Why do I create (such a fuss)?

This autumnul week, I got a wonderful parcel from Nicolette. We did a little swap, and her parcel was so beautiful for many reasons.

1. It was so gorgeously wrapped


2. The rose fabrics have reminded me of a project I would like to do with all the roses I've been collecting. These fabrics may just get me going...
(I can see this in roses!!!!)

3. The Dutch fabrics are also really special (part of my South African heritage) And the Dutch sweets are yummy (I mean they 'were' yummy LOL!!)


4. The parcel arrived on a very very bad day for me and I felt really uplifted by such a beautiful gift (Thank you Nicolette! - you spoilt me!!)


Nicolette also tagged me about a week ago to write this meme, but I'm only getting to it now... I had to think. I talk A LOT, but I like to write little so this is going to be very hard!!!!

The rules are:
Answer the following on your blog and then let five other bloggers know that you have tagged them to complete the meme.

1. When did you start to create and make craft?
As a small child

I remember my father drawing me animals and things at the breakfast table. Later I was sent by my mother to extra art lessons at a very magical place: The Frank Joubert Art Centre in Rondebosch, Cape Town. I have such fond memories of this place. I use to go for after school lessons and I did almost everything they had to offer over my 12 years of schooling. I fondly recall doing weaving, spinning, painting, drawing, sculpture, pottery, printmaking, you name it, they offered it and I spent many afternoons crafting and creating. I also dropped a subject at (real) school and took 'graphics' (a.k.a printmaking) as an official subject at Frank Joubert, this counted towards my final marks for real school. There I learned Lino printing, silkscreening (love it!) and etching. I would love to do printmaking again!!! I also met a wonderful (and very creative) friend there - Jeannette who was my student teacher at the time, later she became a very dear friend and we still adore each other :O)

I studied Graphic Design at the Cape Technikon (I was acccepted to do Fine Art at the University of Stellenbosch, but wanted to be a designer). I left the course not feeling like a designer at all so went to Germany and took a design break (and a leg break too!- I broke my femur and spent a long time recovering from the initial operation which left me needing 2 bouts of corrective surgery (!)). After a bit of healing and doing a graphic design practical in Germany, I moved to London and sold advertising. The other side of Graphic Design? My first ad sales employer felt knowing your CMYK was a good selling point :O)

2. Why did you start creating?
My mother always did something crafty (LOL).
(This is not a real s e x shop - it's a South African private joke though!)
If she wasn't knitting, copperworking, sewing, she had me doing something like making my clothes, patchworking.... I am very grateful to her that she inspired me to use my hands.
We still go to craft fairs together or fabric shopping.

Although my mother can knit like a Ninja, I have never really enjoyed knitting more than a beanie...

3. Why do you create?
I just have to. I can't sit idle (I hear my DH laughing his head off here). I know I could clean my house (hahaha), or go walking, but I love making things and I love seeing how clever crafters can be... I just wish I had more time, I would like to try many more things: jewelry making, printing again... felting, woodwork??... I would love an adult Art centre nearby where I could experiment and create.

4. What do you create?
I sew (like a madwoman), I patchwork, I make cards, I take photos (although I don't develop my own anymore like I used to at college) I try to make presents for friends and family. I don't do as much different stuff as I used to. At school I kept a sketchbook and had to hand in drawings weekly, it kept me good :O) I should draw again.

5. Has this changed since you began crafting?
I am limited by the amount of hours in each day.

If I had all the time in the world (and more money) I would do lots of different stuff (and probably never finish any of it LOL) I feel I have lost my confidence a bit, I used to just see something and make it, now I think about it, plan it, buy stuff for it that I don't use...

Now I have to tag 5 people, so I tag Helen, Kate P, Jane, Laila, and Gudrun (Gudrun sent me a super-duper surprise parcel this week too!!!! Thank you so much!!!! It was full of all sorts of wonderful treasure!!!!

- I have been sooo spoilt lately!!!)
(see Gudrun, I like sheep!)

Tagged again

I must say, I have been very pleased that I have met so many nice bloggers of late.... And I'm pretty chuffed too that I was (randomly) tagged for this cool sweet treat by Corry .

We don't really 'do' Halloween in our house although I did buy a pumpkin today with the intention of making a lantern and using the pumpkin for pumpkin fritters... yum!


So I randomly tag....
Samantha - Diary of a mad fabriholic
Andrea Welsh Quilter
Patti - Quilting is my passion

Pass it on if you wish, ignore it if you don't... (funny, I don't normally do things like this LOL)

Tagged by Laila

I have been tagged by Laila for a Meme:

4 jobs I have had:

-shoeshop sales assistant (first job)
-selling wooden back massagers and then clothing on Greenmarket Square in Cape Town
-advertising sales manager for a beautiful antique carpet and textile magazine
-mother and wife a.k.a.'chief cook and bottle-washer'

4 films I could watch over and over:

-Shawshank Redemption
-Walk the Line
-Moulin Rouge
-lots of others, but I can't think right now...

4 TV shows I watch:

-Grey's Anatomy
-Project Runway
-Boston Legal
-Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares, but actually I don't watch a lot of TV unless I can sew at the same time

4 places I have lived:

-Cape Town, South Africa
-Holzgerlingen, Germany
-London, UK
-Yorkshire, UK

4 favorite foods:

-Ginger (in dark chocolate)
-Figs (glazed or in syrup)
-Microwave Popcorn (lightly salted)
-Dark Chocolate with orange cream centres (oh dear, that's two chocolate things...)

4 favorite colors:

-Red
-Purple/Plum
-Blue
-Green

4 places I'd love to be right now:

-on a beach just staring at the sea
-wine-tasting on a beautiful wine farm in Cape Town with family and friends
-Germany, visiting friends
-in bed under a favourite quilt getting some decent uninterrupted sleep!

4 names I love but could/would not use for my children:

-Fred
-Katya
-Rose
-Tristan

4 people I'd love to tag with this Meme (sorry LOL):

-Jane W
-Anne B
-Lynda
-Helen K

Feel free to do it if you wish, or ignore it if you don't :O)

Tagged by Kerry

Kerry has tagged me for 8 random things. A while back Kate tagged me for 7. BUT not to be a spoil sport I thought I'd do 8 of the most random things possible about me...

RULES - Post rules before giving the facts - Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves - People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules - At the end of the your blog you need to tag eight people and list their names - Leave them a comment on their blog, telling them they have been tagged and not to forget to read your blog.

1. I did Greek dancing at junior school
2. (Also at Junior school) I won a merit award from the Natural History Museum for my 'Study on Mung Beans'
3. I love ginger in most forms especially dark chocolate gingers
4. I drink far too much tea (it's a living in England thing LOL)
5. My DH says my favourite colour is purple
6. I hate seafood
7. I hardly ever wear make-up - too lazy to put it on, too lazy to take it off
8. I am messy, but I know where everything is (almost everything LOL)

Now, I'm not going to tag anyone unless they want to be tagged, but if you want to be tagged PLEASE let me know as I'd love to read all about it!

Been tagged for 7 things

Well, I'm responding to Kate's tagging so here are 7 things about me that I imagine most people possibly wouldn't know...

1. I failed my driver’s licence twice before finally passing at 25. I lived in Germany for 3 years in my early 20’s and refused to drive there because they drive on the wrong side of the road LOL. I had 4 driving instructors in all. The first one said I didn’t stand a chance in hell of passing. The second and third said I drove well and couldn’t understand why I didn’t pass (or get out of the parking lot) and the fourth was a man who taught a friend of mine to drive and as she said: “if he can teach me to drive, he can teach anybody”. He gave me the final bit of confidence to add to the technique and now I actually quite enjoy driving.

2. I had braces and glasses in my teens, but now I have straight teeth and when I can be bothered I wear contact lenses.

3. My dad died when I was 12 and when I returned to school after the funeral, one of the girls in the group that I was in at school said: “we don’t want to hear about it, ok?” I never spoke about my father’s passing again to anyone for at least 10 years.

4. When I was at school I used to spend my train fare at the tuck shop and then walk home. It was miles (4 stations worth of a walk!) I was really skinny then! I miss walking for a purpose. Even though we live in a beautiful part of the world that people travel to for miles to go walking, I don’t go walking. It’s just not the same as ‘having’ to walk.

Gee, this is hard…

5. I don’t eat wheat. I stopped eating it after visiting a very ‘different’ dietician/doctor type guy. I had been to normal doctors for years and had been told, I had ‘IBS’, but that there was nothing to be done. In desperation, I visited this guy who made me cut out certain food types from my diet for a month and then re-introduce them the next month. It became clear I had a wheat-intolerance. It’s been about 4 years now and I have never felt better even though I do miss Yorkshire puddings, biscuits, pancakes, white bread…the list is endless.

6. I’ve just had cosmetic surgery. On my ear! When I had my ears pierced as a child, I moved when the second ear was being pierced and it made a long hole. I could never wear any earrings other than studs that hid the length of the hole. It has always bugged me even though people claim they’d never noticed (probably because of the stud, duh! And the fact that I used to wear my hair over that ear.) I also had my pixie ear point removed at the same time (in for a penny…) I feel so much happier now. Crazy, I know, but it really did bother me a lot.

7. And finally, when I lived in Germany, I had a bicycle accident that broke my femur and changed my life forever. I had to have 2 bouts of corrective surgery and still have a plate in my leg, a slight limp and discomfort when lying on my left side. That was the bad part. The good part is it meant I stayed in Germany longer than planned, met some great people and realised how short life can be and so I try to make the most of it.