finding success later in life.

Yesterday I read an inspiring article about finding success later in life written by Candice Chung. The article discusses the idea that despite occurances throughout history of genius presenting itself at a young age (think Mozart, Picasso etc) it isn't always the case, and that there isn't actually a link between age and peak creativity.

This spells hope for me and other 30 something 'late bloomers' as Candice describes. The article assures us that perhaps like Vivienne Westwood (started working full time in fashion at 30) and Jane Austin (published her first book at 35) our best work may be ahead of us.

This gave me a huge amount of reassurance as it really does seem like everyone glorified in popular culture and media at the moment are strapping lads and lasses in their late teens and early to mid 20s. Candice says the belief that you 'either have to excel early or not at all' doesn't actually exist, and it's just our assumption based on what we've seen in history. Some of those amazing artists, composers and directors seem to hit their stride at an age where some of us are still grappling with 'Will this 8th glass of beer/wine/vodka be a good or a bad idea?'

For me, I'm just grateful I discovered my passion for sewing at all. For a while there I felt there was a big gaping hole in my creative life and I tried many different things to try and fill it. Sewing and crafts have definitely been the best fit for me and I look forward to seeing where this passion will take me. Fun places I imagine.
 
One of the best things I took from the article was this wonderful quote from Candace that I would like to print and read regularly. I think they are words to craft by so hopefully you like them too:

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

xx

Discovering Photoshop

Over the last couple of weeks I have started to think about branding for my future handmade business. I realised that in order to have a professional looking market stall I would probably need to have tags on my bags and purses, a poster or sign to put up, some business cards to hand out and perhaps somewhere for people to go if they would like to shop online.

To tie all this together I decided I needed a logo and some theming ideas. I had a good think about the kinds of things that represent me, my loves and my crafts and came up with some broad ideas to incorporate in some way, things like polka dots, cats, cute/kawaii things, vintage etc.

I looked into having a logo designed by a professional and unfortunately it was a little out of my price range at this point in time, so I decided to look into making one myself.

Enter the major epiphany that lo and behold, at my very fingertips resides a computer program to meet all the needs of an amaetur logo designer- Photoshop. My husband uses it almost daily for his photography and it occured to me if he can have multiple layers for photos, surely I could use it for patterns frames and text?

My ignorance of the power of Photoshop became apparent when I discovered an amazing website called Pugly Pixel. It's creator Katrina has to be one of the most generous, talented and quirky artists I have come across and her website hosts a huge collection of free (and premium) files of digital backgrounds, papers, tapes, ribbons and more for people to use on their blogs, websites and for arts and crafts. Amazing!

Katrina has also put together a series of tutorials showing you how to make your own backgrounds, borders and patterns using Photoshop. I had no previous experience using Photoshop and was able to follow the tutorials really easily. I'd recommend them for anyone who would like to make their own digital stationary to pretty up their blogs and websites. Fun!

After fiddling around with a few techniques I put some of them together to make something resembling a little business card. My husband fixed it up for me, flattened it and saved it as a jpeg so I can share it with you here:

first Photoshop baby

I don't think it is something I would use, but it was definitely fun to make and to play around with. Not bad for a first go! I'm pretty excited about learning some new skills and I think it could open up a whole range of possibilities.

I can't wait to learn more!
xx

attaching a flap to a zippered purse

I love making little zippered purses and tend to make more of them than anything else because they are pretty easy and the variations are endless.

I have always liked those cute little clutches which have a flap covering the zipped section and thought I would have a go at making one. I had a bit of a think about it and decided there were two ways I could try to attach the flap. I could either sew it as a layer attached to the zipper, or sew the completed flap to the outside fabric.

The first attempt I made was for a vintage style clutch. here is a picture so you can visualise the process a little better:

Outside of clutch

inside of clutch

To attach the flap in this example, I sewed it to the zipper tape at the same time I sewed the lining and outside fabric to it, so it's caught between the layers.

 

I was fairly happy with how it turned out but it was a little fiddly to put together as the parts didn't line up perfectly (self devised pattern = no guarentees). Overall I love this little clutch and would definitely use this method again.

Next time I made a little zipped coin purse I decided to try a different approach- to make the flap for the purse and attach it to the top of the back fabric piece before sewing it to the zipper tape. In some ways this was easier as you could attach the flap to the back piece before sewing it to the zipper tape and there was less bulk in the zipper tape, but the flap doesn't sit perfectly unless the snap is there to hold it in place.

Here are some pics of the purse for you to see for yourself:

Coin purse using kokka ballerina fabric

back of coin purse

inside

While this method worked quite well, I think the other way is more functional and I'd be more likely to use it again in the future. 

I think I have one more method to try which I'll write about when I get around to it. In the meantime, if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear about it!

xx

Linking up here!

tutorials from Pinterest

Once again I find myself trawling through countless pages of inspring goodies on Pinterest. It makes me giddy with excitement like the proverbial kid in a candy/toy store. It's becoming an obsession!

This week I discovered the pins of Laura Caamano Puente. You can see her boards and pins once you've signed up for Pinterest. She has a stupendous collection of gorgeous things and lots of sewing and craft tutorials she has found or repinned from the boards of others. I found her because she repinned my sewing tutorial for making a mini zippered coin purse.

Here are a few tutorials I found on Laura's board "tutoriales" that I thought were cute and would like to try.

Pleated Tote bag tutorial- by Laura from thimble

Baby shoes from Colourful Creative Ideas

Linen flowers from the Brides Cafe

Crochet flower tutorial from the Yvestown blog



DIY lampshade tutorial from Teeny blessings

Pinterest really is a wonderful source of inspiration. Check it out and see what makes you go crazy!

xx

scoping Sydney markets

I love going to markets. We have a huge variety of markets in Sydney catering to all kinds of people- we have the trendy/alternative markets in Glebe, the gorgeous beachside markets of Bondi and Manly, yummy organic farmers markets in Rozelle and Marrickville and wonderful Artisans markets in Kirribilli. It's nice to be able to buy handmade Australian things and I believe we are starting to witness a trend in moving away from mass produced rubbish. I couldn't be happier about it as I'm hoping to have made enough things to have a market stall of my own up and running by the end of the year (gulp).

To suss out what's happening in the Sydney Market scene, I trawl my way through a wonderful resource, the Local Market Guide which as the name suggests is a one stop shop for information on upcoming markets in different categories (arts, crafts design, fresh produce etc) with links to websites, a noticeboard for stall holders and a blog with recipes and info from past events. I love this site! I'll never be bored on a weekend again!

On Sunday I went with some friends to the Sydney Boutique Markets in Castle Hill. They had a nice range of things for adults and kids but it was definitely slanted towards 'yummy mummys and their little ones'. This was good news for me as I took it as an opportunity to see what's out there and where my little sewn things might fit in.

Sometimes I find the process of going to markets and seeing all the kids and babies things a little disheartening as it seems like such a saturated market. I find myself wondering, is there a place for me and my things here? When I posed this question to Corrie from Retro Mummy at a market recently, she assured me that when it comes to markets, people come and go, making space for new stalls and fresh ideas all the time. This was comforting to know.

So I had a good look around the stalls at the Sydney Boutique Market taking note of stall set ups, names, branding, product lines and trends. Here are a few observations I made:

• Almost every stall had gorgeous, lacy or crocheted hair accessores and hair bands a la 'Shabby Chic'
• The best stalls had a small selection of wares spread out neatly and thoughtfully
• Most of the items for kids were specifically for babies or young children, with only a few stall with things for young ladies
• The stalls overloaded with brightly coloured wares were difficult for me to focus on to appreciate the individual pieces.

One of the advantages to being a shopper in this setting is being able to simultaneously appreciate the work of others while formulating ideas about what my own stall might look like. I think I have been reluctant to start my own stall because there is just so much out there, but after this weekend, I do feel there is a place for my fun and quirky accessories as my stuff does seem to be quite different to what's out there already. I think I need to focus less on worrying about where I might fit in and just trust that if I love the things I make, maybe other people will too!

I have renewed vigour and feel inspired all over again!

xx