Kraftbomb today!

that's right! It's the big FIRST birthday bash today for Kraftbomb and I can't wait! See you there....


11am til 2pm
Grey Lynn Community Centre
510 Richmond Road
Grey Lynn

Read more...

'Babe in the Wood' gracing the glossies...

My 'Babe in the Wood' in Birds & Butterflies print has been beautifully placed in this August 09 issue of Pet Magazine! I'm so proud, it looks fantastic!

This print actually inspired my fawn design, and it sure has had a lot of attention since it's creation. Within a week of opening my Etsy store, it was on the front page! It really has a special place in my heart, despite it's popularity, it's just so darn cute.

Read more...

front page goodness

and then the treasury was snapped up for the front page! What a day, I'm super chuffed!

Also a small miracle that I snapped it, most of the time it's a flash in the pan in the middle of the night!

Read more...

yarr, Etsy Treasure(y)!

If your quick smart, take a look-see at this gorgeous Treasury that SealMaiden has put together, such a beautiful collection of items and I'm so lucky to have my 'Hold Your Heart' magnets picked!

Treasuries don't stick around for long, so don't miss out on finding yer Etsy gold!

Read more...

a very productive weekend

This weekend proved to be so productive, I think that I can take the next one off!

Firstly, I had Friday off Uni due to handing in my assignment early on Friday (what a swat! Haha) so I spent the day making all sorts of goodies for the upcoming Kraftbomb market. I ran out of Fawns, Magnets and Brooches at the last one, so I really had to pull finger and get cracking making some more stuff. I also made some of my new designs of Mice and Squirrels and they came out so well. Now I just have to take some lovely photo's, hopefully a sunny day is soon so I can have some decent lighting!

The Postman was also kind to me on Friday and delivered my beautiful new postcards! They look so great (which was quite a releif) and it will be great to hand them out about the place, with the forst lucky bunch to be given with purchases at this months Kraftbomb!

Bread Making...
I remember my Mum making bread for us all the time when we were kids, mainly because we had a gluten intolerance, but I think it was also something nice to do with my brother and I. When I had my daughter, Mum gave me her La Leche League cookbook (printed in 1985, scribbles courtesy of me circa 1986, Mum actually set up the Devonport La Leche League group in the 80's too!) and it's been awesome cooking all the yummy things that she made for us when we were kids.

Anyway, I decided to have a go at making some bread myself being that mine had all run out, and rather then take a trip to the shops I'd put in some elbow grease. This loaf that I made isn't gluten free as I have outgrown my intolerance, but I'll be attempting a gluten free loaf next weekend for Grace as she has a gluten free diet with a severe intolerance.

As you can see, jewelery was forgotten and is actually now soaking trying to get the glue-like substance off... Still, proud of the fact I didn't make a total mess of the kitchen!

After ten minutes of kneading, above is my lovely dough sitting on a warm oven, waiting to rise... (I am REALLY going to feel that tomorrow, aching arms already!). I waited for it to rise, and kneaded again, split it into two, popped it in the bread tin (thanks to Mum for that also, I think it's about as old as me..) let it rise again and bunged it into the oven.

I did learn today, that a top tip for making a nice crust is to pop a ceramic dish of water in the bottom of the oven while it's heating, the leave it there when it's cooking too - apparently the steam is what makes it nice, and it really did. Thanks to the Farmgirl Fare blog for that!

And as you can see here, I have two giant buns that are soft, springy and oh-my-goodness so delicious! I think next time though, I'll leave the dough in one bit as it looks a bit demented in two bits... Still, breakfast tomorrow will be awesome!

Cat Napping...
We also took a trip out to have coffee with friends on Saturday morning. As we left, Leo our cat had jumped into Grace's new dolls cot (that she got for her birthday last week) to have a nice, comfy nap. When we came home the little blighter was still in there! Grace thought it was excellent to have a real live baby to 'play' with, that was until he got a bit cross about it and the claws came out...

Anzac Biscuits!
And finally, this evening I made some Anzac biscuits (also care of Mums La Leche League book). As you can see, they merged into one and I have some giant biscuits, but I am in no way complaining. I'll have to work out why that was, but they taste absolutely amazing and I'll be looking forward to having one with my mid-morning cuppa tomorrow!

Have a good rest of your weekend everyone!
Jess x x

Read more...

Happy Birthday Kraftbomb!!

I almost can't believe that Kraftbomb is turning one! What on earth did we do before City and Karla came up with such a rad idea...? I'm so proud to be a vendor at such a special Kraftbomb, and it's going to be extra special because there will be even more vendors there than usual in the second room of the community centre - very awesome.

So I hope that you will all attend, have a go at doing some of your Christmas shopping and support local artists in the process - who needs to buy mass produced items for our loved ones this year? Not us!

Grey Lynn Community Centre
510 Richmond Road (Surrey Cres end)
Grey Lynn, Auckland
11am til 2pm

Entry is of course free, and there will be Fred's amazing homemade Lemonade, NZ Cupcake Queen cupcakes and a playground to occupy the kiddies.

See you there!
x x x

Read more...

some tid-bits of news...

So it's been a busy last couple of weeks for me; uni we had our Illustrator final assignment (in which I got a B+ so pretty happy with that), I've been designing some new silhouettes to introduce to the range and it was also my little girls 4th Birthday - so definitely enough to keep me busy!
New Fabrics and Designs...
Here are some of the new fabrics that I indulged in a few weeks ago, my favourite is the black and white one with the bright flowers - it matches really well to the vintage tulip one I already have. I was also trying to find some blue fabrics, just to give some more options. I've been making a whole lot of new stuff over the last week (between uni work) as I ran out of fawns at the last Kraftbomb! I have two new shapes too; a mouse and a squirrel and they have turned out really well. The mouse will have a tail of matching fabric which looks really sweet.

The Birthday Party...
I thought that I'd just have to include a photo of the party - it was a pink princess theme (as I'm sure you can tell...) each little guest had their own personalised crown with their name on it. We had 10 little girls attend and there were no tears or fights between any of them! At the beginning I had several parents mention to me how brave I was with inviting so many, it wasn't until the party had ended that I figured out why they had said that! I was stuffed and it had been the busiest day I think I've had in a while. We were all in bed at about 8pm!

New Postcards...
I thought it would be fun to do some postcards to hand out and what have you, I designed this one with my favourite fabric covered art on it and it also features the new logo that I designed. They weren't too expensive which was nice and I'm hoping that when I hand them out people will keep them. They should be arriving this week, so I'll be keeping a keen eye on the letterbox until then!

In other news...
The Auckland screening of Handmade Nation was on last Tuesday, I couldn't make it along but I've heard some really great stuff about it, I'm going to see if I can hunt it out on DVD... Sarah from The Devonport Craft Market had booked a stall after the screening which was very kindly manned by Bronwyn of R.W Scissors and I got to have a few goodies on the stall too (thank you Sarah!) nothing of mine found new homes, but it was great to have that bit of extra publicity.

Also in some exciting news, in the next issue of Pet Magazine you will also find a gorgeous 'Babe in the Wood' being featured with some other great items from the Toggle.co.nz website, thanks so much to Esther from Toggle who arranged it - I'll pop up some photo's when I get my hot little hands on a copy.

Talk soon my dearies x x x

Read more...