Juneathon Week One round up

I've had a good and busy week, in which I have exercised everyday but had no time or inclination to blog, so here's a little round up instead.

 I made a start on bigger geometric drawings in my studio. Really pleased with how they're evolving. This is about a metre across. Tricky to get a good picture. I'm going to try and make a little time lapse film of me making one. This will involve me learning how to make a time lapse film, hmmm.

 On Friday I went to a meeting in Liverpool at Open Eye Gallery. Exciting things happening, which I'll talk about later once things are confirmed! It's a great space, enjoyed the Martin Parr photographs. I went over to the Tate Modern and checked out the Constellations exhibition too.

 The weather was beautiful, I had such a nice day pottering around and checking out some galleries and drinking lots of good coffee. Went to Bold Street Coffee and managed to find the Baltic Bakehouse, which was boss, la!

 Went to the Science Fiction exhibition at FACT, which really spun me out. There were loads of little doors to go through , it was like being on a space ship (I imagine). There was this weird film with a talking lychee (or durian, who can say?) in it which I enjoyed.

 On Saturday I got soaked for the umpteenth time cycling into town to teach a screen printing workshop at Fred Aldous. Lovely group, always love seeing how different everyones prints are. Next workshop dates are in September, you can book on the Ministry of Craft website.

 I was a little late with my Weekly Word Drawing. This week's theme was 'Head'. I had a few different ideas, but hastily knocked these smug moon heads out. Trilby versus fez, which will win? (Fez, obvs.)

 I am trying to be healthy and eat well and not drink, so made a radish and fennel salad with lemon and mint dressing, to accompany delish tea made by my pal. First Saturday night booze-free since time immemorial.

 This morning Nick and I drove out to Longdendale and ran up and down a big hill. It was mega!

 Nice day for it! And by 'it', I mean a very sweaty 10k run.

Ate a bacon butty, watched the tennis, then distressed some cats.

Miles cycled: approx 70
Miles ran: 6.8
Yoga classes completed: 1
Units of alcohol consumed: ZERO!

FutureEverything Workshops

Hello! I'm way behind on posts, I've been super-busy running, cycling, printing and teaching workshops! Here are some photos from the HANDMADE workshop at Victoria Baths. It was a super-fun, busy, hectic day!

More photos on my Facebook page! The next workshop I'm running is on the 30th June at Fred Aldous for the Ministry of Craft. In August I'm running some workshops for 10-15 year olds, so if you know anyone who'd like to have a go at printing in the summer holidays, send them my way! Details here: Craft Academy

Happy Birthday Fred Aldous!

Hello! This is my 100th blog post and I'd been feeling a little shy about what to put in it. Well, luckily I remembered that I'm doing some drop-in workshops on Sunday as part of our lovely local craft shop's 125th birthday celebrations! There will be market stalls and other crafts to try over the weekend, so come on down, it's free too!
Other than that I've been working on new designs for commissions and such, all good fun.

Making Magazine

This week started with some exciting post - issue 7 of Making magazine arrived on my desk with my how-to and q&a nestled within! It was lovely to be asked to do the project for them and I'm really happy with how they styled it. Hurray!

Inspired by Fair Isle

Here's a little look at some new ideas I've been working on. I've been thinking about this sort of thing for a while: geometric shapes, symmetry, folk prints and grid structures have been lurking in sketchbooks for some time. I thought I'd put some photos of my design process up too.



Pattern drawn out on graph paper and traced off.




Transfered onto stencil paper and cut out with scalpel.




Red print on white felt. I've printed this design onto aprons and tea towels so far, I'm hoping to make some felt cushions too. Come on down to the studio and take a peek! We're having our Christmas launch at the Craft Centre on Saturday 27th November, why not pop in them for a free drink and a wander about? Any feedback would be much appreciated!

Ministry of Craft

Hello! Next Saturday I'm running a screenprinting workshop for the Ministry of Craft at Fred Aldous. There are still a few spaces left, so if you fancy giving it a go head over to the Ministry website and book yourself a place! We will be using simple stencil-cutting techniques and screen printing onto fabric. Bring some inspirational images and something to print onto! In past workshops people have printed onto t-shirts, bags, pillow cases and cushion covers. You could even print onto some lovely fabric and frame it, or make a sweet, personalised bunting for a party...Many possibilities! Hope to see you there! x