Nature's Forge: Who am I?

So this is my first journey into the big, scary world of online blog's!

It was suggested by some of my Facebook fans that perhaps a blog detailing my creative journey and some diy projects would be a good read. Since then I have been debating where to start? The beginning always seems to be the best place, so here goes...

The creative journey begins:

I am very blessed to have been raised by a Mum that had a love for making things and instilled that in me from a very early age. So many different art or craft activities were lovingly and patiently shown to me. I have memories of FIMO clay, hobbytex pens, paint, plaster, fabric puff paint pens, crosstitch, long stitch and some weird plastic melt stuff that you could make jewellery from. When I was in high school Mum taught me how to make jointed teddy bears too. Most of my high school years I spent sketching various images and drawing fashion outfit designs in moments where I was bored or had free time. I also filled notebooks with poems and songs that were filled with the usual teenage views towards love and friendship.

The creativite journey becomes essential therapy:

Fast forward to 2009... and I am in one of the darkest moments in my life. I am struggling with severe daily chronic pain which makes me barely able to get up out of bed or walk around the house. This alone would place a strain on anyones mental health. Add to this the fact that my amazing mother passed away only a few months prior and that I have a 1yr old and a 3yr old who are relying on me, and I can tell you I was not in a good place. I was very blessed to have amazing, supportive people that could help a little bit with the kids and the housework here and there, I don't know where I would have been without their support.

As part of my health issues I was sent to a pain management clinic. One of the first questions they asked, in the initial interview, used to find out more about your health and lifestyle, was "Do you have a hobby?". I had still been dabbling in various creative pursuits up to this point and thought the answer was yes. A week or two later found me pulling out a beading kit that my mother in law had bought me, I figured that I may as well do something while I am lying on the couch. I completed the kit and found I enjoyed it and it helped to distract me. So I indulged in that great pasttime of internet shopping and I looked for some supplies to make more things.

Creating jewellery gave me a great feeling that I had not found in other creative outlets, I will admit that my first pieces were in no way anything fantastic and in fact were quite basic, but I loved it! Don't get me wrong it was not a magical switch that made everything better, I still needed medication and lifestyle changes to cope with the pain and the depression of dealing with all the things happening in my life at the time, but it did help immensely.

The journey takes a new turn:

I then had the encouragement of some amazing people that would be instrumental in me taking this journey even further. A few lovely ladies from my church recommended that I should start selling my jewellery as they really liked it and could they buy some. Of course I said 'yes' because there was no way I could keep the masses of jewellery I was starting to create but I couldn't stop making them either.

The biggest encouragement however came from the lovely Judith from Beads Online. I had started to buy some supplies from her and was asking her lots of questions about different techniques and supplies. Judith was so patient and helpful and even encouraged me to submit some designs for her website's inspiration gallery at the time. Through Judith's encouragement I started to broaden myknowledge and skill base and found that the internet was a great source of knowledge.

September of 2009 saw me create my very first real design, I say that because it was the first design I really planned and thought about and tried to tell a story with. And thus my Secret Garden Choker was born! Not only was it what I consider to be my first real piece, it also won a design challenge too! You can find details and an image of the piece here:

I still have this necklace and I don't think anything could make me part with it.

The journey is always growing and changing:

So since then the journey has continued. It has had its' up and its' downs but I can say without a doubt that I LOVE what I do! From it's beginnings I have progressed over time to taking different steps in the journey: creating a website, doing markets, having featured artist articles in magazines, creating projects for magazines and of course meeting so many amazing people along the way!!!