7 years!

The photos in this post are a catchup of my fortnight. Building, baking (by one of my boys for school), tired feet, a night out, some lunches, screenprinting new turquoise teapots... and the exciting news, which I can finally share, I will be teaching two workshops at the Sydney Finders Keepers Markets in December!!

My popular Fabric Printing with Hand Carved stamps class will run on Friday night December 12th and on Saturday morning December 13th in the wonderful space of the Technology Park at Alexandria Its going to be fun, I can't wait to workshop in amongst all that creative buzz and surrounded by fantastic inspiration. And get some shopping in too. If that sounds like something you'd like to do too please come and join us!

The other thing that happened recently, and I'm a tad late, is my seventh blogging anniversary which was on November 11th!

Seven years, phew!

I've been thinking and talking a bit about blogging this year. Thinking and talking about my corner of the blog community. Trying to articulate what I write about and why I write it.

Its a big call but over that time I've seen the slow, handmade, creative, family-centric, sustainable, artisanal, craft and making blogs and their popularity change the world in their own little way. Yes that is a big call, but I'm making it!

Over those years I've seen the handmade, handcrafted, homegrown and heritage movements become more fashionable and more mainstream. I'm really proud to be part of that. I am a big believer in what we celebrate with these journals and I'm glad to see the best of those values catching hold.

From small beginnings online, blogging has helped like-minded souls find and support each other. Its been easier to document and share the making of our lives and homes. Now from being a small corner on the internet this movement, this documenting, has grown and thrived, along with the shared ideas, as people have seen and read and been inspired to join in.

Funnily enough I never imagined that I would be blogging so long when I started out on my first tentative posts. I thought the whole concept a bit strange. But once online I met so many like souls and quickly developed a whole new world of friends, a virtual community, the strength of which keeps me here.

So many of those first few friends I made online are still my friends today. Lovely friends, real friends, the type I could ask something of and it would arrive without question. Special people. Makers and doers mostly. Inspiring women who combine family, growing, making, art, cooking, small business, big business, writing, selling, life. Thank you friends!

This sort of sharing seems so common now when everyone mini blogs on Instagram. Social media is the theme of the times and visual diaries like ours are much more common and widely shared.

It takes a bit more time and discipline to write a real blog on top of that. For me though I find its worth it to write my blog and read those others. I like the back story - how things work, what inspired it, where the recipe is, what yarn you used, where you got that cute pattern, which tutorial you used, what that landscape is, who those people are, what you ate and most importantly, how you felt.

I love the writing and reading behind the pictures.

That said I'm probably more selective these days on which blogs I read, I used to have a million on my reader, but not any more. And I probably drop in less, though with my favourites I rarely miss a post.

Blogging has given me so much in seven years, more than I can quantify, friendships, inspiration, education, opportunities, publicity, community, swaps, my small business, laughs, tears, conversations, great recipes, patterns, techniques, motivation. So I'm going to keep on blogging a little longer. Thanks for visiting and commenting and being my friend.

six years!

Its hard to believe but today is the sixth anniversary of my blog!

In fact my boys were in kindergarten when I started this diary and they are in Year 6 now, and about to leave primary school to start their new adventure at High School. (Cue tears!)

Each year on this anniversary I am surprised anew to find myself a blogger and still hanging out in this little patch of cyberspace!

In some ways I've changed a lot since 2007, but in most ways, well, I just have to read that first month's posts to see how exactly the same I am. Back then I was printing my designs, growing rose seeds, marvelling over the beauty of a nest, making a jack o'lantern, taking photos of flowers and visiting Sculpture by the Sea.

This month I'm printing new designs, trying to grow lettuce seeds, making soap and paneer, taking photos of flowers for Instagram and visiting Sculpture by the Sea! I am still as inspired as ever to celebrate art and nature and make my own - be it soap, or bread, or roses - as I was six years ago.

I love that this place is such a great record of my creative journey. Truth is I come here to look for instructions and recipes, or remember when I planted something, or to read my own instructions for making!

Its funny I look back now and remember feeling like a newbie and outsider when I first started blogging, not sure if I should be here. I sensed there were established friendship groups that might be hard to break into, everyone else seemed to know each other.

I shouldn't have worried, I found that bloggers are exceptional people who are invariably kind and generous with ideas, information and support. As in any part of life you are drawn to friendships with likeminded people, its just these friendships defy geographical boundaries. That said I am always delighted to find online peeps every bit as wonderful in the flesh as they are behind a keyboard when we meet at last in person.

These last years I find blogging changing. Instagram took some of the immediacy and visual impact away from blogs. They suffered in comparison. Instagram posts were up and interacting literally in minutes while those well thought out blog posts with proper camera photos often took hours to format. In our time poor days sometimes the impulse passed once the instagram pic was posted.

I found it didn't stop me reading my favourite blogs though. In many cases after seeing an image on Instagram I wanted to see larger, clearer photos and more of them, I wanted to read the tutorial, or follow the links. But most of all I wanted the story behind them, the voice of a favourite blogger telling me how it felt, what it meant, what they learnt.

We need to support our favourite blogs. We need to leave a comment every so often to tell the person we're there. That might be my new blog year resolution. And we need to keep shopping handmade and support bloggers' businesses this Christmas and beyond. They are a wonderful independent and honest voice we benefit from having in our lives.

Like many I've wavered in my commitment to blogging recently, found myself with less to say and less motivation to say it. But I think the blogging muscle is one that is strengthened by use and I have been trying to get back to a routine. To think in blog posts again.

I think that my outlook on life benefits hugely from this blog and others, in some ways it functions as a gratitude diary and helps me find and see the beauty in my everyday. I'm all for that.

Thank you readers for being here to share it with me.

the ace blogger list

I was having one of those days yesterday (you know the ones!), when out of the blue I had the most fabulous surprise. I followed a link and came across a list written by the inimitable Pip Lincolne, aka the queen of blogging, on the JustB site. She featured a list of favourite bloggers chosen by Pip and the other JustBers.

Not only is this list, called the Ace Blogger List, full of all the very acest bloggers around, all my very favourites (including lots and of Show & Tellers), but featured there on the list was my blog - flowerpress!

I'm still pinching myself to be included in such amazing company, this list (which appears again in the JustB summer flipbook), is such a testament to the strength of Australian Blogging. I'm very proud to be part of it, and to count many of the other ace bloggers amongst my friends.

In nice timing its my 5 year blogging and Etsy selling anniversary next week! (5 years! Amazing!)

I will be back posting tomorrow for 'my creative space', while I haven't managed to keep up with the instagram prompts this month I'm really enjoying seeing the beautiful photos people are posting tagged #amonthof #mycreativespace.

And don't forget to pop back tomorrow for my wonderful giveaway too!

red

I'm beavering away here writing up my foam printing tutorial, packaging up handprinted fabric swap parcels and shop orders. I did get a chance to join in with the red theme on instagram, which was fun. I love all the inspiring themes and memes around the place which get you thinking and making.

Are you on instagram? I post there as flowerpress so come and say hi!

I hope to have the printing tutorial up tomorrow too so I'd love it if you pop back in to check it out!