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.

Tea Party – The Summer Edition

It's that time of the year again – time for the Rose in Thorns Tea Party! Like usual there will be baking, pretty teacups and candles available for purchase. A nice relaxing way to do some of your Christmas shopping.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that something new and exciting was happening, and I would tell you all what it was when it was all signed and sealed. We've bought a house! This is quite an achievement, as since I became self-employed and earn less money than I used to, our house buying plans did get thrown into a little disarray. We move in January, which gives me a bit more time to get organised and pack.

This means this will be the last Tea Party at my current address (I'm as yet undecided whether to continue them after we move). It also means I have some stock that I am quite keen to clear so I don't have to move it, so will have some good clearance specials.

It will be at my home in Rochmond, Christchurch from 3pm-5pm on Sunday the 4th December. You are welcome to bring a friend with you, and if RSVPs could be made by 5pm, that should give me enough time to get everything organised. You can RSVP on the Facebook event, and/or this link, if you need my address, I will email it to everyone who RSVP's via the link.

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.

This weeks markets

I may have mentioned earlier I had booked in quite a few markets this year. Well I went a bit crazy for this week, and have three days worth of markets planned!

The first, on Thursday, is the Geraldine Summer Fete. This will be the second year of this exclusive country fete. There will be a selection of New Zealands's finest home, garden and lifestyle products together with the area's quality local produce for a day of indulgence and elegance held at a spectacular South Canterbury property.

The fete is this Thursday November 3rd from 10am-4pm at Stover Farm on State Highway 72, Geraldine. Tickets are $10, which can be bought online, or at the gate on the day. With over 120 stalls – including gorgeous clothing from Tava and Talikins, tours of the iconic Stover Gardens and a Pimms and bite to eat on the Village green, this will be a great day out.

Then, after a day to replenish my stocks and have a well deserved break, I will be heading to the Manderley Home and Garden Festival. Set in a beautiful valley on Banks Peninsula, near Little River, the gardens and grounds of Manderley are the perfect location to showcase 140 stalls selected for the quality and originality. Many food outlets will provide tasty gourmet food complimented with the best of wine and beer. Live music, dancers and many more entertainers will provide something for everyone.

The festival will be held wet or fine, from 10am-4pm on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th November at 3875 Christchurch/Akaroa Highway, Little River (opposite Lake Forsyth rest area). Admission is $10, children under 12 free. You will also find Relique Jewellery and Mudbird there as well. I'm looking forward to a great weekend!

Evening by candlelight

Some powercuts are better than others. The ones that occur immediately after an earthquake aren't much fun, and tend to escalate the tension already caused by the pesky ground shaking. The best kind are ones that happen for other reasons, while I am testing candles. Everything dims to lovely mood lighting.

When we had one a couple of weeks ago, it was shortly after I had blown the candles out when they had finished their test burn for the day. So I had to scramble around in the dark to find the matches and light them again. Then I proceded to plug in the vodem to the laptop to find out why the power had gone out.

It went out again on Friday (yet again, another shake free powercut), while I was testing some new candles. So this time I decided to take a more relaxed approach, and shun all technology more sophisticated than a torch. There is something very soothing about candlelight, and it is much better appreciated without any electric lights on.

As I sat there writing out this blog post – with a pen, on a piece of paper – I realised how all too often I forget to appreciate the simple things in life. Then an hour after it went out, it came back on as suddenly it went out, and everything whirred back into life. The whole experience was a great reminder that sometimes, technology just isn't that important, and powercuts aren't always a bad thing.

Spring Flings and a winner!

Firstly, I would like to announce the winner of my soy melt prize pack – Marie of Crafty Rie fame! Congratulations Marie, your prize is winging it's way to you right now.

This weekend I have a stall at the inaugural Ellesmere Spring Fling. Situated in the beautiful Broadfield Gardens near Hornby, this will be a garden party with a country fete feel. There will be demonstrations, arts, crafts, entertainment and champagne picnics and other food available.

There will also be art by Sarah Deans, sculpture by Allan O'Loughlin and garden tours along with wine and beverages, a jazz band, a string quartet and a touch of Shakespearian theatre all in a lovely sheltered garden.

This event is a fundraiser for Lincoln Community Care. Buy your ticket now for $25 from Paperplus Merivale and Hornby, various Ray White real estate offices, Lincoln New World and Linclon Community Care. There will be no gate sales on the day, so you will need to buy your ticket in advance. Eftpos cash-out facilites are being planned, but it's always a good idea to come prepared with some cash.

It will be open from 10am – 4pm on Sunday 16th October at Broadfields Garden, 250 Selwyn Road, Prebbleton. I have been working a way on a gorgeous new product, and hope to have some ready to bring along on Sunday.