6 May 2014

Passion Projects - Crafting and Me. #BEDM

Hello Lovelies,

I've been a crafty-artsy person for as long as I can remember - I have always had a sketchbook on the go, from the age of around nine or ten - I used to want to be a fashion designer so would spend hours drawing new designs - I wish I had kept all those old sketchbooks!! I studied art and textiles all the way through school and college and kept art journals, and made a lot of my own clothes. I always wanted to learn to knit but could never get the hang of it - I remember trying to teach myself with two pencils and some string - needless to say, that didn't work too well!!

(source: weheartit)

Once I left uni (without my fashion design degree), crafting and art was put to one side, I had really lost my confidence at uni, I believed that I had no creativity, that all those years of creating had been a waste of time, so I got rid of (most of) my supplies, my art materials, fabric stash - pretty much everything! I would sometimes look back through photos or my portfolio and feel a certain nostalgia for it all, but that was it.

When I was with my ex-husband I started to create again - keeping sketchbooks and journals, buying some yarn, crochet hooks and knitting needles, but my ex used to put down everything I did - when I started to knit something he would mock me, ask me what the point was and basically killed any confidence that I had managed to scrape back since leaving uni. Again, I put my supplies away.

Around the time that I was pregnant with my daughter, I again got that itch to create. This time my very lovely husband nurtured that urge, encouraging me to pick up my supplies again. I wanted to make heirloom pieces for my daughter that I could tell her the story behind: "I crocheted this blanket when you were in my tummy, and you kicked me every evening when I was sat with the crochet hook with the wool balanced on my belly". My mum showed me how to crochet a granny square and I was off! I taught myself more and more stitches, creating blankets for my daughter to snuggle into, first when she was a baby and now as a toddler - they are well-loved blankets that get dragged around the house, made into dens and castles, and taken to bed each night.



It's not just crochet that I love of course. I love sewing, whether by hand or on my machine. I used to sew a lot more when I was a student, making new clothes from old charity shop finds; I remember making a tartan skirt from an old nightie! I have a pretty big fabric stash in the attic as well as new and vintage patterns for making everything from bags and hairbands to ball gowns and Zoe-sized dungarees. One day (soon hopefully) I'll start on a sewing project, if that's a patchwork blanket or a skirt for Zoe I'm not sure yet. Then there's felt too. I would say I'm pretty obsessed with felt - I made Zoe a woodland animals felt mobile and it went from there. I now have an Etsy shop where I sell felt brooches and accessories.


 photo my-shop-collage_zpsb9ff90e9.jpg
The point I'm getting too (very slowly it would seem), is that if there is one thing that I would love to do for a living, it's creating. I would love to spend my days drawing, designing, sewing and stitching. Even if it's not something that ever happens, I couldn't imagine my life without some sort of creative activity within it - it helps me keep a sense of self, and gives me time with my thoughts to let my creativity run free. I also want Zoe  to know the value of handmade and to appreciate the amount of time that goes into creating handmade.

What are you passionate about?

THANKS photo thanks-signature_zps76499913.jpg

5 comments:

  1. I know exactly what you mean. I didn't pick up my camera for a year after closing my photography business and it's fantastic to be able to take photos for myself now and actually enjoy it. Your shop is fab, I love the tattoo pieces.

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  2. I totally get where you are coming from... I did a degree in Film and Television, and almost a year after graduating I am no where near achieving a job in that industry. Even worse is that I have stopped writing scripts and coming up with video ideas... I freeze every time I try to write something, because I don't believe I'm good enough... or that's it's a pointless endeavour...

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  3. Lovely post! It's so nice that your daughter as the things you're making to treasure as she gets older.

    My daughter has a crochet blanket that my mum made for me years ago and it's the most well-loved blanket in the world.

    P.s found you through the #BEDM tag on Twitter

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  4. I commented on another crafter's blog similarly but had to say it again - I always admire anyone who does anything crafty. I have no patience to even try anything so spend my life on Etsy and the like buying other people's pieces of genius!

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  5. That blanket is fantastic! Please don't let your creativity and talent go to waste; I'm so glad Martin encouraged you to get crafting again; I reckon it's better than therapy (for a start, therapy doesn't end with a beautiful blanket!). Can't wait to see some of the things you sew xxx

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