Please note that this video contains a tiny amount of coarse language – watch at your peril!
We use over a billion plastic bags a year here in New Zealand, which results in 40,000 bags ending up in landfill an hour. Supermarkets in New Zealand have been particularly slack about reducing their use of plastic bags, and we haven’t seen a lot of action from our Government either, so it’s down to us to make the change.
Luckily there’s some really clever crafters out there making great alternatives to plastic bags which are not only reusable, durable, and often made from recycled or upcycled materials, but they’re also really stylish – social responsibility aside, these bags are gorgeous!
Feel like you need to do more? As well as making a statement by taking your canvas bags to the supermarket, you can support campaigns like noplasticbags.org.nz and GetReal to help reduce plastic bag use in New Zealand.
In the words of Tim Minchin in his awesome environmental anthem: “Just think about the world and how the world would be fantastic if we could get rid of all the plastic!”
Images courtesy of Rafael McStevenson and Christchurch City Council
Crafty Business is back! Monday 1 February is our first session for the year, and due to renovations underway after a change of ownership at Churchills, we are temporarily shifting to Our City O-Tautahi for the February and March sessions.
For this first session we’re very lucky to have Jenna-Lea Philpott coming along to speak to us about her experience working in the UK craft sector over the last two years.
Jenna-Lea is an experienced arts advocate, creative business advisor and craft consultant who has founded several charitable trusts and groups such as the NZ Creative Industries Trust, the Christchurch Music Industry Trust (CHART), the Christchurch Creative Industries Network, and has supported the development of other organisations such as the UK-based Heritage Crafts Association.
Employed by Creative & Cultural Skills UK, Jenna recently led the public consultation and co-wrote The Craft Blueprint: A Workforce Development Plan for Craft in the UK which was launched at the House of Lords in London last year. Establishing and developing close working partnerships with craft makers, guilds and societies, and organisations such as the Crafts Council, Craft Northern Ireland, craftscotland and others, Jenna helped to pioneer new research and qualifications in the UK craft sector.
Now back in NZ, Jenna runs her own business, Tango Creative Consultancy, providing business advice and support to arts organisations and creative practitioners. She’s keen to support the development of the NZ craft sector and work with craft makers, so we hope to give her a great introduction to the Crafty Business community.
Come along to Our City O-Tautahi on the corner of Worcester Boulevard and Oxford Terrace at 7pm on Monday 1 February, meet Jenna-Lea and join us for your monthly dose of crafty company!
As part of the Island Summers exhibition at Our City O-Tautahi in Christchurch, the Creative Conversations workshop on Saturday 30 January is a hands-on opportunity to learn some of the unique Cook Island techniques of embroidery cotton flower making.
The workshop runs from 10am till 11.30am and costs just $5 per person. Booking is essential and Monday is your last chance to do so – call Our City on (03) 941 7460 to book your place.
Crafty fingers around the country are poised over the mouse this weekend as they await the much anticipated launch of limited edition Blendy’s NZ Yarn Sampler Boxes. A treasure trove of goodies for knitters and crafters, the sampler boxes are co-ordinated by Auckland crafter Belinda Hope-Too (also known as Blendy) and contain around 15 artisan yarns, patterns, accessories and other knitting-related items in sample quantities.
Like having a mini craft fair in your living room, you get a little bit of everything that knitters would enjoy, such as yarn, fibre, stitch markers, buttons and embellishments made by fantastic New Zealand makers, including Sabine of Curiouser & Curiouser (whose amazing Firefly yarn is pictured above), Songbird Designs, DKNZ and of course Blendy, with a few delectable international samples thrown in too.
The boxes go on sale on Felt on Saturday. You can sign up here to receive email notifications when they become available. Get in quick, they won’t last long!
The first Crafternoon Tea market of the year is from 10am till 3pm this Saturday 16 January at the Holy Trinity Church on the corner of Sandringham and New North Roads in Kingsland. Head along to check out the luscious spread of handmade goodies offered by some of Auckland’s most talented makers.
The lovely Luisa is also soon to launch the Crafternoon Tea newsletter, a craftalicious newsletter of epic proportions! These monthly newsletters will feature giveaways, competitions, Crafternoon Tea updates, featured sellers, hints, tips, advice, the latest news in the craft world, blogs of the month, upcoming events of interest and much more – sound like your cup of tea? Sign up on the Crafternoon Tea mailing list.
From year to year, my New Year’s resolutions almost always include something about being more organised – I aspire against the odds to be the sort of person who always knows what day it is, remembers every birthday and never double-books. With that in mind, I’ve been scoping out what Felt sellers have to offer for such chronologically challenged people as myself.
If you’re a frequent visitor on Felt, you will no doubt be familiar with the lovely work of Sweet William. Now 12 gorgeous illustrations by Paula Mills (one half of the creative talent that comprises Sweet William) are compiled into a beautiful limited edition 2010 calendar (pictured above).
Also available in calendar form for the new year is the work of the talented Erin Carver, with 12 prints of Erin’s original mixed media paintings from her Beautiful Words series presented in a jewel CD case as a desktop calendar. Boocraft has three different calendars currently on sale featuring illustrated critters (both real and imaginary) and birds of New Zealand, and Hotchpotch & Gruelboy has the perfect accompaniment to 2010 for owl enthusiasts – a parliament of owls! (Now there’s a collective noun you don’t get to use often.)
bakadesign has these gorgeous customised 2010 diaries available in 10 different colours – you can choose your favourite colour and have your name inscribed. If it’s a gift, you can even customise the belly band with your own message for the recipient! And last but not least, Eyecatchers has several calendars listed including The Nostalgic South Island 2010 Calendar, featuring a selection of fine-line pen and ink drawings of character houses and sights around the South Island.
