This is Me
I firmly believe that we are all creative beings.
Creativity is essential for a healthy existence, physically and especially mentally.
I've been creative my whole life. From salt dough and polymer clay to drawing, painting, crochet and macrame, I tried it all. I studied Fine Art at the university of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg South Africa and taught art to grade 5-12 learners from 2001-2007.
A change of scenery: the East Coast of South Africa opened the door to photography. I photographed downhill mountain bike races, and also took maternity, newborn and family photos. Around the same time I also discovered Instagram and my dormant love of crochet was reawakened. I started a blog ‘a bag full of crochet’, which was fairly successful and lead to a career in designing for a South African women's magazine, as well as for Vinnis Colours, one of South Africa's premier cotton and bamboo yarn producers while still living in South Africa. I haven't stopped designing and you can find my designs on PayHip. However, I felt that the name 'a bag full of crochet' became too small and so I rebranded myself as ‘This Creative Life’.
I feel I have much more than just crochet to offer these days and I want this space to encompass all of my creative aspects. So expect to see everything from crochet, knitting and spinning to drawing, painting and sculpting, as well as photography.
A few important things about me:
I spent 30 years of my life in South Africa but moved back to my birth country Germany in 2015. I am fully bilingual in German and English and speak Afrikaans as well, so I can understand much of the Dutch language too. I have an autoimmune thyroid condition, which often causes fatigue, brain fog, depression and anxiety but medication helps keep it in check, as well as living gluten free, and using essential oils.
I am left handed and all my crochet patterns and tutorials are left handed friendly.
I will absolutely not tolerate the following:
racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, fat-shaming