My Baby Gwen

These are proud and tiring days for M-Boo and I. Last Tuesday I gave birth to my first child (as pictured above) - a beautiful baby girl named Gwendolyn Eliza.

Strawberry Heart

I have had an interesting day:

• Tonight hubby and I demolished a delicious bunnet of strawberries. 
  
• And today I have been in the early phase of stage 1 labour. So I have been sucking it up (almost literally - eating ice cubes and zoopa doopa icy poles for relief).
  

Feeling happy and inspired by the pending birth, I quickly doodled the above illustration. It is a strawberry heart.

Thinking about strawberries, reminds me of a doll I had when I was a little girl - Strawberry Shortcake. I loved that little doll.

I then decided I really would like to bake a Strawberry Shortcake in the near future, and so found this recipe online which I'll give a go sometime.

It Is On My List

The latest thing to be added to my list of wants for 2009 is this book... "Meet Me At Mike's: 26 crafty projects and things to make".


This book will soon be (hopefully) available and I look forward to snapping it up... and so should you. The book is written by Pip Lincolne of Meet Me At Mike's fame and covers projects by other well known and liked crafters. One of the crafting projects in the book will even be by one of my long time favorites - Claire Robertson.

Back Burners

And so... the creative juices continue to flood my brain. Herein are more ideas I came up with yesterday evening.

I am thinking of designing my own purse, with a patchwork theme (as pictured). And perhaps crocheting some colourful winter hats with clip on flowers which can be alternated. I'll keep these thoughts on the back burner for a rainy day.

My Muse Is Nearby

Yesterday I was feeling inspired and as a result the following sketch was one of my many ideas for the day.

I am always in a far better mood when the mental juices are flowing and yesterday was no exception. I had some great ideas for fashion, fabric printing and a concept for a book. Now today I will put some thought into designing some table setting place mats.

Show Stopper Studio

There is a fantastic website that I want to hype about - called SHOWstudio. I stumbled across SHOWstudio when I followed a link to a free John Galliano pirate jacket pattern (as pictured below). 

I love this jacket. There is something about it that reminds me of David Bowie from the movie Labyrinth.

At SHOWstudio you will find in-depth coverage of the fashion industry. This site has a unique quality as it is able to shed a lot of light on to an industry that is normally so cagey. The site has broken down a wall between audience and the artists who are able to share a piece of themselves and the work they do. Very insightful for those wanting to break into the fashion industry or even those just mildly curious.

Flower Baby

I recently had an idea for a babies hat, which was inspired by natural flower bunches. I have also been inspired by floral ornamentation for decorating as seen in specialty cake shops. I might make this hat for autumn or winter later this year. The flowers would be made of felt fabric - preferably in pink, lilac and blue colours. The inner fabric and ribbon would be a light coloured green as a reminder of nature. 

Flower bunches in nature (inspiration).

Floral ornamented cake (inspiration).

Seam Star Without the Stress

Do you have an appreciation for fashion? Or perhaps you wish to enhance your wardrobe but do not feel confident in your sewing skills. I know how that feels, and was recently inspired to find blogs out there that can inspire and provide great advice on homemade sewing.

The world of fashion is changing and many people are wanting to return to the basics and be able to make their own garments. In the current economic enviroment this can be useful. I can also say that it is wonderfully satisfying having designed and sewn an outfit by oneself.

Below is a small blogroll of sites that cover fashion themes such as sewing, vintage styles. All of which can be useful for you if you are wanting a wardrobe more customised to your style and on a moderate budget.

Check out the following sites. You just might find something that you rather like.

• Pink Tucks
  
• The Sewing Divas
• Burda Style
• The Feed Dog
• Laura's Sewing Room

If you know of other blog sites that cover homemade fashion feel free to make a reference in the comments.

Bright Spark

I have recently created some new paint brushes in Photoshop, and this here picture is an experimental play to see how they would look.

One paint brush is from a hand drawn star. The other paint brush is from a photo taken of the moon last night.

Catch a Falling Star

This week I have had a song with the lyrics "Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket..." trapped in my head, after watching the movie Princess Diaries. So the only natural result for me was to create the following illustration.

Fantastically Floral Fashion

Below are mock examples of an idea I had for fashion fabric. It is a combination of floral ornamentation and stripes, in a variety of different colours. It is all very candy-candy. Mmmm.

Enter the New Year - 2009

Welcome to the new year - 2009. How on earth we reached the 2000s, I do not know. But here we are.

I am not a new year resolutions type of person, however I do hope for good things to come. I have a baby on the way and I plan to enjoy the experience of becoming a new parent. I also hope to do more with my artwork. And I hope to have many happy moments with my husband and our growing family.

The Beach Pier