Heart Felt

Sponsor Giveaway :: Chasing Will

I was so excited to discover Chasing Will on Felt a couple of months back.  I have bought Hugo numerous pairs of fashionable, yet practical leggings.  It's wonderful to be able to purchase handmade baby leggings in geometric patterns, arrows, Aztec designs and trendy fluros.  Along with wonderful pram blankets, fitted cot sheets and pram liners.

I asked Katie to us a little about herself and how Chasing Will was started.

 

 

My name is Katie and I'm a married mother to William who is 8 months. I am originally from Sydney Australia, but moved to Christchurch with my husband Mark in 2009 for him to work as a racing commentator for Trackside. 

 

Before moving here I had no interest in sewing, which is quite ironic given that my mum is an incredible patchworker and sewer. I had always sort of rebelled against it and was into sport so I only learnt to sew at school. But after showing her a bit of interest in it last year she bought me a lovely little machine for Christmas. I started off sewing paper garlands and other smaller things and have progressed from there to making more complex items, mostly through the help of tutorials online.

 

I started Chasing Will after I made my son William Chase (hence the Chasing Will) a baby blanket with sherpa fabric. I had a few nice comments from quite a few people about it asking where I got it from. When telling them I made it they encouraged me to make some more and sell them. 

 

I like to make clothing and accessories more targeted towards boys as my son Will acts as my muse and also my model and I find it hard to find cool original clothing for boys. Especially handmade stuff. But I still do like to make things for pretty little ladies too!

 

I am inspired by graphic bright prints, especially geometric ones that don't have too many baby nods to them. I love to make things that are different and not many of same thing, so mums and their bubs can be unique!

 

I have also started to design my own fabrics and now offer leggings in organic cotton knit in my own 'plus' designs. I also have started making some organic baby blankets, pram liners and fitted bed sheets in my plus design, which will be available on my Felt shop soon. I just have to find the time in between looking after my son to do it all! 

 

 

 

For the giveaway Katie is offering a pair of her popular reindeer leggings.  

How cute would they be on Christmas morning.  

 

 

To enter you need to pop over to Facebook and hit the 'like' button here and become a Chasing Will 'liker' and of course you also need to be a Heart Felt 'liker' right here.

 

Then come back to this post and tell us which size you would like if you were to win.  Available in sizes - newborn, 3mth, 6mth, 12mth, 18mth, 2T

 

And don't forget to check out Chasing Will on Felt.

 

I will draw an random winner this time next week.

Good luck!

 

 

Christmas Garden Party preparations

 

Our Makers at Home preparations are going well.  

Follow our Facebook page for daily updates.

 

I've been busy sewing too of course and Hugo is proving to be a great little model for mama.

 

 

 

Just trying a few different designs and colours.

Plenty more sewing to do yet!

Thrifty finds

 

Pretty powder blue vintage petticoat

~ it's now a collection on Sadie's bedroom wall ~ 

 

Retro drinking glasses

 

Plastic arrow cocktail sticks

 ~ I remember these as a child ~

 

Can never pass a pair of porcelain deers

 

Retro plastic hobby horse ~ LOVE!

Photo shoot planned using this beauty

 

Large framed hand coloured photograph

Not sure where the location is, but I love how they over colorized things back then.

 

Vintage plastic and leather buttons

also the yellow Meakin plate

 

Retro knitting needles

 

Fisher Price retro cash register

~ missing it's coins, but Oscar is storing his pirate coins inside ~ 

Love the little squirrels too.

 

Free Range Baby hooded coat for Hugo ~ Score!

Little Vita an inspiration

 

Last weekend I was honored to take photographs of my little friend Vita and her brother Tom picking daffodils.  

Vita is a very independent two year old and chooses her clothing all by herself.  She is nearly always seen wearing a tutu and I was delighted when she arrived wearing her orange tutu. 

 

 

Even better was when Dee asked if she could design a Tiny Eyes doll inspired by Vita's gorgeous outfit.   The best compliment ever!  

What great style Vita and what a beautiful doll Dee. 

Sponsor Giveaway :: Robots & Flowers

 

Another fabulous Heart Felt sponsor giveaway!

With a newborn in the house dribble bibs are so darn handy ~ not only for the dribbles but for the little spills too.  Robots & Flowers caught my eye because of their funky fabric choices.   Dribble bibs don't sound like the most glamorous item of clothing, but with these fun fabrics they are not only practical but can lift an outfit too.

I asked Cara to tell us a little about herself and how Robots & Flowers started.

Robots & Flowers is all about crafty baby stuff! I love to use bold prints yet with a colour palette that is quite muted and runs a similar theme. I make a lot of custom made items and get customers requesting certain items frequently.

Robots & Flowers came about very recently and is inspired completely by my son Hunter, who is now 7 months old. In comparison to my job pre bubs as a primary school teacher, I find being a mum to be a very different sort of tiring but I had a need to 'do stuff & make stuff'. I've always been this way but now that I’m at home and I have some (and I mean some – with a baby!) time to do it.

At first I viewed it as a creative outlet and a hobby with little expectations but I've been completely thrilled to see how people have responded to it and how busy things have been in these few months. I am lucky to have a clever mum who is able to knit any pattern I throw at her and she is the person behind all of the knitted items. 
I’m always on the look out for new fabrics and hope that I can design and print my own fabrics one day. Until then, I’m loving meeting peoples requests and constantly coming up with new ideas to excite other mums out there or as unique lovingly made gifts. 

Giveaway time!

If you would like to win this Robots & Flowers bird dribble bib, just leave a comment here on Heart Felt. For an extra entry become a liker of Robots & Flowers on Facebook here (just leave me another comment here on Heart Felt to tell me you have done so) and I will draw out a random name in a weeks time.

Good luck!

 

Thrift finds ~ July

I haven't posted my thrift finds for months and months.  It use to be a regular monthly feature, so I'm keen to start it up again.  

I will be posting things that I found a few months back just to catch up, along with my monthly finds (but just the really good stuff)

 

Vintage wooden farm play set with plastic animals.  

I found this at the Martinborough Fair on a stall selling a variety of vintage and retro items.  I paid $25 for it, but I love it to bits and the children have had loads of fun with it.  It's a neat piece to display too.

 

Retro plastic pull along horse

50c

 

Soft floral stuffed rabbit with pretty embroidered butterfly detail

 

A variety of vintage linens, the horse being my favourite.

 

Retro harlequin prints

I use to have this exact set on my wall as a child.  I don't know what happened to them, I probably grew up and got rid of things I thought were too babyish.  I was so excited to see them again and they look lovely in Sadie's room.

 

Ballet slippers

I've been looking for a pair for Sadie for such a long time and was excited to find a pair that fit her.   Photo shoot coming soon.....

 

Vintage English wool coat and baby bonnet 

When I took this up to the counter and lady told me that the person who donated it had had it dried cleaned before they bought it in.  So I was a little bemused to pay $5 for it considering it probably cost them more than that to get it cleaned.

 

Hand smocked dress

It's getting harder to find smocked dresses that fit Sadie these days, so I was thrilled to find this one.  Can't wait for the warmer weather so she can wear it.

 

Handmade pottery bowl with blue glaze

I love crudely made pottery.  This piece is so rustic on the outside but has a beautiful blue glaze on the inside.  It's taking pride of place in my kitchen.

 

Handmade quilt made from retro fabrics

This is nice and thick, great for Hugo when he's on the wooden floor boards.  Love the doily on the bottom right hand corner.

 

Wooden hand carved baby rattle

Amazing.

Sponsor Giveaway :: Elephant+bird

Do you like my little photographer? 

Maybe one day he will be a photographer for the National Geographic.

 

He's using an original Elephant+bird wooden camera.  

They take great [pretend] photographs, fits in his little hands, a button he can twist around and has a soft leather neck strap.  

Oscar's camera is a like a polaroid camera.  He takes his picture and instantly gives me a copy to see, which amuses me since I have a digital camera and he only sees my photographs of the screen or on the computer later on.

 

  I asked Jo from Elephant+bird to tell us a little about their business.

Elephant+bird started from a love of illustration and trying new art forms. Myself and my partner Matt, design and screenprint all our products using eco friendly practices, here in Auckland.

My Dad builds all the wonderful wooden toys using practices and tools that were passed on to him from his Father, so it has become very much a family business and we love it!

Everything in our shop is designed to last and to celebrate the uniqueness of handmade. 

Do you have a budding photographer in your family?

If you would like to win your own Elephant+bird wooden camera, just leave a comment here on Heart Felt.  If you would like another entry become a 'liker' on Elephant+bird's Facebook page here, [just pop back to Heart Felt and leave another comment to tell me that you have done so.]

I will randomly draw a winner this time next week.

If you are interested in checking out their screenprinting pop over to their Felt Shop here and their website here.

Good luck and a huge 'thank-you' to Jo and Matt.

SAY 'CHEESE"

 

Makers at Home

Some exciting news.  

Three friends and I have been organising an event which we have named "Makers at Home".

Basically it's a social evening of friends, mulled wine, shared food and shopping hosted at one of our homes.  Loosely based on the concept of a Tupperware party, but instead of plastic kitchen ware we will be sharing our handmade goods for purchase.

Our first home shopping evening is tomorrow night.

We are hoping this will be the first evening of many more to come.

If you would like to come tomorrow night email me for details or visit our Facebook page.

"Like" our Facebook page here and keep in touch for future events.

Here's a little sneak peek of what to expect from "Makers at Home".   

Little Agnes Coy Sleepy Clouds

 

Hikkepik is having fun with hippo's 

 

Cute tile pendants from D'Pendants

 

Koru wool tunic from yours truly  ~ Heart Felt

 

 

 

 

Lolling around

Dressed for town

Oscar, Hugo and myself planned a trip to town today.  Oscar needed to buy a birthday present for his friend Cameron.  He chose a dinosaur activity book, a pack of felt tip pens and dinosaur pencil.  

 

We did a couple of op-shops until Hugo decided he had had enough.  We didn't find a lot.  I got a cute little summer romper for Hugo and a pair of vintage knitting needles.  Oscar found a toy lion that he quite liked.

We visited my old work place to show off Hugo ~ I can't believe it's been three years since I left my old job!

We visited Grandma and Granddad,

and then Oscar went to his swimming lessons where he learnt how to put his head under water!

 

Oscar's outfit

Long sleeve t-shirt ~ Nature Baby

Wool cardigan ~ hand knitted by Grandma

Pants ~ Hikkepik

Shoes ~ McKinlays (thrifted)

Dinosaur pouch ~ Atticus Finch

(the pouch contained a handful of small farm animals, $1.10 and  a ladybird necklace which holds strawberry lip balm.)