to market, to market, to market, we go!

CRAFTWERK TONIGHT! BLISS!

so we are bringing:

our dolls

our pretty pictures, our toys, our shoes

clothes for babies and toddies

many many cards

more cards

and also
bags
bibs
boys pants
paper art
and maybe more!

we really hope to see you there
ST KEVEN'S ARCADE ON K ROAD
6-9 PM TONIGHT Thursday Aug. 14th

we are upstairs to the left of the stage

and while hunting for some last minute supplies, I found these rabbits at $3 Japan. but I would have paid twice that.

and when I opened them up, scented!
THIS IS A GOOD DAY.
I hope for you too.

-kimberlee

A lot of flapping

We're having a stall at the Craftwerk-fair this Thursday. It's been a while (about 3 months!) and we're so looking forward to it. It's such a pleasant and different fair with quite an alternative creative athmosphere. I'm almost ready making my things for the stall :

pinafores of course

poppy canvas bags

Notari bag

Colorful bibs
(I know that bibs are
about the most generic crafty thing about,
but I really get good responses
to these colorful unisex ones.
The crazy cows on the right are my favorite!)

And this morning a parcel with new fabrics arrived with stunning stuff. I'll have to put them aside for later. But oh. Very nice eh.

trees, flowers and vines

beautiful beautiful Fuwari branches

And Lieveke is no longer Lieveke. She is now a fairy-magician as it happens. Her name is Merlin. She wears her crazy funky 'ballet'-slippers. And purple magic cap. Scaring away naughty dragons with a fluttery dance. It involves a lot of flapping.

'And you hoped I'd never wear pink fluffy stuff mum?'

Heh

Heh

See you soon, perhaps at the fair even.
-Lies

The Starving Artist Fund

Art Space gallery had a starving artist fund fair today to help raise money for an $2000 artist grant they give away each year. Last year Sam Hamilton won and used the money to record sounds of the amazon rain forest, so as you can tell its a very worthy cause.

The event is set up sort of like a school galla with different stations/ booths in which you can buy something interesting and have a unique experience, and of course all the procedes go towards the fund.

Craftwerk was there with an old fashioned silhouette booth where people could get a their portrait traced -fabulous idea, eh! This is the clever sign they made to go along with it. Can you read it?

Local artist/hairstylist 'cellulite' Rose gave me a much needed trim (this is just the before shot when all my hair was still tucked into the cape, so no, I have not had a chop). The after shot is nothing to speak of and unnecciary since one would need a microscpoe to measure the change -just how I like it!

My beautiful friend Emma was much more bold, and I really like the results. She as epic hair, so no matter what she does, the results are favorable.




Lieveke, Lies and I had much fun at the 'build your own vegetable animal ' booth.

this 'pussy cat' was masterminded by Lieveke but assembled by lies and me.


I found these toast racks at the junk booth, but I have found another use for them:) They will have their card holding christening this Thurday night at Craftwerk. We hope to see some of you there.


*******PAPER DOLL UPDATE
Also if you won the Paper Doll draw, I sent them out on friday so start checking your letter boxes soon:) If you missed out and you are local, my paper dolls will be at the Craftwerk at a very low price ($5 basically just to cover costs) so here is your second chance.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.
-k

Refreshed

We are crafting away in full speed towards the upcoming fairs... More posting on that later, surely. Apart from that, the week was a wild and full one, hmmm when is it ever not so?
I'd like to share some beautiful images that have been very inspiring for me lately. My weekend is about to begin, the images allow me to pause and be still and admire. And they refresh me somehow. I seem to be drawn to geometric and intricate print... To bold and sparkly.

We live in such a tiny townhouse. One of those super functional (but rather appealing design) late sixties-'boxes'. Most times a mess, ah always cozy I guess... It is our home and it feels so good. Here is my favorite corner (some cards and prints from friends but mostly from Oma and Vake -Lievie's grandparents in Belgium on the sideboard). Not tidy, but happy.



Browsing in this attractive chunky book 'Sample (100 fashion designers - 10 curators) Cuttings from Contemporary Fashion', I gaze at

blogs-cherie Mina Perhonen (shirt-skirt spring/summer 2003)

and French 'joli retour au modernisme' by Yvan Mispelaere (spring/summer 2004)

Skipping and hopping from this Etsy-favorite to that, I am rewarded richly at Thriftypyg with stunning retro-fabrics, :

Wild giraffe aw!

this one. oh sweet orange. without a doubt my darling
for its Bauhausy-allure

And, here is a blog that I simply adore : Izakoo.

As always respectful photo and other credits to the author.

Iza is a sparkly girl in hong Kong, Alliot captures her magic... when I showed Lieveke some of Iza's photo's, she yelped with excitement 'ohhhh funnnn' (she was looking at Iza in the dotted orange pants - gosh yeah it is funnnnnn!!!). I really enjoy the crisp and clean-cut modernist approach, the contrasts of stern black and stone with vibrant shocking pinks, reds, blues... Iza is gorgeous, her dress superb, her activities lively and so much more! Alliot's wonderful photography finds a delicate balance between color and light, her style oozes confidence, her interests are vast and creative. In 'Izakoo' she writes frankly and heart-warmingly about growing up with Iza. I shed a few tears, yup. Thank you so Alliot for your lovely inspiration (and graceful ok).

There,
I really hope you'll feel the sparkle too
rock your weekend (softly in a rocking- chair if that's what does it for ya)!
-Lies

when you want to find us, we're always around

Anemone crafts is spreading out a bit more, and I am happy to see the growth. Having our things in OUI shop this year has been one of those steps out, and this week we walked a little further, all the way to south Auckland.

Our gear is now in Pakuranga's Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts. No, we are not getting all high brow on you, we're just in the shop alongside other NZ designers and crafters, such as jelly bones and antifashion league. What an honour! So if you are there, look out for our bags, pinnies, little wabbits, and collage cards and more.

Another new place you can find us is KRAFTBOMB. We are looking forward to this brand spanking new fair which will run at the end of this month! I will be talking more about this so consider this just your first dose. For more details they are here.

And we just got confirmation that we will be at the next craftwerk (a week thursday!) so we are busy busy busy and happy happy happy. Lies posted their flier earlier, but this other one is worth seeing too .

With all this craft action coming up, I have been in the studio working and discovering new ways of getting R.S.I.
One way to cause repetitive stress injury is to try tracing, cutting, and folding 50 envelopes in one afternoon power session. But its all worth is when I look at this pretty stack of completed envelopes. Imagine all these old pages from books would have just been thrown out! but now they have a second life. hmmm its craft poetry, I tells ya.

Here also are some cards I have made:





This set of cards uses images from my favourite outsider artist Henry Darger. Maybe this is causing you long time readers to roll your eyes for I have gushed about my love for Darger in the past probably more than once. But if this is news to you and you want to see more go here. and if you want to know more, go here.


Another arist I am charmed with is Yeondoo Jung who stages photographs based on childrens drawings, I had seen his work a while back but Helen of stripy socks reminded me again the other day, thanks. He has a whole series of these called Wonderland and some are simply magical. so check him out here.

I think its important to do 'just for fun' projects as well and in that spirit I made these peasant tops for my 2 and a half year old niece. My brother is finally getting to see her more regularily so I wanted Ella to have a some fun clothes to wear at his house. They are not pink and are not endorsed by cartoon celebrities -yeah a break from what she usually wears at her other house. (*for the record I am not against pink or totally against cartoon clothes, kids love that stuff, you just need a bit of variety, right?)

Thanks to lies for letting me borrow her custom pattern and also to little lieveke who kindly let me try them on her and said, "I think ella will like it" what a sweet muffin!

I leave you with this battered business card I found in my stash, it was printed by an artist friend of mine a few years back, and is, at my best guess, an ironic gesture. But a very beautiful one. The back is blank aside from her name, kate newby.

bye!
-k

the winners are.....

I was so excited to do this post but Blogger is not letting me upload pictures today, and I so want to dazzle you with images. What good is a post without pictures? Lies is correct, we are on a craft making spree and we have much to share at the moment but I can't do it, DRAT! (stomps foot). Okay hissy fit over.

Since the text is working, I can still announce the winners of the paper doll draw. That's the more exciting thing anyway. Thanks again for everyone for your comments, I enjoyed each and everyone!

To save myself for writing out 42 numbers on scraps of paper, I used an online random number picker and it chose numbers 6 33 18 21 and 28.

congratulations to:
6: Jannelle from Heartfelt who will get Clover
33: Calee who will get Daisy
18: Kristin82 who will get Daisy
21: Liv from Lillysmakebelive who will get Daisy
28: Claudia who will get Daisy

Daisy was a popular doll! Or maybe the random number generator has a secret bias towards daisy loving contestants :). Thanks again to everyone for playing, if you totally missed out this time, we will do more giveaways in the future. For those winners, please email me at
anemone (dot) craft@gmail (dot) com
with your name and address, and I will get these Dolls in the post to you soon. Also winners please leave a comment here as well so I know you saw this :)

Cheers! I will get back later in the week with pretty pictures, just as soon as blogger sorts itself out. Have a good one and keep well.
-k

Works of craft...

Yes friends, good times are ahead :

If you happen to be in the hood, don't miss! I'm busily crafting (like Kimberlee), to get things ready. Here is a preview of new girly skirts (a little batch might even end up in the Etsy, shhh). I used some sweet Olympus bubbles with an Echino rim. The fun new Echino fabric gives the skirts a patchwork look. And Lieveke was happy to model! In the first photo she wears a 'Liberty -red pepper'-top that was my second ever sewing project. The fabric is one of my all time favorites, so funky and different. I didn't have a sewing machine back then (didn't even know how to work one even!) and so I handstitched the whole thing. It took for ever, but this 'nice-'n-slow-method' did teach me a thing or two about piecing together a garment. Lievie has been wearing it for a good 2 years now (!). Well worth a few handstitches eh.




Showing at the OUI wall, now for the last week, an amazing collection of fantastic tea-cozies! The few times when I was doing a shift in the shop this month, certain people actually dashed in and plonked this or that cozy on their kids heads, thinking oh cute and warm! Ha ha I know they do look so appealing. The cozies are definitely cozies and not for sale, some of them are very very old (two from the 1930's - that is ancient in NZ!).

And as for the last 'work of craft', I'm proud to say that I got the formidable overlocker on the go (wheehee) and made two cross-over merino dresses for Lieveke. Yes. I am dead proud. Merino knit, dear people. The stuff I thought I'd never be able to handle, let alone sew with. Merino. And the dresses fit. And don't fall appart. Gah!



Hey -I think tomorrow the talented and versatile Joshi -Kimberlee's sweet little dog, is going to draw names from his little hat for Kimberlee's fab paper dolls. I've been training Josh all week ('no hon draw, not lick, no not munch, nooo....'). If ya still wanna be in, quickly comment, do! (And thanks for commenting all ye others!)

And have a gentle start of the week.
-Lies