Lately...

...I have been browsing and reading and discovering passions, both old and new. I feel so inspired. I am discovering more about myself and what I love and where I want to go with my design. I realise I haven't really mentioned before what it is I do, because I don't want to put labels on myself and my creations are diverse and diversifying, but my true passion and the core of what I do I guess is fashion. Fashion and textile design/ creation. I make garments, the patterns for them, the finished products, I dye, print and manipulate the fabric and knit the shapes. Which is my other passion - knitting. Not in a follow the pattern sort of way, which i never did until i was knitting baby clothes last year, but in an organic, I want to make this so I will create it myself sort of way. For a while I had my own label stocked in stores in Perth but then we moved away and things trailed off. Now we are moving back and I am rekindling loves and feeling so much more confident in myself and what I want to do. And the last few years have taught me a lot about myself - that I can go where I want to, I can do it myself, and that I am valid, and my work is valid, my journey is valid. So watch this space, i have ideas... In the meantime I have added a section at the right to show you what I am researching and what is currently inspiring me.

A good place

So, I have been pretty busy lately, the time is flying. I turned 30 and it's fine. It's exciting actually (I had a gorgeous day with coffee and cake with my girlfriends). It's one of those ages like 18 and 21 where you feel like you have free licence to actually start being who you want to be and to do all those things you always wanted to. You can 'go confidently in the direction of your dreams...' I feel excited and inspired at the moment. Maybe because there is so much change going on in my life, we are relocating back to Perth in a few weeks and there is always new potential and that reinvention thing when you move as well. I feel good... I am in a good place.

A little while ago I mentioned my dream planner, and how I entered an exhibition and my work was accepted but that didn't matter because the whole point was entering, it was all about the journey, remember? Well, the exhibition is over and this is my artwork. Yes, those buttons are all handstitched onto canvas, there are over 1,000 of them and in case you can't pick it, it's a self-portrait. I was really happy to achieve a goal, and whilst not completely happy with the resulting piece, It has inspired me and given me confidence, as well as a million ideas and directions I could go with my buttons. Just recently I bought this perspex case and spent a happy few hours sorting all my buttons by colour, rediscovering old friends and marvelling over textures, shades and possibilities. I would love to see this on a wall in my house, it's own little suprise, an objet d'art. On another, more sombre note, tonight I say goodbye to an old friend, someone I have known for 10 years and who is leaving me forever. The heady days we spent together will exist only in my hazy memory. We have shared many things, Uni, design school, operations, my wedding, moving house, my pregnancy and the birth of my son. We have had some good times and they will always be special to me. But tomorrow is another day and 30 doesn't sound so bad, so... goodbye my twenties. We had fun.

Have i told you about my good friend Nichole? She is married (recently), she has children and a job and lives in an idyllic spot filled with fruit trees and chickens and baking. And she is uber creative. We met randomly about two years ago - two textile souls clicking like so many knitting needles. Everytime we meet we talk fast, spilling out ideas, webfinds and inspirations, our words clambering over each other. Everytime we meet I feel inspired. I say this today because we met today, and I had a revelation about what a sensitive, intuitive and determined artist she is. We keep swearing that we will have a studio day, do an indigo vat, and I am leaving in 4 1/2 weeks and we have not yet done so. Today, she gave me this most precious cosy felt bead necklace for her PIF. Have I told you yellow is my favourite colour?

Embroidery 101

Embroidery is a new foray for me. This is a cushion I made from some indigo dyed fabric for my PIF gift. I love the colours together, and I love the way my first attempt at embroidery turned out. I am definitely going to go places with it. I am thinking of all those garments I have hanging around which could definitely benefit from the new dimension that embroidery adds to a surface. I'm thinking print + embroidery=yum. Here are the totally awesome vintage style transfers I picked up at Spotlight the other day. So very kitsch and not entirely politically correct. These are destined to be tea towel Christmas presents. As you may have noticed I have pledged handmade for this year. Last year I discovered the pledge too late to really get on board but this year I am going to try and go all out - birthdays, Christmas, everything... get on board!

Stories

Finally, finally I have my beautiful new RED Dell laptop. I can't tell you the difference it makes to have everything working properly and quickly. Not to mention the ability to once more post photos. I have been playing with this new toy on the weekend and now it is time to catch up with what I have been up to. As promised, here are some photos of my rag rug. This rug is not a crochet or knitted rug, but a hooked rug, worked on a backing of hessian. The story is this - about two and a half years ago, shortly after I moved to Bunbury, I undertook a workshop at the gallery where I work run by the very talented Jenni Doherty. The product of this workshop has just been completed. Hooked rugs are a slow process, much longer for me because I abandoned it for other proects several times. It has been picked up and put down, fogotten about, rediscovered, and it has seen many, many television shows. Traditionally hooked rugs were made from rags, old clothes or sheets, and a whole family would work them in the winter, when the days got shorter and they could not spend so much time outside. A new rug would be made every year and placed in front of the hearth. The previous years rug would then be moved to the front door and the one from the year before, moved from the door and taken outside to cover the coal heap (I know, tragic - there's no way mine is going anywhere NEAR a coal heap). These rugs are made by pulling strips of fabric (rag) through hessian or other backing with a special hook. I am so in love with this rug because of the colours, the process and the journey. We recently found out that we are moving from Bunbury back to Perth. This rug has become a representation of my journey here over the last few years and it has seen all the thing I have seen and carries them in it's fibre like a book. I have plans now for more rugs. We are building our first home, and i think it needs a special rug in the entrance to tell a story too. Ever since I started this rug my mother has been coveting it. Since this one carries my story, it belongs to me, but I have already started work on another one for her. This last photo is of the whole rug. It is not huge - about 3 times the size of a doormat but it is quite heavy. And obviously, very special.