100 Cups of Tea

I came across a person on Twitter today whose story stopped me in my tracks. 100 Cups is the story of Greg Dion and his quest to meet 100 strangers for tea. In his own words:

"Can something as simple as a cup of tea change your life?

This, if all goes according to plan, will be the story of one young man on a journey of immeasurable importance. A quest to sit down for 100 separate cups of tea, with 100 complete strangers - all with the hope that, well, he might learn a thing or two…"

He then goes on to talk about how he wants to inspire people to be social again. To not be so afraid of one another. Why is it so many of us feel so alone and that it is so hard to have a genuine connection with someone? I struggle with these questions all the time so his blog really resonanted with me.

Check out his blog. 100 cups. Good stuff!

[photo above via 100 cups].

How to make a cape

Ooh, guess what friends?! I have enrolled in a sewing class where I will be learning how to make my own reversible cape! I mentioned on twitter several times that I was obsessed with capes and own a few (a blog post about my cape collection is coming very soon). I'm also excited, because it will be the first piece of clothing that I will make. Plus, sparkling wine is provided during the class so I think this is my kind of class. Bubbles and capes- This is like a dream come true for me! Lol.

The class is at a really cute store called 'Dear Gladys' in Northcote. I will take photos of my progress as I go along and hopefully get permission to take photos of the classroom and my classmates. Yay! I start this Wednesday. I'll let you know how it goes.



ps. I have been making a few changes to my blog design the last few days. Just want to apologise because I have the wrong facebook 'like' button on my blog posts. I'm getting this rectified and hopefully will have this sorted in the next day or so. In the meantime- if you DO like me, please do like my facebook fan page as I've decided to resurrect it. It's been a bit quiet of late.
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The Babysteps Crafter

Sorry I've been a bit quiet of late. The last few weeks have been a big learning curve for me. I started learning how to sew and crochet. Today, I had my second sewing class at Thread Den where we learned how to insert zips and buttonholes. I found it a lot harder than my 1st class where we made a purse. It can be quite frustrating when I'm not sure what I'm doing but I've decided to get over my fears and just do it anyways! The teacher was great and very patient with everyone. So that's been a lot of fun. I think I'll feel really happy when I've completed a garment. My ultimate goal? I would love to make my own winter coat.

Tonight I'm continuing my crochet lessons with my mum. I've been watching the 'learn how to make granny squares' videos over at Meet Me at Mike's which are helping me a lot (Thanks Pip!). I am making a scarf which I'll post on here when I'm finished.

In a way it's kind of funny I'm only just starting to learn how to sew and crochet. After all I did own a crafty clothes store in Melbourne up until last year! I think I never thought I could do it and so I never even tried. Silly really, isn't it? So now I'm trying and I'm enjoying the sense of accomplishment I feel when completing a crafty project. ^_^ So to all you people out there that don't think you're crafty- I say GIVE IT A GO! It's all babysteps, baby! Are you learning a new craft? I would love to hear all about it. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

Talk soon!

Get Excited and Make Things!

Guest Blog Post: Doreen Ooi from Neko Nikon

When I moved to Berlin, I found myself unemployed, almost no friends and not knowing the language at all. This was a pretty big shock for me and I became homesick. I missed my friends. I missed being able to communicate with people properly. I hated being cold ALL the time.

So what was my saviour?



My Nikon D3100. I'm not kidding! I started taking photos of everything: street graffiti, exhibitions, concerts. The streets of Berlin are like a work of art – even the crumbliest apartment can look like an installation.



When I got tired of taking photos of buildings I began making pictures of my cat and that slowly became an obsession that developed into my blog, Neko Nikon. Soon my cat pictures were becoming a bit wearisome (who wants to see 29 photos of the same old ginger cat?) so I started advertising for cat subjects. I approached people at the vet. I auditioned for a film and asked a director if I could shoot his cat if he shot me. I even asked a friend who lived in a squat if I could photograph the cats that lived in his building.

As the weather got better, I learnt how to ride a bike for the first time so I could ride to meet my cat subjects. Now, along with cat photography, I'm obsessed with biking. (Berlin is awesome for biking by the way – it's super flat and there are bike lanes everywhere).


Meeting cat owners has been fascinating. Everyone has a really interesting story about their life in Berlin – the people I've met have either been foreigners (I love listening to what drew them to Berlin) or they were true Berliners who were around the Wall came down.

But what I found the coolest thing about doing this project is photographing the cats and capturing their personality. I honestly think cats tell the best stories.