Helen's Bookmarks Mk 2

In 2010, I took part in the Bookmarks project which Sarah Bodman at UWE organises (see post here).  I loved creating my 'Lovers' Lanes' series and it sparked off lots of ideas for more.  I immediately signed up to do another round so, this May, you could again find me furiously tracing and cutting at our coffee table (although this time, they weren't wholly hand-drawn - the baby necessitated the assistance of a photocopier...).  The new series is 'Alleys and Allies' -  it is a  continuation of the map idea started with 'Lovers' Lanes': again each design features a route plotted between two streets in London, this time representing a great literary partnership.

Helen's Best in Show badge for Graz

Last December, one of my good friends from work left to start a fab new job.  She is also very crafty (in fact, much better than me) so her leaving party had a craft theme.  It was around this time that the deeply annoying Kirstie Allsopp programme 'Kirstie's Handmade Britain' was on television.  My main issue with the show was that she kept saying that there was no point in her entering all these competitions if she didn't come first, totally belittling all the other contestants who had devoted months, if not years, to their crafts.  Anyway, the programme did inspire this badge which I made for Graz - all handstitched apart from a mishap with some superglue - who definitely deserved to be 'best in show'.

Helen's Halloween Costume for Sam

One of the best things about having a baby, in my opinion, is that you get to dress them up however you like and they don't object (or at least not when they're very little!).  I intend to take full advantage of this until Sam forcibly stops me so, in that vein, I had a lot of fun creating his first Halloween costume - Spider Sam!  It consisted of a black babygro, tights, socks sewn on as extra legs and another pair on his arms.  I then drew him a spider web on an old towel and he was good to go!  He clearly had no idea what was going on but was very amenable and I loved it!  His costume for this year is already in the pipeline.....

Helen's Wedding Invite

Alex and I got married in November last year (nearly a year ago now - feels like much longer!).  We had such a fun day with various stages - registry office ceremony with family, restaurant lunch with family and best friends, then evening party in a pub with lots of friends.

I drew our bunting-inspired invitation and had them printed by Graphico in Croydon (who were amazing - thoroughly recommended).  We then printed our three different inserts and put them together ourselves.  I remember reading on some terrifying wedding blog that the invite has to be a first taster of the day and fit in with all your 'themes'.  Needless to say, our wedding was theme-less but the invite did end up reflecting the day quite unintentionally - it was a decidedly lo-fi affair, my 'colours' were pale pinks and greens and there was bunting involved!

18 months to catch up on....

So there's been a fair amount of silence from my end over the last year and a half which I'm going to try and put right now.  After having my son in May last year, crafting went onto the backburner somewhat but I did still manage to do some.  Details in the following posts.....