In the Giant Meadow

This morning Emma came to put the wallpaper up. 

We attempted this last month but silly me made the paper too short and it wouldn't reach the ceiling! Doh,

Mike at Print Bureau printed this for me. He has some brand new amazing software especially for wallpaper printing and this is a bit of an experiment.

Emma is good and confident with her cuts. 

You should have seen her whiz around those plug sockets and cut into the corners. 

It didn't take long before we had a whole meadow up!

It's great to finally have some up on the wall. 

This is the first of many more to come.

It's nearly Open Studio time

It's getting ever closer to our Hebden Bridge Open Studio event and I'm doubly excited this year because I can't wait to share my big, new, sunny space with you all. I will have lots of bargain lamps for sale...all the ones with maybe a hole in the wrong place or a slipped petal or even a laminated eyelash (all will be quite unique)!

This year 84 of our own artists and craftspeople are going to be inviting you in. Some are in big shared studio groups and some are opening their individual studios in their home. There is a brochure with a map and a trail so you can become an explorer of Hebden Bridge for a day and search them out.

 Sarah Mason who I share a space with  (she took these lovely photos) is opening her studio too, which will be a first for her so you'll be able to meet her and see her lovely work. We might even be serving teas too...

I'll leave you with some more of Sarah studio pictures and I hope you can make plans to come and visit. You can have a sneak peak of my new wallpaper designs too....

It's on the 5th, 6th and 7th of July so there is still plenty of time to spread the word and plan a visit. 

I'd love to invite you to my favourite place :)

Natsukashii

A year has passed since me and Natalie visited Japan. Beth told me this lovely word above meaning wistful and reflective. That beautifully sums up how I'm feeling. The inspiration that I brought back with me has been long lasting and I think about it often. As I enjoyed blogging about it as much as I enjoyed being there I thought I'd re-visit my posts and have a little reminisce.

We visited  Tokyo first and stayed high up in a tower block hotel.

there were so many people.

 We saw the The Bright Lights of Shinjuko on a Saturday night

and had a lazy Sunday morning exploring The shop fronts of Nekameguru.

We visited  Hajime Studio, two creative guys that I discovered whilst writing Illuminate.

 Then we travelled on the Shinkasen to Kyoto and saw Mount Fuji on the way.

We loved  Kyoto and felt very at home helped by hanging out with Beth who was living there for a while and speaks fluent Japanese.

 We took the steep walk up Mount Daimonji and felt on top of the world.

I loved our rainy visit to the Bamboo Forests of Arishiyama where we had the pleasure of meeting Ai Kawauchi who I also wrote about in my book.

I was very inspired by the bamboo forests.

We visited many amazing Temples and Gardens with Beth.

 and she took us to a brilliant Sunday Morning Craft Fair 

 and introduced us to many a Washi Paper Shop!

 We had a big cycle ride out to the countryside to try our hand at Stencil Dying.

It's how they paint Kimono. It was fascinating.

We we had lots of chatting in cosy tea houses sheltering from thunderous rain.

I long to return and hire a basket bike and continue the adventure.

Maybe next time I'll go to the countryside and visit Ai in the South...and see the sea.....or maybe set foot on Mount Fuji. I'd like to visit lighting designer Sachie Muramatsu in Tokyo because I  only discovered her AFTER I got home....I'm dreaming....

Ffion and Euans first gig

We've waited for this evening with anticipation for so long.
Ffion and Euan's debut gig at the Trades Club. 

They were supporting JP Cooper along with Lucy Elizabeth at a charity gig organised by a lovely lady called Amanda Cox.

' Hi. So erm we're Ffion and Euan. We're brother and sister... and we're quite scared!'

They didn't need to be. Their beautiful sound reached out to all corners of the room and went straight in our hearts. They stilled the room with their loveliness. I wanted it to last forever.

It seems to obvious to say I was proud. It was just so wonderful to see my kids doing this joyful thing together. I've watched this whole thing unfold. I know their musical history and it's been there since their beginning. Tiny Euan in his highchair always sung louder if he was enjoying his food! 

Ffion wrote a lovely blogpost about her experience. It has inspired her to write more songs and it will be lovely hearing them unfold while she's home from uni for the summer.

The evening was well documented. Our Sarah Mason took these beautiful pictures and Robert made a video of  the whole gig (give of take a few moments where his new camera overheated...darn). Our friend Tracey also took this lovely video.

If you like what you hear this is Ffions Youtube channel where she posts her song singing and this is Euans Soundcloud where you can hear his remarkable music (writing music for film is his dream) and there are a few tracks of Ffion and Euan singing together here too.

This was one of those nights that will stay with us all for a long time to come.

Illuminate is doing good

I've just found out that Illuminate has sold over 1700 copies since it's launch in November. Surprisingly less than 50 of those copies sold through Amazon! Not what I would have thought at all!

I have just made an Illuminate board as part of my Radiance Pinterest account so I can collect and share images of makers featured in the book. They all look so pretty when they are together. If you're a pinner come on over. It's more fun with followers :)