Time to cosy up...

Finally.

I've found my creative mojo again. I've felt out of touch and unorganised lately, so much so that I've felt I've had no attention span whatsoever and haven't had the concentration to start let alone finish anything. This weekend I came across a lovely pattern for some slippers from one of my favourite blogs, One Sheepish Girl.

It is a really great pattern that I accessed through Ravelry, a great online database of patterns for knitting and crochet and I'd recommend it to anyone! The pattern was so easy to follow and really quick to make, I started each slipper at about 4pm and was finished by bed time! Not only that, they are so comfy!! So here are a few quick snaps of my chunky knit slippers which I have barely taken off since I've finished them!

Searching for creativity.

I've really been feeling the stress in my life lately, usually I'm good at pushing stress to one side and just carrying on with life but recently it's all been adding up and just bubbling beneath the surface. As a result I've still not managed to get back into the swing of being creative. However, I'm seriously loving having a blog, this might not be being read by anyone at all other than a few lovely friends, but currently it is the only creative motivation for me! I'm still in love with being creative and feel constantly excited and inspired, but the stresses in life are preventing me from sitting down for longer than an hour or so to actually start something let alone finish anything! So today's post is just a small projection of things I'm working towards, a few snaps of small prototypes and inspiring ideas I'm working with. Anyone who is reading this, stay with me I promise these posts will get better soon!!

This is a prototype for a small purse I'm making a pattern for, I  was playing with shape and details.

Typing on fabric worked better than I'd thought it would, and has a very distressed/vintage type look.

These are some crocheted lace strips I made, measuring about 12 cm in length, they could be scaled up to make collars for clothing.

These lace strips were crocheted with eco wool, not only are the colours beautiful tones, but they are made from finely chopped up clothes fibres reformed into wool, wonderful for the planet and pretty!!

A little update...

It's been a while since I've posted, simply because life has gotten a little crazy! After applying for around 7 jobs, I was offered 5 interviews, and after the first one I was offered the job an accepted. I was incredibly surprised to even be offered an interview let alone the job and I ended up starting within a week of my interview! I was totally not expecting this for the last two weeks I've been in my new job, as well as continuing my old job one day a week and starting a voluntary post once a week! In my free time I've mainly just been trying hard to stay awake after such an increase in my daily activity since leaving university!!!

As a result I've not been very crafty lately! So instead, I've taken a few snaps of images which signal to me that Autumn is on its way...... I hope you enjoy!

Some lovely autumnal crab apples bringing the first apples of the season into the house.

The sharpening stone hidden in flower bed catching some late afternoon sunshine.

Our newest family member Bo perfecting his posing for the camera!

 

You know it's autumn when the blankets and dogs start sneaking onto the sofas to warm up and dry out for an afternoon nap.

  Begging for biscuits.....

Snuggled and cosy in the early evening.

Cycle to Eden

This summer I took a summer holiday alone. Having recently finished those beautiful university years I've moved back in to my parents house and work part time, consequently I have basically no money! I still however wanted to take some time out and treat myself to a holiday. So, this year I took a week off and cycled from Oxfordshire to Cornwall, to the Eden Project. 

I'm quite an active person and have run a few marathons since I turned 18 and trust me they were hard, but this was unlike anything else. The biggest challenge I had to face was the fact that I was alone. I cycled for four days, at the end of which my sister met me and we went to the Eden Project together. Now I love a challenge, and I love my own company but when you push yourself to your physical limits, being alone is really no fun. Crying comes easily, as does giving in. However, thanks to the beautiful developments of technology there is always someone to be called upon when moral is low. Phoning my sister gave me the last moral boost I needed to finish a 60 mile day in the hottest weather England saw this year. I spent the entire summer training for my trip in wind, rain and mild temperatures, then the day I set off was the first day of super hot weather we had in the last week of July. It was cloudless, beautiful weather that I had craved for since Easter, I just hadn't expected to be cycling myself and most essential belongings 200 miles in less than a week at the same time....

I made it.

The Eden project as the final destination now seems to me an ironic destination as it did in fact feel like reaching paradise at the end of a cross country exploration.

At the end of day one I was still in pretty high spirits.

Day two went smoothly and ended at an idyllic campsite near Taunton. It was calm, well kept and full of a variety of charming characters. An old man who made constant jokes about my possible insanity for choosing to cycle to Cornwall, a lovely Dutch family who were inspired yet terrified by my venture and a young French teen who couldn't have more perfectly captured the romantic charm we assume all French men have. I'm only 23, but I really feel those 23 years, but Louis (yes a dreamily typical French name) made me long for those teenage years of innocent bright eyed dreaming we seem to grow out of so quickly. He was staying in England for the summer to volunteer at an R.S.P.C.A centre as he had realised his dream to become a vet couldn't wait much longer. He camped for free whilst cleaning the toilets and ate at the local pub for free in return for working weekend shifts unpaid. The ease with which he lived here with no money, no worries and a permanent smile on his face made my trip seem overly planned, and much less carefree than jumping on your bike and cycling away actually sounds.

On the morning of my third (and most hideous) day however those stereotypical dreams of romantic French men was reborn once I made my first snack stop of the day. I opened my stash of Haribo sweets to discover Louis had filled the bag with freshly picked cherries from the campsite cherry tree, Oh to be 17 again....

.

By the end of day three however, I was very much worse for wear. Day three saw one flat type, 10 extra miles cycled due to poor navigation, one twister, 4 bottles of water, 3 bottles of Lucozade and about 2 hours of crying 

Day four on the other hand meant I was far enough into Devon and Cornwall to indulge in one of those delights only the south can provide.

As I said the Eden project ended up being a real paradise at the end of a long few days, and I'd recommend anyone to go. The whole trip is inspiring a project for me now and for the last few days I've been building my sketch book to document my trip.

Playing around with free stitching on the sewing machine, I made a stitched wrap around cover for my sketch book.

The pages of the book are made from the maps I printed and used to navigate from Oxford to Cornwall.

Because of the direction of my journey, travelling to the south east, this book is actually in reverse. The start of the book is at the back so below is the front page.

So far I haven't started drawing but I'll document my trip, the beauties of the Eden project and all my adventures on the way. So, watch this space to see where this journey take us. 

From the trees to the trees

In September I hope to start producing my own own work for sale, hopefully via Etsy, a wonderful site to find hand made items all individually crafted to good standards. As an extension to this, along side my sketchbooks I wanted to start doing some home printing using lino, to create a logo for my work which is unique to me. However, not having much money I'm hesitant to buy any of the necessary equipment!

Instead I decided to start in my Dad's shed.

Flicking through a magazine in a stamp shop I found this beautifully coloured article about hand carved wooden stamps, the pieces of stamped paper were wonderful, and I really liked the idea of working with wood. I think it's great to work with natural elements, so I've started playing around with this myself.

My first attempt.

Carving is a lovely process, slow, delicate and peaceful.

Testing out the stamp with acrylic paint and simple colours created some lovely paper to work on, and inspired a jungle themed drawing.

I'm not usually very good at drawing faces so this took quite a lot of time to perfect, but I'm really happy with the result, and hopefully it will inspire further drawings.

The Night Circus

A friend of mine has a very beautiful blog, which she has been updating this summer, and it just inspires me to get myself into action and to keep on top of my creativity too.

For my birthday in July I was given a kindle, and have barely put it down since. I've been longing to get my head back in to a good book, and have been discovering some really lovely stories lately. My latest read is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and I fell in love with it. It follows the movement of a circus which opens only at night and is built around an Illusionist, who's tricks are more realistic than they appear. The magic captured in this book is truly beautiful and the writing is crafted in such a way that the images in the story really come to life, and I genuinely couldn't put this book down.

As a result I've felt compelled to draw once again, and am going to share some of my drawings which have been inspired by this book.

The wishing tree.

One wish on the tree lights the spark of another wish.

The Ballerina

The night circus is solely created in black, white and shades of grey so no distraction from the performances occurs. I think it adds a steely beauty and elegance to all of the imagery. I'm really enjoying playing with ink at the moment and the various shades I can create so, this project of illustrating images from the book sits very well with my current obsession.

Inspirations

So for me the name of my blog is also a challenge. I'd love to be able to write poetry, but I feel I can never quite complete a poem. When I created this blog it was with the intention to post some of the short ramblings I have been creating but so far I've been too embarrassed by them I suppose, or afraid they weren't good enough.


Some are still works in progress but some I've decided to keep as records of the moment, pure instant creations inspired by something I'm currently experiencing.


So, this is the first of those I wish to release into cyberspace....


Beautiful people breathing glorious love
sharing the wonder of beautiful music.


Warmth spreads to my soul from body to body
like wild fire, wicked 


but magnificent


Burning brighter and ever powerful
almighty
majestic


I'm in love with it,
as it lifts me
to heights unexplored




Inspired by a runaway brian gig.

Tickles

A few of my current guilty pleasures... try them I'd forgotten how much fun they are!

Crossing my eyes

As a kid this was always weird, the world looks funny and it makes your head spin a little, I seem to have taken to doing this every now and then when I'm a little bored... Its like having a kaleidoscope inside my head :)

Balancing a spoon on your nose

I get quite bored while I'm waiting for my food to cook. This fills the time delightfully.

Frolicking

No one does this enough. Really throw your arms about and toss your hair. I can't think of a more liberating experience :)

Hiding notes people might not find for ages.

Either do this for a friend, hide it in their pocket or purse. Or just do it randomly for strangers, in a coffee shop or the library. Only nice things mind...

A Little something special

I just wanted to share this with anyone who might visit this unusual spot.

Not only is the art created here beautiful, but the actions of the artist and the story of the art is beautiful too.

So, enjoy....

http://thisiscentralstation.com/featured/mysterious-paper-sculptures/

Definitions

This will only be a short one,

But I thought it quite important.

Just to explain why I'm here, on this blog, and what it means to me. The instigating factor was that my current course, an art foundation at Swansea Met, has massively given my creative energy a well needed kick up the bum. As a result, everyone on my course is currently constructing, organising and selling themselves through their portfolios, to prospective universities. However, as I've already been to uni I'm not applying, but felt I too needed to start marketing myself as a creative being.

I love art, its more and more becoming a part of my daily routine, my pocket sketchbook is slowly filling up and my brain is slowly being converted into an analytical machine for anything visual or aesthetically challenging (as a result of a previous project I've become obsessed with plastic bottles. You wouldn't believe how beautiful they really are if you looked properly. Fanta bottles are my favourite....it tastes good too).

So I've also started to become proud of my work and here I'll share a little of what I've done, what I'm working on and things that inspire me.

As for poetry... Its still something I wish I could get my head round so this will also be a space for practice :) Consequently anyone who does read this will have to suffer some seriously questionable attempts to manipulate the written word. Please bear with me. I'll try and disguise my scribbles as best I can. I also won't call them poems but something more along the lines of miniature glimpses into the unusual spaces between my rather small ears.

Much love x

Swansea Swansea Swansea....

I took a little break from running the lovely flat coast path round to mumbles and cycled out to Bracelet bay, chasing the sunset. I'd wanted to get round to Langland but didn't leave enough time before darkness descended. In the mean time here are a few snaps I captured before the sunlight disappeared and I had to scramble across the cliffs in the darkness....

Apologies for poor quality I was pretty cold and couldn't help but shake...

Allez

I thought it about time to join the blogging world to send my creations and musings out in to cyber space. I took this photo on my way home from uni and it gave me a little lift on a day when I thought I was losing affection for Swansea. Clearly there are still surprises to be found here.