Brave?

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Mostly I'm not but this helps to remind me to be more so (and I LOVE the colours). You can download and print this yourself, for free, by following the link here. Many thanks to Danielle Burkleo and her lovely blog take heart. For more positivity take a look at my wise words pinterest board here

The Great Gatsby

The critics hated it but I loved it.  Baz Luhrmann gives the movie just the right amount of Baz-amatazz! Have you seen it, what did you think?

Half term high jinx

Off we trotted to London for a half term treat to do some touristy stuff. The kids wanted to see Buckingham Palace, do a coach tour and visit the Science Museum (to be honest I wasn't looking forward to the sciency part of the trip. I don't really care HOW things work as long as they do and if  they look nice then I am happy - obviously I didn't say that to my kids though. I pretended to be interested in Stevenson's Rocket and tried really hard to remember lessons of ye olden days). I was in for a surprise though. It wasn't all quantum physics and stuff I don't understand. The interiors are FABULOUS, full of colour and art, we all loved the gallery called "Who am I" AND there was a WHOLE cabinet dedicated to the "Making of the Modern World". Mid century modern heaven.

Get Lucky!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this - Nile Rodgers what a man. Daft Punk what a band :  ) Happy long weekend UK!

...and some for the boys and the kiddiewinks too!

More card designs I created for Jodds. Copyright Jodds 2013

More cards for the girlies from Jodds

Here are some more cards I designed for Jodds. You'll find them in super dooper card shops everywhere - Copyright Jodds 2013

Rachel Gornall

 I went to the most FABULOUS talk last night by the contemporary textile designer Rachel Gornell. Rachel kindly showed us her gorgeous work and sketchbooks. She spoke enthusiastically about her love of colour and how she explores this through looking at how light changes the colour of a building, sky, indeed anything. Rachel works with hand-dyed textiles to create intense hues by layering and bonding  translucent fabrics. The pieces are hand-cut (HAND CUT and there are thousands of circles in some pieces) with intricate patterns and adorned with hand stitch. Often multilayered, the textile pieces incorporate cut, suspended and stitched sections to give movement, detail and depth. Rachel also shared slides of her travels and explain how the experience changed her work. I came out of the talk wanting to work, wanting to choose colours, wanting to try something new. To see Rachel's work visit the exhibition Liminal at Prism textiles, Mall Galleries, The Mall, London, SW1 28 May- 1 June 2013. Thanks Rachel you are an inspiration!

I'm feelin' a little bit crafty...

Check out my paper designs in this months Papercrafter. They look splendiferous plus there are lots of cool projects to do too! All images copyright of Stephanie Thannhauser 2013

Remember making these as a kid?

I do. I loved making lanterns when I was little and had totally forgotten about them till I saw this in issue 61 of Papercrafter. They are very simple to make with these being even nicer as they are made with MY print designs from the magazine  - hurrah! They would look great hung outside or in.  Hop over to the lovely Papercrafter magazine to see more.

Fancy making a sweetie box?

If you do,  pop along to Homemaker here to download the paper I designed and follow the instructions to make these cute little boxes. Good for wedding favours or little gifts don't you think?

Pear shaped!

Oh my goodness what a week. Wore flip flops at the beginning of the week then back to wearing boots due to torrential rain by the end, had my phone stolen (grrrr) and had to do everything the old fashioned way (using actual real paper maps, land lines, phone boxes (when I could find one)) and our car windscreen cracked and had to be replaced (£££). At craft club we made fruit shapes out of old paperback books, such a simple activity but harmony has been restored.

Blooming Lovely

Our garden is defo waking up now after the very looooong winter here in the UK. My hubby is a gardener (Beech garden services) so our garden always looks FANTASTIC and this year he has started collecting vintage pots, tins, buckets and kitchenalia, filling them with gorgeous flowers and plants to sell at plants fairs and onto clients. I love seeing the marriage of plant and pot making both look even more fabulous.