The imposters in my head....

Do you struggle with imposters in your head?
                   ... They've been a struggle of mine for a while now.

It's something we often don't talk about it our culture.
We touch on it, and maybe skim over the outer parameters...
                  ... but do we actually truly discuss it?

I have recently learnt that I'm not the only one who struggles with these imposters...
Maybe it's pride that stops us discussing it? I don't really know, but I suspect so...
           .... All I know is that I have always felt like it's ME....
                     .... I'm the imposter.
                             .... I am the pretender - the one who doesn't really belong...
                                 .... isn't actually any good....
                                     .... a terrible wife, mother, friend etc... etc...
... Never the best...
... Always the last...
... Always on the outer...

I know that in my spirit that it is not so.
On my strong days I know that I am not these things!

But they are what the imposters tell me. And those imposters are so hard not to listen to at times!

So in the interests of keeping it real here, I have decided to address these imposters once and for all

... I have actually been meaning to write this post for a few days weeks. Yesterday my beautiful friend Emma came open on her blog about her struggle with the voices in her head. I love her post & how she writes it. I always love her writing. So eloquent and well put!!
It was a conversation I had with Emma one night which made me want to write this post in the first place. It was one of those beautiful conversations with a true friend, during which you just have some complete revelations and your world gets shaken... for the better!
I actually did make a start at writing it, but never got around to finishing it. Probably because it challenged me... made me an uncomfortable...
If you are a regular visitor here, you know how I tend to react to such challenges - I shut the door on them and go on with other things... Easier things....
But this is a new year - 2011 is about coming clean however much it challenges me... this is my year of growth - So here goes...

So, my name is Kat, and I struggle with insecurity... There, I said it....
...It's out there...

As much as I try to ignore my "imposters"... they are regular visitors to my head, and have been for as long as I can remember. Somewhere around primary school they made themeselves comfortable and have been reluctant to leave ever since...
I have a "you'll never be good enough" imposter (the main bad boy),
a "forget about being good at that - you might as well give up now" imposter,
a "you couldn't be artistic if you tried" imposter,
a "they don't really care about you" imposter
and finally a "you are alone" imposter...
... you get the idea.

It's really the first one that I struggle with daily. He's been there so long I'm almost comfortable having him there. Well not comfortable - but it's what I know... He's the one that really makes me feel like I'm in one big popularity contest...
and I'm a loser in it.
...The pity friend.

So it was news to me to find out that one of the woman that I hold in the highest of esteem struggled with similar "mean shouty voices"...

... WHAT I thought... YOU!!??
        ..........How could you THINK that!!! - You are so AWESOME!!!
... I'd LOVE to be a 1% of the cool you are!!!!!

Then one by one I started hearing of others who also experienced similar imposters.

It was a REVELATION!!!
I was not the only one who felt like I was losing in the popularity contest - and all the other things...

and you know what I did... I got cross!!! I got cross with myself and if I'm honest I got a bit cross with our society. Why don't we talk about this stuff?! Why do we suffer in silence?!
Again ... I suspect it's the pride thing. The way things are done. So much easier to gloss over the imperfections and answer "I'm fine". After all - nobody wants to hear the truth and be depressed by your burden do they?
But what if it'll help ease their burden?
      ... Release them of their imposters... ?

So I've decided to come clean. Put my hand up and say "I have imposters"...
Maybe it'll help someone else have that same revelation...

Over time I have learnt to acknowledge some of the triggers & warning signs of an oncoming imposter attack. I have some steps I take to put on my armour ready for their mental assault or avoid it all together...

* I make the decision to shut them out...
sounds simple but sometimes that's all it takes. A quick simple decision

*  I take away their amunition...
... the piles of clutter on my dishwasher that have been staring at me for months, the unmade beds, undone dishes, bills to be pay, unswept floors etc.. etc... basically the jobs that I'm putting off and that are weighing on my mind, making me feel like a failure and paving the way for an attack of the imposters. If I take these things away - the imposters don't have anything have less to shoot me down with.

* I remove myself from situations or relationships that encourage these doubts and fears
this is not always practical. But if it IS possible (and not in an unhealthy way of avoidance) - if the situation or relationship is not necessary and is unhealthy for me, then I quietly remove myself from it and let it fizzle.

* I seek out a friend
Someone I can trust, who will give me a hug and encourage me back on the right path

* I meditate
I run to my creator and seek refuge in his comfortable arms. His Spirit never fails to uplift me if I truly seek it out with an open heart.

Do you have imposters?

What tools do you use to fend them off?

Just a girl keeping it real...







** Edited to add...
I feel like I need to clarify that I am not depressed!.... I love my life completely & for the most part I am extremely happy!!....
The reason that I wrote this post is that despite all this being happy & seemingly confident, I still have a daily battle (of varying degrees) of imposters in my head.
.....For the longest time I thought it was just ME that suffered with them.

I am also a perfectionist. I like to appear faultless (don't we all). So I don't usually advertise this daily battle
- because to me, in the past, it felt like a "weakness".

All it took was 1 friend, keeping it real for me, that taught me that despite what appearances say - there are many MANY people experiencing these imposters - these annoying insecurities, that get in the way of us reaching our true potential. Finally I knew - that it was not just me. They are the bad side of normal.
This kind friend gave me a revelation. And it helped me a lot!
- It released the strength of some of my imposters...

So that's what inspired me to write this post.
Just the simple realisation that I was not the only one keeping quiet about this silent struggle and the appreciation at my friend for allowing me to see the "real" in order to teach me this!

The purpose behind this post?!
.... Hopefully it might give you a revelation if you need it to... so that you can be released to be exactly who God has called you to be... The awesome person that you are!!
That is all....

Project 52 - Week 4: Hmmm...

Ever have one of those frustrating weeks where you can not see any results of many hours of work - but you can absolutely see the results of the routine jobs you haven't done while doing the other work instead. That about sums up my week...  it was totally one of those weeks where I had high hopes of what I wanted to achieve but depending on how I decide to look at it, it wasn't all that fruitful - or was it?! That's the thing hey - it's all about deciding which perception to have... and I was pretty productive in many areas - just not the area I first set out to be productive in...
.... So this is the summary of week 4...   (sorry - it's a little less "show" & a little more "tell" this week folks...)

My goal for week 4 was to learn a bit more about the art of sublimation printing and have a few projects to show using my new stuff. To cut a long story short - it didn't happen. Firstly I was chicken... I know, I know - the very reason that I wanted to do Project 52 was so that I pushed myself to conquer my fears right?! But unfortunately, as I found out this week, that commitment doesn't automatically override my natural ability to procrastinate!!!
In order to do sublimation I have to use not 1 but 2 new machines - a printer (how hard can it be I hear you ask it's a printer for goodness sake ... well unfortunately technical enough & hard enough to scare me off - that's how hard...) and a heat press - (also probably considered quite simple - but it is foreign to me & gets REALLY hot and those are barriers enough).

... so instead of just being brave & getting on with it, this is what I did instead...

* spent time researching, setting up, pulling out of, researching some more, finally making a successful decision & going with a website supplier
* spent time trying to figure out CSS (a.k.a. highly confusing & hard to comprehend techno website making babble) to try & make said website pretty how I want it
* more time on website
* more time on website
* pulled hair out over website
* looked after my 2 sick children 
* decided to forget about the website, part with money & leave it to the professionals
* did a bit more of my business plan
* looked after my 2 sick children
* reworked my logo
* reworked my logo again
* decided it's much easier designing things for other people than it is myself & decided to hire a professional to do my logo as well
* looked after my 2 sick children
* went shopping for some practise fabric for my sublimation (HOORAY- something towards my goal...)
* surfed the net trying to find wholesalers
* emailed a whole bunch of wholesalers & ordered catalogues
* got brave enough to actually order some samples
* spent more time following up on wholesalers
* didn't do any housework and watched a toy & mess explosion occur at my house
* felt sorry for myself because I was starting to suffer from same sickness as children


on Thursday afternoon I finally decided I better harden up and "get it over with" (the learning a new thing part). Namely because by this time I was tired, cranky & having massive withdrawels from not creating anything!!
"not hard..." I thought to psyche myself up... "what am I waiting for...."
So away I went, printed some of my favourite pics,  used my heatpress to press them to the fabric... and um yip - so it didn't work...

... I should clarify here that there is nothing wrong with the process of sublimation I'm sure - but there IS a problem with how my computer & printer are set up currently to do it and it looks terrible. To cut a long story short - the colours are all wrong - & everyone looks like they should be in Charlie & the Chocolate Factory starring as oompaloompas - no joke. Nothing that can't be fixed, it'll just take a little time & a skype conference with my suppliers over East (hopefully that's all it is).

So then I got all disheartened and discouraged and got a mild case of the sulks... basically because I left it to the last minute and it didn't all go perfectly... Don't worry - it did not take me long to work out I was being stupid. I know I should not expect things to go perfectly the first time I try & conquer my fears - but the reality is that I do. That's the very reason I chicken out of trying things in the first place. Are you like this too? Please tell me I'm not the only one!!

Anyway - this whole process was invaluable to me. It taught me a MASSIVE lesson - and this is the 1 thing that I learnt this week for my Project 52. So here goes... are you ready for my massive revelation?! ...

..."don't get distracted"...."stay focused on your TRUE goals"

Yip - that's pretty much it. That was my massive revelation. Those 2 things are all I needed to learn this week...

You see - the art of sublimation was my distraction. I know, get that - my very goal this week was my distraction. It was my distraction because I did not question to myself when I took on the goal of learning sublimation printing if it was actually something that I TRULY wanted to learn. It was never originally part of the business plan & my vision. It kind of snuck in there because the printer came as part of a combo pack with my heat press - I saw the potential - I knew I now had the tools - so lets learn it and do it right? Not really. Now I know that. It's not a good idea if it's going to stress me out so much that I won't succeed in my original goals.

So there you have it - I am officially putting that one back on the shelf.

Do you have any of these kinds of distractions? They seem so great at first glimpse - but really they take you away from what you want to achieve, what is important & add extra stress to your already busy life that you don't need?

I am by no means putting Sublimation away for good - I do still want to learn it & utilise it & it will definitely be part of my future business - I have no doubt. BUT & this is the important part - it will be at a later date...

I will not be using it for my initial product launches - and I am now refocussing back to my original journey...

So there you have it - told you it was more tell & less show. Sorry about that. If you're anything like me you'll be craving some pictures by now (if you've even made it this far lol...!!)
WELL DONE if you have made it this far. To thank you I will give you an exclusive preview of one of my product designs:


I put these together last night to re ignite my enthusiasm and remind myself I can do this...

I have since made a couple for baby shower gifts for friends which have the birthdate of the baby on too. They look great. But I can't show you those until I actually give them away :D

and * mental note to self - do not put your kids in their t-shirts and then expect to find it easy to photograph them so that you can see the design!!! You end up with a lot of photos like this...

" Look mum - I can roll..."

"ha ha..."

"give that camera here..."

"Look mum - it spell's HANNAH" (said with great excitement)

"NO - take a photo of my nail polish!!"

"Take a photo of my princess crown mum!!"

So there you have it... 1 valuable lesson learnt & 2 princess t-shirts for 2 princesses.

How'd you guys do? Looking forward to seeing your projects...

9 years ago today...

 

      ... These two babies got married...

I love this photo of us... It captures what I like to think of as the essense of the day - true love being committed and celebrated amongst our close friends & family. 

We look so happy.

A naive happiness really... 

     .... naive of the challenges that we faced ahead...

I look back now and think how well we did to survive the beginning... 

For Neil the beginning held the challenge of following his love to a new country on the opposite side of the globe, away from his family and all that he had known.

For me it was returning home to said country, where I had left a girl and was now returning a woman - experiencing the adjustment of where I now fit in.

For both of us it was the challenge of finding a place to live, new jobs, new friends, coping with serious health problems, learning to live together in our new harmonious partnership (ha) in a completely new environment and tackling everybodies prejudices and assumptions along the way about why we got married so young and so quickly.

It really is a testament to God's grace that we are still together today, not to mention more in love and happier than ever before. God has been our rock through the early challenges, our rock through the middle challenges and he will continue to be our rock through our future challenges...

1 Corinthians 7:4 (New International Version - UK)

⁴ The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.

What a lot we have seen together in 9 years... 3 countries, countless homes, 4 pets, and 2 absolutely beautiful children.

Happy Anniversary my hunny!!! I wish you were here for me to give a big hug & kiss...

Love Always

Winner of Queensland Flood Auction

A huge thank you to everyone who has bid on & supported the Queensland Flood Appeal Auctions!!!

I'm still feeling pretty shell shocked and flat with everything that has happened. Queensland is going to have such a massive recovery to make from this, and they really do need all the support that we can give them.


A special thank you to Toni over at Make it Perfect for organising all of the auctions. The last couple of weeks she has illustrated over at her blog just what can happen when many people join together to do a little. Many littles really do create a LOT!!! I cannot wait to hear the final combined auction/raffle tally but last time I heard it was up to over $45,000. I suspect that the final tally will be much larger than this. That is SO awesome!!!

The winner of my auction for this lovely handmade handbag....

 

....is: 

Amanda Jane said...

Stunning bag! I'l bid $80 thank you. Email addie: mer_idian@hotmail.com

January 21, 2011 7:07 PM  

 Thanks Amanda Jane!! I will be in touch.

Dear Modern Swap Partner...

Hi lovely Partner!!

If you are stalking me and have made it over to my blog then welcome... it is nice to have you stop a while. Please feel free to take a snoop around at your leisure and learn something about me...  I am very excited to have you creating something special for me to treasure!!

Although the first thing that you should probably know about me is that I don't do secrets well (not my own anyway) and the suspense will k.i.l.l me not knowing which of the lovely creations in the pool are for me... all very well having a partner to stalk, but a little weird to be the one to be stalked (if that makes sense).


I have made you a mosaic of inspiration:

Anywhoo.... Things you probably want to know about me:

**  I love full, bright, fresh, saturated, fun colours. I especially love them when paired with white, to really show them off. - Plenty of white on white with a splash of colour really does it for me.
**  While I like certain elements of the current vintage trend (particularly teapots/teacups & vintage florals)- really and truly deep down I'm a classic or modern styled girl at heart, and like clean lines & freshness.
**  I'm really into colour wheels/rainbows of colour at the moment (which you probably can guess from my blog header & mosaic).
**  My favourite colours are teal/aqua & pink - but really I just love full colour.
**  I'm a pretty girly girl


Options of things that I'd love for you to make for me:
**  Nice placemats for my dining room table - although it would be great if these could have like a clear vinyl on the top - otherwise I'd be scared to ruin them. But seriously, don't worry if this is too tall an order!!
**  Maybe if you do placemats/kitcheny things then a matching handtowel would be nice.
**  A novelty pin cushion - particularly I'd love one to wear on my wrist. Because I don't know about you - but my pins are NEVER where I need them!!
**  A cute mini mini bunting to go over my shelves or design wall in my happy place
**  Really anything that you have the desire to make me - I'm not that fussy. Especially if you are much more creative than my ideas here LOL... - really, don't feel limited :D

Fabrics I would love:
**  Again I'm pretty easily pleased. I'd love something in the rainbow spectrum of colours. And you can never go wrong with dots!!
**  Designers I love most at the moment are Michael Miller, Riley Blake, Alexander Henry, Sandi Henderson
**  Lines I love most at the moment are Ruby star rising (specifically the teapots/cups), Farmdale (especially the teal one which I don't have), Elizabeth Scott Red Rose Farm and that's all I can think of off the top of my head.
In saying all that I adore many of the Japanese prints - and do not own a single one. So you are completely safe getting those. I also have absolutely no linen in my stash. I love the shot cottons too.
But again - don't feel that you have to limit yourself to this list - it's more just for inspiration.

Hope that helps. Most importantly have fun and thanks SO much in advance!!

Project 52 - Week 3: All about the zipper....

Hi Everyone

Welcome to Week 3 of Project 52!! This week I really wanted to learn how to do a zipper. For some reason I have been really afraid to try doing a zip. They were the unknown.... they required a different foot.... they were not just easy, straight, flat quilting lines... In other words - they challenged my nice little comfort zone...  This is the precise reason that I want to try doing something new for each of my own Projects for Project 52 - to challenge these irrational fears. Because, as I quickly found out, the fear of zippers is really VERY irrational - they are pretty super dooper easy LOL...

So to conquer my fear I set myself the challenge of making a little lined purse, picked out my absolute favourite fabric of the moment (meadowsweet strawberries, by Sandi Henderson), you tubed a tutorial, and away I went... It turned out ok. It was too small for what I was hoping (I don't think I followed the tutorial size... pays to follow the instructions hey)- but it was super duper cute...

...The catch....
it turns out that the fabric was Hannah's absolute favourite as well. After taking it off her a number of times (causing many floods of tears) I decided that since it was too small for what I wanted it for anyway I might as well give in to a silly battle and let her have it. She has carted it around with her all week, putting treasure after treasure in it (and getting continually frustrated that the zip wouldn't close because she had too many treasure in it I might add). Today when I went to photograph it for this post - do you think I could find it?! Typicall!!!! It has been stashed somewhere - is probably inside one of Hannah's handbags. She is asleep so I didn't want to disturb her by fossicking too much.

So unfortunately you will just have to use your imagination for now LOL... When it turns up I will post it to our Flickr group.


But fear not... I do have some other photos. It was my sister-in-law-to-be's birthday last week. Stuck for any present ideas, I decided to make her a handbag and matching little lined purse - using the same tutorial as my first size but increasing the size a bit to be more versatile...


I made the handbag first...

Then here is the little matching (zippered) purse:

The striped fabric is the same fabric that lines the handbag. Cute hey.


So do I fess up and tell you that it was a complete accident totally planned that the stripes ended up on the outside of the purse? Hmmm.... Despite it not being the original plan, I'm so pleased I made that happy accident, as I think they look super cute together as opposites don't you? Just added a little butterfly applique to make it a bit more interesting...

While I was making the handbag I also learnt a second new skill, which I was planning to learn in a different Project 52 - how to make a button hole.... What a happy bonus!!  So there you go, two irrational fears happily conquered this week!!

How did you guys get on? Don't forget to upload your photos to the Flickr group if you have an account & also go and encourage everyone about their week 3 projects.
It's nice to have them in a central place so that we can see what everybody is getting up to and be inspired :D

I have a sneeking suspicion that my next weeks project will involve a lot of Sublimation. If you don't know what that is... don't worry - you soon will :D

Have a great week!!

Oh my GOODNESS!!

This mumma was in need of a nap today!! Did it happen - NO! Is is my own silly fault - YES :D

To set the scene I'll start at the beginning...
Yesterday we had a rent inspection scheduled. I have been working my tail off all week trying to prepare for this and achieve the impossible - that the house be clean AND tidy at the SAME time and trying to stop my eldest from undoing my tidying and cleaning as fast as I could tidy and clean!! Through much work and good planning I did manage it. Just. I had even brushed down the outside of the house for cobwebs, swept, strimmed and everything etc... etc... Anyway when I left my house yesterday it was pretty darn immaculate.
So I head off to Mother's Group pleased with what I had achieved. Sometime while I was out a courier tried to drop off my new business machinery. EEEK - & WOO HOO!!!  I was not expecting it until Friday - so I did not arrange to be home!!  He kindly left a little slip of paper in my door to tell me that he'd been and to give them a call to arrange pick up from the depo.

Anyway as I arrived home from my lovely morning with friends, the rental inspection lady was just leaving. We met in the driveway (she had stolen my park I might add) and as she left she was kind enough to point out to me that my rangehood (which has never worked) and my window tracks were both dusty and would need to be cleaned. PPPFFFFFTTTTTTT. (I know for a fact my landlord would laugh in her face if she told her this in the report). So I traipsed into the house in a fluster (I'm sure you can appreciate that I did NOT take kindly to being told that my good for nothing rangehood was "dusty" and needed to be cleaned when the rest of my house was spotless!) and I missed the piece of paper tucked in my screen door.

Cue a few hours later - 4.10pm to be exact - I head out to buy some milk from the shops, 2 kids in tow. As I'm leaving I see this nice piece of paper, holding very exciting news. The catch - the hours to arrange pick up are between 8am & 4pm !!!! GRRRR..... I had to wait over night to go and pick it up!!

So this morning, thanks to a very early start from my dear variable alarm clocks, I was up and out of the house to collect it shortly after 8am.

And instead of napping while the girls nap, like I really need to today..., I have of course been unpacking all of my new goodies. This is what my lounge currently looks like - (I'm too embarrased to show my desk!)

See my new heat press in it's new home on top of the drawers. I wonder what the inspection lady would have to say about the state of my lounge & desk now!! :D

Here is a very little sample of what I can do with said new machine...

EXCITING!! Now all I have to do is go and learn how to use the darn thing LOL...

Tuesday Tidbits....

One of my virtual sewing bee buddies Lucinda does this most weeks over at her blog. I always enjoy reading it, so I thought I might give it a go myself. Thanks Lucinda for the inspiration!! - It really has helped cleanse my brain.

So this is what is going on with me at the moment...

**  Neil has resumed working away

**  He flew away last Friday.

**  It has been well over a year since he worked away last time.

**  He is on a 4 week away, 1 week at home roster.

**  It's pretty sucky.

**  I miss him, and do not like single parently 2 babies...

**  Kudos to my single mummy friends - you guys are awesome - single parenting is hard!!

**  Hannah is a big help.

**  She cheers me up even in my darkest moments

**  She talks to me CONSTANTLY - so it is not possible that I would ever feel alone...

**  It is mostly nonsense talk - but talk none the less... I get to use up ALL my words...

**   ...  "look Mummy there's the moon. It is a fat moon today. Watch, watch mummy - see it's a fat moon?...  I don't want a fat moon Mummy!  Mummy can you make the skinny moon come back?..."

**  "I'm sorry Hannah, I can't make the skinny moon come back - it will come back soon..."

**  "Ok. Maybe on Friday then - after my sleep. Do you think it will come back by then Mummy..."

**  "Ummmmmmmmmmmm..... "!!!!!?????!!!! .... "Look Hannah - can you see that big truck?"

**  I recently got a speeding ticket.

**  As a result of this said speeding ticket I have made myself proficient in using my cruise control

**  That last post was specifically for my husband - see what I do for you - I learnt a gadget!!
      * Insert big cheesy I love you grin

**  Abbie's teeth are getting close

**  This makes her grumpy

**  This makes ME grumpy

**  Hannah keeps waking up sometime in the 5ams

**  This wakes me and Abbie up

**  This does not help the grumpiness!!

**  I have not had more than 6 hours sleep for nearly a month.

**  In fact the last 2 weeks 4-5 hours of sleep is as good as it gets

**  That is not enough if you ask me!!

**  That's the biggest thing I miss about before having kids... mmmm.... sleep.....

**  I really appreciate my mothers group friends who wrote nice things about me over the last couple of days

**  Thank you nice mothers group friends.

**  It helped me to know that you are there for me.

**  Sometimes I do not like being a girl ;)

**  I am wondering if whether it is just me - or whether PMT really does multiply with each baby you have?!

**  Maybe the exhaustion just takes away the coping mechanisms!?

**  Boys are lucky

**  One of Hannah and my favourite things to do is to watch the kite surfers and the wind surfers at the beach

**  I'd love to fly like they do over the water.

**  But I will never try it - it looks far too much like hard work.

**  Yesterday we watched the kites for 15 mins on the way home from Hannah's daycare

**  It made us both very happy - there were a lot of kites out. This is half of them...

**  Despite all the lack of sleep and other muck, I am very thankful for my life.

**  It is a really good one...

**  I have a great family

**  ... I am happy.

**  Enjoy the rest of your week...

Dear Doll Quilt 10 swap partner....

Hi Partner

If you are stalking me and have made it over to my blog then welcome... it is nice to have you stop a while. Please feel free to take a snoop around at your leisure and learn something about me...  I am super super excited to be part of this swap and see what you create for me :D

Just to let you know that my favourites are kind of skewed a lot towards little houses. This is because I had one of my bees make me houses and it was inspiration for them. So over the next couple of weeks I'll make a concerted effort to get my flickr favourites a bit more up to date with inspiration for you and I also do plan to make a gallery. Just need some time if that's ok...

Things you might want to know about me:
I love full, bright, fresh, fun colours. I especially love them when paired with white, to really show them off.
I love scrappy, whimsical, informal and fun quilts.
I'm really into butterflies (in case you hadn't guessed lol...), birds, trees, scenes and quilts that almost tell a story
My favourite colours are pink, teal and pinky reds & oranges. But I love all colours and love to include greens and purples in there too.
Colours I'm not so fond of are: pastels - particularly pastel yellow & green. Browns not so much either in large quantities.
I'm a total girly girl and big kid really...

But really I'm really not fussy about what you want to do for me. I'd love for you to do something that you are passionate about or want to do and maybe shows something about who you are too.
Please don't feel you have to buy any fabric. I'm not that fussy. Use what you've got. Don't feel limited.
Just have FUN with it and I'm sure I'll love it to pieces!! :D

Can't wait :D  Happy creating.

Can you spell distraction??....

dis·tract  (d-strkt)

tr.v. dis·tract·ed, dis·tract·ing, dis·tracts

1. To cause to turn away from the original focus of attention or interest; divert.

2. To pull in conflicting emotional directions; unsettle.

I am learning to to spell it!!

My mind is continuing to Flutter... Oh boy am I struggling to keep it under control.

Right now Abbie has finally given in to sleep and I should be working... of course instead I am getting distracted by facebook, skype, phonecalls, blogging... hmmm.... All of it seems worthwhile at the time (I can only count facebook & blogging as worthwhile because I am busy trying to organise more fundraising for the Queensland Relief Fund), but all of it is taking me away from finishing what I had on my to-do list today.

Ah the fun of to-do lists.

Marvelling at this gorgeous cherub has been the biggest distraction of all today... but what better kind of distraction could there be to have??!!  *LOVE*

Better get back to it then hadn't I....

Queensland flood appeal - Auction...

What a week it has been... A total emotional roller coaster in this house...
Started a new business - good...
Grumpy baby having her needles and suspected first teeth coming through - bad...
Husband went to work away for 4 weeks - bad...
Business progress going really well - good....
No sleep - bad....
Witnessed devastating floods across the Eastern States of Australia, affecting hundreds of thousands of people, taking lives, and rendering thousands homeless - words just cannot describe...

...Last time I checked there were 17 confirmed dead and 14 still missing.
My head does not know which way is up - how can I enjoy the good things while my heart aches in full for all of those affected by this enormous natural disaster so close to home. It is so hard to comprehend where to go from here...

So I am holding this auction to raise money for the Queensland flood appeal.

The item up for auction is this handbag:

Stats:
**  The handbag is designed and made by me
**  It is made 100% from designer cotton fabric - the exterior is Timeless Treasures & the interior is Amy Butler
**  Internally it has both interfacing & wadding. So it is sturdy & lightly padded to keep your belongings well protected.
** It measures approx 12x9 inches
** There is a large pocket inside to keep your phone/keys etc... separate

How this auction works:

1.  Bidding will start at $30.00 (Australian), and all bids will be in AUD.
2. You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this blog post with your bid amount and email address.  Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.  
3. Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.
4. This auction is open to everyone,  however $30 will be charged for International addresses.  Postage is FREE for Australian residents.  
5. The auction begins NOW and will END at midnight on Monday 24th January, 2011 (AEST).
6. At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address).  The winner will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email.  Once proof of payment has been received, I will post your handbag to you.

With thanks to Toni  for organising the fundraising initiative!! Please be generous, so that we are able to best help those who have lost everything!! :D

PS if you are in Australia & would like to make an additional donation - Woolworths is matching dollar for dollar for donations it receives... so maybe next time you do your groceries?

Project 52 - Week 2: Playing with vinyl...

Hi everyone. Welcome to week 2 of Project 52:

This week for me has been all about vinyl. I really wanted to test to see more of what my Klic n Kut can offer me in the way of designing & cutting. I plan to use vinyl a lot in my business, so it seemed the obvious first choice of product to focus on getting to know.

In actual fact I could probably count 3 (main) things that I learnt during this weeks challenge - firstly I had to learn the Klic n Kut studio software and how to design using it (long way to go here ahem... talk about a slow coach!!). Then I had to learn how to cut vinyl effectively and streamline settings on the machine. Finally I had to learn different ways of application - depending on the type of vinyl used e.g. fabric transfer vinyl, or standard vinyl for paper/hard surface application.

Talk about lots to learn!!! And it's not even close to being over yet... I have a new heat press arriving on Thursday which I will use to heat bond my designs (more about that in the coming weeks I'm sure). So next I'll have to learn to use that (I've been using my iron in the meantime - not ideal!!).

Anyway these are some photos of my Project 2 of 52: Getting to know Vinyl....

Firstly of course I had to try cutting my logo - here it is in vinyl applied to the corner of my whiteboard (featuring last weeks project too ;) )  I will use this method of cutting in my business to create inspirational messages for peoples walls etc... Check out the detail on the butterfly. It's only about 1.5 inches square - not bad hey!!

 

Secondly a couple of t-shirts that I did. Thought I would make these for a friend to say thank you for a couple of items she recently leant me (1 of which may or may not have had an extended stay ahem...)

This teapot is one of my girls designs for my business. You can see the full t-shirt here.

The train will not be one of my exclusive designs... I put it together quite quickly and it definitely needs some improvement...

 3 different designs so far for matroyshka dolls. These will also be a feature of the girls designer range.

One of the girls transferred onto cardstock for a card...

And finally - just because I was having total sewing withdrawels, here is an apron that I whipped up for my neighbour...

Anyway the kids have now awoken and Abbie is busy rolling rings around me literally so I have to go. This week she has learnt to roll from her back to her front and can now move across the entire room - creating a path of destruction in her wake. Oh brother!!
Better go put my mummy hat back on.
Look forward to seeing all of your lovely creations. Don't forget to add them to our flickr group when you get a chance.

About Flutter from.Kat - the post you've all been waiting for...

... The cogs have been working overtime in the background here at the house of Flutter... thinking... pondering... designing... planning.... sourcing....

I am SOOO excited to finally have the ability to reveal a bit more information about Flutter from.Kat....

There are still crazy amounts to do before I can even begin to reveal more designs and start to trade...... but at least today I can hopefully give you a few more specifics about what my plans for the business are and reveal a few sample products:

 

Flutter from.Kat is an online upmarket boutique for handmade, personalised gifts. It specialises in handmade, made-to-order, personalised, high quality designs for children and the home.  Each product is designed by Kat Soper and handmade with love, uniquely for the purchaser, with great love & care.

Flutter will have 2 main ranges:

The first will be a designer range. This range will be designed by Kat primarily using cut vinyl & fabric applications, and include:

Designer t-shirts

Inspiration phrases & scripture vinyl wall art

Children's vinyl wall art

Canvas art

The second range will be products that can be personalised with the child's name and if desired their photo (or even a copy of their artwork) as well. This range will include:

T-shirts

Drink bottles

Bucket hats

Pillowcase & sheet sets

Blankets

Products in this range will be particularly fantastic for children attending daycare and school, who require personalised gear.

Designs and products are under development but unfortunately I cannot show you very many pictures yet. My goal is to have the website up and running with the first roll out of products by the end of February 2011 at the latest. After that new products will be released in stages though the year.

Here is an example of one of my prototypes for the personalised t.shirt range to give you an idea... 

This range will have a list of girls & boys designs. They will be cut from premium textile vinyl and heat applied. Emphasis will be on classic, modern, stylish personalised designs.

I hope that helps you know a little bit more about what I'm planning to offer. Sorry there's not more to show at this stage - but you know... there's a lot to do first :D

I really look forward to hearing your feedback!!

Flutter...

flutter [ˈflʌtə]

1. a quick flapping or vibrating motion

2. a state of nervous excitement or confusion

3. excited interest; sensation; stir

Well it's official. As of Monday my business legally exists in the state of Western Australia...

And most excitingly it's SO ME!!!! This is technically my 3rd business because I was self employed twice before having children. BUT, and it's a big but (in case you didn't notice lol...) this is the first time it's really been my dream. I could get inspired about the others and be successful at them- but honestly they weren't my dream... This is my dream. It feels SO good. SO exciting!! (and often SO scary)...

Unfortunately I wasn't allowed my original choice of name because it was too similar to another business's name. I was a bit devastated about this at first to be honest. But the new name is already starting to feel more comfortable and I'm sure in a few months I won't even remember that it wasn't the first pick.  

**  Note to self - come up with a couple of other name options BEFORE you are standing in front of the lady and the centre of commerce staring blankly at her and having to come up with another name on the spot. Because I looked like a total fool going ummmm, ahhhh, ummmm.....

It totally took me by surprise because I (thought) that I had searched every register & database and made it unique... but apparently not.

So the **official** new name and logo is:

I've had such a productive few days ticking things off my business to do list. In fact I really can't believe how productive it's been. Amazing what a few early mornings and also having hubby home off work for a few days can achieve!!

I still feel a bit like this:

... a small girl with her toes dipped in a BIG ocean. 

But I am managing to maintain perspective. This business can be as big or small as I make it. Sometimes I just need to step back, take a breath and remember that

I.

am.

setting.

the.

pace....

 I just have to keep telling myself - slow down... the tortoise wins the race...

... one step in front of the other...   breathe.....

        .....  one step in front of the other...    breathe....

... and I know that I am not walking this journey alone. 

That helps. 

A lot.

Project 52 updates...

If you are new to Project 52 then welcome. If you are a follower then hi & thank you for your continued support of this project and your kind words of encouragement.

When I first posted about Project 52 to be honest it was still somewhat of a half thought out idea and work in progress in my mind. My main thinking and the reason why I created the project is that I have BIG plans for this year, but sometimes I struggle staying focused (hence the name business name Flutter!!). I am results driven and I work best when I have accountability. I also really want to spend this year concentrating on learning new skills that I can later use in my business. As a result of all this thinking I decided 52 projects was enough to keep me motivated, enough to give me a weekly deadline to work towards, but not become so overwhelming that the pressure got too much and I gave up... So that is why I'm doing it...

When I started it, I had no idea that it would be so well recieved and inspire you lovely people so much. I'm thrilled and overwhelmed that it has and really thankful for all of your kind words of encouragement.
- I'm also really REALLY excited that some of you lovely creative minds have decided to join me for the journey and commit to it in some form yourself.

So- I decided that since some of you are inspired to do your own version of Project 52 - then I will make it a bit more "official". Since I wrote the original parameters thinking solely of what I personally want to achieve by it, I have decided to repost more general group parameters so that if you would like to join then you know what the score is.

Here goes....

Project 52 Group sign up parameters:

Project 52 is designed to:
- keep us learning
- keep us creative
- keep us accountable
- keep us inspired by other peoples creations
- and keep us having a bundle of fun...

The idea of Project 52 is simple - You make 1 crafty item per week for 52 weeks...
Stipulations are:

**  Comment on this post to let me know that you are participating so that I can add you to the list of participants
**  The crafty item can be any craft.
**  Big, medium, small, part of an unfinished project from ages ago - the size of the project does not matter - whatever you choose you can manage that week.
**  To count the project must be finished in full that week
**  The deadline for your finished project is Friday for "Show & Tell Friday"
**  If you keep a blog please add the button to your blog side bar, and in any posts about Show & Tell Friday posts you do for Project 52, please put a reference link back to my blog.
**  You may come join along to Project 52 at any time of the year
**  Post a photo of your project (and also if you want to then add any photos of projects you've made using one of my tutorials) to our Flickr group so that we can all stay inspired.

So there you have it - those are the guidelines/parameters whatever you want to call them...

If Project 52 is too much of a committment for you then no worries. Feel free to join the Flickr Group - or save it as a bookmark - regardless, so that you can stay in touch with the groups progress.

Let me know feedback or if anything needs clarifying!! As you'll see the parameters for joining are nowhere near as hardcore as my own. Just 1 per week fullstop.

Looking forward to sharing the journey and my weekly progress with you!!