The Tea Party is back in a new location!

Come along to our Candlelit Tea Party and take a look at our gorgeous range of candles while enjoying a cup of tea and a cupcake on some fine vintage china. There will be a range of lit candles on display, great deals on clearance stock, free gift wrapping and a goodie bag for each attendee.

It will be a great chance to catch up with friends, do a spot and shopping and perhaps even get your Mother's day gift sorted. The Pay It Forward shop will also be open, especially for the Tea Party, so you can also take a look around at all the lovely locally made items in store while you are there.

Sunday May 3rd from 2:30pm - 4pm at Community Space at Pay it Forward, 49 Nancy Ave, Mairehau, Christchurch. Pay it Forward will be open from 1:30pm - 4:30pm.

Christchurch Heritage - Part 2

Following on from last weeks post, I popped into town yesterday to take photos of the remaining buildings from my earlier post documenting some of the buildings which survived the September earthquake. While I was there I also did a spot of shopping at the Tava pop-up shop and Bridget's two hour shop, both in Cathedral Junction.

This time I took printouts of the old photos with me, so I could try and line up a similar shot.

This lovely old building on the corner of Hereford and High Streets suffered a lot of damage in the February earthquake and was subsequently demolished. This photograph was quite hard to line up, with only one building from the original photo still remaining.

This is the old Post office building in the Square with Telecom behind it. I'm not sure what the fate of it is. The scene is a bit lopsided now, with both buildings on the right now gone. I think the turret from the old Regent Theatre (?) has been saved, and is sitting on a property near Linwood Ave, visible from the road and looking slightly out of place!

This photo is largely unchanged from the original. The Old Government building has been restored and reopened by the Heritage Hotel. There is a swimming pool in the basement gym which I learned to swim in at the ripe old age of 22.

New Regent Street has also been restored and reopened. You'll note a common theme among these photos - most of tall buildings in the background have gone. I don't really miss them, I don't like skyscrapers that much. Don't like being up high inside them, and don't like their behemoth presence from the outside.

I enjoy going into the city centre. It is getting it's buzz back with more people around, with things to see and places to go. I'm looking forward to seeing the new buildings and initiatives that groups like Gap Filler keep dreaming up. The Pallet Pavilion, an event space they set up is being deconstructed next month. One of the final events there is the Monster March Market, 22 March from 10am - 3pm. You'll find us there, for our first market this year. We'll be bringing all our current candles along with a selection of clearance candles.

Christchurch Heritage - Part 1

A week after the first earthquake in September 2010, I went for a walk around the city to survey the damaged buildings. I ended up taking photos of the beautiful old buildings that appeared to have survived unscathed. There had been lots of coverage in the media about the buildings that had been badly damaged, so I wanted to show the other side of the story, and wrote a post about the ones that had survived.

After the February earthquake struck, I wanted to go back and take updated photos of them showing which ones had still survived, and which ones had succumbed. This has taken a lot longer than I anticipated, due to the time it's taken to reopen the CBD, and life in general has also got in the way. I was back in there a couple of weeks ago, and took these 'after' shots of the first few buildings in that post. I will do a follow up post in a couple of weeks showing the remaining buildings featured once I get a chance to photograph them.

Our City O-Tautahi, or the former Municipal Chambers building has some significance to me as the building I did my very first market in. As you can see, a lot of work has gone into stabilising the building, so hopefully it will be restored.

The former Public Trust building is one I used to walk past every day when I worked in town. I recall it being extensively refitted, and so hoped some earthquake strengthening was done at this time. It turns out some was, but apparently that wasn't enough, as the owners are currently trying to get permission to demolish it. This hasn't met the criteria for CERA's section 38 notice, so they are now deciding what to do with it. Apparently it can be saved, so fingers crossed the money is found to make this happen.

I have noticed on my travels that a lot of the old Public Trust buildings are of a similar style, such as this one that survived the Napier earthquake. Let's hope our one in Christchurch has the same happy ending!

Shand's Emporium has always been a favourite of mine, as it appeared to defy the progress around it and remain. Unfortunately it hasn't been quite able to do this now, as a new development in the area requires the space. The owner was keen to preserve it, and last I heard, had offered it free to a good home, even willing to pay the relocation costs. While researching this post today, I found it has found a new owner, and may be relocated out to Redcliffs. It is shown here where it has been moved out of harms way until it can be taken to it's new home. I look forward to seeing it repaired and returned to it's former glory.

In a few more years time, I would love to bring you some more photos showing these buildings repaired and restored. In the meantime I will update you on the other buildings featured in my original post.

Three years on

It's nice to be back in Christcurch again this year for the anniversary of the devastating earthquake that rocked our city three years ago. Although some of the details of that day are beginning to fade, it is something I will never forget. We went into the memorial service in the botanic gardens today, it was a lovely spot for it on a hot day.

Last weekend I retraced my footsteps from the moments before the earthquake for the first time since that day. This has only been possible for the last six months or so when the red zone cordon was finally taken down. There are still quite a few fences and shipping containers still up - though times are changing, and some are around new buildings.

Here are some photos I took, to document what it is like now. I couldn't retrace my exact path due to the fences and shipping containers that are still up, but this is fairly close. The phrase that come to mind afterwards was 'there but for the grace of God go I'.

I had parked in the carpark at the Crossing, and bought some sushi for lunch which I still had with me, which came in handy later on.

 Cashel mall - Glassons and the Westpac tower once stood here.

 High Street.

It was nice to see some signs of life returning to this part of High street. This heritage building has been restored to it's original beauty, and the new Strange's building next to it appears to be progressing well.

The site of the old Ruben Blades building which was badly damaged during the quake.

High and Manchester street, with the containers holding up what's left of the Excelsior facade.

The site of the old ANZ chambers building, which completely collapsed during the shaking. This one one of my favourite buildings, so it was sad to hear of its fate.

McKenzie & Willis building on Tuam street. There were wire fences in front of it on the day - I remember thinking as I walked along side them after crossing the street if you were supposed to walk right next to them... little did I know.

After popping into Harakeke, I walked back up the other side of High street.

Standing at these lights waiting to cross, I didn't realise at the time I would be one of the last people to see the old ANZ chambers building still standing.

 Majestic House on Manchester Street.

Bedford Row - after where I'd been the previous for the previous ten minutes, this wasn't a bad place to be for the quake.

As I remember the terrible events of that day, my thoughts are with those that lost loved ones, those that were injured and those whose houses and businesses were badly damaged. I don't think anyone comprehended the scale of what had happened, I couldn't. I remember thinking that it would be a lot longer than last time before we were allowed back in the central city, but I was thinking it would be months, not years. I have wanted to do an update on the buildings I showed in this post a week after the September quake ever since then. I've got some updated photos, so once I have the rest, I will do a post with them.

Three years on, I hope that those who are still struggling with insurance issues get some answers and closure soon, so they can move on with their lives.

World famous in Christchurch

Click here to read the article

It's not often you get a full page feature in the local newspaper, so I was quite excited this morning to go and buy a copy of the Press so I could see how it looked. A big thank you to Katy who helps keep up the profile of the local crafting community by writing articles for the Zest section of the Press.

The photo is of my stall at the Christmas Encraftment last year – thanks Emma for taking the pics!

Manderley Home and Garden Festival

Last year I really enjoyed the Manderley Home and Garden festival, so was looking forward to going back this year. It really is a lovely event, in a very picturesque setting, as can be seen below – this is the view from the back of my site!

It's a great day out, with stalls, entertainment, food and beverages. You can look inside the historic homestead, and you can even take a dip in the pool if you packed your togs.

It's on again tomorrow from 10am – 4pm at Manderley, which is opposite the Lake Forsyth rest area, not long before Little River. It's $15 per adult, with under 12s free.

If you do come along, don't forget to take a look at the sales table – there will be some good specials on tomorrow as well!

New soy pillar and floating candles

After what seems like forever, I have finally uploaded my new candles to my website and Felt shop. The floating candles have been in progress for quite some time. I wanted something small that could fit inside a teacup, which required a lot of testing to get the right wick. These last for 3-4 hours, which is longer than the old floating candles I was making.

I also wanted to try my hand at making soy pillars. As you may have noticed, most soy wax used is a blend designed for container candles. However there are pillar blends available, which is the wax I use for the melts. My supplier recommended blending it with a palm wax for the best results, but to me that defeated the purpose of making a soy pillar. After some testing, and a lot of tinkering, I have produced a 100% soy pillar candle that burns really well. Soy wax is different to paraffin where it needs to keep a wall of wax around it while it burns down, because if it leaks, it leaks a lot. I maybe able to conduct further testing to combat this in future candles, but in the meantime I have produced a lovely candle that glows nicely through the wall, and burns for over 50 hours.

Both the floating and pillar candles are available in rose, vanilla, frangipani, mandarin & mimosa and white tea fragrances. I hope to add some more fragrances to this range. These will be available at both the Craft Invaders market and Methven Craft Fair. If you would like a $10 discount voucher for the soy pillar candles, all you need to do is sign up to the newsletter, which you can do here. If you are already a subscriber, there is a coupon in the email sent out yesterday. Offer ends 5th August 2012.

Market update – Craft Invaders & Methven

Today I've been figuring out how to fit all my stock onto one table for next weeks Craft Invaders market. I've got used to having two tables in my outdoor gazebo setup, but I'm grateful to be inside next weekend, so happy to downsize to be warm!

The following weekend I will be out at Methven for the annual Methven Craft Fair at the Memorial Hall (the same building as the info centre). It is on the 4th & 5th August from 10am – 5pm on Saturday, and 9am – 4pm on Sunday.

I will have specials on clearance stock at both markets, but it's first in first served on discontinued items. I will also have eftpos available for the first time. It's something I've been wanting to offer for quite some time, so I finally made the leap and organised it. I will be still accepting cash too, of course!

If you can't get to either of these markets, you might like to pop down to one of my new stockists. Pepperberry at 919 Colombo Street now has a selection of candles, along with Cadeaux at Shop 2, 7 Joll Road in Havelock North, one of the new stockists from the recent Gift Fair.

Winter Gift Fair

Last week was my first foray into trade shows, when I exhibited at the Winter Gift Fair, a trade show for retail buyers. It was a little different to the markets I usually attend. There were a wide range of exhibitors, ranging from large importers to small scale owner operators like myself. There were some other exhibitors there I knew which helped make the whole experience a bit less daunting.

It was a worthwhile experience, a great way to get my name out there. I got orders for some new stockists around the country which I'm currently working away on. So keep an eye out for Rose in Thorns candles in a shop near you! There were also some other shops interested in stocking my candles, so the list of new stockists may keep expanding.

I launched some new products at the fair – soy pillars and small soy floating candles, which I will add to my website and Felt shop in the next week or so. In the meantime, I have some older stock I'd like to clear out, so I'm having a sale to help create some more room for the new products. Everything in my website is discounted by 20% - 50%, and I have discounted most of the teacups in my Felt shop, along with some other items. The sale ends on the 30th June, so don't miss out!

A big thanks to everyone that helped out, friends that offered advice while getting organised, and those that were also exhibitors. Also to those that placed orders, and showed interest in my products. I'll keep you updated on my new stockists as I despatch their orders to them.

Winter Encraftment this weekend

The Encraftment Market is back again this weekend with a brand new venue. It's on from 10am till 3pm on Saturday the 26th May at the Jack Mann Auditorium, Solway Ave which has plenty of parking. I'll be outside in my gazebo – and will be bringing candles to light in case it is cold in the morning!

It's been a bit hectic around here lately. We've moved out of our house while earthquake repairs are completed. Fortunately we found a place to stay close by, and I've been able to pop back and make candles and get the bits and pieces I need.

As part of the repair process, my office will be getting repainted, and I have picked a duck egg blue colour which I have high hopes for! The only problem is I might have to get some new curtains to match the new colour.

I have some new soy floating candles I hope to have ready for the market. They may take a little longer to list up on the website due to my usual photographing area being unavailable.

Milestones and a Merry Christmas to you

Yesterday, I was working through my pre-Christmas to-do list. I had just sent my Christmas newsletter out to subscribers, and then moved on the the next item on my to-do list, the end of year blog post. There were a whole lot of marigolds growing in the front yard of a broken house that I had wanted to take a photo of for a while, and I thought it might be nice to use that for the post. The flowers had taken over entire front yard, on what used to be a concrete pad – you can't even see that now! I thought it was a nice symbol of how nice things can happen in the face of ruin. So I walked down to get the photo, then came back, uploaded them from the camera, found the image I wanted to use, and saved it to my blog images folder.

Then came the familiar wobble of an impending aftershock, so I got up and opened the door. It got worse, so I decided to go under the dining table, which involved getting past the chairs while everything was madly shaking, so ended up with a couple of bumps to my legs. As I live on the western edge of the eastern suburbs, the power always goes out here when there is a decent shake, so I wasn't able to make a start on the post, or do anything else on my 'work' to-do list. So I went outside to do some gardening, but after the second slightly larger jolt, decided it might be a good idea to just give up for the day!

So... this year that has already been quite interesting, just keeps on going. I remember looking back last year over a rather eventful year, having no idea how much more eventful this year would be. Who knows what next year will bring!

In that post I said I hoped to build my business into a sustainable source of income for myself. This hasn't been an easy task, but in the last two months I have managed to achieve that milestone. That is, bring in enough money to cover my costs, and pay myself my modest token salary. Now I hope to continue that and hopefully build on it in the new year. A big thank you to everyone that has supported my business this year, in any way, even if in a seemingly small way. It all counts, and I couldn't have done it without you, especially through such challenging times.

As this city has faced some major events this year, I have also had a few milestones myself. I recently turned 30, which isn't a major milestone in itself, but I do feel I have achieved quite a lot in those years. We have also recently purchased our first house, which we move into in January. This is really exciting, and even more of an achievement when one of you is self-employed – banks don't really like lending on little starting out incomes!

So over the break I will be busy sorting and packing everything up, as well as a trip to Nelson to visit my family, and a trip to Wellington for a wedding. I won't be closing my Felt shop per se, but there will be a delay on posting orders. Any orders placed between now and the end of next week will be posted on Friday 30th December, and any placed after that will be posted on the 9th January.

So wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year, and hoping my fellow Christchurch citizens don't get too shaken up over the holidays. See you all again next year!

All I want for Christmas Market

This weekend will be my last Christchurch market (but not my last market, I still have three more of them lined up!) It is the All I want for Christmas market, held on Saturday from 10am - 4pm at the Shirley Intermediate school hall. It is organised by the lovely ladies from the Craft Collective who brought us the two markets at Goodbye Blue Monday last Christmas, and the Monster May Market earlier in the year.

I will have some owl candles with me – if they don't all sell on Felt in the meantime! I also have a special on tin candles at the moment if you but three of any one size. Three small tins for $40 (save $8), three medium tins for $50 (save $10) and three large tins for $60 (save $12). The essentials are three small for $45 (save $9), three medium for $55 (save $11) and three large for $65 (save $13). A great way to stock up for Christmas, or yourself. I am planning to phase out the small and large tins, to streamline my stocks a bit more, so this is a way to help clear them out. I will also have some other specials, so I have less stock to move in January. Though as I need to fit everything all onto one table (after getting quite used to my two tables with the outdoor sites!) I won't be able to put a lot out at any one time, and will rotate it throughout the day. Feel free to ask to see what I don't have on display.

The Women's refuge will also be there, and will have a drop of box for gifts for the children for Christmas. If you would like to bring something along to donate, please leave them unqrapped, and here a some ideas for items to give: new toys and books for children, model making kits, colouring in books, jigsaws, puzzles and games. There will alway be a raffle to raise money for the Women's refuge also.

My remaining three markets after this are:

Kiwi Christmas Market: 5pm - 9pm, 14th December at Westland High School, Hokitika

A Christmas Cracker: 12:30pm - 5pm, 17th December at the Baptist Church back room, East Belt, Rangiora

Methven Farmers Market & Christmas Craft Market: 9:30am - 12pm, 18th December at the Heritage Centre, Methven.

This weekend's events

This weekend I will be at the Christmas Encraftment Market at on Saturday 26th November, from 10am – 3pm at Christchurch Girls High School Gym, 10 Matai Street, Riccarton.

There will be lots of great craft stalls, including Black Swan Designs, Cloud Nine Creative, Mudbird, Green Jean, Honey and Spice, Freedom Creative, Natural Star, In my Backyard, The Busy Finch, My 2 Monsters, Sailor Spy, Relique, lots of yummy baking from the Sweetheart Bakery and many, many more great stalls.

I can't thing of a better place to start your Christmas shopping (or finish it if you're super organised!) I will have the new owls, along with some brand new Christmas candles – you'll have to come along if you want to be one of the first to check them out!

If you can't make it to Encraftment, or feel like squeezing lots of Christmassy goodness in one day, pop out to Rolleston for an Open Christmas House and Craft stalls. This is a fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House, a charity that provides support and a place to stay for families of sick children that have to come to Christchurch from out of town to the Hospital. The company I used to work for is a supporter of the house. While there I did some of their design work, including their newsletter, so learned a lot about the great things they do.

I won't be there personally, as two events in one day is pushing things a little bit. The organiser of the event has arranged someone to look after my stall for me. I will be donating 20% of all sales to Ronald McDonald House. It's just $5 entry to this event, in support of a very worthy cause.

Mandeville Craft Festival this weekend

I feel like I've been neglecting my blog a bit lately – sorry about that! I've been super busy with lots of markets, design work, and organising something new and exciting. Once it's all signed and sealed, I'll let you know what it is!

This weekend I will be at the Mandeville Craft Festival at Mandeville Sports Centre on Saturday 19th November from 11am – 4pm. It's just a short drive from Christchurch, and there will be an array of quality craft stalls, christmas gifts, live music and a gourmet food court. Experience the atmosphere and excitement of a country fete minutes from the city.

My painting group's annual exhibition opened yesterday, and will run until the 15th December at South Library, 66 Colombo Street. As always there is a great variety of paintings for sale, at very reasonable prices. A big thanks to Maree for finding us a venue this year, when such spaces are so difficult to find. I'm not organised enough to have photos of my paintings to add to this post sorry! I might add some later.

Whirlwind trip to Auckland

Last weekend was an action packed trip to Auckland. I managed to fit in visiting some potential stockists, catch up with family and friends, had a lovely day at the Devonport Craft Market, and catch the very last show of the Circ de Soleil – which was awesome. I think I'm only just recovering now!

At the Devonport Craft market I got to catch up with Elizabeth from Zippity Doodah and Sarah from Songbird Designs. I also met lots of new people, including Glen from Glennie Knits, Leanne from Feel at Home, Helene from Happy go Knitty, Diane from Nala Boo, Renee from The Little White Box and Kylie who makes mosaics from broken china. If I hadn't started to feel guilty about neglecting my stall I would have introduced myself to more of the local crafters.

I'd like to do a shout-out to Sarah McLeod to say thank you for her awesome hospitality, and also for so kindly offering to take some of my candles to sell on my behalf at future markets in Devonport. Thank you also to the shoppers that came and said hi. It's always lovely to put a face to a name.

This weekend I'll be a bit closer to home, at the Spring Encraftment Market tomorrow at Villa Maria College Hall, from 10am – 3pm. See you there!

Escape from the City

***EDIT***

Due to forecast low temperatures and adverse weather conditions, this event has now been cancelled.

***EDIT***

This Sunday I will be attending Escape the City, a gala event that offers the opportunity for Christchurch residents to unwind in the beautiful Canterbury high country. Glenfalloch Station, at the head of the Rakaia river will open it's gates to the public from 11am – 3pm on the 24 July.

There will be entertainment, a farmers and artisan market and art exhibtion, a musterers luch, and plenty of opportunties to explore the rugged high country. When you arrive you will be warmly welcomed with a hot chocolate and some mulled wine. The weather forecast for the area is looking better than for the Canterbury plains, and there has been lots of snow on the mountains making the area very picturesque.

Ticket can be purchased for $15 per car from Traiteurs in Merivale, or Mercato at Fitzgerald Ave. otherwise you can pay $20 at the gate. Driving directions can be found here. Proceeds from the event will go to the Canterbury earthqauke recovery fund.

Lucky last teardrops

My clearout of mini-teardop candles is almost at an end. If you want to take advantage of the half price clearance offer, you will need to get in soon. I only have small quantities of the Rose, Orange and Frangipani fragrances left now. The Rainforest fragrance is the only one available in sufficient quantities for the set of five. I will have the remaining stock with me on Saturday at the Winter Encraftment market. If you can't make it along there, I have all the mini-teardrops available listed on Felt.

They are being replaced with small teardrops, which are available now. I have improved upon the mini-teardrops – the small size is 20% larger, and they last about three times longer, and the wick is a more suitable size. These are still available at the introductory price of $10 each. This has almost come to an end, and I will be raising the price of them on Monday to $14 each, to reflect the true cost of creating them. I will also be increasing the prices of the Valentines Hearts, Floating candles and Hand-dipped tapers at this time as well. I been revising my wholesale pricing to make sure it is sustainable, which means I need to raise the retail price as well to keep them in line. You have got until the end of Sunday the 3rd July to take advantage of my current prices – either at the Winter Encraftment Market, or on Felt.

Winter Encraftment market

The next market I have coming up is the Winter Encraftment Market on July 2nd at Villa Maria College Hall, from 10am-3pm.

This is a new market, and with over 50 creative stalls, there will be something for everyone. Bags, gifts, crafty items, toys, games, kids decor, vintage and modern jewellery, clothing, crafting supplies, homewares, garden art, children's clothing and accessories as well as amazing food, coffee and hot chocolate.

You will find goodies from Locket, Mudbird NZ, Feltgood, Green Jean, Cloudnine, Relique, The Wardrobe and many more. Forget the malls, come beat the chill of winter and the shaky ground with some retail therapy at Encraftment!