The FINAL major project…William Morris meets Ecclesiastical design

Being a florist for 10 years, its hard to get away from wanting to produce floral designs so…..For my very last degree project i have decided to create a floral collection but with a twist.

Tambour embroidery course with Couture embroidery and embelishments

Currently sat on the train on my way back home from a fantastic weekend!  I couldn’t wait to share it all with you so I thought I’d use the oh so boring train journey to type this up!

I’ve always wanted to learn to tambour and had been looking at various options for weekend courses when I came across Deman College in Oxford

Mary Katrantzou inspired designs

 

Starting out in architecture, moving into interiors and then mastering the fashion world, Mary Katrantzou sure knows how to add the WOW factor to the catwalk ! Although always in black herself, her collections and collaborations can be described as nothing other than a carefully selected psychedelic mash up of colour and bold prints. Drawing  inspiration from oversized jewellery, Meissen porcelain, perfume bottles, Fabergé eggs and many more beautiful objects, her work is undoubtedly beautiful in every way and not for the shy !

Nicola Jarvis studio – My 6 glorious days in Royal Leamington spa

Nicola Jarvis Studio

I was honoured to spend 6 days with one of the most enthusiastic people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. From the very start I was welcomed into her home and workplace.

For those of you who have not yet come across Nicola Jarvis, get onto google now ! A practising artist based in Royal Leamington Spa, Nicola creates beautiful and incredibly intricate drawings and paintings which she then converts into stitch

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Jan Knibbs – The Flower Crazy Lady

Having a huge appreciation And love of flowers and all things vintage, the work of Jan Knibbs has always appealed to me. In fact, why not would garments, jewellery and wearable art with such unique textures and colour combinations not appeal to anyone with an eye for design ?

http://www.janknibbs.com

Claire Muir and Shrewsbury Embroiderers Guild

This evening I attended my very first Embroiderers Guild meeting

Design Inspiration…it could end up being an expensive thing !

When it comes to creating original designs there is nothing better than drawing from an object that is actually infront of you and not just drawing from a photo on the internet. It allows for a more creative drawing experience, letting you pull ideas from every corner of the room, object, setting etc.

Having chosen to use Moroccan culture as inspiration for my current brief I was struggling  to come up with original ideas. I thought about the wildlife and desert life that surrounds Morocco, snakes, scorpions, camels etc and as much as id have loved to take a trip to Marrakech ( obviously for research purposes ) it just wasn’t feasible this time so I had to think a little harder. Whilst on a trip to the local pet store to get a Christmas jumper for the pups I was taking a little look at the snakes they had. Not a chance was I purchasing a snake but I did give me the idea of snake skin… and what do snakes eat….bugs, big bugs ! The very kind staff in the shop allowed me to take away some of the dead ( yuck ) bugs and a very kind girl at my university got me a snake skin ! So, I had my bugs, I had my snake skin, my sketch book and drawing materials….but it still wasn’t enough!  A little more thinking later and a little more researching and I was hooked on Arabic and Islamic art !  Luckily, a family run business has opened locally that specialise in authentic Persian carpets. They kindly allowed me to take a few photos to make sketches from and then I saw THE ONE. A rug I must have ! Now all I have to do is convince my other half that he loves it as much as I do !

As well as drawing from these beautiful carpets and rugs  i have made arrangements with a rather beautiful Mosque in Wolverhampton where I will be shown around the building and allowed time to make some sketches whilst there which im really looking forward to as it will be an experience in its self ! I’ll keep you posted on how its going.

Birgitta Designs…the perfect gift for every occasion !

Birgitta Designs

Recently, my partners sister has had little girl  ( Lilly ) and this Christmas will be her very first ! As she is not quite old enough yet to get excited about opening presents we thought we could get her something that will last her a life time

Moving forward…..

Before starting uni at Birmingham BCU, textiles is something I had done nothing more than dabbled with in my spare time. Now that 1st year is over and 2nd year uni is well and truly in full swing I feel it’s time to take things a little further.

Courgette and Cardamom Soup….tates just like it did in ‘Hej’ !!

I found this recipe in the Stylist Magazine that was published the same week I had this soup at ‘Hej’ , im pretty sure it must be the same one they use ?