Graphite Design

A little something for you to gawp unattractively at. Artist Dalton Ghetti carves minuscule works of art into the lead of sharpened pencils. I would like this kind of patience and accuracy please.

Utter! Fringe

I have spent the last few days up north doing a mini tour or Glasgow and Edinburgh. My friend Paolo and I caught the train up on Thursday and met Fran, who lives in Glasgow. We had a nice evening of large amounts of food at Ketchup in the West End, followed by a fair few drinks around and about the city. At Ketchup they served a selection of fairly mega milkshakes, presenting them in milk bottles with straws. i thought this was a pretty simple but nice idea.

On Friday we caught the train over to Edinburgh to experience a day at the Fringe Festival, something i've wanted to do for a few years now, but never got round to. With two family members having taken part in it  at some point or other, i was quite interested to see if i could find the venues where they'd stood and performed. We saw two shows, both free, one with a bumpy start and turbulence throughout, the second was fantastic. It was a Spoken Word competition called Utter! Spoken Word, and all of the 9 performers were fantastic to listen to. I was one again left feeling largely jealous of all the acts, and their confidence at performing on stage (some of you will know my general fear of being on stage). Below is Clare Whitehead (i think that''s right) mid-poem looking completely unfazed by the room full of critics.

confidence through curls?

Reinventing Letterpress

I bought a book a week or so, it's the sort of book i'd consider to be a 'treat'. The sort that, if it were edible, it would be gooey fudge. It's called 'Reinventing Letterpress' and you can tell just from fondling the front cover that it's going to be lovely inside. I've been so busy doing seemingly nothing for the last week or so, i haven't had the chance to sit down and have a proper look through it. I'm making it my bedtime reading tonight. It's nice to know that having fallen out of favour for some time, letterpress is making a comeback. 

Fruit Picking

Yesterday i picked fresh plums from Rachel's garden, and these apples were grown by her brother. I decided to make a plum and apple crumble which turned out quite nicely, but it got eaten before i could take any pictures of it. I love the idea of growing and picking your own fruit, it reminded me of being young and going out with my Dad to pick blackberries. The plums were just right, a day longer and they would have been too soft. They were so lovely and juicy, and smelt amazing.

Fruit picking is a proper summer activity :)

Birthday Salts

Flavoured salts i made as a birthday present.

Lemon & Thyme

Garlic & Rosemary

Black Pepper, Chilli & Ginger

I got the containers from Habitat and made the labels with hessian, and stamped the letters onto card. I didn't use a recipe for the salts, i just had a morning of trial and error. If i've learnt one thing, it's that a little bit of garlic goes a long way.

Prefab who?

Whilst on my travels up north and east a bit, i came across a screen print twice in the same evening. Once in the living room of some people we were visiting, and then again about an hour later in the restaurant we went to eat at. I asked about it and found out it was from a shop called Electrik Sheep, which was just down the road. I did a bit of snooping around once i got home, and found out the artist goes under the name of Prefab77. This particular piece can be bought either as a print on paper, or for £150 on leather with gold ink. I'd absolutely love one of the leather ones to hang in a frame on my bedroom wall, there's a space just the right size. Don't know if i can bring myself to spend that much money, although i do really love it.

North East Adventure

Please excuse the lack of blogging this last week, i have been exploring the north east of England with the Man Candy and his parents. I have had fish & chips (how they're supposed to be) in Whitby, explored Durham Cathedral and seen where my parents first met, and spent a happy few hours wandering round the Baltic art gallery in Newcastle. There have been a few fairly spectacular meals out and in, and a lot of general fun has been had. Despite only understanding every third word spoken, the Mackems were very welcoming hosts, and i would like to go back soon...especially since the beach is just on the Man Candy's doorstep.