New Year, new office

Happy new year, and as it's been so long since the beginning of the year, happy Waitangi day as well! January has been pretty action packed for me – moving into our new house, then unpacking things and figuring out where they should all go.

In our old place, I had a small study, and part of the spare room upstairs to work and store all my work and candle paraphenalia. As getting between the two was quite awkward, I ended up working off the kitchen table a lot. Now I have a proper office space, and we have a seperate spare room, which is much better. It's taken me a while to work out where everything is going to go, but things are slowly falling into place.

This room has lovely big windows, so it's very light, but also rather difficult to photograph properly, so please excuse the quality of the images.

My workspace, with my desk for all the computer stuff, and my old trestle table for candle finishing, and packing etc. The little shelves at the end of the table are what I use on my table at markets, and when they aren't being used for that, they make good storage. I bought some of the little boxes that go with them to make it super easy to transition them from 'storage' to 'market' mode.

After spending so much time re-covering my old couch, it deserved pride of place. It's also nice to have a spot to relax and read, or whilst coming up with ideas.

This cabinet used to live in the lounge, and hold the fish tank. After twice being tipped over in subsequent earthquakes from the water sloshing about, and smashing the tanks, it has been retired as a fish tank stand. It's new job is storing all my candles, and as a place to test the prototypes.

I won this print 'Pause" a while back from Ana Aceves. I finally got it framed recently, so I can hang it on the wall, and it looks great!

My office is never this tidy – I wish it was. I had to 'hide' a few boxes of extra things I'm not sure what to do with yet out in the hall so I could take these photos. I did leave a few behind though, just for authenticity. Next week, I will aim to make my new candle making space presentable, and put up some photos of that as well.

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.

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!