'twas the season

Ah, Chistmas. It came, it went. The season is so precious. Blink, and its all over for another year. Most of the gifts given in our family were either handmade or fabulous second hand finds (I come from a family of oppshoppers!) There is a real sense of fun in our home as we hide away in rooms and yell "don't come in!!" while we work on each others gifts.

As this blog is brand new and Christmas has just gone, I'm unable to share with you many of the things we made as they've all been gifted. You'll just have to tune in next December to see what we are working on for Christmas 2012 (oh no, did I really say that!?)

However, one gift that I was particularly happy with this year was a teepee for the kiddies. Lovingly made with plenty of "issues" this lopsided teepee was still a hit Christmas morning. Based on the design idea in Kelly Doust's book "A Crafy Minx" and adapted to the materials I had on hand, I love the idea that our kids recieved a joint present this year, and that it will hopefully become a space where their imagination can run wild.

Hope you had a great Christmas, feel free to share any of your own creative adventures you had.

Mezz

Hello....and Welcome!

Hi there folks. Welcome to my cozy nook. I thought I'd best introduce myself and let you know what this little blog is about before I kick off!

My name's Mezz Coleman. I'm a musician who's been playing the Melbourne indie scene over the past five or six years. Along with my lovely brothers (who are my wonderful music comrades) we have played many live shows and recorded an album or two. It's been fun. But it's also been exhausting. After baby number 2 (Miss Coleman) was born in October 2010, I gave myself a year off all things music related. That meant no writing, performing, recording, teaching or singing in the shower (ok, I admit I broke that rule a few times). The idea was to have a break, which I really needed.

(my first full length album, "Parts of You, Parts of Me" released early 2010. The cover was designed by myself and hubby, Mr. Coleman.)

However, a month or two into my self imposed ban, i found myself restless. Not necessarily to record an album, but to do something! Be creative. So along came one of the biggest and most important purchases of my life, Mr. Janome (my sewing machine.) Without him, I don't know how crazy I would have gone this past year. I began sewing things for my kids, and then me, and then our family and friends. I tried a bit of knitting last winter (which was an interesting experiment...) and a bit of this and that. What I learnt about myself was just how important being creative is to me, and that it could be so much more then music.

While I'm looking forward to playing a few more shows in the new year, I've now come to see myself as not only a musician, but an all round creative and crafty type. And while performing my own material is an incredible outlet for me, so is sitting down with a cup of tea, a piece of felt and some thread. So this is my little space to share what I'm working on. It might be an album, a scalf or a quilt. I hope that I can share not only my own passions and creations, but other peole's creativity too. Things that inspire me, and hopefully will inspire you too.

Happy reading. I'm looking forward to our journey.

Mezz

Things that now inspire me....recycling old fabric into a patchwork doona cover for our bed