Hand Made Love

I love that so many crafts are experiencing a renaissance. It tickles me pink! Bloody heck even macramé is 'cool' again! I remember making pot hangers in primary school! I love it! And Granny squares! Wow! Who would have thought our grungy opp shop and street finds to furnish our inner city flats in the late 80's early 90's - loved and/or hand made by our Nonna's, to be abandoned by our parents - would become an adored 'style' by the next round of generational 'hipsters', and that all those Saturday mornings spent crafting on the lounge room floor in your P.J's, or in your mums sewing cabinet 'messing up the threads', would actually lead to something beautiful.

There has been some talk of late (even bitchy heated debate by some in social media circles) about what hand made is. People do like to define things and put them in boxes after all, and that in itself is not altogether a bad thing.

And I have found that when we are talking and/or thinking about making or buying 'hand made', sometimes things like fair trade, local, green, eco, sustainable, et cetera ... words like this often get thrown around at the same time as 'hand made'. Which is great! It gets people thinking.

This gets me to thinking about my supplies for my hand made items. Are they fitting into what it means to me, to be labeled and put in the same box as hand made? Is the wool for my latest granny square project truly local? Or have I just bought it from my local mega craft shop? Is it shawn from Australian sheep, and milled in an Australian knitting mill? Are my cushion inserts made from environmentally friendly materials? Are they made in Australia? Are my fabrics made in sustainable and responsible ways? I suppose we can only do our best to answer these questions for ourselves.

All of which leads to somewhat harder questions ... Like, what is truly handmade? 

What is the difference between piecing something together, or decorating it, or creating something from 'scratch'? 

Did you bake the cake if you used a packet mix? Or only if you grew the wheat to grind the flour, and raised the chickens to lay the eggs?

It's awesome that you can get so many organic and sustainable materials and supplies theses days, and the internet has made it so easy to reach suppliers and buy specialist materials. But is it ok to embellish or decorate a T-shirt purchased from your local Kmart and call it 'handmade'? 

In light of the recent incidents in Bangladesh, (which is only bringing these cruelties to our attention again, (because it ain't the first time) but it does not really effect us enough to be changing our ways,) and from what I know of factory workers, and of conditions in factory settings in most parts of the world (including piece workers and out workers in our own sweet land, and we won't go into the exploits of 'chain' employees at all right now) ... I tend to think not. Phew!

So is it important to me, that what I call 'hand made' is the same as what others call 'hand made'? Probably not. There is room in this world for all types. And there is no reason that we can't all play nice.

So maybe, more importantly, I should be asking myself ... Is it important to me, that what I make with my own hands, is made with the best sourced fabrics, materials and bits that I can find? 

Is "local, sustainable, eco friendly, responsible, fair trade" and other concepts such as these, important to me when gathering materials for my hand made creations? I think 'fuck yeah!' is putting it mildly :)

At least it gets us all thinking. and considering things a bit more. 

Mindfulness is a brilliant thing, if only a first (yet constant) step. 

Here is a link to a what I think is the best wool mill around :)
https://bendigowoollenmills.com.au/

If you are out that way do drop in, because they have lots of specials bins there and stuff that they don't sell online ... Like Australian 100% wool stuffing for stuffing your wool felt and other such projects, as well as wool for spinning, dying, or felting yourself, as well as a stack of beautiful yarns for knitting and crochet et cetera. 

Feel free to leave a comment about what 'hand made' means to you, or maybe you know of a great local supplier that you want to support by sharing a link :) 

Happy hand made love everyone! 

Xoxo

Last Night ...

Last night I was thinking ...

I didn't learn to be a photographer by thinking about it or 'designing images' in my head. I became a photographer by doing it. Taking lots & lots of photos. All kinds of images with all kinds of cameras & film, (8mm, instamatic, polaroid, 35mm, 6x6, 5x4, even 8x10) but it took a few years, & some amazing tutoring before I found 'my thing'. I found my own way of making images, that only I could make, & that I only made because they were me. I did not care if anyone else enjoyed them or not, there were images I made for myself, that were a part of myself … So when I put them out there in the world, I was surprised that other people liked them too. The same went for my later work with ceramics & glass. It takes a while before you find yourself in a new medium, & when you do, WoW! You really know it!

I have been sewing at home & selling online, for almost 2 years (not the sewing part, that's something I never remember not doing) - & now I am starting to let myself go, trust myself & make something for myself, & of myself. Sure, I love making things for kids, & I may not stop doing that. Creating fabric things for babies & toddlers was born out of making things for my newly arrived family members, & the fact that my kiln was in storage while I built my house (I had to make something in the evenings!) … & it all kind of snowballed from there. But it was always about making things for other people & thinking about what they would like. Maybe that's why I called it 'i made this for you' …

So I have started a new adventure in fabric that I am calling '… & then some'. Which is simply me creating things with the materials & methods that I love & adore.
I have been working away behind the scenes getting things ready, to put it all out there in the world. (Kind of in the same way you prepare your work for an exhibition.)
I have been collecting fabrics, preparing my website, (well, not so much preparing, but more like re-structuring it & making quite a few dramatic changes in it's map.) Making business cards & post labels, working on a new Facebook page & adding to my other social media … But all the while waiting for posh new woven fabric labels for the new creations themselves to arrive.

I waited two months to get those babies! (There were some issues of communication, with the manufacturer taking 5 to 6 days to reply to emails … so it was a very slow back & forth. *Humph*) Anyway … I did a pretty big happy dance when they arrived, because it symbolised the real beginnings of this new path … plus now I can really start to make things!
So my Mothers Day was doing just that. I cut & I sewed … my daughter spent the day catching up on homework. (p.s year 12 sucks! But I am ever so proud of her just for doing it!) I have made my prototypes / patterns. I got my method worked out, & I am rearing to go!

Did I ever tell you that I sew with an antique Singer?
I adore that darling thing, but she does not have a zipper foot … needless to say I am doing things the hard way ... but that's the way I like it. I have also busted out & given the overlocker a good going over. Seriously, that thing had not seen the light of day in 10 years or more! But me thinks sometimes an overlocker is the only way to go, so put back in service she is… But of course my Singer will always be my preferred machine, because nothing else sews like she does!

So what is this ramble really about? Maybe I should just say that, I am really looking forward to showing you what I have been up too, & opening my new made it shop in about a week or so … stay tuned …

xoxo


P.S. While I was awaiting the fabric labels, I made a bunch of new stuff for the little ones - now my i made this for you madeit shop is overflowing with handmade goodness!

www.madeit.com.au/imadethisforyou

Baby Tree ~ With love

Hi all,

I know, I have not had much to say for a while, but this is something I really want you all to know about.

There is this amazing human being by the name of Koky Saly.

He builds schools.
Yep - he actually raises money, & goes out there into the world & builds schools, where there was not one before. Amazing!
He has developed a not for profit organisation called Baby Tree Projects - you can visit them on facebook here. Or on their website here.

Koky & his dearly departed sister Sophia are also the masterminds behind the social enterprise of Boy & Bee ... it is just starting out so you can makes friends with them here on the ye book of faces, or visit the website here.

Koky is such a beautiful person, & I'm sure if you ever got the chance to meet him you would want to do all that you can to help him on his quest for a more beautiful planet for all humans to live, with love & happiness.

In fact - you can meet him!

Here are some amazing videos of Koky & his Baby Tree.

So ... the awesome news for you is, it is soooo easy to get involved & help make the world a better place. You don't even have to move from where you are right now!

Baby Tree Projects has recently announced their partnership with an fantastic Australian owned business called Etiko Fairtrade. Which is awesome news!
Etiko have offered all BabyTree supporters 10% off any of their amazing eco-friendly & ethically made products - & on top of that will donate 10% to BabyTree!
10% Off for you + 10% donated to BabyTree. 
How cool is that? Very, I would say!

But wait there's more...
In the month of May for every pair of sneakers they sell online, they will give a pair of sneakers to a kid in the BabyTree communities. Koky will personally deliver the sneakers at the end of May! Brilliant!

What are you waiting for?
Koky is making it too easy for us to change the world while sitting at a computer - So why wouldn't you spread some love & happiness, & make the world a better place for us all to be ... & get some cool stuff while you are at it?

Here is the promo add that is going around for this super cool deal - feel free to share it on ye book of faces, or pin it to whatever board you like! ... Maybe you could even get a little birdy to send out the message...

And here is the link to Etiko Fairtrade so you can go buy some stuff, & change the world at the same time!!  http://www.fairtradeshop.com.au/
Thanks everyone for watching, & listening ... It really does mean a lot!
Spread the word.
Stacks of love to you,
'Til next time!
e.
XxX

The truth, the whole truth, & nothing but ...

The truth is, I live with fibromyalgia & chronic fatigue.

A rubbish diagnosis I know. Not to offend others with the same diagnosis, but it really is a mystery box syndrome. It is not a definite 'We can see this, so you must have this' kind of thing to be diagnosed with. It is more of a - 'Well you don't have MS, or Lupus, or Bone cancer [just a few of the things I was tested for] ... so we will gather all of your symptoms & stick then in this mystery box we call Fibromyalgia ... off you go ... have a nice day.'

I am lucky that I ditched the 'regular doctors' opinions [being mostly of the 'Ohh it is just the fibro - now go away' kind] & sought the help of a wonderful naturopath who was wise enough to test me for the MTHFR gene. As 9 out of 10 of her fibro patients have the mutation on the gene [Coincidence? I think not] which basically means that I don't have the enzyme to process folate... & folate being crucial for the production of dopamine & for the serotonin receptors of the brain to work properly, this test result has solved a lot of issues for me that the doctors just wanted to throw a stack of chemicals at because 'they might help', without actually knowing what the problem was. Anyway I now take a form of folate everyday that has already been broken down by the enzyme I am missing, & after a while my head is almost back to normal ... whatever 'normal' is. :)

Anyway I have had a hell couple of years coming to terms with what is actually going on with my body. Some days I feel ok, others are wrapped in pain ... but creating / craft & the madeit community have been my saviour. Even though I had all the best intentions of carrying on my ceramic / pottery / glass work when I designed & built my house & studio ... somewhere in the past, just before I was finished building, & as I ready to 'get back to work', this fibromyalgia 'thing' came along & put a stop to it all. So rather than resign myself to feeling horrid & watching tv, I started again using the skills I have always had to create, just a slight diversion from the heavy industrial processes that I was accustom to, & into something lighter. Textiles. Quilts. And the like.

When I was making ceramics many moons ago - it did take some years for me to find my own style ... & when I finally found it, I was ready to move & build a bigger studio. But that type of creative work did not continue thanks to my body.
Over the last few years I have had moments where I felt I was going in the right direction with textiles, only to find myself getting caught making what I thought others would want [because they purchased them] - rather than making what I love to make so much, that I am compelled to create it. Only now am I starting to find my own style with textiles. I suppose this is why I have decided to open another madeit shop soon, to be closer to where I want & need to be.

I suppose this post is just some words put together, that may help people understand me & why craft is so important to me. Why I may seem to be sporadic in listing my creations for sale on madeit. Why I don't do makets anymore eventhough I would love to. Why I don't encourage custom orders [as I do not know how my body will feel from one day to the next, & I can not guarantee a completion date.] But maybe I just needed to put it all out there. To spill the beans & stop feeling so alone with this mystery box that never truly leaves my side, & let others with this rubbish diagnosis know that they are not totally alone either ... even if it feels like it most days.

Now, if only I could write about my heart, & make it seem as simple as this post too.
x