Accidental Vix

My hubby has now moved to Yorkshire but I have to wait another 2 weeks so I’m very excited about seeing him later today, and my faves today are dedicated to him and his love of DJing, which he has had to sacrifice in our tiny London flat.

Rocky the Zombie – Black Zombie DJ Tote (this combines 2 things that enter most of my hubby’s conversations)

Beautiful Decal – DJ macbook decal (now he is a mac convert he’d be quite happy to see this on his macbook)

Whimsicalfishes – Space invader CD clock (works on so many levels – he’s always late, now works for a computer games company and this would be great in his man-room)

Slavitees – Darth Vader DJ t-shirt (this may be on his birthday pressie list)

GnomEnterprises – Headphone Owl T-shirt (my hubby would love me to get into DJing, but this might be the closest I’ll get)

Frute Juce – Turntable romper suit (this is pretty impressive hand stitching)

Have a great weekend whatever you have planned, I intend to enjoy some time with my gorgeous man!

Xx

As I’m now getting into my Gocco printing and have always had a love of fabric and patterns this shop grabbed my attention on Etsy. Blueberry Ash sells some gorgeous hand printed fabrics, and here are my top 3 reasons to check them out:

• I love the ‘retro colours’ Maria uses that have an air of sophistication to them
• The emphasis on natural materials is something that is worth considering
• The bold patterns are suitable for adults and children alike

Thinking about my next bag pattern and whether I can afford some new fabric now!

Xx

I’ve been feeling a bit blue recently with my diabetes playing up more than usual, being fed up with the flat and my recovery regressing by about 1-2 months resulting in increased pain. When I’m feeling a bit down it’s time for something creative to distract me and cheer me up so over the past week I’ve been making some more booties with left over bits of fabric. It wasn’t intentional but my mood has clearly influenced my creative choices as they all seem to be blue, and have flowers on them – well I guess despite the weather it is nearly summer and the flowers should be bright and cheery.

Off to get out of the flat now, enjoy the rest of your Sunday whatever your plans.

Xx

Well my final free little baby booties have gone out, and all I’m waiting for  now is the feedback forms which I’m hoping will be as positive as the first! I must admit I’m all shoed out at the moment, although I have 4 pairs here which I’m plucking up the courage to list in my folksy or etsy shops. Not entirely sure what is stopping me, maybe the thought of deciding what to write as a description, being indecisive about pricing and being a bit scared of feeling like a failure if they don’t sell. Sounds a bit silly once written down, but they take so long to make and are a new challenge to me and the relative safety of my sketchbook. If I don’t sell many cards then it doesn’t feel quite as bad (although I obviously want them to do well) as they are much quicker for me to make and I can get my pen and paper out wherever and whenever and still have sketchbooks upon sketchbooks to flick through at the end. I have invested so many evenings and weekends into my little shoes – let’s hope they succeed.

Another day, another week so maybe it’s time to take that jump.

Xx

Well, our start to married life is stressful at the moment to say the least but without the pressure of having to make and create every spare moment my creativeness has actually increased. The problem now being that I have so many ideas in my head that I don’t have time to attempt them all, but I guess that is what my sketchbook is for. On top of my regular sketchbook I have also signed up to the sketchbook project 2012, allowing myself more time to complete it this time. Our wedding and honeymoon now seeming like a distant memory I have made a start on filling the pages. Unlike my previous (and first) sketchbook project which was rushed to say the least I have decided to make the most of this year’s being shorter at 32 pages, a standard picture book size. Continuing with my illustration dream the first page starts my story and view of 2011 as it has been an important year in our lives!

Anyone following my blog will know of my love of textiles, sketching and my overworked sewing machine so why not combine them all. I will let the pictures tell the story so far, but watch this space as the journey unfolds. Any comments or feedback would be great as I still have 29 pages to go.

Xx

It’s been a while since I’ve had time to blog about things other than handmade wedding-ness so today I’m taking the opportunity to do a quick Folksy Friday. Most of you who read my blog will know that if I haven’t got at least one creative project on the go in my spare time then there is something wrong. To get over coming back down to earth with a large bump on return from our honeymoon there was only one thing for it – to throw myself into a new challenge by attempting to make some baby booties. Don’t ask me why I chose this as I honestly don’t know and have never made them or any type of clothing before in my life, maybe it was my love of fabrics and amazing purchases in Malaysia (including some batik pens… can you guess what the next project will be??) or maybe it was getting married and everyone asking about starting a family. Whatever the reason I had so much fun experimenting with fabric and making 2 pairs of baby booties on a Saturday afternoon when very jetlagged aso watch this space for more on this. If you can’t guess today’s topic for my Folksy Friday then read on:

Spotty Dotty – booties (these are adorable, and I admire anyone who can knit or crotchet)

Seamingly Possible – baby booties (the boldness of these is fab)

Booties by Dannie - retro trainer baby booties (great to see a unique take on baby booties)

Have a fab weekend whether that involves children, creativeness or just chilling. Any feedback or comments are always welcome.

Xx

After ordering my sketchbook for the sketchbook project 2012 early this time I could not let it sit on my desk and taunt me any longer! With just over 5 weeks left until our big day every spare second has been dedicated to creative wedding, and the bank holiday weekend was no exception. So when I got home last night after a site meeting up North I had to release my thoughts on my sketchbook…

• Textiles are an important part of my creative projects, and my sewing machine and I have become best friends (and worst enemies at times) over the last few months of sewing, sewing, sewing for our wedding. So I started with a few different textures from gridded paper to left over fabric scraps from wedding bunting and started tearing them up and arranging loosely on the front cover
• Then to decide how to prevent them coming off when my little sketchbook makes it’s way around the world – what better way than to stitch it! Again I used some of the left over thread from bunting making and my sewing machine was allowed to try some new stitches!
• Finally, I had been sketching ideas on the train for a present for somebody that I was going to make out of fabric and hand stitching and the result was my little birds, which got me thinking about how they must view the world so differently from the air. This lead me to my final part of the cover, and the birds which made me think about my view of the world, which over the next few months will be recorded in my little sketchbook neatly zipped away in my bag, ready to come out when I have a moment of inspiration!

If you haven’t signed up yet then I urge you to do so, once it arrives and is sat in front of you it will be impossible not to pick it up and start sketching/painting/doodling/sewing etc

Xx

I’m so glad it’s Saturday, but even happier that the sketchbook project deadline has been extended until Tues! This gives me the weekend to finish it, take photos and start scanning, as once I send it off on it’s travels I will not see it again unless I get to Brooklyn Art Library. If you can pop in to any of the sketchbook tour dates/venues or the Brooklyn Art Library once it has settled into it’s new home please do… not being from USA means that I won’t be able to visit it or get my friends to and I wouldn’t want it to get lonely or feel rejected.  Anyway, I still have lots to do to get my trusty sketchbook in the post on time but seeing everyone else’s amazing blogs made me think I’d give you a sneak peak (after a few moments to myself panicking about the high standard of work.)

I will be back to do a longer blog with a bit more information behind the reasoning/ideas in my sketchbook at a later date, but too much to sketch before then!

Have a great weekend.

xx

It’s been a tough week to say the least, and I’ve brought loads of work home which I’m hoping to have finished by the end of tomorrow, so to make the most of my Friday night I met up with a great friend who I haven’t seen for a while and we did a very London thing of going to a sample sale. I did spend quite a bit of money on a new bag and purse for myself and a few pressies for friends but I love Orla Kiely and keep telling myself I saved much more than I spent.  However,  the most entertaining bit was when a guy cycled up and chained his penny farthing to a lamp post, had a pint, and then cycled off amongst the London traffic like it was the most natural thing in the world. London life never fails to surprise me!

I am taking Orla’s bold and beautiful patterns as my inspiration for today’s Folksy Friday:

Inspire – cotton fabric pattern (I am always captivated by bright and bold patterns, especially with stripes, cirlces or anything retro)

Papa totoro textiles – Raj pattern teatowel (thought this was rather fitting as it’s Eid today, love the ornate pattern and detail in this)

Darren Morgan -  nature illustration (I would love to have a bag out of this pattern, and love the little bird which I only spotted on my 4th viewing)

Love little - notebooks (I looooove pattern, and recently bought a book on print and pattern, but this graphic style is one of my particular faves)

Bets and Bobs – retro print shopper (the bold use of pattern is striking, and this is one of my fave colour combinations)

Now it really is time for bed in prep for a weekend of work, before I start seeing my own pattern of stars.

Xx