Nicola Price of Orchid Blue NZ leads a busy life: she is a jewellery maker by day and an HCA in a rest home/dementia unit by night. Her jewellery reflects her desire to reduce waste by upcycling and recycling tiny everyday art treasures – vintage silverwares and Aotearoa’s beautiful old coins.
Mike Walker of Walker’s Woodturning was born and bred on a sheep and beef farm in the King Country. His passion for woodturning began with many childhood hours spent turning with his grandfather. In 2002 Mike broke his back, and it was this that eventually led him to take up woodturning again in his adult years, this time in a professional capacity. Assisted by his wife Helen on the business front, Mike has worked hard to adapt traditional turning techniques to his needs, and as a result he’s competent at ambidextrous turning, and turning seated or standing.
Manawatu maker couple Kate and Heather often get asked about their business name – Defining Ply, or Ply for short. “We chose our name as a nod to our (exceptionally dorky) penchant for word play. Ply can mean tempt with wares, twist threads together, or working as a master of your trade. Defining Ply is a verb, something we do, something that can evolve; we learn, we pull things together, we work with our hands, we hope to draw like-minded humans to us.”
Maki Lourie of Sew Mama is passionate about making beautiful products from beautiful fabrics, and making people smile! Her work, creating carefully-finished reusable textile products for children, is fuelled by the desire to bring her customers a bit of happiness, as well as reducing single-use plastic waste…
Bronnie of Cornflake Purl started up her knitted-goods business after relocating to the Manawatu from Wellington when her father was diagnosed with cancer. She confesses she’s a little bit obsessed with music and even more obsessed with coffee.
Mrs Craftfire, 6pm-9pm, Friday 10 May, Palmerston North Central Library
The Alt.Shift.Craft Collective present Mrs Craftfire, their latest offering of alternative craft in nifty library-market form – and it’s just in time for Mother’s Day!
Anita Carter’s grandfather began making eiderdowns in Wellington in the 1940s. 70 years later Anita is following in his footsteps with her home business Eiderdowns by Anita. She still uses her grandad’s original “downmachine” patterns and until recently, even one of his sewing machines!
Tiny Tangimoana in the Manuwatu is home to Sabine Schneider, artisan dyer and creator of Curiouser & Curiouser yarns for the adventurous crafter. Characterised by lush colourways and tempting textures, her yarns are hand painted in small batches, making each one unique.