Wednesday 26 October 2011

Decisions decisions...

I've finally completed the frame for the fireside chair I'm doing at college (I'm studying furniture design and craft...just a wee extra something to keep me busy!).


As the chair's proportions are on the petite side, I've decided it would be best suited for a child, so the fabric I'm going to choose needs to reflect a more relaxed, child-friendly look and feel. I'm not talking about a Disney Princess or Ben 10 theme here...I still want the chair to look good in a family room!*

I'm loving the Barcelona Fabric range from Designer's Guild. For me, the hand-drawn, screen-printed designs in funky colour ways, perfectly balances child-like naivety, with cool contemporary design.



...I'm thinking of going for a solid coloured fabric on one side of the chair maybe the front-side, jazzed-up with buttons in a contrasting colour, and having a patterned fabric on the back.



OOohhh...decisions, decisions...I'll just have to work on upholstering more chairs so that I could use all the lovely fabrics I find!


*Not that I think there's anything wrong with having disney princess or Ben 10 themed rooms...but yes I'm one of those design-junkie parents that tries hard to steer my kids away from all those big commercial characters aimed at kids...all in the name of widening their appreciation of art and design of course!


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Monday 24 October 2011

Hot off the press...

Hooray!!! My brand-spanking new business cards from Moo arrived today and I love them! I guess that's me definitely in business now...just need to get a move-on with crafting/upcycling some goodies to sell in my shop!



Between college and being a mum & a wife, I'm not finding a huge amount of time (understatement of the year!) to create....it's just a case of grabbing a spare moment here or there...or working late into the night to get things done...so please please be patient if you've checked out my shop and not found anything to buy just yet. In time, I hope to fill it with lots of lovely goodies...so please do check back from time to time! Or if you wish to to get updates on latest items for sale, you can also follow me on twitter or facebook!


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Friday 21 October 2011

For the love of turquoise...

I go a bit bananas over anything turquoise related...so when it came to deciding on a colour to paint this tired-looking vintage chest of drawers


....I immediately opted for the luscious looking "Provence" from my Annie Sloan Chalk paint collection. I couldn't resist painting the inside of the drawers in "Emperor's silk" red (another one of my favourites) for a bold flash of colour. During the revamp, I left a strip of blue masking tape along the top edge of the drawers which Mr. P thought was a lovely design feature...and so inspired the "Aubusson blue" strip painted along the top edge of all the drawers.


I had a bit of "Emperor's Silk" left in my dish, so I added a dash of "Pure" white paint to make a gorgeous shade of what I would describe as an eye-popping pomegranate!


Just enough to brighten-up a wee chair....


A quick all over with dark and clear wax, a light distressing with sand paper, followed by a final coat of clear wax....and presto my wee chair was done...looks good beside the turquoise chest of drawers, even if I say so myself!


I apologise for the poor quality of my pictures! They were taken in a dark, cramped corner of my work space with my iphone....but I was just so excited to share them anyway! I'll need to get my talented photographer friend Fee to show me a few tricks on my DSLR...but in the meantime please bear with my grainy shots!

Next weekend, these two babies will be gracing the Mood Flowers stand at the Homes & Interiors Show at the SECC (do come by and say hello if you're planning on visiting the show!), and will be available to buy at the show or later in my etsy/folksy shop!


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Monday 10 October 2011

London Calling

Last Saturday I had THE ultimate luxury for any Mama (courtesy of Mr. P and my in-laws!)...a full day to myself to do anything I wanted (though a long lie-in would come in as a close second...hint hint!). So I decided to make good use of my day and headed to London to check out the Power of Making Exhibition at the V & A and the first ever Renegade Craft Fair at the Truman Brewery.

The V & A is probably my favourite museum in London...not only because Mr. P and I had our 2nd date there, but I can easily spend hours lost in some of the best exhibits in the world...not to mention the very fine gift shop!


Wire-work Gorilla sculpture created by David Mach


A Ghanaian Lion Coffin by Joseph Tetteh Ashong


Air vase created by Tokyo-based Torafu Architects


I have to say the item that most captivated my attention was the pencil tip sculpture by Dalton Ghetti. It's amazing how in the hands of a genius craftsman, even an unlikely subject like a pencil can be transformed into a piece of extraordinary art. Apparently, some of his work takes years to finish...so not only does this man have heaps of talent, but also the patience of a saint!


There was no time for dawdling on Saturday, so after the V&A I headed straight over to the Renegade Craft Fair...


Tucked away in the East End hotspot of Brick Lane...buzzing with activity and excitement...I found many talented makers covering textiles, illustration, paper, jewellery, screen-printing, ceramics...here are a selection of a few of my favourites...


Funky screen-prints by Patrick Edgeley


Gorgeous screen printed cushions by Hazel Stark in delicious eye-popping colours.


Stunningly intricate paper cut artwork by Lekker Haas



Although I had decided it was going to be a looking and not buying trip...I just couldn't resist the exquisite detail and charm of the wooden block buildings created by Daniel Rossi of The Drawing Machine. The timber for each piece were off cuts reclaimed from a carpenter, lovingly shaped and illustrated upon...now that's what I call creative upcycling! I just adored the way he displayed the scenes, on pieces of corrugated cardboard cut to resemble mountain vistas....a nice touch! I now have three little houses sitting on my desk to remind me of my sweet day trip to London!




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Thursday 6 October 2011

Play time

All work and no play certainly makes Jill a dull girl...so today I indulged in some play time with my dear dear friend Karen from way back in my high school days in Canada. Somehow we lost touch a couple years after I left Canada to study in London....but through some clever sleuthing she tracked me down a few years ago by which point I was living in Glasgow, married with a 3 month old and a blossoming (excuse the pun!) florist business. Turns out my fab friend from Thunderbay had been living in Edinburgh for a couple of years and was studying Medical Herbalism! All these years of wondering...and then to find out she was living less than 50 miles away from me was just unbelievable!




Thinking back, some of my fondest memories of our school years, apart from wearing a kilt to school everyday (and now I live in kilt country...how cool is that?), was our little eating adventures where we would go out of our way to try different cuisines. In our 16/17 year old minds it was just the height of sophistication! Even now, whenever we meet-up, it still centres around food...sharing the delectable salads at Cafe Milk, getting a dumpling fix at Chop Chop or sampling the moreish roti-canae at Rumours Cafe. Food and wonderful conversation...what a delightful way to spend an afternoon!



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