Stitches and Craft Show Brisbane 2013

The Brisbane Stitches & Craft Show 2013 is less than a week away & it's going to be HUGE! We have been prepping lots of new kits, cutting & folding new fabrics and packaging up bag hardware for weeks and we cannot wait for the Show to start.

We have to admit it, we've been holding out on you. There are brand new Alexander Henry Pinup Boys that we are launching exclusively at the Stitches & Craft Show. Check out these bad boys, vampires and werewolves reminiscent of a certain book series! They are so hilariously campy cute we just had to get them in for you.

Ready for Action | Wranglers | October Moon (exclusive to Craft Show)

The Ready for Action Firemen and our ever popular Wrangler Cowboys from Alexander Henry will also be back on the stand.

White Rabbit Cushion Kits (exclusive to Craft Show) | Paint the Roses Red 150mm Poppet Purse Kit | Tuxedo 300mm Snap Purse Kit

We have loads of kits / projects ready to go including the best Steampunk White Rabbit ever to grace a cushion. We were inspired to create a bit of an Alice in Wonderland theme with our purse samples and we've made up the cutest Poppet Purse kit - Paint the Roses Red. The Queen of Hearts would love it.

We are also super excited because we will be right next door to Funky Friends Factory. We have made up fabric kits for a heap of Pauline's awesome toy designs, here is a small sneak peek of our newest kits.

Raff Giraffe | Zebra | Wodger the Wombat

The Brisbane Stitches & Craft Show runs from March 21-24 and is open daily from 10am - 4.30pm. More information on the show can be found on their website. 

Unfortunately we can't be in two places at once so we will be closing our showroom while we set up and attend the show. We will be closed from Sunday 17th March and will reopen on Tuesday 26th March. We are still taking online orders and will do our best to keep out delivery times as fast as possible.

If you go to the show make sure you stop by Stand E09 and say hi :)

- Ky and Cloud

Friday 13th Sale

Who's up for a Lucky Friday 13th sale?
Pop over to our website before midnight tonight (Brisbane, Australia time) and enter the code BLACKCAT13 on checkout to receive 13% off your entire order.
Valid until midnight tonight.

Christmas Trading 2011

Merry Christmas Bunneh Lovers

Do you need some last minute supplies for all of those holiday projects you have planned then never fear we will be open from Tuesday - Friday this week 11am - 6pm. 

The showroom will be closed from 24th Dec 2011 - 3rd Jan 2012. Our online stores will remain open during this time but shipping will be subject to Australia Post opening times.

We will probably be popping into the showroom from time to time over the holiday break so if you are desperate for a fabric fix give us a call on 0422 215 053 and we will see what we can do :D

We have also re-added Gift Certificates to our online shop, the perfect last minute gift idea for the fabric fiend in your life.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

- Ky and Cloud

Showroom Opening Hours 13-17 December

A few things have come up so we have had to make a few adjustments to the shop hours for this week.

Tuesday - Thursday
11am - 6pm

Friday
11am - 2.30pm

We will be in King George Square from 5pm - 9pm as part of the BrisStyle Indie Twilight Markets.

Saturday
10am - 4pm

Please call us on 0422 215 053 if you need to check to see if we are open before you pop in.

- Ky

Update - Showroom open this Saturday

Hello Bunneh lovers,

Just a quick post to let you know that we have decided to skip the Kustom Krafts Xmas Vintage Rockabilly Extravaganza Market that we were going to attend and we will be in the showroom instead.

We will be open from 10am - 4pm if you would like to pop by for a fabric fix. Full showroom details can be found here.

See you soon!
Ky and Cloud

The wait is finally over! Brisbane now has a fabric and craft shop that stocks only the best designs from around the world. We are proud to specialise in the hard to find and harder to get fabrics that other stores won't stock. Come down to see the full range of skull, goth, rockabilly, spiderwebby, geeky, retro, kawaii & downright awesome goodies on offer. There are a load of items that aren't available yet in our online store including - Sublime Stitching patterns, DMC embroidery threads, new Alexander Henry, Lecien and Michael Miller fabrics.

• Upstairs, 900-904 Stanley Street, East Brisbane
• Saturday, December 3, 2011
• 10am to 4pm
• Limited carparking is available onsite (via Potts Street). Free street parking available in Potts Street and Stanley Street. 
• Short walk from the Woolloongabba Bus Station.

If you can't make it on Saturday our regular opening hours for the rest of the year will be:
Tuesday - Friday
11am - 6pm

Saturday 17th December
10am - 4pm

We hope to see you soon!

- Ky & Cloud

Bulimba Festival on Sunday

Voodoo Rabbit will be at the Bulimba Festival this Sunday. You can find us between Cambridge and Jameson Streets just up from Riverbend book shop and the K Rudd tent (see map below). Entertainment will include Mental as Anything', and 'Ross Wilson' from Daddy Cool with other acts including local Brisbane band Prefontaine (Nee Wayward Gentleman), The Frets and Russ Walker duo.

When:
28th August 2011

Time:
10am - 4pm

Where:
Oxford Street Bulimba

What:
We will have fat qtrs of all of our commercial fabrics as well as a selection of Voodoo Rabbit original design fabrics, kits, buttons and handmade goods.

Payment:
We except payment via EFTPOS and cash at all of our market stalls.


If you would like us to bring meterage of any of our fabrics for you to pick up at the markets please contact us at sales@voodoorabbit.com.au. We will be more than happy to bring your order along with us.

- Ky

BrisStyle Indie Designer Markets

The Bristyle Indie Designer Markets will held next Saturday in Hamilton, Brisbane. Once again we will be sharing a stall with Pauline from Funky Friends Factory.

Pauline will have a bunch of her awesome Funky Friends patterns and kits and we will have Original Design Voodoo Rabbit fabric, Voodoo Rabbit sewing kits, dyed buttons and a selection of handmade items. Our stall is going to located outside in the church grounds (see map below), here's hoping the weather co-operates.

The market will also feature local emerging and established artists, crafters and designers from Queensland's South East who specialise in producing quality handmade goods including handbags, sweet art, jewellery, children's wear and vintage re-creations.

Where: St Augustine's Church Hall and grounds, Racecourse Road, Hamilton
When: Saturday July 9, 2011. 9am-2pm
Website: http://www.bris-style.com/page/indie-designers-market/

 - Ky and Cloud

BrisStyle Twilight Markets

We arrived back in Brisbane yesterday after our mammoth Japanese shopping trip but there is to be no rest for the wicked!  You can find us at the Brisbane Indie Twilight Markets (BiTM) tonight in King George Square.

It looks like to weather is going to co-operate this time, so it should be a lovely night out under the stars.

Once again we will be sharing a stall with Pauline from Funky Friends Factory and in the stalls around us you will find Hungry Designs, Pannikin, Feybles Nel and Catamation. We are tucked away right up the back of King George Square on the Anne Street side (see the map below).

Pauline will have a bunch of her awesome Funky Friends patterns and kits and we will have Original Design Voodoo Rabbit fabric, dyed buttons and a selection of handmade items. 


Where: King George Square (in front of city hall)
When: 5 - 9pm Friday 27th April 2011

- Ky and Cloud

Travelling Bunnies - The Search for Coffee, More Shopping & Osaka Wildlife (Day 7)

Hello Bunneh Lovers! Tonight is our last night in Osaka & we need to pack so this post will be short on words and big on pictures (^_^)

In our ongoing search for good coffee this is the best we have found.

 We slept in (bliss) and then hit the streets for more shopping. After breakfast we explored a craft shop on the second floor of the Daimaru South building in Shinsaibashi Suji, so Cloud could look for yarn. They had lots of yarn but Cloud didn't know how much to get (they sell it in 10g lots off big skeins) so didn't buy any.

Japanese school girls have much more interesting uniforms than we ever had.

Shin Saibashi Suji shopping arcade

We also went back to the Bodyline outlet where Cloud bought her strawberry Lolita shoes. We got busted trying on a jacket by one of the staff members. She said "No try. No try." That meant "No buy. No buy." for us. Japanese styles are so differently cut than Western clothes there was no way were buying clothes without making sure they would fit first. The store did give us inspiration for the types of fabric we could be stocking for the Goth / Lolita / Cosplay crowd though!

Next was back to Otsukaya to pick up the fabric that we couldn't carry yesterday. Last night we worked out how much of our luggage allowance was left so that we could fill to capacity. We bought more lace trim - pink with embroidered cherries, skulls and spiders. We raced back to the hotel, dropped off our loot and went straight back out again.

Cloud got herself a new hairdo and also some shoes for her Usaggie doll. Then back on the subway and off to Umeda for a quick trip to Kinokuniya Books, Yodobashi Camera and Vie de France for a maple scone.

On the way home we checked out the Osaka wildlife.

Isn't it pretty?

Now it's off to pack, weigh our luggage again, see how much we can cram into carry-on and get ready to fly home tomorrow night. If we can get free Wi-Fi in the airport tomorrow night we will post again.

~ Cloud & Ky

Travelling Bunnies - Kyoto Day Trip (Day 4)

On Saturday we went to Kyoto for the day. It takes about a half hour from Osaka on the Special Rapid train and is really cheap (only 530 yen each way). On the 21st of each month there is a huge outdoor market in the grounds of Toji Temple.

Japanese couple in traditional dress kindly posed for a photo

The market was very crowded and hot

We walked to get to the market. It was a super humid day in Kyoto so we were extremely hot bunnies! The market was big, loud & colourful. On offer were ceramics, second hand kimonos and yukata, fresh octopus, tea, mystery foods on sticks, and a mixture of second hand goods (a bit like a trash and treasure / flea market set up).

Octopus

There was so much to buy but we restrained ourselves - we need to keep our baggage allowance free for fabric. We walked back to the station for lunch and air-con.

Kyoto Station itself is a popular landmark - the roof is amazing. According to Wikipedia it is "Japan's second-largest train station building and is one of the country's largest buildings. It includes a shopping mall, hotel, movie theatre, department store and more under the 15 storey roof. Photos of the roof just do not do it justice, nor do they impart the scale of the place - it really is a place to see to believe. There used to be a cool Tezuka (creator of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion) museum shop at the train station but we were very disapointed to discover that it closed earlier this year.

Kyoto train station

After lunch we jumped on a bus to our favourite fabric shop in Kyoto - Nomura Tailor for a spot of fabric shopping. Cloud's feet by this stage were swollen up to the point that her ankle bones couldn't be seen anymore - they had moved beyond 'cankles' to 'thankles' (ie: swollen up to become part of her thighs :P). Time to head home!

~ Ky & Cloud

Travelling Bunnies - Bicycles, Sore Feet & Fabric (Day 3)

We have been doing a lot of walking the last couple of days while shopping and it is starting to hurt. To try to save our tootsies we borrowed the free bicyles available here at the hotel.

They were a bit rattly and had no gears but they got us where we needed to be much faster than walking. Osaka is quite flat too so the hardest thing about riding around is not running into people or having them run into you. Cloud took some pictures of the streets as we rode around today.

We are visiting Kokka on Monday so we rode to the area where the showroom is. Nearby we found a huge shopping arcade. It is under a massive highway overpass and contains 10 separate buildings. It runs for a kilometre, split into two sides and multiple levels. We couldn't take the bikes in there so it was back to punishing our feet again. We found some goodies though so it was worth it!

After coming back to the hotel for a quick nap & a shower, we headed to Tennoji and ABC Craft. Not much there for the shop but a load of stuff for us! Cloud bought forceps (for stuffing toys) and some Clover crochet hooks. Ky hit the motherlode - a blank umbrella frame (with pattern) so she can make her own parasol; a number of dressmakers rulers, belt interfacing (for making woven bags), sashiko kits and also a rotating bobbin holder. For the shop we found some great little bells that are going to be included in some of our toy kits and a cute little anchor fabric.

Our stomachs were growling with hunger after so much exercise so we went in search of okonomiyaki. It is referred to as 'Japanese Pizza' but it is really a cabbage pancake filled with either meat or seafood and then covered in sauce and mayonnaise. It doesn't look pretty but it is both tasty and filling. Ky got tentacles in hers just to gross out Cloud.

Tomorrow we are going to Kyoto for the day. There is a market on at one of the temples and we also want to stop in at a fabric store we love. Hopefully there will also be time to visit the Astro Boy store ^_^

~ Ky & Cloud

Travelling Bunnies - Big Heads, Lecien, & Shoes (Day 2)

Japan is one of those places where there is so much happening you don't quite know where to look. Today we had an appointment to view fabrics at Lecien (one of our suppliers) late in the afternoon so we decided to walk around Osaka before then.

Leaving the hotel we got our first good look at the statues outside the front door. They are smaller than they looked on the website and they are also hollow fibreglass. Have to admit to being a little disappointed that they weren't carved out of stone. The rooms here are small (they always are in Japan) but the amenities are fantastic - free WiFi, free bottles of water each day, free bicycle hire, right next to the main shopping arcade in Osaka and lovely front desk staff. Add in the comfy bed, doona & pillows and you get two very happy bunnies!

Shops here don't seem to open much before 10.30 / 11.00 am (very civilised) so we got to take pictures of near empty streets - a rarity in Japanese cities. First up we needed to hunt down a breakfast of champions. We found it at McDonald's (don't judge us) in the form of McGriddle. Maple syrup flavoured pancakes with sausage, cheese & egg for Cloud, with bacon & egg for Ky. Deeeeeeliciously odd combinations.

Here's some more pictures from this morning's walk. Notice the octopus / tentacle sculptures on some the buildings? It's because Osaka is famous for takoyaki - deep fried octopus balls. Cloud can't eat them / smell them without feeling a bit ill (she loathes fish & seafood) but loves the signs all the same.

Lady dressed for the theatre in kimono

Random street art

It's tentacular

One of the most famous signs in Osaka

It came from the deep

Cutest fire truck ever

Glico Man sign, another famous Osaka landmark

A quick detour to Tokyu Hands lead us to finding this hilarious fabric. Read the words and you will see what made us giggle then buy it! There is so much crafty goodness in there it was a miracle we managed to leave.

LOL

Next up - Lecien! We checked out the new ranges that were just released at the recent Salt Lake Quilt Show & place orders. There are now kawaii Panda's coming to us sometime in mid-July / August.

At Lecien we were also given a sample of their brand spanking new metallic embroidery threads to take for a test drive. We will give them a go and then write up a separate blog post about them soon. The black / silver threads look like they are made for stitching space invaders so can't wait to get some linen to try them out on!

To round out a perfect day, Cloud then found women's shoes in her size! This NEVER happens in Japan because her feet are huge (27cm).

These babies have strawberry bells on them. They were also reduced from $115 (Australian) to $16. Can't wait for these to be worn to the day job ^_^

Tomorrow we will be hiring bicycles and heading off in search of more fabric ^_^

~ Cloud & Ky