Ha-pea?

My daughter HATES peas, even the gorgeous fresh sweet ones grown by her grandad and lovingly shelled by me : (

The Blue Umbrella

 

We saw the wonderful Pixar short film The Blue Umbrella yesterday. It's a very sweet film of innocent love, torn apart then reunited. It's full of hope and optimism and is directed by Saschka Unseld.  If you loved Paperman then you'll love The Blue Umbrella too. It's subtlety was a bit lost on my kids keen to see the main film, Monsters University which I also enjoyed. I did fall asleep after my pick'n'mix though, it was so peaceful in the cinema and my kids were quiet - heaven!

Dashwood Studios

Who LOVES craft fabrics - ME! I have a stash which I oh and arr over and make into things for my home and for friends. So, I was really excited to be asked to design a range of craft fabrics for Dashwood Studios. You can just about see my designs bottom left (only a sneek peek for now). My work will be next to some really lovely designs by some super great designers. Dashwood are also printing my tortoise design onto craft fabric too (top right) hurrah! For more info on Dashwood follow the link here and take a look at their blog here.

As Alice Cooper says...............

Mandy Clayton

Photograph by Helen Roberts

Photograph by Helen Roberts

I went to a wonderful talk by Amanda (Mandy) Clayton last night. She shared her current work and plans and took us through her life of stitching which started as a very small child. Her work revels in textiles that are used, wonderfully tactile, deconstructed, worn, frayed and pre-loved. Amanda is passionate about maintaining the joy of holding a needle. Childhood experiences with stitch and cloth evolved as Amanda gained a First Class Degree in Embroidery in 1982. She is an artist who is gregarious, generous with her time and dedicated to sharing knowledge. If you get a chance to see Amanda's work or to hear her speak you MUST go, I came away from the talk inspired and NEEDING to get my sewing out.

Take note

The lovely folk at Jodds have created some magnetic notepads using some of my card motifs. Why don't you stick one on your fridge today and get organised : )

THE song

This is THE song that got me into music. I remember the moment. We were on holiday walking past a record shop (remember those?) and this was blaring out onto the street. I remember thinking wow what is that, who is that, I want to listen to more of that. My love of Bowie and music started there and continues : ) Do you have A tune that got you into music and do you remember the moment?

David Bowie is...........

It was off to the V&A for me yesterday to the Bowie exhibition. It's been booked for ages and I'd heard a lot of good things about it but would it live up to expectations? It did, it was FABULOUS, you got a real sense of the man, the pop star and the artist as you were immersed in the different decades of sound and vision (sorry) via video, stage costumes and a headset that played music and interviews depending on where you were in the show. What a man and what a show. I'm sorry I can't show pics of the exhibition, no photography allowed unfortunately : ( but do ya like my souvenirs? For more info pop along the V & A website.

Chums

I have recently discovered a really great local charity called Chums. It supports children and their parents who have experienced bereavment or trauma by providing individual support, running workshops, residential weekends, family days and rememberance services. Design Hog cards supports this charity, so I was really pleased when my designs were included to support this worth while cause with a percentage of profits going to Chums. For more info on Chums or Design Hog please follow links here and here.

Origami garden

I made this just for fun! : ) Enjoy the sun this weekend. I intend to sit in my real garden with a glass of  Pimms and a magazine - yey!

This made me feel good....

From the blog ModColth

I found this on Pinterest - love it : )