Instagram Photo Cube Project

Image: Well It's Okay

I've mentioned before that my mother seems to be the only person I know who still prints out photos. What I find even more amazing is, she prints them all from her phone. I haven't printed a photo from my own camera in about 2 years, let alone one from my phone.

All I seem to do now is back them up on to a hard drive whilst foolishly muttering something to myself about 'needing to sort them out.' As Travis Bickle would say, "One of these days I'm gonna get organizized"

Pallet Jack Project

Image: Tres Chere

Why has the Union Jack become such a fashion icon?

Well, because it's iconic.

Fashion designers and now interior designers (across the pond, I might add) have embraced Cool Britannia and emblazoned everything from painted furniture, art prints, clothing, rugs, and pillows with a blast of bold red, white and blue.

Subway Art Family Rules - Shop

Rules every family should live by.

A fun way to remind the family of important house rules.

Be Honest.
Laugh, Giggle, Be Silly.
Listen.
Say I Love You.
Speak Kindly of Others.
Dream Big.
Work Hard.
Hug.

and all to be done as often as possible.

Hand painted on pine board, sanded to create a vintage feel, each piece is coated in a satin varnish and then a final coat of wax is applied to protect the wood.

Recommended for indoor use.

Available in 4 different colours.


1. Dark Green
2. Light Green
3. Tangerine Orange
4. White Linen (with Dark green text.)

 



There are sawtooth hooks attached for easy hanging but would also look great propped up on a shelf or mantle piece.

Size : 58 cm x 48 cm







The cost of each sign is 45 euro

Details on how to purchase over at my shop.

Nursery Wall Art - Shop

I've added a few new items to my online shop. Click here to find more details.


NURSERY WALL ART

 





Nursery wall art as an eye catching accessory to any children's bedroom or playroom.

Each piece measures 45 cm x 38 cm

 





Each piece is hand painted. Sign can be custom made to include your own sayings or quotes.

Each canvas and frame is created from reclaimed wood and receives a light sanding to acheive a truely unique vintage look.

 





3 different pieces to choose from

1. You Are Feeling Sleepy
2. Twinkle Twinkle
3. You Are My Sunshine


Click here  to jump over to the shop for more details about prices.

Shop Now Open

Jump on over to my shop to check out hand carved pieces by me.

Gift Wrap Paper Project

Sharing is caring.

At this moment in time across the Internet there is an awful lot of talk about file sharing.

If you'd like to know more about what that is then you can read about it here and one of the many possible outcomes here but in reality this article in Slate describes the future path of file sharing.

For those who don't really want to know what it is, it's mostly about downloading music and TV shows for free.

This is not a new concept.
For those of us who remember our first tape recorder coming into the house, you will remember sitting by the radio waiting for your favourite songs to come on. Index fingers poised, hovering over the record (and sometimes play button as well). The truly expert ones in this colossal piracy campaign had the foresight to already have record pressed down (and here's the trick) along with the pause button which could be lifted up in a micro second, thus getting as much of the song as possible.

Of course you never could get it perfect all of the time and therefore some of the tracks you recorded had snippets of ads or the dj's chatter. Ultimately these snippets would become a part of the very song as you remember it.  "...she used to make dartboards for a living recalled Bello the drummer in The Go Go's. She had some pretty weird jobs but that one's gotta be the weirdest". At number 4 this week, Belinda Carlisle with Heaven on Earth"

So in the spirit of 'sharing is caring' I've something to share with you.

Over on Poppytalk a Canadian based design blog founded by husband and wife team, Jan and Earl, they have decided to share some printable gift wrap paper and tags with all the people who stop by their site everyday and as I reach over 700 readers this month I share them with you.

Image: Poppytalk

Image: Poppytalk

Image: Poppytalk

image: Poppytalk

Below are the a links to the full resolution pdf files that you can download and print.
As always, these are for personal and not for commercial use.

Vintage postcard gift paper
Rodeo gift paper
Stripes gift paper
Stripes gift tags

And maybe you don't want to download these files. Maybe these files will inspired you to create your own gift paper design. All you need to do is fine some images that you like and scan them into a computer. The possibilities are limitless.

All that's left is to find a nice pressie to wrap up and give to a friend.

So happy sharing!

Propaganda Posters Project

Today is V-E Day.

Victory in Europe occurred 66 years ago on this day, May 8th 1945 but if you were to go into your local bookshop you might be forgiven for thinking that it wasn't such a different time.

Scouring the shelves you might find "Digging for Victory: Wartime Gardening with Mr Middleton"  which contains  "pearls of wisdom to a new generation of gardeners who are increasingly interested in growing their own food."

A timely publication in light of the recent surge in allotment owners.

Or how about Sucking Eggs: What your Wartime Granny could teach you about Diet, Thrift and Going Green by Patricia Nicol

Full of interesting facts set out in a lighthearted tone, Patricia compares our daily lives with those of our wartime grandparents. There are handy hints sections and it's full of great ideas.

Patricia feels our Parents and Grandparents in contrast to us, were model global citizens. Their carbon footprints barely left an imprint. They wasted almost nothing and what they had no use for they recycled. They dug for victory and grew their own vegetables, as more and more of us are again beginning to do.
Here's a photo of our own little plot at home.

Image: Patent Pending Projects

Patricia Nicol goes on to say that our Grandparents did not have a disposable culture like we have.
They made do and mended. They salvaged. As evident in these World War 2 Posters.

Decades before "No Logo" became an international rallying cry, they were pioneering anti-consumerists. They did thrift years before it became a fashion model’s fad. The second-hand shop and the recycling bin were their generation’s invention.

Sometimes lives depended on it.

Some are just plain propaganda poppycock!

These posters were used to inform, educate and inspire the masses to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle during a time of crisis.

Some might say that we are in the midst of different crisis.

Green Patriot Posters are continuing on with these themes and have released a book of 50 detachable, read-to-hang posters on the theme of sustainability by some of the world's most prominent graphic designers and artists.

 

Check out their website which allows you to create your own posters or vote for your favourite.

As we look back on V-E day and remember the sacrifices that were made for us, maybe we can think about being a bit more clever about our own waste and try and recycle a bit more and hopefully this new batch of posters will become more of a nostalgic item in years to come rather than another reminder of what we should be doing.

Slide Lamp Project

Every so often you get to a point when you have to start clearing out those boxes that are stuffed under beds or crammed behind wardrobes.

You know, The ones filled with your "special" papers and trinkets from years gone by. The kind of stuff that's so important to you that when you moved House it was best just to leave them in the original tatty, sellotaped, broke down cardboard box used to transport them during the last move.....and until it's time to move again.

Well, this weekend I decided to tackle this enormous task. Amongst the broken License Plates (When did I get them??) and the Bags of Beermats and Napkins covered with scrawls that, once deciphered, appear to be just Random jabberings. I'm sure though, at the time, I felt they were an incredible insight into the Human psyche and would form part of my Epic First Novel.
(Actually, better hold on to these. They may prove valuable!!)

Anyway, in among all of this garbag...I mean memories, I found a box of old Picture Slides from an old photography project. Lots of perspective shots and out of focus flowers. Rather than throw them out I had an idea to recycle them but first I needed to change the Pictures. As much as I wanted to have an artistic life I was never a great photographer and it's safe to say, now with the help of Digital cameras - I can take hundreds of photos of the same subject and know I'll get (hopefully) one that looks OK.

So, the out of focus flowers had to go and instead I downscaled some family pictures. I then created my own unique slides and fashioned them together to make a Slide Lamp for my Son's room. The photos I selected are of his relatives that he would not see on a daily basis. Aunts/Uncle's & Cousins in California and Sydney. Family in London, Cork & Spain along with Loved Ones no longer with us. It's important to me that my Son gets to see and know this family as he grows up.

Here's a photo of the lamp.

Image: Patent Pending Projects

The great thing about this Lamp is that I can chop and change the photos as he grows up. It might even end up being a Lamp full of Superman / Batman / Spiderman Pics.

Or Barbie! (Just Sayin')

First Project

I had this idea to create a piece from Letterpress Blocks.

I've seen people spell out different Words like "Home Sweet Home" and "Love" and I wanted to use the Letters to spell out my Sons Name and Birth Date but buying all the necessary letters Online was proving difficult and expensive.

So, I decided to make my own.

Image: Patent Pending Projects

Here's some close up shots of the detail

Image: Patent Pending Projects

Image: Patent Pending Projects

Each Block is individually hand stained, painted and varnished.

I have to say I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out.

The keen-eyed will notice that they are not traditional Letterpress replica's as they're the right way (or positive way) round.
Letterpress Blocks are basically negative blocks which give a positive print when put to paper but because I was making them myself I felt I could take certain liberties and have them the right way around.

The Materials I used were a fret saw to cut out the Letters from plywood, some coloured charcoals to stain and age the mounting blocks which was part of an old wardrobe I had taken apart and some Modge Podge (or a satin varnish) to finish the look. I think it works well.

Image: Patent Pending Projects

I really enjoyed the process and there's lots of ideas for future projects.

Weddings, Birthdays, Anniversaries. The plan is to come up with a few different designs and build a collection of Letters so that I can pick and choose quite easily when I need to create a new piece.