Back in Action! Fashion Design Career & Business Blog

I've definitely been out of the blogging world for the past three months and have truly missed it. Now that I have a few days off. I just wanted to let you know what's been going on. My freelance fashion job has hired me full-time and my business, http://www.newyorkaccents.com has been really picking up so, I haven't been posting as often as I would like.

Now's a good time to post and wish everyone who visits a Happy New Year. The one thing that I would truly love to do more consistently in 2010 is to publish more posts. I do have a lot to share with you regarding being an entreprenuer and a full-time employee in the fashion industry. So much is going on which is a very good thing.

What about you? What are your goals for 2010?

Wishing you the best and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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A season for everything ...

including a few things I've been working on. My best work though is still my family. So proud of these guys. Knuckles has completed one whole trip around the sun and is taking first running steps in the last couple of days. Marcus is becoming more independent than the whole family smooshed together. Maia is the promise of a beautiful man to come.

black and white ...

These days I'm drawn to black and white. Especially white. All spectrum of white. From raw hemp string (which I am currently knitting on extra large needles to get those wonderful big holes) through to pure white cotton or merino yarn. I recently inherited a big bag of rough white carpet wool. A bane to any decent knitter, but then I am not decent. lol. My covered stones series is coming along wonderfully. I have loaned a few out for display. I love these black stones (when they're wet) with white lines that form circles on the stones. They are my new treasures. I recently returned a boot load of stones to the sea, some with little knitted jerseys on. It tickles me to imagine someone finding one and wondering about it. Wellington is cold, everyone needs a layer of wool even the stones on my beach, lol. I have also felted some. Its exciting. People ask me what I'm doing. I just smile. I love the idea of soft/hard, warm/cold, natural/man-made, black/white. After working with muddy colours with natural dyes for a wee while my eye is being drawn to a cleaner palette and starker contrast.

I wore a black and oyster grey outfit from Zambesi when I got married. I have always favoured dark things. White however is a new pleasure. Even in my journal I write with a black freeflowing ink pen on stark white paper.
Writing, writing, writing. I am hesitant to write about my writing ;). It's flowing well and I am getting lots of little stories and observations down. Those things I find myself pondering and sharing with others over and over. It may be useful. It may be inspirational. It may just be my own personal adventure. So far I have written most days in the gaps between childcare, therapy and community. Even blogging is time-consuming. I love it when there are big spaces but these days I am wrapped up in caring for our little baby. He's growing and absorbing to watch and spend time with. He's just discovered the joy of bubbles. I can't believe he'll be one next month.
It's getting warmer, summer is around the corner. I love to spend time on the beach with the boys. After school, even during school we will happily skive off to the beach and play all day. I'm free of pain and have mobility back again. Looking for sea-leavings is gonna absorb me this year, along with writing and getting out there with my kids. There is nothing that makes me happier than lying in green grass beneath a blue sky with a baby gurgling around in the grass, my boys scooting and whooping down steep hills on bits of cardboards or fossicking around on the beach amidst piles of stones while the children dig pools for the sea to fill.
Yes there is colour in my life but it isn't in the stuff that I own or the spending that I do. It isn't about my reputation or even the people I am acquainted with. It's not found in my career, my appearance or any other external thing.
The colours come from the people I have been blessed with and an acquired ability to find joy in the simplest of things.

more baby adventures ...

It's spring, the grass is lush and green. The park where we play with our friends on Friday's for some end of week fun and beginning of the weekend adventure. A steep hill for the kids to fly down on bits of cardboard boxes and lots of birds to feed crusts of picnic sandwiches too.

I'm here

a swing is for standing in of course !like a little lion, he's hunting for food and happily eats flowers, grass, and dirt.

this baby is finally outside after a long winter.
mama's thankful the long-awaited sun has come.

Knuckles' knuckles. Little lion paws. A happy mama and her cub with the South Island behind us.

I'm just hiding a little. A year of changes. A new child, a new church and new directions. I am writing, most days. Trying to build up the discipline. I am also spending time with people - praying and encouraging where I can. I have decluttered a lot of my home; and with the help of a good friend, created a budget. I have also been in physical therapy for a pregnancy-related injury. I also have the odd funny day where I have to put my head down and breathe slowly.

Today was like that. Having been immobile for much of this past year, now I just want to go, go, GO. So the weekend, I was busy but this morning I woke up drained and tired.

This past year, a compulsory time in 'stillness' has taught me something of wisdom and patience. These days when things are hard, I just sit still and wait for my peace and healing to come.

I have a few friends who are doing battle with depression. I suffered from depression for a few years after the birth of my first son. It was a tough time. I suffered, my marriage suffered and the quality of life for us during those early years was, if I'm honest, poor. I still had my faith and loved my family, but that ugliness hung over me for several looooong years.

Its easy to get blase about depression but its no laughing matter for the person who it's happening too. That feeling that there is just clouds descending from the moment one awakes. Like driving along a road with pot-holes, fog and cliffs on both side. Or being lost down a long dark tunnel.

In the beginning I just felt unhappy all the time. I then thought that everyone around me was at fault. I also picked myself apart. The critical voice in my head had a field day. I was toxic and couldn't for the life of me, pull up. At it's severest I was suicidal. I couldn't get past the feeling that all was doomed. I started medication and treatment and became a mental health patient.

I had several medications and finally Prozac seemed to help stabilise but I was far from feeling normal. Therapy was my next step. A great counsellor who helped me tip out my head and helped me find clarity in my emotional and mental messiness. What didn't help was a bunch of church people standing around me casting out demons. Or people who told me to go for a walk and just keep positive. What did help were friends who were able to handle me being unable to cope for a while and who kept on telling me what I was good at, what they loved about me (even if it wasn't evident) and who were able to stay strong for me and in spite of me. Unconditional love heals many wounds. People who believed in me and allowed me to heal in time.

Mostly I came to understand that depression in my case was anger turned inwards. A sense of powerlessness in my life and situation, an understanding that I couldn't control everything, an acceptance that life is unfair and crappy things do happen. I didn't have to smile and be strong all the time. Not coping is normal! I also got the chance to renarrate some of the stories that I had grown up believing about life and myself. I got the chance to be the Rachelle I believed I was rather than the lost girl I'd become.

During this time and as I started to head into my healing, I started training as a therapist myself. I was totally turned on to easing and relieving suffering however I could both in myself and for others too. I loved church ministry because I don't believe healing can come outside of God but it never opened up for me inside the church. Perhaps in hindsight that ended up being a good thing. I worked in community groups, at medical centres, at a counselling group practice and at a community service. Our home even today sees a steady stream of people needing friendship and some help in unravelling their dilemnas.

I do not have depression anymore and have been 'free' of it for several years now. I can remember a real turning point when a lady shared some scriptures with me over the phone and talked the promises of God straight into my situation. There are no quick fixes anymore than one can wish away a broken arm or leg. Healing can come, but it comes slowly because there are new lessons to be learned.

It is painful though and requires much support and understanding. I am free of the loads I was carrying that I wasn't even aware of. I am able to enjoy this third baby because of that time I walked in the clouds. Life isn't taken for granted. I enjoy the ability to enjoy. I delight in my family and the small daily blessings.

I make it sound relatively simple but it really isn't in the 'going through' phase. It is like running a marathon. A test of endurance when one is depleted and feels that each new step is too difficult. No one asks for this, no one would choose this willingly.

If you are suffering with depression, don't feel happy a lot of the time, weep easily and feel overwhelmed, get some help. It isn't easy because our own pride and the world at large rewards people for coping and despises weakness. There is no pride to be found though in dismantling one's family.

One thing I have to watch for is isolation. As soon as I feel like I can't talk is when I must talk. When I can't leave my home or be with people is when I call in my 'safe' people. People who are easy, who understand and don't judge and just allow me to not have a happy face for their sakes. Who can circumnavigate my emotions and don't need me to look after them.

William Glasser, a reknowned therapist and founder of Choice Therapy discussed the lack of social responsibility he saw in people he was treating. My bottom line, I need to give, share and be a blessing to others. I get a lot of personal satisfaction from seeing others breakthrough and succeed. It really is a blessing to give.

Scott-Peck also discusses it in his Road Less Travelled series. Society is so inward looking. Me me me! We become selfish and self-important.

Self Care is crucial. We need to care for others because its good exercise for our hearts. We need to care for ourselves because we are important and others need us. How can I help someone when I am empty myself.

I don't believe 'balance' exists. It's a myth. I make the best choices I can. If they're not working, then I change them. Nothing is unchangeable.

Having children is a great cure for selfishness. Suddenly my world didn't orbit around my needs, but theirs became paramount. My latest baby has an incredible effect on us. There are more smiles around here, everyone is softer and unashamedly in love with him.

So this today then is my post. It's been awhile. Yes I have been creating art and crafting too. But actually my life is full of the less write-able stuff of raising kids and staying sane and being a blessing. I hope you are well. I am looking forward to the books some of you are writing, some their second.

May you be well and blessed and of sound mind!

Declutterbug

My decluttering project is going great guns. I wrote a plan of what I wanted to do in each room. I spent some time thinking about the purpose of each room, looking at the furniture in there, and imagining how I wanted it to feel and function. I used one of my half-completed journals and just started drawing plans into it.

Here is my lounge as it was.
Lots of things. Being the magpie I am and having an eye for the unusual meant I had lots of odd cool stuff all over the place. Add to that my crafting projects and all the materials and tools needed for each one (not to mention a garage filled to the ceiling, front to back with more stuff) and we are in serious overload. When the girls come over to play, this is our gathering point.

Then there's my children who watch tv here, play games, do art, entertain their friends and sleep in here. During winter, to keep costs low, we sleep the children in here as it is the warmest room in the house. The heating is kept on 24/7 as my kids all suffer from bronchial illnesses and asthma. Wellington is a cold, wet, miserable city in winter.

This room is used for many things. It's where we eat dinner too, hold family meetings, Jedi's practice their saber skills, Ninja's leap about, and babies find old moths to chew on.

BEFORE

AFTER

For instance, in the lounge was a great hulking bookshelf and several baskets with craft stuff overflowing in my corner. I realised that the bookshelf dominated and hid the great view of the ocean through the little window there.

I had a great set of drawers. It has two big deep drawers. It lived in the garage buried beneath more stuff. I had started stripping them to revarnish them. We cleared out the junk and brought in the drawers, took out the large bookshelf and presto, instantly the whole corner changed.

BEFORE

AFTER

I am keeping one drawer for me for my current craft projects and one for the kids art materials. Drawers are good because I can shove my projects in their and they disappear from sight. The top of these deep drawers also provide me with a display surface. It currently houses my crafted goodness which is destined for a craft market this weekend at Pataka Art Gallery in Porirua.

BEFORE

This home is a rental so I must make do with things structurally. I found that just editing stuff out, removing junk and putting things away created a sense of space. Some inbuilt shelves had all manner of made things on them, photos, a painting I did. I cleared it off all but some little wool sculptures I made and two giant Nautilus shells. It became my white space. Me, who never does white, enjoys the visual breathing space all these changes are creating. I also removed one of my textile peices and reinstated my dear friend Dagmar's print back in its home place.

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

" To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan, and not quite enough time."

- Leonard Bernstein.

Overall I removed two large coffee tables, one large bookcase, a multitude of books, several large baskets of yarn and fabric, plus miscellaneous needles etc. I now have two tiny tables handmade by old patients at the Porirua Mental Hospital. I got them for $6 each at the Sallies store and love their naivety.

Today we finished dusting, vacuuming under the couches and wiping the leather down on the upholstery, finding random buttons before our now mobile baby did.

Every room in my home is going through a similar transformation. We have been able to give away a lot of things, hold a garage sale and share the proceeds, as well as chuck out a big carload of rubbish and stuff up to Trash Palace.

I'm on a roll. I found a small green rusted cubbyhole cabinet for the front door, just the right about of distressing and for the costly amount of $5. And the other large bookshelf there is being picked up tomorrow for another family to use along with a baby bath.

I realised my being an 'orphan' of sorts as a kid led me to an attachment to my things, which was the only constant in my life as a kid. I also love holding onto things so that I could bless others. I also love collecting things and can't even return from the beach without a pocket of sea glass, round pebbles, feathers, and buttons.

This process is helping me define what is important to me, and what isn't. So I love textiles and making textile stuff. Stitching, knitting, crochet, jewellery making, and the odd exhibition. As well, I love photography and can't wait to get some of my photos on canvas and onto the walls in the spaces I've created. I'm becoming more intentional each day. I walk past things I would've bought because they represented a good deal. Now I leave things for others to appreciate and enjoy.

Still a lot left to do but we are enjoying our home more, its easier to tidy and has decreased the amount of work I do here, leaving me more time to spend with friends and family having fun.

My Goals:

• Declutter and Clean Home: Two weeks to create a home that works for us and not against us.
• Financial plan and weekly/monthly budget: Two weeks to completely familiarise myself with everything from scratch.
• Homeschool plan: Two weeks to apply for exemption and American curriculum for Nemaia.
• Health and Fitness: Two weeks to establish a fitness plan, some goals and an incentive.
• Career: My own private counselling practice: Two Years time!
• Home: A bigger home when the opportunity arises once the finances are sorted.

Lots of big things to do. I felt so overwhelmed last week when I started clearing my home. But I journaled my thoughts about what I wanted to create, visited some folks who are organised, viewed some amazing homes via blogland and got myself inspired. Even with all the pain from my back injury and complications, I pressed through because I knew it would be worth it.

My husband walked into our lounge the other night and said 'it's like a rugby field in here". My friend Betty Ann and I are pacing ourselves, and email each other regular with any updates and progress reports. Its inspiring and encouraging to see someone elses progress and also hear about their dilemnas. Another friend went home and sorted out her garage full of art supplies. Another friend has asked my help and still another went home to start sifting through her possessions.

Serendipity and hard work. I just keep focusing on one box at a time, one shelf at a time, one task at a time. These little tasks everyday add up. I am seriously considering offering this as a service because I can see how it works. It really is about having a vision and getting your head right about things. I was overwhelmed at first but it was really oppressing living in a constant state of disarray. A reflection that some of my life was out of kilter perhaps.

I can't wait to help friends and anyone who needs a hand to get started. It really does bring a freedom and pleasure that can only be understood after the hard graft.

spring ...

... means summer is coming. It's still chilly here but the flowers are signs that spring has sprung. My children have mostly stopped coughing and we can leave our heavy jackets at home. We are still wearing wool though, my favourite fibre. Slowly peeling back the layers.

Just like my home. One small step at a time time as I go through my many possessions removing the clutter until (hopefully) all that remains are those most important treasures. And as I go, I am confronted with dilemma's as many things contain a story. And I am forced to consider what is important.

Leaving behind an artistic lifestyle to pursue my passion for working with people as a counsellor. And yet I will continue to create which is as essential as breathing really. So I am busy creating small corners for myself. A pile of handknitted and crocheted blankets. A vintage suitcase filled with old embroidered linens. A steel cabinet with all manner of stitchy things. My thrifted woollen blankets await new lives as clothes and homewares. Handmade baskets full of woollen and cotton yarn. A new project underway with new love crochet.

And our daily possessions. One wardrobe at a time. One drawer at a time. One bookshelf at a time. One box to the thrift shop. One to a friend with a baby on the way. A carload to my artistic sister Cleo. One for Trash Palace. Each step I feel lighter as I create space.

Hidden treasures are revealed and bring delight once more. Blessing others with preloved things. I've found the psychology of what I own to be the most interesting aspect of this whole decluttering and simplifying exercies. Why I own things in the first place and why I want to keep them or remove them for instance.

I also have in mind new spaces I want to create. A small shelf of my most used crafting stuff in the lounge to replace the oversized bookshelf that sits there. A desk with my laptop, sewing machine, diary and bible in my bedroom. A cabinet and shelves in the garage with my crafting materials, visual art diaries and supplies. And little else. We may even be able to park a car in there one day.

My dream ... a larger home with a small conservatory-like studio space for myself. A second living room for my children and their friends. An outdoor entertaining space. A family home that can accomodate others.

It's these ideas which motivate me and help me to push past the daily pain I suffer with a injured back. And I will get there one small step at a time.

Kapiti Island at dusk.

crochet ... my new love.

When I was little, my grandmother, 'Mama' as we knew her sat down every evening and created textiles for our home. I remember her always crocheting bedspreads, edges on cloths, etc. And now I have the bug. So happy to have a new little something to fiddle around with.

And here are some images and websites I've found recently.

Anthropologie has some beautiful throws patched together from diverse knitted and crocheted bits and pieces.

Sophie Digard also has some beautiful scarves and jewellery. At Google, you can scroll down to Image Results for Sophie Digard. She's also selling her wares through Selvedge, the all time winner of textile magazines.
Try sitting here mid-autumn, rugged up, surrounded by fresh washed vintage thrifted blankets. Its soooo good. My stack of handknitted and crochet blankets. I will post foto"s

"there's no place like home..."

I saw the Wizard of Oz when I was little. I was so scared. But there's that one little scene where Dorothy is holding Toto and saying "there's no place like home, there's no place like home", those words have resounded in my life.

I am in the process of slowly going through our possessions. Fourteen years of accumulated clutter: as an multi-media textile artist, a lover of vintage, a can't-walk-past-an-op-shop and a survivor of lean times, I am surrounded by things. Things that at one time or another have meant something to me.

I have made a few life decisions recently. One, to homeschool my almost high school aged boy next year. Two, to return to counselling practice and within the next five years create my own private practice in partnership with another friend possibly. Three, to find a bigger home so we can have more people in our home and lives, plus accomodate all our diverse needs as a family.

Add to this a 9 month old baby, seven year old boy, tween-ager of 12 years, a brother-in-law staying and my lovely busy husband, with our usual commitments and daily doings, and life is rather full-on at the moment.

I am having to discern what is important, what is do-able and what is idealistic.

Being an artist has been a lovely diversion these past few years but in my heart I am happier when I am working with people. My artworks feel rather mediocre but maybe I will return in later years and have a bit more nouse then . I will continue to make things for my own pleasure but being a full-time artist and developing my work will take many years and the cost and sacrifice my family would have to pay just doesn't add up. I feel it would take a few more years to develop to a place that I would even begin to get comfortable with. As a counsellor I'm ready to roll out once the right position comes along, and that's a no-brainer really.

Back to decluttering: Its not an easy job. I have been waiting for the right conditions, more energy, less pain, a tidier house (go figure), summer weather, holidays, motivation, help, a sign from God even but alas none of these things ever line up. So its just time to suck it up and get on with it.

I am blessed to have a new friend in my life. We have embarked upon a journey that is turning into quite an adventure. We each, when we can, pick an area in our own respective homes of a size that is personally manageable, take photos (she's been very good, I keep meaning too) and then toodle around decluttering, sorting, cleaning until some measure of order has been created or restored in that small corner. We have no timetable and yet we are starting to pick up momentum. She is now doing a few little areas a day. I just squeeze in as much as I can in my spare time when my back and kids allows.

For me this has involved the very slow process of sorting and tidying the babys cupboard, the two toy boxes under my sons bed, a bit of the desk next to my bed, the overflowing laundry, the washing of my collection of knitted and crocheted blankets, giving away some books and so forth.

We email each other updates, I have been getting several from her daily. She's a cracker. There is something very affirming and inspiring in sending each other emails that list all the little jobs we've done, the decisions behind why we keep some things and why we can let them go, and see picutures of before and after.

I keep telling myself that when we are faithful with a little, then we are able to be faithful with a lot. So I will be diligent. Its not too hard. I just don't have the time or space to accomodate some of my history when my future is trying to come into my life. And there are no more excuses. No knight on a white horse gonna ride in and rescue me from myself. My mum is coming in a month's time but that time will be better spent planning our futures with her (she's a make it happen girl).

I still have a few mountains to climb before I am out of the woods. I have decided to have a yard sale with some stuff, donate the left overs and sell the best via Trade Me, New Zealand's online buy and sell website. All proceeds to help me pay for my homeschool curriculum next year .

All this while juggling a now crawling baby and maintaining my usual support of my family. I am also crafting for an upcoming market.

It also means saying 'no' to other things at the moment because this is really important to me, I can see it will set me free and create more physical and mental mind space, as well as refine my possessions to manageable. I can't wait to have a bigger home one day soon.

A little package came for me today. I will post a photo of it later. Thank you Pat from the USA for my little crochet pot holder. I love crochet.

I am excited about the future. Once I sense my way forward, I jump. Yay.

crown lynn and other thrift store finds ...

Secondhand shops make my heart zing like no shopping mall ever will. Old things with a story have appeal in ways I cannot communicate. When I was a child, my grandmother and I would scour the thrift stores in our small town during our once a week trip to town. I was given money and allowed to buy whatever I desired. I had high heels, books and knic knacs on shelves my grandfather gave me in his workshop. The thrill of a fantastic find never fails to ... well, thrill!

An old tin box complete with worn patina and secret places. $3.

Three little compartments on top tray which lifts out.

A handful of old shell buttons fossicked from a container of old stuff. 50 cents.

CROWN LYNN CHINA
Made in New Zealand.

My grandmother worked at the Crown Lynn china factory years ago. Crown Lynn was big during its time, it opened during the war to provide our country with china due to the shortage of imported goods. I grew up in a house full of Crown Lynn so when I see it, I'm filled with a nostalgia that binds me with memories of my wonderful mama. I have found quite a few pieces recently. Let me show you.

Children's nursery rhyme series, side plate and two cereal bowls, $1 each.

I think this bird cup is beautiful. Also $1.

My piece de resistance is this five piece FOUR place setting in perfect condition.
No chips, no fading. Its in mint condition and in all those Scandinavian colours
and art deco patterns that make it highly prized right now. $25!!!

MORE GOODIES

Another amazing find - 35 Sheffield stainless steel bone handled knives and forks
including some fancy ones in the middle. $1 a piece. Mint condition.

A great bag, my favourite kind for free from my friend Alena.

FOUR vintage cane chairs at $5 each! That's four for $20.
I own six now. I love Trash Palace.


CROCHET

I was given a quick lesson in crochet recently. A crochet multicoloured blanket is called an afghan. They are my recent addictionn while thrifting. My mama used to crochet in the evenings in front of the tv. My grandad would snooze. I would make supper around 9pm during the school holidays. Boil the jug, make a pot of tea and arrange baking on a plate. We would watch The News, Close to Home, Its In The Bag, Frank Spencers 'Some Mothers Do Have 'Em', 'Are you being served?', 'Open All Hours' and Benny Hill. O, I forgot Coronation Street which was um, borrrrrrring. But it was worth it for supper and the baking.

Below are my latest collection. I do have more.

Detail of felted squares and some great handstitched joins. I am always thrilled with handwork.
But wait there's more. My friend Cleo is sooo clever. She pieced all these random handknitted wool scarves, squares and baby blankets together that she had. While visiting her last week she asked if I would like it. Would I??? Do birds fly?! I thinks its simply beautiful, so very much me and such a welcome bit of colour on my bed. It is heavy as. Rich complains he can't move and is a prisoner in bed, but I love love love it. I think it goes with my carpet. What do you think?
This is the bed from the other side. This thing is big and long. Like a scarf for my bed.

On a trip in May, I picked up this very heavily felted one from Savemart, the clothing recycling centre in a cold damp warehouse in Hamilton for $5. It's Knuckles floor blanket. Most of these are on my cold leather lounge seats this winter and they make it much more friendly.

A pile of blankets, nothing cost me more than a few dollars.

A trip to our local Savemart in Porirua last week had me snaffle up this green knitted
blanket for the princely sum of $8. Green is my favourite colour. Sigh.

Another green one with some ugly orange and brown, $8. It needs a bit of repair
but because the whole thing is completely random, I love it.

Facecloths I knitted and crochet from bamboo and cotton yarn.

More cotton crochet flannels for some new babies.

Five china vessels to turn into pin cushions for an upcoming craft market.
$1 each.

There are other things that I've found but this is a sample collection. I'll be posting the Crown Lynn set on TradeMe this week because its not really me. It is very pretty though.