I love…. prints!

Whistles River Island
Centro Moda
Vintage (My mum's dress from her youth, now mine- isn't great when you can recycle clothes)
Vintage Dolly Day (another dress from my Mum's youth)
Noa Noa

I suppose this will come as no great surprise, but I just love print! No matter whether it is on fabric, ceramics, paper, you name it I get drawn to it like a bee to a honey pot. Here are some of some of the prints in my wardrobe. (Do you spot the reoccurring colours?- Yes, I am also addicted to certain colour palettes)

Moody seeds and weeds

I am far more fascinated by seeds, leaves and dead plants than flowers when it comes to photography and my textile designs. I saw these delicate weeds while on a walk along the river bank in Arklow and thought they had an almost magical air with the still reflective water in the background.

The delightful work of Esther Coombs

I wanted to share my discovery of … Esther Coombs. Her illustrative work is really stunning and I absolutely love her use of collage and her application of her drawings onto ceramics. Some people have a special skill when it comes to their use of line and Esther is one of these talented people. I saw her work in London and fell in love. I am determined to have a wall of plates one day when I have my own house (…sigh) and I think I will have to purchase one of Esther’s pieces to add to my expanding collection of plates. I also possess a rather large collection of tea cups and saucers (at some point I shall share some pictures of my treasures!) which I have been collecting for the last six years. I have always planned to do a series of decals to do my very own collection of ceramic drawings but Esther has really inspired me to hopefully get on with it! If you would like to own your very own Esther Coombs original check out her Etsy shop here.

Oh, the joys of eBay!

I’m a big fan of eBay because you can always be guaranteed to find something a bit different and normally for next to nothing! My most recent purchase was this gorgeous vintage seed pearl necklace and it was an absolute steal. It’s so unusual and the detail and time that has gone into stringing this by hand is phenomenal. When it’s worn it resembles a lace collar. I lurvee it : )

Little Red Riding Hood

I picked up the photo of this cheeky chappy in Budapest a couple of years back. I found it recently and it made me smile. I added the cute red hood.

Penguin Classics redressed in cloth

I have recently joined a book club which has lead to spending quite a lot of time in bookshops, something which I would never object to! While browsing today I came across a stand of the most beautiful books I have ever seen. Penguin have given their classics a facelift with these superb cloth covers by the jacket illustrator, Coralie Bickford-Smith. The picture above shows some of the selection that is available to buy via the Penguin website. On further investigation I couldn’t find any images of the books I actually saw in the shop but did find the following image, aren’t the colours nothing short of amazing? I would be tempted to buy them just so I possess a rainbow bookshelf…emmmm! *images via Design Sponge

Textile Workshop Dublin

Some of the work from the print workshop


Work by a member of the class from the Ready, Steady Embroider.

Here is a fantastic idea brought to Dublin by the creative duo Paget Scott McCarthy and Rebecca Devaney who have recently launched the Textile workshop. I think all will agree that’s great to finally see a contemporary creative outlet for all textile enthusiasts! Whether you just need to refresh your machine skills or would like some creative encouragement, they offer a broad range of classes. They have had great success so far and some brilliant work has been produced. Check out their website at www.textileworkshopdublin.com to see what’s coming up next and for further information.

The milk bottle social experiment

I literally stumbled across this amazing milk bottles on a recent web trawling day (my life seems to consist of a lot of them at the moment!) I was bowled over by the detailed intricacy of them. They also have a great story behind them. Apparently unsuspecting residents in the West Midlands in the UK started to find these etched bottles on their doorsteps in return for the plain ones they left out the night before. The artist in question, Charlotte Hughes Martin, says "I like to think I'm cheering up people's days." I love her sentiment as much as the milk bottles.

The magical boxes of John Dilnot

High Trail (58 x 18 x 7 cm)Spotted Woodpeckers (33 x 19 x 8cm)Moths Collection (26 x 19x 7cm)

Over Dover( 28 x 21 x 7 cm)

Since seeing the work of John Dilnot work last year in the RDS I have fallen in love with it! These beautiful boxes are actually very small so John must have the patience of a saint and a very steady pair of hands! They are so intriguing; I could have stared at them for hours. They remind me slightly of an animated nature lesson I would have had as a child. It is no wonder he has exhibited in galleries as prestigious as the V&A and the Tate.

Pristine Porcelain

I don’t think you can really go wrong with porcelain or white ceramic. It has a wonderful delicate property and of course co-ordinates with everything! I just noticed I actually own quite a few examples that I have collected over the years so I wanted to share them with you…I am terrible for collecting and hoarding things which I think will become apparent as this blog progresses!

Ceramic origami bird- Oxfam. I couldn’t resist this, so novel!Love BroochHeart with button (Glazed on reverse)

Heart shaped hanging decoration (I think they are meant to be Christmas decorations but I have them up all year long) I picked up the booch and the three hearts last year at the Crafts Fair in the RDS.

Vintage Buttons

I was doing my usual trawl of the charity shops, looking for that special something and came across these little gems! They were hidden among the regular tat that you find in the jewellery section. The pearl buttons are actually blown glass and the eleven buttons came in this beautiful glass jar, all for €5! I’m not sure how well they would survive the washing machine so I’m thinking a nice brooch or added to a silk flower corsage….

Hello world!

Here it goes… my first stab at my own blog and I’m very excited!