No really. Literally. It’s wrapping paper.

You know that moment, it’s very bitter sweet. The last present. It sits in your hand. You know, this is it. After this, it’s done. Of course you’re more than grateful for your wonderful family sitting around you and the gifts (especially the unexpected ones that have blown your mind). Half of you doesn’t want to open it… but you do. You clean up. You put away your gifts and you incorporate them into your life.

And so has come the close of my year long course, “The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design”. And just like that last present, it’s very bitter sweet. Honestly I didn’t want it to end. But it has.

I’m so very grateful for the gifts it’s brought me. Like trust. Trust, in myself, in my drawing, in my colour and design choices. In allowing myself to flash people who I am (literally at times I’ve felt very naked). I’ve created pieces I never knew I had in me. I had an inkling but was to afraid (or distracted) to try. The response to my new work has been concrete. I know I’m on the right path.

And like the end of Christmas morning, I’ve been sorting, reorganizing and started using my new gifts. Nope, these presents aren’t going to collect any dust. They’re going to be loved and used. And not just to be polite.

A huge thanks to Rachael Taylor, Beth Kempton, the whole Make it in Design team and to my classmates who were and are endless sources of inspiration.

So yeah, I guess, that’s a wrap!