Time to introduce a stockist that is close to our hearts: Mixt. Miranda and Marc know all about selling NZ made products and own two beautiful shops in Kingsland. The only danger when stepping into the store to hand deliver their orders is leaving empty handed. Their stores are beautifully curated and are full of fantastic treasures.

Store Name: MIXT

Your Name: Miranda Pritchard and Marc Knott

Job Title: Owners

Location: Kingsland, Auckland

How did the idea of the store come about? We opened the original MIXT store in February 2004. We decided to combine our joint interests in vintage, mid-century furniture and collectables (Marc) and contemporary New Zealand made craft and design (Miranda). The result was MIXT – the store continued with this combination in the same premises until November  2012 when we expanded to two stores side by side.

Why the name? After much brainstorming we settled on MIXT – the name reflects the original combination of new NZ made and retro that we sell.

What kind of products do you sell?  Vintage collectables and furniture, contemporary NZ made gifts, jewellery, ceramics and prints on paper.

What are the best and worst things about owning your shop? We love owning MIXT – it is a great job! We have a lot of wonderful, loyal customers and suppliers who we have become good friends with over the years. We get to sell beautiful vintage and NZ made objects and support local designers – what is not to love? Worst things… Probably the scale of commitment required – we both work every day on the business, both in the shop and behind-the-scenes.

What’s your favourite creative outlet? Arranging the shop displays! Gardening, cooking and crafting with our beautiful daughter Violet (aka the ‘Craft Queen’) – Miranda

How do you find new designers / products to stock? This is one of the surprisingly difficult and time-consuming parts of the job – finding unique NZ made products that make our store stand out. We visit fairs, look online and increasingly new suppliers are contacting us directly as we have been around for so long and are well-known for supporting local makers.

What song or album are you currently playing in the shop? We sell a range of CDs from NZ distributor Ode Records and have purchased a number to play in the shop – current faves are Ladi 6 and The Eastern and Waves.

Where can people find you physical shop and on the web? MIXT is at 502-504 New North Road in Kingsland, Auckland. Best contact online is our Facebook page

All photographs taken by Liora, Toodles Noodles

Happy Friday everyone! Is it me or has this week just freezing in Auckland. As previously mentioned, this Saturday is the Auckland Art and Craft Fair – one of the biggest markets we do every year. This year the girls have a great assortment of artists coming along. To see all the artists attending make sure to check out their blog. Here is a selection of goodies that caught my eye!

Have a great weekend everyone.

1. DUDO studio
2. Adventures of Alex O & Co
3. While Molly Naps
4. Elisabeth Kwan
5. The Little White Box
6. Hunting Letter Flags

The lovely Anna Lim, owner of The Garden Party shares her story of how she started her shop and what she loves about being a store owner!

Store Name: The Garden Party

Your Name: Anna Lim

Location: 71 Ponsonby Rd

How did the idea of the store come about? My mother and my aunt were keen potters and needed some where to sell their hand painted plates.  (They loved painting them but the piles of plates under the beds were growing too large.  They knew that if they wanted to keep painting ceramics they had to find a way to sell them. I was wondering aimlessly round India and came back to help sell them and open The Garden Party.   We originally sold mainly NZ painted ceramics but quickly grew to sell all sorts of NZ designed and made products.  That was 20 years ago and we now find that there is a much wider variety of fabulous new and original NZ designed and made product than before.  New Zealanders and the rest of the world are appreciating the enormous talent here.

Why the name? We liked the idea of parties and gardens and also Katherine Mansfield wrote a wonderful short story called The Garden Party. So we thought the name encapsulated fun, nature, New Zealand art and culture.

What kind of products do you sell?  We sell anything we can find that we think is beautiful and amusing and designed in New Zealand.  We also sell some products that aren’t made in NZ but are so good we just have to sell them.

What are the best and worst things about owning your shop? I love finding new and interesting stock.  And displaying it. We enjoy our local suppliers and craftspeople. Our customers are pretty lovely too!  Worst thing is getting a phone call at 8am on a Sunday morning from a sick staff member who can’t work that day and knowing your plans for that day have to be shelved.

What’s your favourite creative outlet?  Cooking followed by gardening and drawing.

What are your top 5 websites/blogs at the moment and what makes them stand out? I like to check out ‘The Cool Hunter” regularly as they have phenomenal images of places and architecture.   I like The Denizen as it keeps me up to date with things happening locally. I have just purchased a pair of shoes from Anthropology in the states and I love their website as it has so much great stuff displayed clearly.  I am a big fan of Pinterest and I often get inspiration and repin beautiful images to our own pinterest page. 

How do you find new designers / products to stock? I am always on the lookout for new and interesting products so I am always on the hunt.  I go to gift fairs, festivals, markets and lots of crafts people approach me directly.  Also the internet has become a good way of sourcing products.

What song or album are you currently playing in the shop? Loving The Passenger, Sola Rosa’s brilliant Low and Behold, High and Behold  and am eagerly awaiting Mahoney Harris’s new album.

Where can people find you physical shop and on the web? 71 Ponsonby Rd, Auckland and online

Well it’s that time of the week again – time for our weekly roundup! It’s been quite a week around this neck of the woods.

We moved house and studio last weekend (leaving us without internet until yesterday….sigh), we were super lucky and won tickets for the Auckland Seafood Festival this weekend through Te Awa Winery, and had some lovely birthday celebrations out with friends and delicious cakes from the lovely Made From Scratch.

The shop also had a big week being featured in the Etsy Finds email with our Full of Hearts gift wrap, our Blue bird gift wrap making the front page and our Your My Superhero note cards made the new To & From Valentine’s Day Guide - all of which has left me feeling well – a bit lovely dovey!

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought I might just theme up this week’s Weekly Roundup with a bit of a romantic feel. We also have heaps of gift tags, cards, prints all for that special day in our shop, so shop on by and have a nosey!

1. These sparkly hearts make the perfect accessory for that sharp blazer or pretty bun!
2. A sweet treat made with bittersweet chocolate is a direct line to my heart.
3. Is there anything better than a luxury picnic with the ones you love?
4. Cold never looked so cute with these leggings.
5. I sure do love a relaxing bath after a long stressful day!
6. Time to spruce up those cocktails…mmm… pomegranate…

I hope you all have had a great week and have fun plans for the weekend ahead! Until next time… x

I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday break so far! As all my family is in the US and my partner who’s family is in beautiful Wanaka originally thought that he would have to be working through – we are having a “staycation” in Auckland this year!

With so many people leaving the Auckland region for the holidays we thought it would be a great time to explore our “new” home. Unfortunately the weather gods have had other plans. Providing us with some pretty bad weather.

So we’ve made the most of it with doing what we love!

I FINALLY got some new gym shoes (been wanting some for about a year – yay!) and have really given them a go with going to the gym for the last five days straight – wowie (helps justify that summer wine of course)! I did the girly thing of cleaning out my closet, tidied up my desk (that was seriously needed) and have given our apartment a nice big clean. We’ve also made some delicious meals (pictured top right – recipe to come) and did my first baking in four months! Since going super healthy I’ve stopped baking – which breaks my heart – but sacrifices have to be made…  We also managed to get on over to White’s & Co  (pictured bottom left) for a delicious soft serve yogurt treat thank’s to The Collective!

Fingers crossed, the weather is supposed to improve and tomorrow we’re venturing out for our first tiki tour! I’m sure to keep you posted and hope you’re all having a lovely break full of family, friends, and great food! x

Can’t wait to see what November has in store! x

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you all had a lovely short week with Summer finally giving us a sneak peek.  Hopefully the nice weather continues for the weekend – we’ll be over at the We Can Create markets on Saturday from 12-5 if you want to pop by and say hello!

1. This amazing logo is home to Spruce Collective - started up by five like-minded girls who share a love for vintage treasures and are inspired by all things creative.  I could spend hours looking at their site….

2. Father Rabbit just opened their store in Auckland. Everything on their website is to die for, including these stunning bath towels.

3. How sweet is this canvas pouch by Paloma’s Nest found on Etsy based in Austin, Texas.

4. This beautiful coffee packaging  is from Coffee Balzac’s Roasters, a company based in Ontario  Canada – if the love of caffeine doesn’t get you going in the morning looking at this stunning illustration might help get those creative juices going!

5. These finger licking looking donuts are by a Spanish blog named “La receta de felicidad” which translates to the recipe of happiness.  With beautiful recipes, food styling snaps and website design this one is an overall winner!

6. Don’t these measuring cups by West Elm just sing Julia Child?

Hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s roundup – have a great weekend everyone! x

Happy Tuesday everyone, how was your weekend? Mine was wonderfully relaxing, going down to Wanaka for a mini holiday, enjoying the beautiful views and also working on making Toodles Noodles ribbon bundles next to a roaring fire – the perfect combo!

With the holiday season quickly approaching I thought this would be a great time to introduce some great gift finds to the blog – this week we have The Little White Box, by Renee Coombe, located in Ardmore, New Zealand.

Their philosophy revolves around the little things that provide comfort and character that help make a house your home, and we hope that their handmade wares find a place in your heart.

With each piece being handmade and hand painted you will never find two items exactly the same which makes these beautiful ceramic items a lovely gift this holiday season.  I’ve personally been eyeing up the tea pot for my new home and purchased the lovely doves for my sister-in-law – aren’t they to die for?!

Their items make great cooking, baking, entertaining, housewarming gifts this holiday season – and are of course New Zealand made!  I do hope you love Renee’s work as much as I do, and if you have any suggestions for the next holiday gift post, do let us know! x

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you may have noticed that I have a slight addiction to coffee.  Not necessarily the caffein associated with coffee, just the smooth taste and comfort of a nice warm cup.  It’s a treat that I “allow” myself at the start of the day.  Here is a list of places I’ve tried thus far in Auckland and why I like them:

1. Shakey Isles (pictured up top and with sketch book) always have the most welcoming staff, creative environment and no matter how busy they may be will never make you feel rushed.  It’s a great place to go for brunch, an afternoon working session, or a quick stop for a well made coffee.

2. Allpress Espresso at the Browns Mill Building (pictured top left) now if you’re in a hurry in the mornings this may not be the best stop for you. But if you love cinnamon brioches then this is the place!  The coffee here isn’t the speediest or even that consistent, but the staff and the finger-licking treats will keep you coming back again and again.

3. Atomic Coffee (pictured lefthand side) now these guys know strong coffee. As someone who usually orders a flat white with an extra shot…well no extra shot needed here.  The coffee never tastes burned just fully flavoured and packed with a punch.  Their new brunch menu is also a winner (try the Spanish eggs!).

4. My daily spot Columbus Coffee, located just by my work these guys now know my order when they see me walk through the door.  Greeted with a smile and the barista reciting my daily order back to me always puts me in a great mood to know my coffee will be done right.

Have a favourite coffee spot around where you live or work? Would love to hear about new spots and why you love them! x