FOR ADVENTURES

Now that I have this new blog to house my pictures and words, I thought it might be fun to post updates on my little shop and hobby. Photography is my passion and also my career, but I’ve always loved creating with my hands. For as long as I can remember I’ve been an avid maker of ‘things’, whether they were miniature villages with my father made from sticks, paper bark and a hot glue gun, or little figurines and creatures from plasticine to live within. As I got older my creations became more practical, things that I could use or wear or display on the walls. I taught myself how to sew, and I would resize dresses and skirts that I salvaged from Opshops.

Only over the last year or so have I become completely obsessed with making things. I’m always finding myself inspired by a material, or something I’ve found within nature. I turned this obsession into something I could use for my photoshoots, crafting props, little trinkets, jewellery, and sourcing vintage clothing to style my pictures. After a little while I noticed that my collection had gotten out of hand… and that I barely had any room left to keep all these things I had found and made. But I also didn’t want to stop making and collecting? And so my little online shop, our Adventure Fund, was born. Not only does it help us to raise a little money for our big adventure coming up in 2015, but it also gives me an excuse to keep making things that make me happy!

One day I dream of having my own physical shop, maybe it will be in the country, where we’ll live in a cottage out the back. I’ll sell handmade trinkets, vintage clothing, local artists work, second hand books and support emerging authors and photographers by displaying their work. Martin can teach me how to make his wonderful cakes and there will be comfy couches and calming candles, a place to read, and work and eat chocolate cake! For now, and while we are traveling I can have a smaller, portable version of this dream.

I thought I would start by giving you a virtual tour of my little space in our home where I create:

My little creative cubby is hidden with our house, you’d miss the entrance completely if you didn’t know where to look! It’s a barely half a meter wide gap between a cupboard and a bookshelf. 

At the moment I have completely fallen in love with jewellery making. This love was first sparked when I found sea glass and marvelled at this piece of manmade trash that had been transformed by the power of nature into something beautiful. Not only did I feel good about cleaning up our beaches, but I the idea of recycling something into a wearable piece seemed really awesome to me. It took a little while to master the skill of wire-wrapping and finding a style that I liked, but soon I was making so many I didn’t know what to do with them all! Each one unique with it’s own beauty and character. I’ve sold quite a few now and it’s so exciting to think these little pieces of glass from the coast of Australia are being worn all over the world.

It didn’t take long for me to be dreaming up different kinds of jewellery to make. I was exploring a country Opshop when I happened upon a collection of very old, very worn, spoons and forks. I wasn’t sure what I would create with them, but they were much too pretty to leave behind (the secret hoarder in me was over the moon!). A few months later I decided to turn them into statement pendants after making one for myself and wearing it almost daily!

Nothing is quite as wonderful as sewing something you can wear. Most of my creations have been up-cycling, mending and resizing vintage clothing. It’s easier than making something completely from scratch and it feels so good to be saving a piece of unloved clothing! Plus there are already so many pretty dresses and materials out there, why buy something new thats often not very well made when you can go down to your local Opshop and find a vintage beauty that has so many stories to tell and just needs a little TLC. I started really getting into sewing when I released it was all too hard to find stylists for all of my shoots. Especially seeing as I really love working with just a model and myself to create natural pictures. So I started sourcing lots of clothing for shoots that I would resew and use to style my pictures myself. Sometimes I was completely inspired by a piece of clothing and created an entire story around the piece! My collection has really gotten too big… but I struggle with the idea of throwing away these gorgeous pieces that I had put a little bit of myself into. Now I put them up for sale in my shop after they have been used in my shoots (and sometimes they don’t quite make the cut but are still so pretty). I like to keep my prices really affordable, so you won’t see some scary price tag on my vintage pieces. Most of my profit goes straight back into sourcing and sewing!

I’ve always made little trinkets and decorations to hang on the walls of our home. I think having something handmade for decoration makes everything feel really homey. This is our bedroom with some of my handmade bunting flags and a driftwood dreamcatcher. I have lots more exciting ideas for things I want to create for our walls (and maybe yours too!).

MOODBOARD:

Here are a few pictures that are inspiring my creations at the moment, sleek, luxe and black and white. (All pictures were found on tumblr and weheartit, if one is yours let me know and i’ll add a link for you! )

SNEAK PEEK:

And finally, a little sneak peek into what I’m working on at the moment! I always end up taking a few sneaky insta pics while I’m creating.

http://clairealiceyoung.storenvy.com

❤