There are four of us bloggers who have used some beautiful Offset Warehouse fabric to create something and it would be so nice if lots of people voted. Please vote for the one you genuinely like the best. Don't vote for me because you love me - vote for your fav. Ok?
So vote, vote, vote and make us feel like people are interested in our creations :o)
I was accepted with my idea by Zoe under the theme of Everyday Awesome and these are my thoughts.
When
I read Zoe’s theme – everyday awesome – I loved it. What better thought to carry
around in your heart than: there are ways
as creative people to make everyday awesome.
We
are given this day, others were not. Some
people’s days are taken from them by death, by force, by poverty, by slavery,
by chance. We are given this day. This is a day to celebrate. As a mama I have well known the pyjama filled
days, those days of distaste at the stretch marks that have turned my tummy
into something that resembles a deflating balloon. But I also know that getting
up and dressing up for the day, choosing that favourite dress, those shoes that
make you feel indestructible, those earrings given to you by someone who thinks
you are wonderful – those days are better days.
Sometimes
by being everyday awesome and wearing
something special instead of saving it for a ‘proper’ occasion, we make someone
smile. Maybe the person who smiles is the little person who looks up at a
‘dressed up’ grown up and thinks, ‘one day I will still dress-up too’. I think
we owe it to ourselves and our children to send a message out to the world that
we are more than bill payers, notice signers, dinner makers, environmental
worriers/warriors, we are still just a little bit lot, wonderfully
made.
And
so I was so thrilled to be chosen to make a dress from Offset Warehouse’s
collection. Because I believe creativity is important and I am excited to see
people helping us to do that in better ways – ethically, sustain-ably, leaving a
gentle footprint. I am trying to make choices that reflect my respect for this
great human family and for this wonderful earth we are charged to steward.
For
the last 3 years we have journeyed through 10,000s of earthquakes in
Christchurch, as the earth has destroyed grandma’s china, houses, sewer lines
and lives it has also built communities that are knit together, it has made
empty spaces that creative people have filled and it has taught us that what
matters and what remains unshakable are relationships. It has taught me that
joy and love and shared laughter are my gifts to the world and I will give them
with all the generosity I have and in every creative way I can think of.
It has taught me that I can, and should, use
and enjoy my special things everyday or I can save them, only to find they are
destroyed anyway. The value is not in the things themselves, it is in the use
and pleasure we derive from them. It has taught me to use, wear, enjoy, and share
today.
I’m
not waiting for a special occasion. Today is awesome. Every day is awesome. I
am not the youngest, oldest, wisest, strongest, prettiest, cleverest, slimmest
woman in the world and so I owe it to myself, to other women, to my children
and to others to declare (often with how I dress,) I’m not waiting for a
special occasion, a better body, a better day.
Maybe
someone whose day is very far from awesome today needs to look at you and feel
the hope of a better tomorrow. Go out with some glitter in your pocket
(metaphorically) and make the world awesome.
Stop
saving your blanks (in scrabble) until the end of the game. Wear your favourite
dress, use your favourite china, use that massage voucher you were given, paint
your toenails…. Or pay it forward and let someone else enjoy it.
I
leave you with one of my favourite (slightly doctored) quotes:
Life may not
be the party we expected, but while we’re here we might as well (don our favourite dress)
dance (in public).
March
to the beat of your own drum, dress with attitude, be imperfect, be everyday
awesome.
Miriam
x
Styling:
Self-made
flouncy petticoat, shoes from the goodwill op-shop, hand me down tights, also
earrings made from wood from deconstructed houses (as a result of earthquakes).
My
sincere thanks to the fabulous folks at offset warehouse for the opportunity to
make this ensemble and for their enthusiasm in all our correspondence.
Hugethanks to lovely Zoe for picking my entry and for her continued challenge and
inspiration to make good, ethical choices in my own crafting. I hope I have
made something you think is beautiful. Good luck to my fellow contestants I so
look forward to being inspired by your fabulous makes.
More crafty ladies over here
love you more than a brand new stranger-stopping dress xxx
