Christmas is here! (spolier alert...)

Well, a little bit of Christmas arrived in my letterbox yesterday! I signed up to do a Christmas Ornament Swap through the 20cent Mixture blog, you get assigned 5 other people in your group and you have to make a handmade Christmas decoration for each of them — and in turn you get 5 unique Christmas decorations back — sounded like fun to me!

We don't have our tree yet (mainly because I refuse to put anything Christmas related in my house until December, November is WAY too early) but when we do we will have a gorgeous decoration for it made by Emily and it is made from handmade merino and silk felt. I can't wait to see the rest of them!

My gorgeous decoration from Emily

Now, if you're in my ornament swap group DO NOT SCROLL DOWN! I wanted to show everyone the ornaments that I have made. I'm contemplating having these for sale at my Christmas markets as I just love them!

Christmas Pudding Hoppity Hoppity Bunny decorations, genius!

Shopping for Bam Bam Creative...

If you fancy giving someone you love something from Bam Bam Creative this Christmas (or heck, just for whenever really) you may like to know where you can get your hot little hands on my lovely wares, either from markets or the comfort of your own home on-line!

On-line:
My items are usually spread around these shops, so if you have seen something you want and can't find it in one place, do check out the others.
Felt.co.nz my very own felt shop (free shipping in NZ!)
Toggle.co.nz You can find me in the homewares, brooches & pins and purses sections
Little Kiwi's Nest my newest selling spot, gorgeous site with boutique items for babies to 10 year olds
Etsy.com the massive site that is Etsy for all you international folks.

Markets:
Crafternoon Tea: 12th December at Mt Eden Normal School (details to follow)
Love Handmade: 19th December at the Rose Centre in Belmont (TBC)
I'm usually at Kraftbomb every month, but won't be for November. I'm hoping that I'll be there for the 20th of December as so many people were expecting to see me at the November one and have been e-mailing me or asking at other markets! Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me...

Customs:
And if you of course you can't find something that is quite right, please e-mail me for a custom order and I will be happy to oblige. For wall art it's just an additional $4NZD each, brooches and magnets are an additional $1NZD each (if I have your chosen fabric in stock) for cushions and bunting it varies to just let me know what you need. If you do want a custom order let me know quick smart so I can get it to you in time for Christmas.

Bunting (L to R: Soft Pinks, Vintage Hues & Baby Blues)

Woodland Folk Cushions (L to R: Hoppity Hoppity Bunny, Babes In The Wood set of 2, Hoppity Hoppity Bunny)

Fabric Covered Wall Art: (L to R: Babe In The Wood, Hoppity Hoppity Bunny, Fly Little Fantail)

Fabric Covered Wall Art (L to R: Babe In The Wood, I Think Mice Are Rather Nice, Hoppity Hoppity Bunny)

Hold Your Heart Brooches

Ta daa! New Products for tomorrow!

Crafternoon Tea that is, and it's going to be super awesome and full to the brim with vendors, with an extra room open there will be so much to choose from. Perfect to do a spot of Christmas shopping, don't you think?

I've been busy sewing like a maniac, and I finally have my new cushions to début! I've been wanting to extend my boutique homewares range for a while now but was waiting for the lightening bolt of inspiration to strike (thanks Amy!) and the cushions match my bunting and wall art perfectly — a great way to coordinate a room — I have one more item that I am in the process of designing and figuring out a few suppliers, so definitely watch this space....

Now, if you'd like one of these gorgeous cushions you will have to be quick, I only have 5 available tomorrow and at just $45.00 each they will be sure to fly out the door!

set of two Babe in the Wood Cushions

Fly Little Fantail Cushion

Hoppity Hoppity Bunny Cushion

Spot of Tea Guv...?

Said in your best South London accent, but really, I'm talking about Crafternoon Tea this Saturday!! I'm so excited about this market, I really wanted to be at the first one but had a family birthday so couldn't make it as a seller which was a real shame. There are going to be lots of lovely Auckland crafty regulars like Skipapple, Books By Rachel, Ran With Scissors, Cat Taylor, Ruby in the Dust, Miss Ellie May and DMCay Designs plus my very good friend, Kate from Paper Pesto will be doing her first Auckland market!! (I'm so pleased I twisted her arm to apply, haha)

So come along and say hi, I'll be attempting to make a beautiful selection of new goodies to début at this market too so even more reason to come!

To Market, To Market...

This weekend is crazy–busy in Auckland for Markets with plenty to choose from. Yesterday I was involved in the very first Love Handmade market at the Rose Centre in Belmont on the shore, it was really well organised and I thought it went great for a first one.

From a sellers perspective — the venue was the best that I have been at before, the place was full of natural light and the chairs were actually the most comfortable I have ever had to use at a market — which when you think about it is really important as sellers are expected to sit in them for 3 to 5 hours! It was a bit quiet in the morning (but that may have been due to the 9am start, I could barely stop yawning myself!) but soon picked up from 10 and was really steady until finishing at 12. A really good mix of sellers were out with lots of varying styles and everyone was super nice. I'm definitely going to head along before Christmas again!

It was great to put some faces to names of people that are my twitter or blog 'buddies' =) some sellers were Podgy Panda, Oblong Craft Collective (her wares are AMAZING and I warn you that you will spend all your pennies at her table), Skipapple, My Pretty One and two new people that I came across were Throwing Feathers and Ferrit who were both super nice and very talented people. We also had lots of lovely visitors come down to say hi which was also really nice.

So, in typical me fashion, I forgot my camera (hey, I was up silly early and something was bound to be forgotten at that hour) BUT Kylie from Skipapple remembered hers so I'll pop up some pics from her as soon as, in the meantime you can have a nosey at the Love Handmade blog should you wish and mark it in your diaries for next month.

Today we went along to the Devonport Craft Market to say hello for a little bit, it was very nice to pop around and see everyone — until Grace threw a wobbly about wanting a cupcake (and being lactose and gluten intolerant really couldn't have one) so by then it was time to leave and head to Nana's for lunch! It looked as though it was going to be a very busy day so I hope all my crafty buddies had plenty of sales!

Chat soon!
xxx

I'm a little Magpie: Check out my Treasure!

Or Treasury I should say! Sarah from Cotton Kiwi put this together last week and it really is lovely, such beautiful colours. Thanks for including me Sarah!

In other news... it was the Devonport Craft Market this weekend just gone. It was pretty quiet, with not too many people through the doors but I did sell a few things and had so many people interested in my table — which definitely helped to keep the spirits up! The lovely Browyn from R.W Scissors popped along to say hi which was lovely, and it was also Kylie's (my partner in crime for the Auckland Craft Collective) first market for Skipapple, and she did really well which was great!

Now to get ready for the next market, Love Handmade on the 14th of November!

"You may remember me from such places as..."

In the words of Troy McClure, Bam Bam Creative has been out and about lately in rather a few places! I thought that I would share them with you and have a little moment shining in the light...

I was so totally chuffed when Kylie brought over her copy of World Sweet World to show me my name in print! The lovely ladies who organise Kraftbomb, City & Karla, had been interviewed for the magazine about the market and their plans for Kraftbomb in the future — and I got a mention at the end! My name was in amongst Auckland craft royalty with the likes of Toggle, Luxford St, Trixie Delicious, Birdspoke and Ruby in the Dust to name a few. I know it's only a little mention, but I'm very proud all the same.

World Sweet World Magazine

Next up was the lovely Emma of Freedom Creative, who won my competition that I had a while back. She got her package of goodies in the post and was kind enough to do a little blog post about it — I'm so glad she liked her prize so much!

Freedom Creative Blog

Have you checked out the Devonport Craft Market blog lately? If you have, you will see that they did a little 'Meet the Seller' interview with me! Very nice! So if you'd like to have a little nosey, you can find out a bit more about me and how I got into this lovely crafty-stuff. I'll also be at the Devonport market on the 1st of November, this will be my last Devonport Market for the year so if you'd like a Bam Bam goodie to send away for Christmas you had better come along...

The Devonport Craft Market

I was also lucky enough to have a post written about Kylie and I for the Etch Magazine blog! It was about the Auckland Craft Collective stuff and talks about the other stuff that we both do — so great to have our name out there like that! Click here to read the original post.

Etch Magazine Blog

Have you seen me out and about somwhere?? Let me know! I'd love to hear about it!

Chat Soon xxx

Haloween Kraftbomb this weekend!

Just a few tid bits people: As you are probably aware Kraftbomb is this weekend, it would be great to see you there! Especially as it's Halloween Kraftbomb.... I'm contemplating making a Jack-o-Lantern for my table if I can find the time (and a pumpkin big enough!!)



11am til 2pm at the Grey Lynn Community Centre, 512 Richmond Road, Grey Lynn

I'll have plenty of my new bunny zipper purses and bunting too, perfect for Christmas!

Talk soon lovelies xxx

Teaching Grace to Sew...

Today is was rather fickle weather with it pouring one minute, then sunshine the next. Grace and I decided after a trip to the supermarket that there wasn't much point heading to the park (as we had planned) and instead sat down for a Mother-Daughter sewing session.

Grace really likes to watch me sew — she likes to help me choose the fabric (from the multitudes that I have as you can imagine), play with the buttons and zippers but most of all, she marvels at how something just a short time ago was a flat piece of fabric and is now a purse/skirt/bag/hat/top/shorts etc. "that's very clever Mummy" she states rather matter-of-factly as she checks herself out in the mirror usually.

Well, today I was feeling particularly patient and I thought it might be fun to show her how to make stuff too. I had been chatting to Heleen from Ruby in the Dust at the last Devonport Craft Market, about how she had been teaching her son to sew, and I just thought that was so awesome!

I had a whole pile of felt (waiting to be made into little Christmas decorations for our tree this year) so I cut a length with a pointed edge so that Grace could make a little purse. I pinned it in the middle to hold it in place, and drew dots along the edge so that she could see where to put the needle. I had thought about teaching her to go in from one side, then through the underside with a running stitch, but being her first attempt I wanted to keep it easy and we just did a diagonal stitch around the edges.

She was concentrating so hard! It was so sweet when she was finished, the pride was just beaming from her face as you can see. I sewed on a button for her and cut a button hole. Her new purse is now full of her Barbie shoes "to keep them safe Mum" she tells me.

Go Grace!!

Grace getting the hang of sewing her little purse...

Ta Daa!! That's one happy little lady

I gots me another blog!

as if I didn't have enough to do already... but it appears I can squeeze in one more thing! I have been for a while now attempting to save money on my daily existence and make more things for myself to use (bread, gardening, sewing our clothes etc.)

I thought that it would be an excellent idea to pop it all in a blog so that other people can benefit from the things that work, and have a bit of a giggle at me for the things that just don't make the cut. I'll be posting all sorts of goodies like links to tutorials, my own tutorials, gardening stuff, sewing things, recipes for yummy goodies, money stuff, budgeting tricks and general bits and pieces.

Take a look-see if you can, it would be great to have you follow my journey!

P.s. I love the header for my new blog, might be time for a Bam Bam Creative overhaul methinks....