Maria Binns from One Hour Craft

What has been your all-time favorite creative project?
My favourite thing I have ever made has got to be a silver ring I cast. It is in the shape of a woman's naked torso. It turned out looking awesome. It was based on an Ancient Egyptian fertility goddess. I loved casting. It is an amazing process from the carving into the wax, to the actual casting. The ring is so heavy that I have never worn it. And I always thought it may look a little too strange for me to be walking around with a naked torso on my finger. I thought it may be a little bit stranger to explain to my date that it is a fertility symbol. Lately, my favourite creations have been clothes for my little girl. I love this summer dress I made her with a huge flower. I think she looks like a present all wrapped up.



The ideal day would be...
I would love to say crafting something, but no not really. I love being out and about. My favourite favourite day would be spent in a place called Gnaraloo which is an outback coastal station near a little town where I used to live. I would wake up look out at the endless deserted beaches, have a breakfast of campfire pancakes and fruit. Then head to the beach to walk, snorkel on the Ningaloo Reef, do some fishing or some paddling on a surf ski or go to a favourite spot, a cliff face, where you can stand right on the edge and look down 20 metres into the ocean and see huge turtles swimming around. Back to my life now. An ideal urban Perth day would be spent in Fremantle, a little city just outside Perth. It is the arty part of Perth really. I would spend the day walking on the beach, going out for coffee, wandering around the Fremantle markets, listening to buskers, visit some art galleries and do some shopping on High Street. Perfect!

Who are your style icons?
My style has always been a little bit left of centre, a little quirky and fun. I think that there are not many people who look good being overdressed and over-accessorised. My style icons are women who basically look like they just got out of bed looking fabulous. Kate Moss inspires me. I love the 'toss it on and look gorgeous' approach she seems to take to fashion. She never appears to take it all too seriously, let's say, like Victoria Beckham. I also love Jade Jagger. She is a woman who always looks like she hasn't been in front of a mirror all day, but looks stunning. My favourite style icon (who is alive today) is Vanessa Paradis. I love the Boho look she has opted for in the last few years. I love the headbands she wears, the longer dresses and the very French attention to detail. She always looks immaculate but never overdone.

What most inspires (a person, a place, a song, a book, a thing) and gets you really jazzed to get creative?
I have so many things placed strategically around my house to inspire me. I would say that magazines inspire me the most. If I am feeling like I have hit a creative trough, I find that flicking through the pages of French Vogue, Wallpaper, Blueprint, Mademoiselle, Marie Claire Idees, get me revved up. Music also hits the spot. At the moment the John Butler Trio (a great band from Western Austalia) really inspire me. I also love Iggy Pop's song "Lust for Life" and Lou Reed's "Perfect Day' to get me into a creative mood. The books which have really pushed me into creative endeavours are The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, How to Eat Mangoes Naked, by Sark and How to Have Kick-Ass Ideas by Chris Barez-Brown. This is a great book about how to think creatively.

Any favorite recipes?
Being the middle of winter, it is cold here at the moment. I have also just bought a sixties fondue pot in a thrift store, so I am loving fondues. My favourite is a recipe I got from my mum. It is called a Peasant Fondue. Just put the pot on the stove and toss in about a handful of mozarella cheese and two more of other tasty cheeses. I then stir this until the cheeses melt into each other. Then I add about a cup of red wine and a large can of tinned tomatoes (I find the Italian tomatoes the tastiest). I cut up the tomatoes before I add them to the cheese. Stir for about five minutes and you end up with a thick, gorgeous, cheesy, tomatoey fondue. Serve this with big chunks of crusty bread. When I lived in Switzerland for a year I learned the trick to eating fondue like this. Don't drink water with your meal or after it for a while. It apparently causes the cheeses to form a ball in your stomach and will make you feel a bit sick. Drink hot tea with the meal or red wine. Delicious! Warning: You may have gathered, this is not exactly a Weight Watcher's menu.

When you're feeling blue, what are your surefire ways to cheer yourself up?
My number one way to get out of feeling blue is exercise. Getting those endorphins working is the best thing for me. I love going for a run if I am feeling down or a bike ride. I find that getting out in the fresh air is the best thing. Being stuck inside is not good for my spirits.

My pantry is always stocked with....
Garam Marsala (because I put this spice in just about anything), sea salt (tastes less bitter than other salt), Sweet Soy Sauce (just because I love it), Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, lentils for a dhal, rice, loads of spices like Star Aniseed and other Asian foods like dried mandarin peel. I love cooking either Indian meals or Asian meals like Master Stock Chicken. I usually have a stock going, that I freeze and re-use again and again to cook a whole chicken. A good stock can last for years if you treat it right.