Love Is…
2010.
Such a futuristic sounding year isn’t it? Brings to mind images of spaceship looking cars, whiz bang robots, intergalactic councils of funny looking folk with tentacles sticking out of their cheeks. Possibly not? How bout a time where people use renewable energy, recycle and reuse materials as much as possible, public transport is quick, clean and efficient, our food is organically grown by local producers, and all peoples are free from oppression and discrimination. One would think that sounds more likely, but sadly it doesn’t seem to be the case.
The upcoming Australian elections seem to be about the least important things. Politicians looks and appearances, shady backroom dealings, gimmicks and media trickery. Anyone who saw the leaders debate will be astutely aware that vision is sorely lacking in this election and rather than striving to demonstrate who might be the better leader, both major party leaders seem to be stuck in the great race to the ideological bottom.
I’ve always been a firm believer in the politics of love. Elections should be a chance for the community to declare their aspirations, visions and ideals. Rather than spend time dwelling on what makes us afraid and angry. Our elected representatives make daily decisions on an amazing range of issues. They take the time to think about the stuff most of us would never be bothered to think about. And our lives flow so much more smoothly because behind the scenes our politicians work very hard on what can sometimes be insanely mundane matters.
When we chose who we want to represent us, it’s not just about where they stand on one or two issues. Just as important, it’s about how they see the future of our world and how they approach decision making as a skill.
Sadly I can’t vote in this election, but if I could, the main factor I would use for my decision making would be the candidates’ commitment to basic levels of social and environmental justice. This election is about far more than tax breaks and ‘border’ ‘security’. This election we need to elect a group of people adequately prepared to put aside the silly tricks and take responsibility for some true leadership. If we don’t, it’s our grandchildren we need to answer to.
What qualities do you look for in a leader?
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On that note, how frickin ridiculous is it that we still have to have conversations about legal equality? When we look for candidates who have sound decision making practice, a very easy indicator is if they believe it’s ok to withold basic legal rights based on a persons sexuality. And even more importantly, are prepared to stand up, be a leader, and help change the laws that discriminate. Sadly it seems too many of our ‘leaders’ have decided it’s politically safer to pander to fear and hate than to take the just path and stand up for what is right.
So when the gorgeous Ali got hold of me last year and said ‘hey I found some old patterns that need subverting and you’re just the person to do it’, I took one look at what she sent and knew exactly what needed to be done.
I had such a lovely time stitching what became affectionately known as ‘my boys’. And you can too. The pattern is for sale in our store and 50% of all sales will go to the equallove.info campaign. Because after all, love knows no borders, no religions, and most importantly, no discrimination.
xox
Rayna
p.s. you might notice things look a bit different round here. Yip, in the middle of redecorating. Click on one of the images in this post. See that? Clever huh? I got that going all by myself 
There’s more to come, keep an eye out. And please let me know if you have any feedback, I’d love to hear it.
For the love of it..
One of the main reasons I craft is for the joy of process.
I find nothing more calming than sitting down with a cup of tea, a good podcast or tv show and picking up some stitching. Sometimes though, stitching can turn in to a bit of a chore. I do most of my stitching for exhibition or testing designs for sale as patterns. And I enjoy both equally. But it is super important that I give myself a balance between the two otherwise it does sometimes start to feel like work.
And occasionally I like to sneak in a stitching project just for fun! We truly can’t take ourselves too seriously all the time otherwise it’s easy to lose perspective on why we’re being serious.
I’m guessing I’m not alone in the craft community in feeling like crafting is a form of meditation for me. What I find particularly interesting is how my wandering thoughts change depending on what it is I’m stitching about. I have spent time stitching and thinking about craft history, feminist organising, radical parenting, environmental activism, identity politics just to name a few things. And I very much enjoy this intellectual space crafting provides for me.
However, when I’m working on a bigger project I sometimes find I need a BREAK! The problem when you’re on a deadline though is that it can only be a little break. It’s times like this I often crack out the sewing machine and make a small project or two. Or I do a small cross stitch project, often on a kids tshirt or something.
My latest short break was inspired by a dig in my craft room and I stumbled on a wee frame I got in an op shop. It had been lying around for a while and I decided I’d had enough looking at it and wanted to use it. So I grabbed an opportunity to make something new and little and frivolous.
And I’ve decided to give this one away. I want to give this to one of our readers just to say thanks for your ongoing support. Despite not having too much time to blog at the moment it makes me so happy that people continue to visit and say hi. And people keep joining up on Facebook, Twitter & Tumblr to share ideas, projects and thoughts.
So to enter this give-away, just comment on this blog post and I want to hear what it is you get out of your craft? What sort of fulfilment do you appreciate from having time to make stuff? Comments before July 16 go in the random draw.
xox
Talking Craft and Crafting Craft
Hi folks
How are ya? Things are cruising along rather nicely in Radical Cross Stitch land; projects slowly coming to completion, babies growing nicely, plenty of baking going on. Goodness this winter is a bit chilly isn’t it? Really can’t wait for Spring and Summer to brighten our lives again.
In the meantime, there’s a couple of events coming up you should know about.
Firstly, as part of the State of Design Festival, the Craft Cartel is going to be part of a panel discussion during the Counter Point project at Melbourne Central. Together with Citizens of Elysium, Clothing Exchange and The Social Studio, we’ll be chatting about the social and environmental realities of consumerist culture and what the alternatives are. I’m really looking forward to this event, there’s some great people on the panel and it’s part of a really interesting and subversive larger project. I do hope you can come along!
(click on images for larger view)
Next up on the events calendar is SUPER TOP SECRET and I truly can’t tell you about it yet. But it is ACE!!!!!! and it’s about craft and it has some other super people involved and it’s in Melbourne on August 1st. So put that day in your diary, I swear I’ll tell you all the details as soon as I can. One word though. SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! Ok one more word, POPCORN.
Flicking over in the calendar a bit the Craft Cartel are heading to Sydney in October to participate in We Craft This City at Object Gallery. We’re pretty super excited about this one! We may even be heading up a bit earlier to do some sunny, spring time crafting in the park to get people ready and excited about the show. Will let you know if that happens. But what’s definitely happening is some hard core Craft Cartel knitted dynamite action. And you can be part of the fun! Just pop over to the tutorial and grab yourself some wool. We’re trying to get the worlds largest knitted ammunition cache together. We’d LOVE you to help!
Finally 3CR subscribers would have already got your copy (I think..) but the theme of this years Radiothon was ‘Handmade Radio’ and the lovely Nicole asked me to help her make a handmade radio tutorial. Nicole did some ace instructions for a plushie radio and I contributed some patterns for some speech bubbles to come out of the radio. Pretty darn fun!
And to help with the super important efforts of keeping community radio on air, I will pledge $20 for anyone who sends me photos of their completed hand made radio. G’arn!
(click on images for larger view)
