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Come behind the scenes at Her Library Adventures and tour Sophie's cosy craft room in Mildura, Australia.
I love the afternoon sunshine that pours into my craft room, it washes the room with a beautiful warm glow which is wonderfully inspiring. It's especially beautiful in the winter and there is nothing quite like sitting at the vintage table, writing letters or sewing on a Saturday afternoon.
Tell us about your space
My craft room is located in the spare bedroom of our home. The room is small and cosy and always full of bits and pieces. It's a relatively new space but slowly I'm enjoying adding to the shelves and love spending time on projects in there. Having a busy toddler running around, these days I tend to do crafts and projects that I can take anywhere with me, so I use my craft room as a get away space, a place to write letters, to journal and to find a moment of quiet.
What have you done to make your space cosy, beautiful or inspiring?
Over the years I've collected plenty of vintage linen, crockery and ephemera which I love to arrange on the large open shelving unit. It's an ever changing gallery that features my favourite thrifted finds, books and of course craft supplies. I'm always adding new art work, switching up my mood board and incorporating lovely things from my friends and pen pals. Currently the feature of the room is a 1950s dining table, which works beautifully in the middle of the room as a desk. It's a great place to spread out and really get creative.
How do you keep organized?
I love open shelving, so you can see what you've got and use baskets and boxes to stash bits and pieces. I've recently started being a little more minimalist with my craft stash and really making the most of what I have. Not only does it help the creative process, but it's also much easier to stay organised and not feel overwhelmed by my stash.
Any tips & tricks for organising supplies?
My ultimate tip is less is more. The moment I realised I didn't need to fill my craft space to the brim, I felt instantly lighter and more creative. These days I try to recycle and upcycle as much as I can and also make use of basic supplies like twine and calico for many of my projects. I also love to trade supplies with fellow crafty friends, when I feel like I don't need them anymore. Keeping things simple makes the precious time I have to myself in my space much more fun and rewarding.
Which are your favourite possessions and are there any of your own creations on display?
The room is quite small but I have managed to find spots for a few of my favourite typewriters, my collection of vintage wallpaper and mid century kitchenware. I use vintage bread bin for storage and keep buttons in the canisters. One of my favourite things is my Nan's old knitting needle case, it's such a wonderful fabric and reminds me of learning how to knit with her when I was growing up. Currently on display is a range of crochet mandala wall hangings that I made for Wilde Asher, the online store I run with my mum and sister. I love reflecting on the creative process and keep a few sample pieces for myself to look back on as I am exploring designs for a new collection I'll be working on in the coming months.
How do you organise your inspiration and ideas?
I love inspiration boards and I always adding to the large board that's currently a feature of my craft room. I also have use an inspiration journal, which I lay out like a magazine with all my favourite clippings. I refer back to these not only for craft projects but also blog posts and magazine articles I style and write.
Where do you look for inspiration?
My biggest source of inspiration comes from nature. If I'm working on a new idea, I love to take a walk down to the river and forage for leaves and flowers along the way. These often become part of vignettes I put together or inspiring colour combinations. I'm working on a range of naurally dyed products at the moment, so I'm forever foraging for leaves, bark and berries to use to make dyes.
If you had three wishes, what would you do to make it the dream space?
My current room is nothing like my dream space, so I'm going to do a bit of imagining for a moment. My dream space would be a studio separate to our home, somewhere large enough that I could have room to work and also host workshops. So my three wishes would be.. Wish one, to have our own property with room large enough for a separate studio, somewhere with a beautiful view. Wish two, to build a eco friendly studio, a yurt would be just wonderful with plenty of storage space and room to be creative, do yoga and drinking tea with friends. Wish three, gather all my favourite creative people together for beautiful, inspiring crafternoons and workshops.
Whose craft room would you love to explore? Send us a message!
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