Monday 31 January 2011

Craft Guerilla Love Easy Valentine Fair

I will be selling my crafty wares at this illustrious event coming up, taking place just a few days before Valentine's Day. Come along and say hi, and take in the delights of gorgeous craftiness as well as the wonderful works of William Morris, housed in this newly renovated gallery, the only one of it's kind dedicated to his work. The event will be Art Deco themed so, dress up if you fancy!


An arrangement of Valentine treats. In the basket on the right: Home printed, handcut, with "To" and "From" printed on the back, reproduction 60's American cards, only £1 each
 Sweet and delicate bird stamped and stitched heart collage cards, only £2 each.
Humorous and touching home printed cards. The Einstein one reads: "Theoretically, I'm yours... " and inside it finishes with: "Shall we put it to the test?" Only £2 each.
 Brand new vintage Valentine themed bottle cap pins, £3 each, or 2 for £5!
Limited edition of 10 "Light my fire" handcrafted matchboxes, £1.50 each.
These are direct sale prices, so online purchase will have .50p extra for p&p. 
I will be making new lovable hoop wall decor pieces and cushions covers especially for this event, and whatever else takes my fancy, so watch this space.

"The Craft Guerrilla is an independent collective set up to work with indie 
Crafts People,Artists and Designers Makers of quality hand made goods.
We organise DIY Craft Nights, Crafternoons, Craft Workshops and Craft 
Markets. www.craftguerrilla.com "

Sunday 16 January 2011

My Sketchbook for the Art House Co-op in Brooklyn, NY




I received my moleskin for this Art House Co-op project months ago. As it is with things one have gads of time to do, I left it till the last minute to start it. So, what should have been something meant to be filled in day by day, week by week, like a sketchbook usually works, I had to create something in a couple of weeks. Thus, my `Lost & Found treasure box sketchbook was born. You can see roughly how the process took place in the slideshow.

I struggled to pick a theme for it. There were about 50 to choose from. But, in the end "I am a scavenger" jumped out and bit me. I knew this was a true part of my nature, and that I could have some fun with it. I decided to use my candy jar full of found objects as my source of material. They were objects I collected over a 5 year period from when my little boy started school, age 4. They definitely reflected my scavenger tendencies. But, now with time short, I had to get creative. Anyway, a series of drawings of bits and bobs found on the street might have become rather tedious (sour grapes?) but, I did have this fantastic resource and a story to go with it, so I decided to turn my sketchbook into a piece of book art which also expressed a part of my life. I made a selection of my found objects, sat down at my computer and put together some background and quotes. A concept, and story with pictures, was conceived around my love of picking up shiny or colourful bits of detritus I found in my neighbourhood.