sooz

I'm a crafting, working, cooking, mothering aussie. I have one daughter (Amy) who is 5 and a wee boy (Wil) who is yet to turn 1. I am really into natural fibre arts and textiles. I make softies, sew clothes, knit, crochet, garden. I love cooking and will cook anything, though I try to use organic where I can and use a minimum of prepackaged and prepared foods. You can learn a lot about me from my blog and Flickr photos.

I love a really wide range of music, from classical to 80's to indie guitar pop to ambient. I just went through a Johnny Cash moment for a few months and before that some fantastic mixed CDs my brother made for me.

I studied film at Uni, so I've seen more than the average punter and like with music, would find it hard to narrow my tastes. I'm probably less interested in generic and mainstream stuff, preferring art-house or independent film. I also try and support the Australian film industry by seeing a lot of good aussie films - partly because I think they are damn fine films and partly because I want there to be enough of an industry that people get to see stories that are uniquely about my home.

6 feet under, Sopranos, West Wing, Big Love, Damages, Amazing Race (just love the scenery!), Survivor

Sewing, knitting, crochet, softies, felting, beading, you name it, I'll give it a go! I like to make things that are useful like clothes and accessories and toys for my children. I'm not so into the straight arts and decorative crafts.

I prefer one-off handmade things that may seem wonky to some but are definitely not mass produced and bought in a chain store. I really admire good design, things that work in a simple, yet clever way. I am also a big fan of natural materials - wood, wool, cotton, silk, bamboo. In fabrics I use a lot of linen, wool and cotton and I love Japanese prints like wee animals, dragonflies, geometrics that are a bit off centre and strong but soft colours like plums, reds, chocolate browns, deep teal greems and duck egg blues.

My ideal gifts are the building blocks of craft projects - a bag of odd beads, pieces of fabric, balls of yarn, beautiful knitting needles, stitch holders, boxes and storage containers, buttons, trims, patterns and project kits, silver wire and findings.Firstly don't send any plant products to me int he mail (like tea or seeds) as Australian customs will probably take them away!

I am absolutely NOT into plastic and artificial fibers and romantic and pink and glitter and bright colours. I don't 'collect' anything (except fabric and notions and art materials!) and don't like 'brands'. I don't like lace and ruffles and girly or super cutesie and I'm not a big fan of candy/lollies (though the odd Green and Blacks chocolate bar never goes astray).