The end of an era...

Lara & Teegs on Teegs' last day in the studio

It's a pretty momentous time in the Ink & Spindle studio - Teegs is hanging up her ink splattered apron and bidding farewell to the studio in favour of exciting travel adventures. It's been a pretty emotional time all round, but sometimes - despite how much you love something that you have built up from scratch and put a whole lot of heart and soul into - there are other callings in life. It takes a whole lot of guts to listen to that voice inside and take a big step into the unknown, but to ignore it is to ignore your own heart.

We are very lucky to have a great new partner to take on Teegs' role in the studio, but before we introduce her to you here are a few farewell words from Teegs herself:

Hello, lovely friends! It is with tears in my eyes that I write this, my last blog post as owner of my beautiful little I&S. Lara says "a few farewell words" but she knows me better than that. The talky is what I do best!

Where to begin? To thank YOU! You lovely people out there whom without, we quite simply would not have been able to achieve the things we have achieved. Every single time you ordered our textiles, or told a friend about us, or shared our website on your social media.. all of that has allowed us to continue and grow. Thank you to every one of you who has emailed us to show us your new I&S curtain/reupholstery project/quilt, or just simply to thank us for doing what we do - we feel very lucky to be able to bring joy to your lives in some small way. Thank you for helping us to create an alternative to the toxic, mass produced textiles that dominate the world. I am so proud that I have been able to put my love and energy in to growing something that doesn't harm the people who produce it, or our finite planet!

A special mention must be made of a particularly amazing woman, Carmen. Back in early 2012, unbeknownst to me at the time, she pointed me to the path I am now treading. The wonderful Carmen told me I could go overseas & do some professional development in the form of an artist residency. It seemed an impossible dream, but lo & behold 10 months later I was touching down in Mexico City, ready to learn all I could learn. So thank you Carmen, for your encouragement, your patronage & your belief in us. I must extend that thanks to everyone who supported me in my Pozible campaign to get to Mexico, words can't describe how much your kindness & support altered my life for the better. If only I could hug you all!

Next up, thank you to my arty/design peeps. It's been a seriously amazing 6 years and I feel incredibly lucky to have been a part of the wonderful Melbourne indy design community. Seriously, this community is a giant love-in & I'm going to miss rocking along to all the markets and tradeshows and getting to hang out/talk shop with that rad crew of ridiculously wonderful creative geniuses/businesspeople. I feel very lucky to have developed some pretty amazing friendships with some pretty amazing colleagues over the years - special mention to Mel K, Matt T, Sarah R, Emily W, Geniene, Ben & Nat, Sass, Shannon, Anna & Gareth, Wendy, Miranda, Michelle H, Victoria M, Katy, Ming-Zhu, Sayra. You guys! So, so much love for you.

The Younghusband crew! We have seen so many faces come & go through our beloved redbrick warehouse over the years, too many to list.. but good times have been had with all. I feel super lucky to have been able to spend this time within its hallowed walls. Special mention to Yong, Master Sam, Jules & Bridget, Gary - you guys have all helped us in some way & I love you :)

My beloved studio buddies over the years! These people I completely adore. They're amazing and absolute treasures & have all graciously tolerated my somewhat dubious DJ skillz. The beautiful Beth-Emily, Tom, Bianca, Nichola, Brianna, Lara D, Jess & Emma, Dan.

Especially big ups to these two studio buddies - one past, one present: the wonderful Dana & the gorgeous Abby. These amazing ladies are very close to my heart and if there is something I am completely thankful to I&S for, it is their friendship. So many good times, so much good advice, laughter & tears & hugs & drinks & funtimes.. my life is all the richer for having you two in it, would that I could take you with me!

Some non studio related thank you's: My beloved high school art teacher, Ollie, for her endless encouragement of me, a timid, quiet, skinny little ginger art kid in large, noisy, sport-focussed school in the country. I think I could have very easily fallen through the cracks there & Ollie helped me find my feet & taught me to embrace my passion.
My painting mentor/lecturer Glenn, who taught me to call a spade a spade & always took no small amount of glee in suggesting a tin of turps & a match whenever he was called over to give his opinion on an artwork in progress.. Glenn taught me to take art seriously, but not too seriously. He pushed me to go to Melbourne to study my BA of Fine Art. Without Glenn as my mentor, I&S would simply not exist.
Dearest Mike, my favourite Kiwi of all time, a brilliant teacher and gentle soul who taught me art is many things & opened my eyes to the spiritual/ephemeral/unseeable side of the world. He spoke of the relationships we have with our brushes, the beauty of paper, of repurposing materials. In class Mike made us watch Monkey Magic & do Tai Chi & discuss world events. Mike taught me to be a kinder person, to listen to the unspoken, to spend time thinking, digesting, not to rush.
My amazing parents, Felicite & Graeme. Thanks for giving me a free-range, barefoot, veggie-growing, powertool-wielding, car-driving, horse-riding, tree-climbing, cow-milking, ballet-doing, art-making, cake-baking, book-filled childhood. I'm pretty sure I can do/make/be anything, thanks to the things you taught me in my early years. Thank you for your unending love & support for every crazy thing I have ever wanted to do: drop out of high school to study art? Of course you can! Oh, you want to start a small boutique textile business during a worldwide recession? Sure thing, Teegs! Fly to Mexico alone & study textiles in another language? Most definitely! Come sailing with us for months? No problem! Sell your business & move to Europe..? (Actually, mum is still getting used to that one)

My final & obvious thank you is for beloved Lara, my sister by another mister, my bestie, the lady who knows every story of my life, excellent advice-giver, the one who has tolerated me on a daily basis for 6 wonderful years! I could not have hoped for such a wonderful business partner, or indeed for said business partner to become my dearest friend & confidante. What Lara does not know about me could fit in a matchbox! I am so grateful to have spent these years with her, and it is with a heavy heart that I leave - especially at this super exciting time! Look at that photo of us! The belly! We have walked a fabulous path together, but now our paths are diverging & I must go to achieve some major life goals, as she must stay to achieve hers. Not having Lara around will be like missing my right arm! I am so proud of everything we have created together & I think this is the perfect moment to pause & reflect on how far we have come, the business we have built, the goals we have achieved. I love you Lara! Life is going to be so odd without seeing your face every day - you can expect a lot of skype calls :) especially when your mini is born, I'll be needing to see her often.

Ok so that's it for the thank you's.

So, what's next for me? My plans now consist of throwing a Bon Voyage party & flying one way to Istanbul in April with darling Illy, then winding my way west to beautiful Mel in Berlin, to gorgeous Alana in Madrid, then north to my as-yet-unmet second cousins in London, to Greer in Scotland...and of course every country in between! My plan is to look at art & architecture until my eyes bleed. Pretty excited!

If you want to follow my ridiculous adventuring, Instagram/Twitter will be the way to do it: @teegs3

Well, that's about it from me! Goodbye, everyone!

Thanks for the love & awesome times.

xx Teegs