creative goodness for your world...

It's been one of those mad crazy weeks where I've practically not been able to spare an hour of my time, hence why the posts on here have been pretty sporadic. At least I can now, however, reveal why...

A little while ago I mentioned that a brand new venture was being put into motion at work, well here it is:

ivy and neat

I, along with a very small team of people have started a new website devoted to all things creative, featuring things to make, craft related news and interviews with inspiring and interesting people. We only launched it earlier this week so we're still trying to find our bearings. We discovered that launching a website is a bit of a learning curve and that you pretty much have to hit the ground running!

Apologies if this comes across as unabashed advertising, it's not meant to be. I share a lot of my goings-on on beard today gone tomorrow but try not to mention work too often. Saying that, work takes up a lot of my time and this new venture may be daunting but it's also very exciting. The content focuses on a subject that I'm passionate about - namely making stuff in all it's various forms - and what I hope is that if making stuff makes your heart beat a tad faster then maybe you'll like it too.

London Film & Comic Con 2012

Last Saturday Mitch and I, along with thousands of other comic enthusiasts, sci-fi and fantasy fans, descended upon Kensington Olympia for the annual convention embracing all things geeky and awesome!

Highlights:

• The change of venue was quite a welcome as Olympia is a beautiful structure and the glass ceiling meant that we weren't subjected to the usual dingy yellow lit day on offer at Earls Court. 

• We caught a glimpse of Anthony Head aka Giles from Buffy (yay!) as well as some of the cast from Game of Thrones (also yay!). On the down side Gillian Anderson (of x files), who was also there, was all boxed up, only to be seen by those with autograph, talk or picture tickets all of which were vastly expensive and way beyond my means. 
• The costumes, as ever, were awesome. Some people make some serious effort and looked amazing.

Bane and Mitch come to blows - note the poster in the background :)

• There were so many places to buy comics, I know - 'duh, it's comic con' - but these places were all selling them at discounted prices which meant, thanks to Mitch, I was able to stock up on the next couple of volumes of Fables.

• The free book stall. I love this stall, it's there every year and run by a v.chatty man who's eager to give all his stock away. This year there were loads of old skool science fiction books and annuals from the early 60s. I helped myself to two 'doubles'.

• Although I was rather disappointed at this year's tshirt selection the other merchandise and effects available was top notch! Mitch managed to get a discounted copy of Marvel Chronicles. The book is huuuuge and is kinda like an encyclopedia charting Marvel's characters and comics through the years. Because of it's enormity it's one of those books perfect for dipping in and out of. I'd also like to mention The Geek Lounge  for their awesome umbrella and the Geek Boutique  for their amazing cushions and dresses made from (I'm guessing) kid's duvet covers - check out their Godzilla dress (so cool).

cushions from the geek boutique

• As ever there was some bloody good art on sale. And I know I say it every time but next year, funds permitting, I'm leaving with one of those beautifully illustrated alternative film posters. 

So we didn't get to meet any famous stars as in previous years and despite being pretty much broke a super fun day was had!

seriously summery patterns

The dreary weather has absolutely no effect on these bright and cheerful prints!

floral drop back shirt -  Topshop

notebook -  Pila Seppala

bake off dress - Modcloth

poncho cushion - Ohh Deer

cubic la sardina camera - Lomography

triangle chain duvet cover - OU usa

southwest print sandals - LuLu's

Soprano Wallpaper - OU usa

jancinto cushion - Anthropologie

lauren moffatt triangle silk tank - Steven Alan

green gingham one piece - Modcloth

simpatico collection - Cloud 9 Fabrics

kaleidoscope sunglasses - ASOS 

check floral lattice sun dress - Topshop

Tuesday's Tees - Dream Tee - BEAST

Nope, I'm not talking about Disney's Beast as in 'beauty & the beast' I am of course referring to Beast aka Hank McCoy from X Men. The Emerson-quoting, muscle-wielding, highly intellectual, blue skinned mutant. 

Mitch and I have been watching a lot (and I mean a lot) of the early 90s X Men kids cartoon - it's pretty awesome - and my favourite character is Beast, I mean who doesn't love someone in exaggerated ape like form quoting great works of literature before seriously hurting some bad guys. 

Anyway, since Beast is my current favourite thing I thought I'd have a look on the internet for a Beast tee (as you do) but I only found one where he was on his own and he looked too aggressive (it's way more funny when he's wearing his glasses and hanging upside down from the ceiling). So, I've come up with 'Dream Tee', a tee that doesn't exist but I wish it did because I'd get it in a flash.

Behold!

It's quite a ponderous stance, and he always describes things as 'fascinating' which cracks me up.

Aaaand just to get you in the mood, here are the opening titles to said 90s cartoon - I've watched it so much the theme tune is on repeat in my head, thank god it's a good one.

half way point

I think it's fair to say that I've been a little slack on here lately buuuuuut that's because I've been a very busy lady. Work has been manic (we're about to launch something new which is very exciting, more on that at a later date) AND I'm working towards a new venture of my very own (more on that at a later date too)!

July has arrived (in calendar month rather than summer spirit) which means we're half way through 2012 and therefore it's been six months since I made my New Year's To Do List. I thought this half way mark might be a good time to review my hopeful little list.

1. Save - it may only be a little bit every month but this is probably the most successful resolution - the promise of New York in December is definitely the driving force.

2. Start a regular exercise regime - I'm not going to lie, this lasted about six weeks. After 3 months of zilch activity, a burst of enthusiasm for exercise ignited again around the end of May but that soon fizzled out. However, July has brought a new vigour for getting fit and loosing weight. Mitch has given me some ideas to boost my motivation so I've haven't quite given up on this one just yet.

3. Make one craft project every month - this was actually going well up until April but in May it all fell apart when I started a project which totally failed. Still trying to figure out what to do with it...however, rather than let this failed project ruin a third of my New Year To Do List, June saw a revival of crafting activity, none of it's finished as yet but at least I'm being creative again. Here's a little sneaky peak at my half finished/on-going endeavours.

patchwork project

fabric scraps idea

birdies

my first ever knitting project - it'll be a scarf when it's done (a very fat scarf, we all learn from our mistakes)

I made a simple shift dress which doesn't look like much at present but I want to experiment with some fabric paints stencils and/or printing

So I've got six months to turn it around and meet those resolutions - watch this space, I'm feeling optimistic :)

monday?! already?!

In my humble opinion that weekend was over waaaaaaaaay too quickly. This week looks like it's shaping up to be just as busy as the last (which is never a bad thing) but with this sudden appearance of monday again it seems it's only right to post these: pictures that will forever amuse me (and a cat video for good measure).

They used to get me through my tiresome job in data entry and now they get me through tough mondays where friday seems like a far away dream...

Enjoy!