Well this is me in my Maasai clothes in tanzania...
i'm back in the uk now, and missing africa sooo much!

i'm in the process of opening an Etsy shop online so hopefully that will be ready soon and you can all see my designs and products!

there was lots of snow here while i was away and this is what greeted me on the train from Manchester airport....
For christmas, i painted my dad a canvas, and i am now working towards creating a whole series of these canvas' as they would look better as a set of three or four....i intend to use serveral differernt animals or african figures....look out for them on etsy!

so, i'm in tanzania again!! sooo happy! i have found the best safari company too- i will link the blog address as soon as his blog is finished! everyone have a look at it!!

so, i'm in tanzania again!! sooo happy! i have found the best safari company too- i will link the blog address as soon as his blog is finished! everyone have a look at it!!

THIS SUNDAY 1-5PM OSMOTHERLEY VILLAGE HALL NEAR NORTHALLERTON....

CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA!!

i'll be there along with Kim tillyer, heidi turner and jane thornley-walker, there wil also be lewis & cooper and roots farm shop....

Well, minor project of third year hand in tomorrow, everyone's work looked great in the studios today when people were beginning to display it all....couldn't really do a whole lot with my own display, but never mind! fingers crossed now for a good mark after all the hours i've put in! these images are from concept book to final designs....

Well, i told you it would be a productive day....i finished a sixth collection....hooray!

I also painted a canvas, the concept behind it is the pure abandon that comes from been the looser in a relationship....i have tried to express how it feels to give everything you have to someone, only for them to smash your world and leave you, thinking of what could've been and the awful emptiness they've left behind them....i've written very small feelings within the painting too, how they change from the beginning to the end of a relatioship....i'm sure you've all felt like this at some point??

well, it's monday again and that means another fully productive day at Kim Tillyer's house....
i'll be finishing my final collection of journals today with any luck, number 6!-and i said i would only do 4, how wrong was i??!

This is how i felt when i was leaving Africa this year....ironically this is also how i felt when i was going there....

the writting on the right is only some irrelevant notes in Swahili, but the sentence at the bottom is true....

i've started planning Christmas card designs this week.... alongside the college work of the travel journals....

i started with this festive one, he has a stitched nose! there are also a range of fairies, baubles, stars and hearts....

Well, i'm trying hard to do some work, but after packaging about 2 billion cards (or so it seemed) for Knitting and Stitching show Harrogate yesterday it would now appear i'll have to make more, as i'm going to be at Northallerton Town Hall this Saturday afternoon with a stall of bags and jewellery. . . .

The friday after, i'll be at Worsall Village Hall from 7:30pm onwards with a full range of my work....it's a ladies night, so hopefully they'll want lots of lovely gifts i can supply them with in time for Christmas!! there is Thorntons chocolate company going, a nail bar, lingerie stand and a whole host of other stalls....tickets are £3-50 on the door....

These images are of current college work which are the travel journal designs, they include a front cover and three examples of the inside pages....i think they're coming along quite well....

the final collections will be individual within each design but they should all fit together as a complete set when all 4 are viewed together, i hope!

they will be named as follows....

• Propser's Diary
• Paradise Notebook
• Where will my Journey Lead Me?
• Bright Africa

well after a fun saturday night after waitressing, it was time yesterday to continue with the hard work....

again i visited Kim Tillyer http://witchmountain.wordpress.com/ and together we worked hard all day, me on college related travel journal designs and her on some really cute little purses, perfect for stocking fillers at Christmas i thought!!

i'm seeming to get more work done at Witchmountain than the rest of the week at college.... it can be very motivating to just sit in the peace and quiet with another designer and work away....

this is a view from Kim's kitchen window, i thought in this post i'd show you some examples of college work in working progress....some dye samples, final designs and how the front of my wardrobe is doubling as a place to store drawing sheets....

here they are....hopefully i'll end up with a stunning collection of travel journals?!

i've just been informed that we should create a range each of products suitable for the knitting and stitching show in Harrogate in a few weeks time! as if i haven't got enough work to do!!

i will be having a stall at Worsal Village Hall on friday the 27th November 2009, 7pm onwards, please come along and see me.... other stands that will be there include Thorntons chocolate shop-yum!

also, on the 6th December, (sunday) i am hoping to be feauring at Osmotherley Village Hall at the christams extravaganza, Lewis and Cooper and Roots will be there too....

Over the weekend i exhibited some work at Guild Hall in York. Here are some images of my stand.... i learnt a lot for the experience and also gained some useful contacts for the future, but definately couldn't have done it without Kim Tillyer, who was a lifesaver, coming with me on the first day; casting an expert eye over how was best to set up and directing me to the Hall in the first place!

At the weekend, i will be attending my first fair, at Guild Hall, York.... exhibiting a range of handmade womens clothing,(from traditional east african fabrics), handmade tanzanian jewellery, handmade cotton shopping bags and some gouache & batik paintings. As well as other smaller gift ideas, like pins and needles....Wish me Luck!....

i'd like to say a special thanks, to kim tillyer, who last monday, saved me from a lingering 'artists block'....

Well, i'm all new to this....so i'm trying to complete level three, Textiles & Surface design.

my concept is Apsirations from Africa, more priecisly, Tanzania, East Africa.

So, to get me started, here are some images i collected while i was in Tanzania from June to September this year....