The first being, I was commissioned by my good friend Esther to make a present for her friends' wedding coming up at the end of the month. My first commission! And for that I am eternally grateful Esthula! So I thought what would be better than to make a lovely, homely garland to display in their joint abode.
I followed my usual pattern of hearts and gingerbread folk, this time stitching their names into their hearts strung along on cream canvas ribbon and a lady gingerbread and man gingerbread at either end...complete with pearl necklaces and bow ties. Of course!
Homely and personalised, I thought this made an ideal wedding present. I shall attach photos soon and hope in the meantime that if anyone else has any requests you will e-mail me and I'll see what I can do! Or alternatively, check out my page on Folksy where you can see an example of a personalised garland which you can commission for yourself!
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| My rough design for Esther's wedding gift |
And now onto my second piece of good news...
You may remember before my long absence I brought you news of the Me & FYC Blackpool Fashion Boutique making its way to the town. Well, I submitted several designs (which you can see below) and a sample item, and have been chosen to create some hair grips for the event! Essentially my second commission!
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| My beloved Seaside Pride themed Union Jack Purse |
I chose two predominant themes to represent Blackpool, Seaside Pride and Blackpool Lights. The first was centered around Blackpool being a staple of British holidaying; the lovable rogue in the makeup of our national identity. Bright and breezy are definite connotations of the resort, so I opted for a colourful take on the Union Jack, using tango orange grosgrain ribbon to signify the sand and sun of the town, as well as the football team (the Tangerines, of course!) along with white double satin ribbon and thin rainbow grosgrain ribbon which reminds me of the Gay Pride and general vibrancy of the town. I made a purse, brooch and hair grips using this theme, which you can see below. The purse was by far my favourite design and I made myself a version anyway! Unfortunately it didn't make it through the selection process; however, I will be making something very similar again and putting it up for sale on Folksy so if you're interested e-mail me and let me know! I'd be very glad to hear from you.
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| The inside of my Seaside Pride Purse |
The other theme I used, Blackpool Lights, was inspired by some ribbon I came across in my local haberdashers, Blacks, which is entitled 'Party Time' and instinctively reminded me of the famous Blackpool Illuminations. So I used this black satin ribbon featuring multi-coloured polka dots on top of the tango grosgrain ribbon to create a powerful contrast. In this theme I only submitted a brooch and hair grips, but the hair grips (in both themes) made it through!
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| Party Time Ribbon which will feature in the Blackpool Lights theme of my hair grips |
Although I'd have been delighted to see my union jack purse for sale in the boutique I can't deny that it would have been a lot of time and effort as the stitching on each piece is very intricate and would have made it difficult to create more than just a few items.
Soon however I will be displaying images of the first completed hair grips. My ribbon is ordered and on its way and I'm looking forward to getting cracking on a new project! In the meantime peruse my designs below and if you have any questions do get in touch...
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| My Seaside Pride Union Jack Brooch |
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| My selected hair grips designs |
