National Vodka Day

Image from Dieline

I think I'll enjoy celebrating the national day of one of my favorite tipples (yesterday).

Holiday!

Elafonisi Beach, Crete, Summer 2012

Sorry the blog's been a bit quiet over the last couple of months. I've been off on holiday to the sunny Greek island of Crete. Then it's been straight into wedding season (see below) and lots of random adventures in between. 

I'm back on the case now so will be updating more frequently.

Jubilee Goodies

Image from Jubilee Pinterest page

Image from Jubilee Pinterest page

Image from Jubilee Pinterest page

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee is now upon us & here is a selection of images that I've been gathering on my Pinterest board. Click here to see them all. I think its great ow every one has got into the spirit and created a great range of products to mark the occasion.

Sarah Thorne

Mulberry AW11 show invite, image from Sarah Thorne website

Mulberry AW11 stickers, image from Sarah Thorne website

Backstage Elle invite, image from Sarah Thorne website

Topshop Make-up S/S11, image from Sarah Thorne website

Vogue Show, image from Sarah Thorne website

I've always wondered who was responsible for the lovely Topshop make-up packaging and I've recently discovered that its Graphic Designer Sarah Thorne. Sarah specialises in print & packaging for the fashion & beauty industry which is clear to see from her website. Her work ranges from glamorous invites for Mulberry to backstage invites for Elle and installations for London Fashion Week.

Clerkenwell Design Week

I'm quite excited about visiting Clerkenwell Design Week next week. I've not been before and when I've seen it advertised in previous years I've always wanted to visit. The 3 day event sees the creative spaces & businesses in the Clerkenwell area open their doors to their fellow creative's. I think it'll be great to have a wonder through the various studios & practises, meet some interesting people and listen to some of hot topics in the talks. I'll share some of my favourites next week.

A Good Friday

Mr P crossing the bridge

The Wildlife walk

Gibson Mill

Marking an adventure

Finished with a treat

Me (Laura) & Mr P spent Good Friday exploring Hardcastle Crags near Hebden Bridge. Its part of the National Trust and you can spend a few of hours walking along the various routes or stop for a cuppa & explore Gibson Mill, a unique sustainable building. There was an Easter themed hunt for the kids to take part in and the different terains makes it accessible for all. And after a few hours outdoors we treated ourselves to some Easter treats, mmmm.

Fashion

Image from Alltheprettybirds,  I love the colour combo and cut of the coat & trousers, very chic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swan Lake Dress by Oscar de la Renta, beautiful style, skirt flare & fabrics, a modern day fairytale

Found at Who What Wear Kate Mara at the Oscars wearing Jack Guisso Couture, beautiful elegant gown in nude/mink, very romantic.

Lots of lovely style at Who What Wear at London Fashion week, I really like the 2 on the far left

I've been spotting loads of gorgeous fashion trends today, courtesy of recent Fashion week & Award ceremonies. Above are some of my favourite spots

Made North

I'm heading over to Liverpool on Tuesday for the Made North Conference (on behalf of work), I'm not sure what to expect yet but I'm looking forward to a day out of the office & will hopefully have some spare time to pop into some of my favourite spots in the city, including Utility & The Blue Coat. I'll fill you in on my finds later in the week.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Fox Print by Donna Wilson

Beardy Man Plate by Donna Wilson

Jauma Plensa, photo by LT

Jauma Plensa, photo by LT

I visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park on Friday for a work event. We had a couple of hours to explore the grounds, galleries & shops. It was a cold crisp day and we had the place to ourselves. I started off viewing the Donna Wilson Exhibition - Donna is an award winning designer who's range consists of quirky knitted characters and silly illustrations. I've added a couple of my favorites at the top. The second exhibition, in the Underground Gallery & outside in the grounds was by artist Jauma Plensa, his work includes large sculptures in the landscapes & a curtain of poetry ( photo above taken by myself). His work is very tactile and encourages interaction. The hot chocolate in the cafe was also worth the visit. 

Leeds Craft Centre

SundaySuperHouse are based near Leeds, in West Yorkshire, and I'm pleased to say that there is a lot of creativity going on in the region. One place to see some of the local talent is Leeds Craft Centre next to Leeds Art Gallery. I visited the center last week for the first time and was impressed by the standard of the ceramics, jewelry, prints & paintings on offer (to name a few). Above is a selection of images from the up coming exhibitions, so if you are in need of an original gift or to treat yourself then I would recommend calling in and supporting local crafts. 

Girl Geeks

Earlier this week I attended a Girl Geek Dinner as part of the Leeds Digital Festival. I was a new comer to the event held at the Mint Hotel but it was an enjoyable evening (with great food). The 2 speakers - Kathryn Grace, Service Design at Everything Everywhere (Orange & T-Mobile) and Lizzie Sanderson, Web Services Manager, Leeds City Council - shared their knowledge of the digital industry, Lizzie was really funny describing the struggle between creative & IT, something most of us can relate with & Kathryn highlighted the bigger picture of the design world, describing the different touch points of any product / service. 

Happily Ever After

Here they are, the professional photographs from Chris and Sarah's wedding.  They did a great job of capturing the day and did some pretty good shots of my table plan and postcards too.  The pic of the girlies was one of my favourites so had to show you, they all look amazing!

The Invitation that I designed worked really well with the colour scheme and vintage feel that Sarah wanted so really glad that I could help make the day a success.

The Puppet Master

I love a bit of culture mid week and so I took myself of to Creative Calderdale in Halifax on Wednesday night to listen to Barry Purves talk about his Stop Frame Animation (SFA). I didn't know who he was until I saw the talk advertised and I'm really pleased that I went along. 

Barry showed us a selection of his work from over the last 20 years, explaining the detail, time & cost that goes into a short SFA. The image above is from a recent piece called Tchaikovsky, a 13 minute film about the life & music of the Russian. Below is called Next, a 5 min animation showcasing all of William Shakespeare work. Watch the film here. 

Barry is clearly very passionate about Stop Frame Animation and he brings his puppets to life no matter how small the budget. He talked about the craft of SFA compared to CGI and computer generated animation and how animators shouldn't forget the skill and quality of SFA. He teaches now and a few of his key tips are; Learn how to tell a story, learn how a character performs and then apply the technical detail, you have to feel the emotion and feelings of the characters to get the most from them. I hope you enjoy the animations (a couple are a bit rude).

Congratulations

The Wedding Day finally came on saturday for the couple who I had designed invitations for.  It seemed an eternity when I first started designing them but soon enough the memorable day arrived.

I would like to say congratulations to Chris & Sarah who tied the knot at Belfast Castle.  The whole day looked spectacular and the table plan and decorations matched perfectly with the room. I'm really pleased how they turned out and so glad that I could help make their day as special as it was. 

Watch out for the professional pictures of the invitations coming soon!