Have a very

Hope you had a wonderful christmas

Got a scrap of yarn, then click here to
make this super cute birdy.

The Elves are back-with recipes to share.

I thought I would share with you these two yummy-o-so simple recipes,
 that the elves made with me.I remembered making fudge with my mother
and brothers as a child but had no idea it was so simple,

in under one hour you can make 7 home made gifts for friends and family.
 This is enough to fill seven jam jars:

900 grams caster sugar
3 tablespoons golden syrup
300 grams butter  cut in small squares
300 ml double cream
3 teaspoons of vanilla extract


Lightly grease 3 dishes approx. measurements 15 cm x 20 cm or one large
baking dish . Put all the ingredients but not the vanilla extract in to a large
heavy based pan and over a low heat gently stirring all the time dissolve the
ingredients. Make sure there are no crystals left. Stop
stirring, put a sugar thermometer into the pan
( I got mine from lake land) and let the mixture boil
until it reaches the soft ball stage 116c. Take the pan
off the heat and stand for 10 mins.  Add the vanilla and beat vigorously
until the mixture becomes slightly grainy and starts to come away
from the sides of the pan, it takes about 10 mins, tip into the prepared
dishes smooth the top and leave to cool. Cut into squares with a sharp
knife, leave for 3 - 4 hours to firm up. Remove from the dish
and pack into you home-made or re-cycled containers.
I used jam jars which I sterilised in the dish washer on a boil cycle,
if you do not have a dish washer you can sterilise the jars by boiling
them in a large pan. I made the labels for the elves in photo shop
but wee birdy has some lovely christmas labels to down load,
(and they are free) on her blog. If you do not have any spare
jam jars Berts home store has a great selection.

Before the elves left to go back out into the snow and home, there was just time for the big Elf to make these wonderful festive jellies and kindly said,I could share her secret recipe.

I packet of jelly (I used strawberry) but any berry flavour would be good.

I packet of frozen mixed berries.

Cut up the packet of jelly and dissolve in one pint of boiling water stirring

until all the jelly is dissolved. Divide the frozen berries between the glasses

pour the jelly in to glasses, chill until set,  ENJOY,

and have a VERY VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS.

Knit me quick.

If you have a couple of spare hours grab 5 ball's of big softie  from sidar and a pair of 10 mm needles. I got mine from c and h fabrics but you could try  John Lewis or any wool shop.

Down load this free pattern ( not for commercial use please)! And cast on.

Using a crochet hook sew in the ends, insert the hook along the knit line
 twisting in and out wrapping the yarn around the needle and pull through, cut.

You can also thread the loose ends onto a large needle and weave the needle
 along the knitting line pull through and cut.

When you have sewn in all the loose ends, wrap enough yarn around a book
mine measured 22 cm x 15 cm, to make the fringe. Cut along the natural indent,
 and you have a neat pile of yarn to make the fringe with.

Make the yarn into bundle's of two, or whatever you feel looks good.

Using a crochet hook start making the fringe by sliding the hook into the first stitch.

Loop two strands of yarn folded in half around the crochet hook and slip through.

Slip the yarn through the loop and pull, your first,
 cont. along the cast on and off row to make the fringe.

                                                        Happy  Christmas

14 days before Christmas two elves delivered to me ...........

A home made sweetie house ! Then the little elves decorated my christmas tree .

I had planed to visit some of the open houses in Brighton and Hove so this visit had to wait until Sunday.

The starting point for this sadly whistle stop tour, was Tessa Wolfe Murray and Guests where I loved the stitched textile's from Wendy Dolan. Next up at Wilbury Grove was Wu&Wu
from the talented Fiona Hewitt, I had often seen her range in John Lewis and other department stores and boutiques, not realising she is based in Hove.

 Wonderful prints at Boxbrid Gallery and Studios from many artist including zara white
and Helen Musselwhite. At 32 Brunswick Street West I saw for the first time the
 work of Nicole Carman and loved her canvas photography, also showing was Sarah Jones,

 I have been a fan of her work for many years and she did not disappoint with some amazing new prints. Last but not least, was Cross Street Workshop fantastic ideas for christmas presents, if you could bear to part with any of the wonderful household textiles by Pintuck, vintage crockery
 from Anna Tilson and these gorgeous prints from Mary Fellows.

 

Love this party invite

Found this really sweet party invite in one of my favourite blogs blogshttp://bleubirdvintage.typepad.com/blog/2010/12/oh-you-pretty-things.htmlfavourite

Quick trip to Lewis

Before I became temporarily housebound with the snow, I had a quick tip to Lewis and spent a pleasurable few hours hunting out vintage fabric and vintage paper patterns, but no trip to Lewis would be complete without popping into Bills http://www.bills-website.co.uk/for a quick cuppa.
Amazingly I was able to resist their yummy cakes. I got these patterns in The Thread Needles market and the man who sold me the patterns, told me that the Lady he had bought the patterns from used to live in India and she would have these patterns and the fabric shipped out in the 1950's .

love it or loath it

Love it or loath it, for now the snow has gone from sunny Brighton.

Just in time for the big freeze, I up-cycled these old cream Ikea  curtains (www.Ikea.com), using the old curtains as lining it's made a cold room into a toasty warm (maybe it's bit too pink !!! Can it be too pink for a seven years old girl ?) bed room.


I allso made bunting so easy !!!!!! and fun !

 For the bunting I used a mixture or vintage, recycle and new fabric, the new fabric came from
                                              Fabric Land (www.fabricland.co.uk)

And !!!!!! Just to give the walls a girly feel I used these stickers....

Retro

There are two of the paper patterns I found, the girls dress is so  sweet, possibility from the sixties.  It could look fab made up for a party dress or just a change from leggings and denim.

 The women's bathing suit will make a fab bikini with a little "nip and tuck" red poka dot ? and a ruffle or frill across the bottom, looking forward to sharing the real thing ! with you.

vintage vintage vintage

Lately I have been scouring the local charity shops and good old e-bay, for vintage paper patterns and vintage tea towels.  I am posting a few finds from my trawl.  The vintage tea towel is going to be re made into a bag ? pillow case ? cushion ? lampshade ? apron ? the possibilities are endless, I will post the end result.

Horrockses Fashion at the Fashion and Textile Museum

Hot footed it up to London today, and throughly enjoyed this wonderful exhibition of mainly 40's and 50's fashion. The show charts the rise then sadly the fall of this fashion house Horrockses, which was established in 1946, producing good quality off the peg dresses, skirts, sunsuit and unstructured jackets.

I really enjoyed the photo of the designers sitting in a row, paint brushes in hand designing all the exciting textile designs that "made" the dresses.  Horrockes also bought work from free lance designers, including in 1950, Terence Conran. Horrockses Fashion's practice of collaboration between manufacturer and artist illustrated the company's commitment to innovative textile design. 

"put - your stamp on it"

My second post is called  "Put - your stamp on it", again for the high street,  inspired by the collection of natural history and taxidermy at the Booth Museum, Dyke Road Hove. I love the butterflies and the incredible colours if they were not "real" i do not think I would believe that you could get butterflies in such amazing colours. I also have been inspired by the line drawings of natural history illustrations made by the Victorians. 

sunsets

Today I am posting two "story boards " which are the starting point for two new design projects.
Sunsets, inspired by the wonderful sunsets in Poros Greece, one minute it was day light then a huge burning orange sun dropped behind the hills and it was night, magical !An amazing and memorable sight,with the most amazing shades of orange in process.
This work is aimed a the "high street".

the end of a journey, a new beginning ?

A beautiful sunny day, perfect to start my blog and continue my journey that started at Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, these images are from my final year project !