My new pets

I got some new pets last week. 500 of them actually. WORMS. I'm doing some Vermicomposting and they are my experimental bunch. I'm trying to get them to eat some linen, no such luck just yet, but I'm sure something will actually happen eventually. I've named them Maximillian and his Merry Crew.

ABC

I keep seeing portions of this poster set around my neighborhood. I adore it. This is one of the best examples - as you get to see all of the letters. I think I walked by the place where the photos of some of the letters were taken.

On Purpose Siteseeing

I had some lovely opportunities to go siteseeing with friends, we had a great time, and look at all the pictures I took! From top to bottom: St. Paul's Cathedral (which I pass every day on the way to school), Near Portobello Market (Notting Hill area), Outside the Tate, Tower Bridge (where the #15 bus gets really crowded, so I generally don't take that one into the city, its a shame, because its a really pretty route), and lastly a cool tree near City Hall.

Random Siteseeing

So, I'm not very good at actually seeing things on purpose, but I have been doing lots of wandering around. Here are some pictures of some of the things I've seen. The first one is of the British Library. The second picture is Chinatown, and the third and fourth are of Leicester Square.

Camping in England

For those of you who don't know, I'm in the process of my Master's degree at Central Saint Martin's. The second day of school - they took us camping.

Now I have years of experience camping, but this was one of the strangest, we built our own tents from bamboo rods tape and plastic. My group's little tent got a make-over into a huge monstrosity when the organizer came over to 'help' us. Unfortunately, the plastic on our tent blew off before we could sleep in it. This happened to most tents - so we all slept in the main yurt - but there was one big problem with the yurt... it wasn't sealed at the bottom... So we just had the wind blow right through all night. I was alright, tucked into my sleeping bag, but I don't think it was a positive experience for all. We also built kites (sorry, I don't have any pictures) and a geodesic dome (those are my tutors playing on it).

Overall it was quite fun, we ate a lot, and chatted around the campfire, and went for fish & chips by the seaside the next day.

Oh yeah, we were in Dungenese, its somewhere in the South East, just past Kent.

100% Design

My first order of business when I arrived in London (yes, I moved once again), was to go to some design shows for a school assignment. I chose a couple, but the biggest one by far that I went to was 100% Design... It was amazing! It was just like going to any normal tradeshow - but just about everything was amazing... No Christmas ornaments here. Here is what I picked up in terms of overall trends...

Lighting: White and Frosted. Lightbulb was completely concealed by the fixture (maybe because of how ugly CFLs are... that's just my guess)

Wood: Everything looked raw and unfinished. Raw materials ranged from fiberboard, laminates to pure hardwood. I would say that laminates were predominant.

Wallpaper: Traditional patterns and newer patterns. The newer things had either a hand-drawn or constructivist look.

Textiles: Soft and nubbly textures. Quite a few booths featured organic leathers.

Materials: Quite a bit of innovation here, from small things like natural rubber flooring tiles to complete building systems (I saw a really cool water-harvesting proposal for a high-rise building that de-salinated its own water).

You can check out all of my pics here:

100% Design

Weekend in Gaspesie

So, last weekend I went to Gaspesie, and had the most wonderful time hiking. It was so nice to see all of the wonderful trees (if you can't tell, I'm sort of obsessed with tress), and of course the great sweeping views of the mountains. I know that they aren't big mountains, but they're still mountains, and I found out they are part of the Appalachian range. Another group of mountains to add to my checklist. Anyhow... Here are a couple of pictures of the trip.

My First Etsy Item

You might remember this from a couple of posts earlier. As you can see - the burning and printing worked! How exciting. And now it can be purchased on Etsy. I'll be adding some more things in the near future, including dishtowels with my trees!

Just Beautiful

Letty sent me this link, and am I ever glad she did. Su Blackwell's work is absolutely astoundingly beautiful. Her work on her portfolio website is gorgeous, and you should check it out if you have a chance. http://www.sublackwell.co.uk/

Trees

I'm very excited about my tree doodles. I've coated my silk screen to print this... I certainly hope it works this time.

Amazing Shoes

I found this shoe brand at Christmas - and I can't stop thinking about it. They are so fantastically beautiful. They are handmade in Peru and the pair I tried on fit like a dream. You can find more information at their website www.marcellotoshi.com.

Logo Excitement

I finally figured out a logo! It took some playing with - but I love it.