Craft For The Soul Creativity giveaway

Best-Friend-In-A-Book! Craft For The Soul Giveaway

August 20, 2015

 

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Okay… Yes. I did send my book to Taylor Swift. I have had no word back about whether she likes it, but in a story that I have made up in my head, her assistants are reading it while they eat pink M&Ms and pat kittens. Seems legit, right?

My book is called Craft For The Soul. It’s a practical guide to everyday creativity (with craft projects and recipes thrown in for good measure.) It’s pretty much like a best friend in a book. I love it so much and am really proud of every single page.

Making things and having a creative approach to life are things that come naturally to me. I grew up in a crafty, messy family and there were always project on the go, scattered about the place.

As an adult I am just the same. I have lots of things on the go and creativity is still a high priority for me. I know just what makes me tick, stay inspired and happy. And I know the things that aren’t conducive to a happy, creative life.

My book is about all those things as well as: the joy of not being perfect, how to come up with ideas, how to move past dark days and tricky family dynamics, the importance of taking walks, how to slow down, how to work out who you really are (truly!) and where to gather inspiration. As mentioned there are also some really delicious recipes AND craft projects tucked away inside, as well as odes to friendship and fun. It has lots of lists, too. Phew.

Craft For The Soul is a book for people who love creativity, making things, lists, nice times and food! If this sounds good to you, you can buy my book here.

OR you can enter my competition and WIN a copy!

I have 3 copies to give away, thanks to my publisher Penguin Books.  All you need to do is tell me (in the comments below) –

What’s your favourite creative memory?

 

You can use a recent memory, or you can hark back to your ye olden days. It’s up to you. Alexis from Penguin and I will choose three winners (we will choose our favourite answers!)

The fine print:
Competition closes on Wednesday 26th August at midnight Melbourne Time.

Australian entries only please (we can only post to Australia!)
Comments are moderated – so your entry might not show up right away, but it will show up!

Good luck!

Do you want a best-friend-in-a-book?! Of course you do!
(Don’t forget to pop by my Melbourne Writer’s Festival event on Saturday, if you are about!)

pip signature

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Also on my blog:
Learn some cool stuff with me (and a discount for you!)
How to be a penpal to a child in detention
I’m a mentor in the Etsy Creative Courage Challenge
Who to see at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival (including me!)
Some observations on people’s (often weird) online behaviour
Ten nice things to do for the favourite people in your life

78 Comments

  • Reply Gia August 31, 2015 at 7:45 AM

    My aunt was the kind of person every fledgling crafter would hope to have at their side when they start exploring the magical world of crafting. Infinitely patient and vastly creative, she was the perfect person to spend an afternoon crafting with. I have some treasured memories of creating with her and to this day I remember many of the things we made together and what she taught me.
    The new book looks GREAT!! Thanks for the give-away!

  • Reply Mandy Ferry August 28, 2015 at 12:51 PM

    Definitely that moment you make something special for someone, you hand it over and you get a wow, a real sense of gratification. Usually when I make a blanket, by the time it’s finished I can’t wait to see the end of it. I made a Saint Kilda FC blanket for my son. It took forever, I was over it, but then he grabbed it, he kissed me, he threw it on his bed and the look on his face as he snuggled in was priceless. That’s what craft is all about and that is absolutely good for the soul.

  • Reply Michelle Mabbott August 27, 2015 at 12:05 PM

    My favourite creative memory would be doing a unique installation. We had a printmaking exhibition called ‘Indigo’ at The Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre, Hornsby, Sydney. My idea was to add visual interest to the show and lead people up the stairs of this gorgeous old historic mansion to where our show was displayed. So on the roadway in I chalked in arrows and the word Indigo in nice script. First I had to make pavement chalk to do this! Then we had blue flowers fashioned out of crepe in the topiary pots outside the grand doorway. Members submitted all sorts of things, Shibori fabric for wall hangings, in the foyer. Everything had to be blue. Then the staircase got blue bombed, wrapped in all sorts of pieces of textile, silk, denim, paper, print fragments, bird prints, bird feathers, a print of leaves, wool, trimmings. We all printed different letters to make the word indigo, and fashioned a mobile over the stairwell void. All very different and lots of fun.

  • Reply Lisa August 26, 2015 at 6:11 PM

    While at uni, I decided to attend a $5 per week pottery-class in the backyard of a local lady. Initially it was a bit awkward as a 17-year-old lit student fronting up to this rambling garden and pottery shed – but over the next four years, I sat, potted, chatted and listened to the collective wisdom and humour of this fabulous bunch of ladies! My pottery ladies – some were mothers, one was older, some drifted in and out of the group. It was really good for me and I think of them fondly.

  • Reply Jen August 26, 2015 at 12:51 PM

    Some time ago my mum gave me a big bag of wool. It had belonged to my grandmother and great grandmother. I wasn’t feeling very creative at the time so I thought I would wind all the wool in balls (it was a tangled mess) and pass it on. That was all I needed. I started wondering what my grandmas had bought the wool for and became aware that these women had held this yarn in their hands. The wool has now become a granny square rug that I throw over my baby girl at night. It’s got some wild colour combos but I don’t care. I love it.

  • Reply Jenny Martin (My Paper Epiphany) August 26, 2015 at 12:35 PM

    Hi Pip! Your book looks fantastic! I hope you enjoy your new garden!
    I have so many memories, but i think my favourite is when I discovered Distress Inks by Ranger, because I can use them in so many ways and they make me feel like an ‘Artist’ not just a ‘papercrafter’!

  • Reply Kerrie August 25, 2015 at 5:28 PM

    12 years ago I spent 10 weeks in hospital while pregnant with my daughter. Early in my stay a lady came to my room and said she was the craft lady and would I like something to relieve the boredom. I politely told her I am not very creative and sent her away. A few days later boredom was setting in and I spotted her walking past and called her in. She said she would start me on something small and easy and provided me with different coloured felt with ducks drawn on, and different coloured threads. She taught me blanket stitch to join them together. Within days I had them all sewn together and she came back with coloured feathers and stuffing and together we finished off the job and strung them up to make a mobile. I realised that although I did not think I was creative I had mixed and matched all the different coloured pieces and it looked fantastic, and it was so therapeutic as well. I was hooked. That lovely craft lady ran back and forwards to Lincraft many times as my creative juices got flowing. By the time I left hospital I had made 3 mobiles, each one more difficult and using more of my own input, and a hobby horse for my neice as well! Thank you craft lady you helped me find my inner creative, and it has continued ever since!

  • Reply Courtney Bolitho August 25, 2015 at 10:47 AM

    My favourite creative memory is from when I was 11 years old. My Grandfather was very sick and in hospital. I painted him some pictures and it’s one of the strongest, earliest memories I have of my creativity being truly appreciated and celebrated. Being in different states I wasn’t able to visit him before he passed away, but my Dad put the pictures I made for him up around his hospital room and I am so glad that this was able to happen, it gave me comfort knowing I was able to do something for him. I felt so encouraged that family enjoyed my artwork and my creativity that I haven’t stopped creating since.

  • Reply JC August 25, 2015 at 9:01 AM

    In the middle of my angsty teenage years, my lovely Nan passed away and Pop came to live with us. He was in his nineties and blind. He was forced to leave the weatherboard home he had built for his bride fifty years earlier. He was forced to leave his workshop and shed filled with tools and treasures. He had been taken out of school at 12 and sent to work at the local undertakers to build coffins. He had gone on to build railway bridges across Victoria before he headed off to the battlefields of WW1. He had been a carpenter all his life, but to me he was Pop. It was the late seventies and the milkman still delivered by horse and cart in our area. I decided to build a small box for our bottles. I rummaged through our shed for some scraps and started cutting, and hammering. My Pop called me inside and asked what I was doing. When I proudly handed him my ‘box’, he ran his hand over it and me sent back to the shed to start again! When I cut the timber he asked me to listen to the saw as I cut. ” A saw should sing to you,” he said. I returned to him with the freshly sawn timber – “Much better” he said. I cut each piece carefully listening to the hum of the saw blade as I drew it through the timber. Not every cut was a symphony! Then followed the assembly. “Listen to the rhythm of the hammer, feel it in your hands, let the hammer do its work, don’t force it.” So I listened and felt the weight of the hammer. At each stage of the assembly, I presented it to him. He caressed it with his large, strong carpenter’s hands, approvingly(or sometimes not), suggesting the next stage. That box took me hours and it taught me a lifetime of skills – the rhythm of crafting, the respect for the materials, but more than that it took out my teenage angst and taught me the beauty of creation. I have built and created many items in the years that have passed, but that hot Summer’s day returns to me often. I am taking my Pop’s wood plane to be sharpened and reset today. The hand grip is shiny and worn from years of service.

  • Reply Mel Brady August 24, 2015 at 9:42 PM

    My first real crafty memory is of mum patiently trying to teach me how to knit. I had squeaky pink wool and clumsy hands, but eventually I finished my lopsided scarf, and I was pretty chuffed with the result! It was my first “I made this!” moment.
    Now I love crochet more than knitting, but I think the comfort and that happy “I made this” feeling is still the same.

  • Reply Ria August 24, 2015 at 5:55 PM

    My favourite craft memory is when I was about 8, sitting on the pavers outside with my aunt and my brothers making some new craft concoction of hers (it generally involved pipe cleaners and googly eyes). As we sat, I commented on my annoyance at the many ants that were crawling around us. My aunt responded with two comments. First “The ants are my friends, and they’re blowing in the wind” (my other aunt’s lyrical misunderstanding which was a family joke), and Second “Well it is not for us to hurt the ants. We are all gods creatures” Both these things made me chuckle, and obviously struck a chord as I still remember it vividly 🙂

  • Reply Anastasija Podolyan August 24, 2015 at 12:29 PM

    I was maybe 6-7 year old, and me and my mum visited one of her older relatives, an old childless woman in her 80-ies. She took care of me that day while my mum run errands. We baked cookies that day. At our home, my mum had a collection of really cool cookie cutters, but this old lady had none. I expressed my fear that cookies will not be nice, and she did this – she took a potato masher from the drawer and pressed the top of round cookies with it. Cookies now looked like beautiful daisies, and I loved how they looked. Such a creative way to fix a problem, that I still remember it till today. I still use a potato masher if I do not have a cookie cutter on hand 🙂

  • Reply CJ August 24, 2015 at 10:32 AM

    My favourite craft memory would have to be when I was little and I’d go along with mum to her embroidery group once a fortnight. Mum had made me my own little sewing bag with needles and cotton, I also had a knitting doll that I would French knit on and make long lengths of cord. I use to feel so grown up making things while all the older ladies round me did their beautiful embroidery.

  • Reply Pia August 24, 2015 at 2:36 AM

    *** Pip, don’t need to include me in giveaway as I’m buying a copy soon ***
    .
    .
    Hi Pip
    I can honestly say that I don’t have a favourite ‘Creative Memory’, ’cause there’s too many to select from. But I will share one on my top 100 🙂
    .
    In my teens I was more than a little quirky – thankfully not too much so that I didn’t have friends, because being a teenager is bloody hard enough!
    I use to wear a lot of op shop clothes as that is all we could afford, not a big drama just how it was, and instead of buying girl teen pieces I would buy men’s shirts and vests. I just loved the ‘look’.
    (Told you I was quirky)
    .
    To jazz up my secondhand ensembles I would make broaches to wear and my favourite design was my chip (crisp) packet pins. I would put a packet of chips – usually something like cheesels or Samboys s&v – into the oven on a really low heat, and let the temperature shrink the foil/plastic hybrid packaging.
    I would then glue a broach pin onto the back and wear them. There ended up being a little fad at my school for a little while, although I was never credited with starting it. I get a kick knowing that at least once in my life I was a trend-setter.
    .
    Although I no longer have any of my original broaches, I know that when I finally get a kitchen it will be on my list of children craft ideas that I’ll do a tutorial on. I mean seriously – shrinking chip packets for jewellery . . . . how cool is that?!?
    .
    Thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to remember this wonderful Creative memory.
    It meant quite a lot to me!
    <3
    Pia

    • Reply Sharon Smith August 24, 2015 at 7:42 AM

      My favourite creative memory is probably one of my earliest. I spent my whole childhood living in the same street as my Mumma (aka Grandma) and my favourite memory is spending the day in the kitchen with Mumma while she made her homemade pies. It was the pastry making that I loved the most, because at the end, when there was a little left over pastry I could make something with the pastry (like you would with playdoh I guess) and my Mumma would bake it in the over and then I would get to eat it! Yay! What’s not to love about that! I only have to think about those fun times and I can smell and taste the pies and pastry instantly….mmmm. There has never been a better pie than those made by Mumma. They were beef, beef and vege (my fav) and of course apple!

  • Reply Linda Brown August 23, 2015 at 11:54 PM

    My favorite creative memory is with my Grandpa. He would be doing his crossword puzzle every week and send it in hoping to win the prize of the local newspaper. Oh, how I loved talking to him. Loved the way he would talk with words backwards like palt and sepper. He would write poems to my grandma that were so lovely with endearing words for my grandmother. I have to mention my dad too. He was wonderful at drawing pictures and painting. From these two dear loving gentlemen in my life, I have an inner desire to write what is stirring my mind with a passion and to draw what I see in my heart and senses. Oh, how a wonderful feeling to put the words of how one is feeling and experiencing. Yes, the creative memory is from my memories of my Grandpa and Dad. The connection is from their love and their creative gift to me. I do feel the desire to write and express in crafting a piece that gives life to a story that one care share with all!

  • Reply Michelle Wells August 23, 2015 at 10:25 PM

    My favorite creative moment was making packet cupcakes when I was 10 with the stick on paper topper. Licking the bowl and eating the weird paper stuff.

  • Reply Judith August 23, 2015 at 9:15 PM

    My favourite creative memory is trying to teach my girls how to knit, one of them had a bit more patience than the other one, but in the end they said”Mum, you can be the creative one in this family.

  • Reply Diana August 23, 2015 at 7:40 PM

    My fav creative memory is when I was about 9 and wanted to make a genie costume for my sister, so I got her to wear my gorgeous nylon purple and white striped nightie (it was the 70’s). I then proceeded to turn the skirt part of the nightie into pants but cutting the skirt part up the middle and then sewing it by hand into pants while she was still wearing it. One leg was about double the width of the other one. Then, I had to create some midriff, so I cut around the top part of the nightie to create a top. I did get my sister to take it off so I could hem her new costume. She loved it.

  • Reply Anthea August 23, 2015 at 4:18 PM

    Hello Pip! You taught me to crochet via this here very blog so thank you!

    My favourite creative memory is popping a teeny tiny burnt orange beanie on my firstborn’s little noggin, cause it was bitterly cold the night we took her home.
    I crocheted the beanie while I was growing her in my belly. I made it to match the one her dad wears (which is his favourite).
    When I finished making it I put my hand inside and thought “no one has a head this tiny” and that I must have made it too small. In fact, it was too big and as I rolled it up so it would fit on my tiny girl’s head I thought it would fit her for ages…
    By the time she was no longer officially a “newborn” she’d grown out of that beanie and I’ve made her 3 more in the last 12 months, all of which she’s grown out of at super speed. Now she’s wearing a beanie her dad’s Nanna made for him 40 years ago… All these hats will help me tell her the stories of what are now my all time favourite (being a mummy) memories.

    I have to go and have a little cry now! Thanks for the competition x

  • Reply Naomi August 23, 2015 at 8:50 AM

    Hi Pip

    Using my creativity has always been important to me. I just had to find it, that is the artistic part. I decided years ago to do the entrance test to get into Window dressing . I didn’t think I’d get through the art challenges and I did! This was a huge breakthrough for me as it gave me courage and belief that I have that creative side. My next project is to learn to crochet as my grandmother used to crochet my clothes when I was a child. I would love to read your book to inspire me on many levels. Warm regards
    Naomi

  • Reply Zoe | A Quirky Bird August 23, 2015 at 6:14 AM

    Pip, they’re totally reading it M&Ms and all. xx

  • Reply Zoe | A Quirky Bird August 23, 2015 at 6:13 AM

    I dabble in creating clothes and very rarely use a commercial pattern. My projects had always been hit and miss but, submerging myself into the creative process helped to take me outside me head (I have depression and anxiety) and to focus on the task at hand.

    I decided to make a skirt for my little Immy (at the time she was 2). We chose the fabric together from my mountain thrifted purchases. She sat patiently and watched as I measured the fabric, cut the fabric and put it all tgether. A soon as the last thread was cut she whisked it out of my hands and put it on over everything else she was wearing. She looked at me, smiled and said, “It’s for twirling.” She twirled almost that whole afternoon. Zoe xx

  • Reply Sarah August 22, 2015 at 9:57 PM

    In Belgium, where I grew up, kids learn to crochet in primary school (at least back then, this is about 20 years ago). I wasn’t very good at it, so my nan tried to help me. She was very patient, and showed me over and over again how it was done. But I just couldn’t get it right. I knew the stitches, but my crochet was either so tight it got all stuck and tangled or far too loose. I remember this one time I completely lost it. I threw the tiny crochet piece, hook included, through the room, shouting at my nan that I would never ever do this again. Sixteen years later I decided to pick up a hook and give crochet another try. I don’t know why I wanted to, but I instantly loved it, and got pretty good at it. Every so often my nan, who’s now 89, brings up this story, and it makes both of us laugh.

  • Reply Amy August 22, 2015 at 6:33 PM

    My mum is an amazing crafter, she used to design appliqué quilts with quirky Australian animals drinking tea and playing netball and having boat races. My memory is a recurring event – coming home, finding her with a DVD on loop, sitting under a lamp on the lounge, embroidering something fabulous. She had a stroke a few years ago, so her crafting is on hold, but she has handed on her love of creating and embroidery.

  • Reply Chantelle August 22, 2015 at 3:18 PM

    Everyone’s memories are so lovely!
    My favourite memory is of knitting a scarf with my mum.
    When I was about three my mum knitted an outfit for my favourite strawberry shortcake doll and then ‘helped’ me knit my dolly a scarf. In reality I realise now she did all the work but I was so proud of that little scarf! When I returned to knitting as a teenager (a purple scarf with fluro yellow stripes, very tasteful) again my mum knitted big chunks of it and retrieved all my dropped stitches. I love the way crafting is forever linked with the lovely people we make with or for

  • Reply Bron August 22, 2015 at 10:52 AM

    one of my favourite memories is working with clay, with my daughter when she was young…we made some bowls and plates for her dolls. It was a sublime.

  • Reply Noni August 22, 2015 at 8:55 AM

    Does anyone remember New Kids on the Block? It is a little embarrassing but I was obsessed with them. When they came to Melbourne I bought my tickets and spent weeks sewing pink and blue sequins onto a white denim jacket to spell out their name on the back! I think I may have even sequinned peace signs on the pockets (mortifying I know). I was so proud of that jacket and not only wore it to the concert but wore it everywhere else as well! I’d love to say my style has improved but … (So Pip I totally get you sending your book to Taylor Swift. I bet she is busy sequencing an I love Pip jacket in pink sequins right now!)

  • Reply marina August 22, 2015 at 8:35 AM

    Hi Pip,
    My favorite bit of making is doing it with my sewing group I am the youngest by about 40 years, these ladies have great memories to share and we try to do as many charity sewing things we can. my other memory is receiving a small cot quilt when my daughter left ICU by a unnone person I was so grateful she was well and alive, the little quilt was a great milestone, and still much loved, and now I try to make 3 charity quilts a year.
    love marina

  • Reply Rachel August 22, 2015 at 7:16 AM

    My favourite creative memory has to be the one that has stuck with me since my childhood and probably was the start of lots of creativeness for myself, sister and cousins. Our parents worked so in school holidays the four of us, my sister and two cousins spent most of our time at our grandparents. On rainy days my Grandma Coral would find crafty things to do. One day, we watched as she put some things into a pot and made glue on the stove. She then gave us a ton of magazines, scissors and paint brushes and each of us a great big yellow pages phonebook. This became our scrapbook and we would work for hours, cutting our favourite things out of the magazines and gluing them into the yellow pages. Our lovely Coral left us last year and my cousins and I shared this same story at her funeral. We have such fond memories of those big yellow pages.

  • Reply Kirsty August 21, 2015 at 8:56 PM

    Craft for the Soul is a truly inspiring book. I was sad to return it to the library.
    When I was around 12 years old, I embellished my mum’s denim jacket for her. She was just getting into patch working and quilting, so I snuck that denim jacket from her wardrobe and added some crazy patchwork to it. Hours of sneaky, stealth type work. Lots of tiny scraps of material squirrelled away. I patched the fabric onto the denim jacket, around the shoulders at the back and across the front. I got out my embroidery book of different stitches, and stitched away over the seams, using my little boxes of embroidery floss.
    I gave Mum that denim jacket for her birthday. She wasn’t even cross. She loved it. And wore it proudly.

  • Reply Paula August 21, 2015 at 8:52 PM

    The feeling of satisfaction when I completed my first quilt. It was small but the creative expression one has when selecting fabrics and the ultimate satisfaction in seeing something come together was fabulous.

  • Reply Pips August 21, 2015 at 7:33 PM

    My favourite creative memory is making a jacket for my Pound Puppy “Patchy”. As his adoptive mother I felt it important that he dressed well. I stitched it on my little toy Singer machine which REALLY worked, and then continued to make a full collection for him so he could choose his jacket from day to day. I so wish I had photo’s! It was my first step to becoming a seamstress. A love that has only grown over time. xxx

  • Reply Malinda @mybrownpaperpackages August 21, 2015 at 7:26 PM

    My favourite creative memory is when I was a little kid and was home sick with the chicken pox. I was given a box full of craft supplies and I spent my days getting creative. On one page I stuck a branch off our frangipani tree to the paper and drew pictures all around it. At the end of my quarantine everything was thrown back in the box and pushed to the back of the cupboard. When I next pulled it out my creativity had grown and the frangipani was ready to bloom! My creativity has bloomed ever since.

  • Reply Marianna August 21, 2015 at 7:21 PM

    I asked my grandmother to teach me how to crochet, she said no as I never finish anything. I went home really upset and (after much wollowing) decided to prove her wrong. So I taught myself how to cross stitch and showed her my finished piece 3 months later. She taught me a very valuable lesson that day and also sparked my love for craft.

  • Reply Louise August 21, 2015 at 6:26 PM

    My fav creative memory is fairly recent but a complete “yippee” moment. It was the first time I got the hang of a granny square. The first time I finished one that wasn’t all higgeldy piggeldy and looked right. My grandma had tried to teach me crochet years ago but I could never quite get it. Then last year with the help of your ace blog and some YouTube vids, I did it! And now I’m mad for it! It was such a ‘yay at last!’ moment.

  • Reply Kia August 21, 2015 at 4:47 PM

    My favorite creative memory was when a painting I had done in year 9 got put on show in the library at school. I was so chauffed! The librarian said she loved it so much that she wanted to buy. I remember vividly telling her proudly that I couldn’t sell it because it was a present for my Mom 🙂

  • Reply Louisa August 21, 2015 at 3:14 PM

    When I think about ‘craft’ and what it means to me I am immediately transported back to happy weekends spent exploring my Granny’s work room and all the wonders it contained. As a mother of nine (and grandmother of many, many more), she drew upon her creativity as a source of escape and sometimes as a means of making ends meet – selling paintings to pay for school uniforms or excursions when times got tight. In her later years craft was something special to be shared with her grandchildren and I am wearing a snugly pair of her knitted booties as I type. To this day the scents of wool, linen, paints or pastels take me back to that room and allow me to once again enjoy the company of the woman who taught me the importance of finding an outlet and the incredible joy of shared creativity.

  • Reply Anastasia August 21, 2015 at 3:08 PM

    After my divorce I had lots of time, lots of pain and not many friends. Not having knitted in 20 years I didn’t hold much hope but after some googling and spending most of the winter on my couch each night after work. In two months I’d completed a fluffy jumper for my mum. It was great therapy and come Spring the pain had eased and I got back out there making new circles of friends. Best way to kill time and stop overthinking is to get creative!

  • Reply Maria August 21, 2015 at 2:52 PM

    My favourite creative memory is playing with my mum’s button tin when I was a child. I’d sit near Mum while she sewed, and I’d tip all the buttons out and organise them into little “families”. Mum has been gone for three years now and I own that tin of buttons. I think it’s time to introduce my little girl to them.

  • Reply Tash Hund August 21, 2015 at 2:42 PM

    A childhood memory of mum sewing up blue overalls for my Snoopy. I had to go to bed, and it was hard to sleep as I was so excited. I woke in the morning to the cutest finished overalls with a perfect hole for Snoopy’s tail. 🙂

  • Reply Narelle August 21, 2015 at 2:28 PM

    Its so hard to pick a favourite creative memory as a lot of my favourite memories are creative ones.
    But this one has been with me for a long time! My grade 5 teacher would sometimes give me free reign to draw a big piece on the huge classroom chalkboard!!! You cannot imagine my excitement (and nerves!) to be able to design poster like artwork up the front of the classroom. I would happily work through lunchtime getting covered in chalk dust, often I could also pick a friend to help me with the special task(even more exciting!) Sometimes it was to advertise an event, like the easter bonnet parade or the school sports. Sometimes it would be about the theme we were learning that term. I LOVED it! I often remember how special it felt and am ever so grateful that I had that teacher who obviously valued creativity and encouraged me in such a wonderful way!

  • Reply Princess Leelee August 21, 2015 at 2:25 PM

    I was eight and the kind of girl who loved sea monkeys, witches and reading under the covers, so when I discovered “invisible” glow in the dark paint, I set to work painting the entire half of my room with creatures and pictures of all kinds. Imagine the horror when my big sister, the kind of girl who loved hiding cigarettes under Janis Joplin posters, turned the light off and discovered the secret world I had painted. That was one of my favourite creative memories.

  • Reply Vanessa August 21, 2015 at 1:37 PM

    When I stopped to think, there were a lot of memories, aunts and cousins showing me how to do long stitch or cross-stitch, my nan knitting fair-aisle jumpers, my mum making that hideous green jumper that i wore all winter…
    But i think my favourite memories are from school. I went to a tiny school that fortunately had some very creative teachers, so we got to try all sorts of wonderful, different crafts. We made felt from scratch, marbled paper, drew and painted, but I think my favourite craft was learning batik design on fabric, working out how to get different colours in (well, the boys were working out how much wax they could put on their hands before they got burnt!), and probably the only time I enjoyed ironing, so I could see the finished result!

  • Reply Nicci August 21, 2015 at 1:23 PM

    I confess I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but now one of my favourite creative memories is of my mother, my elder sisters and myself (a mostly sullen tween) taking trips to ‘the wool shop’, poring over patterns and yarns and then knitting all gathered around in our small lounge room with the open fire roaring. Dad was there in the evenings, but usually fell asleep in his armchair after dinner. His snoring provided a soundtrack for the click clack of the needles. I never did finish that boat neck navy jumper but I guess I learnt some skills because after many years I picked those needles back up, and hopefully I can create similar memories for my own four children.

  • Reply Sarah Bowen August 21, 2015 at 12:15 PM

    My favourite creative memory? That’s such a tricky one but I’m going to have to say the day I introduced my son to finerpaint. Those chubby little fingers dipping into the paint, squeeling with delight, smooshing it in his hands. Made the biggest mess but was sooo much fun!

  • Reply Renee August 21, 2015 at 12:15 PM

    My favourite creative memory would have to be when my mum created my entry for the Easter Hat parade in Primary School. She got very creative with gold spray paint, leftover bits n pieces and sequins from ballet costumes and those small fluffy yellow chickens all stuck on an ice cream container … words don’t really do it justice, but I felt like I looked a million bucks!

  • Reply Rachel August 21, 2015 at 12:12 PM

    I fondly remember when I learnt that I could be creative in the traditionally non-creative aspects of my life.
    I am an avid knitter, I love to crochet and enjoy illustrating. I am also a scientist. About halfway through my Honours year at university I was encouraged to work out what my strengths are, and try and use them to my advantage. How do you use knitting skills to help unravel and understand the formation of the solar system? I realised that it isn’t the knitting or the drawing, per se, but the creative mindset behind them that is the real strength. Thinking about the problem in a different, creative manner helped me grow and develop as a researcher.
    My favourite creative memory is when I learnt I could be a creative scientist.

  • Reply Melissa August 21, 2015 at 12:11 PM

    Over a decade ago, when my daughter was about 3, I started writing down all of the amazing and wonderful and hilarious things she would say – basically anything that made me laugh, or seemed particularly poignant, and at the end of the year I turned all of those quotes into little books that I painstakingly typed and bound and gave to her grandparents for Christmas. I’d never considered myself a terribly crafty person before, and this was my first foray beyond the world of pre-school level craft, and I was so proud of those little books. I carried the practice on as a tradition for a few years, and probably, with practice got better at it, but those first books…they were the best 🙂

  • Reply paula August 21, 2015 at 11:33 AM

    My favourite creative/crafting moment was being introduced to clay in primary school. It could be formed into shapes and left to dry (or even baked!) and would be a tangible reminder of your genius for ever! FOR EVER!! ..or until your sister smashes it….

  • Reply Nicholette August 21, 2015 at 10:44 AM

    My favorite creative memory was when my new boyfriends mother sat down with me, and taught me to crotchet. A skill I had been wanting to master for years, and which I am very grateful.

  • Reply B August 21, 2015 at 10:09 AM

    As a kid, sitting on the floor making clay pots as my neighbour worked away at her potter’s wheel. Still have one of the lopsided vases I made that she took to get fired for me. She was very serene at work, even with kids hanging about.

  • Reply Katie August 21, 2015 at 9:48 AM

    Doing the flowers for my best friends wedding takes the cake. We door knocked neighbours, scoured community gardens and prayed that freesias would somehow be available out of season (they were, and in a the most beautiful colour imaginable). We had absolutely no idea what we were doing but it was a pure labour of love,and it so special to see the joy they brought her throughout the day! Craft for the soul indeed!

  • Reply Selby August 21, 2015 at 9:47 AM

    My favourite creative memory is this: My son, only yesterday, has cracked the code of drawing and just how fun it can be. I’m so excited for him that he’s discovered the world of Art and craft and the possibilities that world entails, where the only limits are the horizons of your imagination. Such a happy and proud mum right now.

  • Reply Melissa Gaggiano August 21, 2015 at 9:25 AM

    I was going to write about the time that I made Herbie the love bug out of paper and an entire roll of sticky tape when I was seven. But then I thought of something special that happened this week.
    My youngest sometimes copies me, and I guess because I drag the sewing machine out every month she now has an invisible sewing machine. She pulls the two step stool from the kitchen, sits on the lower step and announces that it’s her sewing machine. She will then pull out tea towels and blankets, and pretend sews. She then shows me what she has made and says things like ‘isn’t that lovely’, ‘feel how soft it is’.
    That memory is going to stay with me for a long while.

  • Reply Mrs W August 21, 2015 at 1:33 AM

    Oh I would love a copy of your book!

    One day around a year ago, I was at home with my 4-year old daughter. She asked if I could do something with her. “What would you like to do?” I asked. “Craft!” she replied, always her favourite answer. I decided to let her take the reins and, without any direction from me, determine what we would make. She browsed through our craft box and soon we were on a making-adventure, my daughter coming up with fantastic ideas one after another. “Let’s cut out butterfly shapes and stick them on this paper!”, “Now we need a little glitter”, “Can we collect some leaves from outside to glue on here too?”

    This fun experiment has stuck with me because it was the first time I had not put forth any suggestions, stepping back to see what my daughter would choose for us to do and embracing her imagination. And we ended up with a beautiful collage picture that we made together, and it was FUN! That day, it was all about the journey.

  • Reply Jade August 20, 2015 at 11:55 PM

    I have always loved creating things, as far back as I can remember! A few that stick out though, are these:
    My mum had a Women’s Weekly kids craft book… I would spend ages looking over the pages and choosing things to make ( I would pick multiple things, then have to narrow it down to one). From that book, I remember “window painting” on a wintry day, dyeing eggs different colours, growing alfalfa sprouts from an eggshell (with a drawn on face!) and making puffy paint. Amazingly, my mum found a copy of that same book in an op shop just recently, and I have been able to recreate some of my favourite childhood crafts with my daughter!
    I also remember decorating every square inch of my teenage bedroom. Literally. I didn’t like my wallpaper, so I covered it in posters, pictures, photos and song lyrics. I painted terracotta pots for “storage,” I made paper mâché plates as decorations, tie dyed fabrics to use as covers for my bedside table, decorated my bed, curtains and desk with bright plastic flowers. I had candles and photo frames of all my friends and pen friends all over the place. I was constantly painting and up cycling bits and bobs I’d find around the house and in dad’s shed. I also went through a phase of covering things with bright coloured decoupage (of pretty things I cut out of magazines) to use as pencil holders, etc. it don’t think there was anything I didn’t put my stamp on in that small space of mine, and I loved it!
    Now, I still love craft, making things, and decorating. I love to up cycle and I love scouring op shops for bargains. My daughter appears to share my love of crafty things 🙂 Right now, my creative passion is crochet and I make sure I make time to do it every day.
    I would love a copy of your book, it looks amazing! I have had it on reserve at my local library for MONTHS, but it is so popular, I’m not anywhere near receiving it to have a look at! Job well done, Pip! 🙂

  • Reply Shira Kaspi August 20, 2015 at 11:50 PM

    My grandma passed away at the age of 96 and I inherited a stack of squares she had knitted. This past autumn my 8 year old daughter and I sewed the squares into a blanket and have been snuggling under it all winter. My grandma used to knit the squares for an organization making blankets for homeless people in Johannesburg (where she lived until she passed away and where I grew up). We were fortunate to get to have her final batch for ourselves. Especially since my daughter is a both and bred Aussie it is so precious that she feels connected to her South African grandma through our shared blanket.

  • Reply Erin August 20, 2015 at 10:14 PM

    When my then-boyfriend, now-husband asked to craft with me! He’s not naturally crafty and maybe it didn’t yield the greatest result, but it was a thoughtful keepsake box that he decoupaged and sent to his young daughter. We had so much fun making it together and his daughter was proud to display it in her room.
    Definitely a good memory, both as a crafting memory and a life memory! 🙂

  • Reply pam August 20, 2015 at 9:58 PM

    Changing my mindset from …”One day I will ( insert finish that book, learn to quilt, get back to my drawings….” to ….
    “Do it now? Why not today?” This is my all time fave creative moment. It’s a turn-a-around moment. And it’s all thanks to you PIP and your talk at the Fitzroy library a few weeks back. You’ve inspired and encouraged me beyond words. I have now finished my felting and made brooches out of those little creations!
    Of course the other fave is making bikinis for all my dolls out of dads old hankies when I was 5! All I did was tear and tie. I thought it genius at the time!

  • Reply Jess August 20, 2015 at 9:47 PM

    A few years ago I walked into a cute little homewares & craft store and pondered buying these sweet little paper garlands. Then I thought to myself – I could make this! I went home and cut out small shapes from the colourful pages of Frankie Magazine (I now love to recycle my favourite magazine into craft projects!), hole punched them and hung them up with string. My heart exploded with pride! This was the first time I had made something creative with my hands. Since that amazing day I have taken up sewing, watercolour painting, weaving and floral styling. I’m booked in for a stamp making class next week and I can’t get enough of being a crafty lass!

  • Reply Shannon August 20, 2015 at 9:37 PM

    As a teacher battling an ever-crowded curriculum, I try to ensure I still keep things crafty and creative in my Kindy classroom.
    On one particular day, we were doing a craft involving googly eyes. I was bemused and horrified when a little lad exclaimed that a googly eye was stuck up his nose. When I queried how said eye got up said nose, he simply responded that he wanted to see if it would fit. I’d like to think that I also foster inquisitive learners.
    That was one awkward phone call home.

  • Reply Deb August 20, 2015 at 9:17 PM

    My best friend and I had twins only 6 weeks apart. They all decided to enter the world early and we cemented our friendship in hospital within the special care nursery. The early years were great but really tough and without her by my side sharing our crazy experiences I don’t know how I would have gotten through. We are both creative people and it was sewing and crafting that provided us with magical moments of calm and time together that always bring a smile to my face. The hours spent at her dining room table with so many cups of tea and piece of beautiful fabric, desperately trying to get what we could finished before one of the kids woke up from a nap.

  • Reply Laura Mitchell August 20, 2015 at 9:14 PM

    For a friend’s 21st birthday about 5 years ago, I wanted to create something really cool and handmade, and nothing I’d ever done before.
    I spent about a year looking online and in books and magazines for things I found interesting and that my friend was interested in. Recipes, comics, jokes, DIYs, movies reviews, facts, interesting articles on theories, psychology, history, etc.
    I collated it all into a book with a different interesting item for each day of the year, so she would have something everyday to learn, be inspired by, make, etc. It ended up being a really cool, interactive scrapbook type publication and I learned lots of fascinating things from it too!

  • Reply Suzanne August 20, 2015 at 9:09 PM

    My favourite creative memory is a recent one. I am lucky enough to have 2 young sons and a dedicated sewing space. They love coming into my room and making stuff. From strands of fabric with buttons threaded on to a patchwork pillow case we made together. The latter is a favourite and my 7 yr old sleeps with it each night and even takes it on holiday he loves it so. It’s lovely to create with them!

  • Reply sky August 20, 2015 at 9:04 PM

    I have very fond memories of school holidays from when I was a kid. My crazy nana would have me and 10 or more other grankids at her place. We would spend our time learning how to knit, my favorite part was finding a pair of needles from her big old glass jar. She taught us cross stitch, how to sew buttons on and even gave us lessons on her old singer sewing machine, I used to love making the big pedal go under her feet 🙂
    There was colouring in with connector pens and wind up crayons and origami and paper plane making.
    Now I am trying to continue these traditions with my own children and non have recently been teaching them how to crochet! My favorite craft time!
    I taught myself how to crochet after I lost a baby. It was my therapy. I started crocheting teenie tiny beanies for my local hospital.

  • Reply Vicki August 20, 2015 at 9:01 PM

    I have alot of crafting memories but making Christmas cards one year with a friend from work,after I had broken my leg comes to my memory first. I love craft and making things but I was in such a bad mood I made none and watched her make many. It was such a lovely act of friendship from her which I have very fond memories even though I wasn’t in the best mood.

  • Reply Michelle Hill August 20, 2015 at 8:59 PM

    My favorite creative memory happened along time ago when I was 10 years old. I would constantly beg my mom to teach me to sew. She always made my clothes and my grandmother always knit me clothes for my dolls. I was dying to make something with cloth and thread! So finally my mom let me have some fabric scraps and I sewed a little tote bag out of bright 70’s floral. The stitches were uneven and funny but I carried that tote to school with pride thinking it was the greatest thing ever. ??

  • Reply Caron long August 20, 2015 at 8:56 PM

    My first thing I ever created was a hat that I knitted with my mums help in a lovely orange wool. It was supposed to be for me but by the time I finished it it was too small and had a multitude of holes but boy it looked good on my doll. She wore it with such style….I was about 10.

  • Reply Alison August 20, 2015 at 8:46 PM

    My grandfather passed away 3 years ago. With the small amount of money that he left for me I bought some yarn with a crazy ambition to create a African flower blanket I had seen in a better homes and gardens magazine. I had learnt to crochet from YouTube and a magazine only weeks beforehand. It took me 4 months to finish all the flowers and join together. Now I have such a passion for crochet and love being able to sit down and hook away. My only issue is that chasing after 4 young children often gets in the way!

  • Reply Catherine August 20, 2015 at 8:46 PM

    My favourite creative memory is a simple one – my best friend and I spent a wonderful Sunday afternoon in her sunny lounge room crocheting, with warm cups of tea, marvellous conversation and her cat eyeing off the wool in between pats. It is one of those memories that brings me the warm-fuzzies every time I think of it – how soothing it was to create whilst talking to my beautiful friend. The project I was working on always reminds me of it, as though that afternoon was woven through my stitches.

  • Reply Susan Green August 20, 2015 at 8:35 PM

    I have so many craft memories, but growing up on a farm in rural victoria I remember having a ‘what to do box’. Yes, that is what I called it. It was a box full of bits and bobs and all craft possibilities. Whenever I was bored I would pull stuff out and craft amazing things. Now as a mother if 3 boys – 2 teens and I preteen, I tell them all about my ‘what to do box’ and make sure they have had plenty of craft in their life. Everyone one should have such a box.

  • Reply Jen August 20, 2015 at 8:28 PM

    My sister and I used to put on shows for our mum. We would charge 10cents, tear her ticket at the door, then draw her bedroom curtains and perform a variety mishmash of songs, fashion parades and Hey Dad! scenes. And she never failed to make us believe we were the Best. Things. Ever.

    Last year we stood on either side of her bed as she passed away, and performed for her our final concert: we left out the Hey Dad bits and the fashion show but sang to her as she slept. It was pretty special.

    X

    • Reply Meet Me At Mikes August 20, 2015 at 8:43 PM

      Wow. That’s so beautiful, Jen. I am so sorry you lost your Mum. She sounds like a marvellous lady. x

      • Reply Jen September 15, 2015 at 2:36 PM

        Thanks so much Pip, yep. She really was. xx

    • Reply Edie August 20, 2015 at 10:26 PM

      So gorgeous Jen 🙂

      • Reply Jen September 15, 2015 at 2:36 PM

        Thank you! 🙂

  • Reply Erin August 20, 2015 at 8:15 PM

    I have picked up a crochet hook about 3 times over the past 2years; and each time (full of bravado) tried to teach myself how to crochet using youtube. I just didnt get it and gave up defeated each time. But when I relocated back to Adelaide I found that I didnt have many social networks left, and had to almost ‘start from scratch’ with the whole friends thing (so not fun). So I went to a ‘learn to crochet class’, had a lot of fun and found a friend! It also opened me up to a whole new world of crochet, both locally and online. And in doing so found what I was really missing- a sense of community. Im still learning, but as I finish each crochet coaster I become more confident & amazed at what I have achieved, with lovely people along side of me!

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