Nature baby
Our favourite shop for all the kids basics – merino tops, body suits and pyjamas, Nature Baby is one of the best things to ever come out of New Zealand. Thank goodness they’ve got an online shop because we probably couldn’t manage without them when offshore.
Their organic cotton and merino clothes are made to last (by a collective in India) – our daughter has had oodles of wear from everything we’ve ever bought from there. They’ve been handed down and will be handed back for our next one – all with plenty of life left in them yet.
If you can pay a visit their Grey Lynn and Newmarket shops are a delight to visit. There are lots of toys that aren’t on their web site and they’ve got play areas full of fun distractions so you can shop and browse to your heart’s content. Everything in Nature Baby; cotton, babyfood, nappies – it’s all organic by default.
Just released – their new Kid Nature label. Everything we know and love about Nature Baby, now for big kids too!
Filed in t-shirts, Kids, online, fashion, Greater Auckland
Felt
How did the idea of Felt come about?
I make merino armwarmers which I had been selling on Etsy in America and I found it quite frustrating that there was nothing similar set up locally. So I thought about it for a while, talked about it to anyone who would listen, did some research and eventually decided it would bug me forever if I didn’t do something about it.
When did you set up felt.co.nz?
Felt was launched in June this year, so it’s been up and running for about five months.
What do you enjoy most about running Felt?
At the moment it’s so exciting to see people signing up and new listings
appearing – it’ll be a while before that novelty wears off!
In a more general sense, I love the philosophy of Felt. Buying handmade is about being human and connected to the people around you. Shopping on a site like Felt is a completely different experience to buying mass-produced goods in a soul-less mall. Anything that you buy on Felt has a story, a personality, a philosophy behind it and you can talk to the person who created it.
I’m really enjoying talking to people about their crafts and seeing the passion and creativity and energy that goes into their work. It’s great to be able to support artists, craftspeople and designers by providing them with a tool to promote and sell their work.
Are you involved much in the Crafting community in your area / NZ?
Not so much at the moment, but I plan to get more involved. And I hope that Felt will become a significant resource and networking tool for the crafting community.
Buttons contemporary jewellery
How did the idea of buttons.co.nz come about?
The idea for ‘buttons’ came out of the desire to build a hall for our children’s school on the south coast of Wellington. We were having our annual fair and our usual brainstorming for new and interesting stalls, when the idea of button necklaces came up. We all did a bit of rummaging round in the op shops and our cupboards, then came together with our collections of buttons and loads of ideas.
The stall was a huge success and more importantly we loved it and enjoyed working together.
What do you enjoy most about running buttons?
We all have such fond memories of our own mother’s and grandmother’s button jars, bags and boxes and we share this memory with so many others.
It’s been an amazing progression from a few buttons simply threaded together to the intricate work we do now, and the cohesive collection we’ve developed. Our first necklaces we made bear no resemblance to our current collection. We love the entire process of making our jewellery. The huge fun there is in gathering the buttons, the fact that we are creating something beautiful out of lovely old thing, even the envelopes we make as our packaging are made from gorgeous old wallpaper. As a group we have all brought such different skills and strengths together. Luckily for us they are all very complimentary and we are still having fun… It’s a great feeling.
When did you set up buttons online?
After working with our current retail stockists around New Zealand for almost 2 years, taking buttons online seemed the next logical step to take. Luckily we had friends who were extremely talented and patient in this area and helped us develop and build our site… It has been a long process and huge learning curve and we are thrilled to have been up and running for about for 4 weeks now.
Our next challenge is to spread the word around the world!
Are you involved much in the crafting community in Wellington / NZ?
We love the local craft scene.Its so fantastic and inspiring to see what other people are creating . One of our local stockists (Mindy @Juniper ) runs stitching evenings at her store. It is so great that these traditional skills are being kept alive, shared and then given a new twist. We are always searching for new inspiration and new skills to learn. Given our diverse day jobs we are bound to come across something to share and then the next idea will be born and we’ll go on from there.. It’s a very natural progression for us… we can’t wait.
Little Orchard
Little Orchard is the creation of Charlotte Franklin - an Auckland based designer, photographer and aromatherapist who’s been living and working in London since 1998. Last year she returned home bringing with her a young family and lots of interesting and wonderful ideas.
Little Orchard stocks Charlotte’s gorgeous range of greeting cards, photographic prints, organic skincare that she makes by hand from scratch, divine organic floral waters, baby-safe aromatherapy, plus bags, pencil cases and baby clothes and accessories - all designed and made by her. Do go and have a look.
How did the idea of Little Orchard come about?
The idea for the products came about in 2000 and I was working on a range called Lottie Lello (which will be launching soon) - that’s when the whole magical product idea came about - the skincare range with gem essences - and that was the beginning of it all.
I’ve been formulating ideas, studying aromatherapy in the UK, piecing it all together - and finally having it all come together this Spring. It’s another new beginning now having it built, and with stock. It’s quite a thrill in fact! But it really is another beginning. There’s a lot of work now to get the shop out there.
When did you set up Little Orchard online?
The third day of Spring this year - it was the 25th of September 2007.
What do you enjoy most about running Little Orchard?
The freedom to create anything I like and have an outlet for it - which is great for me because I like to do so many things - photography, sewing, making aromatherapy products. I love that it’s an online shop - I am quite passionate about online communication so to be able to combine all these things I love doing in one place is marvellous.
I really really love packing the orders. I have nice boxes, japanese tape, little gocco cards that go out with each order. I love that. So more orders please - I want to pack them!
Are you involved much in the Crafting community in Auckland / NZ ?
I am definitely involved a lot with local bloggers. I’ve made contact with the people from Toggle and I’m good friends with Kay from Salvage who knows everyone. I’ve just last week got in touch with the Craftwerk people to find out about being at the next Craftwerk. So I shall be getting involved on a different level now I’ve got my products sorted and something to actually sell.
Any little interesting stories you would like to share?
For me the fact I’ve just stripped out all the table code from the OsCommerce templates and made it all css is pretty exciting.
My certified organic Lavender supplier is currently growing 250 geranium plants which we’re going to distill into geranium floral water for the skincare line - that is super exciting - and will be happening sometime this summer or autumn. Made with beautiful New Zealand mountain spring water - it’s divine.
Thanks Charlotte!
Filed in paper goods, Art, Kids, online, craft
Mrs Jones
Millstream Building, 17 Elizabeth Street, Warkworth
Tel. 09-422 3275
www.mrsjones.co.nz
Tuesday to Friday 10am - 5pm. Saturday 10am - 4pm. Sunday 12pm - 4pm
Mrs Jones is a cornucopia of nice things to look at and buy. We got quite carried away taking photos here and we’ll let them do most of the talking.
This is a quality shop, right (say that in a cockney accent please). There’s a jolly fine collection of Crown Lynn that takes up much of one wall in the back room.
Everywhere you look are highly covetable pieces of art that we, for one, want to buy.
A 1970s New Zealand dining table and chairs. And just look at that photographic print on the wall to the left - can you just imagine that in your living room. Oh my!
The walls are just clad in art - they’ve got a distinctive style in here. And it’s very good.
In the book alcove we spy barkcloth duffel bags. we rub our eyes in disbelief, but it’s true. There they are in broad daylight right next to a picture of a sheep from Onehunga.
Each of the eight sub-rooms has been decorated to set off its contents. One might note the rather reading room -esque wallpaper above.
We liked the vermillion and the cyan walls too. Especially with the hand coloured landscape photographs.
We spent ages and ages in her marvelling at all the lovely eye candy. Maybe you ought to to!
Nut and Bee
We caught up with Annette of Nut and Bee last week to find out all about her very cool online shop that’s been making waves internationally for a wee while now.
Nut and Bee sells things with Annette’s sweet, whimsical (and sometimes laugh-out-loud) illustrations on them; including t-shirts, stickers, bookplates, stationery, button badges, magnets and art prints.
Annette is amazingly prolific. She produces three new illustrations a week, and people can vote on the ones they’d like to see on a product. The unicorn gets my vote :)
How did the idea of Nut and Bee come about?
A couple of years ago I was at university, and doodling on my lecture notes every day. When I drew something I really liked I would post it online, and other people seemed to enjoy my little creatures too. I already had a website to sell my crochet toys, which I enjoyed running, so I decided to do something with the drawings as well. I’ve been very keen on cute Japanese stationery and stickers for many years, so a range of paper goods was the natural choice!
When did you set up Nut and Bee online?
Nut and Bee (in its current form) opened for business on December 24th 2005 with three lettersets, one bookplate set and one sticker set. Of course Christmas Eve wasn’t the ideal time, but I had everything ready to go and couldn’t wait any longer!
What do you enjoy most about running Nut and Bee?
It’s really satisfying to create things, and then get awesome feedback about them - it makes my day when someone takes the time to email me about how much they enjoyed their order. I’m also really pleased and proud with how the business is growing. I’ve gone from five products to over 150, I put new drawings online three days a week, and Nut and Bee is well on its way to supporting me.
Are you involved much in the Crafting community in Auckland / NZ ?
I have some crafting friends, and I vend regularly at the Craftwerk and Artisan Craft markets, but not beyond that. I’m really busy at the moment because I still have a day job and I’m doing some postgrad study as well, so I can’t get involved with the community as much as I would like to.
Any little interesting stories you would like to share?
I have a field in my checkout that asks my customers what their favourite animal is. I get some very cute answers in there - lots of people are really specific, like “cats that are small and white”, but others say things that aren’t actually animals, like “ghosts” or types of fruit! That’s OK though, I don’t mind if your favourite animal is the banana :)
Thanks Annette!
Filed in paper goods, t-shirts, online, craft
The Stitcher’s Closet
1335 Leigh Road, Matakana
Tel. 09-422 7316
www.stitcherscloset.co.nz
Just by the Matakana roundabout before the hill to Leigh is a cute white cottage that houses a tea house with a roaring fire and good looking lamingtons; and a lovely little shop. The lovely little shop contains everything one would need for quilting, needlework and patchwork.
Sheryl opened The Stitcher’s Closet earlier this year, fulfilling a lifelong dream of having her own stitching shop. Inside is a myriad of embroidery threads and accessories. Through into the next room you’ll find a beautiful array of quilting fabrics, including a good selection of Amy Butler, Kaffe Fassett and Freshcut.
Beading and quilt-making classes are held at the shop. Class attendees are very lucky indeed as they get to sample yummy things from the tea house next door.
I know this is a great asset for locals - but also for all crafty girls and boys who go on holiday in this area and need something to keep them occupied while they laze about the beach or bach; or of course if you forget to bring an all-important thread or what-have-you on holiday… et voila! You’ll find it here.
You can also book the classes and buy everything that’s in the shop online.
Filed in online, craft, Greater Auckland
Toggle
Toggle was set up by friends Esther and Shelley following the birth of Esther’s third child. She’d stopped working full time and wanted to find an outlet for her felt bags.
When Shelley suggested the idea of having an online shop they both thought it could be a good outlet for other crafters - and so Toggle was born.
They have found themselves creating an “edited highlights” of modern kiwi craft. And in just under a year they most certainly have.
Their website stocks a wide range of craft including kids gear, jewellery, photographic prints, hand-knits, original artworks, aprons, hats, teatowels and celebrity finger puppets.
Based in Auckland Toggle’s founders are discovering and enjoying a great sense of community; Esther tells us how they’ve met most of the local contributors and there’s a great deal of support building up amongst them - they regularly keep an eye out for each other when op-shopping and often buy ‘ingredients’ they know others need for their products.
Toggle is an excellent showcase of Kiwi contemporary craft so do go and have a good old browse. What’s more, if you join their mailing list at the moment you’ll go into a draw to win a pair of cool silver coin earrings. Can’t argue with that.
You can also find them on Etsy.
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