Back to Basics - Messing about with Shapes

 At the end of this month Peter and I will be involved in Makertorium, at Te Papa.  We are going to spend a whole day demo-ing what we do.  This has set me to thinking -  for the last six months or so I have been busy chasing my tail I think.  Too much focus on the sewing part and not on the printing bit.  The bit that I enjoy the most, where my creativity can really flow.    I have been so focused on end product and not on why I decided to start printing in the first place.

 So today after I finished printing orders, I had a bit of a play about with new techniques.  Ways I can produce prints with out Peter's carved blocks.  He is far to busy making furniture now (apparently) to carve anything for me and I want to keep all my fingers so no carving for me. These are not my finished fabrics, these are my note book, sketch pad, mess it up type thing.  I have been trying out using a gelli printing plate.  It is a lot of fun and produced some great results.  not sure yet how I will pull it all together but the ideas are percolating.

Almost forgot I have some great ideas for getting people involved in printing on the day with a minimum of mess, I hope.

Tiny new addition.

What do you think of the tiny new addition to the Reclectica range?  The cutest little suitcase table with a multitude of storage uses.  Each individual piece from the Reclectica range has so much character perhaps they should all have their own names.                 

The Raw Materials

 Since all but one item of the Reclectica range has been sold, its time to get started again on new stock.

 The garage is full of the raw materials, from pallets to sad old bits of furniture ready to be given a new lease of life.  As long as the basic bones are good they can be renewed.  And for those that are just too far gone, its always possible to strip them down to be combined with other bits to create a whole new beautiful item.

 So far only one item has emerged finished from the garage.  A lovely cute little stool, finished with a vintage 50's fabric in dove grey, cool jade and hot magenta which is available for sale on Felt.  Check back soon to see what will emerge next.

No more Havelock Jiggle

Apologies for another workroom story.  Peter managed to squeeze in time to put together my beautiful solid oak sewing table.  It has been lying in pieces since for ever.  It has moved house in pieces four times.  So no more jiggling and bouncing sewing table.  This one is heavy and does not budge an inch.  I love the legs they remind me of Robbie the Robot from Lost in Space.

Spot the difference

 The photo above is my stall at February Martinborough, which I decided looked just way to plain and needed to be brightened up.  So I added some bunting, a couple of new table covers and some of Peter's reclectica furniture and voila.

 A much more brighter and interesting stall.  The fair goers seemed to like it too, Peter's furniture was a big hit.  We came home with only two small notice boards.  All the rest are off to new homes.  One little map table is even on its way via suitcase to Christchurch.  Lucky it had removable legs.

What do you think of our first suitcase table?  Especially designed so that the legs can be unscrewed and placed in the case to be carried home.

"reclectica"

 Coulter and Coulter now has a harder firmer side, "reclectica".  An eclectic collection of furniture both new and restored.  Every piece in the collection is created from re-purposed items or renewed items.

 From the very little bling boxes made from recycled timber and vintage fabrics to beautiful bits of New Zealand's past restored to new life.

 All available from our new Felt shop "reclectica".

The madness that is Martinborough Fair

 Martinborough Fair takes place in the beautiful Martinborough village twice a year.  And it is a very, very busy occasion, two hundred plus stalls.  In order to get my stall set up I had to turn up early in the dark at 4:30am, yes I did really say 4:30am.

 There was however a flaw in my cunning plan.  I had hired tables to use on the day, instead of using my own, so there was more room in the car for stock.

 What I had not figured out was that the people supplying the tables did not open till 6am.  It was nice to have an hour to wander around, watch the sun rise and see other people setting up.  Next month I will not be as early.

 As always at Martinborough Fair it was all worth it.  Thank you to all the lovely returning customers that came back to buy more stuff and thank you to all the new customers, hope you come back next time.  I do however think my stall looks very boring this time.  So I have a few plans and changes to make it more appealing next fair day.

 Added bonus I was just a few steps away from the jazz band and got to enjoy their playing.  Also a big thank you to Keriann from Sweet Mary, who ran my stall over at the Craft and Design Market, while I was away.

Almost forgot to mention that we got to stay in a tiny bit of paradise.  I would recommend Ambrosia Cottage as the most relaxing bach I have ever stayed in.  I am not sure why its not the poshest and did not have the best view.  But I felt the most relaxed I have been in years while staying there and I would love to go back again.