10 good things

the 10 best things about glastonbury



1. bjork & bright eyes & arcade fire (& shirley bassey)

2. being able to wear anything you like without feeling silly (bright orange rain poncho anyone?)

3. exploring the greenfields and disovering amazing things: an ark, seesaws, swinging chairs, giant wicker people...etc

4. lots of different food everywhere you turn: crepes & soup & garlic bread & liquorice & free hare krishna supper.

5. visiting the silent disco and taking your headphones off to hear everyone singing along to nothing.

6. crocheted granny blankets from the oxfam stall

7. watching people roll in the mud (but standing well out of reach)

8. trying to invent new dances where you don't need to move your feet as they are stuck in the mud.

9. everyone in the site cheering when the sun pops out for 5 minutes.

10. spending time with friends & not having to think about work or things that need doing all weekend.

camp out

f e s t i v a l



i'm going to glastonbury tomorrow - i'm soooooooo excited (even though the weather is not looking too hot). i must remember to take my wellingtons.



i promise a BIG post when i get back but for now here's a picture of the fathers day card i made my dad:



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back to school

yesterday i received my formal offer from brighton university for the postgraduate course i applied for (MA Sequential Design & Illustration) - how exciting.
so hopefully i'll be off to live by the sea in september...

the university is tres nice. they have a lovely bookbinding department and hopefully i'll have the chance to learn letterpress when i'm there too.

i have already encountered some wonderful illustrative people who have completed the course previously. the winner of the student category in the 2006 v&a illustration awards - chu-li chen graduated last year from the course so that is quite impressive!

other illustrators to have taken the course include john harrison whose course outcome start a story is an oh so nice set of collaborative projects - my favourite is the flow chart adventure (i submitted my own attempt here) - lovely!
anwen williams also took the course and nowadays she creates lots of lovely badges and illustrations (i love her website) - i am planning to attend this little fair at some point in the next few weeks where she is selling some of her work (amongst other talented people):



so in short, all these lovely illustrators are doing a good job of convincing me that brighton uni is definately the place to be - oh so exciting!

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horses

bank

holiday

i hope everybody had a nice bank holiday weekend - i went to a steam fair!

it was like stepping back in time - there were lots of wonderful rides and a variety of animals around and about. i had a nice cream tea and a jolly good day out. it was also most pleasant to catch up with my friend emma who was down from cardiff for the weekend (i'll be seeing her again soon though at glastonbury - very excited about that!)

here are some nice pictures from our day at the fair:


^ on the carousel - i was riding a chicken.


^ the razzle dazzle - i really loooove the bright colours (i'd like to volunteer to help paint the rides).


^ me on the steam swings.


^ a very pretty horse.

unfortunately the BIG wheel was not there as it was being fixed (a bit of a worry) but i have a some pictures from a couple of years ago that i'd like to share:


^ the view from the top.



i also had my first barbeque of the year at the weekend (hooray to summer!)




here's hoping there are lots more to be had (and lots more pimms to go alongside!)

this week seems to be dragging a bit now. i don't know why as it is shorter than usual, but i've been work work working everyday (and night).
tomorrow i am off to the shops however, so there will surely be another post soon. i've also just done a swap with siming (foolily) so there will be some pictures of that along shortly.

until then, have a nice week/weekend.

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oops.

I've been such a bad blogger of late i know.
I'm just settling into having two jobs and have not been finding much time to post on here - excuses excuses indeed, i deserve to have my wrists slapped.

so i promise there'll be a whole host of posts filled with substance along shortly. but for now i'll just share some pictures:






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easter weekend

more to come soon.

i'm a tad busy at the moment :)

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a nice little game

for a while now i have been wanting to test my knowledge of the american states (partly because i'm into list writing maybe) but have only ever thought of it after hearing someone talking about somewhere in america (and then i feel it is unfair to play as i have already had a head start) - am i odd? most probably.

anyway, today whilst nosing around some other blogs i saw that someone had posted a link to this - a game where you have 10 minutes to list as many of the states as you can remember. what fun!

i had a play and managed to get a not very impressive 24 out of 50. dear me.
i feel that it is sort of ok as i don't live in america myself (so am allowed to be a little dense) ...though i'm not sure how well i'd do if the game was to list english counties either.

i'll give it a while and have another bash sometime (and hopefully i'll get on a little better). until then, do have a go and let me know your scores...it's pretty tricky once you've got the first few.

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learning crochet (round two)

if any of you remember back in january i made an attempt to start learning crochet after receiving a book and a starter kit for my birthday.

well, that was kind of put on hold as i struggled to get any further than making one chain (dear me).

but today i decided something had to be done - so i got out the old hook and wool and had another bash. a slightly more successful bash it was too. here's what i came up with:



i think this is double crochet (at least that is what i was aiming for), and it looks ok to me (not too messed up like previous attempts). but for all i know it could be completely wrong.

i really need to be taught by someone who already knows what they are doing.

practise makes perfect though and i'm going to keep working on it this time.

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find of the week

whilst i was in tesco yesterday hunting for casino royale i came across these most delightful cookie cutters in the kids/craft/easter section that they have at the moment:



how very nice indeed.

now i need to get baking...

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red + yellow + blue + green

here are a few of the lovely colourful images that have been floating my boat of late:


by blue coat


by carol grilo


by m patrizio


by blue coat


by carol grilo

all ever so lovely and very inspirational.

i'm very pro primary colours at the moment.

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badges

i made some new badge designs.

on sale here at prickie.

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mothers day

i've just made my mum a mothers day card to accompany the presents i've already prepared for her ---> the two brooches and this framed picture:



i also popped some handmade vouchers inside the card for her to "cash in" whenever she pleases. these include having tea made for her tea all day & having a homemade lunch of her choice, amongst others. it made me feel quite like a child when i was making them, but that is ok i feel. better to feel young than old. (maybe)

i'm off out for an italian tonight which will be most delightful. though as i have given up cheese for lent (i thought it would be a good personal challenge) i think it is going to be quite a mission to find something on the menu i can eat. italian food is so yummy and full of cheese. i'll do my best to avoid it though.

in other news, i registered with this bookcrossing website today. i heard about it aaaaaaaages and have been meaning to have a peek for a while now. it is such a lovely idea, leaving books around for other people to pick up and read. one of my friends found one once on a train and i think that is where i got wind of it. so i've now decided to take part and have released my first book into the wild.
well, actually it wasn't so much my book as it was derek's, but we've both read it and i have told him that i am not giving it back (this is a much better idea). i would, of course, have let one of my own books loose but i recently gave a bundle to charity so don't have any to hand that i am willing to part with at the moment.
so hopefully my book will be found soon and i'll be able to find out what other people think of it. a great thing about the site is that you can see how many books are currently 'loose' in the local area, and where exactly they are. apparently there are 5 (now 6!) lurking in my town at the moment so maybe i should go out on a book hunt. i think it would be oh so exciting to find one!

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floral

i made my mum some brooches today, for mothers day. they were made from a tutorial in this book (with some slight variations) and i made two in different colours so she'll always have one to match the outfit she's wearing (if she likes them that is, fingers crossed!)

i really like the Crafter Culture Handbook (a birthday present) and also created these thankyou cards the other day for my swap partners, which were based on another brooch tutorial in the book:



obviously i am into making matching pink and blue things at the moment!
i need to get making a mothers day card too - maybe that'll go on tomorrows 'to do' list (alongside getting her another little gift!).

yesterday i accompanied my friend daniel to a rather posh event at 'aquascutum' in london (free champagne and canapes, who could say no?!) so it was a rather splendid afternoon/evening out, and when we left we got a wonderful goodie bag with lots of v.nice bits and bobs - some magazines, a candle and some skin products (i like free things).

when i was in london i bought a splendid new skirt:



just look at that BIG wooden button! who could resist.

it was also mike's birthday yesterday, here is a little birthday greeting i made him:



that is about as far as my skills go in illustrator. i really need to improve - lessons would be good so i might look into that.

we are off out for a meal on saturday so i'm going to fix him up a nice card by then (and possibly make him a little something else too).

....and that is about all i have for show and tell today, so bye for now.

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it's nearly easter!

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i haven't drawn in a while...

...so here are some drawings i did today (coloured in of course)




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longwinded

time for a mammoth post

i have got a lot to mention today and lots of bits and bobs i've been meaning to post for a while. firstly some wonderful swap packages i have received of late:


top: the super pack it up small package i received from gabriele - lots of lovely strawberry, cherry and apple goodies, so great! - thanks again gabriele.

and below that: thanks to avital for this lovely package for the coloriffic swap-o-rama. such a thoughtful and personalised selection - i love it all!

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alongside receiving lots of lovely post i've been knitting lot of easter chicks, which are now up in my etsy shop:


now, i'm not sure how likely these little folks are to actually sell but i thought i'd test the waters of etsy and see how it goes. i also got carried away knitting and didn't know what else to do with them (as my friends and family were on the receiving end last easter and i doubt they'd fancy another batch)

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back to things i've received in the mail:


a few weeks ago i helped out my friend matt with some cd packaging ideas for his band 'a neat science' - and he sent me a copy of the design he put together.
it's a limited edition cd release and i think it has a lovely handmade feel to it with a printed canvas case and a nice brown luggage tag label - i bet they'll all sell like hot cakes! and very kind of him to credit me for helping with the design as he did all the hard work really.

and talking of cd designs, here is something i knocked up for a one-off cover design for a new single release by a band called stained glass heroes:



The band is releasing a new single and there will be a limited edition of 500 7" vinyl singles pressed, all designed by different artists - which is quite a nice idea i thought! so i've sent off my entry now, and you can look at some of the designs already received on their website. very nice.

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in other news, i went on a nice trip to the local salvation army thrift store the other day and picked up this pile of goodies:


i especially love the green spotty fabric and the floral pillowcase - makes me think of springtime! which is kind of appropriate as it is feeling very much like spring is in the air around here at the moment, the sun has been shining and i've even been thinking about digging out my sunglasses as it is so very bright - lovely!

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anyway, i must go now as this post has taken me quite long enough (though i do think i have more things to say that i have forgotton about) - it is now a whole day after i began! and no, i haven't been sitting here the whole time, i've been to the pub for a banana split and a glass of wine, and to london for a nice pot of tea and museum visit - so i have been quite a busy girl.

and now it is time for a rest - well, sort of, i'm off to the cinema to see the illusionist. i hope it's a good'un,

have a nice weekend everybody!

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