Hearts and buttons

I just love these hearts I made with my art teacher friend Jo yesterday in her cute little art room at her house! The colours of the buttons are lovely together too. They are quite easy to make. In a time when most of us are very aware of our spending, recycling your old jewellery pieces or finding buttons could be the answer to bringing a new lease of life to something that would just sit gathering dust at the back of a drawer.

South Pacific Tribal Print

I just thought I'd post this on my blog today.  Fiji in the South Pacific is well known for its beautiful hand made Masi cloth, a traditional bark-cloth made from the Paper Mulberry tree. These natural coloured cloths are recognized by the intricate patterns that are stencilled, stamped or smoked onto the fabric. I bought these prints as a souvenir from the island of Suva when I visited Fiji when I went travelling in 2008.

Masi cloth holds a place of honour in Fijian traditional ceremonies such as marriage, birth, worship and death ceremonies. It is also used in homes as decoration and privacy curtains. In earlier days, it was used as a primary source of clothing material.

This is my favourite print story of A/W 2011, the collection by Duro Olowu. The print mixing is Tribal, exotic,  bold, and contemporary, and is still old world and familiar at the same time.

Cinema - El Secreto De Sus Ojos/The Secret in Their Eyes

I went to the Taliesin cinema in Swansea last night to see  El secreto de Sus Ojos/The secret in their eyes cert 18. It's a murder mystery, a tale of friendship, and a love story all rolled into one, “The Secret in their Eyes” was a thoroughly gripping, enchanting, and entertaining film! I'm currently enjoying evening classes learning spanish. (a scene in this trailer might be upsetting)

The film is set in Argentina, and I visited this wonderful country in South America a couple of years ago and absolutely loved Buenos Aires. here are some of my photo's I took from my travel's there. I would love to go back there one day.

 

La Boca

Cafe in San Telmo

Tango at Cafe Tortoni

 

Jungle sketching

I have been so inspired by the bright and tropical Spring Summer 2011 collections that I got my sketchbook out and went to the National Botanical gardens of Wales to the Tropical house to do some sketching of the jungle plants there. 

Paperchase also have some wonderful new greeting cards with a lovely organic look, below, for mother's day. 

Tropicana

I love the monkeys and bananas on MIUCCIA PRADA's catwalk for the SS11collection above. This season it's time to be bold and fun! I love the South American inspired espadrilles, mismatched stripes and eye popping primary colours.

I'm also really excited about HOUSE OF HOLLAND's tropical green palm prints in his 70's inspired collection. My favourite is the jumbo leaf print seen here on this jumpsuit.  

The  freshness of STELLA McCARTNEY's cheerful and light citrus SS11 collection with prints of oranges and lemons is perfect for spring.

The Window display blog

You can now find these bright and bold SS11 trends on the high-street.  Star by Julien Macdonald has a colourful new collection at Debenhams, His eye catching tunic and colourful Hibiscus print dress (featured in the new television advert) are great for those that like to stand out from the crowd.

Ceramic hearts on Folksy

Happy weekend! It's finally a little bit sunny here in South Wales, I'm going to go to the Junction Cafe and art gallery in Mumbles to have a nice cup of coffee, I also have greeting cards and hearts for sale there.  

 I found this lovely Folksy online shop today called the Tait Gallery selling ceramic wedding favours and hearts made out of clay, Angela is a sculptor from the North West of England. She has also written this online  tutorial so you can try and make your own. You just need clay, ribbon, decorative pieces, Glaze and a kiln..I'm a complete novice and wish I had a kiln!

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues (Studio HD) + Lyrics