Joseph Frank

I loved the Joseph Frank exhibition at The Fashion and Textiles Museum in London. Big prints, gorgeous colours and fabulously presented. Inspirational! It finishes soon though so get a wriggle on if you want to see it : )

If you need a laugh...

...pop along and see Jenni Eclair, she's touring the UK NOW! Fabby fun, very rude and lots of swearing but I loved it and laughed like a drain. Jenny likes to paint and knit too. Check out Jenny's website here.

I won...

I was so excited to win a Facebook competition a couple of weeks ago and I got my bootie in the post this week, this gorgeous bobbin flower. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the work of Priscilla Jones so feel super lucky to win something of hers. Pop along and see more of her work here.

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!

From Pinterest - originally from www.theglitterguide.tumblr.com/post/24496004715

Emergency glitter pills.  Had a bad day?  Step 1: open emergency glitter pill. Step 2: throw glitter in the air.  Step 3: SMILE. It's back to work and school on Monday - I may need these!

Never Seconds

drawing by VEG

An inspirational little girl who writes and photographs (or draws) her school dinners and posts them on her blog "Never Seconds" has been in the news today in the UK. Apparently VEG (her blog name) is not allowed to photograph her school dinners anymore (the council have stopped her, not the school). I hope she continues writing about food and It looks as though her writing has definitely improved school dinners at her school. VEG had also raised lots of money for the charity "Mary's Meals". I love the fact that children from all over the world have sent her pictures of their meals too. Who says kids are not interested in healthy food? Update : The Council have changed their mind (surprise surprise) and are going to allow VEG to continue - Hurray!

I want everything in this picture.......

...........especially the phone and the great Lamp. I LOVE the mix of styles. All from Graham and Green. Lovely!

Great posters

If you like music lyrics then Music Philosophy is a great shop selling hand printed posters of famous music quotes.  Follow this link here for the their shop. (Oh, I have just seen that they are sold out but they do promise more posters soon).

Barbara Gunter Jones

I went to a talk last week by Barbara Gunter Jones. She told us about her work with  blueprint photograms. Barbara works with a technique called cyanotype which was invented in 1843. She coats paper or fabric with a light sensitive solution and exposes a contact print of plants directly onto the surface in sunlight to create a unique photogram. The photogram can then be toned to give it an aged effect, over printed with a lino cut print and details can be hand-painted or stitched. She works from a studio in the Chiltern hills in Hertfordshire, England and uses plants gathered from the surrounding woodland. Barbara's work is beautiful, I was so inspired by her use of colour and simple compositions. To see more of her great work follow this link here  and here for her shop.

Partytime!

A friend sent me a link to this website deliciosamartha. It's a lovely site with a shop dedicated to supplying everything you need for your child's themed party. It's often difficult to buy nice tableware for a child's doo, especially all matching, so it's great to see fab. stuff for your party food. There are also costumes, presents and other essentials for the best party ever!

Pinterest

Illustration by Cory Loven at coryloven.com

I swore I wouldn't join Pinterest, not because I don't like it, I LOVE it but it's just another distraction when I should be working : (  I have no willpower, I gave in, I have started to make some Pinterest boards. The link is here if you fancy having a nose at what I like.

Little Tree Designs

Little Tree Etsy Shop

I am delighted to tell you that a lovely blog called Little Tree has featured ric-rac in her list of 10 fav. blogs - Yey! What a GREAT start to my week. Please pop over there and see Rebecca's lovely blog, her wonderful website and she has an Etsy shop too! Oh and you should see her lovely Pinterest boards, they are fabulous! Thanks Rebecca......................

Have fun Washing up!

These will perk you up on a dull January day. Washing up brushes from Paladone find them here.

We are nearly ready for the big day.........

Made by my Mum

Handmade tags by Vintage One

Our cool Yule Log

.....and are so excited, only two more sleeps! To all the folk who drop by my blog, thank-you so much taking the time and for all the lovely comments. I hope you have a fab. Christmas and a very jolly new year. See you all in 2012. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

National Freelancers Day

Today is National Freelancers Day. Basically the day celebrates and advertises the value of independent workers to the UK economy. For more info on the day and other interesting freelance info.  please follow this link here

Olympic 2012 Posters

The official posters for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, designed by some of the UK's leading artists, have been unveiled. There has been a flurry of criticism since they were released, with folk saying they are "disappointing' and "absolute rubbish". Personally I like them but if I had been asked to choose an Olympic poster, I would have chosen the above by Galenz Galinato aged 10 from Thorpe Primary School who won first prize in the Peterborough Olympic art competition.  I love it's honesty, creativity and HOPE! Go Galinato!  London 2012 festival

Maxine Sutton

I love love LOVE Maxine Sutton's work and have admired it for ages. I love the graphic style, the mixed media, the colours, the printing, the quirkiness. Arr, I just love it. For more info on Maxine's work (she has a gorgeous shop and does workshops too) please follow this link here.

Yum!

Lauden chocolates from Leeds in the UK and honestly, they taste as good as they look.

Anna Krystyna Casey

Anna is another super talented person that I met at The Knit and Stitch Show last week. Anna uses familiar textiles processes, such as crochet and embroidery to make objects suitable for a range of environments.The resulting designs are somewhere between design and sculpture and are versatile as well as beautiful. At the show I saw Anna's wonderful crocheted wire entrapped in glass. To find out more about Anna please follow this link here.

Linda Sadler

I saw Linda's beautiful work at the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace. Every year there is a selection of recent graduates exhibiting their work and Linda was one of them. Her wonderful felted work is created using knitted pockets which she stuffs with wool tops and then using a secret technique felts them into these great organic tactile pieces. She has also been working on some wonderful jewellery too. See her blog here for more pics and info