Quality and Quantity!

Applications officially closed last Friday evening and we now have the massive task of selecting vendors for the July 28th Fair.

Thank you to everyone that applied - the quality was exceptional, and as always we have received far more applications than we have spaces available. Emails will be making their way to inboxes of all applicants this weekend and then early next week we'll pop an announcement up on the blog to let all of you know which talented artists, crafters and designers you can come and shop up a storm with in 10 weeks time.

Start saving those pennies!

Kylie and Jess
xx

Applications are officially OPEN!

If you would like to apply to be a vendor at the next Auckland Art & Craft Fair which will be held on Sat 28th July 2012 at the fabulous Aotea Centre, then be sure to click on the link below and fill out the application form!

CLICK HERE TO APPLY NOW!

The Dec 2011 Auckland Art & Craft Fair

Sponsor Spotlight: Foxes

Clever Fox tote

My name is Jessica Whiting, and I am the lady behind Foxes.co.nz and I also co-run the Auckland Art & Craft Fair with Kylie. Foxes isn't just a super online shop, it's also a way that I can still make and design things myself for all the lovely Foxes Folks. I also have previously had my own craft label, Bam Bam Creative; while I don't make a whole lot of new stuff for Bam Bam anymore, I can appreciate both sides of the maker/shop story! Being a Graphic Designer by trade, Foxes is a great way for me to get my own work out there.

Bam Bam Creative sweatshirt

What can people expect to see from you on the day? Aside from many of the awesome stuff that I stock from other talented designers, I will have Foxes graphic tea towels, tote bags, hand-painted cups and prints. 

Wash The Dishes tea towel

Do you have any future plans for your work, could you describe them? I'm exploring into perhaps making some Foxes jewellery and expanding on the clothing that I've already made in time for next Winter. 

Be Great A4 print

Where are your favourite places on-line? I can't get enough of Pinterest. It's like a personal online image storage space where you can catalogue your own personal style and see how it develops. I follow A LOT of amazing blogs with some of my favourites being Fancy! Design Blog, Pretty Zoo, Daydream Lily and Here Comes The Sun. I alos love Keiko Lynn for style inspiration and So Much To Tell You — all well worth a look.

What do you enjoy doing when you aren't busy making your wares? I'm usually running the store! Or talking on twitter, blogging, pinning things on Pinterest, hanging out with my amazing little girl who is now 6 and our pets, Ollie our 1year old dog or Leo our cat. I really value and enjoy spending time with my friends and family too, they make all this hard work worthwhile.

Artist Interview: Tiny Happy

Kia ora, I'm Melissa of Tiny Happy. I'm love making things and mostly work with textiles. I especially love to take old things that are unloved, and turn them into something new and beautiful. Tiny Happy has been going for about five years now, and I've been keeping an almost-daily blog since the beginning which I use as my inspiration journal and connect with other makers.

What can people expect to see from you on the day? I'm currently working on some wool embroidery, and I hope to have a small collection of crewel-work purses for sale. I'll have some things for babies and kids- my signature reversible baby shoes as well as some rabbits made from antique velveteen fabric. Some of my watercolour paintings will be made into sets of cards with envelopes and I'll have some hand-painted ceramics and hand-printed fabric pieces too.

Do you have any future plans for your work, could you describe them? I hope to keep on making things and writing about them.

Where are your favourite places on-line? I love pinterest at the moment- actually, I'm a bit addicted. Etsy and Felt are my favourite places to explore and look for presents, and I've always loved browsing on Flickr.

What do you enjoy doing when you aren't busy making your wares? Hanging out with my children (8 and 6 years old) and my partner. Baking cakes and scones. Obsessing over music. Meeting friends for coffee. Going out at night to see films.

Artist Interview: Reignbow

 

Why, hello there! My name is Kylie Richardson. You may better know me as one half of the organisers of this Fair or the owner of New Zealand Beading Supplies. Or you may just know me as Kylie, either way ;) Reignbow is a revamp and re-brand of my previous label, Skipapple. Life has been rather busy the last couple of years (just the way I like it) and my style and taste had changed along the way, so a label overhaul was in order. I tend to personally wear a lot of black or neutral clothing so find myself most comfortable adding a pop of colour by means of accessories. My large cocktail style rings are by far my favourite pieces - see below. They really add that extra something to an outfit :)

What can people expect to see from you on the day? Reignbow is officially launching for the very first time at the Dec 2011 Fair with a collection of pretty jewellery and accessory items inspired by feminine tones and antique bronze finishings. The current collection has a lovely vintage feel with a combination of chain, flower cabochon's, pendants and charms.

Do you have any future plans for your work, could you describe them? I always have lots of plans for future work, in everything I do. I would really like to expand and offer few different "ranges" of jewellery and more accessory items. If time permits, I'd also love to design a range of clothing. I've loved sewing ever since my grandmother taught me when I was about 5 or 6 years old, so I'm sure there will be something along those lines in the future.

Where are your favourite places on-line? Lately I've been well and truly hooked on Pinterest. It's probably my favourite website in a long time. (You can follow my boards here) Of course I also love to peruse Etsy and Foxes.co.nz for my weekly dose of handmade and designer goodness. I hang out on Facebook and Twitter for day to day happenings of friends and twitter peeps, and some of my favourite blogs are Frankie, Auckland Street Style, Here Comes the Sun, Fancy and Made by Girl. There are loads more but I can't think of them all off the top of my head!

What do you enjoy doing when you aren't busy making your wares? I'm not very good at relaxing for too long, so always have an array of things on the go at any one time. When I'm not making my wares I can be found either keeping myself busy co-organising the Fair with Jess, packaging up bead orders for the bead business, pinning away on Pinterest, deciding on which study I am going to partake in next (which happens to be a Diploma in Interior Design), coming up with new ideas for business ventures or writing to-do lists. I am particularly fond of to-do lists and like to keep mine pages long. It feels so rewarding crossing things off, but I am constantly adding to it so it's a never ending project. However in saying all of that, when I do manage to talk myself into some down time I enjoy reading non-fiction books, catching up with friends for a coffee or wine and listening to music.

Artist Interview: memeGO

It all started out with 2 huge Russian shoulder scarfs my mom owned. One in black and the other in white printed with the most colourful vibrant flowers. I remember spending hours in front of the mirror, wrapping and draping one or both of them around me. The love for colours, dazzling, cheerful, riotous, vibrant stuck with me as did my love for and understanding of the need to accessorize oneself. My starting point is a beautiful 100% Wool felt, made in New Zealand from which I create accessories like for example makeup bags and earrings.

My label is still young, many ideas yet to be formulated but what I have was born out of a strong desire to create something more personal then a high street shop item and it's formulated colour and design. That's also a reason for me to offer brooch DIY kits. Because it's fun and extremely satisfying to wear something of your own making.

What can people expect to see from you on the day? Everything I will present will be fresh of the press.

Do you have any future plans for your work, could you describe them? At the moment I very much tied up with getting my label off the ground. But in the future I would like to introduce other materials into my work. I particularly like felt combined with leather. My ultimate goal is to combine my whimsical side with the more practical to truly create good design which not only pleases the eye but also makes daily life a bit easier.

Where are your favourite places on-line? www.myvibemylife.com

www.missmoss.co.za

www.kristinaklarin.blogspot.com

www.trendtablet.com

www.thingsbecomethings.blogspot.com

www.dict.leo.org

What do you enjoy doing when you aren't busy making your wares? creating collective sounds - I drum with Tamashii, an Auckland based Taiko group., travelling imaginary worlds while reading, attempting to get foot/hand coordination sorted - I learn to dance flamenco and many many more things. The most important though, collecting inspiration, just happens along the way.

Artist Interview: Hue

Hi, I'm Nicola Walker and Hue is my crafty little inspiration where my passion for colour, fabrics and  bags combines - giving me blissful, creative, child-free moments late into the night! I love the challenge of up cycling scarfs, tea towels, table cloths and clothes of yesteryear and combining them with textiles of today. Actually my most favorite thing is hunting, finding and matching the material! Most weekends you will find me at the beach with the kids or at a craft market - sometimes with the kids!

What can people expect to see from you on the day? This season, satchels have dominated my range. These have been sized to carry laptops. notebooks, and netbooks plus they have been utilised as baby bags, overnight bags and uni satchels. To compliment the technology carrying theme, I have recently released the 'Hue-tech clutch'- a gorgeous clutch-like padded protection for netbooks and ipads. As I dislike any wastage, I always have popular little coin purses made from the remnants and sweetened up with highlights of beads.

Do you have any future plans for your work, could you describe them? Hue's future revolves around the love of creating, colour and craft markets. Continuing with the popular satchels  and being inspired to design and make new bags - when the fancy takes me and the time allows!

What do you enjoy doing when you aren't busy making your wares? Outside of Hue, I have 3 gorgeous children that keep me on my toes, make me laugh and share my love of being outside and building sandcastles!