Creative Interviews: Katie-Louise Ford for Cellardoor Magazine

My love for handmade has led me to interviewing lovely people who have created a business from their handmade crafts and love of creativity, to feature on Cellardoor Magazine's blog. The first went up yesterday, where I spoke with the inspirational Katie-Louise Ford about her eponymous shop on Etsy and her influences, history & other  questions like whose creative workshop (dead or alive) she would love to visit if she got the chance. As well as helpful tips on what to do if you are looking to turn your creativity into a business. 

Find the interview here and be sure to check out Katie's blog as she is currently taking a break to travel around the US. 

Cellardoor Magazine & Borne by Elise Berger

As you are probably aware by now, I enjoy spending my time writing and always love getting involved with projects, magazines .etc. and putting pen to paper for others. I recently came into contact with Cellardoor Magazine, a dreamy little online magazine that features pretty photography, dainty illustrations and cute articles on art and culture to fashion and beauty.

I have been an avid fan of independent creatives for sometime now whether it be with magazines like Cellardoor or with clothing brands, where everything is handmade and given the time and care to create. 

They are extra special and you often find some beautiful secret little gems. Just that happened when I was asked by Cellardoor Magazine to write up a small piece on the brand Borne by Elise Berger. I hadn't previously heard of the brand so spent some dedicated time to reading up on it's evolution and flicking through their collections on their website. 

You can read my little piece on Cellardoor's blog here to read more about Borne. 

I am currently working on a small project for Cellardoor Magazine but that is something I will explain more about nearer the time. In the meantime check out the magazine and also Borne if you haven't already, it's well worth your time. 

Do it yourself.

Am I the only person who wishes they could make clothes? There's a sewing machine just sitting in our spare room and I look online and get so inspired by clothing which I have no access to or I can't afford and I just want to create it myself. 

I go through creative phases where I want to make or create things for myself, as a hobby or perhaps if they turned out well, to create a little shop to sell them in. I have all these ideas stored up inside my head (and on my external brain which also goes by the name, Tumblr) and everyday I wake up just looking forward to the day I have the finances to get going. Does anybody else have these feelings or the enthusiasm to do such things?

Sometimes I think I could implode with the amount of creative ideas that fly around in my mind.

On a side note, I think I've gone print crazy as of late and wild on socks with shoes. Socks and shoes isn't anything new but for me, it's kind of a big deal. Ever since I can remember, I have never been able to wear socks because I have a strange thing about how it makes my feet feel trapped. Now I am of a mature age I have decided to embrace this collaboration of S's and get my feet looking cute.

While my guitar gently weeps.

Image via Morphine Sky

I have never learnt to play the guitar but throughout my life I always find myself going through phases, wanting to learn something new, take up a new hobby. I took piano lessons for seven years and creativity runs through my blood, passed down through my family but my attention doesn't stick around long enough and always distracts me to something else, a new interest and longing to try something else. Painting, drawing, horse riding, javelin, astronomy and even rock collecting/geology are a few of the phases I have gone through at one stage or another in my life, some quite laughable. 

Yesterday I can happily say I added a new leisurely pursuit to this list, filmmaking. I had dug out my video camera the day before and decided I needed to start carrying it on me, filming as much around me as I could. 

I am quite keen to work on the editing stage after working on a film for a project whilst at university. I am not saying I think I am going to become a pro, I am not even sure how long this hobby will hold out for unfortunately. I am quite happy to be an amateur contentedly collecting memories. 

Besides there is no harm in giving something a go even if I don't turn out to be the best at it, I can only wait and see.

Holly Hobbie.

'Creativity takes courage' so said Matisse, and I am going to follow in the shadow of his words and be courageous with my creativity, alongside my mother, for a little business venture. As I mentioned in a previous post, my mum and I are thinking of opening an Etsy shop something I have wanted to do for a while now. I won't reveal what we have planned yet as I wouldn't want to curse it for it is only a seed we have sown within the last week. It is so exciting, I have been spending my lost days planning, the creativity in my veins pumps quicker by the day. 

I find the aspect of planning all very exciting but when you have sat there all morning flirting with future plans and you know nothing can progress that day, it can get a bit tedious and I found myself caught in a daze. Quick to close down my laptop before I turned into a zombie I dug out some watercolours, a pad and a pencil and began to draw. It had been a longtime since I had been creative through this kind of medium, I had forgotten how enjoyable and relaxing it is. A lost day became less lonely once I welded a paintbrush to my hand and was transfixed by colours flooding the paper. 

I hope this is something I keep on pursuing as a hobby, as I have a habit of going through 'phases'. To make sure it is something I keep on with, I have found the perfect little watercolour travel set, if only my birthday or Christmas was near as it would be top of my list + a nice shiny new sketchbook, both to pop into my bag wherever I go, like Picasso once said, 'painting is just another way of keeping a diary'.

Practice makes perfect.