The Degree Show

The Twenty Eleven Degree Show opening night was held last Thursday and went very well.  All the work looked amazing after 2 days of hard work, stress and ladder envy.  It was great to see everyone dressed up in their summer dresses and insane heels and feeling proud to be exhibiting at the Gallery in Hartlepool.  We had a great after show party, thanks to the organisers for arranging such a successful evening, I think everyone enjoyed letting their hair down and celebrating.  I am proud and happy to be have been nominated and win the award for ‘smiliest student’ although I feel like I do a lot of moaning and complaining, this has obviously gone unnoticed by those fabulous students who voted for me, thank you very much!!

This is me with my gorgeous Textile friends, Louise, Tara and Vikki, all of who are hard-working and very talented and along with everyone else will go on to have fabulous and creative lives ( I am sure ).  We will be finished Uni once the show comes down in a weeks time, and it will be time to say goodbye, this will be really difficult and emotional, but I hope to stay in touch through the magic of the internet, and follow my friends as they move onto new and exciting ventures.  Some have blogs which are on my blogroll, so please have a look as there are some really inspiring words and images to see.

My nephew got married this week and it is my brother’s birthday today, so lots of celebrating has been going on, I feel like I should be in Hello magazine, as my life has been on a parallel with a minor celebrities recently, dressing up, champagne, camera’s flashing, I could get used to it.  Time to go and make Yorkshire pudding now though, (less glamorous) and do the ironing, so back to normal life with a bump.

Thank you for reading and have a good week, despite the weather!!

Jayne x

New found freedom

      How lazy am I – handed in my Final Major Project over 2 weeks ago, and have been too busy chilling to update my blog!  Anyway, that’s it, it’s actually over, and it has taken me some time to accept that my long journey, started in 2004, is now at an end.  It feels fantastic actually, as I have been able to get back to the house, and start decorating again.  In fact I spent about 5 days cleaning and tidying after the weeks of neglect, it all looked rather gorgeous, I even bought flowers, I couldn’t resist these vintage roses, called…. oh what was it again… erm… oh yes… ‘Amnesia’, how appropriate.  So the last couple of weeks have gone something like this…

My final piece was completed on time, some detail shots for you above, and everything loaded into the car in good time for hand in.  However, major road works and a ridiculous contra flow descended  on Hartlepool the very morning of deadline!!  It was laughable as I sat in the incredibly long traffic queue watching the clock creep nearer and nearer to 10.00 a.m. How could this have happened, I had allowed 2 hours to do a 45 minute journey and I was going to miss the deadline and be sent away, a headache appeared to keep me company.  Luckily I reached the front of the depressing queue and threw caution to the wind as I sped the remaining couple of miles towards college, arriving with just minutes to spare.  I wasn’t the only one to be caught out, but everyone made it and handed in, so relief swept through the college like a warm breeze.  Just sat down in the college canteen to enjoy a cup of tea when my phone rang, the builders are in, and they needed a cheque from me to pay for a delivery, so back in the car to tear back home again.  What a day.

We are having a conservatory built using an existing garden wall, they have laid a base and built the height up and formed a gable end, we are now waiting for the joiner to make a bespoke hard wood frame and fit it and the glass.  Really looking forward to this being finished, as I love to sit in the garden but it’s usually too cold without 17 gas heaters/chimneas all blaring away.  I will post more shots when the work starts again, but this is the before and then the next shot is the current state.

Other exciting news is that I received my mark for my Professional Practice module and it was my highest ever!!  So delighted with that and I hope my large project is as good, fingers crossed x  My lovely friend and former neighbours came to visit while on a quick trip over from Singapore, it was so nice to see them, and I’m looking forward to their return to the UK next year, ( they throw the best parties).

Jessica was 12 last Friday and we celebrated with way too much cake, I have only just come down from my sugar high, which lasted well into the Bank Holiday.

I now also have time to do other things and went to Zumba which was great fun, not like exercise ( which i hate )  but like wedding style Dad dancing, enormous fun – going to do that again!!

I will sign off now as I am going to watch a dvd with Jess and vegetate on the sofa – bliss.

Hope to see some of you in the next week or two at the Degree Show in Hartlepool Gallery : – )

The end is nigh

actually it’s nine now, I took this picture yesterday, my little bird board, (purchased at Designer’s Marketplace as a gift I couldn’t part with) has been counting down the weeks/days for me until the end and the big hand-in.  I know I go on about the time and am at present a human calendar, so sorry about that, will make a big effort to stop obsessing.
I have been working on my final embroidery this week, which is all applique and stitch – no print at all , but I hand dyed the fabric to get a slightly tie dyed effect first.  I still have a couple of little bits to add to one or two other designs but on the whole they are finished, and apart from labelling, ready to go.  Although on the 16th we are officially finished our project we still have lots to do preparing for the Degree Show - ccadtextiles2011.

this is the last one before I started, I am hoping to display this one on the mannequin but I will have to wait and see as it may not show very well, if it doesn’t I’m not sure as it’s too big to cut into a garment shape like the others.  The fabric is sand washed silk, which I chose as it drapes beautifully and is quite robust so can take a lot of stitching and embellishment without damage.

I added the body and one set of dragonfly wings, then fixed the applique into place, I have now finished all the wings, and today I will be adding more embellishment of amazonite stone, glass seed beads and glass bugle beads in those lovely duck eggs blue/green shades.  I will start on the floral embroidery section after this, and will post some more photos when its finished.

It’s not all work, as now and again I allow myself out, and last week we went to Archer’s Jersey Ice Cream parlour, which is quite near here, and they make the most delicious ice cream on the farm from their own adorable jersey cows, I don’t think I’ve ever seen more contented cattle.  I can highly recommend the raspberry Pavlova cone.

I swear this calf was smiling.

 On monday we have the ‘builder’s in’, they are starting work on the new kitchen extension, which will be a massive disruption as builder’s seem to need tea almost intravenously, I will just have to hide in my workroom and ignore them, and hope they have flasks.  I will look after them after the 16th and make biscuits and everything!!

Better go and get ready for the day, and earn the right to go out tonight to Darlington for a friend’s birthday celebration, we are having champagne then a curry, so really mixing it up, may even go dancing which I love but may be a bit old for now.  But part of every parent’s job description is to embarrass their children is it not?

Have a lovely weekend and all comments are very welcome x

A very Royal affair

 Yesterday was one of those days, one you will always remember, and in 20 years won’t believe it’s 20 years since you sat and watched Wills and Kate get married.  My first Royal wedding was Princess Anne’s then Prince Andrew and then Charles and Diana, now I find it a bit weird to be watching the next generation of Royal’s tie the knot.  Anyway, we spent the day and half the night at friends, who live perched on a hill just outside the now infamous village of Melsonby.  They have incredible views of North Yorkshire and Teesdale which were spoilt a bit by the low cloud, but this picture was taken from the terrace just outside the kitchen door.

Inside we had a spread of food fit for the Royal reception, and besides the fantastic, and very English corned beef pie, trifle and other assorted goodies was this wonderful Union Jack inspired cheese board, which someone had nibbled at before I could get a picture!  It was a great and memorable day, but was also a ‘lost’ day as far as working on my Final Major Project goes, hopefully I will burn some midnight oil over the next two weeks and make it up.  Life has a habit of getting in the way when you make plans, and another interruption was the discovery, at bedtime last night, of a water leak under the floor in the utility.  So, water turned off, and a plumber called today, we had to lift lots of the slate floor to locate and cap off the hot water to our sink in the loo.  Still, not the end of the world, and we never liked that floor anyway, I was just glad it happened before we went to bed or the Chihuahua’s, who sleep in there, may have drowned!!

I’ve done a few little drawing sheets to give me some new imagery to work with for my last design, I am using one of the crop circles, some florals and the dragonfly to take the design forward into development.

I will be working on this from now on, as I have just handed in my other module, my Professional Practice Folio.  It feels great to be so close to finishing, and I am already planning to clean the house for at least a week, as this is what it will take to get it back in shape after so much neglect.  Mick is outside cooking supper on the barbecue as I type, although I think we will eat indoors, as despite the sunshine it has been chilly all day.  Better get finished, eat, and then get back to work, as every hour counts, we are down to counting days, rather than weeks now – crikey!

Will leave you with this picture of me and my girlies – note my patriotic attire – and enjoy the long weekend people xxx

Sunshine, sewing and Zombies

It’s getting difficult to write a blog weekly now, as all I have done is sit and sew, a bit boring really, but I will try.  The sun today helped my totally inadequate photography skills, I used the good light to take some shot’s of my little ‘catwalk’ collection, the colours are much better, so here is a glimpse of some of my finished designs.

I used a mannequin that I normally use for jewellery display, and it fits the garment shapes perfectly, I will try to get another one, as I think these will be great for the Degree Show.

Tomorrow I’m off to the Metro Centre, I am going to do some ‘market research’ this usually turns into shopping, but my aim to get some new inspiration before I start work on the Final Design which I plan to spend the remaining time on.

I’ve used a lot of flat colour to place my designs on, which is pain to obtain, as hand dyed fabrics often come up blotchy or pick up other dyes and pigments from contaminated sufaces, like the print table, iron, ironing board, cloths for steaming, sinks, etc  ect, those in the know will be nodding now.  Every piece of fabric I have used started out white, none were bought in already coloured, they are all planned after lots of sampling.

Chocolate and wine have been featuring heavily of late, I use it a reward system for myself, ‘when I have finished this I will have a glass of Rose’  this is a simple carrot and stick method that really seems to work for me ( unsurprisingly ).  Not really helping me start my summer diet though.  Talking of which, what’s this amazing weather about?  Cannot believe it was soooo cold a few weeks ago.  Really looking forward to spending some time outdoors again after the work is done, even thinking of having a Birthday Party on the Summer Solstice as my actual birthday is June 22nd.  ( I will be 27 again ).

had to finish with this action shot of Jessica wearing her improvised ‘water helmet’ receiving a soaking from Natalie’s boyfriend ‘The Ice Cream Man’ last weekend.  Natalie took the photograph, as I was of course indoors sewing.

Time for a bath, a top up and then settle down to watch my new Sunday night TV treat – The Walking Dead, featuring my latest ‘weird crush’ Actor Andrew Lincoln, sorry Brian, but I am fickle and your show is over now.

847 hours

that’s about how long we have left until hand – in, sorry Lauren, I mentioned it again!  It’s been really hectic at Uni, but really enjoyable too, it’s always the same ‘usual suspect’s’ in the print room, ‘you know who you are’, and there has been some really gorgeous work coming from the long hours of printing and washing of screens.  I hope lot’s of you will be at the Degree Show in Hartlepool Gallery in June to see the results for yourselves.

I’m really not a printer, but I have included more print than ever before with my embroidery work, I hope this is appreciated when the marking is done. Now it’s the Easter Holidays and I am so relieved to be at home for the next couple of weeks and to be able to set about working into my print and producing more Final Designs.  The amazing summer weather is not helping, it is rare for me to wish for rain, but actually it would be really useful right now, sitting indoors and missing the sunshine is a supreme sacrifice, I am a martyr to the cause, as are my Textile sisters (and brothers).

These images are of a couple of designs I have nicknamed ‘water horse 1 & 2′, they were painted onto a silk screen and then printed with a manutex binder.  The colours and finish give a much more ‘painted’ effect, which is exactly what I was hoping for.  I am now working into both of them, and then they will be cut into garment shapes and hung ready for the big reveal. I have always planned to have an exhibition piece to sit along with the more commercial designs, and I am just starting work on that now, I’m really excited about it, but nervous, as I just hope it looks as good done, as it does in my head!  It will be in pale tones of green and duck egg blue, with lots of embroidery and beading and embellishment – lushlovely.

I compiled and uploaded my first photobook last week, it is a portfolio of various projects I have undertaken over the whole course.  I have had the email to tell me it has been dispatched, so I am waiting patiently for the post lady to deliver the exciting parcel, it is to go with the Degree Show and will be available for people to look through.  Just hoping it looks professional and gorgeous etc, did it on the Mac which was remarkably easy.

The last two days have been a bit self indulgent, Friday I went shopping, yes actual shopping, for non college related items, and had a reunion with some girls I used to work with at the Black Bull in Yarm, almost 20 years ago, I swear it feels like 2.  Luckily none of us have aged a day since then, phew.  I have the best memories of working there.  Summer days and nights in the beer garden, stopee backs, and going to The Kirk’ at midnight to dance after a long busy shift behind the bar!!

We had a bbq today, outside, even though it was a bit chilly, and I have had wine and Cadbury’s mini eggs, bliss.  But two days ‘off’ is more than I can bare, so tomorrow, its back to work, as I have so much to do and I want to be really pleased with the final outcome.

The Easter Bunny and I would like to wish all my lovely Uni friends and blog readers a fabulous Easter, and thank you for reading xx

Extreme sewing

How embarassing to visit the sports injury clinic on Saturday with an embroidery related back problem.  I hope they realise that sewing is a risky, adrenalin fuelled activity, and right up there with snowboarding or polo for instance.  I bet they had a right laugh at me when I left.  Anyway, now I am partly fixed I am ready to spend another couple of days with my wooden hoop, some threads and some sparkly lovelyness.

This is my work bay at college, the one with the cow print apron on the back of the chair, or ‘the messy one’ as Jessica observed.  I am this messy at home too.  I find it hard to work in chaos so I have no idea how this happens, it must be my alter ego ‘messy Jayne’, as I am sure I am tidy and clean and very organised?

I had my tutorial last week with my course tutors, and I got some really good feedback, they were impressed with my embroidery which was great to hear, so maybe I am on the right track after all.  I have 5 Final designs completed and am working on the next 2 as I write, so life continues to revolve around work, and the Spring cleaning is cancelled until May.  I have also limited myself access to Facebook, Ebay, Tripadvisor, and the whole Internet really, as it can cause me waste hours, and then wonder where the day went and why I have done so little work!

Proud to have made it over the 1000 hits on my little blog, celebrated by having a cup of tea and a hot cross bun.  So, what else has happened, oh I entered a competition through Country Living magazine, for Kitchen Table Talent, and today I recieved a cheque for the work I sold at Indigo, Paris, which was half the amount I was hoping for and will not cover the cost of my Degree Show as I had hoped, but I still have the prestige of putting the sale on my CV I suppose.

Here are a couple of bright images to welcome the start of British Summer Time, at last, I am so happy to see where I am going for longer than 7 hours a day.  But as we get nearer the end of the academic year and hand – in , I will miss seeing the friends I have made at college.  I hope to keep in touch with some of them and hopefully share their success stories after graduation, as I will be allowed unlimited access to the Internet once more!!

Before I go, I have to share my newest musical discoveries with you:- Benjamin Francis and James Vincent McMorrow, both have a dreamy chilled sound, really great for summer evenings sitting in the garden while the sun sets and the wine gets poured… ahhhhhh.

Well back to the work room I go, call back next week and I will show you what I have been doing.

Thank you for reading x

ribbons, threads and beads

as I am so easily pleased, I got rather over excited with my recent trip to Hobbycraft, returning home armed with an assortment of ribbons, threads and beads.  These will be put to good use in the creation of some of my Final Pieces.   I have been working on one today, so missing the chance to be outside in the garden, pruning things and drinking tea in the sun. Never mind, I am looking forward a wonderful summer after, what must be one of the longest winters I have know, the clocks go forward next weekend, so ‘hello’ lighter nights!!

I have been spending a lot of my college time in the print room recently, but my first love is embroidery, I am happiest when I am sat surrounded by sparkly bits and bobs, like a magpie, assembling something that is tactile and colourful, I foresee many nights of sewing and the continuation of my bad back.  I have a massage booked for the day of hand-in.

This is the one I was working on last week, it has crop circle imagery and has reignited my interest in these amazing creations. As a result,many an hour has been spent on YouTube ‘researching’ the hidden meanings and the link to ancient civilizations, phrophesies and the whole 2012 issue.  I will say no more except, if you are interested search for Sumerian civilization, fascinating stuff.  In fact, if the world does not end, I may study this officially!

Anyhoo, after almost overdosing on chocolate hobnobs and tea, I am now going to spend a few more hours on my embroidery and put all my development in order ready for my ‘progress tutorial’ tomorrow, I can only hope that the lecturers are convinced that I am making actual progress!!

thanks for reading, and to celebrate the sun, here is a picture from my afternoon dog walk up the hill, looking back at the village.

In the dark of the night

My project brief is entitled In the Light of the Day and the Dark of the Night, and my idea is to split my final collection into 2 smaller collections half of which will be pale and delicate and the other half with be dark and ethereal.  I thought this would give me huge scope and unlimited ideas with which to create designs.  I am just putting my third final piece together, it has illuminated discharge print, foils and it will have embroidery too, as well as embellishment, of course!

You can guess which collection this one belongs to – the imagery is spotted horses, water and crop circles.  Crop circles I find very intriguing, it’s hard to believe they can be produced by a couple of guys with some string and a plank of wood in the middle of a short summer night in the dark?  That said, they can be so intricate and detailed as well as beautiful, and I think they make great elements for fashion designs, so thank you to whoever does make them.  I have been spending a lot of time in the dye lab at college, producing all hand dyed fabrics for my work, I really love the moment you lift the fabric from the dye bath and get a glimpse of the colour, which is sometimes not at all what you expect. I am using lots of different fabrics too, silks, wool, velvet, georgette, most of them are natural, they are superior in every way to synthetic.

There are just nine short weeks left until hand – in, so time at college is very limited now, and being part time, I only have 2 days access to the facilities, so I have to plan very carefully, what I am going to do when I am there, usually it involves a lot of unplanned chatting to other students though, not very productive !!  I am really enjoying the work but also looking forward to the finish line, as in July we have a trip to the Maldives booked – it is absolutely beautiful there, just like nature has photoshopped the colours, the turquoise water, sunsets and the marine life have to be seen, to be believed, it fills me with a warm fuzzy feeling whenever I think about it, so excited!  We are staying on 2 different Island resorts, Velavaru and Baros, and have to take a sea plane, which I have never been on before, but am told, is an amazing experience.  Its a huge reward waiting at the end of my 6 years of study, so I had better get on and earn it now I suppose.

Hope you all had a good weekend, and are getting the blue skies and sunshine we have here in Aldbrough this morning – thanks for stopping by x

embellishment

This week I have been trying to finish my second Final Design, I am hoping for a total of twelve, and I want them to feel really rich and heavily embellished, like jewellery.  I love embellishment, and embroidery, and if I can add in some print, all the better!

I had my photograph taken this week at college in preparation for the information boards that accompany our work at the degree show, it was one of those moments that made me realise that this is finally the end of the journey.  I feel like Frodo from Lord of the Rings, I set out on my ‘adventure’ nearly 7 years ago, and it is hard to believe it is almost over.  But then I will feel a huge sense of achievement and satisfaction, and I am told I will actually miss going to college.  I may have become slightly institutionalised !

This print is one I did for a dress shape, but then I decided to do it in green with devore instead, so it is to become a ‘sample’ for the development book, which is fine but fabric is SO expensive, that it is restricting how many of these samples we can produce.  Some students are doing huge long lengths in repeat with many different colour separations, and the pressure for it to not go wrong is immense.

These tulips came from Amsterdam ( or Hamster Jam as my neighbours little boy used to say ), hubby brought a huge bag of them for me for Valentines Day, I wasn’t expecting anything after 15 years of marriage, but he was in Schipol Airport travelling home and well, he is a sweetie :- )

He is so good, on his weekend off he cooks and cleans and washes and irons, as I am busy with the degree work, I wonder if he will still do it after I finish?

Jessica,( age 11 going on 15)  is whineing about being bored, and obviously wants me to entertain her, but I am being a ‘bad mother’ and ignoring her so that I can write my blog, then sit and sew for the rest of the day, but I feel guilty, family have a way of making me feel selfish, although I’m sure they don’t mean too.

The sun has just come out, which makes me feel good, I am really looking forward to hedges and trees returning to green again and to sit outside with a cup of tea absorbing some warmth, bliss.

Well enjoy the rest of the weekend, and thanks for reading x