Back Soon

Hello All .....

I haven't been updating my blog recently due to work commitments, unfortunately not textile related work :( . I have been revising for three exams related to my FM role. I sit these in December, I can't wait till I complete them. I am now counting down the days until I can return to my creative interest and plan my next collection.

I thought I would share with you all the following note that someone very dear to me sent to me just this week. . . . It made so much sense to me. Enjoy.

What happens when that OTHER kind of habit becomes part of your day to day:

'Cotton On Conference'

I attended a really interesting and eye opening conference today all about Cotton . . . This event was organised by The Bishopston Trading Company, Bristol City Council, and howies

Cotton On

"From Plant to Process, from Fair Trade to Fashion  Design."

A one-day conference exploring the aspect of cotton and challenging us to find the most sustainable way forward.

Speakers included:

Lucy Siegle, Ethical Living and Observer, environmental journalist.  Abigail Petit, Director, Gossypium.  Barbara Crowther, Communications Director, Fairtrade Foundation.  Claire Durkin, BERR / DfID Joint Trade Policy Unit.  Hannah Durrant, Oxfam GB Campaigns.  Simon Ferrigno, Organic Exchange.  Damien San Filippo, Pesticide Action Network.  Tamsin Lejeune, Ethical Fashion Forum.  Gillian Lipton, Monsoon.  Sam Maher, Labour Behind the Label.  Robin Maynard, Campaigns Director, Soil Association.  Vanessa Parr, Fairtrade Foundation.   Monica Philbrick, Traidcraft.  Carolyn Whitwell, Bishopston Trading Company.

Workshops lead by :-Fairtrade and Organic clothing pioneers -

People Tree
Ethical Fashion Leaders
Trade Justice Campaigners
The corporate sector government

Folk House Exhibition

Thank you to all those that attended my opening 'Afternoon Tea Affair' last Saturday at the Folk House in Bristol. The lovely staff in the cafe had made the most wonderful chocolate cake, it as so shiny I didn't want to cut into it, actually, it didn't take that much persuasion!

My work will be up until the beginning of next month so pop along and enjoy.

Just get on with it!

I found this comment on one of my favourite blogs - Design Sponge

I don’t think it’s uncharacteristic of creative minds to have a tendency to veer off into the land of ADD. If you’ve ever thought about starting a business - big or small, why not now? Don’t wait another day, don’t over think it, and don’t spend any more countless hours doing “research” or getting lost in the land of cyberspace surfing the blogosphere, checking your competition or analyzing it.

It really is true I have spent so long planning and preparing to make the next move with my work and designs, I now need to just take the next step and stop coming up with reasons not to . . . .

Folk House Exhibition May 1st - June 5th

My next exhibition will be in the Bristol Folk House , it's running from the 1st of May until the 5th of June and is situated in the cafe.

About the Charity

The Folk House is unique. We are the oldest adult education centre in Bristol. We started life in 1870 in the dockland area offering education to the dockers most of whom could not read or write. By 1922 it was renamed the Bristol Folk House. We have been at the Park Street site since 1964. Since 1996 it has been run as a co-operative and receives no outside funding. Today it is a successful adult education and social centre.

I will be arranging an opening afternoon on the Saturday the 2nd of May, more details will be posted soon . . .

Usefull Link for Bloggers on Etsy

This website is fab for adding Etsy related links to your blog . . . Try it out

I'm on Twitter

I have finally got around to creating my twitter account, there's no stopping me now! I found out last night that I have also just sold one of my textiles from the Cafe Kino exhibition. Yipeeeee

My Work

Colour for the kitchen. Any Ideas?

Above Image -

Kerastar white ceramic floor tile, Salsa red wall tile, and the colour swatches are from the Dulux O8 Colour guide. Overtly Olive, Apple White and Egyptian Cotton

I really like the Dulux feature wall combination of the 'Overtly Olive' and 'Soft Apple' but the soft apple looks almost like a mint green when placed next to our red tiles. We have also tried an 'Earth Green' but that placed next to the 'Overtly Olive' looks to similar . . . Ohhh what to do? . . .

Green Earth, Apple White and Egyptian Cotton

The below image is from - Green Rooms

I realy like the colour cobinations from this blog, she is a photographer who has gained recognition in several editorial publications, fashion campaigns, album covers and art exhibitions.

She finds beauty in everything, from still life, Interiors to fashion shoots.

Kitchen Ideas . .

Floor Plan

We are almost ready to put out cooker and fridge back in place after tiling the walls and floor in our little kitchen. We knew ages ago that we wanted to go for black and white floor tiles.

Inspiration

Image from - House to Home

I found some gorgeous tiles originally from Tile Flair, unglazed matt black and white from the Johnson range but found the exact same tiles at a very discounted price from Bristol Tile. They had so many samples in store but not the type we wanted. We then spoke to an assistant in the shop who brought out more samples and also helped us to source the exact tiles that I had spotted in Tile Flair. The were so helpfull. At the same time we also looked at wall tiles, also for the kitchen. For this area we knew that we wanted small square tiles, really small, about 2cm square. We had toyed with the idea of using green tiles as we have double doors leading to the back garden, and felt green would 'bring the garden inside', but we decided in the end that with green walls that might be a bit too much green so in the end we went for red glazed ceramic tiles.

Dan at work - Grouting the floor tiles.

I'm so excited, it really feels like the kitchen is pulling together really nicely. We are now pondering what colours to us on the walls in the kitchen and dining room. Definetely green, but there are so many options to go for!

Cafe Kino Art Show

The Cafe Kino Continuous Open Submission Art Show is holding a private view on Thursday 26th of March from 7-9pm! We would love to see you all there, please come along, bring some chums and have a drink.

Hope to see you all there,
Hannah x

New Cards

Purple Feathers 2 (Top image)

Purple feathers 2 is a printed card design from a series that I created last summer when I was taking part in an event in Scotland 'Spring Fling' 08. I was showing my work in this wonderful location, in a big old house that had peacocks wondering around the grounds.The card has hand drawn glittery imagery on top to add extra glitz to the card.

There are two others in the series available to buy from my online Etsy shop.

Bristol Inspiration

Its been a while . . .

I have recently been spending my time clearing my thoughts and finding new inspiration. My next aim is to work on new collections based on imagery from recent explorations of Bristol. I visited the Bristol Museum and found some wonderful ceramics that have provided some lovely colour studies . . .

I really like the combination of the stripes and flowers. . . . that gives me an idea! . . . .

Inspiration in these cold months

We have been working on installing our kitchen over the last few months and have only recently got the sink and cooker installed, we still have to pick a colour scheme and tiles etc. My thoughts hadn't really stretched to any other areas of the house yet.

I have however been looking at Design Sponge and found this lovely article on a 'Before and After' a bedroom make over, albeit it a childs bedroom, but I love it! It got me thinking about our bedrooms and how we can make them more appealing and colourfull. At the moment they are filled with boxes and feel more studenty then my student rooms when I was at Uni!

Design Sponge

The combination between the coral, black and white is gorgeous.

I am so excited about getting to the painting stage! I do think this might not be for quite a while as we still have electrics to alter, plastering to do and much more, but I can always dream and plan ahead!