I think I was always destined to be a creator.  With my mother and grandmother both being positive influences, it was not difficult to develop a love of crafting from a very young age. 


As a child my mother particularly spent a great deal of time teaching me to knit and crochet, and in my teenage years, she persevered with teaching me to sew.  As a dressmaker who had once had her own form of small business creating costumes, mum was well qualified to share her skills in assisting me to create some funky new dresses to wear to the local discos!


I took my crafting interests into adulthood where I experimented with a whole bunch of new ideas.  A great deal of influence also came from my mother-in-law whose business included selling craft supplies, allowed me to be exposed to a number of new crafts I would never have dreamed of trying.


Since my initial foray into crafting, I've tried my hand at decoupage, latch hook, cross stitch, tapestry, scrapbooking, candle-making, beading, soap-making and patchwork and quilting.  Surprisingly, I still actively participate in the majority of these crafts.  Some of these have become the focus of my business while others play a huge part in my relaxation activity.


Basically, I love working with my hands and being challenged to create something from scratch.  I often take the easy road to start with and try my hand at some new skills using pre-designed kits for beginners, however I always find it isn't long before I'm looking to stretch my new-found skills by going it alone and creating my own projects.


In recent years, I've discovered I have an absolute passion for the more 'technical' crafts.  Soap-making particularly continues to challenge my skills and my creativity.  I love that fact that I can make the same soap a number of times and every time the result will be different.  Patchworking also has the same allure in terms of tackling increasingly more difficult designs and being technically proficient.  Obviously the use of colour is a significant factor in my creations...and I love plenty of colour!




As for my next new challenge...hmmm, perhaps woodworking might be sufficiently challenging!