After being gripped by an eco-dyeing fervour for the last couple of years I found myself taking an unintentional and unplanned break from foraging and dyeing (you may have noticed I've been posting a lot more poems than craft lately). It seemed I had run out of things and reasons... Read more →

I recently dusted off my eco-dyeing pots after a long winter break. I was starting to wonder if my eco-dye phase had come to an end. It turns out I was still into eco-dyeing, the desire had just been hibernating during the cold months. I stopped dyeing over winter because... Read more →

This poem is a collaboration. I recorded the words said by my fellow campers during one of the games we played at the Spring Wild by Nature Village Camp run by Firekeepers last week. The next camp is in January next year. See you there. I sat in the light... Read more →

Spring has just begun and sour grass season is almost over already. To most people oxalis is a weed. For my girls, it's fun to pick and suck on the sour stems. For me, the little yellow nodding bonnets are happy reminders of sunshine and light. I take comfort in... Read more →

All the slow stitching was driving me nuts. It was taking forever and I just wanted to make something pretty to wear - right now! I've got an old wool jacket and it's threadbare in places. Moths have eaten holes in one of the elbows. The sleeves are torn, ragged... Read more →

Happy winter solstice beautiful people! Last week I took my dye pots and bits of rusty metal along to the Darebin Parklands. My girls and I taught some friends how to eco dye. We then boiled our solstice paper bundles outdoors with water from the creek over an open fire.... Read more →

I thought I'd pop on the other side of the camera for a change and say "Hi! How are you doing?" I really hope you are well as we dive into the darkest, coldest part of the year. It's time for me to slow down and reflect on my journey... Read more →

When I make something, I like to imagine the finished product. Spend time thinking about how it will look and dream up creative solutions for making it. I imagine myself using it, I imagine how it will feel in my hands and what it will look like. I imagine myself,... Read more →

The leaf prints turned out beautifully when I dyed the other half of the blanket from the op shop. I got brown, red, greeny-yellow and lots of beautiful details. As well as some lovely shapes from the fat acacia pods I collected at camp. Unfortunately, I had to wait three... Read more →

I had a go at pre-mordanting a white cotton shirt from the op shop with iron water. The technique is explained in more detail in Gumnut Magic's e-book. For this shirt I only used gum leaves which had been soaking in a bucket in the laundry for a couple of... Read more →