Nursery + Homewares
Friday, February 13
Are you living by the Instagram code?
I could tell you
how perfect my home and studio is.
I could tell you
children play quietly and happily close by, as I work and create.
I could tell you
days are cheerful and committed to memory.
I could tell you partnering
business and motherhood in the home is a magical experience and that I am
honoured.
I could pretend
this is all effortless.
I could make you
feel self-deprecating, as you read; judged, fearful, neglectful and inferior.
Why would I want
to do that?
I have been confronted
with this theme in so much of my social media networking, and I came to loathe it. The Instagram code of life.
I have moved on
since then and beyond finding it distasteful I feel obliged to show it up for
what it is.
As far as I am
concerned, reoccurring images of perfectly styled and temporary scenes of charm
and family bliss is the literally undoing many of the mothers and women.
We are the most
educated, and knowledgeable female generation of history, so let’s not deceive
ourselves nor each other with the falsity of every day life as a mother,
whether in business or not.
Those of you
reading this thinking, what is this lady on? I understand.
You are the woman
who has enough support around you and your family that you do not get consumed
in where you may be failing.
You are reassured
you are doing a fantastic job mothering and working.
You are a part of
a community, a real life one!
You have enough
confidence in yourself to be grateful for what you have, and to know the
reality of what you are seeing has been distorted, is styled and momentary- it
simply is not true of the everyday.
But, I receive
daily feedback from customers, who consider themselves friends after the
creative process of having something custom made for them.
I have been
challenged and recently saddened by the private messages, asking me how life
works for me as a mother of three and business owner.
I receive constant message of comparison between them and me.
It has made me extra
cautious to never be precocious in my editing.
To never portray the lie of
perfection that could damage someone’s fragile sense of self.
What alarms me is
the volume of women who are struggling through a season of motherhood, feeling
totally alone in it, and relying on social media to be the community that is
lacking in their real life. When you rely on a community that is filled with edited
and highly moderated images, your attachment to reality is shaky to say the
least!
I live by the
motto that riches always lay in the lesson of the process NOT the success of
the outcome.
I fail everyday.
My very work is a
process of error and correction.
My motherhood is a
process of error and correction.
I am a series of
beautiful, messy moments strung together to form something funny, off- balance
and unique.
You are too.
I cannot think of
a better combination for motherhood, when everything goes wrong, even though
you deliberately planned for it!
We live in a fast
paced world where the days seem long but the years are racing by.
Take a moment each
day to resist the pretenses you see online, and know you are a beautiful, messy
series of moments.
I promise you it
will lift your spirits when you feel low and it has personally helped me to
adhere to my own business goals and dreams, because after all they are mine!
Take a day at a time,
Warm wishes,
Shannon x
Why should we support handmade as women and mother's? An alternate view.
My
social media news feeds are brimming with the highly styled vignettes of home
interiors, and filled with pictures of perfect families in perfect locations,
shot by professional photographers with no expense spared.
A
reality that none of us are sharing in the day to day of motherhood or
womanhood.
I
wonder if the alternate realities we have created for ourselves amount up to a
little paradise that we don’t actually reside in, we reside here in the
messiness of life.
The
attainment of perfection can only lead to the feeling of failure that undoes the
path that the fight for feminism laid in decades past. It is women who are
robbing other women of self-esteem and replacing it with new and impossible
standards for family, work and rest.
In
our factory manufactured, and fast paced society there is little room for the
faults and flaws, that remind us of our humanness and root us in the earth.
While the wonder of the Earth’s creation is complex and largely unknown, we do
know that from the dawn of time the animal kingdom has existed and survived
(with the exceptions of the interference of mankind) and this survival is born
of instinct.
I
fear, that if we are not free to experience the raw, unedited emotions of
womanhood, we are actually captive to our world.
When we growl and gather our cubs to us, it is for refreshing and it is for
protection. There is very little joy in gliding through our plastic and
contrived lives, muted and edited, as opposed to living open and feeling.
The
insightful and gracious Steve Bidolph, psychologist and author of Raising
Girls, says “nobody can handle reality all of the time.” He encourages us to have
outlets, channels to escape even for a few moments into another place, because
the literal reality of a situation can be inexplicably too much at that time.
In reference to the western world he states that, “ …people living in tough
places were happier…when I came back to affluence, everyone seemed miserable.
The experience convinced me: we are
supposed to be happy. We are not meant to be depressed.”
Escaping
the truth of a testing time is different to trying to live in perpetual
perfection.
The
resurgence of the handmade product in the past ten years is an huge step
towards freedom of the mind and in womanhood.
The
process of making and crafting something is a tangible way to react to our
physical world by responding to it with a brand new creation. It is here, that
we can find a harmonious way to leave those difficult realities momentarily, to
recover ourselves, without buying into the fake reality sold to us through
branding, advertising and consumerism.
The
blessing in handmade is abundant.
In
the developing world, women in small business use their talents, and work with
natural available resources to craft practical objects for use.
In
the developed world, we are free to responsibly source these sustainable,
fairly traded products and enter small business across the seas in partnerships
with these women. We face less hardship in a county like ours, I would
encourage you to feel and get caught up in the joy of the maker.
There is
something very rooting, grounding and resilient about allowing the seed of a
design to be shaped, grow and come to life.
We
are all women, who face challenges, build resilience, possess skills and
talents, and we do not want to be blinded to injustice any longer.
We
do not want to mask depression with pretences.
We
want to have the conversation that leads to freedom of the soul.
Before
my passion for the handmade product, came my motherhood, and before my motherhood
came my womanhood.
I
want freedom in all of it.
My
inner animal tells me to fight for my children, to fight for my passions and
ultimately to fight to protect my heart.
It
guides me in my integrity. It warns me of danger. It reveals injustice. It
seeks truth, and resists the lie.
In
it’s nature, my inner animal bonds me to the earth, and takes me on journeys
where the process is the lesson, and that
is where the riches lay.
Wednesday, July 9
DIY Stag Wall Art
The gorgeous stag silhouette is gracing many a Pinterest board and Instagram feed throughout the globe so why not create your own? Of course you can substitute the felt and fabrics i have used- these were the choice of one of my customers.
What you will need:
- Sharp scissors
- Pins
- Pencil
- Erasure
- Staple Gun
- Iron and Ironing board
- Sewing machine
- Vlisofix 1m (or as large as the canvas you intend to cover)
- x3 Art Canvas in duck cloth (available from any local art and craft store)
- Felt by the metre (in your colour choice)- wool is best
- Thick cotton fabric at least 1.5m (in your choice)
Let's get our craft on!
Take the felt, and unroll the Vlisofix, placing it textured (which is the glue) side down, the smooth top is what you will place the iron on.
Set the iron to NON STEAM (you need a dry iron) and iron the Vsliofix to the felt- this will be the glue side (the back side).
Turn over the felt so that the Vsliofix is on the back, and place your hand drawn silhouette of the stag on top.
Pin within the drawing, don't be mean on the pins, the more you use the neater and more accurate your work will be. Once pinned, begin cutting the outline (you will be cutting through 3 layers, the paper, the felt and the Vsliofix backing which is not removed yet)
Remove pins, and paper template and you will have your felt cut piece with backing still on.
Take a single canvas and measure the width and height of one (the measurements will be the same or all three), and allow a 1 1/2 inch extra around the canvas and cut three panels this size.
On a large work area, lay each of the canvas with each fabric panel on top as they will sit when stapled right, tightly next to each other, on top of this you will position the felt silhouette.
Once you are happy that the felt fits well on each of the canvas, you will mark the two outer edges of the centre canvas on the felt as this will be where the felt is cut.
Take your ruler and pencil and lightly mark a line down the felt in the place you marked the edge of the canvas and CUT.
You will now have 3 separate piece of felt- each one will be for each canvas.
Remove the backing on the felt ready for ironing.
Replace the felt pieces on the canvas laid out, to make sure the positioning is exactly right, and pin the felt its fabric piece.
Take the fabric (with felt pinned to the top side of the fabric) and take to ironing board. While pinned, touch the iron lightly to some of the outer edges of felt to bond it a little to the fabric, when you are sure that some of the felt has bonded to the fabric you can remove the pins, turn over the fabric and lay it on the ironing board where you will iron the back of the fabric. (Vsliofix is bonded set to the fabric when ironed from the reverse side, it is also best not to iron felt especially if you opt for acrylic felt a it will melt under the heat).
Turn it back over and check that all parts of the felt have been securely ironed on.
Repeat with the next two panels. Making sure not to iron the felt with a hot setting- you are ironing on the reverse of the fabric, not directly onto the felt.
Take each panel and sew around the outside of the felt, maybe 2cm in from the edge.
Place the first panel back over the canvas where it needs to be positioned and turn it over with the fabric laying underneath the board.
Fold over one side length and gently position it on the board, staple from the centre first and out to 5inches from each end. Repeat on the other side, pulling tightly before stapling to make sure the fabric is stretched flat and wrinkle-free.
Repeat the stapling process to the top and bottom of the board pulling well before stapling to keep it tight and neat, and leaving 5 inches from each corner.
You will now trim the corners, by cutting straight across the corner. Start on the outside length and add another staple to keep the fabric in place, take the fabric from the outside length and place it where it will stay on the board, tucking the corner underhand securing with another staple, keep the fabric tight at all times. Now go to the bottom part of the corner and turn over to create a fold and make sure the fabric from the outside is sitting flat and secure with another staple.
Repeat this on the last 3 corners.
Imagine this the trending monochromatic black and white?
Have fun, crafter,
Love,
Shannon
A Marine Biologist, maybe?
So, who knew what
to tell the School Guidance Officer when asked what career they had in mind in
Year 9?
Not me, I vaguely
remember something about legal secretary or Occupational therapist, but there
may also have been marine biologist tagged on the end!
I have been
happily nestled in the ‘artistic’ box since childhood, with a mother who
illustrated book covers, was a graphic designer, and built miniature architectural models of new building projects for a living. Our school holidays
were filled with ‘still life’ set ups on the dining room table and palettes of watercolors
with fresh water at the ready.
When we left home
each of were given volumes of ‘scrap books’ showcasing years of our art work,
and she was proud of the preschool Potato People as much as our Year 12
submissions. I went on to do a Foundation Degree in Fine Art in Oxford, followed
swiftly by a multi-disciplinary degree in World Museology Studies (Archaeology,
Art History and Anthropology), when my Art Teacher brazenly told me no one
would be pounding my door to have a commission made!
I am however, a
true believer in closed and open doors, and I found myself in the incredible
world of Museum Studies and I was smitten.
I gobbled up
Anthropology books, bought the newest edition of books I already had hoping to
know more, and travelled to Albania to excavate and record finds. I joined 3 archaeological
units across the UK and dug away at Iron Age settlements with vigor, with
freezing fingers, mud covered clothes, and along-side the hairiest and maddest
looking people in England. I usually stuck out like a sore thumb, arriving in
Zara slacks and my racing red Hunter Wellingtons, and was designated the worst
jobs on site.
Inevitably I realized
I wasn’t cut out for this muddy caper, and moved back to the Art scene, my
fling with Archaeology was over.
I feel head over
heels in love with Art History, delving deeply into post World War art,
throughout Europe and the USA, intermittently working on Renaissance assignments
for credit. But could hardly bear to be parted with the Fauvists, cubists,
Neo-Expressionists and the Abstracts. It was there I saw the means by which to
gather the disciplines of the degree together and unravel great chunks of
cultural history at once.
I buried myself in
its layers of psychology and became captivated, I travelled to Paris so that I
could see the real masterpieces up close and touch the architecture, and I
trained to London as often as I could to attend renowned Exhibitions, simply to
walk through great lofty-ceiling rooms with walls covered in history changing
art.
Besides the gift
of love, and genuine and conscious parenting, I am totally indebted to my
parents for the gift of my University Education.
It was in
Museology, that I discovered my young adult self, and went on to volunteer in
every Art Catalogue library I could find; the thirst was so great that even the
monotony of databasing was overlooked. I graduated and began working as the PA
to the Director of The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts within days and never
looked back.
Well, not until I
departed the Dover shores and said G’Day to the Harbour Bridge!
1880-81
Edgar Degas
Bronze, fabric
Height:
99.1 cm
Acquired: 1938
UEA 2 1907
Pablo Picasso
Gouache
62.9
x 46.4 cm
Acquired: 1939
UEA 8
Fast forward 8
years to the dawning of Milly Molly Mandy, with two kiddies in tow and one
supportive husband who knew art was literally racing through my veins.
I spent maternity
leaves painting, sketching, decorating bedrooms, rearranging furniture and
dreaming of projects, and it was not until our youngest (third child) was 2
that I found I could take Milly Molly Mandy where it was organically heading.
Which is where I am now.
I have had the privilege
of honing my natural talents of drawing and combing color and pattern through
fabric. I have discovered that skills I took for granted such as having an eye
for design, did not belong to everyone, and it’s really as simple as that.
Working with the
sewing machine has been trial and error and I am not technically trained as
some of my colleagues, but I do have one of those sickeningly talented
Mother’s, who can turn their expert hand to anything, for a tutor.
The trick for me
is to hone in one the gifts I have, to experiment only within reach of those
natural gifts, and to keep the designs so simple that it comes to life.
I often let the
product guide me, and patterns are usually brought to life through just the
very inkling of an idea. In keeping it all simple, I will madly sketch to develop
a soft toy character, with enlarged features and plenty of detail. I then begin
to deconstruct the sketch and simplify it right back to basic outlines and
bring a neat, whimsy little creature to life through the texture of fabrics and
colours as opposed to the detail of the toy.
In this way, I
have been able to create unique products, created at Milly Molly Mandy from
conception through to manufacture.
I have a casual
couple of dearly talented ladies, whom I can call on when large wholesale
orders arrive in my inbox, but mostly it is just I who am left to beaver away
day and night for my customers, which is only possible because the designs are
simple and the passion is strong.
I cannot see an
end to this endeavor, and truthfully that possibility startles me, so I will
continue in this vein to conceive, create and conquer the world of children’s
soft furnishings so long as you will let me!
Warmest wishes,
Shannon xx
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