Catherine Sparrey

2012-02-16T12:36:00.003Z

16/02/12

i'm designing for my capsule collection &i've got my iphone resting on my laptop's keys so i can stream live tv whilst drawing little wersen. i'm picturing brown/cream/black/gold. yup! i'm inbetween thoughts; i'm kind of trying not to well up whilst drawing this, but also have told myself to "MAN UP", concentrate &just get it done.

2012-02-16T11:45:00.002Z

15/02/12

2012-02-13T19:40:00.002Z

13/02/12

freshly hand screenprinted 'i love acton' neon pink &gold tote bag. tis a refined version of my fabric painted one.

2012-02-09T01:10:00.005Z

09/02/12

this is what a tired designer (who never brushes her hair) looks like. i ran some errands at ikea/john lewis/h+m earlier; got everything i needed -go me! i spent before/after errand running photoshopping my arse off. now, i'm listening to limp bizkit (i know, i know..) whilst painting.

my blood sugars are still all over the place which is pretty annoying. it's almost as if i do one thing and my body does another, but that's nothing i didn't already know about this marvellous condition. and my eyes ache. why do you do this to me, photoshop?!

2012-02-06T21:36:00.001Z

06/02/12

2012-02-03T20:12:00.007Z

03/02/12

my blood sugars are crazy ridiculous right now. i keep waking up with hypos. it's freezing &i have a massive headache from howling. i've been reading this book for awhile now; in my old cupboard bedroom, on the tube, curled up on the sofa &i'm nowhere near finished.

2012-02-02T23:43:00.002Z

02/02/12

i fixed the hares. praise the lord for super glue! the last time i used super glue (a week or so ago.. which was also the first time.. yes yes, i know) i ended up super gluing under my nails/my finger tips cos i'm a dumb shit like that.

now i need to get cracking on with designs that will end up being fired onto the hares. oh shit, i hope they're kilm safe. knowing my luck, i'll be pleased with the (almost) finished result, fire them &open the kilm to find them broken. the same way i first saw them. ha. fml!

2012-02-01T20:14:00.004Z

01/02/12

i printed with neon pink &gold today but i'm a bit disappointed with all but two of the prints. meh. i've refined the design &i'm hoping to print some nice tshirts &bags next time.

i have a bad cold. meaning my blood sugars are all over the place. i feel run down. i think i'm going to rest tomorrow, design type for my laser cut designs &watch crappy daytime tv.

i am so goddamn tired. of everything.

2012-01-31T23:58:00.002Z

31/01/12

today, i tasted yummy sorbet at the icecreamists. i received really great customer service; i asked the guy if the ice cream was suitable for vegetarians &he told me that he couldn't guarantee whether the base powder they use in the process was animal or plant derived. i made sure to tell him that i appreciated his honesty. (most people will tell you they don't know or lie just to get your custom. he was pretty clued up about his E numbers, friendly but most importantly, honest).

i also met james &bob the cat in covent garden. i'd passed them years ago but today i stopped to chat, stroke bob, etc. i could've spent the whole afternoon chilling with that ginger beauty. you should google 'big issue cat' if you have time. i think their story is pretty sweet.

and, we were meant to see a pre-release viewing of man on a ledge that i had free tickets to, but somebody (tut tut :p) accidentally lead us into the wrong screening (the descendants) so we ended up staying put as not to disturbing the showing for everyone else. doh! no biggie. the film was good &(due to circumstance) i cried a little at the end.

2012-01-29T00:00:00.001Z

29/01/12

four ceramic hares from ebay arrived yesterday. the seller wrapped each one in a flimsy bit of bubblewrap &failed to mark 'fragile' on the box. pretty careless. as a result, i found that all four of them were smashed. one of them is beyond repair, but i reckon i can glue the others back without anyone batting an eyelid. they're for a uni project you see. i'm also hoping that the person will give me a full refund. yup. i sent them a clearer photo where you can see the top right hare sans ear, etc but those bits of paper had my address on, hence the edited blurred ting in this photo. soz.

2012-01-28T21:26:00.002Z

28/01/12

finding words for this is difficult because i don't feel that words do anything. i miss my companion/s terribly. it doesn't get any easier.

2012-01-27T20:06:00.006Z

27/01/12

i took myself to the chelsea harbour design centre today. i did what i needed to do, grabbed a few lindt chocolates (in one of the showrooms sweet-bowl-thing for customers) &left. i like that place but the snobbery is too much. before going to imperial wharf, i treated myself to a treat from snog as a reward to myself for the hard work i put into last term's assignment. yup.

i explored the kings road &very nearly bought some lovely kitchen towels in the zara home sale before realising that it'd probably be pointless to own them, so put them back. i miss a lot of things; nesting being one of them.

i saw that ceramic candlestick holder above in anthro. god knows how much it cost; it was amazing tho. got three little bowls from anthro for 95p each! :o oh, i also got two free mascaras today! if you take any empty mascara bottle to the clinique counter in boots, they'll give you a 3.5ml of theirs for free. freebies are the ones.

i got a free packet of belvita biscuits from paddington station on monday, annnnd the lavazza van guy outside uni gave me my drink for free too on the same day. so that was nice. i also 'broke' one of my boots that day. yeah..

then i bused it to hammersmith &i felt really weird. mainly uncomfortable. i should be able to pop into peabody, have a chat, a cup of tea &whathaveyou. but i can't. well, i can but i just can't. so i went to primark, grabbed a few women's tops in the sale &i'm gonna screenprint on them soon. i chatted to a man on the bus home about 'a short history of nearly everything'. that was interesting.

2012-01-24T20:39:00.003Z

24/01/12

stained hands from mixing procion dyes sans gloves. touching-up four metre repeat. bargin 75p ice cream.

i finally finished my second attempt of the repeat length this morning! i had enormous help from kathryn &i'm extremely grateful that she gave up a lot of her time to help me out. thank you, kathryn.

2012-01-20T11:23:00.008Z

20/01/12

i spent the last few days working on a two metre textile repeat which contained three layers. (so twelve sections to print). luckily, i documented stages &it's just as well as you'll soon read about.
printed two sections of the first layer.. bit concerned about the colour, then i realise dur, the dye is wet &will dry to the correct shade.
printed last two sections of the first layer and then two sections of the second layer. long process but everything is going fiiine!
finished printing first and second layer. ready to do final layer and get this repeat wrapped up.. printed one section of the third layer..
bollocks! i ruined my design. that's what you get for rushing/not concentrating and not taping your screen up. so i had a printed line through that section of my print. scrubbed with water and then was told to leave it alone before i made it worse by scrubbing the first and second layers too much. shit.
i was so annoyed at myself but the damage was done &i won't be the last to make a dumb mistake like that. decided to continue printing in hope that the line would somewhat fade once it'd be steamed. kinda wishful thinking but didn't want to give up. i also painted in bits of the final layer because it was gappy from lack of pressure/lack of dye/whatever.

steamed fabric. line was still noticeable &the sections that'd be painted in were bumpy. half of the fabric wasn't acceptable standard, but the other half (one metre or so) was printed fine &ready to be turned into a sample.

i debated whether to wash the fabric or not, as i was aware that i'd only used 1g of procion dye for each colour because i wanted the colours really pastel &light. went ahead &washed design as i knew colours would bleed if i didn't. woke up this morning, checked damp fabric only to discover that my colours were so light that the design has almost vanished. ie. i probably can't hand half of the fabric in as a sample as the design is barely there. i therefore have nothing to show for my attempts.
this is what my dry fabric looks like. barely there, right? you might have to move your laptop/monitor or dim the brightness to just about see the faint design, but it's def there.

what a disaster. lessons learnt: patience. tape up your screen! concentrate. use a min. of 4g &no less (&even then, perhaps you're pushing it &should use more). here's hoping that the urgent re-attempt at my repeat length goes perfectly!

2012-01-15T23:41:00.005Z

15/01/12

earthlings. i am not proud to be a part of the human race. we are a disgusting collective. we bite the hand that feeds us &we're pretty close to be fucked over. i was going to start this entry off by saying that if you follow me on twitter, then i apologise for the recent tweets about the above film. (i even deleted a few tweets i wrote pretty much as soon as i entered them. um?) yet i have nothing to apologise for. if my tweets even got one person to think about animal cruelty &the way in which we treat our planet, then that is a wonderful thing. not that i'm assuming anyone takes notice of anything i post, but come on, tweets appear on a feed &there's hardly any escaping skim reading what others write.

whilst many mention worthy sentences were said throughout the film, i jotted down one particular thing that was said at the beginning of the documentary; Joaquin Phoenix describes animals as "fellow prisoners of the spendour &travail of the earth". i think that sentence is worth bearing in mind; we are all in this together. we are equal, not greater than animals or nature. who the hell decided that we were superior?

it makes me furious that people either don't give a damn about suffering (&so won't educate themselves on such matters either out of curiousity or, as implied, purely to educate themselves), or are fully aware of such pain yet they claim simply to not be bothered by it. how can you not be bothered by it? animal (&human) suffering is everywhere. you cannot simply choose when to let it affect you &when to not let it affect you. that is denial, but perhaps more importantly, ignorance.

i could write about this topic all day, and believe me, i would happily do so but i think it best to wrap this up & leave you to the link to stream the documentary yourselves. if you can spare an hour or so out of your life to watch earthlings, please do so. nobody likes people who can't form opinions based on their own knowledge and not what another human being has told them.

off you trot. (and really, that isn't meant to be a pun or an insensitive comment. i swear)

2012-01-13T17:58:00.003Z

13/01/12

i'm so happy that pelin &i patched things up. why is it that we haven't see each other since these photographs were taken?! not cool. i've missed that little lady. hi pelin ;)

2012-01-12T20:09:00.009Z

12/01/12

i'm so busy. and i'm so tired in general. just tired of everything. i played indiana jones the other day &it was just strange to be holding an xbox controller. i noticed that i completely fail on my own. i'm used to being given direction &spoken to, as in 'come on cat, lets get these bastards!'. you get the gist; being encouraged &playing as a team. yeah :/ everything is different.

i have an enormous amount of uni work. i failed with my dye mixtures. the colours aren't my desired ones but it's all trial &error. i'm too harsh on myself. ugh. gots to make mint (HOW?!) &lilac dye so i can get my two metre repeat wrapped up. and i mustn't forget to steam my prints. i have yet to try that out and noticed that the prints i did previously have bled due to lack of steaming/wash. yup.

above are a bunch of recent photographs &i think they're pretty self-explanatory.

2011-12-28T21:30:00.002Z

28/12/11

samuel in bed/cow print 'fur'/cat print/bow cushion i made earlier today. i was on a roll -i made three cushion covers &hemmed a tablecloth. go me!

i changed the layout on my website. again. tisn't anything fancy, just simplified. now i'm off to watch Armageddon. over &out.

2011-12-27T21:54:00.000Z

27/12/11

2011-12-26T21:51:00.000Z

26/12/11

x-files/mrs havisham/gillan anderson love.

2011-12-20T17:59:00.005Z

20/12/11

trying really hard, work christmas dinner, hdmi burn remains, hidden treasures in london, design museum snapshot, changed my fb photo -needed to be done or some shizzle, perfect colour combination at terence conran show.

i've changed the circus/acrobat wallpaper page so that when the link loads, you see a detailed section of the charcoal colourway. however, you are then able to hover over the image to view three of my printed repeat lengths. it's kinda like magic. or not.

christmas is meant to be like magic. but it isn't. it isn't christmas this year.

2011-12-14T22:39:00.002Z

14/12/11

i know a proper blog is due, but i have a lot going on &so snapshots will have to make do for the time being. instagrams from yesterday &today: bye bye perryn, trimming screenprinted wallpaper, michael mcintyre's comedy roadshow, ikea breakfast/shopping for essentials, decorating/making pretties.

2011-12-08T21:48:00.003Z

08/12/11

some instagram photographs from my week: digital wallpaper repeat, nutmeg sleeping, self &my little love, frozen planet, screenprinting layer one of textile repeat, bye bye beautiful companion, pig's new tshirt after shower, loyal ladybird friend.

2011-12-02T21:06:00.002Z

02/12/11

change, henry holland skeleton bones tights, kitchen, streaming new girl.

2011-11-29T20:15:00.003Z

29/11/11

i bought myself an iphone on sunday. here are some instagram photos that i've taken over the past few days. textile design prep, view from my window, self, my cupboard bedroom, adam &nutmeg.

2011-11-22T23:37:00.004Z

22/11/11

2011-11-21T00:10:00.000Z

21/11/11

2011-11-11T14:08:00.004Z

11/11/11

really looking forward to seeing my former fellow book artists' Mina, Xiao &Nancy's book &light installation at...
Grayson Perry Late at the British Museum tonight!

photo credit

2011-11-10T23:00:00.005Z

10/11/11

(click to enlarge)
i'll take some sneak peeks of my samples soon. i'm liking the black on charcoal print the most, so thinking that i'm gonna roll with that (if you pardon the pun).

2011-11-08T18:28:00.000Z

08/11/11

2011-11-07T14:58:00.004Z

07/11/11

so i mentioned on twitter a few days ago that i'd changed my website layout slightly, but wanted to do it all from scratch. check. it's nothing fancy but i much prefer it.
i wanted to use those particular polaroids as i feel it makes my website more welcoming &personal. the first is of screenprinted teacups from a project i did a few months ago. kathryn took it on her phone so it isn't a proper polaroid but shh! the next were taken over three years ago &are of my bestfriend, my fmp show from the foundation diploma &grandad &i painting mugs at christmas.

2011-11-01T18:03:00.005Z

01/11/11

wallpaper preparation for trial acrobat/circus screenprints. i put copper acrylic in the mix, so the pink is slightly pearlised although you can't quite see it in this photograph.
now, i'm off to make some toast &then head out for a work meeting :/ ugh.

2011-10-24T20:53:00.002+01:00

24/10/11

lovely yellow walls in our bedroom/hallway. i think i'd like to do a flat tour. why the heck not?!

2011-10-19T14:36:00.003+01:00

19/10/11

refined acrobat/circus performer digital repeat. hopefully, this will be a textile print that i'll get cracking on with soon.
i'm not quite sure if i am 100% okay with the fact that i've included two elephants in my design, as i am extremely anti-circus animals. perhaps it's okay to say that it's just a playful print -there isn't any hidden message behind my design. i'm not trying to promote animal cruelty, nor do i think that my design demonstrates it, but i am aware that the use of elephants may be seen as a bit hypocritical of me, no?

whether you are anti-circus or not, do animals come to mind when YOU picture the circus?

2011-10-18T14:16:00.002+01:00

18/10/11

two things..
this amazing photograph of an ice canopy in japan + why do we not have this ice cream in england?!

2011-10-14T21:52:00.004+01:00

14/10/11

today, my mum &i bused it to the Multiplied Art Fair at Christie's in South Kensington.

the collection of mostly screenprints (but also a few artists books &a couple of sculptures) was immense. the event is free, and the homemade bourbon biscuits are delicious! those are my three reasons to go.

2011-10-11T20:29:00.003+01:00

11/10/11

looking much better after adjusting the colour scheme. (sorry for the low quality image..
..i didn't want to upload the original file but hopefully i'll screenprint this design &then be able to share it in it's intended state)

2011-10-08T19:27:00.004+01:00

08/10/11

did you even know that apricot raspberries existed? cos i didn't. i came across them in waitrose &am curious to buy &try another time.
at the renegade fair, i awkwardly introduced myself to two ladies whose blogs i follow. one of which i've been reading since i was in sixth form. i think that sounds creepy. their blogs are Art Equals Happy &Pretty-Zoo (they were both really nice in person too!)

i came across this gorgeous vintage dress in a shop in brick lane, but it was £45 &i don't have the funds to spend £45 on a dress that would barely get worn. i did, however, buy two other vintage finds elsewhere; a cat print jumper &a cute girl/boy postcard to put somewhere in my home.

2011-10-07T13:44:00.004+01:00

07/10/11

three quick patterns that i created at uni yesterday in a workshop on how to generate patterns in photoshop. hopefully i'll get the hang of it all soon (but lets just say that my notebook for this lesson is going to be PACKED with many step-by-step notes).

2011-10-06T00:00:00.001+01:00

06/10/11

on tuesday, i bought this little faux deer mount. i named him..
i orginally bought it derek to put in my hallway, but my mister really hates derek (why?! he is amazing!), said 'no' &so i found a spot for him in the bathroom. i guess that the shelving unit that derek is placed on top of (&half of the mirror cabinet) is my dressing table? our flat doesn't have a bedroom (as such) so one has to improvise!

'you don't have a bedroom? say whaaat?!' we do. but we don't. it's more of a giant cupboard that snuggly fits a double bed, a mounted clothes/spare sheets/etc space &a book shelf. you have to climb into the cupboard to sleep. we LOVE it! maybe i'll do a 'room tour' at some point &share some photographs.

2011-10-05T17:55:00.003+01:00

05/10/11

few spoonfuls of this delicious yogurt + 1 banana + 1 m+s pretzel = dinner

2011-10-04T18:03:00.010+01:00

04/10/11

i was reading the Toni&Guy magazine this afternoon &came across Vicki Murdoch's beautiful scarves. naturally, i chose to blog this photograph as i'm a sucker for cat print.

my mister started his first year of a new course at university yesterday. i'm SO proud of him! and, i returned to lcc this morning only to be told that the pressure is ON! uh oh!

2011-09-30T22:19:00.005+01:00

30/09/11

i popped by the East Pop West show today. i'm pleased that there is finally something going on in WEST LANDAN! (by that, i mean in terms of art. or rather print related matter). it's located in goldhawk road (which isn't that far from me) &being that it was held in the old innocent smoothie headquarters, the entire floor of the building was lined out with grass. i thought that was pretty cool! (i'm easily amused).
i recognised a fellow surface design student who happened to being man-ing the Material table &told me that a handful of lcc surface design students were commissioned to sell their work -which was nice to have a gander at :) my favourite piece at East Pop West was a small Adam &Eve collage by Chin Keeler and Emma Tornero.

2011-09-27T15:30:00.005+01:00

27/09/11
just some mock up scenes as to how my wallpapers could look if printed. i'm pretty sure that i'd like to go ahead &print these two after a bit of alteration. what do you think?

2011-09-26T18:38:00.003+01:00

26/09/11

film photographs from last weekend. taken on the isle of wight.

2011-09-25T23:00:00.005+01:00

25/09/11
today was my mister's twenty-fifth birthday! we went to a 1950's american-style bowling alley &the birthday boy won! woo! hopefully i'll be able to share photographs soon, as i need to develop the film first. we only have one digital photograph from the night (which is this one) &unfortunately, ben's score wasn't added in ze photo but i did some mathematicals &voila!

2011-09-19T14:13:00.001+01:00

19/09/11

2011-09-15T21:36:00.003+01:00

nb: i use the term 'handmade' lightly, as it is &it isn't..we used a generic plastic frame, ikea wrapping paper (it was bought 3yrs ago so the design is probably discontinued) &citadel 'chaos black' spray paint (which is like a chalky black) &gave it to one of my favourite people to take to her new university home.

2011-09-12T21:20:00.003+01:00

another sneak peak of a series of wallpaper designs that I'm currently working on. this one was influenced by wacky races &would probably suit a childs bedroom/playroom or perhaps a feature wall in a living room. i reckon i'd like to screenprint this design (onto wallpaper), so we'll see what happens.

2011-09-08T12:53:00.002+01:00

I went into a boat shop in Greenwich yesterday &came across Ship's Cats -a book that I'll probably put to good use.

2011-09-06T00:00:00.003+01:00

i just watched a few episodes of sabrina the teenage witch &i'm feeling my age. i first watched this on nickelodeon fifteen years ago! shocker.

little fact for the day: my cousin &i went to the nickelodeon studios in central london when i was in year 6 &were on television that afternoon. do you remember the little balcony they had where children would stand cheering whilst the tv presenter would chat on the lower lever? ring any bells?! we met simon amstell (who was a complete &utter idiot. i was ten &clearly remember making that judgement. i still believe it), yiolanda koppel (i got her surname from the interwebs -thanks wikipedia) and bogey. do you remember bogey? the puppet that was, well, a giant bogey. i can't find any images of him online, but i left the studios with a bunch of postcards signed by the presenters i met that day (and generic ones of sister sister, cousin skeeter, are you afraid of the dark, rugrats, hey arnold, etc) and also one of bogey himself. i'll have to dig them out of their hiding spot at my parents' home &scan some in. wow, the nineties.

2011-09-05T13:32:00.001+01:00

sneak peak of a series of wallpaper designs that I'm currently working on.

2011-08-31T13:53:00.003+01:00

2011-08-29T08:00:00.000+01:00

i have some serious cat print issues. too bad that these shoes would be absolutely ridiculous for my diabetic footsies.

2011-08-28T22:41:00.004+01:00

i've just finished working seven days on the trot. i joked that i may as well have been sleeping in costa. jokes aside, i feel like i've been living there for the past week &i seriously need to catch up on uni work, giving nutmeg some much needed attention, food shopping &chores. and ideally, rest.

i've been meaning to put a few prints up on the internet to sell for awhile now &i've just been so busy with moving home/working/the diabetes course/what have you that i haven't got round to it (until tonight. phew!). whilst i think etsy is great, i honestly don't have the time to spend faffing around printing work (i don't even own a printer :/), packaging prints, plodding along to the post office, etc. it's something for the future!

however, you can now buy some of my work via society6 over at http://society6.com/catherinesparrey

2011-08-20T18:19:00.002+01:00

i didn't even know that they did bars this size! 75g. perfect pre/post swimming snack to maintain your blood sugars! thank you 99p stores!

2011-08-19T23:00:00.000+01:00

2011-08-17T15:53:00.005+01:00

1/6 wallpaper designs that i'm currently working on (sorry for the out-of-focus photograph)

2011-08-16T17:55:00.007+01:00

my mother-in-law (who lives by the river in Hammersmith) &i took a walk on sunday &happened to walk past the house where Emery Walker lived. i wasn't aware that the public can go in to view the home until i researched No. 7 Hammersmith Terrace, so i am def adding a visit to my 'to do list'. fact for the day: there was a sign located further down Hammersmith Terrace which pointed out that William Morris' daughter, May, lived near door, at No. 8.

2011-08-14T20:41:00.001+01:00

link

2011-08-13T20:33:00.002+01:00

2011-08-12T18:41:00.008+01:00

some things on my wishlist: a pair of yellow or mustard toms. pretty dress from asos that i'm thinking of buying for adam's birthday. pretty necklace from asos. only a tenner! and ofc the ceramic cat below. unfortunately, i'm not going to buy it as i know it wouldn't be a welcomed addition to our home (ie. adam dislikes it) only fair, right?

2011-08-11T16:11:00.000+01:00

i am so tempted to buy this! isn't it lovely?!

2011-08-10T22:38:00.004+01:00

it seems that everything has quietened down &stopped in london now. it's just really unfortunate to know that nothing has come of it. in terms of ealing (as far as i'm aware) the pm gallery was not affected, which was extremely lucky as it is right on ealing green/bond street where the rioting really kicked off. obviously, there's a far bigger picture than one gallery in all of this, but i just wanted to mention it as i posted about that gallery a few days ago.

just to let you know, i haven't been slacking in terms of creative processes! i'm just waiting to upload a selection of things at a later date. all in due time! i'm somewhat looking at the circus &spent a brief time flicking through this relevant book today in foyles. too bad it's almost £50. i also went to snog for the second time in the past few weeks as i can't get enough of that frozen goodness! i find it really filling too. fact for the day: this is prob the only photograph i have of myself injecting insulin.

2011-08-09T17:53:00.003+01:00

i went through ealing this morning on my way to work &saw how much damage those idiots have caused. it was awful to see what they've done to a place that is practically my home. amongst several things, so many local shops are going to be hugely affected. our coffee shop/surrounding shops all shut at five pm today after police feared that we might be targeted. we even had riots vans outside our shop :|

2011-08-08T19:32:00.004+01:00

seeing your old psychiatrist outside of a busy train station (&then hiding in holland &barret because you just don't want to talk to him) is awkward.. (and probably pathetic).

2011-08-07T00:16:00.000+01:00

i went to this lucienne &robin day exhibition today. twas lovely to see the work up close &in your face! i also went back to being brunette for the billionth time, and tried pumpkin/homemade pumkin pie for the first time in my existance -mmm!

2011-08-01T13:10:00.006+01:00

i took myself to the vintage fair on the southbank yesterday afternoon &treated myself to a few goodies using birthday money that i'd received a few days prior. i LOVED (!) the event &came home with two hair pieces, 1970s sunnies, some stuff from a stall that was hosted by etsy (where i was asked 'have you heard of etsy?'. ofcourse!), 1930s fabric that i plan on making a cushion with later today, a sprayed frida on my forearm &a big smile on the round mass that is my face!

2011-07-31T09:46:00.003+01:00

2011-07-29T21:34:00.005+01:00

adam woke me up early on wednesday morning &we tubed it to st. pancras. i knew he didn't know where my passport was (since our move), so i figured we weren't getting the eurostar. correct. he told me to stay put whilst he went &bought tickets, so i found myself re-adjusting my hair, as you do, in monsoon.

i walked back &was told not to look; only to insert my ticket into the barrier without reading anything. scanning various distinations on the arrival screens, i still didn't know where we were going.

remembering that adam didn't have our passports, i wondered why we were getting off at luton..

we discovered that luton town centre was pretty much a dump &i still didn't know where we were going, but i felt content knowing that we probably weren't staying in that hidious place. after a little wait, we got on a bus only to be told that the tickets weren't processed correctly at st. pancras, so we had to pay for our bus journey. uh-oh, no cash on us! the bus driver was really friendly &directed us to the nearest cash point &said he'd wait five minutes for us as the next bus would've been two hours after his. that was nice of him. us city folk aren't used to patient bus drivers, nor waiting twenty-minutes plus for transport.

dun dun dun, we arrived in dunstable! adam had bought us tickets to go to the zoo for my twenty-first birthday. dispite the not-so-summery weather, we had a lovely day &saw many animals that we hadn't before seen in the flesh. such as rhinos, elephants, bison, sloths, chimps, and many other creatures. we were exhaustated when we got back (and as you can imagine, it was quite late!), so we saved the birthday cake &dinner celebrations with my family for the following day. i had really nice birthday, so thank you my love!

(i just kinda feel the need to point out that whilst i'm one-hundred percent for animal rights, i don't consider zoos to be a form of animal cruelty. however, i think i'll save that entry for another time)

2011-07-25T20:00:00.003+01:00

today, after watching slideshows containing images of diabetes complications, one of my groupmates told me that my hairstyle reminded her of frida kahlo. that's nice.

2011-07-23T22:03:00.002+01:00

the love of my life now has glasses!

2011-07-22T14:15:00.002+01:00

i have a new page of work up, new handpainted links, and i did have a new 'about me' however i think i have a touch of ocd when it comes to web design, so that's something that will be on here shortly. i hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful english weather! (note: sarcasm)

2011-07-19T19:49:00.004+01:00

i thought the diabetic nurses were joking when this photograph popped up in their slideshow yesterday; that guy is wearing an insulin pump from back in the day. it's a bit prehistoric, isn't it? i really want to know if it just wasn't easier to boil up a saucepan &prepare their syringe the good-old fashioned way. i found this pregnant (or perhaps not so pregnant) vintage doll &thought it was fitting seeing as we were told a lot of blunt facts. things that i feel that the women on the delicious course needed to know, just to mentally prepare themselves for the future. the conclusion was that pregnancy is going to be difficult, but provided you manage your diabetes properly and have support, everything will be fine! that is comforting. the final photo is of a cannulla. we were shown a demonstration of how the insulin pump works, and ofc, a cannulla is essential in the process. i came to another conclusion; insulin pumps are completely and utterly not for me. i cannot wrap my head around the idea of having an 8mm needle (or infact, any size needle) permanently in my body with a plastic wire dangling from me at all times. it’s a fantastic invention, and i think that it’s great for children, but it isn't for me.

i was reading a few diabetes blogs and came across a photograph of a baby wearing a top which reads ‘i heart my diabetic mommy’. whilst the baby is a cutie, that is not cute. in the same way that having an item of clothing (or again, anything really) which reads ‘i heart my cancerous grandpa’ just isn’t funny. yes, laughing at these medical situations helps with coping with day-to-day life but surely there’s a line. it’s a personal thing, and i think that branding yourself in such a manner (or your child -who has no say in the matter) is distasteful.

another blog referred to diabetes as a disease. this has bothered me for the past ten years. diabetes is not a disease, it’s a condition. there are differences in the definition of both words, hence there being separate words for different (what shall we call them?!) “gifts” people have.

on a lighter note, did you know that disney have created a character with diabetes type1 (Coco the monkey) who wears an id bracelet across her wrist and sports a green rucksack containing her insulin pump?! i didn’t spot Coco went i went to disneyland paris in march. only in america folks, only in america.

2011-07-14T15:18:00.004+01:00

we will have been living in our new home for exactly a month this saturday. here are our walt disney/babar prints that we got from portobello market a few months ago. both are from the 1940s.

2011-07-05T12:49:00.003+01:00

i am now taking part in four-week course for my diabetes. ironically called delicious. you could say that's it's the beginning of a whole new chapter, as i have to completely change the way i deal with what i consume &how much i inject. it's all very complex, and i'm feeling the motions. i bought myself these pantone kitchen scales on ebay earlier, and i think they're perfect because a) i need to pretty up a tricky time, hence the purchase b) my kitchen consists of a lot of pistachio items with a hint of robert dyas' take on calla green -so they'll fit right in c) scales are essential for this new health concept that i'm attempting d) universal colour coding? yes!

2011-06-30T12:48:00.000+01:00

2011-06-28T21:02:00.004+01:00

2011-06-22T20:54:00.003+01:00

i visited the museum of advertising and packaging today.i spent a handful of hours there studying each cabinet &filling up pages upon pages of my sketchbook. time just disappeared. the 90s section was my favourite. (i'm biased). tazos from walkers crisps, spice girl easter eggs and teenage mutant ninja turtles?! hello! the turtles single was number one in the uk the week i was born. fact for the day.

2011-06-21T20:21:00.003+01:00

well, we've moved!this was taken bright and early last monday morning (day #1 of moving) in our previous borough. we are now pretty much completely unpacked and enjoying our new home. it is SO nice to have fantastic lighting from our huge window, and to have a bedroom again! and steps! forget open planned living -it is so nice to have seperate rooms once again. plus, nutmeg seems to like her new home too. she doesn't quite understand why she can't come &go as she pleases (we live on the first floor) but is taking to the flat a hundred times better than expected.

two peeks of our new home:1) adam &his gaming face. although you can't see, nutmeg was happily curled up on his lap. she treats adam like her mother, and i've grown to accept their relationship. it's cute, right?

2) standard ikea lamp that we bought a week today. amazing vintage michael miller fabric that i recently purchased. i pinned it to a canvas, kindly asked adam to nail it to our kitchen wall today (i'm 5"3 &shorty can't reach) &voila!

2011-06-04T00:00:00.003+01:00

Material set my class a brief on March 17 2011. It required us to group up &produce a product which could potentially sell in their shop. Kathryn Smart, Shayne Sackie-Richards &myself collaborated under the name 'Moose Moose' &created a simple hand-screenprinted recipe card set. This is our outcome.

2011-06-03T17:33:00.004+01:00

"Prints For Boys Bedroom"A friend from the BA Book Arts and Design course asked me to exhibit work in their current show. I was a bit unsure about doing so, but after speaking to other classmates, I decided to go ahead. It's nice to know that I'm still seen as part of the course.

Whilst I shouldn't really say anything, the work I submitted was very quickly put together &I feel that it doesn't show my prints in their best light, hence the above photograph of my print used in another way -as a cushion. I should've probably exhibited that but it doesn't matter as I am grateful to be part of the show regardless.

You can view my work here or view the show for yourself if you're near SE1.

2011-06-02T00:00:00.001+01:00

Kathryn Smart (one of my fellow Moose Moose-ers) kindly let me have one of her beautiful prints for my new flat. I'm sure she doesn't mind that I'm posting her work on the internet! I think the print is lovely &it reminds me of the circus/seaside. Sorry that you can't see how beautiful it is due to the low quality of this photograph. Maybe Kathryn will make a blog! (Hi Kathryn, if you're reading!)

2011-06-01T14:47:00.002+01:00

yes please!

2011-05-31T21:57:00.007+01:00

Moose Moose bundle of work laid out for the Material presentation that we had with Lucy (who owns the shop) yesterday. I felt that I spoke too much during our presentation. Oops!

My teacups &saucers (&broken digestive). One of my Moose Moose-ers joked that I should be a stylist because I kept fiddling with the positioning of these!

2011-05-30T14:12:00.001+01:00

2011-05-29T20:53:00.004+01:00

it seems that i'm always wearing this jumper whenever i go to take photographs for my blog. it's okay, you have to tramp it out. anyway, i took this photograph a week ago before a viewing in our current home. i'm feeling really pms-y today &i'm sad to know that we'll be leaving our home in a few weeks. not because i want to stay (no way, hose) but because this is our first home, i dislike change, our cat is going to be miserable as she'll no longer have a garden to roam about in, yadda yadda yadda.

whatevs. woe is me.

if you're about in SE1 on June 2nd, then you should def come to the BA Book Arts &Design show to see..

!

if you excuse my half arsed photoshop job, wouldn't it be amazing if this were my living room?! okay, maybe not. aleks &i found this place in brighton &it was A-MAZING! i'm all for kitsch, britannia things. probably a little bit too much, but is that really such a bad thing?! really?!

2011-05-28T00:00:00.000+01:00

material brief // digestive teacup &saucer

2011-05-27T19:20:00.001+01:00

two-day location sketchbook // feb '09 // through my depression

2011-05-26T21:41:00.001+01:00

material brief // custard cream teacup &saucer

2011-05-25T19:33:00.000+01:00

material brief alt group design // acrylic + photoshop

2011-05-23T20:59:00.006+01:00

five seconds left &i got outbid on the babar bowl. screw you, ebay!

2011-05-21T20:22:00.003+01:00

after seven weekends of working in my local coffee shop, i've finally got my name tag! this makes me weirdly happy. so, i'm feeling excited/sad in terms of the upcoming move. i feel like i don't really have time to be feeling anything in regards to the move, as i need to be concentrating on work/finishing everything for the uni deadline, but i do. part of me is sad as this was our first home/we have a lovely little garden that we'll be leaving behind/this whole area is just really green (which is something we both really like)/a few more things. then part of me is looking forward to the move as i'm gonna love decorating the place/we'll have more space/be in a nicer area/etc.

2011-05-21T00:00:00.002+01:00

click to enlarge // work in progress

2011-05-20T21:04:00.002+01:00

Today I went to thewith Aleks &was pretty amazed with the vast amount of textile/ceramic/wallpaper collections. And ofc, the free celebrations chocolates in a particular shop! We left with some samples (some of which I'll frame &put in my new home) &will be awaiting for other samples that we picked out to be sent to us in the post. Freebies are always nice, especially when they'll be put to good use!

I typed 'my new home'... Adam &I are moving! Goodbye Zone 5!

2011-05-18T00:00:00.000+01:00

june 2nd // supporting my fellow book artists

2011-05-16T13:45:00.001+01:00

work in progress // chocolate brown a3 print (currently incomplete)

2011-05-15T13:43:00.002+01:00

i want this usb // urbanoutfitters.com

2011-05-12T17:38:00.000+01:00

My class had a really inspiring lecture from Camberwell College of Art graduate Christopher Pearson today. I found listening to him talk about his processes, time management, and honest words on working in the industry really eye-opening.

2011-05-10T12:36:00.001+01:00

relevant to my current work // i think i need to buy myself one of these beauties.