Who says dramas can’t give you a pick me up…..

… I have watched Greys anatomy since they very beginning and have watched the charcters grow and come and go. Below is a wee link from the beginning:
http://www.tvguide.co.uk/episodeguide.asp?title=Grey’s%20Anatomy&

This week opening line was an eye opener for me:

‘ picture this: you have spend the past 5 years of your residenasay training to become a surgeon BUT those 5 years suddenly don’t matter. The only thing that matters, the only thing between you and the rest of your career, is a test in a random hotel, in a random city, with a random examiner asking you random questions. Nervous, you should be.’

It is amazing how you can study hard and get grreat grades throughout the process BUT none of that matters as it comes done to one interview and one persons opinion of you there and then. It made me think of my sitiuation at uni and at how I was feeling. Really the first three years don’t matter just pass to get through. AS it is fourth year which REALLY matters work my bum off here, STAY focused and work towards greatness.
It is: I can…. , I will….. , I am good at this….. , STAY POSITIVE AND GOOD THINGS WILL COME TO YOU.

First thoughts on writing L4 proposal….

Customising something from something old…

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Today has been a good day, a good day spend with my wee family: getting new work shoes for daddy, having lunch together, going to the barbers getting both boys hair done and then spending a little time with nanny after waving bye bye to daddy as he had work. Lochlin was promised a new bag as it is something he needed and as a well done for his dry nights. That has been a whole week so far, keep up the good work baby boy.

Now getting this new bag was a nightmare it took me back when I was wee shopping with my mum and nothing would do. But we got somewhere in the last shop but the thing was it wasn’t quite right. Lochlin is also full of the cold so I don’t think that helped. When we got home we both ended up having naps then I decided once I woke up to make this new bag more Lochy. I knew I had old clothes and bibs of his somewhere so dug high and low to only find them waving at me, typical. I found the monkey pjs and thought prefect so cut them up and the rest is history. But I am going to take it a step further and cut the rest up and re-use it too. Watch this space……….

what did i not do last week…

.. it was a wee bit of a hetic one.
It started of with:
* handing in uni work and getting feedback.
* Lochlin starting pre-school nursery a wee bit each day.
* meeting with best mate and having tea.
* attending a nappucinno which is something I don’t get to do very often anymore.
* voting at my poll station.
* attending a first birthday get together where we ended up having ice cream from the van. The ice cream van lady was only a friend from the past, so lots to chat to be had.
And ended with:
* meetings at the bank and a chat with the lovely lady Elena over in BridgeEnd.
* tea at mums.
* last visit to see the dinosours at Perth museum, lunch at pizza hut, bbq with friends and a sleepover.
* and two lazy lazy days to recover.

The week started as a confusing and an annoying one as feedforward was a little confusing and a muddle. But by the end of the week I spent some time in good company, got grreat news from the bank and got a placement for over the Summer. So here is to good friends (the family we choose for ourselves), family Summer hols; Butlins 2012, placement with Elena, a lovely long hols with Lochlin in between and New Designers London 2013.

Hoarder I am not.

The amount of family and friends in the past who say I hoard everything and don’t throw anything away, say Viv is a hoarder.
But what is a hoarder??
Documentary on bbc tonight was about this topic:
It was all about 3 of Britians biggest hoarders one of which is the reporters mother. She actually done a documentary a couple of years ago about her mother and her hoarding issues. The stories told tonight were eye opening and heart breaking, you can see that this should be regonized as a condition. It is scary how the hoarders make a connection which each of the objects they have around them, to them they are not just newspapers, plates, books, plastics bags etc. They are not just family ojects either, things found in skips and charity shops they will have. One of the hoarders would say one thing like I want my floor cleared so I can walk safely but when they make a start he has to check every bag of ‘rubbish’ before it leaves his home.
Find these in the oxford dictortary online:
* Hoard: ‘a stock or store of money or valued objects, typically one that is secret or carefully guarded: he came back to rescue his little hoard of gold’.
‘accumulate (money or valued objects) and hide or store away: thousands of antiques hoarded by a compulsive collector’.
* Hoarder: ‘a person who hoards things’.
* Hoarding: ‘a large board in a public place, used to display advertisements’.

Yes I do like to keep a hold of family things and things which have memories but that is about it now. I am so proud of myself recently and about a year ago I had a huge clear out of everything as i did have cupboard which was bursting.

feed forward from this morning

I have been in at djcad for a we while and have received my feedback, some good and some not so good. When I was sitting there is was a load of words all mushed together really so I have brokedown what I think I heard below:

Work on things which work AND stay focussed. Still have fun and make a mess but remember to tidy it up within the sketchbook after.
What worked –
Bradford: ink blots, then into photoshop which made a focus, then yarn choices, then techniques = good knitted samples.
Sdc: focused on lilies, line drawing and structure, colour pallette = good samples.
The way I worked in greyscale drawings and investigations THEN colour investigations separate worked AND then bringing them together.
IT IS EVERYTHING AT EITHERSIDE OF THESE THINGS IN THE SKETCHBOOKS I THINK THEY ARE TRYING TO SAY SHOULDN’T BE THERE. so maybe I should have fun within the things which do work and focus on something early on.
SM: folded paper things work and structure STICK WITH THAT.

THINK –
*about what materials I am using to convey the inspirational source,
*COLOUR,
*PATTERN,
*STRUCTURE,
*about the process from start to finish and keep a focus.
*about boards and make them more professional.

From last semester I have dropped a grade but from what I have listed above I have alot to focus on and to grow even further. At the end of the day it is still a pass and if you put sem1&2 together I think they would cancel each other out. It is just a number at the end of the day the IMPORTANT numbers are what I get next year when we graduate as textile designers.
It was said that I have a lot of passion and enjoy what I do. I suppose my plan is now to keep tbe passion flowing put pushing through the sketchbooks in the right process’ and directions.
One postive thing said was the angela can see once I get this middle bit sorted that I will produce some lovely samples and a nice collection. But it has to come from some where first. So on work to stay focussed on what works 🙂

The other nappies arrived, real easy’s by hip hip baby.

These were one of my favourite brands when Lochlin was wee: the fit was good, the colours were fun, they washed well and dryed quickly out on the line, then hip hip baby went with some minky which I loved so soft to touch, bamboo insert and fleece lined. One down side to this nappy is that they are sized: xs, s, m, l and xl, so you have to buy a new set once baby gets bigger each time whereas birth to potty grows with baby.

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I really cannot believe how much bubble wrap came with it.

My thoughts on semester2,

I believe I have done all I could. I have really enjoyed this year as a whole as I can see I have grown and understand more about my craft and myself.

Above are the final boards I did for the sdc competition which was all about colour and how to fashion it responibly. I really enjoyed this project once I got into it: love my colour pallette, my inspiration and source and overall the way I make marks and draw my visual research. Doing this project and the way I attacked it got me on track for my self-motivated project.

Above are my final thoughts on my self motivated project which I called; Growth and Upset. It was all about bridging the gap between hidden illnesses and what people think make sufferers feel small and bad. They know they are in pain and it is really sore but because others cannot see it these people believe the sufferers are faking.
So on these final boards but in sketchbook were about about joining but visual and desk research. Also hopefully showing where it may go with knit.

End of year hand in and bye bye third year.

That is another week and another Monday hand-in/assesment. But it is hard to believe that that is an end of another year and that my final year at DJCAD is looming.
So time to think about 4th year visual project for degree show May next year PLUS what books and jounrals to read for written studies to write the business proposal – ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH.

Time to get more motivated: Growth and upset.

My current self-motivated project is all about creating awareness about things the naked eye can’t see: people’s pain, what some medical conditions actually are to the sufferer.

Here is a sneak peek to what I have done so far:

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