Mum’s Got Talent! is a decorative arts, creative home & interiors blog with a twist,  founded by me, Marie Loh.  The twist being that I wanted to do my own personal site for such a long time and I wanted it to be a site that made a conscious difference, not just another art and design blog that shared creative articles, I want my blog to educate and innovate, to push the boundaries and not only inspire but open up people’s minds to the impact their art and design has on the world not just the emotions. So MGT! is a creative blog dedicated to responsibly  discovering and sharing creative ideas, inspiration, how to’s, finds, spaces & places, talent, deals, reviews, discussions…and prizes!

“I have a passion for beautiful design and a desire to preserve our special planet. Whilst we make and appreciate beautiful things, homes and spaces, design and art, none of it should not come at a price to our planet and the world we leave behind for future generations. I want to discover how we can balance this.”- Marie Loh, Founder of MGT!

Marie is a designer, decorative arts specialist and blogger.  She studied Interior Design at University and soon developed an interest in new media, which then developed into an exciting career in web design and online marketing.  Over the past 10 years Marie has been lucky enough to work with some of the digital industry’s most talented designers and creative minds on a variety of projects.  Her professional experience and training have furthered her passion for ‘good design’.

Since having her children and spending more time in the home setting her love for interiors and decorative arts was rekindled. It became so strong that she decided to step out of the corporate world and pursue a new career path in decorative arts and creative interiors, utilising all her skills and passions.

Why Mum’s Got Talent! as a name?
The name of this site has been the bane of my life for the past 2 years, which is how long I have been itching to do my own blog, only time had been an issue as I was working, studying and raising my young family. Names…I tried so many, clever, witty, contemporary, obvious and after about 200 iterations I decided to torment myself no more and to state the obvious…I’m a Mum who works hard to utilise her creative talent, is interested in other people’s talent and would like to inspire others to use their creative talents more….so Mum’s Got Talent!   More than anything I want my blog to be educational, inspirational, useful and fun.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but never had the opportunity until now”
At university I was doing some design research and came across a book about the Great Exhibition of 1851, this event was put on to celebrate the achievements of art, design and technology, but for the first time ever the doors were opened up to the general public so that they too could enjoy these blessings, not just affluent folk. The amazing building that housed the exhibition, Crystal Palace, was in fact designed by a gardener with a huge passion for greenhouses and pushing the boundaries of what you could do with them. Joseph Paxton, a rather talented chap, never officially trained in architecture. He worked his way up to being an iconic landscape gardener, then moved into architecture through his love for grand garden designs and elaborate green house structures. My feeling is that had he been classically trained as an architect I doubt he would have been such a sympathetic architect himself, he was devoted to nature in his designs and merely used technology to build the visions in his head. Not letting the limitations of technology dictate or intimidate how grand his designs could be. In a sense his imagination knew no boundaries and his designs for what was essentially a large green house were revolutionary at the time. I have much admiration for his adventurism and wish I could be so bold myself sometimes. We need more people like him to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible and conceivable, not to just settle for what is on offer in B&Q or Ikea. But you could buy the basics from these stores and use them as your tools to create something very special indeed. Or mix and match them to suit your purposes…in other words use them to assist your style; don’t let them be your ‘boil in the bag’ style.

I want Mum’s Got Talent! to offer a wealth of information, how to’s and bite sized educational articles on what is available and achievable in a creative sense today and possibly tomorrow. But with the twist of really researching the materials you use and utilising materials which are the least harmful to the planet and where possible sustainable.  I feel art, craft, design and technology is for everyone to appreciate and explore, and that is what Mum’s Got Talent! is all about. Finding and exploring new creative things for everyone to enjoy and bask in the visual delights of worldwide creative talent!

MGT! is a ‘for profit’ blog. Just as you would find in any magazine, there will be a mixture of paid advertising and reviews of products I think you may like and  articles and such that I don’t get paid to write about. Whatever the item, event or subject matter I will never write about something or endorse it unless I feel it has a high ‘ding dong’ environmental or ‘good design’ factor.  At the end of the day I need to make a living just like everyone else, but in order to do something I love, I have to pay my own bills too. The great thing for any visitors to the site is that you don’t have to pay to use the site or read any of the content, or buy anything, but if you do find something you like and would be interested in buying, well that means I am doing my job well in keeping you informed!

Happy creating and nesting.

Marie x