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