Crafty Cuts

Hands up who likes craft? Lots of you, I’ll warrant. Craft is like the much-maligned little sister who is oft-shunned for being by-the-book rather than truly creative. Until recently, craft has been associated with menopausal decoupage societies, creating shrines to Tonia Todman, haunting the aisles of Lincraft and Spotlight looking for scrapbooking materials. But thanks to hipster-craft doyennes such as lovely Pip Lincolne (inset above) of Meet Me At Mikes fame, and a cohort of sustainably minded thrifty types fuelled by Pinterest tutorials, craft has enjoyed a new lease on life. Reader, I went a-crafting at West Elm in South Yarra where I enjoyed a morning of ‘Petals with Pip’ – trying my hand at delicate flower blooms. Here’s the proof!

So, West Elm is a fancy New York-ish kind of interiors store with many a treat. I already seem to have more interiors items than i’ll ever need, so I didn’t browse at furniture – but I DID spy their lovely array of soy candles which have intriguing fragrances and are in beautiful porcelain bowls. Arriving at West Elm I began chatting away to a lass who turned out to be folk-musician Kate Meadley (below, right) visiting Melbourne from Bathurst. What a doll. Listen to her new single here!
Morning tea was on offer, and Pip took our intimate class through the basic steps of creating delicate paper flowers.


Show and tell is always quietly comforting (and confidence-bolstering sometimes, too!). After we finished our morning of chatting, snacking and flower-building, Pip showcased the different array of blooms our diverse group of crafters ‘grew’. A whole new take on asking ‘how does your garden grow’?
Do you have any hidden crafting secrets? By that I don’t mean taxidermy, although I suppose that is a craft. My craft secret? I have been scrap-booking my pile of wedding photos for YEARS now, and there is no end is sight 😀