the one where I don't apologise for being away for so long

I've decided to join in with the love your blog challenge hosted by A Playful Day. I feel it should be a great way to ease back in to blogging. It might also motivate me to finally re-vamp this space (do bear with me as I tinker away a bit). Every Monday during the month of April there will be a prompt for us to blog about and a link to others that are participating. Why don't you join in too?

Interactions and Community

Community has always played a very important role in my life and coming to Algeria has made it even more important. I need that balance of having my own space, dealing with my familial responsibilities, interacting with those around me locally, internationally and online.

I know I've blogged previously about how I was inspired by other bloggers to start crocheting (now, what seems like a lifetime ago!), to try out continental knitting and to get some graphic design experience under my belt. I now find myself at a point where I turn to particular crafts for particular needs and one of my needs is to be able to "geek out" about it. To just talk about knitting techniques on Ravelry groups, future crochet projects at our local yarny sessions and to just ogle at some artwork that a friend has spotted online. Blogging was always a great channel for this but then life happened, changes occurred and it seemed easier for online, social interaction to take place on sites such as facebook. But in writing this post I've found myself looking back at my blog and seeing it at as my creative journal too. I have missed this space. This space which is a relatively visual one yet has a splattering of my words and thoughts.  

I re-visit old projects in a bid to inspire those that are starting out on the crochet journey.

Having tasted full-on creative interaction online, I crave it in real life too. Which is why it was fairly easy for me to decide to work with Emma on Al Mubdiaat (The Creatives) as a local project here in Algiers; a kind of bricks and mortar version of Great.ly perhaps? Circumstances have led to a little delay in getting this project up and running but I hope and pray that we can it going again very soon. There are so many creatives here and so much beautiful work that I would love to share as much as I can with you in upcoming posts in sha Allah. 

One of the things I aim to do these days, is to be more mindful in my day-to-day life, and that includes my creativity. I have to think about what I'm making and what I need and will I use it or will I sell it and will it sell and ... well there is a lot to think about! I don't want to dither around too much though. I need to take a leap with a few ideas I've been holding back on. 

At times it can get a little lonely, once the storm of family life calms down and you're left standing at the kitchen sink full of dishes wondering where your place is. Sometimes you need a hand to pull you up and get you moving again (like an invite to an online creative group!). The people that come in to your life at those times, probably don't even realise what an effect they have on you.

I LOVE receiving post! What about you?

At other times, winning giveaways and receiving swap gifts can bring the warmth of online interaction literally in to your home. A few weeks ago I was under the weather and as I scrolled down my facebook feed I suddenly whooped with joy as I found out I'd won a crochet pattern in a giveaway! Don't you just love that feeling?

I won a print of my favourite flower, painted by Anne of My Giant Strawberry

And she sent me these extras too! Aren't they beautiful?

My swap goodies all the way from Malaysia!

I enjoyed designing the art for this tote bag for my swap partner.

I remember Kirsty's My Creative Space and how it was a great source of creative interaction with others across the globe. This challenge can also be a way of sharing and forming connections.

a sneak peak at something I've been working on

I've always had a passion for creative work and I've always wanted to to do what I love. Interacting with others that are doing that is pushing me to get on with it too. Sharing our happy moments, our fears to do with taking the indie business leap, issues with branding and marketing and various other experiences and tips with others in the creative community all help a great deal. I love combining my graphic design work with crochet and a bunch of ideas go spinning through my head. But, I'll wait patiently until my latest swap partner receives her gift before I share one of my latest makes with you!

You can check in with others that are loving their blogs here!

#loveyourblog

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the power of we - blog action day 2012

Did you know that it's Blog Action Day today? I found out when I saw GeekTalker Claire Sale's post about The Power of We and decided to join in. The Power of We is the theme this year and one of the reasons is because "The Power of We is a celebration of people working together to make a positive difference in the world, either for their own communities or for people they will never meet half way around he world."

When I was approached about teaching crochet to some ladies I had imagined a little coffee and crochet session. But the active soul that had come up with the idea had other things in mind. She wanted to recycle plastic bags. She wanted to crochet them up. She wanted to get ladies on extremely limited incomes to do this. She wanted to help them market and sell the items. She wanted to "teach them how to fish". She has been running around, connecting people, convincing people of the idea, asking people to help put this together, purchasing the necessary tools, visiting the ladies that are a part of the community we live in yet we hardly see them, cutting up strips of plastic for me to play with and more! It's more than crochet or crafting or socialising. It's a community building effort. Thursday's GeekFest was a gathering of somewhat like-minded individuals, but I think tomorrow, when we have a pilot workshop to get some items produced, it will be a bridge-building activity too. The organisation heading this project is Ateeq, which means ancient or time-honoured, in Arabic. They promote the time-honoured methods of creating and the individuality and patience that used to be employed in making goods. An organisation called Rawaj, has offered a venue for the pilot workshop tomorrow in sha Allah. I'm excited to see how it all pans out. And I think it will be a great last project for me to be involved in before I leave Jeddah in sha Allah. 

If you are a crocheter and would like to get involved, do contact me: 
by email fruitfulfusion@live.co.uk
or Facebook
or Twitter

There's a lot we can do when we come together, don't you think?

And yes, still blogtoberfest-ing!

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blogtoberfest

Friday was a rough day. Do you know that empty feeling? And you believe no one else gets it. It was a bit like that. But since then, I'm finding myself immersed in busy-ness and I feel better for it. We're still waiting on things before we can book our flights and set our date to leave. So I'm tempted to jump in to Blogtoberfest, a week late but why not? I've never done it before. Do you think I can blog every day for the rest of this month? I'd like to try. I don't have a plan. I don't have a theme. I might use the prompts. I might not. All I know is there are things going on all the time. Some big. Some small. It would be a great way of archiving my "stuff before I leave". Do you see blogging that way? Initially, I didn't. I'm not the type who goes back and re-reads their blog posts from yesteryear. But I've had to at times, while looking for something and it has been quite interesting. So many times I've thought "Did I really do/say/write that???" 

I don't often check my blog stats either. Occasionally, out of curiosity, I'll check to see where people are coming over from and head over and pay referring sites a visit. Sometimes I get some funny little search keywords. Last week I had this:

do gifts that fall apart mean a hex

I hope they didn't find what they were looking for here!

Now that I should be leaving soon, I think it will be nice to share more slices of life here in Jeddah. Especially the art and creativity.

I have a few other projects to share with you and in sha Allah I can do that too. And those draft posts are haunting me too! 

For now though, back to the business of educating my children ... 

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pay it forward

 Some time last year, I left a comment somewhere on the blogosphere and yesterday, I got this...

A beautiful bag, crocheted in lovely colours, all the way from Australia, from Rie of Crafty Rie!!!
What a surprise! She said I could possibly use it for yarn, books or snacks for a picnic. I'd love to use it for all of those! But for now ...

yarn it is!

It was a "Pay It Forward" that I'd commented on to join and now it's my turn to do just that and pay it forward!

So, if you're up for it, leave a comment. The first 3 to leave a comment will receive something handmade by moi! Then you have a year to make 3 things and carry on and pay it forward to 3 more on your blog!

Oh and don't forget, the charity craft auction is still on and that purse is still up for grabs! You don't have to be a blogger to bid. It's perfectly fine to bid anonymously (but it would be wise to give yourself a name so you and I can tell you apart from another anonymous!)



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my perfect crafting day - 3KCBWWC

It's the last day of the knit and crochet blog week! Today's prompt is to do with balancing the crafts of knitting and crochet - 3KCBWDAY7. As I pretty much did this in a recent post, I have to play the wild card today: my perfect crafting day.
I decided to sketch out my thoughts!

Ok, it's a bit of a crude sketch! The use of colour was simply to infuse a bit of life into it.

No explanation necessary, I think. I do love reading and travelling, but neither fit into a perfect crafting day for me unless I'm taking a break!
I really enjoyed taking part in this weeklong challenge. I thoroughly missed the use of a keyboard though!

I'll leave you with some of my favourite contributions from day 5 (the creative prompt, where we had to do something different). There were great wordless posts, gifs, patterns, comics, poetry, riddles, video blogs, podcasts and more.

a letter from a ball of yarn
a little comic that reminds me of my own relationship with crochet
a yarn personality flow chart

posted from Bloggeroid

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something a bit different - 3KCBWDAY5

This one was tough! I've been wanting to play around with stop motion movies for a while now. I like the somewhat "rough" feel of them. I should have picked a time when I had access to a computer. But trying to do this purely on my phone added to the challenge!

Here's my first ever stop motion creation. It's called "Friendly Flowers" and is based on what might happen when one enters a new community or circle of friends. I had to explain it to my kids. Do you see the story?



If you like this post, you can nominate it here

posted from Bloggeroid

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a knitter or crocheter for all seasons - 3KCBWDAY4

Seasons? What are they? Where I am, it's hot ... and hotter. No, I joke, because in reality, some "winter" days are quite spring-like, with gentle breezes, and cool mornings. But generally that's it. I do miss the varying seasons. So does the crafter in me.


When I'm sensible, I crochet items for the home or something light and lacy.

Bags and cushions are great too, as it doesn't usually matter how warm they are.



For wearables I tend to stick to cottons.



And for blankets the warm and wash-friendly acrylics are fine.



Sometimes though, my craving for the seasons, namely spring and autumn, are reflected in my colour choices.




Warm tones for autumnal bliss.






And light and bright for spring's freshness.





This post is part of the 3rd Knit and Crochet Blog Week. To see other participating bloggers' posts, just google the tag: 3KCBWDAY4

posted from Bloggeroid

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my knitting or crochet hero - 3KCBWDAY3

I've never seen my mum knit but she bought me a pair of needles and some yarn when I was 10 years old and taught me to cast on. She saw me through the frustration of learning to knit a stitch. Then my aunt, her sister, who used to be an avid knitter, taught me how to purl and create a little box pattern. She bought me some yarn too in bright, vibrant colours. Twenty years later, I went at that yarn with a hook!

I'd seen my nan crochet very briefly. I saw the beautiful yarn creations of others and once I started seeking out guides on the net, that was it!

My journey through crochet has been one that I've thoroughly enjoyed. And funnily enough it took me back to knitting too!

So, who's my hero? There is no way I could pick one! No way!
My heroes are
- the ones that share and in turn inspire through all of their craft work, be it on beautiful blogs or by working on something in public, whatever
- the ones that design the gorgeous work
- the ones that teach it via youtube, or come to the aid of fellow yarncrafters on ravelry, on how-to sites, on blogs and of course, old school,real life classes :)
And most importantly
- the ones that encourage us by starting us off, giving us the gift of learning a new skill, accepting our humble, handmade gifts, graciously, by asking us about our crafts and by pushing us to keep crafting

Is this a cheat answer to day 3's question?



I can't help it. It's just not simple!

posted from Bloggeroid

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photography challenge day - 3KCBWDAY2

Once again, I'm taking part here and today was a photography challenge. Was this a challenge or what? Once upon a time, I had ideas about working in layers and creating fantastic effects (not that I'm amazing at Photoshop). Yes, edits are allowed and there was a lot of playing around I had imagined.

That was until the monitor went kaput and the laptop fell into a somewhat critical condition.



Apps to the rescue?

Like what you see? You can nominate me! Here!

posted from Bloggeroid

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colour lovers - 3KCBWDAY1

Remember that knit and crochet blog week over at Eskimimi Makes? It started today and I'm trying it out!

Day 1 is all about colour. When I first started to crochet, I didn't have a lot of yarn choices. One of my first big projects was a huge hotch potch of colours because I had all the oddments of yarn that Hubby had picked up at a boot sale.

But as I look through my yarn stash now, I get a better idea of my colour choices.

I go for neutrals, especially if I'm going to wear it.

Or if someone else is going to wear it.

Unless they want a bit of colour.

Or I need to work with colour!

What I know for sure is that I don't limit myself to certain colours. I feel it's more about the colour combinations for me ... and a lot of the time, how I'm feeling. Neutrals? Loud colours?

Sometimes I like to mix the muted tones with pops of colour.

And other times I pick colour combinations subconsciously. Really!
I did it here

where I was inspired by trips to Algiers.

And here

where I was inspired by this!

How about you? How do you choose your colours?

posted from Bloggeroid

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