Tuesday 26 January 2010

Hi there

It may be the remaining effects of the cold I've had. Or the fact that I got a touch too much sun at the beach on Friday and again while out celebrating Australia Day today. Or the lack of energy to do anything productive that means I've actually spent time at the computer (see the first sentence).
Whatever caused it, the fact is this: I have been commenting, following and favouriting all over the place recently. I've been commenting on blogs that I know I never have before. I went through people's twitter lists and added a whole bunch who are on a forum I used to hang out on, but haven't in ages (although, with this new-found confidence, I might head over there later, though it'll have to be tomorrow now - in between writing this post and doing other things, it got late).

The fact that I mentioned a lack of confidence is probably funny to those of you who know me in real life, because face-to-face, I am plenty confident. I just get all anxious when I can't see how someone is reacting to what I am saying. That's also why I hate the phone. I need to see your face, read your body, adjust what I'm saying if I'm not getting my point across properly.

Anyway, the point of this post was to introduce myself to all the new people who may (or may not - I think I'm talking to dead space most the time anyway) be heading over here to work out who I am. If I'm now following you on twitter, I probably know you from g* (if you need to know what that means, you will) although, as I said above, I haven't been there for ages. I might've been reading your blog for ages, or I might've just discovered it. Either way, I think it's great and totally worth slotting into my limited reading time.

So, this is me:
I'm Kate.
I turn 30 this year.
I've been married almost 7 years and have a 19 month old daughter with whom I stay at home every day (well, we often go out, but you should know what I mean).
I love to create and can't wait until Lily is old enough to get into more full-on arts and crafts projects.
I've been a very sporadic blogger, but am determined to be better.
I grew up in various places around NSW, Australia.
I recently returned from 3.3 years living in London, UK.
I now live in south-western Sydney with my parents, while we wait for our house to get built (a pain-inducing process that is taking way too long and makes me very disgruntled, so don't ask how it's going).
I like parentheses because they help me explain my full thought process.
I don't know why I feel the need to explain the full process, probably relates to that issue I mentioned about needing to make sure I get my point across the way I intended and the fact that I have both studied and taught design.
If those last couple sentences haven't convinced you I'm crazy, or if you just like crazy, stick around and/or follow me on twitter (there's a link on my [currently-under-construction-slash-redesign] sidebar) and let me know if you have a blog I should be reading too.
Anything else you wanna know? Ask away.

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Tuesday 19 January 2010

Christmas 2009: Part 1

The following was written on New Years Day. And now that I look back on it, I can't work out why I didn't post it then... So, I'm posting it now and will add more parts as I get more photos:


There's a reason I didn't post for the rest of December - every spare minute was spent making Christmas presents, which even if I had the time, I couldn't really have talked about here. We went totally handmade this (well, technically, last) year, other than a few things we'd already picked up for Lily before we actually made the decision to do so. We bought handmade for my brother-in-laws' girlfriends and my Mum, but everyone else got something crafted by our little family.
Mum (and Dad, since it was above our budget for one person, but then we added something else for Dad) got this kit printed by Prints Charming. My original plan was to embroider some of them and make them up for Dad and then give Mum the rest to stitch/decorate herself, but since we're living with them, it was tricky to find time and/or space to work on it, so only one got stitched...

Of course, by the time I finally finished everything on the 23rd, I was so relieved and exhausted, that I stupidly wrapped it all up without taking photos and then forgot to take photos as things were opened on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So, I still need to get access to some of it again and take photos, but I can show you one thing, because I made it today. See, my sister actually just got some fabric in her gift, because I thought it was perfect for her, but couldn't decide what to make with it. So I waited until she'd seen it, talked to her about what she'd like made from it and today, I turned it into this skirt:

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The Blogging Conundrum

I really want to have a blog.
A good blog.
One that people want to read. And I'm not just talking about the people who read it because they are already my friend or are related to me.
A place where I can show off the things I've made.
Somewhere I could try out some of my designs to see if people would be interested in buying/making them.

I don't need a million followers or to make money by selling ads or anything like that.

But I feel like, in order to have the sort of blog I want, you need to participate in the 'blogosphere' and I just don't have the time.

Actually, this isn't just a blog issue, it's a whole internet issue.
I want to participate.
I want to get back involved in some of the communities that used to be a part of my daily life.
I want to discover like-minded people, and especially now that we're back in Sydney, some local ones.

But if I barely have time to check and reply to email; if the only reason I update my Facebook status is because it is taken direct from my Twitter feed; if I only manage to check either of those things because they're on my phone and I can do it in 5 spare minutes here or there; if my computer sits untouched for days at a time... How am I supposed to find the time to read, comment, participate?

And, of course, there's the fact that there's no point blogging if I haven't been doing anything to write about.

I need to make the effort in the evenings after Lily goes to bed and on the weekends when she can hang with Daddy. I need to make naptimes more efficient. I need to use moments like right now, when Lily is happily playing on the play equipment and I have access to free wifi. Or right now, when she is happily watching Monsters Inc (she loves Boo). I need to do things when I can, even if I have to come back and finish them some other time, or the time after that (this is my fourth attempt to get this post finished and up). I need to remember that my phone can do most anything I need to do. I need to stop blathering on about what I want to do and actually do it... right after I make some lunch for a hungry toddler.

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