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Fresh start and a GIVEAWAY!

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been two months since I last posted. Ouch. I’m afraid I somehow managed to get myself stuck in a great, fat, muddy blog block and just couldn’t get myself out of it.

Thank you to all you lovely people who hung in there and kept coming back to check in on me, leaving me comments and sending me messages, letting me know you missed my posts and were wondering what had happened to me. You’re wonderful!

Well, Spring is here, the season of fresh starts, and I’m beginning my blog Spring with a competition giveaway as a way of thanking you all for joining me on this (sometimes rocky) blog journey I’m on.

The competition prize contains one set of my Paper Fan Inspiration Cards (in the little black purse), one pack of my Kimono Paper Tape, two sets of my vintage kimono postcards, and a fan-shaped decoration I made out of a piece of a 1930s brightly coloured girl’s kimono.

To enter: simply leave a comment by the morning of Tuesday 7th September (New Zealand time), saying where in the world you are, and something that you’re loving right now about this time of year. I’ll choose a winner at random and am happy to send the prize anywhere in the world. Good luck! Here’s a few more pics of what’s in the giveaway.

The set of Paper Fan Inspiration Cards (below) comes in this black, salmon, ochre and sky blue kimono fabric purse.

The Kimono Paper Tape is a pack of ten different strips of lusciously coloured sticky tape printed with real vintage kimono fabric prints.

The giveaway also contains two sets of these 100% recycled postcards. Each set has three different vintage kimono designs.

Over the next few days I’m going to be showing you some things I’m loving about this time of year, and I look forward to reading your comments and finding out what you’re enjoying wherever you are.

Oh it’s good to be back in blogland! Till tomorrow…. Lucy x

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design, Celebrations, Giveaways / Competitions, Kimono, My Shop, Spring | 40 Comments »

Happy weekend papercut

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

I’ve had a busy, productive and satisfying day today, it’s Friday night and I’m just about to head off to bed, and I have some nice things planned for the weekend. Ahhhh! Life is good!

paper, paper cut, papercut, papercutting, bird, lucy patterson, lucy, patterson

I created a simple little papercut this week and it’s winging its way to each of you to wish you a happy weekend. However busy or quiet your weekend is, I hope you find some carefree moments of bird joyfulness along the way! : )

I love paper art and here are some of my favourite master paper cutters:

Rob Ryan
Jayme McGowan / Roadside Projects
Elsa Mora

If you have a favourite paper artist or do paper cutting yourself, do post a link in the comments.

Have a great weekend!
Lucy x

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design | 9 Comments »

Plant skeletons

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

My head’s been so full this week, I’ve simply not managed to find the mental space to sort out what I wanted to post, let alone actually sit in front of the computer and put a post together. But I’ve missed it. Blogging has become such a joy and inspiration in my life, I definitely feel an emptiness when I don’t connect with it (and you!) for a few days.

This evening I’ve had the house to myself and it’s been wonderful just to collect my thoughts, take a deep breath…and suddenly find what I wanted to post about.

Winter has definitely arrived and this past couple of weeks have been extremely stormy and changeable. I’ve been admiring all the different graphic shapes and silhouettes of bare northern hemisphere trees…

…and this evening they made me think of a box of leaf skeletons that had belonged to my great-grandfather that I recently rediscovered.

My great-grandfather Heinz spent a lot of time in India in the ’60s, I think, and he must have got these leaves there. The large, heart-shaped leaves are from the same kind of sacred fig tree that Buddha attained enlightenment beneath. They’re so perfectly, delecately gauzy and papery.

Two of the leaves have illustrations on them. Painstaking work! They both look like they’ve been drawn in pen first, and then the woman’s been coloured in. I love them. Like paintings on a butterfly’s wing or drawings on a cloud!

And while we’re looking at leaf and tree skeletons, here are some photos I took of the most recent full moon silhouetting trees like shadow puppet scenery.

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design, Nature, Winter | 4 Comments »

Pin board inspiration

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

Oh dear! It’s funny how life can sometimes just stop you dead in your tracks for a while. I’ve been flying along this week juggling all sorts (getting things ready for my shop, giving Reiki treatments, attending meetings, celebrating my 34th birthday, helping my Dad with various things…) and then this morning I found myself completely immobilised by a pulled muscle in my back, simply from reaching round to open a gate from the wrong side. Hmmmm…

The good news is that I’m still mostly feeling upbeat and happy, the bad news is that everything I was planning on doing at the moment has now had to be put on hold. So I was going to be launching my shop today, but instead I’ll show you some pics I took the other day of the pin board above my computer (and the shop will open soon, but just not today!). As you can see I’m at least up and about this evening, but moving s-l-o-w-l-y!

We made the pin board by covering a sheet of fibre board with hessian / burlap. At the moment I’ve mostly got bits and pieces of things to do with products for my almost-open shop pinned up there, mixed in with other odds and ends.

This first picture shows some more mini bunting made out of my kimono paper tape, this time using the cool colour range. The bunting is hanging over a Murobond paint palette, and below that is a letter I sent from Sri Lanka when I was 17 years-old to a school friend of mine (she lent me the letter recently to re-read) – ah the writings of a teenage girl! : )

Words of wisdom from Yogi Tea.

My mini bunting again and more of the Murobond paint palette, one of my new vintage kimono cards which will be in my shop, and an information card about my Paper Fan Inspiration Cards.

The photo of the man in the top right corner is one I took in Ladakh, North India when I was 19 years old. I asked him if I could take his photo (which I later sent to him) and he posed with his friend for me. I love the combination of his jewellery (including mother-of-pearl button ear ornaments) and his suit jacket. Great moustache too!

The cut-out face is for one of my Matryoshka kimono doll cushions.

The photo in the top left is from the same trip to Ladakh when I was 19. That’s me in the purple Tibetan dress, playing knuckle bones with the kids. We were staying in a tiny remote village, sleeping on the roof of a beautiful two-story mud house under an incredibly bright full moon. This particular day my friends and I spent hanging out with the kids, eating mulberries off the tree, swapping songs, and playing games. One of the most simple, joyful days of my life.

A swatch of one of the fabrics I use for making the little purses for my Paper Fan cards; old stamps that I used in my Colour palette: Green, and Coral, shell and bone posts; and a black and white photo taken by a photographer in India of my brother, Beren (hi, B!), and two little street girls we made friends with.

Another photo of a woman in Ladakh that I took, and two vintage kimono decorations that I made a couple of years ago.

What’s on your notice board? If you’ve posted about it on your blog, do link to it in your comments. I’d love to see.

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design, Colour palettes, Kimono, Mood boards, My Shop, Travel | 4 Comments »

Kimono paper tape PREVIEW!

Monday, June 7th, 2010

I can’t wait any longer! I have to give you a preview of something fun I’ve been working on recently for my soon-to-be-open shop (which will be up and running this week for sure!). I’ve been creating sets of kimono paper tape from images of my own vintage kimono fabric collection. So far there will be two different sets to choose from: a hot range of colours (reds, pinks, orange), and a cool range (purples, blues, green).

The tape is perfect for all sorts of creative projects – scrapbooking, gift wrapping, collages etc. Here are some little ideas I’ve been experimenting with today, using some of just one set of the hot colours to complete all the projects.

The first thing I made with the tape was mini bunting. I got the idea from a great tutorial that Lisa Tilse gave over on her blog the red thread.

I made my bunting by sticking pieces of tape at even intervals along the edge of a sheet of paper, leaving a little bit of each piece of tape sticking up at the edge. I then placed thin string (you could use embroidery thread, cotton, dental floss etc) along the edge of the paper and folded down all the ends of the tape over the string to hold it in place. Finally, I simply trimmed each piece of tape into a little flag (being careful not to cut through the string).

Isn’t the finished result so pretty? It makes me happy every time I look at it! The card in the background is one of a set of kimono cards I’ve designed which will also be for sale in my shop.

Other uses for the kimono tape I played around with today: collage artworks made from cutting out shapes and letters. My sweetheart’s on the other side of the world at the moment, so this is a little shout out to him. Hey, baby!

…and of course gift wrapping. Simple brown paper, ribbon off-cuts, a cute little Japanese decoration… The cards in the background are two more of my kimono postcards.

More fun with kimono paper tape coming soon! …and of course it will be available to buy online very shortly.

Hope you’ve been having a good weekend.

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design, Craft projects, Kimono, My Shop, Tutorials, Vintage | 3 Comments »

Vintage kimono palette

Friday, June 4th, 2010

I’ve been spending a lot of time these past few days being creative with photos I’ve taken of my vintage kimono collection over the years, as I get stock ready to launch my Etsy shop. Below is part of a label I’ve designed for some of the things I’ll be selling in my shop. All will be revealed soon!

I thought I’d show you some pictures from the very first bundle of vintage kimono fabrics that I ever bought over the internet, direct from a seller in Japan.

It was a mixed lot of about 30 pieces, each cut neatly into a rectangle not much bigger than a post card. Many of those pieces are now long gone, made into purses or lavender wheat pillows and sold at markets in London or at Reiki events that I went to, but I took photos of each of those pieces and still use them as inspiration or the basis of designs and prints that I’m working on now. Such a beautiful range of pattern and style and colour.

Later I also bought many whole kimonos. Each time a new one arrived in the post I’d lovingly hang it up in our home for awhile so I could admire it whole, before painstakingly unpicking all the hand-sewn seams and sewing the fabric into new creations.

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design, Colour palettes, Craft projects, Kimono, My Shop, Vintage | 6 Comments »

Pirate’s treasure bag PART TWO

Friday, May 28th, 2010

You might remember from my original Pirate’s Treasure Bag post that I was making the bag as a 5th birthday present for a little boy that we know. Unfortunately in the end we weren’t able to go to his actual party, but on the plus side it’s meant that I’ve been able to do more work on the bag and its contents before giving it to him.

Thanks to Amy and Tipsy for the feedback on my original post and for their helpful suggestions of ways to do the skull’s face.

I followed Amy’s suggestion of embroidering the teeth with one long horizontal line and then several vertical lines, and I did Tipsy’s suggestion of doing the skull’s eyes in reverse applique: sewing an outline around the eyes and then cutting the felt away within the outline (very carefully, while not breathing!), so that the fabric underneath shows through. I have to admit I was a bit nervous about doing this. What if I cut a hole right through the bag?! But it was actually much easier than I thought – using very fine and pointy scissors – and I’m really happy with the result. Thanks, girls!

Now onto the treasures inside the bag!

I cut out a square from some Japanese-Hawai’ian rayon print fabric that I have, and hemmed it to make a headscarf. To that I added a bought eye patch and clip-on pirate’s earring. Arrr!

I then made two little pouches out of the same fabric as the headscarf, sewed simple ties on the sides, and filled them with “pieces of eight.” In one of the pouches I put a collection of cool foreign coins (picked up on the pirate’s various voyages, of course!), and in the other pouch I put a few chocolate coins. Once the chocolate’s been eaten, the empty pouch can be filled with whatever treasures the little boy finds to put in there himself.

Time for a sea shanty, me pretties!

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design, Celebrations, Craft projects, Friends, Toys, Tutorials | 2 Comments »

More gratitude

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

I didn’t do a Monday’s Inspiration post this week, but I did pick a card and I want to share it with you now (even though it’s now Tuesday – Oh, actually Wednesday morning now, according to my clock! Time for bed!).

Gratitude
I am grateful for all the gifts life gives me
even those I don’t yet understand

It’s been a painful week in our family and this card feels like a sweet gift to my heart. It reminds me to notice all the many blessings in my life and also, that even in dark moments there may be gifts that we can’t see yet but which will reveal themselves to us as events unfold.

So, here’s a list of the things that I’m grateful for right now (in no particular order):

For wonderful family, near and far
For being loved and cherished
For two crazy dogs who are always happy to see me
For a warm fire and snug house on a wild and stormy night
For a wonderful email from a friend I haven’t seen for years (hi Deb!)
For being forgiven when I let others down
For a good friend to phone up and cry to when it all gets too much
For singing!
For laughter and praying mantises
For macaroni cheese cooked with love by my man
For my teenage nieces (I’ll write back soon!)
For TOAST catalogues arriving at the perfect moment
For dreams of Morocco
For lovely travel agents when you need emergency flights
For “coincidences”
For thunder and lightning
For Reiki hands to soothe anxiety away
For inspiration and beauty
For THXTHXTHX: a thank you note a day for always making me smile
For Hawayo Takata for reminding me to “count my blessings”

What are you grateful for today? I’d love to hear your list of gratitude.

Have a great week.
Lucy xx

PS You can read more about my Paper Fan Inspiration Cards here on this new page, and I’ll hopefully have them in my brand spanking new Etsy shop this week! Watch this space… : )

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design, Celebrations, Friends, Monday's inspiration, My Shop, Our family and animals | 5 Comments »

Pirate’s treasure bag

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

This week has been very busy for me, and I’m afraid it’s meant I haven’t managed to post as much as I wanted to.

This afternoon I grabbed some time to make a present for a little boy whose 5th birthday party we’re going to tomorrow. Mum had the idea of making him some kind of treasure bag that he could put small, precious things into. I developed the idea further into a pirate’s treasure bag. We’ll put some old, foreign coins into it -”pieces of eight” if you like – and he can add his own treasures after that.

I started by creating a skull and crossbones pattern from a piece of scrap paper, which I then cut out of dark blue felt. I then gathered together various fabric scraps: denim, vintage kimono silk, indigo Japanese print, some red and white linen upholstery fabric… The idea was for the bag to look like it was made out of various bits of old flags. I then sorted through my metal buttons and mother of pearl buttons for added embellishments.

I wanted it all to look like it had been roughly patched together so I sewed everything a bit wonkily with stitches showing in contrasting colours. I sewed a little hidden patch pocket inside. The skull and crossbones I sewed on by hand with small red backstitches. I then added little brass beads from India, vintage mother of pearl buttons, and three old metal buttons. The bag closes with a blue zip, and has a long strap so he can wear in slung diagonally across his body.

Here’s the (almost) finished bag, front and back. The strap is actually only held on by pins but the light was fading and I wanted to photograph it in natural light! I’m still undecided whether the skull needs eyes or not. I’m thinking of maybe embroidering them on in red. What do you think?

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design, Celebrations, Craft projects, Friends, Kimono, Toys, Tutorials, Vintage | 5 Comments »

Cutest of cute hats!

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

I’ve got to show you this gorgeous Chinese cat hat that my friend Rosie bought for her baby boy Arlo yesterday when we were out together. It’s so utterly utterly cute!