My Old Bernina Record

This is my old sewing machine which I love.

My Bernina Record 730

It was given to me about eight years ago by a lady who'd bought it in 1967 for ninety-six pounds and nine shillings. I've been told that it was the Rolls Royce of sewing machines in it's day and although the pedal is sometimes a bit glitchy now, it still runs really well. I used it a little bit when I received it but I have to admit it remained largely untouched for several years. However, having resolved to make a particular effort this year to spend more time investing in creative hobbies, I decided it was time to have another play around with it.

My first sewing venture in a few years

90% recycled pincushion (the wadding was new)

One of my first projects was a pincushion as I wanted something nice and simple that I could do quickly. The patterned material was some Liberty fabric left over from a skirt my mum made years ago and the blue used to be bunting! It was a very practical item to make too and has come in very handy as I've progressed onto more complicated things. Expect plenty more blogs about sewing adventures!

New Term, New Artwork

Term 2 flyer design

We'd been running Vane Tempest Sessions for a term and it seemed like a good idea to produce some fresh artwork in case people were getting bored of the old flyers. I decided to keep the logo and ripped paper on a  brown background for continuity's sake and kept the design hand-drawn but replaced the main tree with a floral design which feels appropriately vintage-y.

Back of flyer

On the back of the flyer, I put the line-up for five consecutive weeks, rather than three (as I did previously), meaning we could print off a bigger batch which have stayed in date for longer.

Poster for February 5th 2011

We also had an extra push when Wolf Gang came to play because they were a slightly bigger band, supported by Emily and the Woods and we were running the night in association with the Grove, a student poetry society. All of this was very exciting so we printed off an extra run of posters, using their own artwork as a background.

South Africa

Last summer I went out to Western Cape in South Africa to volunteer with a charity called Thembalitsha that works with communities affected by TB and HIV. I was staying at a project called the Village of Hope, a farm which has a home on-site for up to nine kids at any one time. The work that they do is amazing and if you want to know more then have a look at their website.

The scenery is breathtaking around Cape Town, especially along the coastline and I took loads of landscape photos while I was out there but my favourite shots are all of the kids I met and worked with.

With one of the girls on the farm

  The Village of Hope does a lot of outreach into the community and every weekday afternoon it runs sports clubs in the local townships.

Two footballers

 The kids were so eager to have their photos taken which was great for me although it did mean that I would take hundreds of pictures every day and then it took quite a while to sort through them all. I can't post photos of the children who lived on the farm just to keep their identity safe but these are all taken out and about in the town of Grabouw where the Village of Hope is based.

These three were too young to play sport but they liked to watch

Some kids were a real distraction when I was meant to be running a netball club because they were just so photogenic!

They were pretty much always this hyper!

This was taken in the heart of apple-growing country (which is what Grabouw is known for) by the farms where Appletiser is produced. It was taken on my last day working with this group.

Vane Tempest Sessions

Back in October a friend asked me if I wanted to think about starting a live music night for students in Durham. After a lot of coffees and planning meetings we began Vane Tempest Sessions (named after the room we use in the Students Union). We promote up and coming indie/ folk artists from around the country and have talented Durham students supporting. My friend tends to oversee the music side of things, booking bands etc, whereas I'm responsible more for the creative side of things such as designing the artwork, but it all overlaps quite a lot.

Some of the objects we've collected

Our venue has a capacity of about 140 people so the gigs are really intimate and we make the most of this atmosphere with lanterns, fairy lights, vintage items and leather sofas.

Our first ever flyer design

When I was designing the logo I went for the hand-drawn look as a contrast to all of the computerised artwork out there at the moment and it's gone down really well.

Christmas Special flyer

It's so much fun being involved in something like this and I get to see so much live music which is fantastic. We've had bands such as Athlete, Emily and the Woods and Dry The River come play for us.

Ribbon Willow

Welcome to my blog! I'm planning on posting about the different creative projects I've been up to which could be photography or graphic design or sewing... I've been trying my hand at film making recently as well so that may find it's way onto here. I hope you enjoy looking at it!

Willow Tree, July 2009, Bishops Stortford

Jan 2009, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Sketch for Vane Tempest Sessions

I love trees, they seem to pop up all the time in artwork I've done or photos I've taken so it seemed appropriate to use the name of one for my blog. I also wanted to come up with something memorable and slightly whimsical that I can use for labels on things I make. My friend Jon came up with this idea and it stuck. So after a quick Google search just to make sure it was original, Ribbon Willow was created!