Hanging Up My Shingle

Over the years I’ve set up shop in all sorts of places: the pokey back room, the kitchen table of a share house, even my bedroom (the worst, don’t do it).

So getting a dedicated studio space this year has been a milestone. My business now has a front door! I wanted to mark this moment with some signage, so I had a crisp white kdesigns logo printed, and now it beams out a welcome from South Terrace. (See my Instagram stories for the big reveal).

The logo officially welcomes the ‘chi’ and good vibes to my new corner of the world in South Freo. Drop by if you spot it.

One of the first things I made when settling into my new studio was a paper garland, using bits of colourful scrap paper and thread. It was a great creative warm-up exercise, setting the tone both for my day and for my new studio – a happy place full of colour and creativity. I hung it near the window, and I love the way it twirls itself quietly in the breeze while I work.

A garland is such a joyful thing. It can be made of flowers, leaves or other materials, and can be worn – on the head or around the neck – or draped in a space that needs a pick-up.

For me, a garland adds instant colour and a smile. It makes me think of a celebration, a kind of permanent confetti.

So this month I’m demonstrating (in pictures) how to make an upcycled garland. I’ve used old vintage books, coloured scrap paper, a shape cutter, string and a sewing machine. If you don’t have a sewing machine, a needle and thread works fine.

Nasturtiums are one of my all-time favourite edible flowers because of their cheerful colours, their gorgeous loopy-wonky stems and those plump, unripened pods.

I recently foraged a posey of nasturtiums and gave it to my friend Lisa. “Can I plant that?” she asked, looking at the green flower pods. “No, but you can eat it!” I said.

Then I waxed lyrical about all the ways in which she could devour that gift: pickle the pods and eat them like capers, toss the blossoms into a salad, dice up the stems and use them like garlic, blitz up the leaves and make a pesto, dehydrate the leaves on your car dashboard and turn them into a pepper-like powder...

If nasturtiums were pigs, they’d be the ultimate nose-to-tail eating proposition. Nothing wasted! Unlike pigs, you can also just put them in a vase and admire them, picking off the occasional leaf when you feel like a peppery snack.