…and I know any body in their right mind should be tucked up in bed fast asleep by now, or unless they’re out on the town living it up as it is Friday night after all, but alas I am neither as a) it’s not my pay week so there’s no “out on the town” for me….(not that there is any excitement like that here in Horsham these days unles your 18 to 25 and all you care about is getting drunk off your gord and one night stands), and b) my insomnia is once more raising it’s ugly little head and saying “nah you don’t need sleep tonight”.
So here I am writing this as Loki plays Assassins Creed III on the playstation which he finally picked up from EB Games Wednesday arvo.
Anyway, while I am wide awake I can finally catch you up on the AWESOMENESS that was the Sharing Day in Norval, Halls Gap on the 22nd October with the Spinners and Weavers.
SO…. On October 22nd, we hosted the 30th Sharing Day in Norval, Halls Gap. And this went very well with a fantastic turn out, wonderful voluntary guest speakers and amazing workshop tutors who were astonished by the sheer amount of people who attended their workshops (which included 22 sharing day virgins, me being one of them).
Feedback has been really good on the days events. I was also pleased to see that everyone who attended the sharing day were especially wowed when they received their handwoven bag of hand made “goodies” created by the Horsham Spinners and Weavers members, I even over heard one lady say that it was “great to get something that isn’t just full of touristy crap”. I have to agree with her there, I’ve been to a few group meetings/gatherings and have come away little dissapointed upon recieveing a crappy plastic “show type” bag (usually donated by a bank or other business) and that’s full of tourist brochers, which would be wonderful if I wasn’t from the area I guess but most people who attened these things have been to the areas before so it’s just a waste of paper. Anyway… our Members had also donated many glorious hand made items to be given as lucky door prizes (I donated a tea cozi + mandala set and a pair of red fingerless gloves I had made) as well as items that were for our competition that raised $100 for the group.
As October 22nd was also the begining of Youth Mentoring Week, we were delighted to have had 8 Horsham College Students join in with us at our Sharing Day and participate in the Nuno Felting workshops with Annette Lizza and the Dying in the Microwave workshop with Carol Everett, we also extend a special thank you to Carol who stepped up at the last moment as tutor for the dying workshop. And these students have now taken up the challenge for Stitching Together: Stories of Connectiveness.
The only downside to our successful sharing day was the fact that our President Pat was admited to Wimmera Base Hospital over that weekend and then transffered to the Queen Elizabeth Rehabilitation Center on the 24th October, good news to share however that she has progressed so well that on the 16th November she has moved onto Melbourne for external treatment. Please keep Pat in your thoughts and Prayers.
We’re now putting a call out to all affiliated groups, to take up the challenge to host the 2013 Sharing Day. Nominations to be in by the last week of December. We have recieved funding from the Victorian Regional Arts Fund and funding is available for any groups that have an ABN number or an accredited association in their town. We went through the Horsham Regional Arts Association, and they are working with us and paying the cost we applied for to continue stages two, three and four. So with thanks to funding like this other smaller groups like ours have a chance at doing something as equally good as what we did with alittle bit of thought and effort. Well that’s what I believe anyway. 😀
When we sent out the original information about the sharing day we asked attendants and their groups they’re with to come together and make a 6 inch square, be it knitted, felted, woven or crochet, that somehow ‘tells a story’ or shows and image that is meaningful to them. There was also a form to be used to give a quick explination of that square to be used in an up comming massive group collaberation called Stitching Together: Stories of Connectiveness. And we hope to see other groups that are creating any wall hangings or rugs for the Stitching together day (26th-27th Jan) at the makers Studio in Horsham. So will totally have to keep you all up to date on how that’s going.
Feedback on Sharing Day 2012 have been brilliant, to quote a few from our feedback book :- “Congratulations on a fantastic day, well done to you and your workers”, “missed the roast”, “loved the finger food lunch as I was able to meet many new people from other groups”, “brilliant”, “great food”, “well thought out”, “I enjoyed the having experienced tutors was a real coup”, “receiving a grant wow”, “lovely to meet other while engaged in our craft”, “tutors were interesting and informative” just to name a few. Can you tell that I just might be a little bit proud of how we did?? Huh? Maybe?? 😛
So yeah that’s pretty much it in a nut shell really. I am so sorry it has taken ages to finally fill you in on it all seeing as it was something I had kinda been going on and on about for months leading up to it. I just can’t believe how busy I’ve just become. Not complaining though as, and I know I’ve said it before, it’s better than being bored.
Anyway I really should try and get something that resembles sleep as I have a really early appointment in the morning and a meeting for the Makers Gallery in the afternoon. If I am not completely whipped out after all that I’ll be back to fill you in on what’s been happening “Post Sharing Day”…. I promise it’s interesting and very yarn filled!
Nighty Night.
Dez
xoxox
The Aussie Yarn Cat 