A doily update for Neen

 Listening to Teeth by Lisa Hannigan

This was today's, doily rustic as ever, and i rather liked it.
Although it took a very long time to make.
 Perhaps I could start a campaign; 'A Doily a Day keeps the Grannies at Bay'

Also a sneak preview at what's going on down here at Love and Peas...

Common Misconceptions about the Human Body

 Listening to; My brightest Diamond- Dragonfly

Wikipedia; Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue. Bones come in a variety of shapes and have a complex internal and external structure, are lightweight yet strong and hard, and serve multiple functions.


Many people believe that the human skeleton is made up of 206 different bones, cells, ligaments, minerals and water. I disagree, respectfully ofcourse because I was born with bones of crochet.

One of my most recent projects was on body morphism and manipulating knitted fabrics. I went down the Jenny Saville route; making a large, billowing, bulging- thighed, dip dyed jersey dress with a skeletal based, heavily textured and structured knitted top. (Photos by myself in Gala Park, model Yohanna, knitted top only)

The previous years

 Listening to- Feeling Groovy by Simon and Garfunkel

Wierdly, I thought I'd put a little in here about my education...
As much as I disdain that lawfully, we have to spend the best years of our young life in some facist institution being beaten with a proverbial rod, the best thing happened to me last year. I realised that the weeks of sleepless nights and psychological headbanging had somewhat been worth it!!

This is some of the work I did last year (in the foundation diploma) that helped me to realise my own design context and get a sense of personal progression......

Brothers Grimm- The Cinderella Dress (first image by Anna Victoria Best, second by myself, the model is my beautiful freind Neen, she is magical)- it is a hand dyed and heat pressed calico bodice, relief printed with snowflakes, 6 metres of hand dip dyed mussaline silk, 6 metres of hand dip dyed calico, screen printed with snowflakes and applique geese and a deconstructed hessian panel with heat press printed, free machine embroidered and hand beaded snowflakes, and catkins!

The Tea total project- Some sketchbook pages

The Environment Project- Image by Anna Victoria Best- Embroidered burnt organza, hand painted silks, quilting and beading.

Final Major Project- Wee Beasties shoot, Images by myself- a range of felted insect accessories.

Iconic style

 Listening to- Trenchtown rock by Bob Marley

So a couple of months back now... I did a photoshoot with my mate Amber, decided to go for classic black and white film which I thought could be set with Janine Eaton's masterwork of papercutting (has to be seen to be believed). We decided to go for a spontaneous shoot, playful, 60s apparel with the model posing in among the paper cuttings. The Original art piece was designed to represent the relationship between negative and positive space and how they co- exist, feeding off eachother like a symbiote. Each Design was created from paper cut- outs of Marvel Comic depictions.

These were the resulting shots...

Bio Fuels my Bottom!!

 Listening to- she's got you high by mumm-ra

I am so frustrated at the minute with everyone turning to using "BIO" fuels.

My friends at Lush and my persistant research has enlightened me to the fact that the solution to saving the rainforest, is apparently destroying more of it!!!

I really wish people would stop using palm oil, which is used for most toiletries including soaps and cosmetics, a lot of pre- packaged baked goods as well as ice creams and fried foods, paint (the biggest shocker to me as I go through gallons of the stuff), candles, house hold detergents, industrial lubricants, glue, and the biggy BIO Diesel.

With the rise in use of the apprently eco- friendly oil, even more of the amazon and other small rainforests in belize, borneo, indonesia  etc. are bring replaced with plantations. This confuses the orangutans which are then killed when they wander onto farm land which was once their habitat.

Unfortunatley palm oil is also used to make sett for woven fabrics which is devastating news!!!

I've managed to swap all of my toiletries that cointain palm oil for those without from Lush, and I agree it's a little more pricey but I'd probably just go and spend what little money I have on something else right.

Here's a link with more information:

http://www.lush.co.uk/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=lush.biofuels&Itemid=75

Newcastle Green Festival

Listening to- the Black Uhuru- Guess whos coming for dinner

I love the adventure of developing a film, you can never tell whether your photos have turned out or not, and more often than not they-re scratched, dust- speckled, and the grainy colour tones are all off. But there's something about film that manages to capture a feeling of nostalgia and sentiment.

As it happened to be one of the nicest weekends the UK has seen this year (apart from the later drenching at the Bo Diddley set), I thought I'd venture down the to amazing Green Festival. It really is the mark of summer, and in an ever so beautiful fashion I decided to take the Nikon to get it all on film. However the camera had to retire for Bo Diddley when it started to rain, shame. Here they are;