Sketchy update No.2...

A sketchbook in the making...

I signed up Art House Co-op's Sketchbook Project 2012 quite a while ago, and in true fashion have kinda left it a bit last minute to get started. It's due to be posted back to Brooklyn Art Library by the end of the month, but thanks to some fast sewing, cutting and splashes of watercolour, I seem to be doing not tooo badly considering my late start.

My theme is 'Forever in a Nutshell'. I'm not overly imaginative, so I've taken the literal approach, with landscape scenes tied in with a few nutshells. I'll be sure to post more updates as I fill up the book, but here's a little look so far...


(please excuse my pack of chocolate digestives peeking in, plus my broken fingers in the bottom)

Bows, sequins, ribbon and stripes in one heart

Such a cute little fabric heart from my friend Hannah which she popped inside my Christmas card :)

Season's Greetings from Rudolph and Squirelly

Rather than spend hours labouring over my Christmas cards with prit stick and scraps of paper, glitter and fabric everywhere, I decided to try a different approach, and go with an illustrated design. I had a few others, but these turned out the best when combined with my crappy printer.

Maybe next year I'll even get my act together, sort out decent printing, and get them on Etsy (which was my original plan).

Merry Christmas from Mr Reindeer and Snowy the Squirrel!

Weekend Projects: Tree Hearts & Puddings

Best carried out with a bunch of festive tunes, here's my Spotify playlist if you can't be bothered to compile your own - CHRISTMAS Playlist. Lemme know if I've missed any crackers! (pun intended)

I made these last year and can't wait to get them out again this weekend once we've been to pick out our tree. They're pretty simple and cheap to make, all you need is;

• Ribbon
• Brown felt (for the pudding)
• Cream fabric (the the pudding sauce - I just used the same for the hearts)
• Gold beads
• Coloured thread
• Stuffing

Obviously, use whatever fabric and ribbon patterns you want to match your own decor.

Make yourself a few stencils, something simple like these will do.

 

Pin them to your fabric, and cut out. Each decoration with need two cut outs, so once you have a pair, pin them together. Pick out your matching thread and start sewing together, I used a blanket stitch around the edges to hold them together a bit better. Once you're need to the end, remember to take a break from the stitching to stuff them before finishing. 

For the puddings I stitched the cream piece onto one side of the pudding before sewing both circles together. I used a few gold beads dotted around, and added a loop of ribbon to the back.

The hearts also have one piece of looped ribbon on the back, and a small bowed stitched onto the front.

Dear Santa

Compling my letter to Santa Claus used to mean sitting for hours at the kitchen table with an Argos catalogue trying to decide which games, dolls and novelty items we wanted. As the illusion of our letters being swept up the chimney with a gust of wind faded, so did the carefully complied wish list. 

Christmas lists turned into a trip to the shops, to a scrap of paper passed around the family, to an email, to a few vague ideas across the phone. So this year I've taken back the fun of making my Christmas list. 

(Of course I'm going by the rule of providing plenty of options, with the expectation of receiving only a few... this is just my wishlist.) You never know, it might even give a few ideas of what to buy your own girlie, crafty friend/ sister/ daughter/ girlfriend/ etc.

Clockwise starting top left;

• Fashion Illustration book
• Cartier Baiser Vole
• Topshop ARMARDA Boots
• Screen Printing setup
• Powder Inks
• Barry M liquid eyeliner
• Glass teapot
• Jo Malone English Pear & Freesia
• Burberry Body
• Fabric Scissors

What's on your list this year?

Sneaky Peek - Chistmas designs

Excited to get my Christmas cards finished in good time for sending out this year. I still have a few more to draw out and pick my card colors, but here's a sneak peek!

Weekend Projects: Re-upholstered dining chairs

This is something I'd never had a reason to try before, but since we recently moved to an unfurnished house, we decided to take a trip to a local antiques & junk yard to find salvageable pieces to fill the dinning room. We thought it'd be fun to have four mismatched chairs and each decorate our own... and here is mine!

Being the cheapo that I am, I picked this one merely for the fact that we could get a pair for £5. Bargain! Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the original, salvaged chair, so you'll have to use your imagination - dark, chipped varnish with a sludgy green patterned seat, which probably wouldn't have been so awful, had it not been sat outside in the junk yard.

First off I sanded the whole thing down, dusted it off, then painted a base coat. I then spent an awfully long time wandering around the paint isles at B&Q, before picking out this Victorian 'Winchester Green'. 

The fabric I used to re-upholster the seat was found after rummaging around in the cut offs bin at my local fabric store - never under estimate the scraps! Luckily the original seat filling was still in good condition, so after pulling out the old staples and fabric, it was pretty simple to cover with my new material, folding the edges under to keep it tidy before stapling down.

We've also just acquired a pair Arts & Crafts style chairs, which I'm in the process of sanding, so stay tuned for the results of those. Enjoy your crafty weekends!

Weekend Projects: 'a' letter tote

My crafty friend, Alex Carruthers, always makes people the cutest birthday cards. So when I left it a little late to start on hers, I decided to make a belated birthday present instead. She's not one for fussy accessories, and lugging things around, so I went for a simple tote bag.

The letter 'a' is embroidered using crimson and dark plum coloured cotton, and is backed with two layers of fabric and appliqued onto the bag. I also made a little bow with left over fabric from my re-upholstered chair.

October Obsessions

Website
Thought Catalog
So many honestly written articles which make me realise how I'm not alone in my twentysomething worries. Particularly 'How to make friends after you graduate' and 'Why everyone needs to just accept that they're a creeper on the internet'

Exhibition
The Grundy Art Gallery's current exhibition 'Mass Photography: Blackpool through the camera' is so worth a visit if you're in the area. Full of nostalgic images from the early 20th century British seaside to present day stag and hen hotspot, it makes Blackpool feel a lot more interesting.

Tim Brown - Blackpool Tram (1990)

Music
Which leads me to...

Film
Drive.
I loved everything from the silky scorpion jacket to the brutal head crushing and synth pop soundtrack.

Decor Insipration
Apartment Therapy is so full of beautifully decorated rooms and jazzed up furniture. It's pretty much impossible to not find home interiors inspiration.

Fashion
Getting cosy for winter with my new chunky knits courtesy of the Topshop sale. I'm going heavy on the darks and wine red.

Design
I love these movie poster designs by Alien Corset, which I came across in the Richard Goodall Gallery in Manchester.
Nosferatu seems rather fitting.

Tea of the Month
Roobios - OK I only bought it the other day, so it was a late entry to the month, but I feel it was a good purchase.