Hey Maker - a little dream gone big!

So, you may have seen me hopping all over the place as part of this wonderful collective. A group of 5 of us who like to make things and connect and gather. We like to share skills and learn new crafts and have fun while doing so.

We like to share with other creative people, and with people in our community. We've done pop up events over the past 6 months and so enjoyed it all (though it's been hectic and busy, but wonderful and inspiring).

We recently launched a fund raising campaign on Pozible. It's called crowd-sourcing. We think it's a good thing - asking for a little bit from a lot of people, rather than a lot from one person (or from a bank). Crowd funding (sourcing) has helped many bands launch themselves, as well as movies (this one is particularly interesting - I went to the launch a few years ago), and yarny goodness (who raised almost $40,000 on Pozible!!).

So - our dream? Well, I've spoken many times about my dream of opening a shop space, where creatives gather and collaborate, where artist-in-residence programs bring more interesting people to our community, where local creatives can sell their handcrafted wares intermingled with beautiful treasures from other places (here I'm thinking Japanese ceramics, washi tape, and fabric - oh yes fabric. Do you know there's no fabric shop in the town I live in!!!). It will be an inspiring space to hang out, to soak up some making and creating vibes, to twist some yarn into a scarf or print some fabric or sew a piece of something to wear, or talk and learn and share.

That's our dream. It's a pretty big dream. And will take a lot and a while to get it happening. It's a slow journey, a slow process. But slow and steady is good isn't it.

Now, I'm asking for your help. Yep, you! It doesn't matter if you live around the corner, or across the ocean. Our fundraising campaign is online, and you can make a donation to help us on our way. We have wonderful rewards as thanks for your donation - check them out on our Pozible site.

Our campaign works as an all or nothing fund raising. This mean that if we don't reach our goal, we don't any money at all (your money doesn't leave your account until we have reached our goal).

We are asking only $11,700 which isn't a lot to start out dream. With your (financial) support and our passion and hard working efforts we'll be able to launch our dream.

Part of our aim is to change the perception of art, handcrafted and artisans in our area. And to encourage more people to visit our small, but beautiful art-deco town. To revive a slow-economic town is a big goal - but we know we can do it with the support and assistance of our community (both online and in real).

Check out our Hey Maker blog if you want to read a bit more about what we've been doing, and watch our Facebook page too (we currently have a giveaway happening over there).

So, what do you think? I'd love to hear you thoughts on our little dream space. 

E xxxxx