Movember :{)

There has been a complete lack of blogging on my part, not because the ideas have dried up but the time seems to be flying by...The famous not enough hours in the day!

Have had a very creative few weeks including being inspired by Movember and the sudden obsession with moustaches :) A percentage of my handmade cards will be going towards Movember, apparently I am an official MoSista which is nice!

£2.50 each with free P&P

My course is going well, mainly because we have gained a new tutor...an Italian architect bursting with passion and enthusiasm, I have learnt more in one lesson with him than in the last month with the last tutor:

1.Drawing to scale, which is paramount when designing anything and

2.Ergonomics ( The optimising of the experience between human beings and the designed objects and environments they interact with)The word ergonomics is derived from the Greek words ergon, for work and nomos, for laws; ergonomics literally means natural laws.

This weeks homework is to sketch the dimensions of a room in our own homes..I'm being brave and my kitchen is getting it!

Also I'm going to be looking into the history of interiors as over the century, Interior Design styles have evolved in response to the changing tastes of various people groups. Popular styles of today have been born out of previous styles, from Stone Age to Contemporary.

I have enough reading and it's good to gather information from everywhere, so I've just watched George Clarkes Amazing Spaces..which was really interesting and looks at the ergonomics of small spaces from beach huts to campers and some weird and wonderful spaces..take a look if you need inspiring!

Anyway between working and coursework I am still trying to plod through my own home and am now tackling the hallway.

Its still at the prep stage but I have to recommend this brill paint I've used elsewhere in the house... a white base coat that can be used on bare walls to fill small cracks and generally level it off before painting with a final colour. Cheaper and easier to use than the branded ones :)

Whilst doing the weekly dash to B&Q I noticed the magnetic paint, I've mentioned some beautiful magnetic wallpaper from designer Sian Zeng...but this would be a much cheaper alternative....  If anyone has tried it would love to know how you got on with it?

The Colour Wheel & Lady Gaga



http://www.whatkatiedidnext.co.uk/acatalog/Badges_1.html

Such a busy week...my brain is running at a hundred miles an hour..I'm bursting with creative ideas!

My shed is getting full with projects but I just haven't had time to do any of them yet...

I have been working with the lovely What Katie Did Next and SewSister which would inspire anyone, they are lovely ladies! And are both currently working on various new products...all gorgeous and very exciting!! Plus I've been brainstorming with Sewsister to create a unique exhibition stand for a big trade show in January :)

Decoupaging Reindeer....I love my job :)

 http://www.sewsister.co.uk/shop/shop-for-decopatch.html

Ok, back to the course blogging.....bit of a weird one we had to create a colour wheel, bog standard stuff, well if you know it anyway! The class weren't sure and I ended up explaining to them as it turned out the tutor has never done one???? impressed? not much...although it was rather lovely when a couple of them said I would be a brilliant teacher hehe

A colour wheel helps us to understand the use of colour within painting, art, design and fashion.
Three primary colours..Red, Blue and Yellow from which you can make any other colour (secondary and tertiary)
Black and White are used for tone,black to darken and white to lighten. Then you have greyscale white at one end and black at the other and all the tones of grey in the middle.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/design/colour_wheel.shtml#clashing_colours

My homework this week was to create a moodboard for Lady Gaga, which has been great fun I ordered a sample of glittery wallpaper..sooooo nice ..pity it's £55 a metre eek!

Glitter 'Shades of White'



It's amazing what choices you have when money isn't an option , but I'm usually looking at the cheap ranges ;)

So Cool Wall Art 'Typography' £45 per drop

'Rugosa' Designers Guild £165 a roll

Do you know where the word "gaga" comes from??
Apparently the French painter Paul Gauguin is the source for this saying. Rumour has it that admirers loved his painting but had trouble pronouncing his name. So they shortened their admiration to saying that they were just "GAGA" Others claim that's nonsense and that the word comes from the French origin for "Fool" and so the word represents the sounds a mindless person makes.
ga·ga  (gägä)

adj. Informal

1. Silly; crazy.

2. Completely absorbed, infatuated, or excited: They were gaga over the rock group's new album.

3. Senile; doddering.

Colour Theory & Mark Making

Pretty bog standard stuff for the first class..having studied Art before I already know all about colour theory and how it relates to emotions.
Mark making has a similar effect..for example light softer marks are perceived as gentle and peaceful where as heavy, dark marks are usually associated with more aggressive emotions

They do look like scribbles, but the idea is to get you to experiment with different materials and explore how the marks create different emotions.
Think of a child learning to write and draw, this is mark making...its how we communicate with each other!


This chart sums up the main colours and what feeling they evoke, obviously there are many colours but most will fall into one of the below groups:

Personally I love greens and purples...what's your favourite colour and why?

In addition to colour, tone also plays a part...(tone is how light or dark something is)

If you feel sad, surround yourself with brighter colours
If you feel stressed or tired try surrounding yourself with pale ones

EVERYONE is affected by colour, subconsciously our brain prefers some more than others..this comes down to our personalities and how we feel at any one time

Advertising and branding are perfect examples of how colour is used to attract the right audience and capture an emotion for a product or service
Hospitals are predominately greens and blues, to promote a calm and clean environment both qualities associated with these colours.
Anything to do with children is usually bright and colourful to stimulate fun and learning

Take a look if you fancy learning more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_theory

The Assistant & Shabby Chic project

whoo hoo Business cards ordered and website online...
The Assistant is now up and running!!

http://www.theassistant-surrey.co.uk/

My course finally starts on Monday and I'm expecting a fair bit of coursework plus I've got a shed load of upcycling to get on with..

I've added a couple of before and afters of some pieces i've already spruced up including a stool which I ended up selling to a happy eBayer with a profit..hardly enough to retire on but not to be sniffed at either :)



£7 Carboot





A coat of matt grey and clear varnish later..



£8 Missionary Mart



2 coats Matt White & 1 coat Matt Varnish then recovered in Vintage 1950's fabric



I would just like to say that my blog has now had nearly 300 pageviews, not bad in one week :)

So to everyone that reads my ramblings I would like to say a BIG thank you and hope that maybe next time you drop by you could leave me some comments, even if its just to say hello x

Spineless Classics & Sian Zeng

Just a quick one today as I've been mega busy trying to set up my own little PA company, Im already working for SewSister and What Katie Did Next...so if there are any little creative businesses out there who think they could do with an extra pair of hands one day a week or even every now and then I'm your girl :) Im good with all those admin tasks but can also turn my hand to all the creative stuff too!

Anyway todays favourites for me are Spineless Classics and Sian Zeng.

Spineless classics produce these lovely posters, which are basically a whole book on one sheet! as a bit of a book worm I would love one of these, my particular favourites have to be

Moomintroll

Romeo & Juliet

http://www.spinelessclassics.com/#

Then theres this rather gorgeous magnetic wallpaper from Sian Zeng, a London based design company whose interior products have a magical and quirky charm that I love....although the range is a bit expensive for me, when I win the lottery I am so having this wallpaper :)

Magnetic woodlands wallpaper

Frog magnet...might be able to stretch to this !

Magnetic Artboard


http://www.sianzeng.com/



Top Drawer,Woop Studios and Arthouse Meath

As mentioned in my last post I joined What Katie did Next and Sewsister to Top Drawer, a trade fair for businesses to find new products and suppliers. As both of them are showing in the next Top Drawer event in January 2013 they thought it would be a good idea to see what to do and not to do to promote their products..I went along to be nosey and thank goodness it was a strictly wholesale event, I saw so many things that I wanted to bring home!

Aswell as the big brands there were lots of smaller businesses trying to promote themselves and I came home with a bag full of brochures and postcards, some of which I absolutely love and will be blogging about so I dont forget :)

Woopstudios was created by 4 people consisting of graphic designers and photographers. Their tag line collective nouns in pictures sums up perfectly what they are all about, these are a couple of their lovely limited prints but you really should take a look at the website to get the full feeling of what they do.

I think the whole concept is simple yet brilliant, one of those things I wish I could have thought of..whats even nicer is that they welcome the idea of their work being used for education, quote from the website:


we hope that the site will become a valuable homework reference site-incorporating fun as well as education.

they also partner with educational and charitable organisations to help raise funds

http://www.woopstudios.com/

This brings me on nicely to the next supplier I love...

Arthouse Meath, a local charity for adults with severe epilepsy and learning difficulties...now when we first looked at their stall I had no idea they were products designed for a charity, let alone designed by those they are trying to help.

 

Arthouse, notebook



Arthouse,china mugs



I thought the notepads and mugs were great and apparently you can purchase items via the website or from the Arthouse shop in High Street, Godalming...The shop looks really nice and more things like this would probably help lift the stereotype :)

http://www.arthousemeath.com/

Mollie Makes & Fi Douglas

I can not wait to start my course, only a week to go before I can start putting my ideas into action!
I already have a heap of interior magazines but treated myself to the lovely Mollie Makes...lots of people have been telling me how nice it is and although its more of a craft magazine..there's not a stereotypical granny insight! and it was full of lots of ideas I could steal... although I dont think I will be adorning myself with a toast scarf anytime soon

Brill piece on Japan, I love the colours and quirkiness, Japanese Fabrics are some of the nicest about and I would love to go to Tokyo ...maybe SewSister, will ask me to go to find next seasons fabrics ;)

There was a rather lovely idea for a Family Tree quilt, the idea is that the pieces are all donated from family members....obviously there might have to be a certain amount of creative editing...my kids would have zebra print and tigers on one side and brown draylon on the other! never know it could work ?!

I have also learnt a new word today ........PAINTERLY

characterized by qualities of color, stroke, or texture perceived as distinctive to the art of painting, especially the rendering of forms and images in terms of color or tonal relations rather than of contour or line

I came across a textile designer named Fi Douglas whose work is very painterly and very gorgeous, her cushions would look right at home in my bedroom

http://www.bluebellgray.com/

What with magazines and the internet, there is a world of possibilities and ideas out there ....you just need to keep your eyes open ...always look up and not down!

Can I say a quick thankyou to What Katie Did Next for writing such a nice blog about me, shame the picture is so hidious but I'll let her off because the words are so lovely :)

http://www.whatkatiedidnext.co.uk/blog/

Top Drawer tomorrow....inspiration overload I'm sure..can't wait xx

Workshop

Good morning peeps, Im a little bit excited today as I will be getting myself a little workshop .....the shed at the bottom of the garden to be precise. It is cleared of rubbish and bikes, I just need to get all my stuff in there and make it look nice :) going to be so useful once the course starts and I'm looking forward to getting all my projects out of the house yipee...will post a pic once its completed.

Im trying to decide on a covering for the shade i'm making for my floor lamp makeover, its a toss up between this fun Alexander Henry fabric or the rather lovely vintage 50's fabric I discovered whilst stripping a Lloyd Loom ottoman..

Love this!! where's my 'stache - cream - Alexander Henry

not Marian Mahler or Julien Day ive checked...anyone know?

Right walking the dogs then Im off to work with the rather fab SewSister this afternoon, hooray!!

Sunbury Antiques Fair

This week I went to my first antiques fair. I thought that it may inspire me and I wasn't wrong!
I went along with my friend Eva from Eva & I....a lovely Swedish lady who specialises in Scandinavian furniture.

8.30 we arrived at Kempton Park racecourse and the place was absolutely buzzing with a real eclectic mix of people, interior designers, dealers, private buyers and apparently the famous (I didn't see any but then I was half asleep)

Initially it was quite over whelming, there were loads of sellers and loads of buyers....there was anything and everything for sale, my 2 purchases consisted of a floor lamp and some antlers for Elliot?!

Pride of place on the curiosity wall


I felt like a kid in a sweet shop and didn't know where to go first.There was a really nice atmosphere and lots of banter going around and many different nationalities, people come from all over Europe for this market, which adds to the wide range of goodies from grannies crocheted blankets, to stuffed animals to industrial lighting. Eva purchased Swedish ice skates!


We had a lovely morning, I got lots of ideas and was a real eye opener for me. But I did miss the thrill of searching for something weird and wonderful....it was all there without even looking.

However if you know what you want or like me can't afford to spend ridiculous amounts in those lovely trendy shops (all those shop owners go to markets and then double or treble the price) these antique fairs are the places to go, just remember that it may look like a glorified car boot but prices may surprise you .....going to try Ardingley antique fair next which is supposed to be ten times bigger, I think I will remember to wear trainers next time !!



Next Event: Tuesday 25th September

Always held every Second and Last Tuesday of the Month





http://sunburyantiques.com/

Rubydoo

My lovely thing of the day comes via a link on good old Facebook...Take a look at their website I just love the whole look of it...very cheerful and girlie!

The logo has inspired me to do a piece of artwork for my bedroom ...Next time i'm down in Devon visiting my aunt I must remember to stop off at the local stockists :)

http://www.rubydoohome.com/#/shop/4565600508/Summer-linen/2621346

Rusper Car Boot sale & Tanhouse Farm

Anyone who likes car boot sales, should definately have a drive down to Rusper.Surrey/Sussex
The organisers were reallly friendly and only cost a £1 to get in. Lots of sellers just having a clear out and not trying to overprice their rubbish, so plenty of bargains to be had
Best bit is it doesnt open till 11.30 so you dont have to get up at an ungodly hour!
I'm supposed to be having a clear out but I found so many lovely things, at great prices I couldnt resist.
Will be taking another trip down there soon me thinks :)


http://www.ruspercarbootsale.co.uk/

TOP TIPS: If you don't want to come back with loads of rubbish is always good to roughly know what you are looking for eg picture frames,clothes
Make sure you have change always easier to haggle and take a couple of carrier bags for your treasures :)

Afterwards we popped over the road to the Tanhouse farmshop, for a drink and some lunch.Never been before but was proper yummy, all the food and cakes are homemade. They had plenty of parking,a play area for kids and garden items for sale, beautiful setting on a sunny day but they had heaters and blankets everywhere for when it gets colder. And wandering around the families,ladies that lunch and cyclists was the obligatory farm  dog...sooo cute.

www.tanhousefarmshop.co.uk



 

Melody Miller

I love love love these vintage style Linen fabrics from Kokka Japan

bloom springtime - ruby star spring by Melody Miller

Ephemera Fuschia - Ruby Star Rising by Melody Miller

 

Vintage dishes pink - ruby star rising by Melody Miller

 View her website on http://melodymiller.net/ or can be ordered online from the following stockists

http://www.sewsister.co.uk/shop/shop-for-fabrics/japanese-fabrics.html

http://www.eternalmaker.com/fabric/fabric-by-designer/melody-miller