Treasure Hunting in Kelburn

This past weekend was the annual fundraising market at the local church down in Kelburn (suburb in Wellington). I prefer to think of it more of a couple hours of blissful madness. I had been last year when I first arrived in Wellington and was pleasantly surprised at the great finds I managed to pick up even though I quickly realized I had arrived late (it opened at 10 am and I had gotten there around 11 am). The hoards of people left me needing to stop and take a few deep breaths to calm my nerves before diving back in.

This time around I knew better. I had seen the massive sign advertising the event for weeks and had kept the date of March 15 in my head as though I was chanting some mantra that was going to change my life if I just believed it hard enough. My heart was set on trying to find some wooden frames I could get at a good price in order to then upcycle into jewellery frames to sell through Paper Kite Creations. My fingers, toes and everything in between were crossed in hopes that my simple wish would become a reality.

And so Saturday finally rolled around. I popped out of bed like a kid on Christmas morning and raced to get everything done I needed to before walking my way in a state of giddy down to Kelburn for the market. Heaven knows where the excitement came from – maybe because I felt as though I was the only one that knew of this hidden shopping gem (though I did invite my friend Jess along as well) or maybe it was because there was something in the air last year that made the tight spaces crammed of people fingering their way over goods something worth coming back to.

I took out some cash and then found my way to the church. It became apparent that the event organisers were very serious about the start time of 10 am. There were volunteers posed at the entrance with a big rope blocking any early shoppers from entering. I was there only a few minutes before the big opening and already there were people crammed up against the entrance rope craning their necks to see how they could strategize to get to the best finds first.

The countdown began – yes, there was a countdown over a microphone – and then a bell signalled it was time to shop. I wove my way through the bodies of people and scoured the entire market with no success at finding frames. 

My eyes started to blur as I tried to process all the frantic activity going on around me. People squeezing into spaces I never thought possible to go. Feelings of claustrophobia as I'd head in a direction only to come to a gridlock with someone in front and someone behind and no way out. Scanning book titles was an art when peering through a wavering sliver of a gap between two individuals set on hoarding the book table viewing space. I was about on my third loop around and losing all hope when my friend Jess arrived all excited that she’d bought some art for her place. It was then that things changed for me.

My awesome fabric bag for $3

While Jess bought some sheets – I found a massive overnight bag for $3 that was perfect for all my fabric I’ve been hoarding for my sewing machine. On route back to pick up Jess’s art, it was then that I saw them – the most beautiful wooden frames I could ever hope to upcycle sitting there. Waiting. Begging me to purchase them. And so I did.

And now my beautiful frames sit proudly in my bedroom awaiting their transformation into something that will one day hang on a woman’s wall (perhaps mine if they sit here too long) displaying all her beautiful jewellery. 

Can’t wait to see what next year will bring!

Lucky Number 13

By the end of this month I will have moved house a total of 13 times. Within the past 10 years, I have packed boxes, downsized to what I absolutely needed and hauled my things to a new address. Sometimes this meant many carloads between locations where as sometimes this simply meant packing my backpack with all I owned and strapping it to my back as I walked out the front door to face new adventures.

Of the last 12 places I have lived, I did not include the time I called a campervan my home when in Australia nor did I include when my only home was the tent in my pack as I walked across New Zealand. And so, without those - this next change of address will be number 13.

I am hoping this next place of residence will be my lucky number 13. I am not going far - really just down the road a bit - but I am hoping my choice to live somewhere more affordable with a few other people in a house will allow me to have more flexibility in what I want to do with my life. Financially. Socially. Everything in between.

And so the next couple of weeks will wrap up the last 8 months I have lived in Wellington - it really doesn't feel as though I have been here that long and yet it feels as though I have lived here forever. This little place I call home was the start of the next stage in my life in so many ways and it will be bitter sweet to say goodbye.

I find it difficult to even conceptualize all that has happened in the past few months. Since I last wrote, I have started (and nearly finished) a position of Youth Development Coordinator at work where I have been working on developing a new support service for young adults with disabilities. Between balancing that and my other role of Outcomes Facilitator (supporting individuals with their goals in life) there has been little mental energy at the end of the day for much else. Things such as my art have gone by the wayside as I have been concentrating all my time in sinking my teeth into giving 110% at work.

But I have managed to start to make some connections in the community. I've picked up rock-climbing with a weekly group, continued to go to the markets each Sunday, explored the wide-variety of food and drink in Wellington (a Cambodian restaurant has taken the top of my list), gone to Roller Disco, watched a couple of rugby games and even had the pleasure of showing my mom around this little city I call home.

So as things get hectic in the next couple of weeks as I balance work, moving and sorting out Immigration (yes, my work visa also expires this month) I simply look forward to when the dust settles again and I can press on with all I want my life to be.

Beads, Beads and More Beads

I have officially (and FINALLY) begun to turn the corner in my life. It has felt as though it's been forever where I have been floating through the fog that is called my existence as I wait for it all to clear so I can see what is up ahead. Well it's finally happened.

I got the call this past week that I have been offered a position with IDEA Services. Only the biggest organisation within New Zealand that's aim is to support people with intellectual disabilities and advocate for their rights - I am super excited to have the opportunity to work with them. I will be an Outcomes Facilitator  where I will work with clients on developing their Life Plans and helping them to achieve their goals. All I can do is eagerly wait my start date so I can jump in with both feet and get started.

In the meantime, I have been spending the past couple of weeks developing my art profile again. It has been WAY too long since I have seriously delved into my creative mind, but the time has come. I have dusted off my collection of jewellery supplies and gotten back to the basics of what it was that hooked my addiction to the creative arts way back when. It still stuns me to realize how much supplies I actually have to create jewellery and other works of beaded things.

As my hands have gotten busy creating things, I figured it was time to put some energy into updating my online profile and finally set things up so I can sell things worldwide online. So for those of you who haven't heard yet, I have updated my artsite (www.shalanehopkins.com) to include a blog where I will be regularly sharing my journey of artistic creativity and simple ideas on things to create in and around your home. I have also created a Facebook Page (Shalane Hopkins - Artist) That will include mostly a collection of my creative journey through photographs and provide a platform for people to interact with me and share my works with their friends. Then to sell things online, I have opened my Etsy store called Paper Kite Creations where you are able to purchase anything I have for sale online.

The name Paper Kite Creations is founded by a type of butterfly called Paper Kite. These butterflies are most commonly found in Southeast Asia and remind me a lot of my journey of my art. Butterflies are symbolic of change, growth and a person's soul. As my work has been a journey to get to where I am today and I am constantly looking for new ways to develop myself further and be creative in more ways that one, this symbolism fit.

All these pages are then linked to one another and include links to my Pinterest page and Twitter profile. I've definitely gone on a social media frenzy in the last few weeks, but I figure it's the best way for me to build up my art profile and help me gain momentum in selling my work.

So what I guess I'm saying is spread the word. Check out some of the links here - follow me. Get involved. Give me feedback or let me know what you like. Help me to move forward so I can get back on the bandwagon of a creative lifestyle.