secret seed swap

As I mentioned in a previous post, Lyndsey let me sign up as a late entry to the What You Sow secret seed swap last month. I haven't done a swap for a while so I was really pleased to be taking part, especially as I have a new garden to get growing in.

I really enjoyed preparing my package to send out. I picked out radish, rocket and aubergine seeds (some of my favourite vegetables) and added in some Limnanthes seeds too, as it's nice to have some flowers in the garden.

I illustrated each of my packets with paper collage pictures of the plants, and typed out some labels for the back.




I hadn't heard of Limnanthes before, but it is nicknamed the 'poached egg' plant because of the appearance of the flowers, which won me over immediately.



I was pretty happy with how they turned out. Nice and colourful!

And I received an equally colourful package in return from my fellow secret seed swapper. Just look how cute they are! Thank you Gabriella.



Beautiful packets, and a great selection of edibles, a lot of them themed around Puglia in Italy.
I've since found out that Gabriella has a great blog called Mangia Bene - filled with 'edible stories from a British Italian kitchen', hence the Italy connection.

Cicoria are bitter greens used in Puglia's national dish, and Gabriella described the Cima di Rapa as Puglia's equivalent to purple sprouting. She also included Carosello Mello Lungo which is an Italian cucumber, and some nasturtiums which are pretty and edible too - perfect!

I had a day off work yesterday so I decided to sow a few of the seeds (some nasturtiums and some of the cucumber seeds). Nice to do some gardening on such a lovely warm day.





And here they all are, sitting in our mini greenhouse alongside the runner beans (which are beginning to sprout!)

Thanks once again to Lyndsey for organising such a great swap. I'm looking forward to taking part again next year.

let's make: party decorations

My good pal and housemate Mark recently hosted a little daytime folk gig at our house - it was great!

For the occasion Ben and I offered to make some decorations, so we spent a couple of hours one afternoon knocking up a few metres of colourful paper streamers. I've made something like this once before, but not in such large quantities - it's really quick and easy to make though (especially when you have a mini production line system).

I've written out the instructions below if you want to make some yourself...



You will need:

A selection of coloured paper in any colour combination of your choice (this time we went for ALL the colours!)
A giant hole punch (pictured above) - my one cuts out circles to a diameter of about 4cm but I think they come in different sizes.
A sewing machine & whatever coloured thread you fancy.

Instructions

Hole punch out as many circles as you need, in a combination of colours. We went a bit crazy and kept on punching until we ran out of most of our paper.

We kept the circles in individual piles so we could work out the colour pattern as we went, but you might just want to mix them all in together and see what sequence comes to hand as you sew.

When you have all the circles you need (or enough to start sewing if you have an assistant who can keep punching) set up your sewing machine to work in straight stitch and then simply sew away. We tried to keep an even mix of each colour in a random sequence so it wouldn't look too regular.

And then we just kept going, taking turns on each task, until we had metres of the stuff!



The only tricky bit is trying to stop the garland from getting tangled in itself. We ended up draping them in strips over furniture as we went.

Once you have used up all your circles, then all that's left to do is: DECORATE!



Oh, and have a fun party!

a wedding

I made this card for a wedding I went to at the weekend.
I was pleased to have the chance to use one of the nice envelopes that I bought in Japan.

hello winter coat

My toes are frozen and my little finger has gone numb, but luckily the sun is still shining.

two's a pair

My contribution to a giant game of memory that is being held at the V&A this Friday. Come along for some fun and games! I hope to make a fleeting visit.

papercrafts

Sunday afternoon origami with yumi & a picture for the exhibition.

bifidus digestivum

Something has made my stomach grumpy.
I wish it would cheer up.

let's collaborate

Today Natacha, Vicky, Yumi and I installed our house of books in the Amnesty Bookshop, Brighton.
If all goes smoothly (no subsidence/falling masonry) it will be on display for the next 3 weeks.


BOOK HOUSE - Collaborative Project

"Our objective in building this house was to create a space in which to set scenes inspired by our favourite books and stories."

A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz
(Natacha Goransky)

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
(Debbie Hill)

Pinnochio by Carlo Collodi
(Vicky Ilott)

The Blue Bird by Maurice Maeterlinck
(Yumi Okuda)

how does your garden grow?

I'm excited about the thought of having some outside space at our new house.
I'm also planning a garden for a bookshop window display at the moment.
Plants and trees and honey bees.

breakfast with tiffany

It's national bike week at the moment.
Today I got a free breakfast and a bike pump - good times!
Have a peek here for other bicycle events happening in Brighton this week.

hmm...

Marmite is not my mate.

a shop update

I just wanted to let you know I've updated my shop with these typographic greetings cards:


It's a custom listing so each card will be made especially to order with whatever message you please!
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odds & ends

I seem to be posting quite often at the moment (I have a lot to say!) so I thought I'd get up to date and post some of the stuff I've been meaning to share for the past week or so.

Firstly, the promotional postcard for my MA course show from the students who are leaving this year. The end of year exhibition is in September so I know it's a while away now, but I thought it was best to promote nice and early - I'll give a little reminder nearer the time I'm sure.


What's next...oh yes! I got a bike at the weekend!!!!! I've been borrowing Derek's bike for the past few months and he finally took it back so I had to go on a bike hunt. It's a very nice bike, although a tad creaky and squeaky. I think that gives her character though.


Here's a nice sugar pot I bought in the flea market the other day:


And finally, I've been having a go at drawing with paper:


Most pleasing!
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all in a row

For a project I am working on at university.

h e l l o

10th

playing with some scrap bits of paper
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