I'm grateful for... organisers!

The other week I fell in love with this Sarah McNeil print, and then a few days later it popped up on a Facebook auction for Christchurch, run by Foxes! So yesterday it arrived in my mailbox...

Not only does it have a 'favourite things' feel to it (I can't resist lambs and strawberries), but I love the title - 'Trying to Be Happy Most of the Time'.

I am grateful for people who set something up so the rest of us feel like we are making a contribution. Auctions (and bake sales!) make both the donator and the buyer feel good about helping, so thank you to everyone that is organising these fundraisers. If you haven't had a look at Li'l Magoolie's auction yet, it is a gorgeous collection of products for mums and kids (you will have to fight me for this hat!)

Aimee and I have each donated special sets for this auction - lilypad + (very smart) cafe face washers or navy + black newborn Kiwi shirts. Organiser Maddie is a Christchurch resident and passionate about her adopted hometown, so please take a minute to check it out.

Another organiser I'm grateful for this week - Leonie (aka kiwiatheart) who has started Softies for Christchurch. I have had a lot of fun designing my first fabric softie (pics to follow next week), and am so pleased that it will be given to a child that will really appreciate it. There is no cut-off date yet so if you would like to make one just email Leonie.

FeltAid has started up again too, their shop is here for more handmade goodies with all sales going to Red Cross.

Maxabella organises 'I'm grateful for...' on Saturdays, thanks Maxabella! 

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I {heart} re-designing: retro-stylin' bucket hats...

This weeek another of the projects on my " i {heart} redesigning list for 2011" has just been completed. This one is reusing some awesome Summer retro fabric from a 2005-ish Trelise Cooper top (that was bought pre-children, and will never fit again).

I've been keeping it because I wanted to turn it into one of those awesome vintage-type bonnets that are all the rage - I simply adore the ones by Nella on Felt.co.nz and for boys, the Gottahave hats/caps on felt.co.nz as well.

But I also really like the modern Billabong kids 'revo hats' out this Summer in the surf stores - their designs takes a bucket hat, gives it a wider, floppy brim, and crosses over the brim at the back and fastens it with a velcro bit. They call it a 'pony-tail' hole, and it's meant to wrap around a little girl's pony tail (ie like a cap has) to help keep it on.

So taking these two ideas and mixing them together I came up with a wider-brimmed bucket hat, with the brim extended at the back to cross over and tie together, like a vintage bonnet. All I did to the original Butterick Baby 3782 pattern was extend the two pieces of the brim by around 15cm each, and taper them off into a point.

My bubba is having a lot of fun taking it off, putting it on, taking it off, putting it on....

And I'm pleased as punch that another project can be crossed off my project list.

For more amazing creative spaces this week check out Kirsty's blog.

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Handmade hands for Christchurch

As you may have noticed, we haven't had the heart to post since Tuesday's horrific earthquake in New Zealand. It's been the most distressing time in New Zealand's recent history and it didn't feel right to blog about craftiness while others were trapped or waiting to hear from loved ones.

Many people we know have family they were worried for, or have found, or have lost, or are still waiting to hear.

Many crafters we know who live in Christchurch such as Nin @ The Wardrobe ( http://notchkas-wardrobe.blogspot.com/ ) or Gil @ MudbirdNZ ( http://felt.co.nz/shop/mudbirdnz ) have lost their studios, their years of gathered up craft supplies, but escaped with their families.

And everyone who I (Aimee) work with (in my day job, in the healthcare sector) have either volunteered to fly down to help with the medical response, or have helped to man the healthcare phone lines to talk to distressed or injured Cantabrians.

For those of us without medical skills, or those of us with small kiddies meaning we can't fly down to volunteer in the clean up, there are plenty of other ways we can help from afar. Trademe is running a great round-up of registers where you can offer a place for Cantabrians to stay; assist the initiatives underway; or donate to appeals.

And as they did in September, after the first Christchurch earthquake, the handmade community is again rallying around to help by offering our goods in return for fundraising.

Both Greta and I have donated several prize packages from Lily Pad Designs and Topography up for auction in L'il Magoolie's "L'il Quake Appeal" - which is bound to be anything but small. All the cool and caring children's designer product businesses in New Zealand have donated prizes to be auctioned off, with all the proceeds going to the Red Cross Appeal.

Maddie from L'il Magoolie is herself based in Christchurch and has gut wrenching, personal accounts of how the quake affected her here. Read them and you will be moved, I swear. She's very brave to be putting together an auction to help her community, despite being one of the very people who need our help and care.

Secondly, many of our good friends and crafty colleagues on Felt are passing on the proceeds of their sales this week to charities such as the Red Cross. Felt is based in Christchurch and while its owner Lucy and her family are safe, Felt's headquarters have been affected and they are really emotionally shaken up. If you go to http://www.felt.co.nz/ and have a shop around, you will find lots of listings and stores on there noting that their proceeds go to charity.

My top picks of Felt sellers donating goods are:

songbird

$12.00

songbird

$8.50

songbird

$20.00

cloudnine

$17.00

tinch

$29.00

cattaylor

$16.00

laulipop

$20.00

cloudnine

$17.00

Songbird Designs - gorgeous vintage jewellery, unique and made with love.

Cat Taylor Design - bunting and oilcloth zipper purses, perfect gifts for friends - you can stock up on presents for the girls.

Tinch Design Studio - restickable wall stickers and fabric magnetic images.

Cloud Nine Creations - beautiful hand-drawn etchings - check out the awesome wall art saying "I love NZ" or her tiny earrings and charms.

Laulipop Vintage dresses - beautiful upcycled cotton summer dresses. I've already bought the purple and blue one for my miss one.

There is also a couple of facebook-based handmade auctions - just type in 'handmade for Christchurch' or 'charity auctions for Christchurch'.

Please have a hunt, and lend a hand. xx

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Lil Magoolie roadtests the lilypad - and giveaway!

Today was a super highlight for me professionally - Maddie at L'il Magoolie reviewed my lily pads and it was a super brillant review with lots. Of. Exclamations! I was thrilled as we think L'il Magoolie is THE coolest design blog for parents in New Zealand.

Here's a snippet of what Maddie said:

Oh. My. God. I have fallen in
love with this thing. Instead of having to regularly wrestle the carseat out and
shake out food/toys/miscellaneous items that seem to always find their way down
the side of her seat, I just remove the liner and shake it out and/or wash it.
So easy! It’s great that the fabric is a breathable cotton instead of the
polyester on Aspen’s seat so she’s not Little Miss Sweaty-Neck at the end of
every trip. Plus it looks great (we’re sporting a lovely grey and yellow fabric)
and is very robust.

Also? It’s sometimes hard to see how well an item is
made when you view it online and I was very pleasantly surprised to find that
the attention to detail in its construction was top notch.

To celebrate, Maddie asked if I would consider doing a giveaway...to which of course the answer was yes! So, if you don't have a lily pad yet, or would like another please enter (I use one for the shopping trolley, two in my car seats, and another one in my baby's pram - that's the bonus of being the inventor I suppose!).

To enter the giveaway, hop over to Maddie's blog, and leave a comment on the blog post on my lily pads. You get extra points for facebooking it or tweeting it. Don't forget to follow her blog - it's a fantastic discovery point for new designs, new Kiwi products, and international trends!

Good luck!!!

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