Cosmos Love

Cosmos Love, originally uploaded by Helen Rawlinson.

My wonderful neighbour, Angela, popped these in my plant pots outside my front door one day when I wasn't looking. They've always been eaten by slugs when I've tried to grow them from seed. Now just opening up, the bees are getting very drunk with Cosmos love.  Me too!

Girls!

I had a bit of a girlie session last week and made this for a NOTHS customer.

 

Then I sold this:

  

 Just one left here

..and a buttercup yellow flower

 

All very sugar and spice!

Oh and these.....

 

Twins!

Sale Shop!

Did you know that this is on sale in my shop at a bargain price?  Well you do now!

Moving on to the next.......

Summer has flown by as usual.  I've treasured this one, as Stanley will be starting his new school next week and so work has kind of been ambling along quietly, when I can fit it in.  I get cross about my inability to juggle stuff, but then realise that I am sort of getting things done.   I'm having exciting times with my new workshops at The Make Lounge, which feel just a bit too early to blog about, nerves a plenty, but much fun!  I joined Not On The High Street, finally, after years of deliberating! Once set up, I have to say, I like the simplicity of it.....all this uploading and updating onto various different sites is not much fun and I haven't been very good at it I'm afraid.
Anyway, having not much else to say and just waiting to get my teeth stuck into the mountain of things I want to do, here is a little video of one of the special moments of summer...at our place in France.  Wonderful friends came to stay, bringing memorable gifts.  LED balloons, you just have to get some!

Tate Loud 2010

Tate Loud 2010, originally uploaded by Helen Rawlinson.

We made a teeny piece of art

Tate Loud 2010

Tate Loud 2010, originally uploaded by Helen Rawlinson.

A perfect Saturday!

Summer Print Workshop. Holiday Club.

This was the print of the day for me. I just love it!
Hand drawn and cut by Zoe, age 6.
This workshop was a tough one, right from the start. Stanley wasn't having it that his mum was next door playing with the big kids so he proceeded to come in and sabotage all the craft stuff on the periphery. Failing that it was full blown screaming!
The first 6 all wanted to do Arsenal in red.
Then "can we do bags instead?"
But by the afternoon, it was all running smoothly. Thanks to my little helpers, we had a fair number of adorable tee shirts printed and drying on the jam packed washing lines.
Each time I swear I won't do it again. Then you get a little cat like this, a very cheerful bunch of kids and happy as can be parents at the end of the day and I'm already thinking about what to do next time!

Catch the rest in my Flickr set.

We've been away.....

I'm not quite back, still out there somewhere in my head. Hoping to return soon.

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.