Art Workshop

Today, I helped out with an Art Workshop for a local business called NWBaseline. 

NWBaseline are a creative team based in Blackpool and Preston and are funded via their web and graphic design social enterprise. The group carries out activities for the advantage of the local community. 

I worked with artist Michael Cassidy along with others and made some lovely paintings with some children from the area.

The workshop was focussed on 'feelings' and what makes us happy or sad. We wanted to find out how the children faced and dealt with these emotions and what outlets they used to show how they felt.

From Facebook and Tumblr, to music and dancing, every child had a different way of showing how they feel day to day.

Here is a photo of the first day's final piece of work. We will be using this work on Thursday to create a new piece of artwork in the form of a sculpture.

These are some of my favourite paintings from the day.

Cats make me happy, too!

This scary monster makes me sad!

These lips stood out to me.

This little girl is very smiley!

These guys came to see what was going on.

Also in town this week is the Showzam Experience and the town was filled with noisy entertainers. Here are a couple of photos of the ones that walked past the studio.

Brum brum! These ladies nearly ran me over!

NW Baseline information can be accessed on facebook HERE or on their official website HERE.

How to: D.I.Y Studded Boots

What you need:

One pair of plain boots. Mine are by Carvela and I got them from TK Maxx in the clearance.

They've been sat on my shelf for a few months not being worn, so I decided to jazz them up a bit!

A bradawl for making holes in the material.

Screw studs or fold back studs.

This is the type of stud I used. You push the back through the material to the front and then screw the stud onto the stem. I got mine from ebay. You can get a range of studs HERE.

I decided on my pattern and worked from the middle outwards so that I knew it would be centralised. I used a ruler and penciled in dots where I wanted the holes to be.

I then used the bradawl to puncture the leather and wiggled it around to make the hole big enough for the stem of the stud to fit through. If you're using the fold back studs then you will need to make 2/4 holes depending on the type of stud you use.

I fit the first stud to see how it sat on the leather.

I took the stud off again so I could work more easily on the next holes. I worked on one line at a time.

Keep repeating the same process. Prepare for sore hands if you're working on thick leather!

Ta-da!

And here's the finished product.

Hope you like them and try them for yourself!

Hot & Not - 09/02/12

What's been hot:

1. Perfume party with the girls from work. Getting six bottles of perfume for the price of one.

2. Studding an old pair of boots and them turning out pretty damn bad ass.

3. Shopping trip and Snow Patrol gig with a good friend.

4. Making money on an ebay purchase that I bought specifically to sell.

What's not:

1. Walking all the way to work, getting checked out and thinking I looked dead sexy, only to look in the mirror once I got to work and realise I had the remnants of my breakfast Pain Au Chocolat all round my mouth.

2. Getting the bus to work, look in the mirror once I got there, only to realise I had a cotton wool swab stuck in my ear which I'd put there to soak my piercing a few hours before.

3. Forgetting to put my boots on after work, walking home in my ballet shoes in the rain and getting wet socks.

4. Printing out 20 copies of my artist statement and realising that there are spelling mistakes... not before I'd given them out.

D.I.Y studded boots

Work in progress. I will post better pictures and how I did it when I finish them, hopefully tomorrow! For now, my hands are super sore!

Obsessed with GIFs!

Can't stop making them!

Manchester Shopping Haul

So, after staying in Manchester after seeing Snow Patrol on Friday, we had a lovely, expensive, cold and snowy day of shopping round the City Centre.

L is wearing a coat from Topshop, infinity scarf/snood from Kurt Geiger, jeans from Topshop and boots from Carvela.

I'm wearing a duffel coat from Topshop, scarf from H&M, jeans from Topshop, boots are Tundra by Ash and my Cambridge Satchel Company bag.

Here are the goodies that I picked up. I was intending to go and splurge on an Alexander McQueen scarf, but after seeing it in person in Selfridges, I changed my mind completely so went out on a mission to get some new tops to wear into spring/summer.

Stripy, off the shoulder tshirt from French Connection

Reduced from £30 to £20.

Available HERE in limited sizes and colours.

 Hooded, knitted slubby jumper from Topshop

Reduced from £36 to £18 and 25% staff discount at the till.

Available HERE

Moustache skull tshirt from Zara

£17.99

Available HERE

Sleeveless, baggy hoody from Zara

Reduced from £25.99 to £9.99

Slouchy foil skull vest from Topshop

£18 with 25% staff discount at the till.

Available HERE in tall. Or HERE in Petite. (Couldn't find it on the website in regular sizing, which mine is!)

Polar bear tshirt from Zara

£17.99 

Available HERE

Tshirt with cut out skull on back from Zara

£15.99

Available HERE

Converse Chuck Taylor OX Allstars from Footaslyum

£39.99

Available HERE

So I think I did pretty well for myself! I've been needing new tshirts for a long time and I'm so glad I picked them up. I'm sure you can see a pattern in the things I buy though...black...white...grey..skulls...who needs colour, eh?!

Snow Patrol at Manchester Arena

So, on friday night L and I went swanning off to Manchester to see Snow Patrol at the Manchester Arena. Was a great night and we had good seats, which was lovely.

The woman behind us seemed to be having a great time, too...

Here's a few pictures from the day and night.

I taught L how to crochet a granny square on the train. Because we're too cool for school!

Seems to be loving it..

Sat in M.E.N waiting for Snow Patrol...

...with the world's most expensive Caramel Nibbles. £2.70!!! Outrageous!

This is the pretty hotel we stayed in :)

Wooooo!

House hunting!

House hunting is not going well. We went to a viewing of a local apartment for sale last week and it is absolutely beautiful from the outside...but unfortunately damaged in one of the rooms inside. I don't want to get into trying to fix a damaged roof/ceiling/floor before I can move in somewhere. So, looks like this Princess Castle is out of the question for now! :( Look how lovely she is from the outside!