It’s the feeling of joy and fulfilment when I sit down with jewels in my lap. Each and every time I go to my peaceful place with patience & grace leading the way.
I’ve been watching my sister, Ebony, and her label LittleGracie grow year after year… TAFE parades, Perth Fashion Festival with her own runway show at PFF following two years later and now Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia in Sydney. She is truly my inspiration for dedicating years into a passion that is forever flourishing right in front of your eyes.
Not long after the announcement of MBFWA, Ebony asked for me to design jewels for LittleGracie’s 80’s inspired runway show. To be honest.. it was something I had to keep on confirming with her.
‘Do you really want me too?’
‘Are you sure?’
‘You want me? .. to make you jewellery for Sydney?’ whhhattt!!
It’s still something I’m pinching myself over. Every morning I wake up with the butterflies, my mind in complete overload… changing, switching, improving designs. The closer that Friday gets, the more this is becoming real for me. That peaceful place of mine was not going to exist for the next few weeks!
80’s inspired - Frills, Gemstones, Glitter. What more could you want?
We both wanted something that we couldn’t have - time. I was expecting (that’s with every limb of my body crossed!) my gemstone order to arrive two days before my sister flew interstate. That’s two days to make five necklaces. Necklaces that were just sketches on paper with materials that I had never worked with before. On top of a full time job. You can understand the sickness that was brewing in both of our stomachs!
At one point I heard the words ‘If you’re not going to get the gems in time, I’m going to have to organise something else.’ My heart sank. I wanted this more than anything in the world and especially planning this for two weeks prior, the last thing I wanted was to leave my sister high and dry & loose this amazing opportunity.
That weekend, not only my mind but my budget went into overload. Designing extra pieces to cover any mishaps that are now inevitable was not something I had planned for!
My gems arrived earlier then the two day expectation and after spending an hour on the phone trying to track the delivery driver, I happily drove two hours just to have them in my hands.
… with two weeks of stress build up, I was taken to the doctors exhausted and glands swollen - as much as I hate the dentist, sitting in that chair and staring at the ceiling whilst they cut into my gums and grinded my teeth, wasn’t as bad as what it could have been.
As the hours went by, necklaces of clustered jewels were slowly being created. Those sketches were finally coming to life, something that wasn’t just a figure of the imagination anymore. With this progressing and picture phone messages being sent back and forth, the relief that was starting to show on Ebony’s face was bringing a smile to mine.
Hours before Ebony left for Sydney, we finally had the opportunity to physically match necklaces with dresses. Nothing like leaving it to the last minute..
I have a few pieces to finish before I fly out tomorrow night and my stomach is in knots. Everyone that has been involved in LittleGracie’s MBFWA adventure has emotions running wild and I’m one (of I’m sure plenty!) that has put my hand up for shedding tears during the runway show. Hopefully I won’t embarrass myself and it’ll be a joke in a few days time.
Short and sweet updates on facebook with lengthy, detailed chapters on this blog will pop up regularly over the next few days. Future plans in mind include 2012 Lookbook, photography and Art Markets.
I hope stories like this can inspire others to simply keep dreaming. Live your passion in baby steps and your dream will become your reality. This is a living fairytale that words can’t describe, you just have to believe in yourself.
Three words - Follow your bliss.
xx
