Monday...

This weekend, I happened to find an amazing website/online shop which sells the biggest array of vintage jewellery findings I think i've ever seen. It's called the 'i found gallery', and there's everything from oxidized silver necklace chain to art deco buttons and ornate stamps. The shipping is a little expensive, but I haven't found anywhere else that sells such an extensive range... Take a look here

And also, these are the new additions to my accessories collection which will be on etsy in a few weeks time...

Black and white checkered sequin ring
Gold and silver sequin ring
Black and white checkered sequin earrings
Black and white sequin buttons
Black sequin earrings
Pink and Rainbow sequin buttons
Gold and silver sequin buttons

New things...

Unintentionally, these black and white buttons turned out slightly mosaic-y. But I have a thing for monochrome at the moment, so I am going to see where this leads to... Three buttons, a ring, and counting.

Today I found my letraset :)

...And also a really excellent book entitled 'Silhouettes'. The pages above show some amazing silhouttes of gentlemen in top-hats and coat-tails, and victorian ladies in formal attire. A potential research resource for embroidery development ideas... ? Anyway I just thought the book was delightfully twee.

These little pendants will be used in my jewellery project... My favourite is the spoon and fork... Have a browse through their pendants, charms and findings here

Today, these came in the post...

Happy Monday

Here are a few bits and pieces that I bought/found today, along with a few items that were already in my jewellery box...



Piece of ceramic found on the beach complete with faded blue design



A birdy I recieved in the post from a lovely friend.




I bought this lovely ceramic tudor rose when I paid a random visit to Telford in Shropshire...




This old pillbox belonged to my grandfather. It has a beautiful gold embossed underside, and a clever clasp :)




I think this little shoebox speaks for itself. It once contained shoes belonging to my grandmother.

Gia Designs for spring 2010

Back in November 2008, just after graduation, I was invited to do a work placement at Gia London. I used some of my floral prints from 'In retrospect' and designed a new motif for their spring 2010 collection. I also designed a knitwear motif for spring 2010.

Have a browse through more of their collections here and here

Visualisation 3

Visualisation 2

Final piece: Visualisation 1

Cutwork and flock wallpaper sample

Gold foil reverse design

Stitch, foil, print and flock onto fabric wallpaper

Brown flocked flower with embroidered squares

Yellow flocked design with embroidered pixels

Flocked wallpaper.. .Flocked design onto gold foil.

A cutwork wallpaper sample using hand embroidery.

These pieces are taken from my final degree project 'In Retrospect'. This involves two starkly different visual concepts, and combines them to form a new aesthetic.
The harsh outlines of geometry merge with the flowing edges of floral print. Traditional floral imagery versus the shape of futuristic technology.

It's Wednesday...

Today is one of those days. Yep, that's right, one of THOSE days. I had planned a nice old bike ride on the beach, and it's TORRENTIAL rain outside. So todays plans have gone out the window, and I have decided to sort out the bookcase and the chaos under the bed. I ended up looking through some of my degree project...sketches, final pieces, design plans etc, and decided that I would take a few of the design features from these old projects and develop them for my new project for etsy. Once again, the geometric theme still seems to reappear.

Here are some of my drawings, and portfolio pieces...