16.7.14

Simple Living


Simple Living. It's something I desire, but I often find myself overwhelmed by the lack of simplicity in my life. Overwhelmed by all my stuff, overwhelmed by all my dreams and hopes and plans, overwhelmed by my over-committments, overwhelmed by the never ending house work, overwhelmed by the long lists of things I want or need to do, overwhelmed by my anxieties, overwhelmed by my need to please everybody...and so forth..

Do you feel like that sometimes? 

Inspired by a great article I recently read, I prettied up a little notebook today to document and journal my way through what feels like the next necessary chapter of my life. Mastering the Art of Simplicity. 

Have you got any tips on how to live a simpler life? I'd love to hear your thoughts, experiences and ideas. 

Mezz x

12.7.14

handmade love


I just had to pop by quickly to share this adorable pic of our Miss Three. She is wearing a dress I recently made for her using some Little Mermaid fabric that was given to us in a big bag of fabric scraps.

The photo was taken at my brother John and his wife Ash's place, one of my fav places in the world. Their home is a place of love, welcome, acceptance, handmade, thrifting and more. Ash picked up that gorgeous crocheted blanket from an opshop, and that Anchorman cushion was a Christmas gift from us. I upcycled a thrifted tshirt to make it. One can never have too many Anchorman references in the home, I believe. 

Mezz x

11.7.14

some simple makes

I've been feeling quite creative recently. It ebbs and flows for me, how about you? I can spend a whole day in front of the sewing machine, and then another month or 2 not even thinking about it!! Here are a few of my recent makes, all very simple. Simple crafting can be very therapeutic, don't you think?? 

I've been making heaps of pretty fabric tape with all my vintage fabric scraps, inspired by Taz's craft project in our recent issue of Hundreds and Thousands Mag.

I baked some yummy Banana Cake, using this recipe I made up a while ago! The husband and kids were happy!!

I'm always adding pretty pics to our walls. Since I was a teenager, I've always enjoyed covering my walls in images that inspire me and make me feel happy.

Upcycling a few old shirts into something new...not quite finished though!!

Sewing a sweet little "Nursery Rhyme" bunting for a friend who is expecting her second baby. My husband found some vintage children's cloth books at his work which I've been gleefully cutting into!

What creations have you been making recently?

Mezz x

8.7.14

It's a blog hoppity hop!

My darling sis in law Ash who writes over at the pretty darn awesome thesquee.com has nominated me to join in a bit of a blog hop. Isn't she lovely? I will do my best to answer some questions (some of them are about writing so I may need to be creative with my answers) so you can learn a little bit about me. And stay tuned, because at the end I shall nominate a few of my favourite bloggers to either a) join in or b) not join in, but feel special.

(I grew up with 2 brothers, but as an adult have become part of a wonderful sisterhood of sis inlaws! Here I am sitting between Ash and Taz. I have three other wonderful sis in laws too, living interstate and overseas. Nicole, Vanessa and Katerina. I am blessed.)


WHAT AM I WORKING ON?

What AREN'T I working on might be an easier question. I am currently working on recording a 5 track EP of my original tunes. My recordings in the past have been quite epic, with string and horn arrangements, backing vocalists, you name it. But over the past 2 years I have been playing a much more stripped back acoustic show, and I thought it was time to capture that new sound. I am also always working on my little handmade crafty zine I make with (other sis in law) Taz, called Hundreds and Thousands. This zine has been one of my most exciting creative experiences to date, and if we're not posting out pretty orders we're dreaming of the next issue. And somewhere in there I'm trying to be creative round the home, whether its sewing, gluing, cutting, moving furniture, crocheting, baking, giving, listening. Creativity is alive and well in our home. (The housework, on the other hand is a bit of a disaster!)

WHY DO I DO WHAT I DO?
I can't help it. I've tried to stop. Seriously. I've tried to be normal, and to dream of normal things like mortgages and 9-5 jobs and kids in daycare...but in the end, do you know what gets my heart racing?  It's the sound of Kate Bush's voice, the excitement of going to a high tea, the idea of a pom pom making party, late nights, slow starts, dancing to Beatles records, knowing my neighbourhood like the back of my hand because I actually spend most of my time in it, op shop adventures, sharing a touch of the creative chaos with my kids, being home for a fair bit and then packing up the car and driving to the country to play at a music festival every now and then... the creative life makes me happy, therefor I must continue to live it! Fearlessly, courageously.

HOW DOES MY CREATING PROCESS WORK?
I write songs very much on my own. It's a personal process. When I am in the midst of a crisis, I don't feel a creative bone in my body. This can be anything from a major life crisis, down to something fairly insignificant, like WHY ARE THERE SO MANY DISHES THAT ALWAYS NEED TO BE WASHED WHY CAN'T A FAIRY GODMOTHER COME AND DEAL WITH THIS (that can feel like a crisis at times, don't you think?) .... But once there is some light, some hope, that's when the songwriting starts. It emerges out of difficulty, finding hope, creating beauty out of brokenness. For me, songwriting is often about reflecting back on things in my life and making sense of it all, or at least something beautiful. Most listeners would say my songs are quite positive, and I would agree, but they are generally born out of despair first.

My zine making  process is totally different. It's all about team work, sharing ideas, working with Taz and bouncing off each other. It's also consistent, which I like. We don't wait til we "feel inspired", we just meet (roughly) once a week to keep working on things. The ball keeps rolling. I love it.

.....And crafting just happens in spare moments when I feel the desire. It's probably the most random of all my creative processes.


HOW DOES IT DIFFER FROM OTHERS IN MY GENRE?
This question is obviously written for writers, so i'll stretch it a bit to just tell you what makes my makes mine. If you listen to my music, read my zine, look at my sewing I can guarantee that there will be a lot of love, heart, and soul in what you hear/see/read. But it's probably not going to be perfect. I'm not a perfectionist. What I strive for (not only when I am making things, but simply, in life itself)  is authenticity, heart, colour, connection and spirit.


Meet my friends...
There are a lot of bloggers I adore, and I'd love to share all of them with you, but a few of my fav's are...

Her Library Adventures
Zaranne-Handmade
Ladybird Diaries

I invite these lovelyl ladies to join the blog hop by answering these questions over on their blogs, but no pressure whatsoever!! Thanks Ash for inviting me to take part, and three cheers for blogs. hip hip hooray!! (x 3)

love Mezz xo



3.7.14

Nice Things #8

 
Celebrating my Grandpa Harold's 90th Birthday

 
Releasing Issue 2 of my little zine Hundreds and Thousands, and watching all the orders come rolling in!!

My dad has recently been sending me pics from when I was little!!

 My gorgeous housemate Maria cooking lunch for my son for no reason other then she's awesome.

 Looking forward to going to the Northern Regards Market this weekend!

A very quick trip over to Western Australia for a family birthday and catch up last week. Spent a day in beautiful and historic Fremantle.

Love hearts in the sand.