my creative space, Is that really possible? I've had a huge sort of the thousands ( yes really) of zips I have into their colours and whether they are vintage or modern, so now have two rainbows of zips. Plus a bit of a sort out of some buttons and other notions and a reshuffle of the fabric stash. I'm hoping to move into my new studio by the end of October, and once that is sorted I'm happy for clients/friends to drop by for coffee and a browse of the always extending range of all things handmade & zipppie!

Plans are afoot for something new based on a vintage item I was lucky enough to inherit recently... watch this space, and since I'm a terrible blogger I'm thinking of merging the waste not , want knot blog with this one....

Heres a little selection of whats new...

Spring has Sprung!

Spring is here! Its a blue sky day and I'm sitting with the sun on my back and enjoying the view of my garden as I stitch some vintage zippers into new zippitydoodahs! Seems like a perfect day, I'm going to squeeze in a few more hours of creativity and then I've planned a special first day of spring dinner for the family.

Things have been pretty busy lately, and of course I'm trying to get some new things ready for Christmas ( So many ideas , so little time). Scarey to think Christmas isn't that far away now, especially if like me you need to send things overseas! A few pics of what I've been up to...

The Auckland Art and Craft Fair is this weekend at the Auckland Art Gallery - Excited! I'm practically bouncing off the walls! I've been thinking up new and exciting ways to show my zippitydoodahs and lets just say I've got something a little bit different planned for Saturday! I promise to take photos of how it looks. In the meanwhile I have been watching Tim Burtons Alice in Wonderland which has inspired some new flower shapes and colour combinations. Here are a few pic of zippies inspired by Alice's dress and how it changes in the movie as she changes in size and circumstances!

I've been busy preping for all the great events happening this month. I'm just back from a short mini working holiday in Christchurch, where I was part of A Craft affair, Loved it - but then I am also a big fan of Christchurch which is full of Arty wonderfulness! http://www.acraftaffair.co.nz/2010/07/meet-maker-zippitydoodah.html

This month you'll find me at the inaugural Auckland Art Fair being held for the first time on July 24th at the Art lounge, Auckland Art gallery in the city! read all about it here http://aucklandfair.blogspot.com

Of course you can head along the very next day to Kraft bomb market at the Greylynn Community centre, Richmond rd, Greylynn Auckland- July 25th 11am -2pm where I'll be with some new zippities I've made especially for Kraftbomb fans! .

So until then I'm going to be eyes down stitching up new zippities and keeping you all up to date via the zippitydoodah facebook page! http://www.facebook.com/pages/ZippityDooDah-handmade-wonders/112513048787766

Going Native....

Lately I've been working on some new ideas for zippitydoodahs, inspired firstly by our native NZ Birds ( O.k. I should also probably admit that I had a lot of green vintage zips I was itching to contort into something new- cause I love green, but its not so good for flowers). I often have little silver eyes that flit in and out of the hedge in my garden, and lately I have even the cheeky call of a fantail next door in the large pohutokawa. So here are my first little birds, A silver eye, a fantail, mmorepork and of course a cheeky Kea. No doubt they will continue to evolve over the next few weeks.

Yikes where does the time go! Stitched together lots of new zippities and have some new exciting Zippitydoodah products coming soon. I have also been busy with new products for the http://www.wastenotwantknot.blogspot.com project which you can see over on the new blog. Pllus some of you will have seen I have a new facebook page for zippitydoodah - handmade wonders, which I have been updating a little more regularly. I popped over to Sydney, Australia at the end of May to catch the Contemporary Art Festival and check out their craft fairs. Currently I'm preparing for My regular markets as well as the new Auckland Art & Craft fair that is happening at the Auckland Art Gallery on 24th July. I'm also popping down to Christchurc for A Craft Affair on the 11th July- Can't wait!

Wow things have been busy, and tomorrow I'm off across the ditch to Sydney for the Sydney Biennale which is quite possibly the coolest festival of contemporary art. I'm hoping to catch as many of the events as I can and be inspired by all the amazing artists, with over 50 to choose its a bit like bliss! Many fabulous things have been happening, lots of new zippitydoodah creations including Rings! And gret news I'm going to be at the Auckland Art & Craft fair being held at the Auckland Art Gallery in july, but more about that when I get back, suitcase to pack, sketch book to find!