It's not something I've really talked about but, in recent months, I have felt so overwhelmed that I started to feel physical effects from the stress. Work was hectic, I had lots of side-projects on the go and fitting general life-admin around a social life was proving to be more and more difficult. Making an... Continue Reading →
Bill Amberg ‘Functional Luxury’ exhibition
Leather accessories have always fascinated me. Whether it's the luxurious feel of soft leather or the immaculate finish of a polished structured piece, I'm always amazed by what designers can do with this versatile material. Working at London College of Fashion has given me an insight into the processes and techniques that can be employed,... Continue Reading →
Other side of the line
When I was living in Manchester, I met lots of wonderfully creative photographers via the analogue 'mother' of Instagram - Lomography. One of those photographers is Vanessa Short who is now working on a fascinating personal project documenting the coal miners who returned to work early, breaking the 1984-1985 strike. She is looking into getting... Continue Reading →
Review: Material World by Perri Lewis
When I heard that the woman who brought craft to the Guardian's website had written a book on the subject, I was rather excited. I was a big fan of Perri Lewis' craft column and even blogged about it back in 2010 when I found a few useful tips and some comments from people who... Continue Reading →
Love the Garden: Update
It's been six weeks since I planted my basil seeds and hoped for the best but, as you can see from the terribly badly exposed photo on the right, all is going well. Despite having extremely limited gardening skills, I seem to have managed to grow something pretty that may also turn out to be... Continue Reading →
Love the Garden
When I lived in Manchester, my house was dotted with potted plants. A peace lily that was a housewarming gift, spider plants, ivy... most windows or sets of shelves had some variety of living foliage. During my teenage years I always had at least one plant in my bedroom and would happily adopt new ones... Continue Reading →
Awesome Ideas: The motivation project
Following on from yesterday's post, I have decided to start something small which I hope will provide a bit of motivation and encouragement to any readers suffering from a bad case of procrastination. If you have a project that needs to be finished but that you are struggling to get yourself organised enough to complete,... Continue Reading →
How to be creative
I have always been a creative person. A great many years of enjoyable art classes at school, followed by a year at art college and then a partly creative university degree has left me with a useful framework around which to organise the creative process, and a wealth of knowledge of techniques, processes and art... Continue Reading →