From under another pile of papers! -A picture Post + my brand new todo list

 

Hello my lovelies,  gosh it's been a while since my last post, how time flies whilst your having fun!

 

The last 6 weeks have been quite busy, I've been working on a great theatre production of the play Equus by Peter Shaffer (one of my roles was making 6 rather large horse masks for the cast members), the run of the play finished last week and since then I have desperately been attempting to de-clutter my workspace (and surrounding living area for that matter I can be quite a messy worker when I want to be). Whilst I was going through yet another pile of papers stashed away on my desk I came across this rather fabulous image above. I can't really remember what project it was for and certainly don't know where it came from (if any one knows please do let me know) but I thought it had a real Frida Kahlo/ Billie Holiday feel to it and just wanted to share it with you all to brighten up your Monday.

 

It's not just my workspace I've been trying to tidy up, my latest projects have certainly taught me the need to a more organised time, so, although I have always been an avid list maker, I am currently attempting to make these more concise and focused. I am also trying to complete everything on one before I start another. I suppose you could call be a recovering serial to do list maker.

Here is this my attempt at a more focussed and realistic to do list for the my week ahead.;

 I'm am currently experimenting with a new hat pattern I have drafted and want to finish the first hat from it this week,  I want to update my portfolio with the theatre projects I've been working on recently and also get started doing some initial idea research for a film project I've been asked to assist on (I don't think I will ever get tired of mentioning that, I'm so excited to be working on a film!!)  Oh and lastly I wanted to get at least one blog post done which , well  um suppose I'm doing now  - which is great one task done - 3 more to go!

Anyway I will let you know on Saturday how I've got on with everything, in the mean time let me I would love to know what tricks and tips you all have on working on your own projects and how you find is the best way to organise your time. Hope you all have a great week. xxx

My adventures as Grover's Corners milliner!

 

So on my last post I mentioned that I would update you on what I've been up to lately. Well I've been lucky enough to have been involved with a really great theatre production of Thornton Wilder's play  Our Town which was staged at  Chapter Arts Centre just down the road from my little home in Cardiff.

It was directed by Ray Thomas and produced by Everyman theatre , a Cardiff based theatre company that I have been working with in various roles nearly a year. This was the first production that have  I assisted with the costumes on and I learnt so much  from the experienced and thoroughly enjoyed working with such a great team and cast.

 

One of my main tasks as costume assistant was to turn  5 tired looking boaters into wedding hats  for the ladies of the play to wear during the two lead characters' wedding. As you can see from the state of my work space above, I got stuck in pretty quick and it didn't take too long for my whole home to be strewn with various bits of flowers and ribbon.

 

I was trying to make the hats look simple and in-keeping with the tone of the play. It's set in a small New Hampshire town and I imagined that the characters would have trimmed their hats with  the flowers they had growing in their gardens and maybe a simple ribbon  with this in mind I put together each hat.

 

Here are a few  photos of the final results. I am pretty pleased to say I don't think that they resemble their previous lives as boaters and it was such a thrill to see them being worn on stage.

 

My favourite creation has to be Mrs Soame's hat, she is quite a loud character and makes a big scene of crying a the wedding, when I made her hat I wanted to make sure it was much more loud and over the top than the others  and  think it came across and suited the character really well.

 

I'm hoping to get a few more pictures of them being worn on stage so I'll share them in a later post if I do.

It was such a great experience and I want to thank everyone involved for all their hard work and efforts.

Now that it's over their is certainly no rest for the wicked, I've just started working on the costumes for Everyman's next production of Equus in May, which I can safely say is going to be completely different challenge!

I hope you enjoyed a glimpse of what I have been up to lately I've certainly enjoyed taking part and can't wait to share a glimpse of my next project soon.  xxx

Inspiration Break- In flight



image source http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/learning/Kids-Zone/moorland/how-can-i-help-look-after-moorland

Good Morning Everyone, I've had a really busy couple of weeks and am taking this morning to do some quiet reflection on  everything that I've been doing recently and I found this lovely image of a barn owl and felt it really captured how I want my mood to be today, 

The colours and tones are so peaceful and muted but the owl looks focused and purposeful - that is what I am aiming for at the moment.
I'll be blogging about everything that I have been up to and what I have coming up really soon but  I think I need a few days to collect my thoughts and plan out my next steps - don't worry it's all exciting stuff !!

I also want to dedicate my little post today to my super and wonderfully supportive  Grandad- Papa - it's his 80th birthday today and he is probably my biggest  reader on this blog. He always lets me know what he thought of my latest post and also gives me a gentle nudge when I haven't posted for some time. He's a big owl fan too so I know he'll enjoy the picture I've shared today.

So Papa I just want to wish you a lovely birthday today, and I want you to know how much I appreciate all the love and support you and Nan give me in my creative endeavours and just in life generally too. Love you lots Squirrel xxx

So I better get back to my morning reflection and promise to catch up with a bit more of a Millinery / Sewing based post soon. Hope you all have a great day xxx

Inspiration Break- Dreaming of Summer Brights

image source http://www.pinterest.com/rwgl/fashion-now/

 

Hello my lovelies, I've been in  quite a lengthy winter  blogging hibernation over the last couple of months but have returned rested and rejuvenated. I came across this image today on pinterest and  really wanted to share it. It seemed so fresh and bright after  all the horrid rain we had been having recently, and seeing this summer-esque image really helped brighten the first half of my week, ( also helped by the fact the sun shone for at least part of today  and luckily that half was when I was in the park on my lunch hour hurray!).

 

At first it got me thinking about how different this was  from the projects I'm working on at the moment . I've been working on a lovely spoon bonnet in  a peachy coloured  velvet. I'll share some pictures of it when it's a bit closer to being completed but just to give you an idea of what I'm aiming for. Hopefully it should look pretty close to the bonnet in this picture below.

 

image source http://bornin1808.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/inspirational-primary-resources-part-3.html

Suddenly after seeing  my first picture made my bonnet project feel a little less exciting and dare I say a little drab.  That was until I found this image of a bonnet worn by a member of  the Merveilleuses  in France around 1814. Well this seemed much more exciting and although I probably wont be using this as inspiration in my bonnet it made me think that what I am creating was   the height of fashion once upon a time and maybe with a bit of persistence and care I can create something that is still beautiful and fresh.

image source http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O602499/incroyable-et-merveilleuse-fashion-plate-horace-vernet/

Have a great week xxx

My Business Saturday shopping spree

Saturday 7th December was Small business Saturday here in the UK, so I decided that I would  try to only use small busiess for the whole day. Luckily my home city of Cardiff has a great variety of small shops and independent cafes to frequent so it was hardly a struggle to find places to give my custom too.

First stop of the day was to the Christmas market where  there were plenty of craft, jewelry and food stores to browes through. Not having made a start on my christmass shopping yet (I always seem to leave it till the last minute for some reason) it was great to see so many unique and handmade products, from local craftpeople and further of field.

One of the favourite sellers I saw at the Christmas market was Natures Best Designs   who make a variety of wooden bird boxes, and bee hotels along with other garden items and pet house. The items are realy beautifully made out of  hard woods and some even have a slate roof! They are clearly very passionate about the quality of their work and also about how to promote wildlife in our gardens and outdoor spaces. I had a lovely chat to them about the visiting hedgehog in my garden and what to do to encourage it to visit more often ( and maybe even stay)!

 

The next stop on my trip was Cardiff indoor market that holds a thriving selection of  sellers  and small business. You can find any thing from hardware stores to a wide selection of butchers and fruit and veg sellers and even a fortune seller.

 

I was there for two shops in particular , firstly to go to the brilliant E Ashton fishmongers, this is a Cardiff treasure and has a really great variety of fresh fish and sea food. 

 

It's always a real treat to pick up some really fresh fish from here for tea, you can even buy cockles or oysters as a snack to eat straight away and the staff are really helpful if your not sure how to cook a particular fish.

 

Next up was the fabric store to peruse their selection of  Christmas fabrics for some festive sewing projects I'll be working on over the next week or so ( seeing it's already the 9th I better get cracking!)

 

 

For a small sewing store they have a great range of haberdashery and the prices are pretty competitive and between that and the haberdashery store that's  a few plots across I can usually get all of my sewing supplies here rather than having to go further afield to John Lewis.

 I love all these festive prints  they look so pretty and I can't wait to use some of the for homemade festive decorations and gifts.

My final stop on my shopping spree was to two shops  in the lovely Royal Arcade one of several beautify Victorian shopping arcades in Cardiff. These arcades are really my favourite place to  spend a leisurely afternoon window shopping when ever I get a free few hours.

 

First stop was to the brilliant deli Wally's which was originally set up at another nearby location in 1947. It has always been part of my Christmas traditions to come here and stock up on festive produce  and as they now have a gorgeous olive bar and a really good coffee shop I find myself finding more and more temptations to come here all year round!

 

Then on to my final stop was the Pen and Paper stationers, to pick up a birthday card. I love stationary and I come here quite a lot of my art supplies, they have a great selection of artists materials as well as stationary, cards and gift wrap.  

 

 

 

I really enjoyed my Small Business Saturday shopping spree and it definitely reinforced the idea that  shopping in smaller  retailers is a much more pleasant and friendly way of shopping rather than shopping at big brands. I really hope that Small business Saturday was successful in giving the small independent businesses a well deserved boost and would encourage everybody to try having their own small biz shopping spree. Hope you all have a super week xxx

 

My visit to Renegade Craft Fair London!

  It was a very happy coincidence that I found myself in London on 9th November and was free to go to The Renegade Craft Fair to take a look at all the fab indie makers and designers showing their work there.

Now in its 3rd year of being held in London, if you haven't already heard of it already Renegade is a curated craft marketplace that showcases  indie and contemporary designers and craftspeople and promotes the handmade and DIY craft movement.

It was really inspiring to go and see all the wonderful handmade items that were on offer and I had to be really restrained as I was in danger of having a serious shopping spree and was already meant to be on a tight budget. Being mindful that I have trying to be saving at the moment and the Jaunt to London was quite a big treat in itself  I managed to leave with only one purchase ( I know I'm not sure how I did it either !!)  a lovely printed moleskin notebook created by OhNoRachio.

I did, however, come away with a fare fe scribbles about work I found really impressive and thought I would share with you some of my favourite sellers that I saw that day.

First up is OhNoRachio, who I made my one and only purchase with, Rachel creates beautiful hand illustrated stationary, ceramics and various charming textile items  ( like this gorgeous cloud cushion )

image source http://www.etsy.com/shop/ohnorachio



 

I have been admiring her notebooks for quite sometime after seeing them featured on the Etsy blog and couldn't help but  treat myself to one. It has the caption on the front " The Adventure is just beginning " so hopefully it will give me some get up and go  when I'm in need of some
 motivation.
 

image from http://www.etsy.com/shop/ohNOrachio

 

 

Another seller I really loved was Designosaur.

 

image from http://www.etsy.com/shop/designosaurYEAH

 

Making  fabulously fun laser cut jewellery in bright acrylic and cherry wood, Designasaur have a joyful and upbeat feel to their pieces, inspired by dinosaur silhouettes and other quirky motifs, these accessories really brighten up your day and I was sooo tempted to treat myself to one , or two or three, ah well Christmas is on its way.

 

         KukuBigBag  by CandiceLau  is another  seller I saw that is destined to be on my Christmas list.

Beautiful handmade leather bags and accessories in block colours and geometric shapes combine contemporary design with traditional craftsmanship in a really effortless and chic manner. I was really blown away by these bags

 

image from http://www.kukubigbag.com

 

 

They are so wearable but really striking and different and I know that If I owned one I would use it to death.

 

There were so may brilliant sellers at Renegade that I could truly go on for hours on all the wonderful work I saw there, there are a few other sellers that I really wanted to talk about but I'm conscious this will become a very long post if I do so maybe I'll revisit them here in someway in the future. It ws so encouraging to see unique and handmade items being sold  and it really inspired me with my own work . I definitely want to join in the Renegade fun as a seller at some point in the future although I have a lot of work to do to get me to that point.

 

Hope you all have a really great week. xxx

 

 

 

 

 

Fabulous plumage and how to clean naturally sourced feathers

 

 

As a milliner its not surprising that I love using feathers in my work, I'm also a bit of a bird and nature lover and  as millinery can be a pretty carnivorous activity in general , this is something that doesn't always sit comfortably with me.

 

Recently I have been pondering the use of feathers in my work, there are strict laws in place to  stop birds being hunted solely for their feathers, these laws stem from the early 1900's when  extravagant plumage on top of a hat was very desirable and plume hunters killed birds such as egrets to supply the millinery trade with their beautiful feathers.

 

 

 

These days the feathers used in millinery are as a by product of the poultry industry  or from birds like Peacocks that  shed their feathers annually and as these come in a myriad of colours and styles I never struggle to find a selection of gorgeous feathers to use  in my work.

 

This piece was created using rooster saddle feathers along with goose and duck feathers to create this striking affect

 

I am also pretty thrifty by nature and have started to collect what I call naturally acquired feathers. This collection comes from  feathers I find out walking and others  that are given to me by family members who find them on their travels or keep birds themselves. (I recently was given some flamingo feathers that a friend found along the path in a the zoo!)

 

Now these feathers can not be used straight on to a hat they need to be cleaned first , and after a little experimenting I have come up with a pretty good method of cleaning them.

 

First you assemble these simple house hold items  shown below:

 

 

 

Mix a good squirt of washing up liquid with some white vinegar ( this stops the feather from clumping up)

 

 

 Swill the feathers gently  in the soapy water then rinse in a separate tub of clean water ( for really grubby feathers you may want to repeat this a few times.

 

Pat dry using an old towel ( I can guaranty if you use mums nice white ones you will be in trouble - so best dig out the old grotty one ) resist the temptation to smooth out the feathers at this stage

 

Then blow dry using a hair dryer on a low setting - this can take a little time so I like to get them about 70% dry  then leave to air dry a little before giving them a final blow and smoothing them out as I go

 

 

Once they are all completely dry and you have smoothed them out they are ready to be used, at this stage you can trim them , dye them or  curl them  however you choose to.