tea towels...

lately it seems that tea towels are coming back into fashion... at every craft and art shop I go to, there seems to be a range of tea towels for sale. From classic book titles to retro patterns, it seems that tea towels are the new kitsch way to bring art and craft into your home, while making a statement in your kitchen.

While living in a place like London, it seems that in addition to being London-proud everyone has a soft spot for their favourite locality within the city. For me, its of couse Battersea, but my attachements also extend to my favourite places to spend time. Anyone who has spent more than a few hours in London will tell you that Shoreditch is perpetually on the up and up, and that its certainly the place to be right now. Whether you are shopping or browsing markets, heading out for dinner, or having a night out on the town, shoreditch is quickly becoming home (and home-away-from-home) for many.

I figured - why not combine the retro kitsch of statement tea towels and the importance of local pride?

thus is born, the Shoreditch Tea Towel; a stencilled tea towel featuring the Shoreditch's best sights... from tube stations, bridges, pubs and churches all tied together with the 'Shoreditch' lettering as it appears alongside the Regent's Canal.

smoke rings remain...

Since leaving life in the big smoke, it seems that London seems to be constantly on my mind... not necessarily in the sense that I miss it, but I think the city became such a big part of my life, that every new experience I have in Manchester is seen through a comparative 'London Lens'.

Of course, living in London is not just a part of life - Living in London becomes your life... its an amazing beast of a city that sweeps you off your feet and carries you away with its fast pace and pulsating life... so its only natural that now that I have left it, I still notice the imprint its left on my mind.

Leaving London didn't just mean leaving the city behind, it also marked leaving an amazing friend and flatmate - and a turning point in both our lives. I moved north to begin my new studies, and she took that giant leap into property ownership... so what better way to celebrate her new digs, and commemorate the end of our London life than to make her a housewarming gift.

As I become increasingly obsessed with paper and textiles, I was inpsired by some art I saw at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair where one of the artists took a long sheet of what looked like postal wrapping paper, and painted and stiched designs of a skyline into it... I took that idea in a different direction and created a little piece inspired by the view from our former Battersea abode.



Ah yes, I spent many a day knee deep in craft supplies looking out over the inconic Battersea Power station recovering the energy I spent in London while expelling the creativity that the city inspired within me.

The craft is made of a combination of papers and threads, all handstiched together and layered to represent a number of inconic pieces of the London Skyline - can you recognize them?

a wee bit of pre-christmas cheer

Its only really just becoming Autumn, but every year I seem to make the fatal mistake of leaving my homemade Christmas presents and goodies until far too late... so after a nice Autumn walk today, I've decided to get a head start on my holiday craft making.

I am still enticed and entranced by 3D knitting, and so I continue to dabble into it in hopes of one day being skilled enough to create the 3D knitted skyline of London which I have been dreaming of all these years.

This little ornament I made isn't exactly 3D, but I'm taking baby steps as I start to play with shapes and come up with my own little patterns. I figure this would sit nicely on the face of a Christmas card, and then easily detach when its time to decorate the tree.



Its just the right amount of crafting to wind down that little bit more, after an afternoon tromping around the muddy autumn countryside.