Wallpaper collage

I am loving these lovely wallpaper collages.  I think it's time for a change in my bedroom and a visit to the DIY store is a good place to start for some colourful inspiration.

Olympic torch relay

The Olympic torch relay came to Yorkshire this week and into Sheffield city centre.  The sun stayed out all day and the cauldron was lit before it conrinued to Doncaster the following morning.

 Lighting the cauldron

 Olympic torches on the relay bus

The Olympic mascot

Plastic bottle art

Look at these amazing plastic bottle fish on the beach in Rio de Janerio.  They were made from discarded plastic bottles.

photos by jcassiano - flickr

Other plastic bottles artists such as Gulnur Ozdaglar make jewelry, bowls and buttons http://www.gulnurozdaglar.com/index.html

These are some lanterns I made from plastic bottles.  I placed LED lights inside them.

Developing designs in photoshop

After going to the degree shows I decided to have a play around in photoshop as I havent used it very much since leaving uni, simply because repeat designs are so much easier to do in illustrator.  From two simplistic drawings I played around and experimented in photoshop with the bucket fill, masking, erase tool and hue and saturation.  By using a few tools I created a butterfly floral design.

City of Leeds and Leeds college of Art graduation show

Yesterday I made a trip to Leeds to go and see the degree show at Leeds college of Art.  The work was  stunning.  The BA Surface design course at Huddersfield is quite different to the course at Leeds.  Some of the work at Leeds was very illustrative. Although Leeds is not that far away I have never had a wander around the town. I really liked the Corn exchange and the Victoria Quarter and the floral Dr Martens in the stores window.

Samantha Cockshott

Poppy Maxfield

Nancy Newton

More great work from leeds on the Artsthred site  http://www.artsthread.com/c/leedscollegeofartdesign/printedtextilessurfacepatterndesignBAHons

 Corn exchange

 Store inside the corn exchange

Victoria Quarter

Dr Marten Shop in the Victoria Quarter

University of Huddersfield graduation show

On Friday night I returned to Huddersfield to view the degree shows.  It was good to see all the new projects and designs in textiles, surface design, textile crafts and costume.  There were lots of amazing work and here are just a few snippets and examples.

Textile crafts sketch books

 Phoebe Munro

 Kelly Aldred

 Clara Julia Karlsen

 Sian-Louise Mason

 Emily Holmes

Kim Searle

Inspiration for hand painted florals

I have been browsing the net for some floral inspiration.  I would like to hand paint some florals based on the current 50s trend.  Cath Kidson is the obvious place to look but I thought I look else where and this is what I found -  amazing cakes decorated in hand painted florals.  The cakes are made by neviepie cakes and you can read her blog here.  http://amelieshouse.blogspot.co.uk/.  I love the gold baroque cake.  I would like to paint like this on paper never mind a cake.

Fabric 8 winner

The winner of the spoonflower fabric 8 contest is Anderson Lee with her collection Painted petals.  Congratulations to Anderson for a great collection.  The sizing in perfect for quilt makers.

Red poppies fabric

Good news.....today I sold my first swatch of red poppies fabric on Spoonflower.  It has been sold to a quilter in New Zealand.  How great is that?  The production of this fabric is pretty much travelling around the the world and it's all thanks to the internet.  What would we do without it?...... Designed in the UK...... Printed in the USA......Purchased in New Zealand.

A walk around Hathersage

On Sunday I went walking around Hathersage and Stanage edge.  The weather was warm and the sun came out for a while.  Along the bottom of Stanage edge there are lots of abandoned old millstones some of which are not quite finished. 
When the weather picks up I would like to go a swim in the outdoor pool at Hathersage.  It opened in 1936 and it is probably the only outdoor pool left in the peak district.

 Hathersage swimming pool

Fantastic animations

Over the weekend I caught up with some of the best bits of the jubilee concert.  Friends and family recommended the fantasic and very creative animations that were projected onto Buckingham palace during the 'our house by madness' performance.  The fireworks display was excellent, I have never seen fireworks go so high into the sky.  In my opinion the animations and the fireworks were the best parts of concert.

Click to see animations "http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Lki3VMPy2RE?rel=0"

Jubille crown in St James park, London

Spoonflower fabric 8

The fabric 8 contest is in the final week. you can vote here http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters/new?contest_id=145
This is my collection named 'Fabric garden' Pretty pink florals with added linen textures.

Jubilee Monday

The UK has been a wash of red white and blue over the weekend as people celebrated the Queens Jubilee.  The weather was grey and wet on Sunday but the bright colours of the Union Jack flag brightened up the day.  Monday was much nicer and I went walking around Dovdale as well as a walk up to the becon at Greenmoor that was going to be lit after 10pm for the Jubilee.  Over 4000 becons were lit in the UK for the Jubilee.