naomip

Just to mention, I'm a little over swapping at the moment. Not entirely sure why, but felt disappointed about some of the swaps I've been part of lately. I'm hoping a break will get me back into the swapping spirit.

I live in Darwin, which is in the north of Australia, and enjoy good weather all year round. I am relatively new to this area, having previously lived in Melbourne. I really miss the big city even after 12 months of country!

I work as an occupational therapist and enjoy what I do.

In my spare time I play board games, do things with my church and sit on my balcony looking at the ocean.

Reading is one of my favourite things to do. I will read just about any novel. I love Australian literature in particular. If I could read and sew at the same time I would be a very happy girl. I'm still trying to figure out how to do this!

Currently I'm keen on sewing, but do some occasional knitting - scarves, beanies, jumpers for my tinie nephew. I like making books, hand-apliqueying birds onto things, and dabble in a touch of patchwork. I used to make beaded jewellry, but am a little over this at the moment. Unfortunately, my sewing room is also the guest room and we have had so many visitors lately that there has been little chance to sew.

My current ongoing project is handquilting a star quilt. It is very old school in colour scheme and design, and in that respect is not me, but I love it to pieces. I cannot wait until it is done. But until then, there will be lots more watching of tv while I sew.

Thankfully, swap-bot has seen me dust out my derwents and start drawing! I grew up drawing whenever I could, but stopped when I finished high school. So I am stoked that I've felt really inspired to draw due to some of the swaps you clever people have co-ordinated. I also appreciate receiving drawings done by others. My next step is to get better at using the GIMP (free version of photoshop), so that I can transform my sketches into spiffy, polished images.

Along the way I've developed a passion for collage. I enjoy cutting and pasting tiny pieces of paper. I guess it is like quilting without the months and months of work. So far, my collages have been dominated by images of birds. I've got a real thing for birds (owls in particular)...

things made with love and care; green things; trees; old things; wooden scrabble pieces; a good book; a new craft project; my ruby red kitchenaid mixer; receiving mail; polka dots; intricate patterns; moroccan things; family...

Did I mention birds?