liberty joy

so yesterday there i was rambling along London's fine streets when as usual i happened to wander past my favorite shop in the whole of London...liberty, and what stopped me more than anything was the words covering all the windows.....SALE, so i screamed a little scream and off i went...and what fun i did have as you will See from the following pictures......
this first one is just the little dull entrance to liberty, when i say dull, i mean possibly one of the grandest buildings in London...it is rather special, and even though i walk past it often and have been inside billions of times, it still makes me stop and look.


so once inside i jumped in the rather fancy elevator, with a posh lady who i think was scared of me ? and shot up to the 4Th floor, which is furniture, were not talking boring old tables and chairs, were talking one of a kind customised wonders, all presented in really cool ways. but first look at the size of this chandelier, it was just massive, and it hung from the ceiling(obviously) down through the atrium to the ground floor.


i want this chair and all that goes with it......it makes my heart go boom boom boom.i never pay much attention to who did it ? i just like it,no,i love it.


and just look at this pile of heaven on a bloody fantastic sofa...if it was not for the two shop assistants standing near it, i would have taken a run up and dived onto it, talk about visual overload.


and now look at this set up, how excellent, its the wallpaper i love, lots of little houses, and I'm loving the stripes on the cushions.


and this chair and cushion would just fit perfectly in my imaginary house, and the side table next to the incredibly dramatic wallpaper would just be lovely.


anyway so off downstairs i went to the floor where my wallet starts screaming and my pocket starts burning, the fabric and trims and things floor, which strangely is next to the carpet and rug section of the shop ?
anyway i just walked around and around and around again just being bombarded with prints and patterns,trims and buttons, and I'm sure they were talking to me, "buy me" "no buy me", and as the sales were on there were tables lined up along one side piled high with boxes of remnants of liberty prints, i saw one sales assistant who's job was to re fold them into pretty piles, i think he looked rather pissed of, wonder why ?


i was sneaky at taking my pictures, making sure that none of the snotty staff told me off, there were too many staff in the shop, it makes you feel like they are stalking you and will pounce if you dare to touch anything.
now just look at these buttons...


and more fabric just calling out to me, " look at me I'm pretty"


so you must be asking, what did he buy ? well actually i was a good boy and only spent about £5.00, and i was happy with what i got, i sometimes just have to say to myself, "you don't need it". but usually i say to myself "you cant afford it". and i mentally did spend a gazillion pounds and i furnished my imaginary house from top to bottom, so i left the shop a happy boy, and look, even the bags are kinda nice, the ones you normally get are purple with rope handles and rather fancy and make me feel kinda posh just to hold one,but this one was ok.


but just look how they wrapped my goodies, even the ribbon and bright orange lace was put into a little bag and the fabric i got was wrapped in liberty tissue and stickered. i was lucky to escape with my life as when i asked a small lady with spectacles perched on her nose where i got things cut, i think i made her lose count, and as she was holding an old fashioned wooden ruler i thought she was gonna beat me up. oops.


and so inside the tissue is this lovely piece of brilliance, don't know who its by ? and i don't care really, but i just wanted it in my life,i only got a 30cm strip, but its enough for me to play with. the only problem now though is what to do with it, will it go to the top of my "to do" list, or the bottom, or will i just look at it and smile ? i definitely think a posh little monster will be made ?


so thank you liberty for being so over the top and brilliant, and old and grand, and posh....ooh it is posh in there. and I'm so not.

practice makes perfect

so the last few days have been unproductive in actually producing finished things, but very productive in giving me ideas that i want to run with, and as ribbons and trims feature heavily in my work, and because i have bags full just waiting to be used, i tried this idea for a clutch/purse/bag/thingy detail. i want to, or should that be I'm going to use the trims as the decorative element, possibly on the flap,(not sure what the technical name for this part of a bag is ?) but flap sounds good, flap flap flap.


and another detail idea i have had swimming around for a while,uses the scrap leather pieces i have, and using them in what i can only call, a "crazy paving" way.and again this could/will be on the flap.

after i made this little sample i got carried away and covered a bigger area with these scraps, and i think i love what it looks like and its gone to the top of my must do list for every product,and i like how it will mean that every item i apply it to will be different and unique.


so maybe now instead of thinking things through i should just get on and do it.

birdie brooches

so birds are still big in my world and I'm always thinking of ways to include them in what i do, so whilst rummaging through my many bags stuffed with trims and scraps i came across this bag of leather bits that are just the left overs of my skull brooches, and it was like a light bulb went off in my head and i thought birdie brooches,

and so whilst watching loose women, which to my American readers is our version of the view.i sewed away and out of the mess came these little guys...as usual they made me hate being a big fat bald man,and wish i was a lady who could pin one to her bag and flounce down the street....but alas that's not gonna happen. well not in this life ?
so anyway fly off to my etsy where they now live.

look what i have to play with

so around my house i have bags filled with fabrics, ribbons, leather, unfinished projects and just general rubbish that i just don't want to let go of. but look what i have to play with this week....they look so nice stacked together like this that I'm not sure i want to disturb them, but i have a lovely idea involving cushions and bags that is itching away inside my head.


and now just look what i got from my local car boot sale last week..all of these were attached to a big blanket, that the lady who sold them to me said she had done for her boys from all the places they had been to....i feel slightly bad because im sure much love and time went into her attaching these...only for me to rip them off. and the best part is the fact that all of these cost only £1.00... and she gave me some loose ones that she had not yet put on the blanket for free...i knew it was a bargain so i grabbed it and ran....but what to do with them...there are enough for a good few projects...again im thinking bag details ? i even think some of them are quite rare, especially the disney ones...maybe a trip to ebay is needed...?


and next i just wanted to document what rubbish thrift i seem to buy, occasionally i can spot a bargain like the patches, but usually im attracted to the things others would run away from. it helps if it has a sad looking face, and then its mine before i even ask how much it is...so these 3 rubbish things are my new treasures that will help to clutter up my world and frustrate my david who just rolls his eyes to the sky and walks away from me uttering abuse under his breath when i show him what i got, these treasure cost me all together 70p. so a bargain in my eyes...but rubbish in my davids.

stuff and bother

so today has been a bit wasted..... i put it down to artistic temperament...or also known in my world as sitting on the sofa drinking tea, eating biscuits and watching trashy TV instead of creating and making..however i did do lots of pointless photography to make myself feel like i achieved something good ? and here i will show it for you...because from these photographs might come some future projects...but that depends on whats on the box...

so this first picture is of a cushion i made myself from some fabric that i have had for years. i always loved it but have never got around to using it, so last week i put a contrasting fluorescent stripe along one edge and knocked together this...I'm a big fan of yellow fluorescent, and i know its something I'm definitely going to introduce into my work.i love the contrast.


this fabric feels really cheap but with such a brilliant print i know i will be doing something for my etsy shop with it soon,but what ? suggestions please, i don't have much, but enough for a few things.


now this next fabric i have had my beady eye on for a while now...i think its the yellow that attracted me and the funfair scene all over it, ironically this is from a brilliant craft shop called All The Fun Of The Fair, that luckily for me i work next door to, (see my links for this shop)
but again I'm stuck for what i could do with it, always my first thought is a cushion for my house, my David hates cushions and says he would get rid of all of them if he had his way...luckily for me he tolerates my taste for too much of everything.


and this next little fabric stash is just the kinda thing i like, spotty and colourful and tactile, I'm seeing happy accidents galore with this. yellow makes me smile.spots make me giddy.....


and finally this is me being just too clever for my own good....so i have been looking at this plant for weeks now thinking "i need a nice pot for it to sit in" and i have been looking at the car boot but nothing has grabbed me and shouted "buy me"

and suddenly out of my stupid head sprang such a simple idea, just wrap it in some oil cloth....and 5 Min's later i had myself the perfect "new" plant pot holder...I'm too clever for my own good...what can i wrap next ? and don't think my head is not now buzzing with oil cloth ideas...

maybe now i should get on and make some things and if im lucky i might get that first elusive etsy sale. i have only had the etsy shop for a few weeks but im impatient.

skulls skulls skulls

these little guys are now in my shop, i have been making these for ages now and have sold many over the years, i sold them in my old shop, and now sell them in my friend Fiona's shop, black pearl, see my best place list for link.oh and I'm just loving my new photo editing thingy from google, picasa...its so brilliant,,as you can tell by the silly collage things i like to make..
 

new little accidents

 

these little guys are now ready to be adopted and travel the world, grab them now over in my etsy empire.

competition mood board

this is a collage from parts of the decor8 mood board competition i entered, the brief was "a room you would love to live in".
decor8 is such a brilliant place to go and get a visual overdose that can easily make your eyes water and brain buzz.
 

a close up section of my board...the title of the board is CLASH & COMPLIMENT,and its about how i like to mix and mash up many different styles,colours and textures and throw it all together to create a fun happy chaotic but comfortable world.
 

minnie vase

so this post is about some flowers i bought at the market today, blah blah blah, but look at the vase/ drinking cup i used. its a Minnie mouse drinking cup with ears and a straw poking out the top,that i got from our last Disney holiday in California, so i whipped off the lid and shoved in the flowers and instantly smiled a big smile....so what do you think ? i personally think its my favorite thing in the world ever.

a london wander

so today's little post is about my little wander around by tate modern and borough market i had today and the things that just caught my eye for no other reason than they looked interesting, funny and photogenic,
this picture below was taken from a balcony in tate modern, its a place full of amazing world famous art,but lots of it is just utter tosh in my humble opinion, and i just don't get it. not that I'm much bothered, i know what i like and i like what i know.the shop is brilliant though, and i had my sensible head on today, the one that was saying "you don't need it ".
but i just loved this picture, the colours and the few folks braving the chill just screamed at me take my picture..so i did.
 
this next lady was spotted on some gates near the market, stood all around were men in suits talking into their fancy phones and i felt like an idiot stopping to take this picture but i just really like the skill of stencil art, its a massive thing around London and you see lots, but i just liked this one, I'm loving the grain of the wood as a background...mmmmm I'm seeing an idea popping into my head ?
 
this next pic just made me smile, ice Cream vans have such strange paintings all over them, but i think its the slogan i liked the best, i doubt if Walt Disney would approve though ?
 
and this next picture i wish was my garden, instead of a display outside a shop in borough market,why does my garden not look lke this ?
 

new birds in etsy

these little guys are now available in my etsy shop, lets hope they fly around the world to new homes and a new life, free from the cold and rain.
 

my friend becky makes lovely things

so this little post is to give you all a look at what brilliant creative friends i have, this time i want to show just 1 picture of my friend becky who is head honcho at lost and found design (see my links) and she is just brilliant at turning the once old and used into new and usable, this photograph was taken in her studio where she turns vintage flags into unique cushions and old bus destination signs into amazing window blinds.i covet all of it and one day i will have a destination blind in my window and a chair bulging with patriotic cushions. and becky is becoming a bit of a media whore, not a week passes where her work is not in fancy magazines or she is not in exhibitions showing her wares.i urge you all to visit her website for better pics and images than i could ever take.

beyonce rocks our world

so saturday night was spent about 4 meters away from miss beyonce knowles, me and my david were not massive fans of her music, but we sure are now, as she was quite electric from the moment she rose through the smoke till the moment she went off, it was a none stop visual extravaganza of sparkly fantastic frocks and gigantic spectacular dancing and vocally outstanding singing...and we know she saw us and we know she was performing to us and we know she liked us as she kept smiling and grinning at us dancing like idiots. me and david stand out in a crowd, im quite massive with a shiny bald head and he is a smaller version of me,i always block the view of the people behind me.


having seen many amazing shows and concerts,this easily was the best for how it made me feel, i just could not stop smiling all the way through it and david has now lost his voice because of all the screaming and singing he did.

being so close meant we could see every facial expression and every bead on her costumes and every dance step she did, even though i did not really know many of her songs i still pretended to sing the words as she could see us, so it would have been rude to look like we were not real fans.

and a big thank you to my little camera, it normally takes rubbish pictures at concerts and shows but this time he just snapped happy pictures and filmed lovely footage, so thanks camera.

birds birds and more birds

so like i earlier said its been a bird week for me, printing and painting and sketching, sewing cutting and looking, and in these next few pictures you will spot a few things that will soon be in my etsy shop, i just cant yet decide what to do to finish them ? do i crop them,frame them or just leave them?. either way i have discovered that a good way for me to work is just to do it, stop thinking about it too much and just let go, and the end result will usually always be a lovely happy accident.

and in amongst these pictures is a few little guys that i just might find it too hard to let go free, you see im a sucker for a cute face and more often than not i tend to keep the things i make, when really i should be selling them, after all i really dont need another cushion on my sofa, or a picture on my wall, but if i hold up my happy accident and like it that much,then truthfully it goes straight to my heart and i cant let it go,even if it means that the cushion i love is used as a meal tray a week later then at least my tray is rather nice.
so heres one little bird that has gone to my heart and is coming home with me, he might never get framed and displayed but i know if in 20 years time i pull him from a box,then a smile will fill my face.