The Knot-just-Macrame Fibre Festival

We are super duper excited to be community sponsor of The Knot-just-Macrame Fibre Festival happening in Ipswich town from the 14th to the 29th of July. We've played host to the festival workgroups and it's been wonderful to watch and be part of the development of this project.

The festival programme includes a curated exhibition, an open cosy corner where you can pitch up and do your crafting, fibre forums, a 'spin in', a fashion parade plus fibre related workshops - the full festival and workshops programmes are listed below.

To book and pay for workshops head on in to Cultiver and to check out some sneak peeks and keep up to date with spontaneous fibre happenings head on over to the Knot-just-Macrame Facebook page HERE.

Shiny, pretty things - wooly bits and winter warmers

Hi again lovely folks,

I thought that as it's been flipping freezing out here in Ipswich town over the last few weeks it would be the perfect time to show you the lovely warm and wooly goodies we currently have in store. 

All the wonderful, snuggly stuff is stashed right up the front of the shop on a fab Shop 33* table and a couple of thrifted sideboards, we've also used some lovely old suitcases (including a Shop 33 suitcase on legs), a few baskets and other stands but they're all overflowing with wooliness so you'll just have to trust me that they're under all that handmade goodness.

Since there's so much to show you I'm going to try to do it as systematically as possible with lists (ooo lists Kyla will be so proud). So in a left to right kinda way here goes:

(a) Hand loomed poncho and crocheted beret - Dash Robin, knitted baby booties - beans design, knitted and crotched scarves - Little Bird and Little Golden, knitted beanies - Monday's Child (b) knitted socks - 'my mum made this' - Mums Cupboard (c) bear and bunny - Veronica Constance, knitted beanies - Mondays Child

(a) felt brooches, clutches and bottle covers - A-Zumble-Zay (b) bow headband - Little Golden, knitted headbands - Little Bird, crotched headbands - Dash Robin, soap balls - A-Zumble-Zay

(a) hand printed jersey scarves - Beetle Creative, felt hat, berets, bookmarks, bag and booties - Mieke Den Otter (b) close up hand printed jersey scarves (c) close up felt bag (d) close up felt hat

(a) felt scarves - A-Zumble-Zay and Mieke Den Otter, knitted twisty scarves - Monday's child (b) knitted infinity scarves - Little Bird (c) close up crotched head band - Dash Robin (d) close up crotched scarves - Little Bird

I thought you might like a few more closeups so you can see just how beautifully made these gorgeous things are:

booties, tea cosies, beanie, bow head band, infinity scarf, heat packs

And finally I just had to include this 'parting' shot by Kyla - firstly because the beret is gorgeous and by one of my all time favourite local makers (am I allowed to have favourites?) and second because you get a sneaky peek at the shop over the top of this beautiful piece. 

xx Bec

p.s. a personal recommendation - don't try and watch the new planet of the apes whilst blogging cause it's AMAZING, way too distracting and not very efficient blogging practice at all, plus it might makes you think a little too much about the fragility of the human race.

* please note the Shop 33 link goes to their new Shop 80 facebook page as these clever peeps have recently secured a space at the Wooloongabba Antiques Centre

UPcycled Wedding Dress Competition

Fancy trying your hand at UPcycling? As part of our sustainability event Dwell we are holding an UPcycled wedding dress competition. The idea is to take a discarded wedding dress - either rescued from the back of a cupboard or the racks of your local op-shop and transform it into a modern and wearable garment.

Here's a fab example by Cultiver collaborator Cassie:

UPcycled wedding dress by Cassandra's Closet

Cassie has taken one pre-loved wedding dress, dyed and embellished it, added other salvadged materials and transformed it into a stunning and unique formal gown. You might like to attempt something like this or perhaps you could rework an old ruffly dress into a modern 'after 5' piece or use a big old marshmallow dress to create a short line of ladies lingerie. You could cut, dye, remodel - the new garment you create is limited only by your imagination.

All entries will be displayed at Dwell with the winner being included in the runway show in the evening. Fabulous prizes include Cutliver craft supply goody bags, Peppermint mag subscriptions and the chance to have your dress displayed in the front window of Cultiver for a month.

For all the nitty gritty details click here and it should automatically download the competition guidelines and entry form.

We'd love to have you involved

xx Bec

Shiny pretty things - clothes for little people

We try as much as we can not to use standard shop fittings to showcase our lovely wares. So, for the many beautiful and unique kids clothes we have in store, we have a couple of different displays....

There's this very sweet little cupboard which is chock full of fantastic boy clothes including screen printed t-shirts by Mini Mayhem and mud effect tees by Lord Muck, plus shorts by Pollen, Middlemost and Little Brown Dog. Stacked on top is a little cane shelf which houses bubba singlets by Whiskers Lane and Mumatopia and organic cotton, screen printed onesies by Kate Ward. (The toys we'll have a closer look soon).

To the left of the little cupboard we have one 'traditional' rack which we stumbled across at the Hospice Bargain Centre (hurrah for opshops!). We adjusted it so it's a stepped display and the racks now hold all sorts of alternative girly things including:

 

UPcycled and screen printed t-shirts by Little Brown Dog, pantaloons and leggings by Pollen and crocheted dresses by Little Golden. 

 

And finally up next to the papery goodness table is a rack my dad helped us build from an old room divider and brackets we removed from the kitchen hutch that is now our counter. This is where the really girly stuff is - gorgeous frilly trousers and skirts by Dressing About and little wee apron dresses (and more) by the busy lady from Pollen.

 

It's taken us a while to build up to this selection of quality, handmade kiddies clothes and I've gotta say I love them all. They're all from mum's with a kid or two (or four), so wearability and longevity have really been taken into account when designing and making them, many have adjustable sizing and they're all made to last so can be passed along to another little person once they've been grown out of so the handmade love can be shared around.

Next week I think we better have a look at all the snuggly stuff we have in store to keep you warm on these clear, chilly days.

xx Bec

Shiny, pretty things - papery goodness part one - prints n things

We have loads of lovely paper based goodies in store and we've used a random assortment of op shop finds and the odd ikea piece to display them.

We've decorated our cosy corner a bit like it's our own lounge. Resting along the shelf we have a selection of original pen and gouache Frida 'doodles' by Shelley McDonald and pegged and paper clipped along the walls we have prints from a range of talented craftisans including Art by Jaz, Zoe Ingram, Missy Minzy, Bonnie Beyond Pluto. 

Opposite the cosy corner we have a whole table (and more) full of paper wares. We've used my aunts old office desk, stacked on a vintage telephone table and slid in a lovely old drawer, then on the walls we've used the ubiquitous ikea spice racks. The range of goodies that grace this display includes handmade and hand bound books by Kreative, a selection of handmade recycled paper by Lesa Hepburn, removable wall stickers, bunting, badges and prints by Missy Minzy, notebooks by Lilac and Snow and Chrissy Foreman Cranitch, cards and small prints by Huck Jones, zombie babushka magnets and more by Anti Craft, mini prints Bonnie Beyond Pluto. And if that's not enough...

you can even make your own recycled paper with a 'how to make paper kit' by Lesa Hepburn.

Shiny, pretty, things - jewellery showcase

After finishing a great e-course with A Beautiful Mess I'm feeling inspired to start a new regular blog feature showcasing our store displays and the lovely products that grace them. So here we go...

Our store counter is a thrifted kitchen hutch and this display cabinet used to perch above it on a couple of cast iron brackets. After a quick coat of paint to the shelves (it was already the lovely grey colour on the outside), some astro turf lining and the installation of some fairy lights it now houses these beautiful silver, PMC, hand woven and ceramic pieces by:

One day soone

crocodilli

Kate Roberts (via Art Time)

SilverMonk

Pirates Dreaming and

Lesa Hepburn.

Continuing the tour up past the counter we have used a wall mounted drawer (its inside painted with blackboard paint) and an old wooden sewing box (with yet more astro turf lining) to display these varied pieces by Kimono Reincarnate.

And finally up the back of the store we have just finished our great wall:

We originally discussed a peg board wall but since I'm essentially a massive tight arse when it comes to spending money on something we could perhaps cobble together with the assortment of randomness stashed in the cupboards, behind shelves and under tables in the shop this is how it turned out. And despite the giant blisters I inflicted upon myself because I'm too impatient to wait for the guy with his drill, I'm pretty chuffed with myself. Here's a closer look:

Kellie Christie

Flights of Fancy

Found Pieces, Poly Clay Creations, 

Little Bird and Once I Was

Hope you enjoyed the first 'tour'.

Next week I'll share our display of prints and papery goodness.

xx Bec

DWELL...a special event

We have been 'secret squirreling' for a while now, planning and making, designing and pretty much getting excited about this special event we are planning. Finally we are ready to let you all know about it, so here goes...

DWELL is all about living sustainably in this disposable world, about how we can change the way we live in small ways to make a big impact.

And how do we get that message across to everyone? By having a heap of fashionable fun, of course!

(with special help from our pals at Peppermint Mag!!!)

There will be a whole bunch of events throughout the day including...
* Boutique Markets featuring handmade, fair trade and sustainable products.
* An UPcycled wedding dress competition
* A green carpet fashion showcase and
* A sutainability forum with guest speakers from different industries and walks of life.

INTERESTED?...we are taking expressions of interest for all of these events, so if you think you would like to be involved or can help us out in any way please send us an email at cultivershop@gmail.com and we will let you know where we think your talents will be most needed.

Tickets for the DWELL evening events will be available soon so keep an eye out here on the blog and our facebook page for details on this and other important information.