by Bonnie Collings
The Warragul library recently welcomed a new art piece to the children's section - a three metre by three metre rug designed as a Monopoly board.

As well as being an exciting artwork, the rug comes with all the game pieces and cards, meaning you can play a giant game of Monopoly.
The rug was created by Warragul-based artist and YouTuber Josiah Brooks, aka Jazza, and Sydney-based rug maker Chrystal Christie.
As an artist and a YouTuber, Jazza said his schtick was making everything he possibly could.
"I had tried making rugs before, it was a really fun thing, but I felt a little in over my head," Jazza said.
"I found a tutorial by someone who was also Australian that was just really helpful. Her name was Chrystal Christie."
Jazza made a YouTube video of himself making a rug, giving Chrystal a shout out, thanking her for the helpful tutorial.
From that shout out, Chrystal's YouTube fanbase grew from 2000 to 10,000 almost immediately.
Originally a graphic designer, Chrystal took up rug making during COVID lockdown after seeing other rug makers on TikTok.
"I thought it was pretty interesting so I thought you know what, I'm going to buy everything and have a crack," she said.
Chrystal began posting videos of her creating rugs in 2021. Starting off with traditional flat rugs, she now makes a wide variety of rugs and has even created a rug dress.
Chrystal reached out to Jazza, thanking him for his shout out and offering to collaborate on a large rug project if he was ever interested.
Jazza responded quickly, inviting Chrystal to his studio in Warragul to collaborate on a project.
After brainstorming lots of ideas for their rug project, Jazza and Chrystal decided to create a three metre by three metre playable Monopoly board.
Going into the project, Jazza said one of the goals was to make the rug completely playable, meaning he would have to create all the game pieces and cards in addition to the rug.
"It felt necessary to make it playable because (the game) is part of everyone's memories," Jazza said. "We 3D printed all the pieces, we made sure we had all the money, all the cards, but everything needed to be comically large."
Chrystal and Jazza allocated five days to complete the rug and play a game of Monopoly before Chrystal had to fly home.
The first full day of the project was dedicated to putting the base fabric on the frame and tracing the details of the Monopoly board.
From there, they allocated two days to tuft the rug and two days to shave it down. On the final day, they would put the backing on and finish by playing a game of Monopoly together. It wasn't long before things started to stray from the timeline.
"On the first day of tufting, I think we spent eight hours straight just tufting and the only thing we got done were the words and few block colours of the properties," Chrystal said.
"We looked at each other and went 'hmm, I think we need more time!'".
On the second day of tufting, they ran out of yarn.
Panicked, Chrystal went to Umart in Warragul and Drouin, buying all the stock of the colour that was available. But they found out the next day, it still wasn't enough.
Luckily, Chrystal's friend was in Melbourne and bought as much yarn as she could from another craft store.
Eventually, they completed the tufting on the third day before finishing the remaining steps in a caffeine induced whirlwind. Knowing it would be too big to keep in his studio amongst his many other projects, Jazza decided to donate the rug to the Warragul library.
"I'm an art hoarder, I really love the feeling of looking at something I've done years later, walking past it and enjoying the memory of having worked on something," Jazza said.
"I'm coming to a point in my now 13-year career on YouTube, that as every project has sort of gotten more diverse and larger, I can't hold on to them all."
Jazza said donating the rug and the game pieces to Warragul Library allowed the project to be shared with the community, while also being close enough to home for him to remain connected to it.
"(I feel) slightly guilty as to the fights and arguments that might break out over Mayfair and Park Lane, but I like the idea that it can be part of people's memories," Jazza said.
"I think that's one of the most special things about creating something. It means that people get curious, excited or interested and I think it's really nice to be a part of that."
Chrystal said she was glad the rug would take on a new life in the community after it's chaotic start to life.
"I hope a lot of people have a lot of fun on it," Chrystal said. "It's cool to know that it's going to take on a new life."
Literacy librarian Hannah Notman said Myli Library was "incredibly grateful" for the donation.
"The Monopoly themed rug is a fantastic addition to the Warragul library," she said. "Patrons will be able to interact with the rug using game pieces, making it a fun experience for all ages. we can't wait to see our community enjoy it!"
The Warragul library will host a special Monopoly during the school holidays on Wednesday April 16.
For more information, visit myli.au/mon1604
You can watch the making of the Monopoly rug on Jazza's and Chrystal's YouTube channels.