Rosy Lady

Spooky

Yesterday was a misty/foggy day here.  It made for some interesting, spooky images:

 

This is Hadleigh Castle.  These castle ruins are not far from where we live.  It is on a hill with a stunning view to the Thames Estuary with Kent on the other side.

I don't believe in ghosts but have a vivid imagination and the combination of foggy days and old castles can make me think up a few ghosts from the past.

Hadleigh Castle was built in the 1230's during the reign of King Henry III.  The mountain biking competition in the 2012 Summer Olympics will be held here.

Something else that I find spooky is a deserted boat or ship on misty waters..

Happy Halloween!

xx

My first blog feature

I am so excited to find that my blog has had it's first feature!!!  Thank you so much tigerprint!!!

To add to the excitement, I have got the rest of the afternoon off with Hubby and tomorrow I have a whole day devoted to designing.  The weekend I will be off to the Festival of Quilts.  I was hoping to go by train but there are a few train strikes so, I'm not risking getting stranded in Birmingham.  Instead, I'm going to drive up.  I've driven around Birmingham before and got really lost so, tomorrow I will also go hunting for a tom tom.  

My mind is really in design mode now.  When I design, I find that I mentally go back to those childlike moments where I just 'play' and see where my imagination takes me.  Sometimes, I start with a good idea of what I want it to look like, sometimes it is all sketched out and sometimes I just have a colour palette that calls me to combine the colours without too much thought.  For me, it is all about finding the inner-child.  

This photo was taken on one of our holidays to the Cape and I love the children playing in the water, whenever I see this, I am reminded how carefree children are, and that is how I feel when I am designing.

Heirloom textiles

I returned to work (my day job) on Thursday after I had two weeks off with the flu.  Although it is great to feel better, it means that I now have to use evenings and weekends again for my designing time.  I am currently working on my first fabric line to put forward to companies out there but as I can't show you any of those designs, I thought I would show you some photos of vintage textile patterns.  I took these when we were in the Cape, South-Africa, in February this year.  We stayed in an old house on the side of a mountain, amongst the vineyards and just outside Stellenbosch.  The house was packed with antiques and family heirlooms.  I could not resist the opportunity to take photos of some of the vintage textiles that was in the house.

I like the colors in this one:

I love this potholder: 

I've always loved vintage hand embroidered pieces so, I thought that I would include these too:

There are still loads but I think these will do.  Looking at pieces like these, it always makes me wonder about the people who made it.  Maybe a young bride sewed those pot holders to use in her kitchen?  Maybe it was lovingly made by a creative grandmother?  Handmade pieces are so special and become heirlooms and handed down from generation to generation.  How special to think that the sewing/quilting/embroidering that we do today, may be loved by generations to come?

I hope you have enjoyed this nostalgic journey with me?  Next weekend I am off to Birmingham for the Festival of Quilts.  I should have plenty of photos from that to share with you.  I am also hoping that someone there will sell me a rotary cutter so that I can crack on with that free pattern which I promised in my last post.

Hope you've had a great weekend!

xx

Christmas in July

Well, I was contemplating about whether to blog about the car accident that I was in on Friday when someone drove into the back of my car or, that I am at home with the flu, just moping around, watching the clock until Hubby can come home BUT THEN I GOT THIS EMAIL!!!  

I recently forced myself to get out of my comfort zone and to enter my first design competition with Tigerprint (they supply cards and wrapping paper to Marks & Spencer).  Well, there were so many gorgeous entries that I did not think my designs would get noticed.

I didn't win but I am a runner up.  To me, that was the bit of validation that I needed to say, 'yes, you're ok and there is a place in this competitive market for your creativity.'  Thank you so much for the opportunity Tigerprint!

If you want to see all the entries, the winning entry and runners up, take a look at tigerprint

My little runner up was this design:

The judges commented: A refreshing and exciting colour palette has been utilised well in this design. The formatting and layering of the tree icon creates depth and an interesting and intriguing design. The subtle snow detail creates a more delicate and beautiful element. Overall a really versatile design that answers the brief well.

That has made my day, although I did not win, I still feel like Christmas had come early.  Hope your day also ends with a pleasant surprise.  

Catching up

Hi blogland,

It has been a while since my last post but, have kept busy laying the foundations of my business.  I've done lots of emailing, contacting, reading, thinking, planning, plotting...  I now feel able to take some time out from that and focus on getting some designs done, oh where to begin when I have so many ideas?!

But, first, my parents have arrived today from South Africa to visit us for 3 weeks.  It is such a privilege to have parents who would travel half way around the world, just to see me!  I feel so loved and blessed.

Tomorrow we will be getting up at 4:30 a.m. to catch a plane to Amsterdam for a 5 day trip.  I am so super excited.  Holland holds a special place in my heart.  It was my first trip to Europe and definitely where the travel bug got me.  I was an exchange student for 2 months and stayed in the town of Breda from where I used every opportunity to travel.  Those 2 months felt very long, I loved every moment but, got so home sick, never could I imagine that I would end up living in England and only see my family once a year (when all goes to plan).

I have been back to Holland since my student days and always dreamed of taking my parents, but Mum in particular to see the country and especially the tulips at Keukenhof.  I believe that this is the year of 'dreams come true' and it is going to be so wonderful to share.

I wanted to post some photo's from a recent trip to South Africa where we visited the beautiful Cape.  I've only downloaded my photo's a couple of days ago and couldn't help but notice how the majority were focussed on pattern and design.  

Easter blessings