30 May 2019

Always be yourself – part two

by | posted in: Emstagram | 0

Always be yourself… part two. .
I spoke earlier about the importance of being yourself in a personal capacity and now I am going to be a little bit self indulgent and talk about he it’s also important for your work and creativity. Around a year ago, I came to a bit of a crossroads. I’d always struggled with being self taught; I felt like a fraud calling myself a textile artist, but I did anyway, because I didn’t know what else to call myself. I’m not going to make this post a debate about art elitism, because .. I don’t want to, but I don’t think it is unfair to say that it was not a world that I felt very welcomed in to. I am sure the subject of my work is too commercial and too safe and positive words aren’t for everyone, and I’m fine with that. I didn’t doubt my skill or ability (actually, that’s a blatant lie!) but the question was, did I try and make pieces with greater artistic intent so that the people who decided they could say whether or not you were worthy of the title would let me in? It all felt a lot like trying to be cool. I never have or never will be cool ? and I decided I wasn’t going to be a textile artist either. I decided to stop trying to be part of a group that didn’t really seem to want to include me, so I decided to embrace the idea of being a maker, which might sound like exactly the same thing, but in my experience are a much friendlier bunch. And friendly people are my kind of people. .
The crux of that decision was all about being myself. The reason that I’m telling you this story and seemingly unrelated photo is that I found out that this product had been nominated for a NOTHS make award. I didn’t make the shortlist, but to even have been considered makes me feel not only incredibly honoured, but also bloody proud of myself and glad that I decided to stick with just being me. .
So there you have it. Always be yourself. .
Ps there’s a link in the bio for the listing ?. .
#alwaysbeyourself #threewordthursday #noths #notonthehighstreet #makeawards #wearenoths… Read More
30 May 2019

Always be yourself

by | posted in: Emstagram | 0

In school, there is always that cool kid .. the person everyone wants to be like, to be noticed by. The person who we measure our own status by depending on how far around their periphery we float. Some children are kind and charismatic and this naturally attracts other children. Others wish to be the top dog develop cliques and attain status by excluding or being unkind to others. Some children desperately want to be included, others just want to do their own thing and are happy If they find someone else who likes doing that too. .
We tend to see that experience as something that happens during childhood, that somewhere on our journey to adulthood, we develop a sense of self and no longer crave approval or feel the need to modify our sense of self to fit in. But actually that pressure to fit in and want to be like everyone else can rear its head at any time and at any transition point where we have to find our place with a new group of people. There always seems to be that person or group of people that people seek out. In the workplace, in clubs, on the playground the second time around. It can be easy to feel as if we need to seek the approval of others and behave a certain way to fit in. But this will not make you happy. Dead fish follow the tide. When you are being yourself it is easier to see what you want in life and what is truly important to you. You will be much happier. And funnily enough, without trying much, your people will naturally come to you. When they do, it will because they see you and they like what they see. Which is a bit of a win-win really. Always be yourself. . I would like to thank @rosiejohnsonillustrates for her illustration for this weeks #Threewordthursday post – if you don’t know Rosie’s account then go and have a look, and you’ll quickly see why she was the perfect person for this weeks prompt ?
. #ThreeWordThursday is a weekly hashtag challenge. Each week a different three word phrase can be presented or discussed in any way that inspires you. Be sure to use the hashtag so that I can find you and please feel free to share it with anyone who might like to join in! The prompt for next week is; never give up… Read More
18 May 2019

Children’s pictures

by | posted in: Emstagram | 0

I just love making children’s pictures, as there’s always a tale behind them. This drawing is of a happy little person who appeared an my kitchen table one day .. apparently left by ‘The Person of Shadows’ (shudders; don’t kids say the creepiest things?!) who went on a sharpie rampage in my kitchen ? I knew – hoped – that one day I might see the funny side, so made a little fabric reminder for my wall.

Hi ? to everyone who has joined me from @mutha.hood after seeing Little Red’s amazing portrait of her Daddy! There’s a link in my bio if you’d like to capture your own fabric story xx
.
#freehandmachineembroidery #childrenspicture #stitchingsmiles… Read More
16 May 2019

Now or never

by | posted in: Emstagram | 0

It’s amazing how adept we are at delay tactics when it comes to putting off something that intimidates or overwhelms us. Even if it’s something we also really want. How often do you find yourself thinking “I’ll start tomorrow” ?
.
In fact we can become so adept, that we might not even realise we’re doing it at all. But the result is getting nowhere fast. Focussing on tomorrow can mean you go around in circles. If you wait for the absolute perfect moment, then you may find that the moment never comes
.
So forget tomorrow, the time to act is now. It’s now or never.
.
#ThreeWordThursday is a weekly hashtag challenge. Each week a different three word phrase can be presented or discussed in any way that inspires you. Be sure to use the hashtag so that I can find you and please feel free to share it with anyone who might like to join in! The prompt for next week is; change is good
.
#nowornever #dontwait #doitnow #do#lasvegassign #creativehappylife #creativitywithmeaning #calledtobecreative #designalifeyoulove #freehandmachineembroidery #freemotionembroidery #everystitchcounts
#ihavethisthingwithsewing #britishstitchers #communityovercompetition #threewordthursday #startabusinessmonth… Read More
15 May 2019

Happiness is not a number

by | posted in: Emstagram | 0

Not long ago my daughter came home with a food diary that someone had given her to keep note of what she ate. After I took her to the recycling bin and showed her exactly what I think about her keeping a food diary, we had a long chat about what it means to be healthy, to be happy, to be loved and kind and important. My daughter is seven. I really don’t think being on diets and keeping food diaries is the kind of thing that should be in the consciousness of children. Yet our obsession with body image is pervasive. It’s easy to blame the media, but we all have a part to play
.
Mental health awareness week’s 2019 theme is ‘Body Image – how we think and feel about our bodies’ In a uk-wide stress survey in 2018, the @mentalhealthfoundation found that three in ten people interviewed had felt had so stressed by their body image and appearance at some point in the past year that they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope. .
47% of all 18-24 year olds they spoke to felt this way about their body image, as did almost one in five people aged 55 and over. .
Your worth is not determined by the size of your clothes. You are so much more than a number on a label. .
#bebodykind #mentalhealthawarenessweek #mentalhealth #bodyimage #freehandmachineembroidery #threadcounts #careinstructions @i_weigh… Read More
14 May 2019

A tiny OK

by | posted in: Emstagram | 0

A tiny ok. Because sometimes you only feel a tiny bit ok
.
And that’s okay; It’s okay not to feel okay. .
And here are few more things to remember; you can talk about it. You matter. You are important. you are not alone xxx
. .
.
#ok #itsok #itsokay #freehandmachineembroidery #freemotionembroidery #everystitchcounts #ihavethisthingwithsewing #bekindtoyourself #mentalhealthawareness #threadcounts #careinstructions… Read More
19 Mar 2019

Small and mighty

by | posted in: Emstagram | 0

When @samburgessuk got in touch and asked if I’d be interested in appearing on her Small and podcast, my exact words were I’m honoured, but I don’t think I’d be very interesting to listen to (I told you I needed to work on the imposter syndrome thing)
Well hopefully I AM interesting to listen to, because you can listen to the episode where we had a chat about me, my business and Instagram today!
Which is fortunate as I was quite stumped as to what to write for today’s prompt for #marchmeetthemaker, which is about collaboration.
Happy listening! Emma xxx
.
#smallandmightystories #smallandmightybusiness #hopeidontsoundtoobristolian… Read More
18 Mar 2019

New mistakes

by | posted in: Emstagram | 0

Dear mistakes,
Over the years, I feel like we’ve come to know one another quite well, and although it might not seem like it in the heat of the moment, you’ve taught me a lot. So from one friend to another, I hope you won’t mind me suggesting that it might be time for a bit of an image overhaul? i don’t know how to break this to you, so let me be honest, people often seem to see you as being a bit …erm, negative. I don’t know, perhaps they feel like a bit of a failure when you’re around? And maybe they feel like if other people see you hanging around them, they might be a bit judgy.
I think we both know that this isn’t the case, and that you have a lot to teach us when we have a really good think about what you’re trying to say, so can I suggest it’s maybe time for a bit of a rebrand? Perhaps you might consider a new name even – happy accident would be my suggestion – let me know what you think next time I see you, I don’t suppose it’ll be long
Your friend
Emma
.
#marchmeetthrmaker is a photo challenge to showcase where why and how makers make. The prompt for today is mistake/lesson. .
#motivationalmonday #embracemistakes #learnfromyourmistakes #freehandmachineembroidery #creativitywithmeaning #stitchingsmiles… Read More
16 Mar 2019

5S

by | posted in: Emstagram | 0

5s is a Japanese system for organising and managing workspaces..a bit of a Marie Kondo for workplaces if you will – although dreamt up long before Marie got in on the action. .
Based on the principles of seiri (sort) seiton (set in order) seiso (shine) seiketsu (standardise) and shitsuke (sustain), it was created by Toyota to improve efficiency and eliminate waste in production. A random fact you may not know about me is that I am a lean six sigma Green belt. This isn’t anything to do with martial arts, but is a methodology for process improvement .. this is why I can’t quite bring myself to work in a mess! I like a tidy space. I spent years working in a clean desk, 5S environment, and also had to lock everything away at the end of each day due to the nature of the documents I was working on.
Are you a tidy worker, or do you enjoy a bit of creative mess? .
#marchmeetthrmaker is a photo challenge to showcase where why and how makers make. The prompt for today is workspace
.
#workspace #calledtobecreative #seekinspirecreate #workspaceinspo… Read More
15 Mar 2019

Goals and motivation

by | posted in: Emstagram | 0

A little while ago I posted and picture of the care instructions label I had made. I talked a little about what had inspired it, but I didn’t really talk about why I’d made it.
In thinking about my goals and motivation … my mission for what I do… I started to see all of my work as little care instructions. Small reminders stitched from and in to the cloth of my work. My goal is to make my thread count ? and keep creating care instructions .
And just because I don’t think I could get a lot more motivation in one picture, here’s the original embroidery of my makers manifesto banner.
.
#marchmeetthemaker Day 14: motivation/goals
.
#freehandmachineembroidery #ihavethisthingwithsewing #freehandmachineembroidery #creativitywithmeaning #threadcounts #careinstructions… Read More

1 2 3 4 5 6 … 16