Gloomy Frogs

Shoegazer Creative:
I made this Gloomy Bear decoration a few months ago. It's made of felt with a ribbon to hang it up by. It was just an experiment project really but I am pleased with the outcome!
This Keroppi plushie was also made a few months ago, again just as an experiment . . .If you would like a Gloomy decoration or a Keroppi, I am in the process of developing a webshop with one of my close friends, so watch this space!

Brooches

As promised in my last post, here are the Rosie Wonders brooches I got for Christmas:
And here is another brooch I got as a gift. It's engraved wood and a really nice font, though unfortunately I don't know who made it . . .

Discoveries

Firstly, Happy 2009 to anyone who stumbles across this humble little creative blog of mine! I plan to make 2009 a much more creatively productive year which involves actually doing something with the things I make!

Over the Christmas break I finally managed to visit two places I'd been longing to visit all year - Sunday Up Market on Brick Lane, and the massive Paperchase on Tottenham Court Road.

Unfortunately, due to the pressures of last minute Christmas shopping, I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to browse Sunday Up Market but it was really nice to see stalls and products from websites I like to visit such as Custom Made, Bobby Dazzler, I Like Birds and Buddug (who create really nice bird-based jewellery amongst other stuff).

A new discovery for me was Rosie Wonders. I can't tell you how much I've fallen in love with Rosie's creations, she makes beautiful brooches, necklaces and greeting cards amongst other things (I feel very lucky because my boyfriend bought me two brooches as Christmas presents - I'll post some pics later)


Some of Rosie's work:
As for the Tottenham Court Road's Paperchase... wow... I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! The top floor was full of art materials and unusual papers and supplies. I bought some canvases and a basket full of other bits and pieces including some really nice paper that is so delicate it's almost fabric.

On another note, I hope to update this journal a lot more this year so please do stick with me if you've seen anything at all here you like. I may also set up an Etsy to sell some of the things I make but I've just got to work out how it all works! Watch this space!

Doll yourself up

Fancy a bracelet made of Barbie bums? Or perhaps a necklace of Barbie busts? Well, believe it or not they actually exist! (You can even get a necklace of Ken's chest and urm... curious plastic bulge!)

I came across Margaux Lange's fun and unique jewellery on the Hannah Zakari site where they've rightly describe how she's made dismembering Barbie dolls into an art form. Check out Margaux's own site for a more extensive collection of the pieces, or click here to read interviews with Margaux from the Daily Mail and The Telegraph.

Decorations

Anthropologie has some really cute christmas decorations right now which could easilly be used all year round to brighten up a room... Most of them look as if they would be quite easy to recreate with fabrics and felt etc. Here are some of my favourites:

DETAILS

Materials used: Felt, papier mache, sparkling velvet, wool, beads . . .

Sexy Ceramics

The "Sexy Ceramics" range from Tina Tsang of Undergrowth Design Co. is available through The Shop Floor. Tina, who has worked as a lingerie designer and an animator puts her past experience to good use by employing the lacey textures of lingerie with the playfulness of animation in the form of the 'sexy legs'. Personally, I'm tempted to get the sugar bowl for my future kitchen of oddities!

Teapot = £75
Cup and Saucer = £35
Sugar Bowl = £35

Baubles, bangles, bright shiny things...

If you're bored of bog-standard Christmas baubles then these fretwork creations by Pieter Erasmus should be right up your street. Unfortunately, they don't come cheap at £70 each, probably due to the work that's gone into them and the fact that each bauble has a limited edition of 30. The baubles can be seen/purchased from The Shop Floor, a delicious site which has page after page of unual treats.

Also from Pieter Erasmus's St Erasmus company come this collection of Artisan jewellery. These exquisite necklaces are made of natural and metalic crochet combined with small and large faceted glass beads. These two pieces are approx £190 each and available from The Shop Floor.