BA Hons

It's my mum's graduation ceremony tomorrow.

I made her a card:


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windy miller

a wee little windmill

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wreck this

my new book


just LOOK what dropped through my door the other day (from amazon) - alongside the arcade fire albums there was this amazing book by the ever so creative & talented keri smith.

It is such a lovely idea for a book - you have to follow the instructions on each page which literally tell you different ways to trash the book.
i was very hesitant about starting it at first but i'm in full flow now. i am working through it in page order (as i am a little bit on the anal side) and here are some photos of what i've done so far:







what fun! and i have also found a flickr group dedicated to the book and other people's attempts at wrecking it - which i like a lot as it's great to see what other people have done for each page and the different approaches taken.

so, i'd recommend all of you to buy a copy of the book (it's not very pricey) and then let me know how you get on.

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bicycle ride

look who i met today:

friendly horses

&


scary swans

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tea time

i &hearts tea

look what i discovered! - a tea appreciation society.

how splendid.

i really want one of the 'i &hearts tea' canvas bags.

or should i just say 'tea bag' - ha hA HE he (i'm a geek)
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counting coins

i want a piggybank



1. Piggy Bank, 2. Piggy bank from Hungary, 3. Piggy Bank, 4. DSC_2338, 5. 42-16219376, 6. Piggy bank, 7. Piggy bank family, 8. nice.STO299Portfolio.015, 9. Piggy Bank

i have decided that i really want a nice little piggybank to save my pennies in. not one with a plastic stopper in the bottom, but one i will have to smash open to get to my money - that way I'll definitely not spend any until it's all full.

the hunt is on!

i did actually find one whilst out shopping the other day but it had a scary look to it and i just didn't like the idea of having something creepy sitting on my shelf staring at me (though at least i would have had no problem when it came to smashing it to bits).

these thoughts of piggy banks have come from my need to spend less money (especially as I am saving to move to brighton) and i am really trying to watch what I spend at the moment - i am going to try not to buy anything unnecessarily expensive for the month of july and will try and stick to charity shops and sales for things i don't really need (like crafting supplies, clothes,etc).
i'll keep you posted about how i'm getting along...

what did i buy today?

• softmints (naughty but i needed to but something at the petrol station so i wouldn't feel so guilty about just going in to use the toilet)
• vanilla sky soundtrack - £2 from the charity shop (good buy!)
• revels - 45p from the vending machine at work (v.bad, but i blame sally for tempting me)

...and that is all. not too bad but i do need to cut down on sweets & chocolate purchases it seems.

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a few new bits

floral tin from oxfam - 79p (i think i'll use it for storing thread & ribbon


pretty little fat bird - 50p (i like to hold him in my hand)


this bow was from a stall at glastonbury - it was the only one there that looked a bit like old ladies curtains so i had to have it.


these finger puppets were £1 each from glastonbury.
i wish, i wish, i wish i knew how to make them - there were so many there (derek bought a yoda one). if anyone has any knitting patterns for cute finger puppets or any links to any then please let me know and i'll be ever so happy!

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i wish i could...

( skirts by emily, sugarmouseface & hannah )

lately i've been feeling a bit fed up with buying clothes from the high street - they are often very overpriced and everyone ends up wearing the same thing. i also hate it when i stop and think about what i'm wearing and realise most of my outfit was purchased from the same store.
i don't normally manage to find much in the way of nice clothes in the local charity shops so have decided the only way forward is to try and make my own clothes. I have been inspired by lots of wonderful handmade skirts spotted online (such as those above) and would love to be able to make something similar. unfortunately i am a bit useless in the (neat) sewing department. in the past i have had a few attempts at making/altering skirts - most of which have failed (i may share the pictures one day soon), but i feel just about ready to have another bash at it now.

all i need is a good tutorial.
i have bought a couple of sewing patterns from charity shops before but i find it hard to know where to start with them (they are a tad confusing).

so, if anyone knows of any handmade skirt tutorials to be found on the web then it would be great to hear from you.

and then i will get to work and make a skirt that is actually wearable (i hope).

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a bit of trimming

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.

x

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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