Sunday 31 July 2011

New Ideas

I've been thinking of some more ideas for some new prints, and I thought I would post up a  little sneaky peek of one idea.

As you can see they're still in the early stages, so stay tuned.

The Pumping Station, Cardiff

Hello,
Yesterday myself and my partner decided to go for a random drive in and around Cardiff, We were looking for places we'd never really seen or been to before as we were getting a bit bored with the usual. We drove past this one place called the Pumping Station, I knew this existed for a while but I never actually went in. The building is lovely, It is a Victorian Pumping Station which was once owned by Welsh Waters. It consists of 35 individual Stalls, which sell an array of items, mostly vintage but there are some modern finds too. It's spread over three floors and the thing I loved most apart from the little stalls, was the old cobble stones on the bottom floor. Its just a lovely building to go and visit.

As I was wandering around I came across a few Beautiful items such as these...
I've been looking for a certain clock for such a long time now, and found something quite similar to what I want. I'm aching for a clock that looks like its from an old train station. Don't ask me why I'm craving for one. I just LOVE them! Something a bit like this only bigger and a bit more original.
You can find this clock here.

Another item I really wanted at the Pumping Station was this clock, I have my eye on this, I think it's so beautiful with the iron detail around the clock face...Stunning.
I love it!!!!!

Here are some more photos I took of items that caught my eye.
I really liked this print, It's made of metal so it's quite a sturdy structure.

This Jewellery box really stood out to me, I love it. I think the legs on it give it a simple elegance and it has a leather finish to it too.

I also found a lot of furniture units that I really liked. I really wanted these two units for my bedroom, I love the country-like style to these. Just beautiful, I'm a bit sad to have left them behind to be honest.
(Please excuse myself in the picture!)

I also found some other interesting bits and bobs, Like these little notice boards, I thought they were a really good idea, so simple but so effective. And they're a good accessory for tidying up those loose bits of papers which you can't throw out.

There were also some eclectic pieces regarding the Royal Britannia theme, this chair was beautifully constructed and looks the part.
But, My Favourite thing I found in the whole Building was...
This Beautiful Singer Sewing Machine! I could not believe my eyes when I stumbled across it. I instantly fell in love there and then. I'm not sure why but my brain told me that I couldn't buy it as I didn't have any room at home to put it. But my heart said that I had to have it! Anyway, my head over ruled, (I think my partner had something to do with that too!) so I left it behind.

This morning I woke up and the first thing that came into my head was the sewing machine. I just knew that I had to go back and get it, so guess what, I did. I am the happiest women on the planet right now! I cannot believe I own this little gem! Wow. I'm going to polish it up and sort it out as soon as possible, because it still works really well. Nothing is missing and there's nothing wrong with it. Plus for £22 what a Bargain!

So I think what I'm trying to say is, Get down to the Pumping station if you can. It is amazing for special gifts and furniture, (basically everything) modern or vintage. Just get down there!!!

Visit the Pumping Station website here,





Sunday 17 July 2011

New Handmade Cards

Recently I have been making some more handmade cards, I have a few weddings coming up so I thought I should make some cards specifically with a wedding theme/look...


I've also made some everyday cards such as this 'cherries' card and theses 'flower' cards


New Photography

A few weeks ago I decided to try and get back into my photography and played around with some images in Photoshop, Here's some of my results...

Breacon Beacons, Wales
Bristol, Town Center

As I was out with my friends one evening, we were talking about my work and inspirations and we discussed a photographer called Stephanie Jones, who happens to be the sister of a friend of mine. I had a look at her work and was pleasantly surprised.

Stephanie has two blogs, one of which contains a catalogue of Daily Snaps. I love this idea of taking a photo a day to build up her skills as a photographer! Marvelous.

You can check out Stephanie's work here and here.

Saturday 9 July 2011

Im Back...

Well Hello there,

I am finally back from my Travels. I'm actually quite gutted to be home as I had such a good time but I must get back to normal sometime!

I thought I'd share some of my experiences of Marrakech with you,

Marrakech has a lot of stray cats, I found these ones when I went to visit the Saadian Tombs, I Just had to capture the image of a terrapin and Kitten sat together on a step, So cute!


There were so many wonderful sights in Marrakech, I particularly enjoyed my time at the main Square, Place Jemaa El Fna, where all the Souks are based. We vistied the Souks in the day and in the evening and I fully recommend that you go at evening instead of day time as you blend in a little more, You don't get hassled as much as you would in the day when the locals are doing there thing.

The crowds come out at night and it's understandable as the temperature is much more cope able. When we were there (end June to early July) the temperatures were reaching up to 49 degrees in mid day heat, which I found quite hard to take in the centre of a busy town. So that was my pool time, even sitting still was exhausting enough! But it was so nice to be constantly warm for a change, unlike the British weather.
The Souks,  
The Souks, Myself and my partner found a cafe which overlooked all the fuss and drama of the Evening festivities. It was lovely to just sit there and watch, take it all in. We saw a lot of different crowd pleasers from Monkeys to Snake Charmers, to Water Carriers dressed up in their costumes.
It was manic to walk anywhere in Marrakech. I soon realised that there were no rules when it came to transport. You take your life in your own hands.

The Atlas mountains were surrounding our hotel in the distance, but unfortunately every time I tried to get a shot of them, they just wouldn't show up in the photo. There would be fog or mist in the distance or just cloud, so it was almost impossible to see them some days.

The Jardin Marjorelle, Or better known as the Yves Saint Laurent Memorial Gardens was lovely.

"Painter, Jacques Majorelle settled in Marrakech in 1919, where he acquired a ground which was going to become the Majorelle garden. Since 1947 he opens his garden's doors to the public. Following a car accident, he returns to France, where he dies in 1962. in 1980 Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent repurchase the garden and restore it. " - (Taken from http://www.jardinmajorelle.com/en/)


This was what greeted us to the Jardin Majorelle.


The Gardens were beautiful but I was more taken back by the Magnifiscent house.




I really enjoyed my holiday, I hope that some of these images may inspire you in some way.