social

 

When I am working on something I tend to lock myself away and retreat into my thoughts. I like the quiet and being able to give single minded attention to the project I'm obsessed with.

Other times I love the social. I love to chat and gossip and laugh and natter and share. I think it feeds me and keeps me sane and happy.

I need both sides and luckily they seem to find their own rhythm.

This past week has been a social one, three lunches out, a workshop to teach, two functions Saturday night and a soccer game yesterday. I've loved every minute of it.

I caught up with bloggers this week, and it confirmed my belief that they are as wonderful in real life as they are on their blogs. I love being able to have those particular bloggy conversations where you talk about shared inspiration, community, blogging, design, fabric, craft, magazines, life and the internet! And never have to explain what you're talking about or who's who!

It always proves to me what other non bloggy people doubt, that you can have online friendships that are as strong and true as those you share with people in your everyday. And that there are some amazing, clever, funny, talented people doing their thing in blogland.

Thank you Kidspot for inviting me to the Voices of 2013 launch. It was fun to get frocked up and celebrate the amazing local bloggers we have. I just wish I could have made the masterclass and had more time to catch up with the out of town peeps who were here.

Thank you to my workshop students and Melissa at SewMakeCreate for a fun couple of weeks. I've really enjoyed teaching, and sharing the art of stamp carving with others. We printed on fabric yesterday and I was so delighted when all the students turned up with new pieces carved and all inspired to make. If you're interested there is another class starting next month.

Thank you to our soccer and netball families, you make me laugh with your one eyed enthusiasm. Its nice to share the sidelines with the old faces and the new, shouting our teams on to greater heights and discussing tactics from the security of the non players section!

Thank you too to all my lunch pals, especially Tuyen for whipping up home made pho, and Jo (bubala) for gifting me one of your beautiful neon print pouches.

I love my social weeks, I don't get anything done, but it fuels me for the more introspective weeks where I wouldn't leave the house at all if I could wangle it!

Are you a socialite? Or do you like the quiet one on one and getting things done?

these days

Phew, life has hit the ground running since the holidays finished. Suddenly everything is happening at once, carnivals, assemblies, music lessons, sport teams, bills to pay, paperwork, meetings, camp...

In between the busyness though I've squeezed in some time to catch up with friends, so good for the brain! A week or two ago I had lunch with blog friend Lamina (doabit) and also got to meet Jo from Bubala at last too. It was so nice to talk 'shop' with these lovely, talented girls and we followed it up last Thursday with the abcd meetup at trade show Life InStyle at the Hordern Pavilion.

What an interesting night, the first part was free entry to the show and wandering the aisles of makers with their beautiful wares. Then at dinner afterwards we heard from crafty business owners who were attending the show about the wholesale thing, and the nuts and bolts of that.

It was my first abcd (Artists + Bloggers + Crafters + Designers) meetup, but definitely not my last. Many thanks to Steph and Lisa for organising these events. It is so nice to catch up with like minds and share ideas and it was such an interesting night. And thanks to Sophie from Scoops Design who was so generous with her knowledge in our little group.

I've had lunch out a couple more times since then, one a belated birthday yum cha where I scored this great Anna Laura brooch and then last Friday after the Mr and I watched our girl speak at the Sydney Town Hall at school presentation day (so proud!). I may have wiped away a tear or two, it was so great to see her up on stage in this amazing space. Afterwards we bought lunch and walked down to Circular Quay to see the Anish Kapoor exhibition at the MCA (which was wow!).

I have managed a small amount of making in between, I cooked these delicious sticky date cupcakes with salted caramel icing one day and I made a batch of homemade laundry liquid over the weekend. I've also been making quite a few batches of yoghurt - I think I've got the hang of it now.

There's been some good mail, I bought some of this great Julia Rothman print Type to make something with (must use stash!) and my Society6 tshirt print came, modelled here (under sufferance) by Miss A. I like it and the quality's great, must print some more of these.

So there, that's what I've been doing, what about you? What have you been doing? How is the new year treating you?

Hey and guess what!? I have a lovely surprise for you all (a surprise for me too!). Tomorrow I'm posting the first of this year's Show & Tell interviews, number 31 in fact!

To tell the truth I wasn't sure I'd keep the series going this year, its a bit of work on top of everything else and I was thinking maybe I needed a break. But when it came to it, I'm really proud of the series and I love all the wonderful bloggers I've featured, so I'm not quite ready to quit. So come back tomorrow and meet another inspiring blogger!

And if you have any ideas about other bloggers you'd like to see in this space, I'd love some suggestions, tell me and I'll see what I can do.

pinterest love

I love Pinterest, do you? I use it for recording, bookmarking, research and discovery. I pin pretty things, clever things, funny things, colour schemes, books, patterns, clothes and fabrics.

I find it stores more than just images, it stores feelings and ideas. I store dreamy gardens, crafty projects, yummy food and I hoard beautiful pattern. Its a place to file a funny quote, a piece of wisdom, sewing inspiration, amazing landscapes, a mood, an inkling, a plan...

It helps me see the amazing beauty in our world.

Pinterest is often seen as a timewaster but I'm not sure its ever been that for me. While I pop in regularly I usually don't stay long, its a quick dose of inspiration and reference.

I love that each image is linked to its source. And rather than feeling it takes my images without attribution I've found that many people follow the links, so its given me a wider audience for my work, my images and my tutorials.

Anyway, I wanted to share some of my favourite boards with you guys (and I would love it too if you wanted to share your link or a favourite pin, pinner or board to help me find more pinterest treasure).

I've been trying to keep a note of inspiring and eclectic boards for the last while. Its a small list and to be honest I could add thousands more, and a lot of these pinners, well I love all their boards so while I've mentioned one board please have a look around.

And If you want to check out my pinterest, come and follow me at flowerpress. 

Melissa Wastney - Clear Blue or Grey

Alisa Coburn - Natural Forms

Daphne L's - Graphics, Prints and Textiles

Stephanie's - Folky board

Klaradyn K. - Dress details

Hansol Kim - diy/repurposed

Tamara N - Still Life

Scott Murphy - Abandoned

Mrs French - Fuzz, Feathers, Fur and whatnot

Janet Clare - A Field Guide

five

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the flowerpress blog!

Thank you to everyone who has visited, blogged, pinned, inspired or been inspired by this space. Thanks too to everyone who entered my giveaways, followed my tutorials or visited the flower press shop.

And a big thank you to all the Show & Tellers who have shared their interviews here.

I'll be back next week to celebrate with some more posts, a sale in the shop, two giveaway winners (still time to enter!) and some new sewing, but I just wanted to mark and share this milestone here :-)

my creative space - shop

Years ago I worked as a web designer, and I still enjoy playing with code. I love the mix of maths and design, and the special language of html and css! It appeals to my inner nerd.

For a while now I've been wanting to have my own space online for selling. Etsy has been wonderful to me over the years and I will always keep that shop, but for local buyers who want to buy in Australian dollars and find me more easily through my website, an independent shop selling in Australian currency is the perfect fit.

I've set up shop with bigcartel as they offer a cheapish option with no commission and just a monthly fee. The big cartel design is customisable too, you can fiddle with the colours and fonts etc with no coding experience, or you can off-road it and attack the css and html yourself, starting as I did from one of the free templates on offer and tweaking till it fits your design.

So though it may seem a funny thing to post for my creative space, this is literally how my creative time has been spent this week. The shop is newly open, so to kick it off, and see if it actually works (!) I've put a few of the items on sale for my lovely readers.

This week get the 'Collection' print, Yellow Bricks fabric or Chalk on Unbleached linen tea towel at bargain Australian currency prices, meaning you and I don't pay the exchange rate. I'll throw in a Ruby Slippers card too for each of the first five orders!

Meanwhile my Etsy store will change back to US currency for overseas customers. (Prices are a little cheaper in my shop due to the exchange rate at the moment, and all will be going up a little soon).

And please tell me if something doesn't work or looks funny. I need you to help me roadtest!