Swap-O-Rama-Rama Lyttelton, Saturday 20 February

Swap-O-Rama-Rama is here! It all happens on Saturday 20 February at the Lyttelton Rec Centre. This the first time this event has come to New Zealand and it's going to be awesome!

Here’s how it works:
Participants bring a bag of clothes (and $10) to get in the door. From there, volunteer sorters put the clothes into piles of like garments (getting first dibs, of course!) Then it's swap to your heart’s content. There’s no limit on how much you can take.



But here’s the really good part.
Volunteers sewers will be at machines throughout the event to help people look at ways to re-purpose the clothes they find. The idea is to help people create unique garments and to be inspired to look at second hand clothes in a new, more creative way. There will also be screenprinting stations and a workshop series.



This is a community event (all proceeds go to Project Lyttelton) so it depends on volunteers – people willing to share their skills to pull off a fantastic event in Lyttelton.

Want to get involved?
Kris is looking for experienced crafters to help out teaching basic sewing skills and running simple workshops. You get free entry to the event and the roster is broken up into one-hour shifts so you can take on a shift or two and still have plenty of time to scope the wares yourself, plus it's a chance to promote your own business. Sound like fun? Sign up here.

Swap-O-Rama-Rama is also looking for materials donations (thread, ribbon, stuffing, buttons, etc). If you can help out with anything along these lines, Kris would love to hear from you and can be contacted at kris@font.net.nz.

Thank you Jenna-Lea!

Crafty Business had a great start to 2010 last night, with a most interesting presentation by Jenna-Lea which sparked some great discussion about where craft is at in the UK and the future of craft in New Zealand. I think we're very lucky to have Jenna back in NZ bringing her knowledge and energy with her!

Jenna's list of UK craft websites and resources is available for download in PDF format here in case you didn't get a copy.

If you'd like to get in touch with Jenna-Lea, you can contact her through Felt as jencreative or on 022 615 3669.

It was also awesome to get some suggestions for Crafty Business topics this year – thank you to everyone who contributed ideas. As Millie mentioned in the previous post, we would love to know if there's a subject you'd like us to cover or a speaker you'd be interested in. We are more than happy to invite anyone along to speak, but we need to know who. If it's a topic we've done before but there's demand to run it again or cover it in more depth, that's cool too. We're really keen to get your feedback so we can make Crafty Business as relevant and interesting as possible.

Our next Crafty Business is at 7pm on Monday 1 March and is also at Our City O-Tautahi. The topic is yet to be confirmed, so we'll get back to you on that soon!

Your suggestions welcome

Crafty Business is about to turn 1 year old. We covered so many topics during the first 11 sessions and as far as providing an overview of running and sustaining a crafty business we feel like we've done a pretty well rounded job.

So onward and upward for 2010 and now we are looking for your feedback on anything you'd like to get a little further into. Was there a specific topic we covered this year that you'd like to hear more about? Perhaps there was one aspect from a session you'd like us to cover in more detail? Maybe you'd like to lead a session and share your own skills and expertise?

If you have a suggestion feel free to email either of us: lucy@felt.co.nz or millie@missmillie.co.nz

All suggestions and feedback welcome.

New year, new (temporary) venue for Crafty Business #11

Images courtesy of Rafael McStevenson and Christchurch City Council

Crafty Business is back! Monday 1 February is our first session for the year, and due to renovations underway after a change of ownership at Churchills, we are temporarily shifting to Our City O-Tautahi for the February and March sessions.

For this first session we're very lucky to have Jenna-Lea Philpott coming along to speak to us about her experience working in the UK craft sector over the last two years.

Jenna-Lea is an experienced arts advocate, creative business advisor and craft consultant who has founded several charitable trusts and groups such as the NZ Creative Industries Trust, the Christchurch Music Industry Trust (CHART), the Christchurch Creative Industries Network, and has supported the development of other organisations such as the UK-based Heritage Crafts Association.

Previously employed by Arts Access Aotearoa, the Canterbury Development Corporation, and Creative & Cultural Skills UK, Jenna recently led the public consultation and co-wrote The Craft Blueprint: A Workforce Development Plan for Craft in the UK which was launched at the House of Lords in London last year. Establishing and developing close working partnerships with craft makers, guilds and societies, and organisations such as the Crafts Council, Craft Northern Ireland, craftscotland, HI-Arts, Shetland Arts, Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Cockpit Arts, The Goldsmiths Company, The Craft Study Centre, the Calligraphy and Lettering Arts Society, The Basketmakers Association and others, Jenna helped to pioneer new research and qualifications in the UK craft sector. For example, the development of national occupational standards that underpin qualifications for freelancers and craft makers, and new research which indicated the UK craft sector generates nearly $3 billion GVA each year to the UK economy.

Now back in NZ, Jenna runs her own business, Tango Creative Consultancy, providing business advice and support to arts organisations and creative practitioners. She's keen to support the development of the NZ craft sector and work with craft makers, so we hope to give her a great introduction to the Crafty Business community.

Come along to Our City O-Tautahi on the corner of Worcester Boulevard and Oxford Terrace at 7pm on Monday 1 February, meet Jenna-Lea and join us for your monthly dose of crafty company!

No Crafty Business in January

There is no Crafty Business in January, since a lot of people are off on holidays and enjoying the sunshine. Crafty Business will start the new year on Monday 1 February. Hope to see you then!

Crafty Business Christmas Quiz cancelled

Sadly due to lack of numbers we have had to cancel the Quiz. If you have already paid, I will organise a refund. We will still hold our Crafty Business get together at Churchills from 7pm tomorrow, so please do come along and join us for a drink and catch up. Hope to see you there!

Register now for the Great Crafty Business Christmas Quiz!

Last chance to enter a team for the Great Crafty Business Christmas Quiz on Monday 7 December!

Invite your friends, partner, family and workmates. If you don't have a team, register as an individual and we'll find you some friends.

If you're coming along, please do register - we need an indication of numbers by Monday 30 November.