Jinglebugs for Outpawed

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

Wikipedia tells us that needle felting is a method of creating felted objects without using water. The special needles used to make 3D sculpture, jewelry, adornments and 2D art have notches along the shaft of the needle that catch fibers and tangle them with other fibers to produce felt. These notches are sometimes erroneously called “barbs”, but barbs are protrusion (like barbed wire) and that would be difficult to thrust in to the wool and nearly impossible to pull out. There are many sizes and types of notched needles for different uses while working. Needle felting is used in industrial processes as well as in individual crafting.

“I discovered felting at a lovely playgroup as a new mum and was immediately hooked. Inspired by nature and my daughter/model/tester, my first little New Zealand bird ornament debuted as the pukeko in a ponga tree at her preschool Christmas party.
I also love sharing the fun of felting with children and have run dozens of workshops around Wellington over the last seven years where we’ve made wet-felted pictures, geodes, snowmen, rocks and snakes! I now also work with other tutors to offer a variety of Make it! school holiday craft workshops and kits.”

Make it! kits for crafty kids include rolled beeswax candles, felted pictures and geodes, craft stamps and bunting.

​Jann has contributed a beautiful, hand-felted ruru, worth $14, to the Outpawed raffle. ‘Ruru’ is the Māori name for the morepork owl, (Ninox novaeseelandiae), also called the Tasmanian spotted owl, which is a small brown owl found throughout New Zealand and Tasmania.

You can find out more about Jann’s work here:
www.facebook.com/jinglebugsnz
www.facebook.com/makeitactivities

​Tickets for the raffle will be available at the August Petone Winter Market, 10.30am to 3pm, 19th August, at the Petone Baptist Church, 38 Buick Street, Petone.
www.facebook.com/PetoneWinterMarkets

​The Petone Winter Markets are the place to buy locally made creations, snack on tasty treats, and fuel up with coffee from Ripe. Drop off the kids at the fully fenced play area while you browse our 30+ indoor stalls and take in the stylings of some local entertainers. There will be all kinds of winter woollies, magpie treasures, tasty treats, and fantastic gift ideas for all! Bring a carry bag – we’re a plastic-bag-free event.

In the weeks leading up to each market, we will be running a gold-coin-entry colouring competition, featuring poster artwork by Cat Drayer from Copper Catkin. Proceeds from the competition will help local charity Outpawed with the care and management of stray and feral cats (and KITTENS) in the Wellington region. The prize is a fantastic play-date with some Outpawed kittens. KITTENS! 

Join us and help brighten these wintery weekends with some family-friendly handmade goodness!
​And did we mention KITTENS?

​Enter our colouring competitions or buy some tasty treats on the day to help raise funds for our chosen cause, Outpawed!

​“Outpawed is a NZ-registered charity dedicated to the care and management of stray and feral cats in the Wellington region. 

We provide shelter for wild cats and kittens, and aim to desex, socialise, vaccinate, microchip and find homes for as many of these cats as possible. We are also involved in trap-neuter-return (TNR) for cats that cannot be integrated into a household environment. Where TNR is necessary, cats are released into managed colonies where they are fed and monitored.

We aim to work with local government and other animal welfare organisations to obtain the best outcome possible for the feral cat population. Our goal is to reduce this population over time through desexing and adoption.“