Fine Fashion & Flair...

This week's 'Friday Finds' is a showcase of some fine New Zealand designers. These 3 ladies are an inspiration, and I know just how amazing their work is as I am lucky enough to own a piece or two!

When I look at the stunning handcrafted jewellery that Julia makes at Relique, I want it all! I LOVE her combination of Silver and Copper, all 100% handmade in Christchurch. I am lucky enough to have done quite a few markets alongside Relique Jewellery and have no problem helping to promote her beautiful work... 

(and am lucky enough to own a few pieces!)

These beautiful Forget Me Not Copper & Sterling Silver earrings are my new favorites.
Available on www.relique.co.nz.

 The label 'shelley d' is by Auckland based designer Shelley Dunn and her range of products are top quality. Shelley uses premium leather and other high quality fabrics in her designs and her craftsmanship is beautiful. I have one of her card holders.

This beautifully made Patent Nude Pink Clutch is just gorgeous, I haven't seen anything quite like it! 
Available from www.shelleyd.co.nz

 

Over on the West Coast of the South Island, Artist and Jeweller Fiona McDonald from Brightonmine creates stunning 

Enamel, Copper and Sterling Silver Jewellery. Fiona also paints, and I've seen a few of her paintings up close and I'd love one for my home. I have a pair of earrings like this in a deep blue.

 As these are in my favourite colour... 

how could I resist picking this pair to show you. 

Available from www.felt.co.nz/shop/brightonmine.

Till next time x Gill

Paua, Purses & Prints

Friday finds is a wee bit late this time. Started early but just didn't make it before midnight, but it is here anyway! 

Mel from Wildflower Designs makes the most stunning jewellery with a twist. Her use of beautiful New Zealand Paua shell and gorgeous pearls, polished beads and crystals is just stunning. 

Sweet Matilda's Felt shop is loaded with gorgeous upcycled goodies like this sweet crop jacket, There are also sweet aprons, dresses, bags, skirts and super cute clutch purses.

Cushions by Stacey have some wonderful fabric range, ready to  enhance your couch, chair or sofa! I'm particularly drawn to the Turquoise Bird prints... I wonder why! You can see all her fabrics on her Facebook page and ready to buy cushions in her Felt shop.

You can find links to their shops in the comment below the photos, and Facebook links here:

• www.facebook.com/wildflowernz
• www.facebook.com/SweetMatilda
• www.facebook.com/pages/Cushions-By-Stacey/284421874976646

Not sure if I'll have time next Friday to blog... I'll be up to my ears in last minute prep for the Spring Encraftment Market - I can't wait. I'll be outside in my white gazebo near the main entrance. I've got a whole lot of new glazed birds, Christmas ornaments, jewellery & more ... so much fun getting ready for this one. If you do come down, please say hi. If you mention you saw this blog, I'll even give you a wee gift!

Spring Encraftment Market - Saturday 1st September, 10-3pm 

x Gill

Crochet, Cosies & Cute Finds!

Welcome to Mudbird's Friday Finds, edition two.

A different selection of handmade this week. Amazing sewing crafts using nostalgic old and new designer fabrics, lovely crochet handwork and Pretty Jewellery. I love that crafters re-use and give life back into vintage fabrics, there is something about these old patterns & colours that bring back memories of childhood. And let us not forget the humble crocheted granny square, if you like bright colours or muted tones go and check out the Hottie cover! Perfect for this wet and wild weather we have been having.

Recognise any of these patterns from looooong ago? I do!
(I have a set of sheets in that top pattern!!)
Wonderville upcycles fabrics into lovely Arts & Crafts from Nelson

RuthsPatch makes these wonderful Bodum Plunger Cosies in gorgeous fabrics plus other goodies like Jackets and Bags.

If you love to sew and are after some inspiration, Berry Patch Cottage sells the most amazing fabrics and even a few patterns like these super cute Bella Pants.
I love the 'Pear Tree - Blue Trees' fabric, wish I had a project on the go so I had an excuse to get some!

How cute is this! Emilie Berri Switchblade makes these quirky
and irresistible Vintage Plush Monsters, available on Felt & alot more designs on her Facebook page.

It was hard to pick a favorite from the range at Pretty Birds -
so many lovely designs & options.
I thought these four Robins were pretty sweet.

Oh I LOVE the colours in this cosy granny square hottie cover
from Alexandra Mackenzie. Go and check out all her amazing crocheted creations - available on Felt.

Paula from Slipstitch makes these gorgeous Little Red Riding hood pinafores  and other very cute kids items. This is a size 2-3 and available on Felt and also check out her wares at the Spring Encraftment Market coming up!



And to finish off - a wee shout out for a new Fair coming up.Crafty Christchurch is a boutique craft supply and quilt fair running from the evening of 23rd August to the 25th August 2012 in the Geodome at Hagley Park. This fair will include stands from local craft suppliers, exhibitions, and demonstrations.

General information

Thursday August 23rd 5-9pm (Opening Night)
Friday August 24th 10am-6pm
Saturday August 25th 10am-6pm

Profits from this event will be donated to Bellyful Christchurch.https://www.facebook.com/BellyfulChristchurc

Check out the links to their Facebook pages if not listed above in the photo comments links:

• www.facebook.com/BerriSwitchblade

• www.facebook.com/wondervillenz

• www.facebook.com/slipstitchnz

• www.facebook.com/pages/Ruthspatch/303721876359306

• www.facebook.com/BerryPatchCottage

• www.facebook.com/PrettyBirdsCreations

• www.facebook.com/alexandramackenzienz

• www.facebook.com/Encraftment

If you are in Christchurch, you'll also find some of us at the Spring Encraftment market - 1 September 2012. So you'll be able to meet the maker and see these lovely items in person.

www.facebook.com/mudbirdnz

If you want to be in the next blog, keep an eye out next Thursday night on my Facebook page - be in quick, limited to the number of pages listed that day.

x Gill

Monsters, Milk Bottles & Mixers

Welcome to the first 'Friday Finds'

I really appreciate the support on my Facebook page, so I invited my lovely 'fans' to share their business pages. 

What a talented bunch!  I have really enjoyed looking thru all these pages and can't wait to spend more time looking... (and some serious shopping!)

Here are my top picks from some of these clever crafters, arty folk & purveyors of fine things. 

Gorgeous Ceramic bottles from Surrey Park.
I'd LOVE these in my kitchen!

Such a gorgeous range of fabric bags in Jacolily's Felt shop.

Gracious Plum from the UK makes these unique designs.

This little monster would be perfect for my William!

Joe has been making Bibbles Dribble Bibs for years! - such a brilliant design for bubs.
Love these Eco Bibs!

Who could resist one of these clever creations from Kids Lidz.

Cookware Essentials sells gorgeous things for your kitchen -
 I wonder if this would make me a better baker?  I love it!

Stacey from Art Out Loud creates these one off original paintings for you  - isn't she clever?

The Art Room makes these stunning limited edition prints and sells them on Felt.
 I love the idea of collecting & investing in something special for my children.

See you next week! x Gill

Ideas, ideas, ideas - put your mark on it!

We all have ideas - right? Little thoughts that keep you awake at 2am, when you should be asleep. Instead your brain is going full speed as thoughts take shape, ideas evolve and creativity sparks new processes.


Well my brain has been a prisoner of late of those exact things ( actually it always has been).


It's been a pretty exciting time for Mudbird lately with the creation and completion of a new Logo :-) I've been working alongside a long time designer friend who worked her magic on my brand. I wanted something that could stand alone as an icon, also to use a design in my products. I have yet to make up new banners for my website or my blog but I will... so here goes... this it it!

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE it... yes, I'm excited.  Gail did a great job didn't she?  {The colors are a bit brighter in these jpegs than actual colors}


This is the nest element that I'll be using on its own. I've already made dishes, earrings, brooches and necklaces!!

So back to ideas. Being a creative person, I find my brain coming up with ideas at the craziest times, the worst times ( like a parent/teacher conference when I'm supposed to be paying attention ) and also at the best of times.


As a designer ( of Ceramic Art ) I really strive to come up with original Mudbird designs. I don't copy others ideas, but this world isn't exactly small, you do tend to see the same thing out there. Sometimes seeing designs similar or the same just breaks my heart!  There has been a lot of talk in the Handmade/Craft circles of late of other people stealing ideas/patterns/designs and going on to create/sell them.  My friends have worked so hard to create their ideas, invested a lot of time and money into their product, then someone else comes long and rips it off. Not cool. It has got me thinking a lot about that in the past 2 weeks.


Sometimes I make something, get it out there, take it to market and am 100% confident that NO-ONE ELSE HAS DONE IT... yippee... then, oh oh - someone else has. But that's ok, I always put my stamp on it, to make it mine, to make it different...  Great minds think alike right?
I've even had people send me links saying...  'so in so' has copied you, but that's so hard to prove right? I've been told its the greatest form of flattery when someone copies you, but it still has an ouch factor! And then there are the days when people claim to be the inventor of that design, that just makes me chuckle!
Sometimes people ask me to copy a ceramic design, which I am firmly against.  Other artists work hard to create their designs and I don't want anyone copying mine so I won't copy theirs.


That's why I try to use as many original textures as I can to create my designs - like my collection of 10 antique Song plates from 1920's - they weigh a ton and were used to print the actual books. They are as much of a treasure to me as a tool.

And my grandmother's tatting lace, or my antique carved indian woodblocks - creating textures that *hopefully* no one else has.  I found a gorgeous antique French madeline tin in Akaroa, that is wonderful to display... and also to use as a mould!
In fact many of my textures and patterns are from my personal collection of antiques and treasures. I have collections of Keys, bottles, books, carved wooden blocks, metal type... I search high and low for things to use, digging through 2nd hand shops across the countryside. I even used part of a ring that my Husband bought me in Italy to imprint the heart into my Emerge Earrings... I've got stories about all my designs.

I'm pretty excited about what is in the pipeline - I've got a lot in the drying stage, the bisque stage ( first firing) and also lots of lovely pretty glazed things waiting to be shown off. A coupe of months ago I was in the middle of finalizing my Christmas DOVE decoration shape to me made up, and another idea popped up into my head.  CLOUDS... I have no idea where they came from, but I could see them, cut from thick slabs of clay, imprinted with lace or my wood block. Then suddenly I remembered all my photography of clouds over the years - maybe thats my inspiration. So I spent ages ( and I mean AGES) drawing up cloud shapes, who new this could take so long. I didn't went just a generic clip art cloud shape, I wanted ones with personality.


I wanted to increase my wall &  hanging art range - funnily enough I was forced into exploring new ideas when I had to step down from taking my jewelry to a market ( jewelry roster) so I though.. oh no! What can I take to fill that gap? So I got thinking and making up new ideas to take... hence the CLOUDS and new Christmas Decorations.


Then I realized, cutting everything with a scalpel is just plain silly. So I got some metal cutters made up, not only of the clouds, but also of my other signature shapes/designs. This way I can improve on productivity. Although I loved the hand-cut aspect, there comes a time when its better business sense to make life easier. I still hand-cut some designs, but hope to build up my cutters. They take time to make and are not cheap.


I still use the old plastic cutters, had a lot of fun making these last week and exploring new glazes too!

So I've been in the Studio - rolling, cutting and pressing textures into my new ideas and its been a lot of fun. They'll be on sale in Christchurch at 2 markets next week: Shop me Pretty &  Craft Invaders Market. I'll then make more and load onto my website.


I've got a LOT more to show you - next time ok?


x Gill

And the winner is....

Lucky #72.... which is indeed....

PRUE  FOTHERGILL.

Prue has won her choice of some LoveBird Earrings or a Necklace, and she choose a pair of Blue Lovebird earrings and decided to give them to her Mum in Christchurch as a wee pick me up! How lovely is that. I love it when things like that happen, the prizes always seem to go to the best people. 

Thanks to all who entered and showed their support - we had 75 entries in total.

Till the next time.... Gill

LoveBird Giveaway!

** Giveaway has closed now **

 Thank you for entering. Winner will be announced 18th June, 7pm.

I love to make new designs, I have so many ideas in my sketch book begging to be rolled out, cut, stamped or pressed, fired and glazed. And usually when I am supossed to be adding to my current stock, the new designs are born. ( That's when most creativity happens doesn't it?)


Over the last few weeks I have made a new Robot necklace design in Turquoise & Green (Which was a big hit with my 5yr old son!), tinkled with my '2012 Christmas Dove' decoration, made some Twinkling star earrings, a cute 'wall art' Horse, and started on a new range called 'LoveBird'. I've made necklaces and earrings with a impressed design of a pair of sweet birds, perching on a branch, into a 3D raised heart necklace and simple circular earrings, glazed in Red, Royal Blue, Turquoise & Distressed Eggshell Blue.


I thought it was time for a Mudbird giveaway for all you amazing supporters here and on Facebook, so when the number of 'likes' hit 1100 on my Facebook page I though it was the perfect time!

So... would you like to win a pair of my Lovebird Earrings or a Lovebird Necklace?


Head over to my Facebook tab, click here for the GIVEAWAY tab, enter your details and be in the draw.
Entries are open WORLDWIDE, so there is no excuse not to enter.

Entries closed 17th June 2012

Good Luck 

x

 Gill

p.s Here is a photo of my cheeky boy (who is growing up far too fast for my liking) and his Robot necklace. He has been begging for me to make him something and I love it so much!

p.p.s Leave a comment here about your favourite colour in the LoveBirds range for an extra entry!