...Friday I'm in love

Getting ideas...

Ragwork always seems to retro to me, but it reminds me of snuggling up in the massive blanket my mum had lying in front of the fire when I was little. I love the patchwork colours in this design.

What lies beneath

I have been lusting after some beautiful lingerie from Hopeless Lingerie for absolutely ages. I am a huge fan of their blog and often drool over their beautiful inspiration photographs and the styling for their new designs. This is my ideal lingerie - part Alice in Wonderland goes burlesque, part Marie Antoinette! It is girly and frilly, with seriously sexy details. What makes them stand apart from the mainstream brands such as Agent Provocatueur is that all their items are entirely handmade! You can buy their designs on  their website, and I love that they often blog about the process behind making the many bows and frills! Basically, I want.

If you want a chance to win two pieces from the shop, you have to either leave a comment on their blog, tweet about them, write on their facebook page or write a blog post. I want some of their lingerie so badly that I am doing everything I can to stand a chance!

Blue skies are coming, but I know that it's hard

Over the last year or so I have been adding songs to Spotify playlists that are specifically designed to suit different moods. The Happy Happy Love Love playlist is so self indulgent that it could have been put together by my 16 year old self, which says a lot about how I've matured over the years! But here it is , designed to help me indulge all my angsty tendencies while at the same time reminding me to put a smile on my face and get over it. Let me know if you like it!

alison scarpulla

Stitching

Some things I've been stitching lately!

Cross Stitch Dog

Bird Decoration

Eye Mask

Present for my mum.

Quilt Fest No. 3 - Rose Wood

Out of all the wonderful things I saw at the Festival of Quilts, the one I was least expecting was the amazing work of Rose Wood. You can just make her out in the picture below, sipping a cup of tea in her exhibition space. Rose was joint winner of the Graduate Showcase (shared with Alice Fox). Inspired by Issey Miyake, her work features clothes and jewellery made from textiles that are cut and folded to move with the body. On her website she describes this as 'kinetic'. She makes really cool films which explain her work much better than I can.


Untitled from rose wood on Vimeo.

Rose Wood Exhibition

Some pieces of work on display

Festival of Quilts - Part 2

As well as being inspired by the stunning quilts last Sunday, there was also lost of fun to be had looking at the various shop displays and lovely things for sale. Some of my favourite shops are pictured below, Amy Butler, Liberty and some smaller names that I hadn't heard off. I especially enjoyed meeting one of the ladies from the Royal School of Needlework who stitched the lace on Kate Middleton's wedding dress. It's not that I'm a massive Kate and Will fan, but I was definitely excited to see samples of one of the most famous dresses in the world and meet someone who worked on it!

Amy Butler Display

Possibly another Amy Butler

Amy Butler display

Liberty of London display

Royal School of Needlework display

Close-up of royal wedding dress lace

Dotty Fabric!

Festival of Quilts - Part 1

Last Sunday I had a great time at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. I hadn't realised quite how huge the quilting world is! Hundreds of people had flocked to see the best quilters in Europe exhibit their work and to spend money in the shops selling an array of materials for creating textile art. From traditional American quilts to abstract textile art, jewellery and clothing, the festival really promoted the artistry of quilting. Below are just some pictures of my favourite quilts. I have tried to reference the names of the quilters were i an remember them. I wish I had brought my SLR camera with me as the pictures aren't as clear as I'd like, and I wish I had booked onto some of the workshops before they had sold out. Next year I will more prepared. 

'Sealed with a Kiss' by Peggy Fairburn. I loved this quilted version of the Gustav Klimt painting 'The Kiss'.

'Billy Joe Armstrong'. I'm not sure who done this portrait of the Greenday front-man, but I was blown away by the level of detail that went into it.

Group Quilt, I can't remember the group name but I thought it was fantastic. I love how they have recorded the place name origins of the townlands in Co. Fermanagh and focused on the beautiful historic landscape.

'Hearts Desire' by Deborah Kembell, close-up of the winning Traditional Quilt category

Pacman Quilt - I don't know who this is by but I thought it was brilliant!

'Army Wives' apron by Kristin La Flamme from the SAQA Beyond Comfort display.

I found the SAQA display incredibly inspiring, especially the Army Wives aprons. They  were so intricate and delicate.

Close-up of Army Wives apron.

Summer so far

I know summer is nearly over when I start thinking about autumn jackets and wearing comfy scarves. This summer has been lovely, but I have not ticked nearly enough things off my to-do list. I have been to weddings, had lots of fun nights out and some nice day trips, and I have many more planned. I have even managed to book in a little holiday for the end of the month! So far, summer has comprised of:

1. A nice trip to the South Bank to see an orchestra.

2. A trip back home, involving long walks and taking pictures of baby ponies (or foals)!

3. A trip to Drogheda and an Irish sweet shop.

4. Making pretty a pretty tiara.

5. Getting a massive delivery of delicious Tayto crisps.

6. Pimms (plus champagne, wine, cider and a detox).

7. Strawberries.

8. Gorgeous miniature ponies.

9. Donkeys!

10. Finding a stack of books in my old bedroom, hidden in the back of a cupboard behind a mass of teddy bears.

lovely things

Ink sketches of buildings are one of my favourite things, so I was very pleased to see these lovely items for sale by Spanish designers Atelier Duermevela.

Atelier Duermevela (image via Blossem)

I also love this illustration by Cristina Guerreiro on Paperwork.

Buildings by Christina Guerreiro

Just To Feel Normal

I just found out about the artist Ian Cumberland. If my maths is correct, I think he was in the same Art College as me, and at the same time! His painting (see below) won third place in the BP Portrait Awards; one of the worlds most prestigious art prizes with fifty entries each year. It's a major launch pad for new artists and a huge accomplishment. Not bad for a boy from Belfast, and extra cool given that he went to the same art college as me! I'm planning a trip to the National Portrait Gallery in London to see his work and that of the other talented artists soon.

Just to Feel Normal

I recently read an interesting interview with him in Artists and Illustrators magazine; although he done a Fine Art degree, he considers himself taught. He was so unimpressed with the direction and tuition he received at University that he nearly dropped out, but literally got knocked off his motorbike en route to do so. He ended up just taking a year out. I wonder if I should have considered taking a year out, rather than dropping out completely and running to Liverpool!? Like Ian, all I wanted to do was paint but my tutors kept pushing me towards graphic design (unlike Ian I have no talent for photorealism!). How wrong they were, and how good is Ian for sticking it out and accomplishing so much!!

Back to school!

I have a new 'thing' to keep me occupied for approximately the next 52 weeks! Christine, who absolutely astounded me with her 52 Crafts in 52 Weeks is at it again, only this time she wants people to join in. Of course I had to jump at the chance! This time, she is choosing one crafting theme per month and is hoping that other people will join in with it, or with another craft of their choice. I think I will stay with what Christine is doing and try to do an many as possible. This month the theme is Print and this week its potato printing, which I haven't done since Primary School, and from my research I see that it can actually be a very stylish craft.! Christine has put a nice tutorial on her blog here. I'm planning to print something nice on a tote bag before the week is over!

Cherry Blossom Print

Leaves

Leopard Print

taking a little break

I jumped straight into this blog thinking that I would be able to do something creatively brilliant every day and have time to blog about it, but I can't work under that kind of pressure, even if it is self imposed! Someday's, my creative 'thing' is rubbish and wouldn't make for interesting viewing. Other days its merely an idea sketched out on paper. Once I feel that I absolutely have to do something, I start to rebel against it. So I have taken the last two weeks to chill out and not have any pressure. I have decided that I still want to blog about my creative attempts, but I won't aim to do it every day.

I got this image off tumblr but can't remember where, I will search for the link and then amend.

So in my absence, I have been going to work, going out with friends as well as the following things:

1. I'm going back to school to study a GCSE Astronomy during my Friday lunch breaks.
2. Been getting onto tennis and watching Wimbledon, discovered that tennis players are hot!
3. Been having tennis lessons from a patient and skilful friend. I enjoy the therapeutic effects of hitting balls with racquets.
4. Made strawberry and cream cupcakes for the Wimbledon final, and drank a lot of Pimms.
5. While I have taken a break from art to collect my thoughts, I have come up with lots of new ideas.
6. I've been shopping way too much.
7. I've started back at the gym and started eating meat again.

Butterfly wings

I painted a photograph of a butterfly which I had lying around for ages. It started off as being a very light wash of watercolours, but then I drank some wine and I was a bit too heavy-handed with the acrylics, as per usual!

Then I found this guy on my wall a few days later...I think the incredibly warm weather done something odd to his natural cycle.