Wednesday 29 February 2012

30 min cushwan cover ...

    Righteo! the market was a bit rubbish this week so as promised I've whipped up a cushion cover with the psychedelic material I bought last Tuesday. I'd never done one before so if I can do it for sure you can too. It's by no means perfect but definitely does the job.

I think the easiest way to describe this is an envelope shape, pillow case with flap and button fastening. Grab you're tools, fabric, sewing machine (definitely achievable by hand just will take longer) needle and thread, button(s), scissors.


Step one GO! with your chosen fabric run a stitch along any frayed edges just sew (so, Ha!) the fabric doesn't unravel. Hem the material by folding it over onto its self and stitching.



Next place the material pattern side up and fold down the top section onto itself (You can make this section as big or small as you like, I'll be roughly folding mine into thirds) This piece of material will be your flap, measure each end so its the same length and will sew straight.


Following this, take the bottom of the material and fold completely over itself until what was the bottom touches the top part of the flappy bit.




This is when you get your folded tube envelope pancake. All you need to do now is sew straight down either end of the tube. All through in some places three layers of material.



*sew sew sew* AND *Turn inside out*
TA DA!


This is a really basic sack making shape, I debated whether at this stage to turn it into a bag but I lacked necessary strap making pieces. You can stop here if you want but I recon adding a wee button to keep the flappy bit to secure, finishes it off a treat.

So choose your button and hand sew to the material underneath the fold in your chosen location. Then snip a smaller than your button size cut above the button on the outer fold, quickly stitch round the cut to stop fraying, and your button is donski!




Stuff your cushion in and there we go! new cushion cover for less than a quid and no more than 1/2 hour of your day. ENJOY!





Tuesday 28 February 2012

BRGHTN PT 3 Broseph Melk...

   Lastly in Brighton my older brother is the one who puts me up and puts up with me whilst I'm there. He has his own bloggings at DrinkMoreTea and is quite a whizz with the picture box taking photo's of travelings and places on his wheelie board. I know very little of skateboarding so I won't comment but I do know a niiice photo when I see one. 



 Cyprus



 Brighton Pier



 New York


  
Brighton Beach



So this ends my little three part post of Brighton, the last one's from me.
Buhbye.


BRGHTN PT 2 Ink_d n' Doig...

   Ink_d is a tincy wincy little gallery up in the north lanes, but don't be fooled by the size, it's a beaut, I always try to make time to pay it a visit. Its a host to many talented contemporary artists young and old with work running from paintings illustration and prints to ceramics and sculpture, with a neat print studio nestled in the basement for artists and workshops. And they got a pretty sweet staircase and upstairs showroom.

On with the show!

Andy Doig the current exhibitor in Ink_d has created a space filled with neon light and memories. Resurrecting old English fairground bulbs Doig has crafted them into a stack of crosses, a bounty of colourful stars which dot the floor and scatter across the ceiling and the slogan "Kiss me quick squeeze me slowly" all of which emit a warm haze, ethereal hum and a glowing heat.

 The falling light transports the viewer back to an earlier stage in life and recalls the lure of the fun fair, with its captivating coloures and shrieks and squeals of excitement.












 Fun affair Andy Doig 
9th Feb - 9thMarch
Ink_d Gallery 
Brighton







Monday 27 February 2012

BRGHTN PT 1 Gzdzzzzdzz gzzuh ghzzz...

     Brighton Brighton Brighton. I will inhabit you permanently one day. For now I get to take the most excellent trips down to you for a few days and take full advantage of the bredwins hospitality. Lets get started on this three part bonanza.

Joe McElroy! a wonderful artist friend of mine was to be zapped into oblivion by the rather superb tattooist Lionel Fahy from the french land, who was guest spotting at The Tattoo Workshop. Monsieur Fahy's work is just beautiful and nothing much like I've seen anywhere before.

His hand draws stunning lines often depicting warped dream like scenes which could have been plucked straight from the darker imagination of a child. They can be fun, colourful and delicately beautiful but sometimes tinged with a more sinister tone. A truly unique style of illustrative technique applied with ink to skin.




















Joe's tattoo! meet Wilson. Hallo!

Check out Fahys' website Out Of Step

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Holy Pancakes batman!...

     Vanilla pancakes with pomegranate cream and pink coulis...  By gum I think she's done it!

*Scoff scoff. A scoff scoff scoff.*

The best recipe for the P cakes has to be that curly haired frittata Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall, so dig out his recipe and get tossing.
This is uber easy, make your pancake batter, add a drizzle of vanialla essence.

 *fry* *fry* *fry* 

Cut into quarters and make little cones into a bowl. Then drizzle with cream, and pommegranite pips, and pommegranite juice mixed with sugar, and more sugar to spinkle with dusting sugar for prettyness. 

EAT.










Rocking your frocks & cock a doodle doo's...

    Oh I remember back in the day, that bulky, heavy, pine wood rocking chair we squeezeed into our tiny dinning room, pushed back right into the cornor. My three brothers and I all clambering on, perching where we could and leaning too and fro to see how high we could get it. This was ultimately amazing, yet not so for the walls behind, which where left with the battle scars of our rocking.

My how things have changed.

Rocking chairs or 'rockers' (cool new name, I see what you did there) are making a come back, big stylee. They've been redesigned and remolded into flowing one piece ultra slick modern calming chairs and pulled and poked and twisted into octagonal twin seated bee hive-esque swayers.

My favourites however are the reworked pieces which have been influenced by old skool designs and elegantly up cycled. After a bit of perusing ton t' tinterwebs here's a short list of my top five fabulously up cycled and reworked rockers.

I couldn't leave out the cockerel.




Giddyup Rocking Stool by Tim Wigmore








Rocky Chair by Guy Arzi


Rocking Chair by Fritz Henningsen



Who put that there!

Green Chicken by Jaime Hayon




Tracy Rocking Chair by Julien Bergignat

Market Day...


   I've been rubbish! sorry. The past few weeks which included my bitter Valentines day rant sucked me into a bit of a hole. But today the sun is shinning! and I hauled my ass outta bed before midday and tootled off on my bike (fixed at last) along the river.


   A brilliantly bustly and busy morning atmosphere, not been after much in particular but my magpie intuition still managed to collect three necklaces, a pretty silk scarf and some beautiful fabric.










Orange fabric & Blue pendant necklace £1
Green & white, Glass beaded necklace & Silk polka dot scarf £2
Chair (market about 2 years ago) £5

I think I'm gonna try make the fabric into a cushion cover. I'll do a how to post if I do. Ok Bye.

 

Sunday 12 February 2012

Dead animals & Polly Morgan...

I have long been a fan of this highly talented taxidermy artist. Her work embodies the strength of death, the fragility of life and the delicacy of movement.

Morgan's love of animals led her to taxidermys preserving nature and her artistic voice grew from a want to step away from the stilted and conservative association of main stream taxidermy.

Morgan places the animals in foreign environments encouraging the viewer to cast a fresh gaze on the animal, a lot of which have negative reputations of being vermin and pests, "A rat sheds its association with horror and disease and can be viewed as a beautiful animal."





















Polly Morgan also has a shop, you can buy an original artwork alongside etchings, mugs and prints.

Friday 10 February 2012

Phwoar Riera you beast...

    Want some black furniture to go with you black home? Jump on this feral furniture by Maximo Riera. A homage to the animal kingdom and the landscapes they inhabit on our planet.












Black on the inside...

   I can't help it I'm sorry. V day rant. What is with all this crap? How the hell has a stuffed bear become the symbolism of love? unless you hunted it with your bare hands and it saved us from starving to death I do not want anything in animal form. Chocolates really? They're one of my five a day. Dinner for two? yeah lets go and sit in a room full of other bored couples in complete silence because we know they feel they have to do something *special* on that day even though they have absolutely nothing to say to each other.

The only people to buy into this kind of crap are plebs who have no imagination and need to be told by cheap commercial wankers how to express and feel emotion. If you like that kinda tat fine. Good for you. Be happy. I think what I'm getting at is why have a single day in the year which has been promoted since mid January dictate, this is the time and place you have to really buy into someones heart. Ok done...

Well moving on with this particular cynical frame of mind. Get some black paint and go nuts. It may even look good.