Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans

Tis the season to get crafty fa la la la The silly season is upon us and the Ministry is here to help you craft your crazies away! Today, we're chatting about our advent plans, some fun projects we've shared in the past, and a super fun community building event kicking off on Sunday! We hop you'll join us.  Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a weekly conversational podcast on creativity, connection...

With four seasons and just shy of two years of podcasting under our belt, today we are reflecting on the growth we've experienced over our podcasting journey. We chat about how we have held to our mission statement - creativity, community, connection and collaboration - and what a blessing our podcast community has been. Whether you've been here since the beginning, or just finding us, thank you f...

This week we take a trip into our podcasting archives and revel in the growth we have achieved so far. We discuss how we stay motivated and keep showing up to a creative project when it doesn't have all the new project shine. Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a weekly conversational podcast on creativity, connection, community and collaboration. We invite you to grab a project and a cuppa, and joi...

Social media is all about sharing parts of ourselves, but what does it mean to share part of ourselves without a project to hide behind? Today we are chatting about feeling vulnerable, choosing what to share, and podcasting without a project. Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a weekly conversational podcast on creativity, connection, community and collaboration. We invite you to grab a project and...

Often, our creative time is our anchor in an otherwise busy day, a moment of peace and mindfulness to centre ourselves. But what if our mindful & sefl care doesn't look like it "should"? If it doesn't fit in a neat little box? Today we chat about the influence of marketing a specific idea of mindfulness & self care, and how it shows up in creative spaces...and what we choose to do instead....

Group projects have long been a mainstay of our creative practice, but slowly we are dropping off. In today's episode, we look at crafting to fit in, wanting to stand out, and the joy of true belonging. Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a weekly conversational podcast on creativity, connection, community and collaboration. We invite you to grab a project and a cuppa, and join us around our virtual...

Our identity as crafters & creative folk is shaped by so many influences, and today we are unpacking where we "fit",and end up starting to prepare our bug out bags for the zombie apocolypse...things got a little unhinged along the way! Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a weekly conversational podcast on creativity, connection, community and collaboration. We invite you to grab a project and a...

Motivation and productivity, we're finding, is rather like the chicken and the egg. Are we productive when we're motivated, or does being productive give us the motivation to create? Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a weekly conversational podcast on creativity, connection, community and collaboration. We invite you to grab a project and a cuppa, and join us around our virtual craft table, as we...

Sometimes life can get us so overwhelmed and languishing that picking up a project just feels too hard. Today we chat about how we get ourselves out of a rut and into a project - and how crafting helps pull us out of general life overwhelm. Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a weekly conversational podcast on creativity, connection, community and collaboration. We invite you to grab a project and a...

What is it about a blank page that makes it so hard to get started? Or why do we find it hard to keep going on a project? Today we chat about the ways we get in our own way, how life gets in the way, and tease through a couple of real life examples of why we are blocked at the minute. Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a weekly conversational podcast on creativity, connection, community and collabo...

We started the year off with a bang, and lots of big plans...how are they fairing after a few months and a whole lot of life? Join us for episode one of season four as we chat about goals, giving up, and the encouragement of making our struggles with keeping up visible. Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a weekly conversational podcast on creativity, connection, community and collaboration. We invi...

Four days of wall to wall crafting? What else would we do over the Easter long weekend! We're sharing some thoughts on our inaugural MOCS Easter Bingo last year, and start kicking around ideas for this year - are you in? Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a weekly conversational podcast on creativity, connection, community and collaboration. We invite you to grab a project and a cuppa, and join us...

Like everything, our crafting ebbs and flows with the seasons, both the actual seasons and the seasons of life. Today we're chatting about the different rhythms we embrace in our crafting, with a little side journey into spring cleaning and true confessions of the current state of Rach's stash (spoiler - it's not pretty!). Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a weekly conversational podcast on creati...

From big projects to big plans, plus what we're working on at the minute; join us in the Ministry for your weekly dose of crafty inspiration. Today we are chatting stitching, photography, and art classes, our year long projects and our 100 Days project for 2023, plus the drive to revisit old projects and bring them back to our current day creative practice. Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a week...

In a wave of January intention, we both set our words for the year. Two months in, there's already been a whole lot of life happening. Todya we are chatting about how our words are holding up, and the ways we keep them high on our priority list as we do the days. Sometimes, though, our words have to take a backseat to everything else, and we talk about the times we have given up our words - includ...

We're celebrating both the silly season and the finale of season three, with a look at all the crafty fun we are up to in the run up to the end of the year. Because life isn't busy enough at this time of year, we can't help but add a few more projects! Thank you so much for your continued support, and we look forward to seeing you again in 2023 with season four. Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a...

Coming into gifting season, our minds are turning to making for others. Investing our time and supplies into a gift project is the unspoken way a crafter says "I love you", and in today's episode we delve into the thought process behind choosing who to make for, and what supplies to use. We also talk about how being vulnerable in our creativity can be seen as a type of love language, and who we le...

After a busy couple of weeks, we are both finding ourselves reaching for familiar and meditative projects. Following on from our Nostalgia episode, we look at what influences us to reach for the familiar over the new and exciting, and how connection to those around us is one of the strongest influences of all. Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a weekly conversational podcast on creativity, connect...

As our creative processes have shifted over the years, we've traded places of which of us is the finisher and which is the procrastinator. In today's episode, we look back over past projects and try and nail down where we find our motivation, and what blockages stop us from making progress. Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a weekly conversational podcast on creativity, connection, community and c...

Each year, we both pick a word as our theme for the year, in place of a New Years resolution. Sometimes they work, sometimes we can't connect with them, sometimes they become surprisingly appropriate in unexpected ways. Today we are chatting about how we use our word of the year to anchor us and help us set goals, and how we apply them in our creative life. Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a week...

"Brains are so silly", we say to each other at least once a week. In today's episode, we chat about the different ways our brains need a little nudge in the direction of keeping our minds on our projects. Personality types, focus, working environments...even pop culture and we settle the all important question - what Hogwarts house do we belong to? Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a weekly conver...

What does growth look like in creativity? Is it growing out? Up? Circles and spirals? We share our perspectives known own growth and each other, and how our own growth is reflected in our children's creativity as well. We have an epiphany on podcasting fits into our evolution as crafters and as content creators, and start taking notes for season 4. Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans is a weekly conver...

How do you shift from crafty acquaintances to dear friends? By sharing the everyday mundane happenings of life! Today we are chatting about how even when it all feels a bit Groundhog Day, sharing our daily behind the scenes rhythms offers unexpected moments of connection. We chat accountability & vulnerability, and how having a friend in our pocket makes the same same of daily life more manageable...

Once upon a time, craft and sewing groups abounded, particularly in small towns like where both of use are from. These days, they are less common, and less practical for busy mums - enter, the internet! We are chatting about how the internet is a wonderful tool to develop connection, and to find your place amongst like minded people. From feeling brave trying new things, to our regular chats, via...

Welcome to season three! In our season premiere, we are chatting about nostalgia, how we use it as a a means of connection and also as an inspiration launching point for our crafty projects. In a topsy turvy world that continues to be anything but predictable, the comfortable familiarity of nostalgic favourites are a touchstone we can use to ground ourselves. It's also a way of connecting with the...