Many Nice Things

Houses

2011-05-26T04:01:00.000-07:00

Finally found a little time to start making things again! I have now finished the taught part of my course and have an 18, 000 word dissertation to write over summer. Small amounts of sewing time are surely going to be essential to preserve my sanity.

I have also booked in to be a part of the craft stalls at the Levenshulme Street Market in June and July, which is exciting. The street market is held monthly on the village green in Levenshulme, Manchester and sells a variety of local items, including handmade, art and foodstuffs (lots of cake, yum yum).

I will be selling stuff on Friday 24th June and Friday 22nd July, would be lovely to see you there!

UPDATE 13/07/2011: No Craft Fair in July I'm afraid! Hopefully have some news soon.

More work experience finds!

2011-04-19T09:41:00.000-07:00

Today at work experience I discovered Su Blackwell's amazing work and thought I would share....

I absolutely love the book sculptures....

1950s Fabric Design

2011-03-17T03:55:00.000-07:00

Many apologies for lack of updates recently, my Masters is kind of taking over my life. I finish lectures in a few weeks for the Easter break & after that I have the whole of summer to write an 18,000 word dissertation. It is unlikely that I will spend 24/7 on this, for the sake of my sanity, so perhaps a little bit of creative stuff will be possible (I am really hoping so).

Anyhow, as part of my course I have been doing a work placement at Whitworth Art Gallery, a lovely place which is part of the University of Manchester. It is also the place where I realised I had my first and only bout of flu, aged around 10. I have been looking at (and cataloguing) all the amazing old textile books in their library, and came across one about 1950s fabric design. I thought I would share a few of the designs I liked best:

These are all by Lucienne Day:

I love this style so much. I went to the Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester recently and they had a mock-up '50s style room with fabric like this on the sofas. I wanted pretty much everything there.

Anyway, hopefully I will have more to update with soon!

Writing

2011-02-01T12:29:00.000-08:00

I have decided to start a writing blog over at http://autumn-almost.blogspot.com/.

That said, it's not that easy writing stuff at the moment as the "c" key on my keyboard is not working well due to an incident involving my clumsy self, this here laptop & a glass of cider. Am currently copying and pasting a c every time I need one. Not ideal.

2011-01-16T07:21:00.000-08:00

On Friday I made a cushion out of old fabric and felt & then started some new embroidery.

Apologies for the bad photo, it's been gloomy & rainy outside for ages now and the light for photos is terrible even in the middle of the day!

Writing

2011-01-09T06:34:00.000-08:00

Last week I decided to write a story. I used to write quite a lot, but haven't done anything much for a while. I came up with a few little pieces, one of which I decided to submit to The Pygmy Giant where my friends Emily and Giles have had stuff published in the past. They emailed me back on Friday to say they were going to publish my story, which I was both surprised by and very pleased about indeed. You can read it here.

It is a little bit unusual for me to show people what I write, but seeing as though someone liked it enough to publish it, I thought I would put a little link to it here.

New Year

2011-01-08T06:01:00.000-08:00

Happy 2011 everyone!

Apologies for the lack of updates recently. As you may or may not know, in September I started a Masters course at University, so I've been busy doing lots of coursework over Christmas, along with eating a lot of food. Alas, I have not had too much time to do much in the way of craft stuff.

I did get this for Christmas though..

A manynicethings stamp, to save me writing it all out by hand! Speaking of Christmas presents, this site can now be accessed by typing http://manynicethings.co.uk into your address bar. Eventually (when I get a brief pause between hand-in dates) I will sort some sort of holding page out with links to this here blog, flickr, shop and the like.

Hooray!

xxx

Levenshulme Craft Fair

2010-12-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

Today was Levenshulme Craft Fair at Levenshulme Library...it was quite a good turnout considering the weather (remnants of snow being washed away by Manchester drizzle) and we drank tea, ate cake and looked at all the lovely local handmade items on display.

xxx

Craft stuff

2010-11-15T08:56:00.000-08:00

On Friday I had some stuff for sale at Harby Village Hall Ladies Night.

I shared the stall with Geoge and Tash, pictured here. Geoge makes awesome jewellery and Tash makes lovely home made cards.

We ate lots of canapes, drank lots of cider, and helped raise some money for a new Harby Village Hall.

I also have a stall at Levenshulme craft fair on Saturday 4th December at Levenshulme Library. Come along!

xxx

Early Christmas

2010-10-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

A few things I have made in the last 24 hours, along with finishing two essays and starting a business plan for my course.

Now I am tired and may just have a glass of wine!

2010-10-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

Buttons, bows and felt = Christmas craft projects! Watch this space for more.

i am a tree

2010-09-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

People In Action

2010-08-30T15:15:00.000-07:00

My first ever flyer design, for the People In Action New York Style Book Stall next weekend at Chapel Allerton Festival in Leeds! If you live in Leeds you should definitely go, it'll be lovely and is for a good cause too. More information about People In Action can be found here.

You're a Wasp Nest

2010-08-03T05:11:00.000-07:00

Sketch inspired by The National.

Daydreaming of Autumn

2010-08-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

A few recent creations.

xxx

2010-07-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

Found a house to move into in September, which means I am officially obliged to while away hours looking at pretty pictures of interiors. Hooray!

inkydoodlesphotosandtea

2010-07-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

My very talented sister started a blog a while ago. She takes super nice photographs and recently did a series of 66 postcards for her art foundation final project which was wonderfully personal; full of memories and moments and anything and everything bits and bobs which she collected and then presented as a series of connected yet individual snippets. I got very proud in a big sister type way. Anyway. Check her blog out if this sounds up your street!
xxx

Strawberries & Cake

2010-06-28T15:40:00.000-07:00

I moved house the other day. I moved cities after six years. It's been constantly sunny, until tonight, when it started raining. I've been eating strawberries & cake. A good start to this new chapter.

Strawberries grown by my father, cake baked by my sister.

Two of my favourite things

2010-04-01T03:50:00.000-07:00

A good cup of tea and cake made by my lovely housemate Bek.

Copenhagen

2010-02-24T14:13:00.000-08:00

I went to Copenhagen at the weekend. It's a beautiful, surprising city. I loved the multi-coloured buildings and the sculptures on every corner.

I did some doodling in the airport on the way home as our flight was delayed thanks to Manchester snow.

Before I went away I watched "Moon", which was amazing and made me question reality. Before I watched it, I did this...

...though if I'd tried to express my feelings via embriodery afterwards, I may have tried to convey existence, space, time & infinity, which have never been the best subjects for arts and crafts in my experience. I'd be interested to see anything taking on such issues though!

...and carrot rope

2010-02-11T14:12:00.000-08:00

In May, I am going to see Pavement. This is deeply exciting.

When I was around thirteen, I used to listen to Steve Lamaq's radio show on radio 1 and whenever I heard a song I liked, I would press "record" on my little cassette player. I ended up with these bizarre and fairly awkward-sounding tapes, full of stuff from genres I later realised I didn't like (e.g. metal) and bands who I never learned the names of. There were songs I would listen to over and over, and when I was around seventeen I finally learned that one of my favourites was by a band named Pavement. The moral of this riveting story is that Pavement are really rather good. Broken Social Scene are supporting too. I saw them on Valentine's day probably around four or five years ago and they played for about two and a half hours, which was kind of too long, but enjoyable nonetheless.

I have other exciting news too.....I am going to be a student again! And I am moving cities! At the end of June, I will be making the epic journey back across the pennines to sunny old Manchester. Leeds has been a wonderful home for me since just shy of my nineteenth birthday, but the times, they are a-changing. General excitement ensues.

Apologies for the general irrelevance of this post.

xxx

Hamster New Year

2010-01-10T13:57:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! So far 2010 has been mostly about snow and soup, which pleases me.

Here is hamster badge I made for my friend Nicci before Christmas:

xxx

Ice Cream Man

2009-12-14T12:32:00.000-08:00

On Sunday the lovely twoducksdisco & I shared a stall at the Handmade craft fair which look place at the Brudenell Social Club in sunny Leeds. There was lots of tea, cake, sweets and pretty handmade things on show, which meant I was in a certain sort of heaven...until I ate too many sweets like a small, overexcited child. Thanks to Amy for organising the whole thing.

Sunday was also the debut for Ice Cream Man, a collaboration between myself and Mister twoducksdisco, which can now be purchased from my etsy shop (or will be in about fifteen minutes when I have finished the listing)

xxx

Christmas Badges!

2009-11-30T11:58:00.000-08:00

Tapes

2009-11-02T12:19:00.000-08:00

A picture I did for the new Tapes podcast, which is out today (find the link to the right)

In other news: I'm helping my friend Tash make some Christmas themed little felt badges for a stall she has booked at Kirkstall Abbey in a couple of weeks, will post pictures of our efforts asap! Christmas trees, Christmas puddings and Santas, all this and a recent drop in temperature are making me feel prematurely festive.

xxx

Clocks, the passing of time.

2009-10-11T08:56:00.001-07:00

It was my birthday about three weeks ago and as well as having a lovely day (despite the fact I had to go to work), I also got some lovely things! My boyfriend screenprinted one of my drawings for me and put it in a frame, which is rather exciting as I've never had any of my stuff screenprinted before. Maybe one day I will learn how the process works, until then I will simply admire how good it looks at the end.

I also received this really nice clock from my friend Saz, which inspired the felt clock above it.

Alas, after taking these photos my camera refused to work any longer. Technology, hey.

manynicethings on a journey

2009-10-07T11:59:00.000-07:00

The lovely twoducksdisco recently headed off to Flatstock, a yearly poster art/musical festival based in Hamburg. Alas, I remained in the UK slaving away at my 9-5 job (and finding time to attend a beer festival) but luckily some of my felted friends made the trip, all of them finding new homes in the process.

HALLO!

xxx

Gobble you up!

2009-09-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

I love this blog

Owl with moustache

2009-09-12T16:29:00.000-07:00

I customised my owl brooch design for my old housemate! I forgot to take a picture before I sent it, so here is the picture she posted on her Twitter

xx

Tree People

2009-09-01T07:21:00.000-07:00

Hello there! Here is a little one-off illustration I did for Belfast band Not Squares, which will be inside one copy of their debut single, 'Aye Yo Pa'. Exciting times!

In other news, I am currently loving the track "Hands Swollen With Grace" by the Dakota Suite and I am also getting very excited for Fell Foot Sound this coming weekend.

old old fashioned

2009-08-18T14:50:00.001-07:00

Apologies for the lack of updates of late...I got a job (albeit a temporary one) and have been generally fairly busy, so unfortunately haven't found much time for making stuff.

I thought I would do a wee update saying hello and the like, but I am a bit behind on sleep and now I am here I can't think of much to say, which is going to make for some interesting reading....or not.

Today I interupted some snacking pigeons, then I filled in an application for a job completely out of my league. The two events are connected somehow, I am quite sure, and when I fail to get the job which is way out of my league it will all be the snacking pigeons fault, obviously.

I can't stop listening to "The Midnight Organ Fight" by Frightened Rabbit. It's one of the best new albums I've heard is absolutely ages. Here they are with some cool-looking dudes:

xxx

Russian Doll with Moustache

2009-07-24T04:47:00.000-07:00

I made a couple of these a while back. One I lost somewhere on the streets of Leeds - if you found it, lucky you - the other I have just listed on etsy! He's really tiny but I like him:

xx

Float/Home

2009-07-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

There are more things up here now. There are so many pretty things on etsy it makes me dizzy. It's lucky I have no money because if I did I am sure an unhealthy addication would be beginning right now. At least it would be an aesthetically pleasing addiction.

Today in Leeds it is raining like Manchester and I'm listening to the beautiful music that this man makes:

Peter Broderick, I salute you.

Etsy!

2009-07-15T06:09:00.000-07:00

I have finally managed to sort out an Etsy account! Find it here. Currently for sale are the owl brooches, but I will be adding more things in the next few days.
xx

Strange Creatures

2009-07-13T15:52:00.000-07:00

I really like the artwork of Jennifer Davis

Big Cartel

2009-07-13T03:15:00.000-07:00

Hi all, just thought I'd let you know that I have made myself a Big Cartel page, so if you would like to buy any of my stuff, that's the place to do so! I will be adding more stuff soon, hopefully. Currently up are felt russian dolls and owl brooches. If you would like to have a look, find it here.

Also, I can't stop listening to this album at the moment...

Make Your Own Sun

2009-07-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

Another month, less updates from myself, and another Tapes podcast. This month the tunes are provided by Yonderboy, This Town Needs Guns, Ora Cogan, Peasman and Fortywatts. I saw Ora Cogan play in a basement the night she recorded this session and was very impressed indeed. I have also provided a piece of artwork this month, for the lovely Fortywatts, which is rather exciting and a little scary...I shall do my best to focus on the former. Anyhow, here is my humble offering, inspired by the song "Make Your Own Sun":

xx

Trinkets

2009-06-16T13:11:00.001-07:00

Apologies for the lack of updates of late, I really have no excuse. I got a new computer two weeks ago, so could have taken full advantage of this fact by bombarding you all with updates, but, alas, I did not. This is probably fortunate for you, as I have not been doing all that much aside from frantically filling in job applications. I am also moving house in another two weeks, so I will no doubt be unable to post again for some time due to living in the midst of chaos for at least a week on either side. Anyhow, this update is primarily to say that I finally managed to complete the blog header! It is at the top of this page, as you have probably already noticed.

Also, there was a new Tapes podcast at the beginning of this month, featuring music from Franz Nicolay (of The Hold Steady), Neil Ward, Tubelord, Cameron Steward and Fran Rogers. Artwork this month includes a photograph by my very own sister alongside some other amazing artists. Check it out here.

Another thing worth checking out is my friend Sophie's etsy shop rememberer. She selling some beautiful old postcards and trinkets, very nice indeed.

Finally, here is a picture of a cuckoo clock in my Granny's house which I thought was rather good:

A work in progress

2009-05-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a little something I've been working on.....

It's not finished quite yet, but soon it will be the header for this very blog page! Hooray.

The End of the World.

2009-05-19T06:07:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to see a film by Werner Herzog called "Encounters at the End of the World". It was about Antarctica and all the people he met there.

I've had a fascination for a long time with extremely cold places, places so north or south that the sun doesn't set or rise at certain times in the year, so the concept of this film appealed to me. Herzog's narration was warm and funny and the landscape was stunning....there was amazing footage from dives underneath the ice, but the film was mostly about the eccentric people who live and work there... I especially liked the scientist who showed science-fiction films to those he worked alongside and performed guitar concerts to barely anyone on the remote roof of his laboratory. And the idea of living on a thick sheet of ice and being able to hear the sounds of seals swimming underneath it was one I especially liked. Anyway, a very good film, see it if you get the opportunity!

When We Were Very Young

2009-05-06T05:14:00.000-07:00

I really like old children's book covers.

Tree Houses

2009-05-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

(Stiles Designs)

(Eric Z. Ayers)

(Tom Chudleigh)

(Tree House Guy)

To the Sea

2009-05-05T07:28:00.000-07:00

Hello there! Just a couple of things today...

The May edition of the Tapes podcast has been released, featuring lovely music from Tellison, Red Trees, Pilla, My First Tooth and Rebecca Farely. There is also be some equally lovely artwork to accompany said lovely music, so unless you really hate lovely things, I would highly recommend a listen! You can download it here.

In other news, I think this is rather wonderful.

Trampolining!

2009-04-29T07:38:00.001-07:00

Nothing Happening

2009-04-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Last week I went to Elle Teague's exhibition opening at Clock Cafe/LS6, Hyde Park Corner, Leeds. She does really lovely illustrations (my personal favourite is the "you smell of poo" one) and if you're in the area I would highly recommend a visit. Clock Cafe is really nice and has recently extended to include a new gallery space upstairs, which is really cool. Hopefully there will be lots more good stuff there in future.

Here is the flyer for Elle's show:

While I am recommending things, may I also post a link to my friend Sophie's new blog, which is full of pretty things.

Also, here is a link to a poster by the boy. He took a lovely, innocent picture I drew and made it totally perverse. So be warned! Ha.

On a slightly more irrelevant note, does anyone else remember the early 90s childrens tv programme "Eerie Indiana"?

I've been watching it a lot recently and, unlike other programmes I watched when I was younger, watching it as an adult it doesn't disappoint.

Unfortunately due to computer death, I cannot upload any pictures of my own at the moment. Hopefully I will have stuff to show soon. But as I am currently having another wishing-I-could-travel moment, here is a beautiful picture of Scotland:

And on that note I shall say goodbye!

Oh Very Young

2009-04-22T05:16:00.000-07:00

Hello! My computer has totally broken and I went away for a while to see various family members, hence my lack of updates. Luckily I have a very nice housemate and boyfriend, both of whom have computers I can use whilst I am without. Which is good.

I listened to Cat Stevens a lot while I was away, he seems perfect for the current weather and the things I have been thinking a lot about lately.

"You're only dancing on this earth for a short while
And though your dreams may toss and turn you know
They will vanish away like your daddy's best jeans
Denim Blue fading up to the sky
And though you want them to last forever
You know they never will
You know they never will
And the patches make the goodbye harder still"

More soon...

Tapes

2009-04-02T08:30:00.001-07:00

Cameron Steward and Ash Mann have realised their first ever Tapes podcast! This one features recordings from artists such as Sam Isaac & Jose Vanders . It also has accompanying artwork & photography by various talented folk, including Cameron himself & the lovely Alex Curtis. The podcast is available here and there is another one already planned for next month if you enjoy what you hear :)

Hello Photoshop

2009-04-01T08:11:00.000-07:00

Hello! I spent this afternoon getting acquainted with the technological wonder that is photoshop....

...with help from Cameron Steward, aka twoducksdisco. Despite my occasional technophobia, it was rather fun indeed.

I apologise for lack of updates on crafty stuff recently, I've been getting a little carried away with the drawing side of things...hopefully I will get some crafty inspiration soon!

I have been enjoying The National a lot of late. I also made a twitter account yesterday. I'm still not quite sure what it's for, but I found lots of fun people to follow. If you are also a twittering sort, mine is located here.

Woman & Bird

2009-03-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

Deer

2009-03-25T11:24:00.000-07:00

I have been doing more drawing this afternoon....

...as well as listening to the song "Try for the Sun" by Lindsey Buckingham on repeat.

Doodlebug!

2009-03-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

I love the drawing style in old girls' magazines and annuals from the 60s and 70s:

I tried a couple of sketches myself:

I'd really like to get back into drawing/painting type art stuff, it's really nice to get lost in something like perfecting the shading on a drawing.

I went through the pictures folder on my computer recently and I've got loads of stuff saved on there from google image search and various websites. I thought I'd post a selection of it here, as nice/interesting pictures are always good food for the eyes.

I saved loads of pictures of russian dolls when I was planning the ones I made.

I loved these knitted houses!

This is by someone called Ida Rentoul, I believe.

Andrea Zuill:

Spring

2009-03-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

Still not a whole lot to report, but I felt like posting about Spring, because I am quite fond of it. Cardigan-weather is great.

A friend of mine and I are hopefully going to collaborate on an etsy-based shop type affair soon, I will keep you updated of any developments with regards to this!

Tomorrow I am off to this gig, which I am rather excited about:

(poster designed by twoducksdisco)

Oh and I spent my afternoon today baking banana bread and carrot cake! The carrot cake fell apart, but I found the whole experience incredibly enjoyable and will probably eat far too much of both in the next couple of days.
xxx

Enjoyable Things

2009-03-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

Hello there!

Things I have enjoyed doing since my last update: visiting the countryside, baking, walking in the countryside, getting bargains from the supermarket just before closing time (who knew a 10p loaf of bread could be so satisfying?), the emergence of spring, Sufjan Stevens and nature documentaries. I have also been more urgently trying to find a job, hence today has involved the terribly exciting activity of filling out numerous job application forms. Needless to say, I haven't done all that much in terms of crafty stuff, although I did give a few badges away to friends of mine. Spreading the love and that.

I did manage to fit in a little sewing last night.

And here are some more russian dolls from a while ago I realised I never posted:

Annnnddd here are some cookies made by Cameron Steward, Geoge Steward and assisted by me! Check out moustache ice-cream man.

Hopefully I will have something more exciting to post about soon, until then, take care!

Embroidery Update

2009-03-04T08:23:00.000-08:00

I've added a little more to the embroidery I was working on:

I imagine this'll be the sort of thing I end up adding to and adding to and then realising it looked better half-done. I'd quite like to embroider some tea towels or something next!

On Monday I was in Manchester with my sister and we visited Affleck's Palace. Aside from reminding me of my youth, there were also a few great little stalls that have popped up there since the last time I visited, a few selling fantastic original jewellery, and another selling recycled fashion. I have a website address for the recycled fashion stall, but it doesn't seem to be working, hmm. Anyway, if you are in Manchester any time then you should check it out, it's called "Love Me Again".

The idea of recycled fashion inspired me, so I ended up getting my huge bag of old clothes out (which I have been meaning to take to the charity shop for months) and I added this collar and button to an old top:
Oh and the girls I am moving in with in July all seem super interested in crafts, so hopefully we can get some super fun collaborative projects going on at some point. Hurray!

Trying Something New

2009-02-25T08:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I found an embroidery hoop in a charity shop for 50p, so I thought I would experiment a little. The stitches are not all that neat and it is not quite finished, but here is my first attempt.

Cambridge

2009-02-24T02:57:00.000-08:00

Hello there!

The Cambridge adventure was much fun, and the gallery space in which the poster show took place was incredible.

We also visited the biggest Wetherspoons in the country, which was impressive in a certain sort of way. Cambridge seems like a really lovely place, bikes everywhere and very nice people. Many thanks to Alex Curtis for putting us up!

On a completely irrelevant note, I love the colourful buildings in Nuuk:

I'd like to go one day, it looks otherworldly. I sometimes get moments where I really, really want to travel. If only I had the cash! I saw a programme last week about Billy Connolly travelling through Canada and he visited Newfoundland - it all looked amazing. I think that may be what triggered this.

This and That

2009-02-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

Hi, hope you all had a good weekend! Mine was very quiet, I sewed, watched bad television, and on Saturday night the boy & I watched a lovely film called "The Straight Story" about an old man who rides across America on a lawnmower to visit his ill brother. It was amazing.

This coming weekend is going to be a lot busier, as on Saturday I am off to Cambridge with some great poster artists, to a great poster exhibition, which is going to be a lot of fun. I believe there is also a gig happening on the Sunday evening! Exciting stuff :)

I've been making a very big mess of late (scraps of felt are becoming very familiar features on my carpet) and the other night I couldn't stop sewing and gave myself a headache. But it was a productive headache, at least. Here is the army of badges as it appears at the moment.

There are also a few ideas for projects in the near future. I won't talk about them just yet though, in case they do not work out. But suffice to say, I am excited.

Here is where I have been working, with aforementioned mess. I am hoping to buy an old desk or table from the big charity shop near my house soon, which I can put beside my window. I need good light for sewing, otherwise it makes my eyes go all funny.

I've been reading a fair bit of the Handmade Nation book which I got for Christmas lately, it's really interesting and today a friend recommended My Paper Crane to me, which I then realised is one of the featured artists in the book. The website is full of lovely stuff and I spent ages looking at all of it. There is a really lovely heart embroidery project, which has made me really want to try my hand at something similar. Check it out if you have a few minutes!

Oh and I had the most amazing thing on Friday: a hot chocolate made out of an actual chocolate bar. Dreamy. I have been constantly craving them ever since.

Owls & Seals & Craft Shops

2009-02-13T04:34:00.000-08:00

Hello! I have been making lots of little brooches this week.

I also visited the craft shop and got a little carried away, hence I now have materials to make necklaces:

I don't know why, but visiting the craft shop suddenly and inexplicably makes me yearn to own masses of tiny dollhouse furniture and bizarrely-shaped buttons, which I would perhaps never find a real use for.

I visited my parents at the beginning of the week, and acquired some new fabric, both from charity shops and my Mum's scrap-fabric collection. This is exciting news in Sarah-world at the moment.

Oh and, on a completely unrelated note, I saw two great films this week which I highly recommend: American Splendor and Milk. Sean Penn was absolutely amazing in Milk. I've only seen two films at the cinema this year (the other one was The Wrestler, also recommended) but this is definitely my current favourite film of 2009. I think it will take some beating.

Russian Dolls

2009-02-06T07:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning I got a flash of inspiration while in the shower and ended up neglecting the owl army in favour of these russian dolls, which I have spent most of my waking hours since working on.

The small ones are brooches!

The big one on the far right in the above photo is made out of felt, lace and denim. I am really short, so every time I buy a new pair of jeans I have to take them up and over the years I have ended up with a fair bit of spare denim. I thought I would try putting it to good use for once! I have never sewed using denim before and it was quite tough, but after battling with it for a while I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Owl Adventures

2009-02-04T06:47:00.000-08:00

Hello there!

The past week has mostly involved travelling, snow, sketching and sewing, and has been lots of fun. I have been listening to The Weakerthans a lot, which has been most enjoyable as they are great! I have also been making plans and not searching for a real job as much as I should have been. There is a possibility of a craft fair in April, which would be good as it would give me something big to work towards, and I am hopefully going to be travelling down to Cambridge towards the end of February for a poster exhibition at which I may be able to sell a few things off the corner of a poster stall :)

Anyway, I thought I would share a few pictures of things I have made, with an owl theme!

This owl plushie was the first major project I worked on.

I started out intending to make just one of these little badges, but got a little carried away and cut out felt to make sixteen. This will probably keep me busy for the next few days!

Many thanks to Cameron Steward for helping out with the pictures.

Oh and I made a flickr account, which can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35077562@N04

Hopefully I will have more to post soon! If anyone reading this has experience in starting out doing this sort of stuff (or anything creative in fact) I would be really interested in hearing your experiences and finding new creatively-minded blogs to read!

A Little Update

2009-01-29T06:39:00.001-08:00

Hello! Just thought I would do a little update to say a few things:

1. Hopefully I will get some photos up on here soon. First of all I will probably make some sort of post with a few things I've already done, then I can just post pictures of things as I finish them. I finished something yesterday which I am pleased with, but as it is a present for someone I cannot post it just yet!

This will probably happen next week at some point as I'm adventuring off to London this weekend.

2. I made some links to the right of this post - various fun stuff including an art gallery, writing and poster design, all well good people and good friends of mine. Check them out yo! And if you think you should be there, holla and it shall be done. Like magic.

3. I can't stop reading American Elf online, I advise anyone with time on their hands to do the same. Even if you don't have time on your hands you should have a little look.
http://www.americanelf.com/
James Kochalka is good!

That's all, for now.

By Way of Introduction

2009-01-27T07:10:00.000-08:00

Hello & welcome to my new blog!

I made this blog with the intention of updating anyone who may be reading about the things I may have been making, and also about things other people have made which I may happen to like. I may also end up updating about boring things such as what I ate for lunch, and I apologise for this in advance. I recently found myself without a job, so cheese and tomato toasties have taken on new and exciting qualities for me.

Around six months ago I started making badges/toys/things out of felt and fabric for both myself and my friends and family. My efforts were, to primarily my own surprise, not disastrous (not to say they won't be future!), so I thought that now I have a little time on my hands I would create this little place to chronicle my creative experiments.

So yes, hello, welcome, and I hope you enjoy your stay :)