I was so happy to get back to the Darebin Parklands recently so that I could forage eucalyptus leaves for natural dyeing. When I was last there, I'd seen some gorgeous gum leaves on the ground that were all mottled and multi-coloured. I'm not sure why they drop from the... Read more →

Earlier this year I found lots of beautiful skeleton leaves under the gum trees at Darebin Parklands. The lacy leaves looked so beautiful with their delicates filigree and I wondered what made them lacy. Did the leaves lose their 'flesh' at a certain time of the year because of the... Read more →

I didn't read Eat Pray Love when I worked at a publishers and saw the cover every day. I didn't feel drawn to it somehow. I have on the other hand watched Elizabeth Gilbert's TED talk on creativity more than once. She's funny, inspiring and insightful. (One of my other... Read more →

Not all my experiments turn out successfully. In fact there are quite a few disasters as well. This post is about one of the disasters. While I was at the Wild By Nature village camp I ran an eco dyeing workshop. I threw into the pots a wool bundle, a... Read more →

I just can't stop eco dyeing. I'm hooked on the alchemy of turning raw plant materials that I have foraged from nature into dyed pieces of paper or fabric. Gathering the raw materials makes me so happy. My hands love the feeling of plants and my soul loves being outdoors... Read more →

On the weekend I piled into the car with hubby and the girls for the 3.5 hour drive to Albury. We stopped along the way in Euroa, my favourite country town and stocked up on books from the fabulous second bookshop. When we got to Albury we had enough time... Read more →

While I was at the Wild By Nature camp I ran an eco dyeing session for adults and kids. It was chaotic, crazy and wonderful with people dropping in and out, asking questions and getting excited about natural dyeing. I had brought some paper as well blank silk and wool... Read more →

I was so blessed to go to the Wild By Nature Camp run by Firekeepers in the second week of the school holidays. For five days the girls and I camped in the bush, explored, sang and told stories around the camp fire. It was a magical camp from the... Read more →

I got seduced by a photo of camellias in brine on @littleshiningforest's Instagram feed. They looked so fabulous sitting in their bowl of camellia goodness that I just had to give it a try. Luckily camellias are blossoming all around my neighbourhood at the moment. Armed with a few tips... Read more →

There are a few eco-dyeing books I've got my eye on. One is by India Flint and the other is by Louise Upshall. I'm insanely curious about their process and how they get their leaf prints. And part of me really, really wants to know the answers. But I'm holding... Read more →