In early 2017, it came to my attention that there really weren’t any craft events in Lower Hutt, particularly in winter. It was, of course, essential for them to be indoors, and so the search for a suitable venue began. I made a call-out for interested stallholders, to gauge interest (which would influence the size of the venue), and began hunting.

Initially, I had intended the event to be something small, where I would offer coaching to my Copper Catkin Consulting students, and they would be able to have a go in a low-pressure market environment – but the idea blew up! The levels of interest were definitely high enough to justify the event, so I began to plan.

We had some really great entries to last months' colouring competition - and young Holly was our winner! 

We're excited that our Premium Stallholders, Neko Ngeru, have finally secured some great premises right on Jackson Street, in the heart of Petone. 

As well as raffle donations from our lovely stallholders, we have also received contributions from generous people outside the Petone Winter Markets stallholder community. We're thrilled to introduce our first contributor, the fabulous Jo!

"Hi Everyone,
My name is Jo and for the last 17yrs I have been a writer/author. I
think I was always a writer…I write to think…always jotting down
notes, making lists, journaling. My job in any organisation was writing
the newsletters, reports, articles. But 17yrs ago I got serious. I
tried my hand in multiple genres, short stories, poems, reflections,
children’s stories, stories for radio, entering competitions. During
that time, I had short stories, reflections, poems published, a story
included in an anthology and had a children’s book called Talking to
Nanny published through Learning Media."

We're talking about needle-felting with ​Jann from Jinglebugs and Makeit. You can catch her at the August and September Petone Winter Markets.

​Today, we’re talking to Nikki – you can find her stall, Shop Nikkis, at the July and August Petone Winter Markets.

Today, we’re speaking with Ngaire from Burnt Offerings, based in the Wairarapa (NZ). Ngaire creates unique, practical art pieces for everyday living by etching glass, mirror, stone, granite, tiles and burning onto wood.