Ruby & Sol - curious collectibles

Ruby & Sol has closed down  – however Sherry is starting up again online at ShopVintage.co.nz with beautiful handmade homewares.

62 Williamson Avenue, Grey Lynn, Auckland Tel. 09-378 0357 Open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday

If you were one of the many who discovered Sherry Roberts’ shop Ruby & Sol in Richmond Rd in February this year, you will be thrilled to know that she is back, this time in the front of a lovely villa in Williamson Ave.

People were so enthusiastic about her first foray into the retro retail market, Sherry decided to keep on collecting and has filled two rooms with wonderful bits and pieces.

“Having a shop with such a loose genre allows me the freedom to collect, play and display and sell anything that appeals to me. I’m not stuck in any particular era although I don’t think anything in here has ever worn a bar code. The recycling aspect of this business appeals to me too.”

You will find furniture, lamps, crockery, glassware, clocks, paintings, photography, mirrors, beautiful little girls dresses, toys, linen, jewelry, handbags, shoes, silk sarongs and scarves.

Just because it was practical and useful didn’t mean it wasn’t beautiful.” Case in point: check out Sherry’s amazing collection of retro kitchenware and aprons.

Sherry is also happy to hunt down that special item that you know is out there somewhere and you just don’t have the time to search for it.

This is most definitely one of the loveliest shops we have ever found, anywhere. And it is refreshingly reasonably priced too. Another excellent reason to visit - you will actually be able to afford something.

The problem you will be faced with of course is narrowing your choice of item down to the very one you like the most. Happy shopping!

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Buttons contemporary jewellery

www.buttons.co.nz

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.

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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!

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Toggle

www.toggle.co.nz

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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Salvage

537 Mt Eden Road, Auckland
Tel. 09-630 4054

Salvage is a vintage fabric and trimmings shop which opened its doors at the end of 2005. It is fast becoming known as the place to go in Auckland for a great range of high quality vintage fabrics and accessories for crafty girls and boys.

The stock comes in from a variety of avenues; People bring things into the shop or phone requesting a trip out to collect an estate lot.

Kay recalls one time she visited a home where a room was lined virtually wall-to-wall with fabrics. After two cars-loads full she got everything back to her house for sorting. Finding she had no space left the bath was quickly commandeered and piled high with the new vintage treasures for the shop.

Prices range from a good selection of vintage buttons for 20c each, and you can’t go past the ric-rac at 50 cents a metre.

You can get a couple of metres of really good fabric for well under $30. And there are always treats at the higher end of the scale too.

Salvage is a great asset to Auckland. We’re not sure how we ever managed without it.

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