Winner!

The winner of the Katydid Christmas pack has been drawn - congratulations Kate Jones, you'll receive your prize next week, in time for Christmas.

I bought a toothbrush, some toothpaste, a flannel for my face. Pyjamas, a hairbrush, new shoes and Extra Curricular...

As you may have found, Extra Curricular is stocked rather sporadically throughout New Zealand and Australia. I'm looking to fill in the gaps a bit, and wondering if any of you lovely EC readers have a local store you'd like to see it in ... 

Katydid southern hemisphere snow globe cards

You could send this to homesick friends living overseas... or is that a tiny bit mean? It's part of the prize pack in Issue 4 of Extra Curricular - out now (entries close 16th of December so that we can send the prize in time for Christmas). www.katydid.co.nz

Extra Curricular Issue 4 is nearly here...

Cover art by the talented Jessica Hills

The holiday issue is just about here! It includes a printmaking featurette and interviews with some amazingly talented folk, as well as a little holiday activity book with 8 great projects to get stuck into over the holidays. 

NZ Art & Design Week

Bringing you some of the best local art & design, MoAD has organised a showcase of creative talent with an exciting event running from 13 - 21 November. Thirty artists & designers are participating in NZ Art + Design Week, including Cheryl Sills, Workroom Design, Martin Horspool and Sensitive Boyfriend. Check it out at 110 Carlton Gore Road, Newmarket, Auckland.

Art in the Dark

Last night I checked out 'Art in the Dark' - a community event in Western Park in Ponsonby, Auckland. It was fun to meander along the paths, discovering all the various light works which have been installed for the event, which explores themes of community, environment and utopias. The whole thing is eco-friendly & powered by clean energy. One of my favourites was this space - 'nightshade' created by Shian Perawiti and Rose Watson - these lanterns are part of it. When we came upon it, Edith Piaf was playing and everyone had dainty cups of tea. It's on tonight too, I'd suggest a wander down if you live in the area.

Edges

One of Extra Curricular's favourite artists Erica Lack has her first solo exhibition coming up. Erica creates amazingly detailed, beautiful papercuts, and we interviewed her in Issue 2 about her work. 'Edges' opens next Friday at 6pm at the Letham Gallery in Auckland and runs until November 7th. Her pieces are even more impressive in person, where you can examine every intricate detail and see the results of months of hard work and patience with a scalpel. 

lucky ducks

The random number generator has chosen & the winners of the goodies from issue 3 are Kirsten Fathers who has won the Lily's Make Believe London map cutout, Rachel Cleave who will be receiving the Chelsea Jade CD prize pack, and Darci Thompson won the Bibliographica miniature hand-bound book. Enjoy your prizes ladies!

Bird in a Bunny Suit

Issue 3 features one of the collage creations of Bayley Collins (in the 'Objects of Our Desire' section). She creates small collages and drawings inspired by found imagery in her home based Auckland studio. Well she now prints cards featuring her cute wee creatures and you can buy them online at Foxes! 

Don't forget...

Kraftbomb this weekend! Extra Curricular will be there with bells on.

Still time to enter...

If you haven't entered yet, don't forget to enter the competitions in Issue 3 - entries close on September 30th and prizes will be drawn the next day. There are treats to be won from from Lily's Make Believe, Chelsea Jade & Bibliographica - see page 2 for details.

Looking for advertisers for Issue 4

Extra Curricular Issue 4 - the holiday issue - will be hitting the shelves November 18th, and some exciting things are in the works for it! If you are interested in advertising, contact extracurricularnz@gmail.com for info and pricing - prices start at $85 & the deadline for booking space is the end of September.

Win the crown!

Just a reminder that entries for the Little Help Project close on the 1st of October - if you're planning on entering you have just two weeks! There will be one winner of the 10K start-up package as well as 10 finalists who each get to have two of their designs printed! Above is a still from the awesome animation by Robert Wallace, check it out & enter online at www.littlehelpproject.com

Bedfellows

If you're into illustration, get along to the upcoming exhibition 'Bedfellows' at The High Seas in Auckland. The High Seas shows are always awesome, and they do a great job supporting local creatives. I love the poster, illustrated by Devon Smith (Devon was featured in Issue 2 of Extra Curricular). The show will showcase some local illustration talent and aims to demonstrate that art and illustration can happily co exist. 

Button Thief

I remember obsessively collecting buttons when I was about 6 years old - to me they were like little jewels and I kept a jar of them hidden away from possible thieves. So I can definitely see the appeal of 'Button Thief' - a children's book created by first-time author Latesha Randall and illustrator Esther Griffiths. They have recently self published it (these are some of the illustrations) and are now in the process of getting it into stores around New Zealand. A story about 'friendship, forgiveness and the thrill of collecting', it will no doubt delight small girls everywhere. Once they own the book, young button lovers can sign up to 'Button Buddies' - where they'll be matched up with a pen friend to swap letters and buttons with - what a great idea!

Artists wanted!

Remember First Thursdays from last Summer? Well it is coming back and this time it is going to be even bigger and more amazing!

Relaunching on Thursday 2 December 2010, it'll be a quarterly event from now on with more dates scheduled for 2011.

K Road will be jumping on a Thursday night with a craft market hosted by Foxes, poetry readings, live music, dance performances, and DJs from George FM. Several super talented up-and-coming artists will be exhibiting in a gallery show at Te Karanga Gallery, and St. Kevin’s arcade and neighbouring shops will be open late with discounts and treats on the night.

First Thursdays is all about fostering a tighter-knit arts community, connecting people and spreading new ideas.

Sound right up your alley?

The organisers are currently looking for talented artists, dancers, musicians, djs & poets!
The application deadline is Friday 1 October 2010.

Check out www.firstthursdays.co.nz.

A weekend away

I was down Lyttelton way last weekend (filling in time while the mountains were rained out) so stopped in to visit one of the lovely stockists of Extra Curricular - Portico. Such a delightful wee shop full of treasures, and Maree has made a lovely spring magazine display. 

Little Help Project 2

The Little Help Project offers a $10K start-up package for a new t-shirt label. Run by AS Colour, this is the second year the competition has run and it has just opened for entries! It is an awesome thing to be part of, so if you are creative and like a challenge, start sketching. Take a look at www.littlehelpproject.com.

Coming soon!

Just a few weeks of sleep deprivation and number 3 is finally at the printers. Watch this space!

Phillipa Cowdrey

The phenomenally talented Philippa Cowdrey has been up to more creative high-jinks since we caught up with her in Issue 2 of Extra Curricular. Printing totes, doing more of her beautifully detailed illustrations and making awesome new hand-tooled and painted leather rose brooches. We can only hope she gets along to a market or two one of these days...

Minu

Heike Theis - a.k.a Minu, a talented artist who I am sure you have all heard of - has delightful digital prints available for sale on Felt. These are two of the original paintings - part of her 'Awoke' series. They make me think of dreams...
Minu will be at the New Zealand Art Show from the 29th July to the 1st of August at the TSB Bank Arena in Wellington.

Most Wanted Vintage

Most Wanted is a rad new shop in Aro Valley in Wellington, full of rare vintage finds and a whole heap of 80's awesomeness. You can even hire out 80's balldresses there for $20! Check out the carpet, and the chick on the dressing room door - painted by Xoe Hall.
www.facebook.com/mostwantedvintage

Craft workshops for folks in Wellington

Tash of OutdoorKnit and Knitsch Yarns is hosting a series of workshops to reveal the mysteries of hand-knit socks. Each ninety minute workshop is held at the lovely workspace at the The New Dowse in Lower Hutt, Wellington.

21 July, 28 July & 4 August at 2pm
or
25 July, 1 August & 8 August at 11am

You can book for the knitting workshops here

Shelley of Sweet William is hosting a series of three ninety minute workshops, also at The New Dowse:

Hoop Love - 4 August at 11am or 8 August at 2pm
For the Love of Corsage - 21 July at 11am or 25 July at 2pm
Needle Felted Friends - 28 July 11am or 1 August at 2pm

Click through to the Craft2.0 felt shop for more info on the Sweet William workshops.

Photographers

Extra Curricular is looking for talented boys and girls who take photographs in their spare time to feature in the upcoming August issue - does anyone know of any?
(Photo by Miss Sonya Nagels who featured in Issue One).

S'wonderful! S'marvellous!

More online goodness - now you don't have to go all the way to Wellington to get your Swonderful fix. They've finally opened their online store - great news for us out-of-towners. You can get your hands on lovely treats by Ragdoll Illustrations, Devon Smith, and Papercup Clothing among others.

Foxes shop of design & wonderment

There are certainly exciting things afoot online as of late! Foxes is a fancy new online shop featuring a hand picked selection of artists & designers, including Dear Colleen, Evie Kemp, R.W Scissors, and Victoria n' Bird. Extra Curricular is also proud to be part of the Foxes family.

Foxes opens on the 25th of July, in the meantime, you can sign up to the mailing list to find out what's happening in the foxes den.

Calling all night class addicts out there...

Extra Curricular is looking for wonderful night class tutors (and classes) to profile. We are looking for tutors with a passion for their craft - whether it be flax weaving, screen printing, photography or something else creative. Do you know of any?

Katydid Paper Goods Emporium

Katie Sims has been printing cards with her trusty Gocco for ages, but most recently she opened 'Katydid Paper Goods Emporium', an online store featuring her gorgeous hand printed cards as well as a carefully selected range of new + vintage books, stationery, Japanese washi tape and other papery goodness. It is a feast for the eyes and a must-visit for all stationery addicts.

And she is always coming up with new card designs, like this awesome one - what a clever lass.

Winners!

Some news to brighten up a few of your rainy Tuesday mornings...
I have drawn the winners for the giveaways in Issue 2, using a true random number generator.

Winner of 'Martha Goes Green: a vegetarian cookbook':
Kathryn Smiley

Winners of 'The Handmade Marketplace' by Kari Chapin:
Anna-Maria Sviatko
Victoria Griffin

And the winners of the Devon Smith print packs:
Ellen Henry
Ike Hendrosoebono

Congratulations to all, and thank you all for your entries and for all the lovely comments that came along with them.

Extra Curricular is looking for lovely advertisers for Issue 3. The print run has increased to 1000 copies, (which will still be individually hand-numbered), and it comes out in August. If you would like to advertise, take a look at the rates page to the right there, and give us a bell.

you gotta be in it to win it...

If you have the 2nd issue of Extra Curricular, don't forget to enter the giveaways. Maybe you thought, 'great, I'll do that later, there's heaps of time', so this is just a wee reminder - less than a week to go now!
Winners will be announced right here so stay tuned.

Prime real estate

On the counter at Mag Nation in Melbourne - thanks Anna-Maria for sending the photo.

Who's Martha?

Martha Goes Green is a cookbook full of yummy vegetarian recipes independently published by a group of friends who live in Melbourne. It's a cute wee thing (about the size of the Edmonds cookbook), full of deliciousness, and it comes in its own fairtrade organic cotton bag. Rosie, Ruth and Jessica were interviewed for Issue 2, and photographed by the talented Olga Bennet.

One of the questions I asked them was 'Who's Martha?' - I was curious about how they came up with the title. They said, 'We get asked this all the time! Our friend Hazel came up with the name. In a way it references the cooking show queen Martha Stewart, but also the home cook who wants to serve easy tasty food, but is concerned of the effect our diet has on the world around us. So I guess you could say “Martha Goes Green” is all about delicious, familiar and accessible cooking with an eco conscious edge. Oh and we think it’s a pretty cute name!'

So there you go.

If that sounds like what you're into, don't forget to enter the Martha Goes Green cookbook giveaway before the competition closes at the end of the month - details are inside the magazine.

oh my goodness!

How delighted I was to open my mailbox to find this little package from Louise of Bibliographica! Even though I was expecting it, as I had ordered it at Kraftbomb on the weekend, I was not expecting all the little details, like the personalised envelope, music sheet wrapping, and little scroll note. It is called 'The Key to your Thoughts' and it is a real book! With very deft fingers, Louise has hand bound it and you can write in it, or, I imagine, slip some little photographs between the tiny (2cm x 2cm) pages.

Alledaags

A man of his word, Toby Morris has busily been working away and all of a sudden has published his book! Alledaags is a collection of all his diary drawings from 2009, a few of which were featured in Issue 1 of Extra Curricular. Alledaags means 'everyday' in Dutch, and the drawings document the trials and tribulations of his daily life in Amsterdam - with a great sense of humour and a staedtler pigment liner. It's a fat hardcover, 125mm x 190mm with 354 pages. Get yours here!

The Handmade Marketplace

I ordered The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin some time ago, and have just been waiting for a lazy Sunday afternoon like this one to delve into it. With Kraftbomb finished (what a busy market we had today - thanks for coming everyone!) I have been lazing on the grass with a ginger beer reading; luxury!
So far, I'm up to the bit on blogging - and I'm sure I can learn a thing or two about that! Kari is kindly giving two signed copies away in the second issue of Extra Curricular - don't forget to enter.

Kraftbomb this weekend

Extra Curricular will be at Kraftbomb this weekend. After you've attended the Anzac Day dawn parade, pop in & say hello. You can eat some of City's yummy cupcakes, have a cup of Fred's homemade lemonade, and find the perfect Mother's Day present.
Sunday 25th April, 11am - 2pm, Grey Lynn Community Centre, 510 Richmond Rd, Auckland.

Good luck!

I adore Angela Keoghan's illustrations and I'm sure they've captured the attention of many of you since picking up a copy of Issue 2. She has just launched her Etsy store and in celebration is giving away a gorgeous pack including two hand pulled silk screen prints! Visit her website and leave a comment on her giveaway post to go in the draw. Fingers crossed...

Crafternoon Tea today!

Come on down to Kingsland today - you can pick up a copy of Extra Curricular and do a spot of Mothers' day shopping.
http://crafternoon-tea.blogspot.com/

Extra Curricular Issue 2 is out!

If you have ordered Issue 2 already, it is on its way to you, perhaps slowly due to Easter holidays, but on the way nonetheless. I've been busy numbering each one and packing them all carefully for their journeys - it's one of the best parts.  

Hunting & Gathering

Whilst happily browsing at Kraftbomb last month, I came across a beautifully presented stall - lovely china ornaments, old suitcases, vintage tablecloths and pretty packaging. It was run by Husband-Wife team Hunter Gatherer, otherwise known as Gem & Nathaniel.

With names like 'I am the smell of roses at your tea party' and 'I am the chair in the sunroom where you read', their pretty bow clips and bow ties transport you to a certain time and place where ladies and gents take tea and scones with lashings of whipped cream.

Gem does lovely illustrations too - as you can see on the 'my woodland friends' cards, done in pen and watercolour.

Hunter Gatherer will be there again this Sunday - you should pop down and see them and all their lovely treasures...

Helena Sofia

Helena did some great photography for Shelley Thomson's 'Citrus 30' photoshoot project, which was featured in the 1st issue of Extra Curricular. Since then, Helena has gone on to win the Sony/AIPA student photography competition and has got her website up and running. Here are a few of her beautiful landscape images. I get the impression she is often up at dawn to get the perfect shot...

Tonight!

First Thursdays is on again tonight - and it is even bigger and better than last time, with more crafty peeps in the market section and free cider for everyone! First Thursdays is organised by Cleo Barnett and Lauren Orlina and is a collaborative event comprising of music, performance, art, craft... all things creative.

On from 6-9 pm in St Kevin's Arcade in K Rd. You should check it out.

Kraftbomb this Sunday!

Yes everyone, the first Kraftbomb of Twenty-Ten is nearly here! Wander down to the Grey Lynn Community Centre, 510 Richmond Rd in Auckland this Sunday to buy direct from the makers, eat a cupcake & have some delicious lemonade. Don't miss it or you'll have to wait another month!