Imagine That Magazine Feature.

As I just posted over on 27 Kodak Moments, a couple of my photographs are going to be featured in the second issue of Imagine That magazine! I previously had a feature on their website for my handmade graphic design work (see it here) and I was quoted in the first issue, so it's exciting to now have some of my photography work printed as well :)

These are the two photographs that will be printed:

It's going to be a full single page feature :) I'm not sure when the magazine will be available to buy but I'll keep you informed.

Recent Flickr Uploads.

Lemon Juice 6

Happy Alone

The Calm

Forest

Check out my flickr here :)

*Wishcatcher Crafts.

New items added to mine and my sister's Folksy shop, Wishcatcher Crafts :)

These embroidered quotes are both handmade, by yours truly, including my newly learnt satin stitching skills!

(this quote was actually something said by one of the speakers at my graduation yesterday, and I was feeling very inspired!)

I've been packing up everything I've made so far, because when I sold three items last week I had to remake two of them because I didn't think they were good enough and nothing was packed up, I had no envelopes or anything! So now I'm more prepared, have worked out how to buy postage online so I can have things posted almost straight after they're sold :) much better customer service!

 (these bracelets are a WIP, I've ordered some charms that I'm going to put on them so watch out for them to list in the store!)

The whole collection as it currently stands :) I need to get some bigger bags for the frames (and padded envelopes) and as I previously said the charm bracelets are a WIP so they'll need to be bagged up when the charms arrive. I've put a mini business card thing in each bag, although it's just the logo and doesn't actually have the website or anything on, so that's a bit of a fail which needs sorting out, but it's just something to help buyers remember the store!

So once again, go and check out the store HERE :) Thank you!

I Graduated Today!

I'm officially no longer a student :( sad times indeed.

(mirror posing photo to show what I was wearing! haha)

The ceremony was at the Barbican Centre, which was a lot nicer than any of my university buildings. First thing we noticed was another girl wearing the same dress as me (this one from Topshop but in navy). She turned out to be my best friend from my course, Claire! We definitely should've talked about what we were wearing before we went! Haha we were also sitting next to each other because it was alphabetical according to course and grade (we both got firsts!) so we had to go up on stage one after the other, but hopefully no one noticed we were wearing the same dress! A girl in the next group also had the dress on, so it was obviously a popular choice! It was ok though because we accessorised differently, and once everyone had their gowns on we all looked the same anyway ;) It was the whole faculty of art, media and design (as well as the faculty of computing) and there are a lot of people I lived with in halls first year studying some sort of art subject so I saw a lot of people I knew :)



Gowns are not comfortable to wear. Well they're probably ok if you're a guy wearing a tie, because you can hook them under the tie so they stay in place. But obviously I wasn't wearing a tie so I had to keep adjusting my gown and hood. We had safety pins but they were pretty hopeless. The hat just gave me a headache, and messed up my hair.



We had professional photographs taken (me and my parents) which were really awkward. I had this fake plastic scroll to hold (which my gown was clipped to to keep it in place, so I couldn't move my arms at all) and the photographer made us stand weirdly, something my dad just laughed about (hold her arm!)

(my view before the tutors and university staff took to the stage)

Then just some hanging around, talking to the few people on my course I actually want to stay in touch with. Then we sat down. I was in the second from front row, which I thought would mean I'd have to pay attention the whole time but all the action was happening over the other side of the stage so I played around on my phone for most of it. Shh naughty! Well it did drag on forever, I was one of the early ones ("also with first class honours...Hannah Curson" that felt good to hear!) so I didn't have to be paying attention for my name the whole time ;) Blah, blah, blah long ass ceremony, really ethnically diverse university so the presenters struggled with a load of the names, making it last longer. One of the tutors (who I think they said was 80) seemed to pass out halfway through so he got lead out. He was looking pretty pale and unwell the whole time before that. The final guy to be presented got the biggest cheer because everyone knew it was finally over!

Then there was mingling, more photographs, drinks, teeny tiny mince pies etc. I was looking for Claire to try and get a photo with her but couldn't find her anywhere so I returned my gown. Then of course I found her, so we got photos of her in her gown and me just in my dress. At least you couldn't really tell we were wearing the same thing!

Then home and out for dinner with my family. Expect to be drinking lots ;)

(mummy bought me a London Met bear as a souvenir! He's called Wesley. I also got a free mug/pen/badge from the Alumni Association because I got a first)

ALSO
I was meant to be starting at Royal Mail today but obviously I couldn't go. I told their recruitment agency (Angard staffing - try your upmost best to avoid ever having to work with them) three times that I couldn't make it today (in person at the reg event and via email because they refused to pick up their phone) but they just sent me the same text in reply saying my start date was the 5th. They also got my hours completely wrong, although that's actually better because I don't want to work nights anymore. Mum reckons I should just show up to the sorting office tomorrow and say 'well I told you I couldn't start on the 5th' but it's a 30min drive away and I don't want to just have to come home again, so I don't know what to do :S I really need the money though (even if it is shitty pay) so I probably will end up going.

A Christmas Weekend in Essex.

Lots of photos coming up!

Super busy attending various Christmas events around Essex this weekend. Yesterday we went to a Christmas food and craft fair at Cressing Temple Barns, which was OK, but nowhere near as good as the one we went to in the summer. We also went to the ‘Making Maldon Magical’ Christmas event I designed posters for, which was, in a word, shit! I don’t know if we missed something, because there was a lot of people there, but there just didn’t seem to be anything going on :S there was a parade thing which was so, so embarrassing to watch! Haha it was the ‘christmas court’ from various Essex towns. Oh dear. I saw my posters on display though and the AfFC stall looked to be pretty busy, so that’s good.

Today me and my mum went to RHS Hyde Hall, where there was a Christmas Craft Festival. That was kind of average, but the real highlight was the Christmas Tree Trail by branches of the Women's Institute from across Essex :) On first glance I thought the trees were all decorated by children, but it turns out the 70 trees were all decorated using recycled materials. Some of them were a complete mess, but some of them were very creative, and have given me all sorts of new ideas!

Due to the shape of the garden and the fact that it was a 'trail' I couldn't get a photo with all the trees in, but these should give you some idea:

(my mum really liked this tree, decorated with natural materials, covered CDs and with presents hanging off the bottom - so the only one that would pass for a normal looking tree!)

There were some brilliant tree toppers, including several granny angels and even a Barbie:

Things like yoghurt pots, bottle lids and drinks cans were used to make the decorations:

(a Whiskas cat food pot used to make a christmas kitty - cute!)

(I really loved the use of mini Tiptree jam jars with sequins inside them as decorations)

I've also been hard at work on products for my Folksy shop, Wishcatcher Crafts, so keep an eye out for a post about that soon! Feeling very inspired right now so I want to get crafting!