Last Post before the Great Escape

Chaos is a foot with packing and cramming before we zip off to France and our family get together at Scarpat. One week left from the 28th of August, any offers?!
I've pushed to one side all my stressful thoughts of never ending lists of things I haven't done and settled on enjoying my son's last few weeks at Nursery and getting involved with my local community.

The Great white Wall

You can see more pics on our local blog LARA.  I put my hand up to running the blog.  Why oh why did I agree to this? I don't know, but there you go.  What happened last Sunday kind of made it all worth while.
The Big Lunch, what a fab idea and it was such a great day.

The Stencils

My contribution was to get everyone painting a wall at the far end of a very underused park in our neighbourhood.  Here were the results.  I totally loved it, everyone chipped in and we ate fantastic local food and had a real laugh.

The boys were first!

Finally the stencils came out!

.....and the girls got going

All that energy!

 Bon Voyage!


I've just enrolled to The Play Academy over at The Nuture Store.  A fab resource for kids stuff and play!

Ernesto Neto at The Hayward

A tailored made exhibition for me and my little boy!
A wonderful day and this little video just about sums it up.

Ernesto Neto and his dreamy wonderland of stretchy stockings in hues of lemon, lime, watermelon, aqua and lavender.   A sensory explosion, but in a gentle and inviting way, pulling you in, to explore a world of misty avenues and sneeky peepholes, with pockets of scents and a big drum to pound.

We went on a school day so were lucky enough to have the space almost to ourselves.   The weather wasn't too great either so the swimming pool outside was a great invitation, had he been 20cm taller! 

I loved the signage inviting you to be gentle or not to touch at all. 

The minature, urban park and the giant sized slotty pieces on the open decks were a great contrast to all the mist and cloud inside.

We took a break upstairs in the Project Space, with Stanley watching the Powerpuff Girls on an interactive screen in the Waterloo Sunset Pavillion, while I dreamed about in the big white space of dice world!

The work of Semâ Bedirovic was a brilliant companion to the room below and the short film of the advancing black dot was just a joy!

Back down stairs in The New Decor Exhibition and we even got a chance to swing in the bondage style, chainmail hammock!  An incredibly relaxed and friendly gallery attendant with a shiny gold tooth just made his day when Stanley was given the go ahead to 'get in'!
A giant take on interiors and a wild stretch of the imagination it all was.  I loved the mattress completely covered in buttons.

In the shop I bought a fab book called PLAY ALL DAY Design for Children.  A lovely souvenir of a great day out.

I had to laugh when I read this funny review by Charles Darwent for The Independent 
'My fear for The Edges of the World is that it will be seen by middle-class parents as a bouncy castle made for their children and so be filled with shrieking Toms and Daisys.' ....and Stanleys!
Well tough, we both enjoyed it which is more than can be said for a day in the park. Just don't go in the school holidays.

Numbers Up

I made some lavender bags sometime last year and having sold and given them all away, I meant to do more, but like a lot of things, I just haven't got round to it!

Then, I came across this fab tutorial for number bean bags via the brilliant Little Red Bus.  It was spotted on Holly's cheerful blog Chez Beeper Bebe.  There are just loads of great tutorials on her blog and she has a lovely shop too.  Her Two Faced range is just adorable!
Anyway, I was determined to make some for Stanley at some point, so here they finally are.

 

Inspired by our workshop chats and sample making for Jennifer at The Make Lounge, I've thrown myself back into the world of machine embroidery and have been having lots of fun.
Some of the fabric clashes are a bit mad, mixing my prints with fabric scraps that I've had forever, but I just wanted to be a bit random and colourful for my little lad.  I've stuffed them with wheat and lavender to give him a sensory kick too!
Holly gives all the beneficial and fun reasons for making these on her blog and I whole heartedly agree!
We played catch, what's missing, hide and seek, memory game, juggling and finally throwing them all straight at me.  That's when it all got a bit out hand and we had to stop!  Our living room is now filled with a lovely aroma of lavender and despite having a crap nights sleep last night, I felt I at least got something good done today.

So thanks to all those links to a great thing and more on The Make Lounge later!

Oh and I thought I'd add just one more link!
A great Giveaway here from Karen Jones' super kiddie filled style blog All About The Boys
Lovely books, lovely boys! Can't get enough.

Where Did The Week Go?

Sunday was another glorious, sunny day at the Chocolate Factory and Open Studios was as busy as ever, despite the heat and the football, what football?

Tea towels were a bit of a hit and I got rid of some big shades I'd had hanging about for a long time.  Always good to have a clear out and show off new work.

My mini workshop was just as entertaining for me as I hope it was for the participants. Much better than just sitting there and saying, 'hiyah!', every time someone walks in. There is the part of selling stuff of course, but I don't mind that bit! 

Each of my workshoppers that day, had something special about them....

There was wonder artist, quick draw Sylvia, who truly tested our cutting skills with the cat and the croc for her friend. I found out she just lives round the corner and her website is something quite unique! A truly talented lady with tons of enthusiasm.

Then there was Mattie, a little bit shy to begin with, but a natural with a pencil. I loved her cheeky cat and mini mouse. I think she was super pleased with the result.

Nathan, the bold, rocked up two of his monster ghosts in a matter of minutes after initially being a bit 'not bothered/maybe later' about the whole thing. One for him, one for his Gran.

Finally Juliea, laughing, lovely, poet lassie, who followed Nathan's leap of faith and revelled in an afternoon of fun. She even shared her chocolate brownie with us all!

What a joy they all were! Thanks for adding something special to my weekend you guys, and the Saturday bunch too.

I've posted pics from all the studios on our Facebook Page. There was some amazing work for sale and to peruse.  I will eventually get them all on Flickr when time allows.

Matt, from studio five and our super barman for the evening took some great shots of the private view too.

Since then I've had meetings with The wonderful Make Lounge | Look out for my workshops in August/September. Very excited about this!
They are also hosting a Charity Tea Party Workshop for Marie Curie Cancer Care on Sunday 18Th of July. Sounds like a great bash with tons of fab prizes.....just added one of my new tube lights to the long list too!

Next up was a 24hr bug that hit me like a big hammer to the head, a visit to Stanley's new school, an adventure playground day out and a serious session of trying to catch up. Oh no it's Friday already!

This is going to be a work free weekend......enjoy!

One More Day.....

Well so far it has been a glorious weekend. The private view was bustling with visitors. It's so nice when the weather is kind!
My printing workshop is proving popular amongst the kids of Stoke Newington.
I've posted loads of images of the whole event on our Facebook page



Last chance Sunday to come down and print your own bag and enjoy more sunshine.
Come after 3pm and it might be nice and quiet......I wonder why? Come on ENGLAND!

The Chocolate Factory N16 Summer Open Studios

Private View is almost here!

I'll be selling off lots of samples and ex stock of lampshades and bases at greatly reduced prices.

Check some of my sale items in my shop here

I'll also have fabric swatches, cushions, tea towels and more!

And if you want to take your shopping home in a brand spanking new bag, you can come and print your own!

You do the design, the print and the clean up!

Welcome to children and adults of all ages, a fun little lesson in basic screen printing.

Costs £5 incl. bag!
Bring along a letter stencil (use A4 photocopy/print paper or similar) No bigger than 18cm square.

No need to do the border, just a cut out of your initial and we are away!

If you'd prefer a Tee Shirt, bring your own and we can print on that instead.

Arrive totally unprepared but want to have a go? Yes you can!

Limited space, time and bags, so it's first come first served!
Saturday/Sunday only. I don't think I could cope on the PV night!I'm carrying this on from my last workshop at the nursery, going back to bags as it's easier than all the sizing issues.
For the nursery I picked T Shirts to make a change, having done bags the last few times. As the holiday workshops are a free for all, with no preparation and kids wanting instant results, I decided to try out letters, keeping it simple for those that found it difficult to grasp, but creative enough for others who could just go for it. I also wanted to draw in some of the other kids that had not been interested in the past.
Based on my ABC print I made screens with little borders to frame the letters and it was then down to them to fill the box with a simple initial.

I did wonder whether I'd stifled their creativity a bit by providing a framework, but it was an interesting experiment and seemed to go down very well. I don't think the end results were as exciting as the previous workshops, in photographic form anyway, having said that, the kids were really excited about what they had achieved and then to be able to wear their own work was a big bonus.
We rattled off loads and it was really nice to see them all parading about in them at the end of the day.
The age range at holiday club is from 3 to 11 so it's quite a challenge to keep everyone happy.
I've really enjoyed these workshops as Stanley has gone through the nursery. It's a wonderful place and really inspiring. It's also made me appreciate the care that goes into making a creative and happy nursery setting. I'm feeling rather sad that soon he will leave and we'll be entering the big league of School!
Following that, I had a bit of fun making a cushion for my nephew's first birthday. More for the shop soon, hopefully.

Anyway, pop down to the studios at the weekend and try a bit of printing and personalising for yourself!

Hey Daddy, look what 'WE' made!

OK, so Mummy ended up doing it all from start to finish! Stanley was well up for the idea of sticking and glueing in the garden, but I lost him at the first blob of glue! Oh well....it's the giving that counts and the big hug that went with it! Happy Daddy, happy son, job done.
Happy Father's Day to all the lovely Dads out there and mine too, miss you Dad x