Natural Dye Garden

I've been intrigued by the idea of growing my own plant dyes for some time now, since I undertook a project using natural dyes during my art foundation course in early 2012. I've read some wonderful books about natural plant dyes, growing them, using them and the slow textiles movement, and having successfully dyed fabrics with dyes sourced from the vegetable isles in supermarkets, I really wanted to start growing my own plants and ultimately making my own dyes. 

Last weekend we had our last blast of warm weather for the foreseeable future and I took the opportunity to get outside and get my garden going. As the seasons change over and autumn settles in, it was also a great time to hit up the garden centres for some bargain plant sales.

The raised planters have been built using old cement manholes stacked up on top of each other.

French Lavender

 Yellow Onions, these will be harvested for their skins as well as then being eaten!

Camomile, another plant which can be used for dyes as well as an edible source.

St Johns Wort

It'll be another year perhaps before these are ready to harvest for dye purposes and it won't be until then before they flower again but I'm already excited for this prospect! I've taken a lot of my inspiration in this field from India Flint, she has really created an amazing collection of naturally dyes textiles exploring not only colour but pattern. For me however, being a Brit, I found a lot of the plants she used aren't native to little old England and this was something I was quite interested in, whilst this book by Sasha Duerr provided some really great information and inspiration about growing your own native plant dyes, a book I would highly recommend.

Before you point it out, I'm aware French Lavender isn't native to Britain but we already have some lavender growing in our garden and I thought it would be interesting to compare the two types to see whether their colours would vary.

Crafty Project

So I've been meaning to complete this project for ages now and finally I have. I bought this printers tray from ebay ages ago now with the intention of giving it a spruce and hanging it up. Once the good weather arrived I had no excuses left as to why I couldn't go outside and paint it.

It started off life as a plain wooden printers tray but because it had some writing and pen marks all over it, that I couldn't sand off, I decided to paint it rather than varnish it.

One wall in my room is already yellow and it is just such a lovely summer colour I had to go with yellow!

Its hanging right above my bureau which I use as my desk so its a great place to store all my inspiring finds.

Back Pack Love

Who doesn't love a good old fashioned backpack? I DO. (Also if you don't... you might by the end of this....) When my wonderful magazine, Mollie Makes, dropped through my door in March as soon as I saw their instructions to make a backpack I'd fallen in love. Mentally, I'd already dyed the fabric, cut it and made my bag and was dreaming of summer bicycle rides with pic-nics. And so far, I've had nothing but compliments about my bag and I wear it at every opportunity!

I plan on making an entire fleet of them :)

Also, you should get Mollie Makes. Its a crafter's paradise.

I hand dyed the fabric, making about 8 different samples of different shades of green/blue until I'd found the perfect combination. I had planned on using a stamp I'd bought to add a pattern but in the end I loved the simplicity of the colours I left it as it is. I'm so pleased with the way it has turned out, I've never made a bag with a lining that fits so perfectly either. Seriously my new favourite thing. Roll on summer play time.

Normal service now to resume....

Oh naughty naughty. It's been almost a month since my last post. SORRY. I took a little holiday and just haven't returned to normal functioning yet! 

I'll keep this short, to ease you back in to my rambling ways but I assure you've I've been busy! I spent a lovely week in France with my family, followed by a week of crafting and general TV watching.... (oops) Then this last week and a half I've been getting myself back into the working routine and prepping a few other little projects I've got lined up (watch this space).

On another note.. things that are inspiring me at the moment... Foxes. They are everywhere. As a wonderful friend of mine said: 'Right now...Foxes are in.'

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All links back to the original sites can be followed by clicking the numbers.

Band of the Month...

Bastille - Overjoyed

Who doesn't love a little bit of singing in the countryside?

'Spring' Sunset

March arrived and everyone started praising the arrival of spring. It is freezing cold still. For me spring is not yet here.

I won't lie I am loving the fact it is still light at 6.30pm,  but that is the only reason I feel like we might soon defrost and feel the real arrival of spring.

Band of The Month

So I've been a little absent for a while (sorry!), sometimes life just escapes you but lets just crack on!

Here is my band for the month! I came across a free download for these guys and then realised that I was actually massively behind the times (as always) and that they are getting some serious air play on Radio 1 and 2 at the moment!! (I gave up radio one quite recently as it just wasn't ticking all my musical boxes but it has left me a little out of the current music loops...)

But without further ado here they are.... Bastille.

I'm sure you know them and if you don't ENJOY. They seriously are pretty special!

Local Natives

So this is February's band of the month and time is RUNNING OUT for me to badger you with their wonderful sounds.

I've had this song on repeat for about a week now and I still love it. This is an amazing live version too and is from/filmed by the lovely people over at La Blogothèque. A friend introduced me to this website a few years back and it is full to the brim of amazing acoustic videos of some seriously cool people singing their beautiful songs. Take a tour around their site because I bet you you'll find something you like. Some of my favourites are the Alex Winston videos and Bon Iver. Of course.

Check it out and listen to this lovely song. Put your feet up and dream of summer..... it is almost in sight.

The coolest kid around...

Its February and its cold. We've had about 3 days of sunshine here since... well probably the turn of the millennium now (it certainly feels like it). For all of you wonderful people out there who are need a little pick-me-up, a reason to do that thing you've been putting off, take up a challenge that has always terrified you, or to just go out and do something good for someone else, here is your inspiration. Possibly the coolest/sweetest thing I've seen on the internet in a while! Kid president asks us to share this with the people who encourage us and for me its all of you who take the time to read my blog THANK YOU and enjoy xxx

P.S. you should watch his other videos they too are just as much fun!

Band of the Month

*New Feature Alert*

That's right, I'm going to try and have a band of the month  from now on, either something new to me, something old for a good old flash back or something I'm just really loving at the moment. 

This month is a band I've only recently come across, Local Natives, and I'm seriously loving them! I bought their début album Gorilla Manor a few weeks back and have had it on repeat ever since! The track above (Breakers) is their newest track, off their most recent album Hummingbird and I recommend their beautiful sounds if you're into the folky tones of bands like Fleet Foxes or the Maccabees. You can buy all their amazing stuff over here.

Weekend Round Up - 10.02.13

Weather wise it has been fairly miserable this weekend. We've had LOTS of wind, constant rain and the odd flurry of snow. Not ideal outdoors weather but certainly hot chocolate and whipped cream weather once you have braved the elements! (Which we did with a quick afternoon walk with visiting friends).

My sister and I also took a trip to the local garden centre to buy seeds for our small green fingered ambitions. Having been inspired buy our new favourite magazine The Simple Things we're both planning on growing some small edibles over the next few months. The latest inspirational growing guide was for chilli plants, something I've been told are really easy to grow and keep alive (something I'm incredibly bad at) so I've taken a figurative leaf out of their book and I bought myself some seeds which I plan on planting this week as it is HALF TERM!! The perks of working in a school!

I urge you to go out and buy this magazine it seriously is full of wonderful things!

You'll notice I've picked some seriously mild peppers as I just can't cope with anything too fiery!!

As it is winter I also spent some time feeding the bird in the garden this weekend, it's so cold and they need all the help they can get. It also provides some great photo opportunities by attracting them into the garden, so here are a few snaps from when we had our big snowfall of the year a few weeks ago.

As it is half term I'm going get busy and try and start/finish all those larger projects I've been putting off for ages so stay tuned for more updates this week!

Mechanical Marvels...

I'm not very good at remembering to wear jewellery, I have lots, and I always take some on holiday or if I'm going away for a weekend, but when it comes to putting it on I just never remember. 

I find it often gets in the way, beautiful bracelets that dangle around your wrists end up getting stuck in jumpers or bashed against almost every solid surface I pass by. Necklaces get stuck to other necklaces or tangled in knots and start to strangle me ( this happened in the middle of a yoga class on the one rare occasion I put a necklace on and then forgot to take it off... my instructor had to untangle me as I started to choke.....) or they get stuck in my hair. Earrings undoubtedly attach themselves to jumpers, scarves, hair you name it.

I wish I wore more of it, I have some beautiful pieces from friends and family, but apart from the staple studs, friendship bracelets and travel based mementoes I really am useless. I think half the time the problem is, other than looking pretty, I find jewellery has little purpose. So while stumbling around on the internet under a blanket with a cup of tea this afternoon I came across an amazing website. Dukno Yoon is a metalsmith and jewellery maker who has created some of the most incredible mechanical jewellery that simulates the movement of wings when worn.

*all images from http://www.duknoyoon.com/Wings_e.html

Now if all jewellery was like this, I think I'd be more inclined to wear it! However.... I'd probably end up being so distracted by it I'd never make it out of the house to impress any one with it! Do take a look at the website to see more of his amazing pieces.