New website with blog!

My new website and blog is finally up and running! You can still view archives of old blog posts here but from now on all new posts can be viewed here! Looking forward to sharing new work with you all.

Goodbye 2015 - Hello 2016!

Just a quick thank you to everyone who made 2015 a good year for me - here's looking ahead to a 2016 which will hopefully bring lots of new and exciting adventures. I have lots of plans and ideas, one of which will be a complete overhaul of my blog and website, to better document and showcase my work new and old.

I hope 2016 is a healthy and happy New Year for everyone!

The Do Book Company and Lectures

Last week I went to a great event held at Bristol's independent record and book store Rise. I've actually been to a few really good in store gigs there - often musicians performing shows in larger music venues around Bristol will do a short set or a couple of acoustic songs to promote the release of a new album or encourage fans to come to a later gig. Personally I much prefer, smaller more intimate venues so sometimes I will prefer to watch the Rise in store performances (especially seeing as they are often free!)

This event was to promote the launch of a new book series released by the 'Do Book Company' - an independent publishing house based in Shoreditch. 'Do Books' are a series of 11 inspirational pocket guide books which aim to create positive changes be it through learning a new skill or craft, a shift in thinking or by giving you the inspiration and encouragement to achieve a goal or dream. Each book is only about 100 pages, making them quick and easy to read and focusing on the practicalities of 'doing' rather than the background theory.

The books are written by speakers from the Do Lectures - which form part of a 3 day festival/conference founded in Cardigan, Wales. Fans of the world famous TED talks will love the Do lectures as they are very similar - the lectures cover a huge range of themes and subjects given by people from all walks of life.

During the promotional launch at rise, the authors of the following four books each gave a 15-20 minute lecture summarizing their book and how they came to write it:

• Do Breathe - Calm your mind. Find your focus. Get stuff done. - Michael Townsend Williams

• Do Disrupt - Change the status quo. Or become it. - Mark Shayler 

• Do Purpose - Why brands with a purpose do better and matter more. - David Hieatt

• Do Fly - Find your way. Make a living. Be your best self. - Gavin Strange
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Each author was so engaging and interesting in different ways and although they only spoke for a short amount of time, I could have happily sat there and listened to them all night! I could have bought the whole series of books there and then but the one that really caught my eye (partly because of the awesome name of the author!) was Do Story - How to tell your story so the world listens. (Written by Bobette Buster)

I'm really into true story telling events at the moment and am pretty addicted to podcasts and blogs like The Moth, Humans of New York etc... Bobettes book offers some great advice on how to tell your own story and how the skills used to do this can be really beneficial to other aspects of your life, be it personal or professional.

The evening was rounded off by a great musical performance by Luke Sital Singh who I had been wanting to see again since watching him perform in the pouring rain two years ago at glastonbury - it was nice to watch him in the warm and dry comfort of the rise record store!

The books are definitely worth reading - as I said they are pretty short so they are accessible for people who are not really into reading and cover a wide range of subjects. I would love to attend the Do Lectures festival and the other events that they are now holding all around the world - however I was slightly dismayed when I went on their website and discovered that tickets for the 3 day event cost over £1200! So I guess for now I will stick with my slightly more affordable paperback book! On a serious note this is something that has been irritating me a lot lately ( - events which are apparently aim to "inspire and encourage discussion and debate between young people from all backgrounds" but are then priced so that only really high earners can possibly afford the tickets) and is something I will write about in an upcoming post.

However I should say that there are a lot of videos on the do lectures website that you can watch for free so do check them out here:

http://www.thedolectures.com/talks/

Sharing

Last week my Mom introduced me to a great new blog called commuteblog which each day features photographs and stories of commuters that the author meets on the tube in London. Each post is just a small snippet into the commuters lives however it is so heartwarming that people are willing to share their stories and offer such an interesting insight to struggles and pleasures of day to day living. This week the author of the blog posted the following quote in reference to the recent refugee crisis.

 It really resonated with me and got me thinking about how so many things in life are so much better shared. With that in mind I started to compile a list of my favourite things to share. What do you love sharing? Think about it and let me know.     

Things that are better shared

Stories/Books

Finding a story or book that is so good that you become completely immersed in the world of its characters to the point where you don't want it to end is a rare pleasure... but when you are able to share that with someone equally obsessed with it as you its even better! For me the best personal example I have have of this is the Harry Potter series. My sister and I grew up with the books as they were being released and we absolutely loved them. So many of our games and conversations revolved around the world of Hogwarts - we would dress up in wizard robes, make our own wands, burn paper so it looked like parchment.. all kinds of crazy and imaginative things! One summer we went on holiday to Italy as a family at the exact time when the 6th book was being released (poor organisational/holiday booking skills by my parents ha!) so obviously my sister and I were distraught that we wouldn't be able to get hold of an English copy of the book and may have to wait 2 weeks until we returned to the UK! After traipsing around every book shop in Florence we were able to find just 1 english version of the book and in order to avoid fights we decided we would read it (page by page) at the same time! Whenever one of us wanted to read it the other one would have to as well so that we were always at the same point! 

And actually it wasn't just me and my sister who shared a love for Harry Potter - it involved the whole family! Another summer we went on holiday to New England and spent a lot of time driving from one state to another. Many hours were spent in total silence in the car as we all listened to the recorded version of the Harry Potter books narrated by Stephen Fry. To this day we still love Harry Potter and I love talking to my sister about it and discussing various theories and plot lines within the books!

Music

This is probably quite an obvious and popular choice but sharing music (particularly live music) can be such a wonderful experience. I have been to quite a few music festivals where I have been listening to a favourite band or artist and have then perhaps caught the eye of a stranger in the audience and just without any words or conversation needed have been able to share such a great moment of pure joy and emotion. The same goes for sharing music with friends - sometimes its nice just not to need to speak and just listen to a sound you both love and appreciate.

My top shared music experiences would be:
Bon Iver at Latitude festival
Arcade Fire at Alexandra Palace
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's again at Latitude festival
First Aid Kit at Glastonbury
and one from my teenage years: Bob Marley and the wailers - listened to throughout the summer of 2016 in friends bedrooms and at house parties!


Childhood

I guess this follows on from my first choice but not having shared my childhood with my sister is something that is completely unimaginable to me. I don't think you necessarily need to have a sibling to share your childhood with - many children have lots of friends (real or imaginary!) cousins, neighbours or pets who they are able to play and have fun with. But surely there can be nothing worse than being lonely as a child. I have so many happy memories of growing up and playing in the garden with my sister and no matter what happens to us as adults and how different our lives may be from one another we will always have that happy shared experience that bonds as and we can look back on and smile. I know not everyone in the world is fortunate enough to have that (a point which has been painfully highlighted by the refugee crisis) which is really heartbreaking. Every one deserves to have a childhood shared with friends and family that they can continue to treasure as an adult.


Painful experiences

This may seem a bit of an odd one to include but I think its an important one. There is nothing worse than going through a painful experience or traumatic period in your life and feeling completely on your own with it. I don't really subscribe to the whole "everything happens for a reason" theory; in my opinion terrible and unfair things can happen for absolutely no reason at all. However I do firmly believe that there probably is something you can take and learn from everything, and that bad experiences do help you to become stronger and more resilient. When I have been in a particularly low and desperate state of mind having the support and love of my family has absolutely saved me and I know that facing those struggles alone would have been near impossible. So for that reason I add painful experiences to my list of things to share. I mean obviously ideally you wouldn't have any to share at all but if you have to go through bad times it makes it that little bit easier if there is someone by your side!

I feel like I don't want to end on that one as its a little bit melancholy but this post is becoming quite long and I don't want to ramble too much! 
What do you love to share? Let me know as it would be great to do a follow on post with other people's stories and memories of positive sharing experiences.


If you would like to follow the commute blog you can check it out here:
www.commuteblog.co.uk

other similar and equally great blogs which document the lives and stories of everyday people that I love are:

http://www.humansofnewyork.com

http://www.7billionothers.org/

Using natural dyes

Whilst creating work for my degree piece I began experimenting dying fabrics using natural pigments and products. Years ago I attended a textile workshop where we used rusty objects to dye and stain fabrics which I was surprised to discover produced some beautiful results. Since my latest project focused on the life and work of honeybees, I was keen to use natural dyes to create the fabric used in my textile work since I felt this would work well with the context of my piece. A quick internet search led me to a whole abundance of blogs and tutorials about using natural dyes. From spices such as turmeric to dandelion roots or red cabbage you would be surprised by how many things that you probably already have at home or in your garden that you can use to produce some really effective dyes.

For my honeybee work I was focusing on the symbolism of the colour yellow, so I stuck to using turmeric, onion skins and dried plant extracts from yellow flowers such as weld and madder. If you want to grow plants specifically to use as dyes there is a great website  was able to find a great UK website http://www.wildcolours.co.uk/index.html which sells many different flowers seeds. If you are impatient to get dyeing and see some results, they also sell dyes, flower/plant extracts and mordants. That particular website was a great resource of information for me when it came to getting started with dyeing - they provide some really useful tips and information on which are the best fabrics to use and how to prepare your fabric so that the colours will last. 

Weld - a great flower to use either dried or fresh to create a yellow dye

For a recent commission I was asked to create an embroidery of a sweet pea so decided to use this as an opportunity to experiment with some purple dyes. A quick trip to the supermarket provided me with some red onion skins, beetroot, red cabbage and black beans and after soaking my fabric in vinegar to mordant it, I soon began to get to work with the dyeing! Each dye produced a different colour - all of which were lovely but it was the red cabbage which created the nicest shade of purple. I also used a couple of different fabrics - thin muslin cotton, silk and a thicker cotton/calico which also led to a lot of variation in the tones and shades of each dye. Bear in mind that it is always best to use natural fibres when dyeing to produce good results. Below is a picture of my finished piece. All the fabric used was dyed using red beetroot then layered up an embroidered onto.

I really loved the process of natural dyeing - it may sound silly but it is so satisfying to see such great results so quickly just by using products that are so simple to attain! It is definitely a process I am keen to learn more about and continue to experiment with. The possibilities If what you can do are endless... 

Below I have left some links to some of the blogs and tutorials that helped me get going, as I said there are so many out there each of which describe different techniques and methods. I have also included the website of artist India Flint. A innovative  textile artist who has really taken things to the next level with her methods and use of natural dyes.

Enjoy exploring and experimenting!

Folk Fibers blog -  yellow and red onion skin tutorial

Twenty-first century lady - fruit and vegetable dye tutorials

Domestic Scientist - Documentation of the beautiful work of Theia Haines who uses naturally dyed fabrics to produce unique garments.

Rust dyeing tutorial by artist Laurie Brooks

   

India Flint - tutorials, workshops and examples of work created using natural dyes

To Dads who like adventures!

My Dad has always been one for adventures... not always intentionally I should add - the majority of his mad escapades resemble episodes of Fawlty Towers or Mr Bean! However this summer he really has undertaken a big adventure by embarking on a voyage around the United Kingdom with friends. I think it was my Mom's idea originally although I don't think she thought the trip would be planned and followed through so quickly! Nonetheless all the crew have had fun so far and no doubt my Dad's determination and energy has spurred everyone on! You can follow his adventures on the Yacht Raven at his own blog here: 

http://ravenroundbritain.blogspot.co.uk/

Dad, I have missed you whilst you have been away and look forward to seeing you next weekend and hearing all about your travels! Here is a sneak peek of your Father's Day card!

For the love of books... Part 1

I happened to go to a literature festival on Friday where one of the authors was discussing the merits of  a Kindle over a traditional paper back or hardback book. For me personally there is absolutely no contest. I hate the idea of Kindles. There is nothing more beautiful or precious than a book and I would hate to see them die out. I have many happy memories of reading in bed, on a beach, curled up in a chair. I love keeping copies of my favourite books that have been re read so many times they are dog eared and fat, to share a favourite novel with family and friends.

And what about all the wonderful art and design books that are still available in our book stores? Beautifully illustrated children's stories with colours so bright that they stick in your memory more than the words themselves. 

Photographic books showing nature and all the wonders of the world. I am no cook but even I linger over the huge section of cookery books which always look so appealing with hand drawn illustrations or tempting photographs. 

And don't even get me started on the smell of books! Not just old ones either... one of the best parts of re starting school in September was the anticipation of getting your brand new books with crisp white pages and that new book smell.

Books are for collecting, sharing, loving and passing on.

Some images and wise words of wisdom from other bibliophiles:

"Isn't it odd how much fatter a book gets when you've read it several times?” Mo had said…”As if something were left between the pages every time you read it. Feelings, thoughts, sounds, smells…and then, when you look at the book again many years later, you find yourself there, too, a slightly younger self, slightly different, as if the book had preserved you like a pressed flower…both strange and familiar." - Cornelia Funk, Inkspell

"Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic." - Carl Sagan

Go dance

This blog has many great pictures and gifs and has sucked up a lot of my time today: 

http://littlemovienerd.tumblr.com/

Note to self...

Found another blog to add to the many I now follow: Positive Inking

Beautiful hand lettering and positive thoughts combined! I need to look at this particular one every day...

If I was a rich girl...

I would do all of my shopping at Free People. They do the best boho/hippy chic clothes ever but unfortunately their prices are beyond ridiculous and don't quite match the whole ethic and lifestyle that they try to promote. Maybe one day when I have more money than sense I will shop there but until then I'll keep looking in the sale section of the website!

Here are some things I am currently lusting over:

Beaded silk chiffon gown (£800!!)

Stitch In Time Quilted Jacket (£128)

Vintage Tribe Yoga Bag (£425!! - That would pay for yoga classes for the rest of my life!)

Printed Cat Teepee - (£78)

Free people also have a really good blog which is good for motivational quotes, outfit inspiration, creative DIY's and music. They also do a weekly horoscope which for me is always scarily accurate. You can follow their blog here.

Favourite Blogs: Poppytalk

I mentioned in a previous post that I would start featuring some of my favourite blogs so thought I would begin today with a beautiful Canadian blog that I have been reading pretty much daily now for around 2-3 years.

Poppytalk is an art and design blog with its own online marketplace - www.poppytalkhandmade.com which features artists and designers from around the world. (similar to Etsy except it is curated and themed each month)

Poppytalk is always my go to for DIY's and ideas for handmade presents - their step by step tutorials are accompanied by photographs or videos and even though they're simple to follow they produce great results.

Here are some of my favourite DIY's found via Poppytalk

DIY Letter writing set

Birch Bark Lampshade

Beautiful gift wrap

Hearts of ice

You can also follow Poppytalk on Pinterest here

Enjoy!

http://poppytalk.blogspot.co.uk/

Snippets of Christmas...and hopes for the New Year.

Christmas seems a long time ago now and it definitely flew by far too quickly this year. I loved being with my family - I just wish I could have spent longer at home!

Since beginning this blog my posts have not been as frequent as I would like at all, and definitely one of my goals for this year is to change the format of it a little bit - hopefully to include more work of other artists and bloggers I follow as well as books, articles, stories, theatre, films - any source of inspiration!

Once I manage to take some better photographs (hopefully on Thursday) I will post some of the projects and presents I made over Christmas for family and friends. Also this week I will include posts about:

Hansel and Gretel
The Life of Pi

My favourite blogs

Pin of the week

and thats all I can think of right now! My thinking is if I write on here what I intend to feature then there is no backing out and I have to post frequently (even though today this blog had a grand total of 1 pageview so its not as though I have thousands of expectant followers but still...)

Happy New Year!

(click picture to enlarge)

Picture credits clockwise from top left:

1. Polar bear Christmas Card (Own design) 2. Mini Christmas Trees taken from Cubicle Refugee Tumblr.

3. 'Warm Winter Wishes' - Own Christmas Card Design. 4. 'Soft Night Descending' - Catherine Hyde

5. Robin Mittens - Own hand embroidered Mittens. 6. Sparkle taken from Bibbity Bobbity Boo Tumblr

Motivation....

The past few days I feel I have hit a bit of a creative block and have really struggled to produce anything without tearing it up or throwing it away. Even writing letters to friends and family which I usually love doing has been difficult as I just found myself getting so frustrated and worked up about what to put. I even went back and edited a recent post, replacing the image I had drawn and uploading one by someone else because I felt mine just wasn't good enough. Anyway, this evening as I was talking to a friend online and looking through a blog, I accidentally leant on my keyboard and clicked on a random link which led me to this blog:

http://to-motivate-you.tumblr.com/

It has to be fate! 

Here are two thoughts that I should always keep in mind, they are perhaps more about motivation rather than creative inspiration but still relevant I feel!

Moonrise Kingdom

A friend shared this link with me earlier and reminded me of how much I enjoyed Wes Anderson's 'Moonrise Kingdom' . The story is melancholic, heart warming and unexpectedly funny with excellent performances from all the cast. I much preferred it to Anderson's other hit  film 'The Royal Tenenbaums', although there is a definite similarity in the tone and style in which the films are shot. 

The poster below is one I found on one of the tumblr blogs I follow daily: http://minimalmovieposters.tumblr.com/.

The blog features contributions from lots of different artists and there are lots of awesome posters on there for a huge variety of films and tv series so its worth looking through the archive for your favourite. I'd love to get some of them printed out and they'd make a great present for film fans. Not sure what the deal is with copyrighting on some of them though, so if you re blog please make sure you credit the original artist! This one is by Sam Larson.