Maddabling: Guest Blogger

Friday, October 5, 2012

Blogtoberfest - Day 5 - Friday Friends - Guest Blogger - Kat - I Saw You Dancing

Welcome to Day 5 of Blogtoberfest12. This week, for the Friday Friends feature, I am going to hand the blogging reigns over to Kat of the I Saw You Dancing blog. Kat is hosting Blogtoberfest this year - YAY ! I will now let Kat tell you her inspirational story xo

See you all tomorrow for Day 6 of Blogtoberfest12.

FRIDAY FRIEND GUEST BLOGGER

KAT - I SAW YOU DANCING

Thank you, Samara. I am so honoured to be featured on your beautiful blog as this Friday’s friend!

Who am I?

I wish I had a pithy and profound answer to that question!

I am a writer, I am a blogger, I make art.

I am a mama, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend.

My creative journey really started in earnest when my daughter was born and I stepped off the career treadmill (and gave myself “permission” not to work full time). Starting my blog in January 2010 was a huge step in sharing my art, my writing and my dreams with the world. The connection with kindred spirits from all over the world really has changed my life, in the best of ways.

E. M. Forster once described my one of my favourite poets, Constantine Cavafy, as a “Greek gentleman in a straw hat, standing absolutely motionless at a slight angle to the universe”. I really love the loneliness and strength of this image. It is also one of the things that jumped out at me from the Hafiz poem that inspired the name of my blog. http://isawyoudancing.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/first-day-and-rest-of-poem.html

It’s fair to say that loneliness, self-knowledge, the power of the written word, art and connection are the themes that run through my life. My greatest inspirations are the lonely artists of history who stood at a slight angle to the universe. Many of these were women who were labeled as “difficult” or “hysterical” or just excluded from mainstream society. But often they turned this rejection into something powerful, inhabiting the margins with defiant exuberance. I’m thinking of Frida Kahlo, May Sarton, Anais Nin, Vali Myers, Lucia Joyce to name but a few.

My favourite medium to work in is collage and I often use acrylic paints in my mixed media work. Up until now, I have just dabbled, making gifts for family and friends and sharing the odd creation on my blog. But now, with the guidance of a creative coach, I have started to focus on what I have affectionately codenamed “my dream book project”. It is a work in progress and only the goddesses know what it will finally look like!

But, to give you an idea of the form it is taking, the art has been inspired by the work of Sabrina Ward Harrison and Christine Mason Miller: layered, handwritten, with quotes and haiku to stir the soul... and, likely, the invitation for readers to write their own thoughts and dreams in the margins.

Right now, I am hosting a fun blogging festival and warmly invite Maddabling readers to join in.

I am especially excited that the creative prompts I post on my blog will include a guest post from yourself, Samara, with an invitation to join your wonderful photo challenge.

I can be found at isawyoudancing.blogspot.com

Or on twitter @kat_anew

Or on instagram @katsawyoudancing

And more information about Blogtoberfest12 can be found at

http://isawyoudancing.blogspot.com.au/p/blogtoberfest-2012.html

Friday, April 6, 2012

Friday Friends - DUSTy Divas - DELicious Designz - Guest Blogger

Dear readers, I hope this Good Friday finds you well. I had hoped to get some extra blogging done this week but sadly it was not to be, I promise I will make up for this over the coming fortnight. This week, for my DUSTy Diva Friday Friend Feature, I am handing you over to a dear friend of mine and guest blogger - Maddabling wishes you all a very happy, safe and chocolate-y Easter break.

A DELicious Dilemma

Hi, I'm Adelle - aka DEL, and this is my story. Back in May 2010 Samara featured me as her Friday Friend. Since then she has showcased a handmade artist every Friday!! That is no easy task and just goes to show the commitment this gorgeous girl has to the handmade community.

Samara has been kind enough to ask me to feature again, as recently the large corporation known as Etsy closed my store and required me to go through a handmade validation process. There have been many sellers put through this process and some who have not had their stores reopened - which makes those affected angry. Angry because there are many obvious resellers on Etsy that are operating without question. So I am moving onwards and upwards, with the support of my DUST team who have been sending me cards and gifts to show they care, and I am not going to let this stop my creative passion. I am now slowly getting my DELicious Designz set up at my new selling outlet Zibbet and you can also find my GetSPOONed store over there too.

Since my first feature here 2 years ago some things have changed and some stayed the same (reminds me of a song). 2 Years ago I was very passionate about resin and could not get enough of creating bangles, pendants, magnets, rings - it was so much fun. Then my body started telling me that it didn't like all these chemicals - I started getting very bad reactions to the product, so in the best interests of my health I had to stop that avenue of creativity. I could however still create my spoon pendants as this resin was not as nasty as the other one, and I used much smaller doses. I created a collection of spoons entitled "Alice". They were so much fun to do. I loved doing the photography for each of them too, so much so I made a mini book of the collection. You can find the full series on my Facebook page .

What is next for GetSPOONed? I am unsure, to be honest. I think another series is on the horizon though but just need to decide what it will be.

So from the beginnings of DELiciousDesignz my creative direction has changed, a lot! My love of crocheting has taken off again and I am having so much fun with designing and making. My signature lines at the moment are "My Comfy Mary Janes"

Scoodies - the ultimate Scarf/ Hood Combination

Barefoot Sandals - Fun for dance, yoga, pool, beach, home

Funky Animal Hats - I just love making these and they just look sooooo adorable

Some of my original designs include - Little Red Rudolph, Elmo, Little Bunny Foo-foo, (oh and I make bunting too). I am always up for a challenge to try something new , so what have I been doing - Hair Bows! I made some for my girls and then decided I would do some up to take to market. I had a whole case full for my market yesterday, so my stall certainly had some variety! Oh and one last thing, I just have to show you a few tea cosies I have made - these may be appearing in my store soon.