Our Love is Rice and Beans and Horses Lard

It's nearly Movember

2011-10-12T09:34:00.000-07:00

It's not long now until November, which means men across the world will be sporting moustache in aid of 'Movember' which aims to raise awareness of men's health. From Oct 14th - Nov 30th Movember will open a Pop-up space in Magna Plaza in the center of Amsterdam and all money raised will benefit prostate cancer research at the Dutch Cancer Institute. I have donated a selection of my moustache themed products which you will be able to buy from the Pop-up shop with 70% of the proceeds going to charity.

Not only that, but any visitors to the pop-up space will be able to get a sneaky 20% off discount code to use in my Etsy store until the end of November. So if you're anywhere near Amsterdam you should definitely stop by!

Pardon the fromage...

2011-06-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

Last month I held a giveaway, and the winner won a selection of my cross-stitch jewellery.

That lovely winner was Mel aka Sugarplum Kawaii who has very kindly blogged about her win and taken very pretty photos of my pieces! (Thanks Mel!)

One of my most popular pieces, the blue-tit and flowers ring, photographed by Mel.

While we're on this kind of topic, do excuse the fromage but I want to say how bloody lovely my customers are! I have received the sweetest feedback in my Etsy store ranging from customers saying they've been eyeing my work for a while or coming back to buy more, or those who have even requested I give them business cards so that they can share my work with their friends - THANK YOU! It means the world to me X

FLASH SALE

2011-05-28T02:06:00.000-07:00

I'm having a flash sale in my Etsy store to celebrate PAY DAY! Or at least, that was the plan as I didn't get paid - argh! This always happens when I start a new job, something cocks up...

...but anyway, if you go to my Etsy shop and add items you like to your cart, then enter promo code FLASHMAY15 when prompted, you can get 15% off each item!

Sale ends at midnight ~~tonight~~ Monday 30th May, then I turn into a pumpkin.

What items would you buy / are you buying? I would go for...

Blue-tit and flowers ring

Some Dolly Girl buttons to update my cardigan

My favourite little fox sampler for my wall

Have a lovely weekend! I have so much to do today - running to the post office before it closes early and a ton of sewing, then I have to work Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, damn! At least I have 4 days off next week to look forward to.

Copy cats

2011-05-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

My cross-stitch moustache ring

Well, it's been an interesting start to the week! In the past 12 hours alone I've come across not one, but TWO sneaky copy cats.

The first copycat was innocent enough. A 12 year old girl attempting a (very long winded) blog tutorial demonstrating how to create one of my moustache rings (needless to say the outcome didn't rival my super 'tache ring!). It was quite funny and sweet really, so it wasn't really anything I should feel bad about...

...then, I thought I'd take a little snoop around Etsy to see what other people have been making. I do this periodically just to be nosey and sure enough there are plenty of other people doing cross-stitch items, some are very similar to current items I have in stock, or items I have made previously and sure it can irk me a little but I know I cannot hold the monopoly on cross-stitched items. It peeved me a little to see that someone had copied one particular item of mine down to the last stitch.

I know it sounds really petty to complain that someone has copied a really small accessory I have made, but the design is mine!

I'm not going to name and shame anyone. I have sent the person a polite message, and hoping I don't get a shitty one back! I know these things happen, and in some roundabout way imitation is a form of flattery but mostly it just makes me feel sad and rather pissed off.

It's not easy being an independent designer, in fact it's really bloody hard. If a designer's work inspires you, tell them, tell your friends or write a blog post about their work to give them some exposure. Don't copy their work. There is a BIG difference between being inspired and plagiarism, and in most cases breaching copyright laws.

If you cannot think up a design yourself, maybe that medium isn't for you? Maybe you should be doing something else?

Sorry for the rant folks. If you would like to see my work and not a copied version, you can see it here: www.etsy.com/shop/MaMagasin but please don't copy it, thanks ;)

...and the winner is...!

2011-05-07T04:07:00.000-07:00

To celebrate reaching 500 'Likes' on my Facebook page, I held an extra special giveaway.

Huge thanks to all those who entered! It was rather tricky to pick a winner (and two runners up) but I've come to a decision......

...the winner of the big haul of my jewellery is 'Sugarplum Kawaii' !

"My favourite jewellery piece is a Gold charm bracelet left to me by my Grandma. It's from the 1930's and full of unusual artifacts, including...

My Dad's 1st 2 baby teeth!

A miniature tennis racket with a striped handle made od Rubys and Diamonds

A beer bottle and beer jug

An ancient coin"

(How amazing does that bracelet sound?!)

It was just as tricky to pick the two runners up as like I say, I genuinely loved all your tales of your favourite piece of jewellery. In the end I chose...

Abigail and Ursula!

I chose Abigail as her most treasured piece of jewellery was actually the only thing she was wearing when she gave birth to her son, Theo. How sweet is that? Very special indeed. I chose Ursula as I loved the symbolism behind her most treasured necklace.

So, congratulations to you! If you could contact me at ma-magasin@hotmail.co.uk or leave your email address in the comments below, I will sort your prizes out :)

Work in progress

2011-05-05T12:49:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling a bit 'stuck' at the moment. I keep saying that I'm lacking inspiration but I'm not sure if that is really the case. I have tons of ideas, and tons of which I thought up years ago and still haven't got around to doing. I think of myself as quite the 'ideas person' but sometimes having so many options can be a bit overwhelming so you end up avoiding it all together! Does that make sense?

Anyway, today in the post I got a recent eBay purchase! I bought for cheap a few really old cross-stitch and embroidery booklets. They're so old in fact that they still stink of grannies and loft but they are rather good considering they cost peanuts.

Today has really been a day of 'doodling'. I played with some chevron patterns I've done before, but this time in one of my favourite colour combos - turquoise, pink and a bit of gold.

Also, I've finally got around to getting some gold rings in - so there's a bit more bling in the shop, and ideal for all those people out there who aren't keen on silver tone. I actually got the kick up the butt from a customer, who had bought one of my moustache rings and said while she thought it was great she thought it would have been improved if done on a gold ring. So, your wish is my command!

I'm going to be doing a big shop overhaul soon. It's long overdue. There are something like, 100 items listed in my Etsy store so I think I need to delete a ton of old stuff and replenish with fresh new things...anything in particular you'd like to see in there?

My cross-stitch cameo on Channel 4's Super Scrimpers!

2011-05-05T02:34:00.000-07:00

Not long ago I sent style blogger Gem Fatale a couple of my cross-stitch rings in the hope she would wear them and review them on her blog. Well, she was kind enough to go one step further and wore them on national TV!

For the past couple of episodes, Gem has appeared on Channel 4's show Super Scrimpers where people share their thrifty money saving tips. Last night she demonstrated one of her many super nail art tips (which we all know could cost a bomb in the shops). You can watch the show on 4oD although it may take a little while for the last episode to become available. I highly recommend you follow her blog if you don't already, as every Tuesday she shares a new tip!

Here are a couple of sneaky screenshots I snapped on my phone (God, I'm sad!)...

As always, my jewellery and accessories are available to buy in my Etsy and Notonthehighstreet online stores.

NEW: Homewares

2011-05-01T14:45:00.000-07:00

This past week I have been a busy bee and thrashed out a batch of samplers to adorn your walls. I designed a little fox motif and have got a bit giddy over it and stitched it to everything in sight! So...erm...sorry if you don't like foxes! I'm going to have to rustle up another woodland critter quick and hope the fox obsession subsides...

There are some samplers with the fox face on it's own, and others have the alphabet or 'home sweet home' to look a little more traditional. I've also stitched the face of a moustachioed man and a selection of moustache for all those facial hair lovers out there. The moustache one is a little dearer in price than the others as it took a blinkin' long time to stitch all those 'tache...

At the moment, all of these items are 'one-of-a-kind' and I cannot promise I will recreate them in the future, so if you're interested you can buy them HERE while you can!

It's Giveaway time - NOW CLOSED

2011-05-01T04:27:00.000-07:00

Current best-seller: Blue-tit and flowers ring

Hooray! I finally have 500 'Facebook followers'. Big thanks to all those who shared my page with their friends.

As a treat, I would like to give one lucky person a bunch of my items AND treat two lucky runners up.

The winner will receive my best seller Blue-tit ring, a pair of Dolly Girl earrings, a pair of Red Heart earrings, a pair of Apple hair slides AND a large Love badge. In total this haul is worth over £70 !

Juicy Red Apple hair slides

Two lucky runners up will receive ONE item: their choice of EITHER a pair of bobby pins, a pair of earrings or a ring. Their choice of design!

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is comment on this blog post telling me what your most treasured piece of jewellery / accessory is and why?

To enter this giveaway you must be a follower on Facebook and / or my blog.

I'll pick the winners by the answers I like the best*, and the giveaway will end on Friday 6th May.

I would really appreciate it if you politely mention this give away to your friends, but try not to spam anyone - that's not very nice.

*I usually use a random number generator but I think this can remove some of the fun of it all. If you think me picking the winner by choosing my favourite answer is unfair, I suggest you don't enter.

Well, GOOD LUCK! And don't say I don't spoil you. <3

Meet Indie Cindy

2011-04-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

I want you to meet my latest stockist, Indie Cindy!

"Indie Cindy is Leeds’ freshest pop-up boutique-bazaar hoarding the best accessories, jewellery and gifts by our nation’s leading independent cult designers, illustrators and makers.

Cindy sells:
++postcards ++ fashion jewellery ++ prints ++ greetings cards ++ satchels ++ ++notebooks ++ pocket mirrors ++ badges ++ clutch bags ++ cushions ++ ++glasses cases ++ keyrings ++ totes galore ++ and more!!

individual ♥ independent ♥ indie cindy"

You can find Indie Cindy on the First Floor, Bird's Yard, 83 Kirkgate, Leeds LS2 7DJ

This Sunday they are having a launch party between 2-4pm. Go along! There's a chance you could win a bag of swag (which includes a pair of my moustache earrings)! For more info you can look at the Facebook event page here. You could also be a gem and follow them on Facebook to keep up to date with events and new stock!

This post was brought to you by the letter C

2011-04-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

WARNING: This post contains 'the c word' and mainly sees me ranting about magazines and celebrities.

I'm not sure if I've ranted about this on here before, forgive me if I have, but I am so done with glossy fashion magazines. If any of you see me reaching for the latest issue again - for heaven's sake, stop me.

Not long ago I cancelled all my subscriptions but every Tuesday the latest ones are out and I'm like a drug addict knocking at my dealer's door again.

A couple of months ago it was a column in Grazia that got me really riled up. There's a regular feature in the magazine towards the back called 'Starting Over' where a woman (I forget her name, I think it's Bibi) writes about her life on the dating scene, only that particular week it was 300 words based on something as simple as 'will he call me back?'

GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK

Is this what people think we want to read? Silly me, I'm the one buying the magazine after all. As much as I enjoy kicking back and watching Sex and the City like many other people, I am tired of female 'journalists' acting like the next Carrie Bradshaw. Even I can see now that a lot of the time Carrie acted like a tit. Before I get any 'well, why don't you write something better then you miserable bitch?' Well, my response would be - I'm not a journalist, love. I don't have to.

Part of me likes Grazia magazine for trying to cover various topics, but sometimes I find the whole 'depressing news article, followed by the latest £600 designer bags' leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

This week it's all the coverage of Coachella that is really getting on my tits. 'What are all the celebs wearing?' ask the magazines. Well, apparently they all go to this 'festival' dressed in Chanel and various designer gear. I especially like the outfits that lend themselves to 'hobo' but are comprised of designer items. It's like the great Dolly Parton quote 'It costs a lot to look this cheap'. I know it's hot over there and not really worthy of wellies and anoraks but seriously? Combine that with an article about how allegedly Lady Gaga refuses to sit in a seat that's previously been sat in, I can't help but think these people are a complete bunch of cunts. Either I'm just getting old, or I'm getting wise to it.

Anyway, I am done. I apologise for the childish rant but I had to get it off my chest.

Liberty Best of British Open Call

2011-04-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

Well, first up I must apologise as this post is not going to contain any photos to make it more exciting.

For months I have been anxious about the fact I signed up to pitch my work to a panel of experts at Liberty in the hope they may be interested in stocking it. As the day drew closer I felt sick to my stomach with fear. I had been so preoccupied in every day life thinking about it that I've done all sorts of stupid things and been really clumsy (more so than normal). One morning I nearly pumped hand soap onto my toothpaste - that sort of thing...

I set my alarm for 4:45am on Saturday morning but I woke up after just 3 hours sleep at 2:30 and couldn't get back to sleep for worry. So, after another hour or so of tossing and turning I got up and plodded around and waited for my taxi to arrive at 6:00am. Next up I'm on a train with a couple of drunks from the night before and feeling mixed emotions - partly still riddled with fear and partly resigned to the fact it was happening and there was nothing I could do about it!

I got to London a few minutes early but then panic set in as there was the usual tube problems. I had read that previous years people had queued outside of Liberty for up to 5 hours! Urgh. I was worried that by the time I arrived I would be behind hundreds of people already, so needless to say when I got there I was pretty shocked to be able to walk straight into the building and join a queue of people going up the staircase. It didn't feel like it took too long to get to the top floor where they then split you off depending on your discipline as it were, so I got sent to sign in on one side of the room with everyone else who made women's fashion or accessories. Very kindly Liberty had tea and biscuits at the ready. I sat there for about 2-3 hours but it went by rather fast. Next up, my name is called out and the time had come to pitch my work! As I approached a table with just one panel member at it I quickly tipped out all my pieces very conscious of the fact you only get 3 minutes. I felt like all of my pitch went out of the window as I only got to say a few things I had planned before she called over someone else to take a look at my work. They seemed very keen on the buttons I make and talked about other things I could do. They took my card and that was it! I was so bewildered and still am, but understandably over the moon that they took an interest. So now I guess I wait and see if they contact me. It would be jolly nice if they did.

I think the moral of this story is, I'm so glad I went. When I signed up I thought I was so out of my depth and contemplated pulling out right up until the last minute. Thank God I didn't! It's good to take risks, it's the only way to get anywhere. I have some more nutty risk taking plans for the year. If nothing comes of them, so what? You have to be in in it to win it as they say. If you're a designer / maker then please consider signing up. Liberty have another date for the British Open Call in August. It's a really positive experience (no one was there crying!)

Also, a cheesy big 'thank you' too all of my friends who wished me luck - I feel like the biggest plonker for being so worried about it.

Pre-weekend jitters

2011-03-31T02:25:00.000-07:00

Hello,

So today is your last chance to get 15% OFF any item in my Etsy store! You can find the coupon codes at the top right hand side of Gem Fatale's style blog and in this article on Jazzpad's blog. Happy shopping! Just in time for pay day.

Today I have the day off work and I have a lot to cram in. On Saturday I have to get up at 5am and hope my taxi turns up to take me to the station as I'm off to London at the crack of dawn to queue up outside Liberty alongside hundreds of other designer/makers to pitch my work to a panel in the hope they will want to stock it. I'm going through waves of fear and panic and brief waves of shrugging it off and not being too bothered. I think I'll feel very sick tomorrow night and won't be able to sleep!

It's a very slim chance that they will want to stock it but it's meant to be a positive experience so if anything I'm hoping to meet some interesting makers in the queue and get some good feedback that can help me develop my work further. You only get 3 minutes to make your pitch which worries me as it makes me think of old university presentations (which obviously went on a lot longer) but I was TERRIBLE at those as I always put my work down so it'll be quite a test to big myself up a bit.

Anyway, I'm off now to finish off a few pieces and practise my pitch to the wall! Cross all your fingers and toes for me!

Blog Lovin'

2011-03-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Have you seen my cross-stitch rings featured on Gem Fatale's Style Blog this week? Go take a peep if you haven't already. You have the chance to get 15% off all items in my Etsy store, until 1st April (that's next Friday - so get it while it's hot!)

If you're wondering what to buy, here are some of my own favourite items!

Here is my beloved cross-stitch shrimp brooch. I have only 4 made in the whole wide world so owning one would make you very special indeed! The brooch even has a glass front to protect it. Guaranteed to be a talking point and the envy of all your friends!

This is one of my best sellers, my Moustache Ring. I'm hoping to make them in gold as well soon, but in the mean time, here is the platinum-plated version! If you want your moustache in a different colour other than black, you only have to ask! (perhaps a ginger or brunette 'tache would suit you better?)

These are my super sweet Dolly Girl Earrings. Also available as buttons, ring or hair slides.

There are tons of other items too (quite literally, I have nearly 100 items in store at the moment, crumbs!)

If like me you're always short of pocket money, then follow me on Facebook to keep your eyes peeled for any more giveaways or sales etc!

Right, I've got to dash. I have a glass of red wine to slurp (never used to be a fan but hey, why not?) I have the next couple of days off from the day job, so I will be stitching up orders and going for a couple of long walks (I sound like such a granny). What are you up to this week?

"Facebook are such Killjoys"

2011-03-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right folks! Apparently you're not allowed to offer any kind of 'giveaway' or competition via your Facebook page as I found out today via this very useful article over on Etsy.

I still plan to hold a 'giveaway' when I reach 500 'LIKES' on my Facebook page but I guess I'll have to hold the delightful event over here on my blog instead!

If you or anyone you know has a Facebook page for their business make sure they find out about this as I don't want any of us finding ourselves in a spot of bother. It would be a right pain in the a*se to have your page closed down and have to start it all again from scratch.

Doing your bit for Japan with Eyeko.

2011-03-16T04:02:00.000-07:00

Shop all products here.

I don't know if you're aware of the super cute Japanese make-up brand Eyeko (which means 'love' in Japanese) but I am one of many 'Ambassadors' for the brand and you can become one too. Basically every time someone makes a purchase and enters my code 'E10840' I get a little bit of commission*. The perk of this at the moment is that Eyeko are going to match all commissions made until the 20th March and give the donations to the British Red Cross to help with the devastating situation in Japan right now.

Usually when shopping with my code you will get a free gift when you spend over £15 and I'm pretty sure this would still apply. Win win!

Here are a couple of items I've either tried or would like to have!

This little pot of cream is brill. It's much like Benefit's 'High Beam' as you can use it as a highlighter but it also doubles as a moisturiser, bonus! It's £8.95 and will last you for absolutely ages (unless of course you're planning to slather your whole body in it).

I love the look of this pastel polish. I am a complete sucker for nail polish and for years all I wanted was a collection of matte colours and I couldn't find any. Thankfully now it's in fashion they're every where you turn so I have built up quite a rainbow selection! This one is £5.00 and perfect for spring!

EDIT: Oh man, now I've just seen this lovely shade too:

Also, head over to their SALE section as they have the pot of cream along with another one for £13.00 and also lots of 'Fat Balms' which always look great.

Happy shopping, and don't forget to enter my code E10840 to make sure you're making a little donation to Japan.

* I confess I signed up to be an Ambassador some time ago but I have done little to spread the code love! I thought the fact they are willing to match all commission to help Japan was a good time to try and get you all to buy some nice make-up in the knowledge you are also giving to the Red Cross. But if you want to skip the make-up and just donate, if you go to the Red Cross website you can even set your own amount so don't worry if you don't have much to give because 'every little helps' X

Giveaway giveaway giveaway....

2011-03-14T03:14:00.000-07:00

OK, I may have mentioned this before so forgive me if I have, but I'm looking to get 500 'LIKES' on my Facebook page before holding a super duper giveaway!

You can follow my page here CLICK CLICK CLICK and do please share the link with any friends who you think may like my work!

Once I hit 500 'LIKES' I plan to hold a giveaway where one lucky person will get to win up to £50 worth of my jewellery and accessories! Of course they will get to pick which items they like the best and I will do my best to give them those items. (Generous aren't I? Yes I am)

Of course the problem with offering a giveaway is I tend to end up with tons of fans who don't even like my work which is a great shame, that's why I'm calling for all lovely folk who generally have an interest in what I do and to share it with friends who you think like it! I want my work to go to a loving home!

So feel free to share the link on your Facebook page or Twitter and when I hit 500 more will be revealed x

In the meantime check out Gem Fatale's and Jazzpad's style blogs and use your beady eyes to find my 15% off discount code, valid until 1st April!

A little offer for blog readers.....

2011-03-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

Hello.

This weekend I've noticed a lot of interest in my sweet little loveheart earrings. In particular the red heart on white canvas colourway. Is everyone feeling particular sweet and loved up at the moment?

You can take a closer look and purchase them here and here.

I've also had a couple of my bobby pins reviewed over at Claire's lovely blog, Jazzpad! If your eyes are rather beady you should be able to spot yourself a coupon code to use in my Etsy shop and get yourself 15% off all items! There is also a code for the same offer over at Gem Fatale 's style blog (clue: look near the top of the page!) The offer ends on 1st April.

Happy shopping! (And also happy reading as I suggest you add these style blogs to your favourites).

Resolutions vs Cosmic Ordering

2011-03-01T06:08:00.000-08:00

Not long ago out of curiosity I got a little book about Cosmic Ordering. It's left me a bit confused about the difference between 'Cosmic Ordering' and good old fashioned new years resolutions as both seem to involve simply writing down a list of things you would like and hoping they come true!

Can anyone shed any light on the matter?

It appeals to me as I am a big lover of writing lists and day dreaming too much, so, here is yet another list of things I really would like to unfold this year...!

1. I would like to get out of my overdraft once and for all.
I've been an absolute plonker with money ever since I was given my student loan at university and treated it like free money. So here I am, years later, owing 'the bank of mum and dad' some money and still living in my over draft. Going Part Time at work was a really foolish and somewhat selfish idea so this year I need to get my act together.

2. Make my business more successful.

I've had a good start to this year so far, but I'm always looking ahead and at ways to improve. I would like to continue to increase my sales to the point where I could be fully self employed - it feels like a pipe dream sometimes but here's hoping...

3. Get healthy

A very typical 'new years resolution' that I soon gave up on, but when I return north from my little break in the south I really need to sort myself out. I've gained so much weight in the past couple of years I'm quite appalled at myself! I think I am going to start going for regular long walks and may have to take a break from my beloved chocolate!

There's lots of other things I could ask for / make happen, but I'll draw the line at just those as I think they are the most important and things like number 1 relates to money which has a knock-on effect to enabling lots of other things to happen...

Did any of you set yourself resolutions for the new year, and have you stuck to them?

It's give-away o'clock!

2011-03-01T04:59:00.000-08:00

Hello,

So, I've decided it's about time I had another giveaway. I'm looking to get 500 'fans' on my Facebook group and when I have done so I will be hosting a giveaway where the lucky winner can get a selection of my jewellery and accessories worth up to £50! Obviously the winner will get to say what items they like the most, and I will do my best to include those items for them!

I would really appreciate it if you could all join my Facebook group and suggest the page to your friends. You can click the 'suggest to friends' link under the profile picture, or share the link any way you please (ie, on Twitter etc). Please don't spam people though - that's not very nice. I only need another 80 or so people to join in order to reach 500 followers!

You can find my facebook group here: WE HEART MAGASIN

Neglected blog

2011-02-23T08:52:00.000-08:00

Sorry blog, I do neglect you don't I. I think there's little point pretending I can keep this up regularly.
I have had two days off work which has been great but as always they go so quick. Fortunately I have next week off and I will be heading south to visit my parents and much missed cantankerous old hound dog. Today I finally got around to watching An Education. I enjoyed it, but it choked me up a little. In fact, most films make me weep these days, what the hell is wrong with me?! I think it just reminded me of similar situations in the past - not so much the prospect of heading off to Oxford - that was never an option! But being 16 and being completely fooled by someone. Made me angry at myself all over again. I don't think I'd fancy being that age again.

Speaking of age I am still finding being 27 really strange. It's the first age where I've felt a little panic. Panic and questioning whether or not I'm where I should be in life and how am I judging that anyway? A lot of it boils down to money but if I hadn't made these financial errors a lot of things wouldn't have happened which have been good for me, so I suppose it's a catch 22.

Anyway, I think I've probably lost you now.

On Saturday I'm off to London to meet up with one of my best friends, Ryan. I'm really looking forward to it actually. I plan to go to Selfridges to see if any of my jewellery is still in Supermarket Sarah's shop on the ground floor, and I plan to go to Liberty to sus' it out - I want to pitch my work to them in April but I fear I may chicken out so I am going to have a look and see how I feel, and then no doubt worry about it lots. I also wouldn't mind popping into Charbonnel et Walker as we sell their chocolates at work and it'd be really nice to see their proper big pretty boutique in London. We also plan on having a cocktail at TGI Friday's as they have ones that are like desserts - yum! I'm not sure where else to go? I don't have much money to spend but it'll be nice to hang out with a friend and have a wander about. Likewise I don't have too many plans for my few days back home, but I will go to Canterbury to see a friend and might just go on a few walks in the countryside - I need a change of scenery!

Right, I need to be productive now and list a few new items. Head over to my Etsy store if you haven't done so recently, I've been a busy bee.

World's Worst Blogger

2011-01-31T11:53:00.000-08:00

I really am terrible at keeping a blog, I accept that now. I always had such good intentions. I even interviewed all of my creative buddies in the hope that it'd keep this sad little blog alive but alas, no...

Well, here I am with a little update on things.

Today this rather lovely blog post was written about my work! You should definitely take a peek and follow their blog, it is very nice indeed.

Also, my friend Hannah of Sweet Trash has very beady eyes and always seems to spot my work in places that would otherwise simply pass me by. But judging by this little snapshot my large LOVE badges are part of SupermarketSarah's shop in Selfridges on Oxford Street, London - so pop by and take a look! Hopefully I will be traipsing across Londinium next month to have a look around as I haven't been for ages and ages.

(Bottom left, the red LOVE badge is made by me)

I have a new Twitter account which is meant to make me tweet about more crafty and 'work' related things but instead I still find myself moaning about the nutters on my daily bus journey to work and other such boring things, but do follow me if you can cope with that!

Last but not least, some other things going on:

1. We're getting a new bathroom on Thursday - hooray!! I might treat myself to some nice smellies from Lush
2. I joined the gym today, oh God......

3. I am currently addicted to stirfry's / mainly Black Bean sauce - hubba hubba....

INTERVIEW: Baz !

2010-12-20T13:34:00.000-08:00

Hello. I'm back again with another interview, this time with my friend Hannah's boyfriend - Baz! He has been churning out some seriously super paintings at top speed. I've included some images of my personal favourites...

The severed heads of crap celebs (for tea).

Do you have a creative background or are you completely self taught?

I’ve always liked doing pen or pencil drawings since I was little, and started to paint almost a year ago when my ma and pa got me a paint-box for Christmas. I’d say self taught other than art lessons at school, although it’s very rare I’d use anything I learned in those. I’ve tried websites and books here and there, but trial and error and messing about seems to work better. Teaching myself is very slow though; it was only recently I discovered sable brushes, which are a lot better than the cut-price watercolour ones I was struggling with for ages! I haven’t learnt how to sketch or shade or anything like that yet though.

Not Very Good Portraits of Celebs II: Jackie Stallone Emerges Part Swan from Bracken

Where do you get your inspiration from?

I’m inspired by quite a lot of artists or works and often copy and steal some ideas or settings from them, then improvise the rest and see what happens, or just make everything up as it goes along without anything much beforehand, so although that’s inspired by surrealist automatism or Dadaist chance operations, I liked to make drawings up as I went before I’d heard of any of that. But I s’pose that’s what you do when you first pick up a crayon, so I probably never got far beyond the old method. Stuff that has a clearer idea to start out with and gets planned out a bit more is usually some sort of portrait, I’m usually inspired by photos of friends and family, especially if they’re in fancy dress or doing something amusing, then I try to add other strange or silly stuff to them. I sometimes make note of funny dreams and use them, another staple surrealist method, but I only remember a few dreams so don’t use that very often. Rubbish and other throwaway items are inspiring too of course, so I like sticking them to pictures sometimes too. For some titles of scenes or landscapes, the nonsense verse of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll inspire me; I like making up meaningless phrases then adding them once a picture without any intended meaning is finished, to try extend its range of meaninglessness. Some titles are taken from track names in this noise project I used to do, though. Colour schemes I use in pictures usually get inspired by painting and decorating websites like Dulux and Sherwin Williams, where you can pick a colour and it brings up four others that compliment it, ‘cos I’m still a bit clueless with that!

Not Very Good Portraits of Celebs I: Mutya and Keisha Apparently Appearing Among Softnened Awning

Who are your favourite creative people / artists?

My favourite painters (ones I like to steal stuff from [then find out I can’t do that much with what I’ve pilfered]) are Yves Tanguy, Desmond Morris, Leonor Fini (she’s my favourite at the mo), Joan Miro, Kay Sage. Also Edward Wadsworth, and Conroy Maddox. Sometimes I try borrowing bits from Bosch here and there. Other favourites are de Chirico’s early stuff, Duchamp, Schwitters, Hugo Ball and all that lot, Max Ernst, Man Ray, Frances Picabia, Andre Masson...Leonora Carrington, Paul Delvaux, Dorothea Tanning...Who else? Art nouveau stuff like Klimt and Mucha. Old masters too, Velasquez, Vermeer, ones that did double images like Archimboldo and Joos de Momper. For black and white/pen and ink stuff, I’ve always enjoyed artists whose work appears on death metal and grindcore album covers past and present, my favourites for that kind of thing are Lou Rusconi, Dennis Dread, Mike Diana, Steven Smegma. But I also like the illustrators from aestheticism and the decadent movement, like Aubrey Beardsley, Franz von Bayros, Max Beerbohm. And much older stuff like Bracelli’s engravings. And Bresdin’s stuff. Japanese prints too. I forgot to mention Gil Elvgren and Eric Stanton earlier. Chagall. HR Giger. Tim Burton... There’re a lot more but that’s enough now I think.

Hannah with leopard print heels

Which piece of work of yours is your favourite?

Tricky this one cause I dislike quite a lot of them, but keep ahold of them and stacked away, and put on a Facebook album too so I can look at them every so often so I can learn from mistakes and not repeat stuff I find looks shite or how poor it looks if I try and cop out or rush something. There’s a few I like though, and some bits of others. ‘Cartland Marshland’ came out well...that was kind of based on ‘The Ends of the Earth’ by Leonor Fini. ‘Hannah with Leopard Print Heels’ was influenced a bit by her stuff as well and I like how that turned out. ‘Pink Egg Picnic...’, that steals quite a lot from off Edward Wadsworth’s ‘Tomorrow Morning’, but with a lot more wobbly, swirly stuff on it that was fun to do. I like the head of ‘Elasticated Inspastiportrait of the Innspastelasticunt’, but his chest hairs could’ve been a lot better. I quite like ‘Girl with Bouquet’...the bouquet’s stolen from Leonor Fini’s floral period, but the colours and petals are a bit cackhanded. Ones of Keisha and Mutya and Pete Burns came out almost how I wanted. Drawings usually seem to work better than paintings; ‘Idolatry of the Ludicrous Donkey’ ‘Arrival of Paranoia’, ‘Enormous Prick’, ‘The Gala of Grotesque Decadence’...also ‘The Harridan (or Superpiglet)’, a collage which has a cutting of Kerry Katona’s mum, but also looks a bit like a piggy superhero.

Not Very Good Portraits of Celebs III: Latrell Tries to Woo Pete, Who Has None of It

Do you have a day job or are you lucky enough to do your paintings full time? If you have a job / other commitments, how do you juggle both? Tell us your routine!

I have a job at the mo but when I was at uni/unemployed I’d paint or draw for most of the day and stay up til about 4am and start falling asleep into the picture, but still tend to do that now and forget I have to be up again shortly. Other times I like to paint in short doses like whilst waiting for the kettle to boil or while something’s in the oven.

Elasticated Inspastiportrait of the Innspastelasticunt

What is your favourite way to work - do you have particular paints and materials you use? And do you work from pictures etc?

My favourite way is to make a background with acrylics , leave it to drip a bit here and there, make patterns or strokes that I like, then add everything else on top of it with oils later on. I’ve tried painting in layers but I’m not much cop at that yet, and a bit impatient for it, so it either gets slapped on in fudgy smears or wisped on in washy wipes. Usually if it’s done without really thinking, it ends up being a landscape with made-up figures and limbs and chins and things growing out of it, I like to paint shadows in first, like how Tanguy used to, and then the figure or objects afterwards, trying to marry up the shapes, then add funny creases or mouths or faces to the front of them. If it’s a portrait or has specific people in it then I like to work from a photo; only done one as a sitting so far, ‘Le Maitre Renegat Aux Couilles Fines’, while Sam (subject) was sitting in my kitchen one afternoon. I also enjoy sticking bits of newspaper or mag or rubbish or wrappers or things I found onto pictures. I normally use canvases, but also like bits of cardboard, wood, tiles, old bits of cupboard door etc.

Biomorphic Burlesquification and Growing Gout

What are your plans for your work in the future?

I have a few ideas and titles or notes and stuff, but rarely refer to them again and usually judge make something else up instead. I’d like to spend more time on one at some point, cos I can get fed up of them quite fast and often rush through so I can start on a new one.

Apart from painting, what are your other hobbies and interests?

Standard things really like music, reading, trying to record/produce solo stuff...sometimes sing in a duo, Noxious Coitus, we play groovy pornogoregrind...my band-mate Rich appears in quite a few of my pictures. I used to have a webzine/distro for that kind of music but these days I write album reviews for Diabolical Conquest zine, which is always nice! Real ale. I like dogs too, but don’t have one.

What are your favourite Books / TV shows / Films / Websites to peruse ?

There’s probably too many books to mention, the main ones I can see on the shelf are ‘Gargantua and Pantagruel’ by Rabelais, Burrough’s ‘Naked Lunch’, ‘Acid House’, ‘Glue’ ‘Filth’ and most other Irvine Welsh (except ‘Crime’, bit shite that one), Hunter S. Thompson, Howard Marks ‘Mr. Nice’ and ‘Book of Dope Stories’, ‘The Golden Ass’ by Apuleius, a few libertine novels, my favourites are de Sade’s ‘Juliette’ and ‘Philosophy in the Boudoir’, and stuff inspired by it a lot later on like Bataille’s ‘Story of the Eye’ and ‘Les Onze Mille Verges’ by Apollinaire, also stuff from the Restoration; Lord Rochester, Etherege, Behn....also quite a few decadence/aestheticism writers; ‘Torture Garden’ by Mirbeau, ‘Against Nature’ and ‘La Bas’ by Huysmans, ‘ Les Chants de Maldoror’ by Lautreamont, stuff by Baudelaire Rachilde, Rimbaud....

I’m rubbish at remembering which films I like, so I’ll just put Pink Flamingos for now. For TV, any of Chris Morris’s productions, Peep Show, South Park, The Fast Show, Bottom, Red Dwarf, Big Bang Theory, BBC Parliament, How Clean is Your House?...

Where can people find your work?

I keep pictures of it on a Facebook album but might put a blog together with them on it at some point. There’s a few on sale in Dare Cafe in Headingley, but they’re a bit old now so might pop round and swap ‘em soon. Cheers!

Pink Egg Picnic on the Pier at Plogglington on the Pladdle, Plackness, near Plagthorpes

INTERVIEW: Jean McEwan

2010-11-16T13:55:00.000-08:00

So, as you can see I've been a bit slack with posting 'regular' interviews with my creative chums, so apologies! But here is the long overdue interview with artist Jean McEwan who I studied Fine Art with in Leeds!

Tell us a bit about your creative background

Sure - I studied Fine Art at Leeds Metropolitan Uni, graduating in 2005. When I first went to Uni I had a stereotypical perception that I would be spending my time throwing paint at huge canvasses but I discovered that I was in fact rubbish at painting, and found myself instead working with video. Much to my surprise, might I add, as I don't really like machines or computers very much.

My video work is pretty various - I've done performance to camera, experimental shorts, documentary and video for performance. The thing that connects it all I think is an interest in playing with narrative.

In 2005 me and my husband Nigel, who is also an artist, started a collaboration called 'popup' through which we organised and curated events to show moving image and performance work by artists. It started out really small - our first event was a screening in a tiny cafe in Leeds using equipment borrowed from the Uni! It kind of grew from there and we spent the next 3 years running various events in all kinds of spaces from galleries, music venues, and theatres and even domestic spaces. We got a huge kick out of it and we loved working with the artists, however it was exhausting and took up huge amounts of energy, not leaving any for doing our own work.

After that, around 2008, I started collaborating with a musician called Ian Tothill under the name of 'Of Dreaming Faces' and working together on making audio visual performances - with Ian playing violin live to projected moving image which I was mixing live using vj equipment and software. We developed a piece called 'Fortunes' which we performed in at South Square Gallery in Bradford, Theatre in the Mill at Bradford University, and the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge.

After that I did my first solo curatorial project, called PS I LOVE YOU, which was a week long programme of arts events dedicated to The Beatles, which happened at Bradford Playhouse in May this year. It included everything from a visual arts exhibition to artist multiples (including your fabulous custom made badges, which were a massive hit) to a curated zine to screenings to performance events, and involved more than 50 artists, from the UK and internationally. I'm a total beatles anorak so it was heaven for me.

Since then I have taking a break from film-making and curating, and have been making zines.

Thinking back to our time at university together, you have worked in quite a few different mediums. What has been your favourite?

I have spent the most time working with video, both at uni and since, and I love the possibilities offered by moving image in terms of exploring, deconstructing and playing with narrative. I'm addicted to watching film also.

More recently I've seen you make some Zines! What gave you the idea to make these?
I curated a Beatles zine as part of PS I LOVE YOU and I totally loved doing it.

I went to a zine fayre at Impressions Gallery in Bradford this summer and felt like a kid in a sweetshop. The whole DIY ethos of zines really appeals to me; the fact that anyone can make one and effectively self publish - all you need is pen paper and photocopier. I love the democratic nature of this. As a way of creative expression anyone can do it. In these days of extremely limited funding for the arts, I think DIY creative expression like zine making is the way forward. Also I'm a sucker for an inky photocopied page. You might to be able to tell I'm a little evangelical :+))

And the fact that there are so many different genres and types of zine - from the personal to the political to the fan based to the aesthetic. In terms of making my own zines, interested in the exploring the intersections between some of these 'types'. My latest zine, 'no one should call you a dreamer' has personal elements along with fan type stuff in the form of references to films and writers I love, as well as drawings, photographs and collage. You can see images from it on http://jeanieszines.blogspot.com/ and its available to buy on http://jeanieszines.bigcartel.com/product/no-one-should-call-you-a-dreamer

Where do you get your inspiration from?

I'm hugely influenced by the DIY culture and ethos in Glasgow where I lived for 12 years before moving to Yorkshire - the city is very vibrant culturally and there is a great tradition of creative people there tending to just get up their behinds and make stuff happen. Also there is a lots of crossover between art and music, and generally people in Glasgow have a very can do, down to earth and co-operative approach to creativity - loads of artist run projects going on and not too much art snobbery which I've sometimes witnessed in Leeds, which to me is not half as interesting as Glasgow. Seeing how artists went about things up there had a big influence on my own attitude to doing creative work.

Who are your favourite artists and makers?

I love Outsider art. Henry Darger just blows me away. I like stuff with a rough edge, thats a bit off kilter, obsessive, or absurd. I get bored in art galleries and I struggle to think of contemporary artists who I really like but Miranda July is wonderful - her fiction writing is great, her film was very very good and I like her art too.

I get more from fiction, film and music.

Are you lucky enough to be a full time artist or do you have a day job?

Ha! Not yet. work freelance on community arts, teaching, and participatory projects to pay the bills and I also have a part time catering job. Recently I've scaled down a lot of work commitments to spend time on my own work. Its great having the time to develop at a slower pace - normally I do projects to short time deadlines, so I'm enjoying taking my time at the moment to just play. I'm poor but happy at the moment :+))

What is your favourite piece of work you have made?

Probably the video I made for my degree show, 'reprise' which is a short experimental film with a soundtrack I made myself. Its very rough round the edges and awkward as I was technically inept at the time, but I sort of like it because of this.

Do you have any more exhibitions or projects coming up that you would like to tell us about?

I'm planning some more zines - some of which will be collaborative projects - watch this space:+)

What are your favourite TV shows / Films / Books / Websites to browse etc.
Six Feet Under is the best thing I've ever seen on the box. Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm makes me laugh myself silly.

Films - The Graduate, Harold and Maude, Lost in Translation, Withnail and I, Morven Callar. I really love the films of Michael Haneke, Bill Douglas, Andrea Arnold, Abbas Kierastami. Dipping my toes into Bergman but slowly does it. I saw an amazing film called 'Anchoress' recently which was stunning.

I am a short story junkie and I love the stories of Alice Munro, Richard Yates, Raymond Carver, William Trevor, and of course Chekhov.

Music -I am a huge fan of the Flaming Lips and have been going to see them for 10 years, their live shows are transcendental. I'm going to see them next year perform the Soft Bulletin at Alexandra Palace in London and can't wait.

Where can we find you online?

http://issuu.com/jeanmcewanhttp://jeanieszines.blogspot.com/ www.myspace.com/jeanmcewanhttp://community.thisiscentralstation.com/Jean McEwanhttp://psiloveyoubeatles.blogspot.com/http://twitter.com/Jeanmcewan

FLASH SALE

2010-10-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

Hello, sorry I have been quiet for a while.

I will be back properly shortly, but in the mean time I wanted you to know that I am having a FLASH SALE in my Etsy shop, which is only open to my Facebook fans. I suggest you join my group on Facebook so you can find out how it works and take advantage of the savings!

The perfect chance to get some pretty Christmas presents for your friends and save some pennies.

The offer does NOT include my 'ART' section, so I'm afraid my 'sieve boobs' can't be bought cheaply, but it does still apply to SALE items so you can buy them even cheaper!

Offer ends midnight on Tuesday.

So head over to my Facebook group, join, and happy shopping! x

INTERVIEW: Hannah Golding of Sweet Trash

2010-10-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

I've been a bit slow getting the next creative friend interview up, but next up is my friend Hannah! I met Hannah when I worked at Debenhams in Canterbury for a couple of months one summer between leaving my grotty flat in Leeds and moving to Manchester. We both worked as Visual Assistants which basically meant dressing mannequins and getting very sweaty and frustrated in the shop windows whilst stupid idiots knock on the glass and point and stare. Despite working for Debenhams, we had a laugh and bonded over our love of all things crafty and dreamt of bigger and brighter things. Sadly, the bigger and brighter things haven't really happened just yet but this summer we both rented a shop for a week and had our own 'Pop-up shop' in Whitstable which was lots and lots of fun! So much fun in fact that we're having another one before Christmas (dates at the end of this interview!)

Tell us about your creative background

Well, I did a Textile degree at Norwich School of Art and Design. Then I had a stint working as a wardrobe assistant for my local theatre working on the Pantomimes which was fun but pretty full on with only one day off and 3 shows at the weekend.

What made you decided to start up Sweet Trash?

I've always made or customized things for myself and sold a few bits on ebay but decided to set up Sweet Trash as a bit of a reaction to my job getting less and less creative. To be honest I hadn't really taken it too seriously until this year and now I'm starting to book more craft fairs and plotting for craft domination.

Large Scrabble Stag Necklace

Do you have a day job or are you lucky enough to work on Sweet Trash full time? If you have a job, how do you juggle both?

I work as a Visual Assistant at Debenhams and usually spend my evenings and some of my weekend making/listing ( although I've been a bit slack on the listing-oops!) I don't mind giving up some evenings as it find it pretty relaxing in my little Sweet Trash room with a bit of 4OD on my laptop (although I usually succumb to bit of twittering of facebooking.)

Black Loveheart Brooch made with fabric and layered felt

What is your favourite piece that you've made? What is your most popular item?

Hmm well I haven't sold that much online but offline I'd say my best seller is my felt/fabric brooches. As for my favourite piece that tends to change weekly (I'm superficial like that.) At the moment it's probably between my scrabble stag necklace and scrabble apple brooch. Next week it will probably be a pom pom necklace or something.

Scrabble Apple Brooch

Your pieces are quite eclectic - do you have a preferred way of working? ie, do you enjoy making pom poms more than the clock jewellery etc?

Yeah it's quite a random mix isn't it? I think because I like so many different styles I want to try them all. I usually go through phases of doing one style but if I need to build up stock for a pop up shop or stall then I'll attempt to stick to a plan of how much to make and when.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

It's usually from found objects/materials. I love a bit of upcycling and it's also really cheap to source things from charity shops.

Mourning Necklace

Who are your favourite artists / makers?

Recently had a splurge on jewellery from 'Love From Hetty & Dave' but also love 'Mamas Little Babies' and (yawn) Tatty Devine.

Pom Pom Bunny Ears

What other hobbies and interests do you have aside from Sweet Trash?

Well, I love to see a musical and occasionally I'll drag myself away from the telly long enough to do a spot of painting and drawing or rubbish photography with my robot camera or fish eye cam. I'm also going through a phase of buying/playing random instuments. Bought a stylophone to annoy people with and now Ukuleles are catching my eye. Oh and there's also an obsession with kitsch phones. Recently saw a wooden duck phone at a fair but didn't make it back in time to buy it. Was inconsolable.

Fabric and felt cassette tape brooches

What are your favourite Books / TV shows / Films / Websites to peruse etc?

Not much of a reader but like 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' and anything by Edward Gorey (although there's probably not enough words in his books to qualify as reading.)

TV shows I like are Eerie Indiana, Mock the Week (only when Frankie Boyles' involved) Fashion Police, Flight of the Conchords, Family Guy, Spaced, the IT Crowd, Freaks and Geeks, My Name Is Earl and anything where people have to make stuff like Project Runway, Great British Bake Off, Come Dine With Me etc.

Films would be Edward Scissorhands (probably my fave), Big Lebowski, Pan's Labyrinth, The Hudsucker Proxy, Brazil, The Fisher King, Rushmore, Bottle Rocket and anything from Hayao Miyazaki/ Studio Ghibli

Websites: What Katie Wore, YouTube, Awkward Family Photos, Dazed Dorothy, Irregular Choice

Hannah's Large Pom Necklace

worn by Katie on blog 'What Katie Wore'

Where can we find Sweet Trash?

www.sweettrash.etsy.com

www.sweettrash.folksy.com

www.twitter.com/ahjuicyfruit

Also if you fancy a trip to Whitstable, Kent then come to our Pop up shop...

1st - 7th December

There should be lots of festive fun to be had!

Some cakes I made

2010-10-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got a bit cake-happy and went bake crazy. First up I made a batch of 'Rocky Road' (as Starbucks would call it) most commonly known as 'refrigerator slices' or something similar. Then I made a batch of chocolate cupcakes with cream-cheese frosting and a mini Oreo stuck on top. YUM!

Here are the recipes I used, they are complete no-brainers and both pinched from a recipe book I got from a charity shop called ''Easy Cooking - Chocolate'' which I got from a charity shop for £3.50 (published by Star Fire if you want to look it up) entirely on CHOCOLATE! Each recipe only takes about 20 minutes to knock up.

Fruit & Nut Refrigerator Fingers

Ingredients
Makes 12 (Apparently. Or in my case, fewer larger slices!)

14 Pink & White Marshmallows (Or couple of handfuls of mini ones like I used!)

75g / 3oz Luxury Dried Mixed Fruit

25g / 1oz Candied Orange Peel,chopped. (I didn't even bother using this)

75g / 3oz Glacé Cherries, quartered.

75g / 3oz Walnuts, chopped

1 tbsp Brandy (Sadly, I had none)

175g / 6oz Digestive Biscuits, crushed (into small chunks - not complete dust!)

225g / 8oz Plain Dark Chocolate

125g / 4oz Unsalted Butter

1 tbsp Icing sugar for dusting, optional.

First of all, lightly oil and line a baking tin. I used a large round cake tin. Using scissor, snip up your large marshmallows into chunks, or if like me you have mini ones - just chuck a couple of handfuls of them into a bowl. Add the mixed fruit, orange peel, cherries and walnuts. (To be honest, I think you could easily omit or add anything you like to this kind of recipe so play around with it). Sprinkle with the brandy and stir it all up. Add your crushed biscuits (you want these to be in small chunks, not complete dusty crumbs) and stir again so it's all mixed up well.

Next up, break your chocolate into cubes and put in a heat proof bowl along with chunks of the butter. Set it over a saucepan of near boiling water and stir until it has melted. If like me and you can't be bothered or don't have a heat proof bowl - chuck it in a tupperware bowl and put in in the microwave BUT stir every 10 seconds or so as you don't want your chocolate to burn and bubble!

Once the chocolate and butter has melted, pour it over your dry mixture and stir it all up so it is all covered in the chocolate. Pour into your prepared tin and pat down well.

Chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes, then cut it into slices using a sharp knife and if you want to. Leave for a further hour until set properly. Turn out of the tin and dust lightly with icing sugar (I accidentally went a bit OTT with the icing sugar and my other half asked if Howard Marks had had a cocaine accident, har har...*sigh*)

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (and Oreos!)

Ingredients
Makes 12

175g / 6oz Self-raising Flour

25g / 1oz Cocoa Powder

175g / 6oz Soft Light Brown Sugar

75g / 3oz Butter, melted.

2 x Medium Eggs, lightly beaten.

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

For the Frosting

300g Philadelphia Cream Cheese

150g Icing Sugar

125ml Whipping or Double Cream

Mini Oreos

Preheat the oven to 180'C / 350'F / Gas Mark 4.

Line a 12 hole muffin or deep bun tin tray with paper cases.

Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl. Stir in the sugar, then add the melted butter, eggs and vanilla essence. Beat together with a wooden spoon until well blended. Put the mixture into your cake cases and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Check that the cakes are done by inserting a skewer or a clean knife into the centre of one of the cakes - if it comes out clean they are ready!

Leave to cool thoroughly before adding your frosting.

To make the frosting, I pinched a recipe from Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guinness Cake (another cake you MUST try) For some reason I'm having problems accessing her website at the moment but if you can go on it, then you must take a look.

Put the cream cheese into a bowl and whip with a spoon until smooth. Dust over the icing sugar and mix again, then do the same with the cream. When your cakes are cool dollop the frosting on top and add an oreo cookie to each and prepare to scoff!

Big SALE on Folksy

2010-10-17T05:28:00.000-07:00

Navajo pattern Bobby Pins
NOW £5.00 WAS £8.00

Hello hello.

I've made the decision to close my Folksy shop. As much as I like it, I'm worried I'm spreading myself a bit too thin and I tend to focus more on my Etsy shop and really need to spend more time on my Notonthehighstreet shop as I spent a lot of money on opening it in the first place, and since Folksy is the least fruitful for me, it's sadly going to have to be the first to go!

BUT on a more positive note I thought I'd slash ALL of my prices on there before I do close it.

If you head over to HERE now, you can have a peep at all of the things I have on sale at a bargain price. All of these items will still be available in my other shops but not at this price so I suggest you snap them up while you can!

Moustache earrings NOW £10.00 WAS £12.00

Heart Bobby Pins NOW £6.00 WAS £8.00

Sail Boat Bobby Pins NOW £5.50 WAS £8.00

Acorn Ring NOW £12.50 WAS £14.00

And the winner is.....

2010-10-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all those who have entered the Teasemade giveaway! It has officially ended now and a winner (who goes by the username 'Womble', how sweet!) has been picked using a fun little random number generator on random.org! The winner has been contacted, yippee!

What the hell does this blog name mean?

2010-10-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

I seem to have ended up with the most long and ridiculous blog name ever. Fact is, I'm TERRIBLE at picking names for things. God forbid the day I actually have children, they'll probably end up with names like 'Porridge' and 'Banjo' or something stupid.

'Our love is rice and beans and horses lard' is actually a song lyric by one of my favourite bands - The Pixies. It's from the song 'Bone Machine'. Ask most people and they wouldn't have heard it before, but if you listen very closely you can hear it. I think I only noticed it when I Googled the song lyrics once and it really stood out and I thought it was quite sweet and funny.

Apart from that, I have no idea what it means - that's up to you I guess!

Here are the full lyrics which I pinched off this random site here. (if you click that, watch out for the annoying pop-up ads!)

This is a song for Carol
You're into Japanese fast-food
And I drop you off with your Japanese lover
And you're going to the beach all day
You're so pretty when you're unfaithful to me
You're so pretty when you're unfaithful to me

You're looking like
You've got some sun
Your blistered lips
Have got a kiss
The days are lit like everyone
Uh-oh, Uh-oh, Uh-oh, Uh-oh

Your bones got a little machine
You're the bone machine

I was talking to preachy-preach about kissy-kiss
He bought me a soda
He bought me a soda
He bought me a soda and he tried to molest me in the parking lot
Yep, yep yep YEP!

I make you break
You make me hard
Your Irish skin
Looks Mexican
Our love is rice and beans and horses lard
Your bones got a little machine
You're the bone machine

Uh-oh, Uh-oh, Uh-oh, Uh-oh (3x)
Uh-oh, Uh-oh, Uh-oh, Uh-oh

Pigeons aren't so bad

2010-10-12T05:40:00.000-07:00

Pigeon Bobby Pins

Sparrow Bobby Pins

Pigeon Earrings

Sparrow Earrings

These are some new items I listed online today. You can find them in my Etsy store and Notonthehighstreet.com shop. I'm not sure why Pigeons get so much flack, I think they're sweet. I think the next batch I make will be a little more true-to-life and have pink beaks and legs. I also need to make more Blue-tits as I sold the ring I had made and I liked that a lot! My favourite British Garden Birds are Finches, I think they're so pretty so I will have to tackle them soon too.

INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Sami Teasdale (aka Teasemade)

2010-10-10T04:15:00.000-07:00

If you've been following my blog for the past few weeks you will probably have noticed that I have been doing little interviews on my creative buddies every few days. If you've missed out, do click on 'older posts' to take a quick read over the previous ones as there really are some talented folk to be seen.

Next up is Sami Teasedale, the lady behind Teasemade. She has recently become my new-found button and stitching buddy. With a love of all things tiny and stitched she really has created some lovely little treasures.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS!

Oh, and what's more, Sami is happy to have a giveaway for all you lucky lot! The prize being your favourite item from her Folksy or Etsy store (links at the end of the interview). Generous or what?! All you have to do is simply comment on this post telling us what your favourite item is. I will pick the winner using a random number generator (Random.org) on FRIDAY 15TH OCTOBER!

Tell us a bit about your creative background

I actually studied Fine Art Sculpture for my degree doing all sorts of messy practices, my final show involved negative body casting in clear casting resin and kaleidoscopic Polaroid photography. All such fun things require studios and equipment so textiles and jewellery became my creative outlet when leaving university. From young I’ve always been surrounded by threads, fabric and handmade wares, my mum is excellent at all that stuff and my Dad had a wood workshop which explains my strange but equal love of power tools. My sisters and I would draw pictures of dream things we wanted, show Mum and then we’d all spend hours snipping, pinning, stitching cross legged on the floor and it would appear like magic. I really thought everyone did this at the time, I now realise that I was super lucky and making things has become second nature.

What gave you the idea to start Teasemade?

Teasemade started many years ago quite different to what I make now, out of a need for being creative and wanting more from a dull post Uni 9 –5 then life raced away with itself as it tends to do. At the time I got head hunted into a brand and product development role, which led onto teaching Product Design & Technology, bringing me back to Teasemade and where I am now. While teaching I suddenly became ill and I couldn’t do much apart from hand stitch. I needed labor intensive distraction, intricate objects, positive challenges and rewards are so important when other things aren’t quite going to plan. Teasemade initially re-started as a blog to record my makings, and as the months went on I needed a bigger goal for myself so I looked into setting up shop with my experience of product and branding. Things have steadily grown since then and what started as a personal challenge has become real. Had it not have been for my health and lifestyle pause I’d not have had such an intensive opportunity to be creative and re-find teasemade in the intricate way that you see it now.

What is your favourite piece that you have made? What item is most popular with your customers?

My favourite is Mr Grey Love Token pendant for the irresistibly cute miniature squirrel and quirky Grayson Perry Liberty print combo. Most of my jewellery is of limited edition due to the nature of using seasonal and sometimes rare/reprinted colourway fabrics so there is no one item that stands out as being most popular, however the bird themed brooches are usually the first to go. Apart from jewellery I also make textile art stitching commissions and other personalised textile work, and currently I’m working on a range for the shop. My most magical stitched experience was a wedding dress collaboration where I designed and hand stitched the birds and buttons, getting to see it on the wedding day was breath taking.

Are you lucky enough to work on Teasemade full time or do you have a day job?

The important thing about being self-employed for me is the flexibility, it becomes a lifestyle I don’t have a rigid routine each day is different I can fit work around daily commitments and vice versa. I rotate jewellery stitching/making and textile art stitching between commissions to keep things fresh. I’m a night owl, I find it difficult to put stitching down and always take my sewing with me everywhere (literally my entire sewing box!), just incase I have a spare 10 mins I feel lost without it. I do love making but part of me misses teaching and I look forward to my ultimate dream of being able to do Teasemade AND workshops/tutor work in the future, I find the environment and exchange of learning really inspiring.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

The strangest of places sometimes but mostly nature, music lyrics, emotion, printed pattern, illustration.

Who are your favourite artists and makers?

Louise Bourgeois and Annette Messeger, brilliantly crazy ladies. Anish Kapoor, and Ron Mueck, casting and scale. Rob Ryan simply melts my heart.

Do you have any other hobbies?

Not at the moment there’s too much to sew and learn still, it can be difficult when your work is your hobby but when I want to relax I always stitch a bird - bliss. Do birds count as a hobby I like birds, I mean all things prettified with birds not just actual birds. I think I have issues; I have yet to own a pair of binoculars though.

What are your favourite books / tv shows / films / websites to peruse etc.?

I like imaginary worlds mostly and weird things when it comes to books and films, involving creatures, costume and set design/props like The Science of Sleep, Where the Wild Things Are. I love Rhald Dahl, Angela Carter; otherwise I have a huge collection of art and design books (yes bird books too). Tv shows, my longstanding guilty pleasure is Smallville (superheroes!), Fringe, House, and costume dramas.

Where can we find you online?

www.folksy.com/shops/teasemade

www.etsy.com/shop/teasemade

www.teasemade.com (blog!)

http://www.facebook.com/teasemade

http://twitter.com/teasemade

15 minutes of Etsy-based fame!

2010-10-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

So, a really exciting thing happened - I got interviewed by Etsy!

It is trés embarrassing to see my ugly mug on a website and I feel all exposed but then another part of me doesn't give a toss as like everyone else who sells on Etsy, you dream of getting the chance to be featured like this! I'm massively grateful to Amity for interviewing me.

It's also funny that my 'embroidered sieve boobs' are getting me all this attention when I actually made them way back when I was finishing university in 2005.

Anyway, if you like you can read the interview here.

INTERVIEW: Sarah Norman-Brown (AKA Enid Twiglet)

2010-10-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

I first met Sarah when I was 10 years old and entered the same class as her at Primary school. We sat on the same table and shared the same friends. At first I was terrified and I am pretty sure she hated my guts. But, before long we were chums sharing the same bunk bed on school trips and ended the school year with a rap we had made up (also about leaving school) in assembly, complete with a Casio keyboard demo track.

Fortunately, we've grown up and hopefully have got a tiny bit cooler. Take a peep at Sarah's handiwork - I'm lucky enough to own one of her Macramé owl brooches...!

Tell us a bit about Enid Twiglet and Audrey Dynamite - how did it all begin?

I met Audrey (Emily Wilson) whilst doing my diploma in Jewellery & Object design.  We somehow managed to spend a whole year doing the same classes before we spoke to one another!  It was like finding my creative other half and we pretty much decided straight away that we wanted to work together.  Enid Twiglet & Audrey Dynamite came to life after Emily drew the picture that is now our label.  The names we choose are our craft super hero names.

We weren’t happy with the course we were doing and decided to do a Degree in Fine Art, which we started in 2009.   We aren’t really “art school” types and find the course frustrating but it’s given us the opportunity to learn new skills which we can incorporate into our Enid & Audrey work.  We work as an artistic collaboration at university as well as on our label.

We worked hard over the Christmas break 2009 to make enough stuff to launch ourselves this year.  It was hard finding a foot in the door and it took  us until June before we got a space at a  local vintage market.

Do you have a creative background?

I did Art GCSE and A-level and always intended to do my degree in fine art at Brighton University after my gap year.  But I ended up taking an 8 year gap year!  I stopped creating completely  for a few years, I travelled and moved around a lot after college then  I got married and emigrated to Australia in 2004, it took a while to find somewhere that felt like home,  where I was comfortable to start creating again.

What is your favourite piece that you have made? What is the most popular with your customers?

I really enjoy making the macramé owls,  I always get excited by traditional crafts and had a great time teaching myself how to do it.  But my favourite would have to be the embroidery pieces,  most of my animal pieces are free hand embroidery, I like the freedom hand sewing gives you, if it goes wrong you can just unpick a few stitches!

There is such a difference in what’s popular from one market to the next.  Emily’s earrings are always a big hit as well as her aprons (they are super cute) and the one off embroidered pieces seem to do well, I think it’s because each one is completely unique.  Also the macramé owl pins seem to go fast.

You have made so many nice pieces all in different mediums - do you have a favourite way of working? ie, the macramé

I like the macramé, its relatively easy as its just repeating the same knots and I can do it without having to think too much, and I have recently got into silk screen printing which is an awesome way to get work done quickly. But I get the most enjoyment from the embroidered work, although the pieces take a really long time it’s my preferred way of working.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Birds - I was lucky to spend a lot of time with my grandparents when I was little, they had a small free range poultry farm so I spent most of my childhood surrounded by chooks! Now I live with 3 cockatiels and I am interested in ornithology in general. I like looking at old Victorian plates of poultry and Australia’s native birds’ interest me.

Children’s books – we use a lot of vintage children’s books in our designs.

Traditional craft techniques – it’s important to us to embrace traditional techniques that are slowly disappearing and to use them in our work. We hope to run small classes in the future where we can pass these traditional techniques on to the next generation.

70’s craft books – we use traditional 70’s patterns for our soft toys, things just looked better back then!

Do you have a day job? How do you juggle that with starting up a creative business? (Do you have a routine you could share?)

I work in the university library 15 hours a week, study full time and we have a market every 6 weeks. I wish I did have a routine, I am working on being more organised but it’s difficult. Ideally I would like to just concentrate on Enid & Audrey stuff but uni work often gets in the way. Next year I would like to drop down to doing 1 unit a semester and work at getting a permanent weekly market stall.

I find most of my creative work happens late at night, often the night before market day!

Who are your favourite artists and makers?

My husband is a fantastic furniture designer so I guess I should mention him! Anyone trying to get out there and do their own thing gets a cheer from me, its so difficult trying to get things off the ground and I think it’s important to support and help out other like minded creative people whenever possible. I’m also a massive Magasin fan and try and promote you whenever I can! My all time favourite artist is Francis Bacon, closely followed by Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin. I also love the ornithological work by Audubon and John Gould.

What other hobbies do you have?

Drinking tea, I also like collecting tea pots and tea paraphernalia from my local op shops. Op shopping in general gets me excited. Eating cake. Eating chocolate. Eating in general is pretty good. Reading. Watching movies. Music. I try and get out to see gigs when my finances allow it. I spend most of my free time making things; I tend to feel guilty if I’m doing anything else.

What are your favourite books / tv shows / films / websites to browse?

Books – ohhh there is too many to mention but some of my favs would have to be: Haruki Murakami, Miranda July, Carson McCullers, Jonathon Franzen and penguin classics

Films – David Lynch is my hero, my happy place is watching any of his creations, Harold and Maud, The Station Agent, Me, You and Everyone We Know, Dark Horse, Wes Anderson films the list is endless....

TV shows – TWIN PEAKS, Battlestar Gallatica, Dexter, True Blood, Rome, Californication, The Kingdom (Lars Von Trier)

Websites – Etsy, Ebay – trying to ween myself off, the adrenalin rush in those final seconds is pretty addictive

Where can we find your work online?

Well we do have an Etsy store but its empty at the moment, we find it hard juggling the hours during semester to get things listed but please keep checking as we hope to get on to it ASAP!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/enidandaudrey

also if you feel that way inclined become a fan on facebook:

Enid Twiglet and Audrey Dynamite Present...

Etsyness

2010-10-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

OK, so I was meant to upload a few photos of new items I have listed today in my Etsy store but Blogger upload is taking AGES. I'm afraid I have given up as it's also my tea time (I'm on a rather unhealthy pasta diet as I didn't get paid and it's the cheapest option, but God I'm so bored of it!!)

I've listed some items I made ages ago and bunged them in the SALE section. I've also been busy taking some embarrassing snaps of myself for the online interview that'll be published on Friday. Really shitting bricks as potentially lots of people will see it and I don't want to come across as a twit or look like one, but oh well - it's too late - I've sent all the writing and pictures now so I will link you up at the end of the week so you can have a giggle at my expense!

Oh also, an email went out from Not On The Highstreet.com today and it include a couple of my items! Joy!

ETSY UK Silly Sale

2010-10-03T15:33:00.000-07:00

So I found out today that a lot of UK-ers on Etsy are taking part in a 'Silly Sale' in the hope of shifting some stock, which is a great idea. I've recently added a sale section as I have so many things I've made but not got around to listing so while I only have two sale items at the moment, I'm going to add a heap more tomorrow.

If you want to take part as a UK seller, just tag your sale items with 'silly sale' and 'UK' and make a treasury. I made a treasury (which you can see a snippet of above) here!

The original article can be read in this Etsy forum post.

(Big thanks to Teasemade for mentioning it on Twitter so that I actually became aware of the whole thing!)

INTERVIEW: Rowan Grant of KitschenSink

2010-10-02T05:06:00.000-07:00

Next up in my little round of creative-chum interviews is Rowan of KitschenSink! I've not yet had the pleasure of meeting Rowan in person as we seem to be moving in the same crafty-internet-buddy circles. If you love comics and all things kitsch, you'll be sure to love Rowan's work. Be sure to check out the links at the end of the interview so you can go and peruse more of her super jewellery!

Tell us a bit about your creative background

Arts and crafts were always my thing - my aunt used to save me the cardboard tube from her toilet rolls and I'd make them into families of toilet paper people! I was mainly taught by my Grandma who didn't keep a toybox for me at her house, but had a treasure trove of crafting supplies for me to raid.

I loved art at school, and studied at A level - but then it got put on the backburner until around 2005 when I found myself unemployed. I started to make bits and bobs to keep my brain entertained. Then I had a go at selling online and was impressed with the results!

What made you decided to start Kitschensink?

In 2007 I realised I needed a more fulfilling challenge than trying to get my lazy-arse of an ex-boyfriend to bring home the bacon. After sacking him, my creative friend Kate Priestley got me to realise my full potential and we sold at a craft fair together. I pretty much sold out, and kept being asked if I sold online.... so I opened an Etsy and a Folksy shop to keep up with the demand!

I called it 'KitschenSink' because I always wanted a sign in my kitchen that read 'Kitschen', and many of my pieces were made using found objects... everything but the kitschen sink!

Are you lucky enough to work on Kitschensink full time or do you have a day job?

Sadly I work full time in an office-based position. Although I am always busy, the work doesn't really exercise my brain so I'm always raring to be creative as soon as I set foot home!

What is your favourite item that you've made? What is the most popular piece with your customers?

Ooft! This is tough. I love the Alice's White Rabbit lockets. I have managed to source more supplies so I can make a few more of those. But I also wear a 'Wild Jezebel' necklace and awful lot with dresses for work, and a 'Right as Rain' necklace with t-shirts!

I'm lucky that my pieces all sell well across the board. Depending on where I am selling, one of the collections might be the winner on the day, but then at another event, it will be another - so I have to have plenty of everything to sell!

Some of your products include laser cut acrylic jewellery. This seems to be very popular, probably due to Tatty Divine! Does this make it hard for you to get these products noticed? What sets your acrylic jewellery apart from others?

When I mention Tatty Divine to Joe Public they have never heard of them! To the average buyer that has no interest in the making process behind pieces and just want to own something different - laser-cut jewellery just looks like great design, very well made.

What sets mine apart from the rest is the layering of the acrylic - in my recent collection I used three layers to get away from the usual 'block silhouette' style. It's not too chunky and the simple, but recognisable design gets noticed straight away.

I'm really excited about my new collection which will sit really nicely with my 50s comic theme on the website and stall! I've also been commissioned to make some brooches for the launch of a band's second album... but that's a bit hush hush for now.... ssshhhh

Where do you find your inspiration?

Comics, comics, comics! I never read them - I just stare and drool at them. My mum picks me up annuals from charity shops and I especially love the girl's ones like 'Bunty'. I'm a sucker for pop art too. Lichtenstein, Warhol... anything colourful. I absolutely love to read Teen Vogue and get inspired by the advertisements for perfume more than anything else!

I also love my childhood memories of the branded toys I never owned, but was seduced by their advertising and packaging (I do thank my parents for this, because I do believe it helped me be more creative), like My Little Pony, Fashion Wheel, Mr Frosty...

Do you have any other hobbies aside from making jewellery?

At the minute, decoupage. I did a table with an old comic and now a friend has commissioned me to do his. I reckon if you watch this space long enough, you might see some sneaking into the shop along with notebooks made from the covers of all the annuals I get through.

I've recently got into spectating Roller Derby, and if I didn't spend so much time on KitschenSink, I'd have a bash at playing as well.

Where do you hope to see Kitschensink in the future?

I'd love to see a celebrity wearing it on the cover of a magazine. How cool would that be?

What are your favourite Books / TV shows / Films / websites to browse etc. ?

Favourite magazines: Teen Vogue, CompanyTV Shows I hate to miss: Medium, This is England 86, The Inbetweeners, True Blood, Glee and.... 90210.Films I watch over and over and over: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Amelie, Romy & Michele's High School Reunion, Breakfast at Tiffany's.Websites/blogs I stalk more often than I should: Pippa's Long Stockings http://pippaslongstockings.blogspot.com/ ; Fashion Looks North http://www.fashionlooksnorth.co.uk/ ; Mademoiselle Robothttp://www.mademoisellerobot.com/ ; Bunny Bissoux http://bunnybissoux.blogspot.com/ ; NEET Magazine www.neetmagazine.com ; The Truth About Beauty http://thetruthaboutbeauty.wordpress.com/ SamARThahttp://marthaamay.blogspot.com/ ; Recent plays on the iPod: Radar Detector - Darwin Deez; Marlene - Lightspeed Champion; Tightrope - Janelle Monae; My Kz, Ur Bf - Everything Everything; Commercial Breakdown - The Sunshine Underground.

Where can we find Kitschensink?

www.kitschensink.com - links to the blog too!http://kitschensink.folksy.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kitschensinkuk/ http://www.facebook.com/kitschensink

WINNER!

2010-10-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

Hooray! Thanks to all those who entered the FinestImaginary Teapot Necklace giveaway.

I used a random number generator over at Random.org and the winner is Kat! Yay!

INTERVIEW: Emma Alonze

2010-09-29T01:37:00.000-07:00

Next up in my little batch of friend interviews is Emma. I first met Emma when we both had the pleasure of working for Debenhams as Visual Merchandisers in Leeds. She recently completed a really good project where she took a daily portrait of herself (I attempted a daily photo project and only got about half way through and gave up!).

Tell us a bit about your creative background…

I grew up in the seaside town of Scarborough. I went to a school where there was no uniform and we sung songs in assembly such as “Urban Spaceman” by the Bonzo Dog Do Dah Band and “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves” by Cher. As a child and also throughout my teenage years I was encouraged by my parents to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. So, I decided to take up music. When I was 9 I started playing the guitar, my Dad’s a guitarist and I really wanted to be like him. The guitar lessons didn’t last very long though, and by the time I was 12 I’d given it up and had started singing lessons instead. I attended a music school most evenings after my normal secondary school hours and at the weekends. Most people don’t know this but I am classically voice trained to Grade 6 standard. I also play piano. But not very well!

I left Scarborough at the age of 18 to study music in Newcastle, this is when things started to change…during my first year at college I had an epiphany, I realised that music was not for me. I left, took a year out and came up with the idea of applying to Leeds Art College to do my Foundation Degree in Fine Art. I never had any interest in art before so I have no idea why I decided to do this! I built up a portfolio in my own time, it consisted of a few rubbish videos and drawings! But I got a place! During Art College I specialised in Textiles which I hated! But I now work with Installation, Photography and Performance. After Art College I went on to study Contemporary Creative Practice at Leeds Met where I somehow managed to wangle a First class degree with Honours…

I have recently been applying for my MA and have won places at University of the Arts London and Parsons the New School for Design in New York.

How would you describe your work?

Most of my works are conceptual and are based on the everyday. They are usually bi-products of my perception of what others would often find mandatory happenings. The one word that I have heard time and again when people talk about my work is ‘honest’. I do not view this is an accolade, nor a criticism but I have taken this on board and upon reflection realised that, yes, despite the obvious slightly bizarre twists my work contains it is (in all honesty), honest! All videos and sculptures have a certain honest quality to them. You do not need to spend hours, days or weeks on something for it to be instantly aesthetically pleasing, because my works are what they are and I think the main creative challenge is with the beholder as opposed to the creator. It does not matter that something is not ‘perfect’ because who is to say what ‘perfect’ is? I certainly would not like to hazard a guess so my loyalties forever lie with the ‘are’s’ and not the ‘want to be’s’. I am Emma Alonze and I can do whatever I want, I am glad if you appreciate it, and only sad if you de-value it.

What are your favourite mediums to work in and why?

Many of my pieces are life-based and are a constant work in progress. I have an eclectic approach to material and processes. I am fascinated by the everyday and try to use it as a kind of material. Work is generated quickly and I regularly use objects that crop up in everyday life/living because they are there, at hand, ready and waiting to be incorporated into a piece of work. I like to work quickly and keep certain spontaneous qualities - found objects, situations, characters and ideas can all reciprocate and propel my work.

What is your favourite piece of work you’ve created?

This is a difficult question…

I think it would have to be “Collecting Rolls” which started as nothing more than an immature play on words regarding “roles” and “rolls”.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Absurdity and a surreal sense of humour have a great deal of influence on what I do, and it is because of my own nature that pieces turn out to be quite off-kilter and left of the middle. It is not intentionally ‘outside the box’ but I believe that it also is not purely accidental. I have always had a sense of humour that is derived through osmosis of the menial things that surround me; the ergonomics of an object or the sounds animals make when they are in pain. Generally the reason I start something is because it tickles me, and it generates a life and meaning of its own from there. It can be anything from a simple passing visual or a turn of phrase that inspires me.

Who are your favourite artists/makers/creatives?

Oh Lord, where do I start!? Here are a few… Marina Abramovic, Pipilotti Rist, Sophie Calle, Miranda July, Aurel Schmidt, Yoko Ono, Fischli and Weiss, Elmgreen and Dragset, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Brigid Berlin, Harmony Korine, Lawrence Weiner…and the list goes on!

Do you have a day job or are you lucky enough to be a full-time artist? Tell us a bit about your routine…

At the moment I do not have a day job, although I am looking for one! Living in London on £65 a week is very difficult…I do feel lucky to have lots of time to be able to create work but at the same time having all this free time can work against you. I mean, just because I have a lot of free time does not necessarily mean that I create more work! I often find that having a job helps the creative process as free time becomes more valuable.

Do you have any projects that you are working on at the moment or ones in the pipeline that you’d like to share?

I am currently working on a project called “Temporary Shelters”.

I have been building temporary shelters from items found in the house I am staying in. The project is based around the idea of being homeless but not in an “on the streets” sense. More of an “I don’t belong anywhere” sense. The shelters act as personal refuges.

What are your favourite TV shows/Books/Films/Websites to peruse?

I don’t have a tele so I don’t really have any favourite TV shows. But here are a few of my favourite films – Synecdoche, New York, Happiness (I really like Philip Seymour Hoffman), Confessions of a trickbaby, Buffalo 66 (and Vincent Gallo), The Holy Mountain, If, Red Road, The Wickerman, A Room for Romeo Brass and, I haven’t seen it yet because it’s not out until next week but Enter the Void by Gaspar Noe. I’ve been waiting to see it for about a year!

Books – Currently reading True Tales of American Life by Paul Auster but other favourites include, Leviathan also by Paul Auster, Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu Murakami, No-one belongs here more than you by Miranda July and White Noise by Don Delillo.

Where can we find your work?

http://www.behance.net/emma_alonze - online portfolio

http://thought-processor.com/lastsupper/ - filmed experiment, “In the Cold Light of Day”

http://emmaalonze.3rdward.com/ - “Shrine”, Installation

http://www.soanyway.org.uk/emmaalonze.htm - Daily self-portraits

http://www.artinunusualspaces.co.uk/home/the-plaza-principle/ - “Temporary Shelters”

HANNAH ZAKARI

2010-09-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I sent a batch of stuff to a lovely shop up in bonny Scotland that had just opened called Hannah Zakari. They have an online shop too, and some of my items are now available to buy in both the bricks and mortar shop and online, yippee!

If any of you live in Scotland head over to 43 Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh, EH1 2QB.

If online shopping is more your cup of tea, then go here!

Cross-stitch cigarette brooches.

Cross-stitch toadstool earrings.

[Photographs courtesy of www.hannahzakari.co.uk]

Fairly productive

2010-09-27T05:09:00.000-07:00

It's so unfair how time goes so fast when you have a couple of days off. Grr!

I've been a little productive as I have listed a bunch of items in my Etsy shop as I mentioned yesterday. Just added a couple more things - 'Home Sweet Home' and 'Love Sweet Love' wall hangings with pretty embroidered vintage ribbon.

The catch is I was meant to use these couple of days off to take some pictures of me 'at work' sewing, for a really important online interview coming up (v. exciting but also v. scary) but it's so bloody miserable outside there is no decent natural light coming in to take good pictures so it's added to my panic (seriously, is it normal to need to turn the lights on at lunch time?!!!). I'll have to try again during the week but I really wanted to get it done now. ARGH. STRESS.

Anyway, I hope you've all had a good weekend and you're not having horrible Monday's back at work. I'm doing a few less hours at the shop this week so I will have more time to sew but God, I really need to get better at time management....

NEW ITEMS

2010-09-26T06:41:00.000-07:00

(Yet another boring 'NEW ITEMS' post for you all, apologies!)

It's occurred to me that I have a LOT of things made but only a few of them have actually been listed in my online shops so I have spent this morning taking pictures and am still in the middle of listing them all (such a boring process).

So far there are a load of large 'Internet speak' badges - words like 'LOL', 'ROFL', 'FML' etc. They're the sort of words I can never bring myself to use but I know a lot people out there do, and some people may even want to wear these to take the piss, we'll see!

Also, some badges inspired by the film FIGHT CLUB and some in homage to the band DEVO which I made some time ago now, but I think I had an Etsy clearout and forgot to re-list them, so here they are again.

All available here.

INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Kim Lawler of FinestImaginary

2010-09-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

It's that time again to feature another friend! This time it's Kim of FinestImaginary. We met last Christmas at a craft fair that went horribly wrong, but out of this came a good crafty friendship. We're slowly and secretly plotting craft world domination. Take a read of this interview and take a peep at the giveaway at the end!

Tell us a bit about 'Finest Imaginary' - how did it start?

I was always making and selling things while at college & uni, from screen printed t-shirts to jewellery made from pre-bought charms and beads. I decided that I wanted to start making my own designs, and after finding a great laser cutting company to work with things just took off! The first designs are still one of my best sellers – the teapot and grr/arg necklaces.

Do you have a creative or business minded background?

Creative. I went from college to an art foundation and then on to a degree in 'Interactive Arts', which was pretty much fine art. Me and my degree didn't get along very well, and I don't think I got much out of it. I spent the majority of my time at uni decided what I wanted to do after and setting the foundations for FinestImaginary

Do you get to work on Finest Imaginary full time or do you have a day job?

I work from 9-5.30 as a web developer, which is a bit removed from fine art, but was something that I'd picked up a decent amount of skills in just by developing my own websites (including finestimaginary.com). I don't even do that much web design in my day job, mainly all the codey bits, so it's nice to still have a creative outlet in FinestImaginary!

Laser cutting is very popular, probably due to Tatty Divine! Is it difficult to make yourself known? What sets you apart?

Initially people seem to compare my work to Tatty Devine quite a lot, but I really think that the similarity stops at the process/medium. With FinestImaginary I work with characters a lot more, and I tend to make additions such as swarovski beads. I also work on a slightly more obscure and geeky level than a lot of my 'competitors'! As a brand finestimaginary is also moving into more of a broad spectrum, we're introducing t-shirts, other printed apparel and a load more pin badge sets!

What are your favourite pieces that you've made? What is your most popular piece?

My favourite pieces at the moment are the wooden cut designs. I actually have a new design coming up that makes a mix of plastic AND wood, that's quite an interesting piece :) Our current best seller has to be the science beaker an flasks, they're clear with etched details.

Where do you get your inspiration and ideas from?

A lot of my work comes from doodles, or cultural things. I know a lot of scientists, and in another life I would've been a biomedical/forensic scientist (I got accepted onto that degree but chose art instead!), so science and geeky things seem to come up quite a lot!

With a day job, do you have a strict routine for designing and making things for Finest Imaginary in your spare time?

I'd like to say I did, but I don't. My evenings and weekends are sucked into a void of packaging, posting & admin.. any other spare time I find lets me do some *actual* design work! I sometimes head to a coffee shop before work and sketch out rough ideas that I can later digitise at home, and other times I'll spend my lunches in the library.. just need to fit things in as and when!

Do you have any other hobbies?

Quite a few, although in the run up to Christmas those are all kinda on hold while I work on FinestImaginary things. I enjoy running, however, I haven't been able to go out and do any lately. I blog quite a lot, and take quite a few photos. Last year I started learning Spanish which I'd really love to take up again!

Favourite Books / TV shows / Films / Websites to browse...

My favourite books are my comfort books, I actually did a blog post about these (http://www.hiphopsideproject.com/reading-books/comfort-books/). They include American Gods by Neil Gaiman, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, and the Harry Potter series.

TV shows include Buffy, Lost, True Blood, House, and so many others. As me and my beau are both super busy most evenings we tend to just rocket through DVD box sets!

My fave films include: Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, High Society & The Queen... I have no idea why I like The Queen so much. It's a guilty pleasure!

Where can we find you?

My blog:

http://www.hiphopsideproject.com

FinestImaginary places:

http://www.finestimaginary.com

http://www.etsy.com/shop/finestimaginary

http://folksy.com/shops/finestimaginary

http://www.facebook.com/finestimaginaryfans

And I'm on twitter, too! http://www.twitter.com/finestimaginary

...AND NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY!!

Kim has been kind enough to offer you lot the chance to win one of her lovely black acrylic teapot necklaces!

For your chance to win, simply comment on this post telling us what your favourite item from FinestImaginary is.

The winner will be picked at random (using a random number generator from Random.org).

Giveaway ends FRIDAY 1ST OCTOBER! Good luck!