Conversations with creatives - M'agapi

When I was at the Finders Keepers market in early October, I came across a stall with the most beautiful dresses, perfect for a spring wedding, a high tea or even the races. The brand was M'agapi. In my post market research, I saw that the brand sources fabrics from local Melbourne industries, as well as supporting charities. In September, M'agapi donated 50% made from online sales to Cerebral Palsy research.

I emailed Jackki the designer and dressmaker - at that stage we hadn't met - and asked her if I could feature her and her beautiful dresses on my blog. I was thrilled she said yes - and even more thrilled when she agreed to doing a giveaway of one of her dresses!

She invited me to meet her a few weeks later at the North Melbourne Thread Den market, and I tried on a dress. It was absolutely perfect, and so I bought it. It's called 'The Marilyn', this one is a mini, which is perfect for my five foot one stature (dresses come in three lengths), and I am so excited by the collar! The back of the dress features a sharp tipped collar, dipping into a deep v. Dresses come in 8,10 and 12 - the 10 is what in wearing in this photo but I chose to size up on purchase as I knew I'd be layering it over a long sleeved tee, and that meant I was a tad too busty for the 10. The dresses all have a limited fabric run - Jackki told me she had no more material left in the dresses both she and I are wearing. (In the interests of disclosure, I received a discount for the dress I purchased.)

Meet Jaccki from M"agapi!

What’s your name?

"Jackki Ngo"

What’s your business name?

"m'agapi [it's Greek for "with love"]"

Who works with you?

"I do all the sewing my husband and relatives lovingly help me out at the markets :)"

What do you make?

"I started out with woman's clothing, now I also do baby and kids clothing and accessories, and basic home wares like cushion letters and quilts."

How long have you been making your art?

"The concept started in 2009 but officially launched in 2011."

Tell me about your creative process? Where do you get ideas from? Where do you source materials?

"I have a passion for pattern making and have always been obsessed with multifunctional uses so I tend to design pieces that are versatile and practical. I design for my family and friends - what they would want in an item. For example, the latest summer dresses were inspired from a friend who wanted a 1950s dress for her wedding. Because the cut is fairly simple and classic; I added self facing hem band to give the dress a bit more weight and bounce. I also added pockets because well every girl needs pockets :) I make baby bibs (designed for my 8 months old son) which have three layers of fabric for super absorbency. I make reversible sun hats for my almost three years old daughter to play in the sun. I've made large cushion letters to decorate sofas and chairs and a friend suggested for me to downside them to hang in her daughter's room. So you see, a lot of ideas come from friends and families."

Do you balance a day job with your creative pursuit? Is this hard? If your dressmaking is your day job, did you have to consider making a jump from a day job?

"I have a full time job as a production manager for a wonderful australian made knitwear company. I have two beautiful kids which also means late nights sewing after fighting them for baths and bed. But I'm very lucky to have a very understanding and supportive husband and in laws who cook us dinner and baby sit when required. I don't think I would be able to manage doing what I love without their help. Sometimes I wish there were more hours in a day!"

What drives you to create? I grew up around sewing machines and made my first dress at age 11.

"I love to challenge myself and think outside the square. Sometimes I would design the hardest piece just to see if I can sew it up! If it can be done on the sewing machine, I will attempt it."

 

What’s the hardest thing about being a creative?

"When you're excited about coming up with an (original) idea but someone else launched it before you it's a bit disheartening. Even when you tweak it further to make it your own it still feels second best therefore you don't promote it as it deserves."

What’s the best thing about being a creative?

"Buying fabric! Where people normally buy shoes and bags, I have an obsession with fabric. It's exciting to see what can be done with them especially when it turns out exactly like how you've envisioned."

What advice would you give to up and coming creatives?

"Love what you do. and I mean LOVE it without question. When you love what you do, it's very endearing and it shows in your work. Buyers are more appreciative of your effort and tend to return just to see what else you've made."

Tell me about the creative community? Are you a part of it? Online/offline/markets/classes?

"I sell my wares online at MadeIt and I'm a regular at North Melbourne Market."

How can we reach you? What’s your website, store, social media platforms?

Website

info@magapi.com.au

Facebook

MadeIt

Giveaway

Jackki is kindly giving away the "burnt out dress". She describes it as a "super cool dress that will take you throughout the day by adding a few statement accessories. Wear with heels or boots for a fantastic day/night out! This dress is one size (8-12) Designed to be loose fitting. Has binding around neckline and babylocking at the hem. Fabric is 100% Rayon and is slightly see through (you may choose to wear a slip underneath the dress) Model is 172cm tall, belt is not included."

To win this dress, tell Jackki and I where you'd wear this dress to?

Entries close 5.00 pm 15 November 2013. Please leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!

Read more conversations with creatives here.

PS: the winner of the birdy necklace by Rulitos was Emily from Have a Laugh on Me. Congratulations Emily! And the winner of the Zac and Mia book was Mary Preston. I'll be in touch soon:)

 

Conversations with a Creative - Rulitos

This is the first of my Conversations with a Creative series. I'm a big fan of handmade, especially jewellery, and I wanted to explore the creative process with the artist and showcase their products on my blog. Today is my friend Nerea Li Santi, who has a jewellery brand called Rulitos. I came to know Nerea through her Mum. Nerea made me a rabbit brooch that I love to wear on my winter coat. We met in person for the first time a couple of weeks ago - see picture at the end of the post! She's also got a little giveaway for a lucky reader. Meet Nerea.

Carly: What’s your name?

Nerea: "Nerea Li Santi."

What’s your business name?

"Rulitos."

Who works with you?

"I work on my lonesome, however my awesome folks live very near my workshop so they often bring me cups of tea (very important part of the biz) and dad’s on hand for things that require brute force (like moving my rolling mill or hydraulic press)"

What do you make?

"Predominantly sterling silver jewellery and accessories for guys and girls."

How long have you been making your art?

"I have been making jewellery and accessories for at least half of my life, however I took my first little silversmithing course and settled on silver as a favourite medium 5 years ago."

Tell me about your creative process? Where do you get ideas from? Where do you source materials?

"Many of my creations come from trying to teach myself a new skill or to use a new tool. Because I haven’t studied the craft formally (apart from a few CAE courses), I like to challenge myself and work new techniques into my pieces. I was obsessed with rivets for a while, then moved on to hinges, then vitreous enamel, right now it’s all about my new (old) rolling mill. I also have a couple of muses whose style I love, I often find myself creating pieces to fit in with their particular panache.

Like a lot of silversmiths I know of, I mostly source my metal from a fab company in NSW whose silver is all recycled (“refine, don’t mine!”), for other bits and pieces I try to stick to local bricks & mortar shops (or the online presence of said bricks & mortar!) The first time I walked into the Aladdin’s cave of jewellers supplies that is Koodak (up the lifts in the Century Building in Melbs) I felt like a kid in a candy store."

Do you balance a day job with your creative pursuit? Is this hard? If your artmaking is your day job, did you have to consider making a jump from a day job?

"I am very lucky to have a great day job. As soon as I log off my computer at the end of the day my work is done, unlike previous jobs I’ve had where I’ve been switched on, or on call, or stressing about work at night or in my dreams, this job allows me the brain space to use my free time as I please.

When I’m not marathoning Breaking Bad, I find I have enough time for a good work/creativity balance, don’t ask me about my social life though!"

What drives you to create?

"Quite simply, I love what I do, so that drives me to do it! I can’t imagine a world where I wasn’t creating *something* anything. Any of my colleagues could attest to the fact that I cannot keep my hands still for a second; every scrap of paper within my reach is full of scribbles."

Are there any other creative things you do?

In my past life I studied performance art (the Stelarc/Laurie Anderson style, not the Shakespeare/Westside Story style); that was fun! I’ve also been known to make: plushies, clothes, leather goods, doodles of bunny-heads on the back of every envelope and obnoxious noises from my melodica, stylophone, cello, quena traversa, kalimba and duck-ocarina but I unfortunately have little/no skill in any of those things.

What’s the hardest thing about being a creative?

For me, the admin part. I’m not the best at pimping my wares! I’m also not a great writer or photographer or social-media-er. Writing descriptions or artist statements for my pieces and product photography I find daunting and sometimes stressful. I know I’m not the first maker to be surrounded by bits of white fabric, lights and tripods to be saying to themselves “I JUST WANNA MAKE STUFF!”

What’s the best thing about being a creative?

"Not much beats the thrill of kind feedback. An Instagram of something I’ve made in its new home, or bumping into someone wearing something I’ve made equals serious internal happy-dancing. I also get a thrill from seeing how far and wide my wares go, US, Netherlands, New Zealand, Austria, UK, Spain, Canada, all over OZ a start. A recent customer apologised for delayed feedback, he had no internet on account of being out in the Ukrainian woods HA! If I can’t travel at least a little piece of me can.

Oh and the other best thing, turning a rough little piece of metal into something that someone could treasure, that’s a best. After 5 years of doing this, I still get pleased and surprised at how gorgeous, smooth and shiny silver gets after losing my fingertips to 5 billion grits of emery."

Tell me about the creative community? Are you a part of it? Online/offline/markets/classes?

"At the moment I am a little bit of a recluse, I’ve not this year gotten out and about in the community as much as I’d like. Instagram however has been really fab lately; I’m blown away constantly by the gorgeous community of Aussie makers (and their pets and rugrats) on there and what they get up to every day. I love seeing snaps of their process from inception sketches to the finished product and it’s quite wild for example seeing a picture on Insty of a ceramic cup about to go into the kiln, and then tootling off to a market and buying a cup from that very same batch, it makes the world seem so small! I went to Finders Keepers two weeks ago and felt like running up to half the stall holders and shouting “I LOVE YOUR WORK, I FOLLOW YOU ON INSTAGRAM”, I managed restrained myself (for the most part)."

What advice would you give to up and coming creatives?

"If you’re in Victoria, I cannot recommend Craft Vic highly enough. They have so many helpful workshops and inspiring events.

Connect with creative people wherever you are, you’d be surprised how much you have in common and can learn from each other even if they’re a basket-weaver and you’re a soap-carver.

Try to do a little something creative 6 days a week, even if it’s not your main craft or biz, different interests and mediums can feed each other nicely.

This will probably sound foreign in these go-go-go times we live in but I strongly believe in one day off a week. My Sundays are sacred and untouchable. No work, no cleaning tools, no checking sales (as tempting as it is when I hear the Etsy 'CA-CHING!' on my phone), no answering Rulitos email full stop. My weekly break does wonders for my sanity, spirit and body too and because I made the decision long ago to set that day aside, I don't feel guilty about not doing the things I 'should be doing'. Also, without that day off, my family would forget my name and I would never have clean clothes or dishes."

How can we reach you? What’s your website, store, social media platforms?

You can find me on my website: www.rulitos.com.au or facebook or Instagram & Twitter.

You can buy my wares on Etsy or madeit.

What are you giving away to a lucky blog reader?

"I would like to give away a ‘Chirpy’ sterling silver bird pendant:

Chirpy the sweet bird is lovingly hand crafted out of .925 sterling silver.

He is about 3cm long from beak-tip to tail feather and at his tallest point is about 1.5cm tall.

Chirpy features fetching textured feathery wings and comes strung on a fine 45cm sterling silver chain."

If you'd like to win Chirpy, tell Nerea and I what creative pursuit you do in a comment below! Entries close 5.00 pm Friday 25 October 2013. Nerea will choose the winner!

 

Julia Gillard in conversation with Anne Summers: "You have a decision to make: you could have a crap rest of your life", [or you can move on].

Last night I saw Julia Gillard - Australia's first female Prime Minister - in conversation with Anne Summers at the Melbourne Town Hall. She and Anne spoke for 50 minutes and the audience asked a variety of questions for the remainder. It was her second extended interview since losing the Prime Ministership.

People queued early - reports from Twitter said the queue was snaking from outside the Town Hall in Swanston Street and around the corner to Exhibition Street. The audience was excited. The woman next to me told me Julia Gillard was her "heroine" and that she wouldn't queue to see a band or for a restaurant, but she'd queue for Ms Gillard.

Julia Gillard is smart, warm, engaging, open and very funny. Gosh she was funny. And she is caring - her heart is set on improving the lives of our nation - especially of women. She firmly believes she has paved the way for women in leadership - particularly parliament: "now I've smashed my head through the glass ceiling, it should be easier for women to enter parliament", she said. I really do love her.

However, with all of her discussion of equality for women, Indigenous Australians and people with disabilities, I am still surprised at her stance on marriage equality - she believes marriage equality in Australia should be decided by a conscience vote. "I feel like I got on this tram at a different spot. My views on this were formed at a different time", she said. Shouldn't her passion for equality extend to marriage equality?

Here is a summary of what I took from the discussion. The summary below and opinions above are my own and do not reflect those of my employer, and quotes are Julia Gillard's.

On empowering women

Julia Gillard is so articulate and passionate about equal opportunity and empowerment for women and girls, and wants to make a real difference to females in her post political career. She recently went to New York to work with Hilary Clinton at a global leaders meeting.

Her (former) government embedded funding for empowering women in neighbouring developing countries. She hopes this funding will survive the current government.

"Development statistics tell us if we can empower women and girls, we can make a difference to the nation", Ms Gillard said.

On work

Julia Gillard said she stands by moving single mothers from a single mother pension to NewStart when their children get older because NewStart gives them the best chance at work, but she believes the rate of NewStart is too low.

"I am a big believer in the dignity that work gives us. Income support is not enough to eradicate poverty", Ms Gillard said. "I want to see everyone have the benefits, choices, access and dignity that comes with paid work".

On being ousted as the Prime Minister by Kevin Rudd

Anne Summers said of the 28 Australian Prime Ministers, Julia Gillard sits at no 14 in length of service. She's served longer than Kevin Rudd and Gough Whitlam.

Anne Summers observed Julia Gillard's lack of self pity and bitterness after being ousted as PM in June 2013. Ms Gillard replied: "You have a decision to make: you could have a crap rest of your life", [or you can move on].

She said that many former Prime Ministers, including Paul Keating, called her afterward, to talk her through. With great humour she quipped: "You know you're having an intense conversation with Paul Keating when he grips your arm and calls you love."

On the misogyny speech

Ms Gillard said she was "astonished" at public reaction to her misogyny speech. She saw eyes glazing over in Parliament, and thought that she'd just be able to return to doing correspondence. Former Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan suggested that maybe she wouldn't be doing correspondence, rather she'd be doing follow up interviews regarding the speech. She implied that Tony Abbott, then Opposition Leader, was wishing the speech would he over: "Poor Tony Abbott stared at his watch like he hadn't seen it before"

She received feedback from women from different strata around the world of how powerful her misogyny speech was. Ms Gillard said the misogyny speech was "for every woman who has bit her tongue and thought 'I shouldn't say it'. It's one for her."

An 11 year old girl in the audience asked "did you have any fun when you were Prime Minister?" Ms Gillard replied that she is pleased her term as PM taught 11 year old the pronunciation of 'misogyny'. She also added that she felt privileged for meeting every day Aussies and have them offer suggestions for the country. She loved her staff and opportunities as Prime Minister.

On comments about her appearance and dress sense

An audience member asked how Julia Gillard felt when Germaine Greer made a comment about her bottom. "Everybody had to take a role as a fashion critic" Ms Gillard said. She went on to say what a role model Germain Greer was when growing up. "I was disappointed for Germaine Greer. It let her down as much as it let me down". "Boy I'm through the pain barrier", she said. "It [criticism about her appearance] didn't really worry me."

On not wanting to marry

An audience member asked a question about whether Ms Gillard had ever considered marrying her partner Tim to stop the publicity. She said she and Tim are very happy and don't need marriage to confirm that. "I couldn't afford the publicity around a PM wedding", laughing about the pressure there would be for her not to trip over her dress.

On asylum seekers

Audience Question: "how can we change debate re asylum seekers from despair and anger to one about compassion and hope?" Ms Gillard replied saying she worries about tenor and language of asylum seeker debate. She believes asylum seeker policy is "incredibly complex."

On media

Ms Gillard believes journalists don't get the time to think properly about what they're reporting on. "Quick media cycle means there is not enough deep discourse into politics", she said.

Julia Gillard also commented on the protests that took place against her role as leader. She said of the 'ditch the witch' slogan - "I was offended by signs, but more so the benign reaction to it by the media."

The sisterhood in politics

Julia Gillard was asked whether females from other parties reached out to her when she was attacked? "I would like to say yes", she replied. She proceeded to talk of the bonds she formed with other females from all parties while working on policies prior to her role as Prime Minister. "During the time when I was PM, I didn't have people from the other side to offer support." However, she credits Tony Windsor and Rob Oakshott for constant support and protection. They stood up for the nation, she said.

On the current government

"It's disheartening to have only one woman in Cabinet", she said. However she is optimistic about the media and public reaction to this sole appointment. She said discussion about women's rights need to continue. This will make a difference, noting that "we should be complaining that the statistic of one woman in Cabinet is hopeless." Ms Gillard believes there should always be equal representation of women and women's issues in government, no matter the personalities in charge.

Julia Gillard have some advice to Tony Abbott, Prime Minister and Women's Minister: reach out to Tania Plibersek (from Labor) and do a lot of listening. "I hope Tony Abbott's time as Women's Minister is the most character building period of his career", she said, to which the audience erupted in laughs and applauded.

On the future

Julia Gillard hopes "in 2050, Australia is a fully reconciled country, a more sustainable nation, prosperous economy". "I hope "we share life's risks - the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is the next step in that journey. We need to have each others backs when we're in need", she said. Ms Gillard also hopes that in 2050 Australia won't have an education disparity.

She also hoped there will be equally as many female Prime Ministers as male ones, and that during a game of Trivial Pursuit, players would get the answer wrong to 'Who was Australia's first female PM?' because there'd be too many to remember.

"Genuine equality would mean that you and I would not have to speak about genuine equality"', Ms Gillard said."Policies should include all our people, not assumed the policies that work for dominant cultures work for everyone."

 

At the end of the conversation, four young girls presented her with bouquets of flowers. Ms Gillard received her second standing ovation of the night. And Katy Perry's Roar played - the only time I've ever felt a Katy Perry song had any significance to anything. Julia Gillard was so articulate - I left feeling empowered. Julia Gillard is resilient, and I can't wait to see what she does next.

We are so very lucky to have access to hearing our leaders speak candidly and publicly - I feel very privileged to listen to a woman I admire so much. Thank you for your time Julia Gillard.

-

Thanks to Jess for the photos and the lift home.

Listen to Julia Gillard and Anne Summers in conversation at the Sydney Opera House here.

This conversation was to raise money for the Anne Summers Report - you can subscribe here. This was the second of many Conversations with Anne Summers to come.

See Eden Riley's blog for a great insight into Julia Gillard as a person.

What I know about conversations

 

(Source)

I love talking to people - to friends, to strangers. It's great getting to know someone, to hear how they pronounce words and listen to their laugh. When I was in England I'd try to talk to someone new on the train every day. The friends I stayed with freaked out because I was talking to strangers, even letting them carry my bag. But it was a great way to stave off being alone in a foreign country.

I used to have lengthy phone calls but these have reduced considerably. Who talks on the phone anymore? Now most of my conversations are online. This doesn't detract from the quality or depth of them at all. There's always someone to talk to online, always someone to listen. I hunch over and cup my phone like a steaming mug, and spend my time crafting words on my phone. I think the evolution of posture will be called iPosture.

I fall in love during conversations. I know when I am not falling in love because I don't get that excited feeling in my tummy during a conversation. I fall in love with people's words, they're honey, a trap.

I wrote this almost a year ago. It was a difficult write. Been thinking a little about it lately, even though I shouldn't. And then I remember how good things are now.

What we had was so intangible – pretty much two years of words on a screen, dancing over both our hearts. There were breathy phone-calls and mutual realisations of love – the kind of stuff that unleashed a kaleidoscope of butterflies in my stomach...

In this digital age, it is easy to be consumed by words. We are wrapped up in communication. For me, words have more power on the screen – I can feel the emotion in each syllable, and if there is love intended in the message, I can forgive the sender not knowing the difference between you’re and your. Maybe, because I am a writer, and communicating via the internet has been a large part of my life for 15 years, words can make me fall in love before I even get to breathe the person’s scent. Words have created the personas I’ve come to love. Am I an idiot?

I felt something for him in his first message to me, back in May 2010. He was dangerous, but I wanted more. And I got more. I should have put a full stop on his words, before they hurt me further. But I let the sentences run on too long, only punctuated when he wanted to stop what we had. Again and again. He was so bad that the good shone brightly around my perception of him, like stars peering through a night sky...

There’s a blank page now, where new words are invited to bring me new happiness. And when they come, I’ll try not to read into them too much. It may just save my heart.

A good conversation is like a journey. Long and winding, with many discoveries. I never feel like anyone is too important (or not important enough) to talk to - I will talk to anyone.

I used to be told off for talking too much. It's paid off. And now I do it with purpose. I talk in front of many, making them think, laugh and sometimes cry, and I'm not afraid. Today I'm having a conversation on radio, about the influential songs in my life. I've waited for this moment forever.

This is a writing prompt from the lovely Sarah Wayland - the theme is What I know about conversations. You can join in too.