A Treasury West feature

I awoke this morning to a lovely message from toolisjewelry letting me know that one of my mini clutches was featured in her treasury.  It has certainly been exciting to see my bags appear in treasuries by other Etsy artisans especially when there is so much high quality work out there.  Finding such encouragement in the early days of my business endevours certainly helps in the 'what were you thinking' days. Well now that I am feeling ridiculously pleased with myself I should go and face the realities of making actual money and get to work.

New Treasury - A Royal House

This started off as a 'what not to wear' treasury but after about 3 picks I realised there was a distinct Purple theme so it became a Royal House instead. I love doing treasuries and I hope the featured get as much of a buzz out of it as I do...(seriously doubt it though)

It's the day for purple!!!

My purple ruffles pouch is in this lovely treasury by retroattck.

Reviving crafts from the past to celebrate Christmas.

When my children were young they all brought home from Kindy and school the handmade Christmas decorations which would hang on the tree with pride for many years.  Sad and sorry Santas, crooked stars, papery constructions overloaded with glue and glitter all sitting side by side in spectacular ugliness.

Now my children would argue that over the years these glorious works of art would move further and further round the back of the tree until they mysteriously disappeared.  What they didn't know was that over the years cockroaches quite enjoyed the doughy stars and cotton wooly snowmen and each year as they were unpacked the ravages of insect feasting and breeding which should have condemned them all immediately to the bin meant that fewer and fewer  could retain their pride of place on the tree.

It was during those years as a stay at home mum that I started making my own christmas decorations.  We were living on a fairly tight budget and couldn't afford much but with a few simple materials I did most of my own decorating (couldn't quite manage tinsel though).  Not only was it cheaper but it was so much fun and that sense of creating our own Christmas together as a family is one of the values we really wanted to entrust to our children.

It wasn't long before I had other young mums asking me how to make Christmas decorations and so I actually ended up teaching craft to a bunch of playgroup mums all eager and enthusiastic.  It was a wonderful time sitting with a group of women balancing babies and toddlers with glue guns, fabric scraps and bead pins.  Amidst the chaos, confusion and laughter there was also a huge dose of personal pride and achievement as each girl took home their 1st creation (even the disasters) to take pride and place on their own tree.

Recently there has been a big resurgence in handcrafts amongst the younger generation.  This year young girls have asked me to teach them how to crochet (I'm only a beginner level granny square maker myself) and they are eager to learn all other forms of craft and handiwork.  It is heartening to see this revival and returning to handicraft and to what was once thought the cheaper and tackier alternative to buying the real "mass produced" thing in a highly consumerised society.

In response to this resurgence I myself have returned to a "craft from the past" and revived the handmade Christmas ornament once more.  Why not make something yourself this Christmas or better yet get the whole family in on it I know for my children it's the one they made they will remember not the really expensive and fragile one you bought in a shop (unless that really expensive and fragile one is also an xbox).   Here is a couple of cool places for how to's on Christmas ornaments.  I could try and do one of my own and maybe one day I can get organised or clean my work area enough to get that happening :)

howstuffworks.com
Mahalo.com
betterbudgeting.com

Treasury 8th Sept 09 - The day after Halloween

Despite all the frenzy about Halloween I've always enjoyed the day after "All Saints Day" mainly because it's my birthday :).  However I do love all things angelic so here is my tribute to them.

This treasury made the FP on Thurs 10th Sept.  My first one and it was very exciting to see it there.

It's a really big virtual world

Whew! it has only taken nearly 2 months but I have finally gotten it together and delved into Blogging.

Having just launched my new stores redeem designs on Etsy and Zibbet  and started tweeting on Twitter (I know shameless self promotion) my poor family have not seen me without my nose buried in a computer or sewing machine for quite a while.

I want to thank  all those who have helped me step into the online community. Big hugs to my lovely supportive family who think everything I create is fantastic (bless 'em) my huge circle of friends and my new crafter buddies from the Down Under Street Team  who have all the answers a newbie needs.

I have always loved being involved in the creative process in what ever form that takes but I also have a passion to help make our world a better place.  Redeem designs is the amalgamation of these 2 passions in that a portion of the profits from my business are going to support micro enterprise industries particularly in developing nations.  Micro enterprise industries help people help themselves by providing that initial boost to start their own business.

Recently a couple of girlfriends and I held a "swap til you drop" party - hilarious and a real purse friendly way to get a new outfit.  The money we raised by setting out a donations box bought a sewing machine and 6 months training for a woman in India through a micro enterprise venture run by an organisation called Empart    I have decided to keep supporting Empart and hope to add others as the business expands.

Well this is turning into a long post.  I am excited about the small new steps I have been taking.  I will be featuring all sorts of fun things here. All things arty and the artisans, green issues especially recycling and upcycling and any charity, aid and enterprise organisations that inspire me.

Look forward to meeting and making like minded friends and seeing you here in my small microcosm of the www.