A Change of Plans and Facebook Giveaway

Long Purple Rock Candy Earrings - $40

 We've had an unexpected change of plans and won't be traveling South with the Dunkley's Great New Zealand Craft show this year after all.

This means that we won't be selling in Christchurch, Dunedin or Invercargill this year.

Please accept our sincere apologies if this upsets your plans - perhaps we can talk through something with you by email or phone.  

I'm always happy to take extra photos of pieces and of course I give a full money-back guarantee if you're not 100% satisfied with what arrives at your door.

I've launched the Facebook page properly this week with a giveaway of a pair of Rock Candy earrings of your choice to be won by a lucky "Liker" at the end of August.

Short Black Rock Candy Earrings $35

 I'm going to run super-specials and discounts for my lovely followers, so if you want to enter the draw and be notified of the deals as they go up go to 

Glitz Art Glass on Facebook.

The first super-special goes up today!

Full Moon Blues

I'm not sure what's going on here at the moment, but I can't seem to shake a bug that I picked up in Invercargill.  I often find that the full moon brings a lot of these things to the surface, don't you?

I thought I'd dealt with my bug pretty conclusively on the last day of the Craft Shows when we went to A & E at Invercargill Hopsital and I was prescribed some horse-sized antibiotic pills.  

Now, that's an experience I could talk about at length - four hours in a public hospital Accident and Emergency waiting room sure are an education.  Although I was feeling lousy, I had to tell myself how lucky I am, and how benevolently life has treated me.

However, I digress...we had a lovely rest as we drove north - the sun shone for us, the newborn lambs frolicked the spring flowers nodded...it was idyllic and by the time we got home three days later I was feeling much better.

It was still a relief to get home to Golden Bay - we had a wonderful house-sitter and the furballs were happy and full of fun, and the garden had turned on spring.

It's been great to get back to work - does that sound strange?  I found myself really missing the torch while we were away - I think it comes from talking to people about the work, but not doing it!

However I find myself looking for sunny spots to lie down in.

Perhaps once the full moon has finished her phase I will feel better?

Dunkleys Great NZ Craft Show South Island Road Trip

In New Zealand we like to think that our winters are mild in comparison to a lot of the world, but in the past week we had a polar blast sweep across the country.   And wouldn't you know it, it was the week that we chose to travel south for the Dunkleys Great New Zealand Craft Show South Island Tour!
We were surprised that the weather was fabulous - a perfect winter's day right over our notorious Takaka Hill, the equally notorious Wangamoas.  But when we got to the Kaikoura Coast in the east the sea was mountainous! 

There were waves the size of buildings coming right up to the road.  Fortunately we got there just after high tide - the water had been right across the road and there was lots of debris dumped there.

Even the poor seals that live there were right up by the road on the rocks trying to avoid the sea!  I couldn't get a photo of them, sorry - and I apologise for the quality of these shots - they were taken from the moving van - there was no way I was getting out of there, and we wanted to get away from there as soon as we could as the wind was buffeting the van alarmingly!

Up through the Hundalees the road was really icy.

Then we hit heavy snow through the Greta Valley

But the good news is....that we made it!  We set up the  show on Thursday afternoon and here it is!

And we won FIRST PRIZE for Outstanding Display!

Woohoo!  Thanks, Dunkleys!

Thanks to those people who dropped by to see us - and I apologise for being so busy that it was hard to chat - the crowd was overwhelming at times.

At the moment we're taking a couple of days out at Moeraki Beach - one of my favourite places in the world - just walking and cloudwatching.  The weather is now glorious!

It's a great place to just sit and watch the sky.

And there's lots of treasure to collect on the beach - it's a great place for sea-glass.

And I found a T-Stick!  Very topical at the moment as that's how I'm using the internet here ;).

New Books and the big draw

One of the preparations I love to make for a trip is making sure that I have some nice books to read. Here's my little stash...I think it will last me for a bit longer than three weeks!
We leave here on Wednesday for Christchurch - weather permitting. This snow storm is putting the trip in some doubt - Oh! I do love the joys of traveling in winter! I wonder how the Christchurch Craft Show will be in this weather? Perhaps it will all have blown over by opening day on Friday - I do hope so!
Ironically, we are having beautiful days here in Golden Bay - the sun is high and warm, but the wind is cold.
And the winner of the Blog Giveaway is....drumroll, please...

Carol Soutter-Earle! Congratulations, Carol, I will be in touch!

Shop Update

Things have been moving along happily in the little shop in Takaka - we are still yet to build some storage and work units, but we are thoroughly enjoying being in the main street.

I'm enjoying having the torch, jewellers bench and office in the same place and often swing from one to the other and feel like I'm getting more work done.

I'm looking forward to hanging some favourite local artists work around the room.
We have lovely big windows along the side of the building and will build units to make enticing  displays there.  Do you see the sweet little French candelabra?  I bought it to embellish, but I think I love it just the way it is.

The toy shelf is slowly filling up for the winter - we will need to have lots more made by the time August rolls around and we have the Dunkley's Great New Zealand Craft Show South Island run.

The space isn't huge, and we occasionally struggle with sharing, but generally we manage to get along pretty well.  You can just see the Toy Boy working at his painting bench in this photo.  I often work opposite him swinging a paintbrush on the toys.
The whole move into the village has been good, and we feel much more social - even if we do drink way too much coffee these days!

Travelling South

When we heard that the Dunkley's Great NZ Craft Show was cancelled we were all packed and ready to leave - in fact we delayed our leaving because we were so sure that it could not go ahead.
So we decided to come ahead anyway, if only to take time to visit with elderly family living in Christchurch. It was an amazing experience, and one I'm not keen to repeat anytime soon.
I checked on this amazing website (you may have to install Google Earth to see it), and found that they have had in excess of 500 (yes, that's right) aftershocks since Saturday's huge quake. The ground is moving all the time, and even in the short time that we were there I began to wonder if my head was spinning or if the world really was moving constantly. A lot of the shakes were quite frightening, even then.
We had a brief drive around the city checking on old haunts and it seems that one of our old homes in the suburb of Dallington has probably gone - a victim of liquifaction. We could not get close enough to be sure, and it felt rather ghoulish to be viewing other people's misfortune quite so closely.
Liquifaction is where the earth is shaken so vigorously that the silt and fine sand comes to the surface with any groundwater - rather like shaking a container of wet cement.

The quaint old shop where I had my first after school job has totally gone - it is the gap in the photo at the top - there are so many of these lovely old heritage buildings disappearing and being demolished before they can do any harm.
We had a little essential shopping to do while we were in the city and found that when we asked shop assistants how they were coping they almost broke down - the whole city is in a state of shock and grief.
It's hard to convey just how hard this vibrant place has been hit - the damage goes much further than the eye can see - literally!
It has been a relief to move further South and sit in this gorgeous little fishing village on the coast. How fortunate we are to be able to do this! I will tell you more about this over the coming days.

CHRISTCHURCH DUNKLEYS GREAT NZ CRAFT SHOW CANCELLED

Due to the horrifying series of earthquakes in Christchurch, the Great NZ Craft Show in that city ONLY has been cancelled.
We will be in Dunedin and Invercargill, but will only visit Christchurch briefly to check on family and friends. I wish I could bring you all home with me!
Our love and prayers go to everyone in Christchurch.

Christchurch Earthquake

Even from this distance we are having trouble coming to terms with the devastating earthquake in our old home town. It seems that huge swathes of the old city have collapsed under an earthquake that is comparable with the Haiti quake.
It's hard to imagine, and a part of me wants to go there to see with my own eyes, and the other part of me never wants to see what's happened. Buildings that I walked past most days of my life at times and are so familiar that they are like old friends are not only gone, their remains are scattered and dismembered.
We are still making contact with friends and family and they are all OK apart from superficial damage, apart from one old and dear friend who has lost his home. It has been condemned.
So many people tell us that they ran for their lives - it's so hard to believe that there were no lives lost.
We are due to leave for the Dunkley's Great New Zealand Craft Show tomorrow, and can't quite believe that the show will go on...but we have had an email from the organisers to say that it's still happening. From what we hear in the news I'm expecting another email reversing that decision any time.
We live six and a half hours drive from Christchurch in Golden Bay, and were staying in Nelson on the night of the quake and still felt it quite strongly.
Our lovely old clock stopped at the time of the quake, as did the lovely old clock on the clock tower in Victoria Street in Christchurch. (Sorry - I've tried and tried to get a photo of this but you can find some amazing pictures here)

It reminded me of that poem by W H Auden "Stop the clocks...". Perhaps I'm being melodramatic?
Arohanui me kia kaha o te whanau o Te Waipounamu (Love and strength to family and friends in the South Island).
Apologies for the photo hiccups in this post - Blogger and I were having a disagreement!

Half Price Tickets!

Would you like to have half price tickets to any of the next three Dunkley's Great New Zealand Craft Shows?

The Toy Boy and I will be exhibiting our work at the shows in Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill next month, and as exhibitors we are offered as many half price tickets as we would like.

The price is normally $8, but we can get them for you for $4!

Show dates and venues are...
Christchurch, Addington Raceway, Friday 10th to Sunday 12th September
Dunedin, Edgar Centre, Friday 17th to Sunday 19th September
Invercargill, Stadium Southland, Friday 24th to Sunday 26th September

10 - 5 daily.

Drop me an email to lesley at glitz dot co dot nz and I will order and post them to you before the shows - I'll even pay the postage!

I will let you know our site number once we know where we will be.

Don't miss out on a great show - there are just so many unique handmade goodies there - it;s a great place to do your Christmas shopping.

A Very Brave Family

While I was in New Plymouth for the Dunkley's Great New Zealand Craft Show I was privileged to meet an amazing family.
Rory Gardiner was diagnosed with two cancerous brain tumors when he was 7 years old in March 2009, and since then he and his family have been fighting for his life. He is currently in remission, but will not be considered "safe" until March 2014.
Rory's mother, Leigh, has kept a faithful record of their journey on Rory's website.
During the course of his illness, Rory has amassed an amazing 800+ Beads of Courage!
I urge you to visit there and to read their incredible story.
So to Rory, Leigh, Sean and Sam, I salute you.
You are heroes!

It's Showtime, Beadie Babies!

My first blog post! How exciting!

I'm getting ready for the Dunkley's Great New Zealand Craft Show on Queens Birthday Weekend in New Plymouth. The show starts on Friday 4th June and runs through till Monday 7th June at the TSB Stadium.

As you can see, my bench becomes rather disorganised as I become more focused on getting lots of lovely glass made up before a show!

I will have lots of lovely new work there, so if you can make it there, I'd love to see you.