Home from the fair

We're just home from the first of the Martinborough Fairs. We enjoyed our "South Pacific Cruise" on the ferry to Wellington, where we stayed with our son and his partner, then travelled up to Martinborough very early on Saturday morning.
Boy! It was a scorcher with temperatures well into the 30's, but we have a wonderful spot on the eastern side of the square, where we get the morning sun and are sheltered from the wind. Apparently there were 25,000 people there, though it really didn't seem that busy.
Had a fabulous meal in Wellington at La Belle Italia in Petone while we were there - real authentic Italian, with fresh, fresh food and incredible service.
It was real family time in Wellington - my sister and niece helped out on mine and the Toy Boy's stalls, and my brother-in-law, who is an amazing cook, treated us to one of his creations on Sunday night.
We have come home feeling filled-up on family and fabulous food!

The Culverden Fete Thursday 28th October

It's getting exciting...
Things are really busy here - both the Toy Boy and I have been very productive in our studios preparing for the Christmas Country Fete in Culverden next week.
It's always a gorgeous day out, with wonderful food, music and early Christmas shopping - I always manage to find something extra special for gift giving there.
So put the date on your diaries - Thursday 28th October, 10 am till 4 pm
I'm in Stand A57 and the Toy Boy is in Stand A56 with Golden Bay Toys, right next door.
Come and say "Hi" - and remember to bring your sunhat!
See you there!

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!

So here is one of the things that has been keeping me busy over the past weeks - I have sent out an email newsletter to reward my loyal customers.

To qualify for the discount, you must first join my email newsletter group. You can do this easily from the website on the "News" page. Happy browsing!



My First Ever Sale and Newsletter

I have been as busy as a wee bee in my little studio this winter, and have been uploading lots of lovely new work onto my website.

As promised, I have included a promotion code in this newsletter for you to use to receive 20% off all items on the website (excluding postage).

If you enter BUYBEADS into the coupon code box then follow the prompts, you will receive 20% discount on any item on the site, excluding postage.

Yes, that’s right – until the end of July, if you go onto the website and order any item, then enter the promotion code as you checkout, you will receive a 20% discount.

This offer is only open to people who have given me their email address and have signed up for my newsletter, so if you tell your friends about this, they must first register their email address, which they can easily do via my website www.glitz.co.nz

Bloggers

I will run the occasional “Blog Only” promotions, so keep yours eyes peeled!

Shows

I took the beads up to the Dunkleys Great New Zealand Craft Show in New Plymouth over Queens Birthday Weekend in June and had a wonderful time there. Just loved New Plymouth – it’s one of New Zealand’s beauty spots, being right on the wonderful wild West Coast with its sea and surf and under Mount Taranaki. The mountain showed herself in all her glory on the very first morning of the show, so we all felt very privileged to be blessed by her.

I will do the South Island trip with Dunkley’s Craft Shows again in September. Look out for me at the

Christchurch Show at Addington Raceway September 10 – 12,
Dunedin Show at the Edgar Centre September 17 – 19, and the
Invercargill Show at Stadium Southland September 24 – 26

If you would like a discount coupon for your entry fee, please let me know and I’ll get one to you.

You can contact me via my contact details on the website www.glitz.co.nz

I am also booked in for the Thorndon Fair in Wellington on Sunday 5th December in my usual spot, though that feels quite a long way off right now.

Apart from that, I can be found on the Nelson Market every Saturday morning, which the lovely Sophie will run for me whenever I’m away.

Happy Shopping!

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.