A Creative Kind of Blog Hop

I’m a day late with this post because I spent all day yesterday asleep with the flu feeling sorry for myself. That’s what I get for having a lovely weekend away! Today’s post is a different kind of blog hop. I’ve never done one of these before, and I was delighted when my friend Chiaki from Chiaki Creates invited me. I loved reading her thoughts on her happy, colourful, retro inspired work – check out her post here! The hop involves talking about my creative process, and linking to a couple of my favourite creative bloggers. I think this is going to be fun.

What am I working on?

As with every week, I’m spending a lot of time sewing and upcycling clothes for my Etsy shop! I’ve picked up a couple of vintage pieces that I’m really excited about, and I’m also adding to my range of colourful, patterned two pieces! Because I’ve been sewing a lot for my shop recently, I haven’t had the time to do much sewing-for-me. I won this yellow checked fabric in a blog giveaway in January, and hopefully this week I will finally sew it up into a pair of yellow dungarees. Watch this space!

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I try to live a lifestyle that is both ethical and environmentally friendly, and it’s also something that I keep in mind when I create things. Before I even knew what I wanted to sell in my etsy shop, I knew that it had to be ethical and sustainable. Although I’m pleased with how the clothes have turned out, this has definitely been a hurdle! I know what sort of fabrics I want to work with, but I can’t just search online for them because new fabrics are either way out of my budget or not made ethically and sustainably. Instead, I have to hunt down good quality second hand fabrics which, although a lot of fun, is not a very reliable way of sourcing materials. The majority of the DIYs I feature on my blog also have an environmentally-friendly element to them, and I only share vegan recipes for similar reasons.

The other thing that hopefully makes my work stand out is pattern and colour. I don’t think it’s possible for something to be too colourful, or too patterned and this influences everything that I make – the clothes in my shop, the things I make on the blog, and the clothes I wear every day!

Why do I create what I do?

I guess I’ve always liked to create things. As a little girl, I loved finger painting, baking and making mud pies (perhaps just because I liked making a mess… sorry mum!) When I took art for GCSE and then for A Level it became my favourite subject. I think it helped my awkward schoolgirl self come out of her shell. When you make something, you can’t help but to express some part of yourself, your thoughts or ideas. I remember finding that terrifying, but I had to let go of that fear to make the art that I wanted to make. Once I got over myself, and learnt to care less about what other people thought about what I made (and consequently, what they thought of me) that was extremely liberating. At school, I always made things. I made a flower chair, a dripping hat stand, a leftover picnic, and a shed out of rubbish, to name a few. Drawing and painting has never been my thing. When I went to University, I wanted to continue to make things in my spare time, but I didn’t really know how. I couldn’t make a 6ft by 6ft shed from river rubbish in a weekend, and besides, I had nowhere to put it. That’s when I started sewing again and decided to start a craft blog. It gave me a reason to make things, and having a blog schedule gave me a way of organising my projects. I am so much happier when I’m making things!

How does my creating process work?

I get a lot of inspiration from daily life. I’ll see something in someone’s house, a blog, a magazine or a shop and try to recreate it in my own way. I always take a dive-in-at-the-deep-end approach. I’m impatient and I’d rather learn by doing than spend a lot of time researching and preparing. This means that projects don’t always go to plan, but most of the time they do!

Now I’d like to share with you a couple of my favourite creative blogs! Laila and Kati will be sharing a post about their creative process next week, and I can’t wait!

Laila from Tape Parade is a London based blogger who writes about her adventures, what she wears, her creative endeavours and her thoughts on life! She directs Wolf Pack, a contemporary music collective, and is a part of too many other musical endeavours to list here! Laila is a vegan, and like me, tries to be a conscientious consumer. I love the very honest approach she has towards blogging, and she is just as awesome in real life as she is online! I can’t wait to read more about the workings of her beautiful, creative mind.

Katie from Almost Stylish is a Berlin based blogger who shares creative DIYs, colourful outfit posts and the most beautiful photography. She also runs the shop Shop Katinka. I love her gorgeous ginger hair, and the ingenious simplicity of everything she makes! I am so looking forward to learning about Kati’s creative process.