Thursday 29 May 2014

Louise Dawson Design at We Make London, Camden!

I'm so happy to tell you that until the end of June you can find Louise Dawson Design jewellery at We Make London in Camden!

We Make London was established five years ago as a showcase for British made work by designer makers and to support a return to the handmade and unique at Camden Lock. The shop offers handmade jewellery, gifts, cards and much more and the designers are rotated each month so that there are always new products to discover. Visit We Make London at 53 Camden Lock Place, London NW1 8AF or find out more here!







Monday 26 May 2014

New pieces for Summer

I just wanted to give you a sneak peak at a few of the new pieces that I will be adding to my Etsy shop later this week. There's definitely a vintage button theme going on! 

There are new colours in my handmade knitted brooches, new hair slides and rings. Check out my over sized flower ring embellished with a vintage button- very summery! I'll let you know when I add them to the shop. Look out  for new stockist news later in the week too! 

Happy Monday everyone!







Wednesday 21 May 2014

Embroidery class part 2!

Following on from my first embroidery class post, today I wanted to update on how the embroidery is coming along! 


We have finished our first piece, a small flower sprig that allowed us to practice french knots, stem stitch and satin stitch. I'd like to immortalise the finished piece as a card or a notebook cover. Perhaps as an embroidery class notebook cover, decorative and useful! 

I'm finding the classes so therapeutic that at the moment I just want to embroider everything, so I can feel lots of notebook covers and cards coming on! 


This is our next project! I'd love to say that this is the one I've made, but this is our very talented tutor's piece- a super cute mushroom painted with acrylic paint on canvas and embroidered over the top using stem stitch, satin stitch and french knots. Isn't it so pretty! Such a clever idea to combine the painting with stitch


So today we set about creating our own version of the mushroom! We stretched calico onto our embroidery hoop and traced the image onto the fabric in pencil




Then we had great fun colouring the drawing with acrylics! 



Once dry, we began embroidering the outline of the mushroom in stem stitch. Our homework is to continue adding the embroidery and I'm so looking forward to carrying on with it tomorrow!

At the start of the new year I decided that I wanted this to be a big year for learning so I'm really enjoying having a dedicated time devoted to learning these new skills and I'm looking forward to reflecting what I've learnt in my work. 

Sunday 18 May 2014

Out and about around Maldon Promenade Park

I hope you've all had a lovely weekend and I hope the sun has been shining where you are. It's been a beautiful day here in Essex and I wanted to share with you some photos that I've taken today while out and about in the Sunshine. Welcome to Maldon!

I live a short walk away from The Promenade Park and Mr Writer and I took advantage of the lovely weather to take a stroll down there for an ice cream and to catch some sun. As you can see, lots of people had the same idea today, but it can be a really peaceful place to walk in the early mornings and evenings.



The lake you see here used to be a Lido surrounded by sand and I spent many a day here with my Mum, Sister and Cousins swimming as a child. It's a real shame that you can't swim here anymore as Lidos are becoming few and far between, but the resident Swans seem very happy here and it's lovely to see them nesting year after year

                                        

Maldon is a boat lovers paradise and you can while away an afternoon on a day like today, watching the boats and Barges sail by on the River Blackwater. I love living by the water






At the very end of the Prom, looking out across the Blackwater is a bronze statue of  Byrhtnoth by local sculptor John Doubleday. Byrhtnoth died during The Battle of Maldon in 991, leading The Anglo-Saxons against the Vikings. I couldn't get a photo of him standing alone today as lots of people were taking the walk all the way to the end of the Prom, but at least this gives an idea of the scale of the statue!


From the end of the Prom you can see across to Northey island



Looking across to the town

What have you been up to this weekend? I'd love to hear about what your weekend in the comments below!

Tuesday 13 May 2014

The London Vintage Wedding Fayre

On Sunday my Mum and I took the train to London to visit York Hall in Bethnal Green, which was playing host to the London Vintage Wedding Fayre for the day. I had been really looking forward to Sunday to get inspired with wedding ideas and I wasn't disappointed!

All aspects of the wedding were catered for, from the wedding dress, bridesmaids dresses, cake, photography, flowers, accessories, hair and make up and entertainment. Basically a dream for anyone looking to have a more quirky and individual wedding! All the stall holders my Mum and I chatted to were super friendly took and took the time to chat to us about wedding themes and ideas. I just wanted to share a few of my favourites from the day...
                                                                                                                  


These handmade, vintage inspired dresses by Ears and Whiskers were absolutely beautiful and are custom made to fit each bride. Completely in love with the dress in the foreground!



Hand crafted veils, embellished belts and garters and head pieces from With Love From Bobbin caught my eye


Another dress I fell in love with! This vintage wedding dress from Story of My Dress really tempted me and the ladies were so friendly and helpful, I'll definitely be keeping them in mind. They are opening a bridal boutique in Kent in September so I'll definitely be going along!




I was struck by this beautiful display by Rosie Weisencrantz 


Rosie creates her unique pieces using vintage beads, brooches and trinkets, meaning no two are the same.

I left the fayre feeling really inspired with wedding ideas, and my Mum and I were both very impressed with the event. So, a vintage themed wedding it is then!

Saturday 10 May 2014

New collection- First finished piece!

I'm excited to show you this sneak peak of how my new jewellery collection is progressing- here is the first finished piece! This Brooch is a combination of recycled fabrics (including Liberty prints) stitched together and then over printed, hand embroidered and embellished with beads and sparkly gems. I'm going for a really summery look with this collection, hope you like it!

 Next week I have a week off from the day job so I'm looking forward to working on these pieces lots. As always, I'll keep you posted!


Wednesday 7 May 2014

How to... Make tea light holders using glass ramekins from Gü desserts and lace

I don't know about you but I love Gü desserts (the cheesecakes are my favourite!), but what do you do with the glass ramekins the desserts come in? Here is the answer! Using scraps of lace and Mod Podge you can turn them into pretty tea light holders. A great excuse to treat yourself to a dessert I'd say!  

1) You will need

Scraps of thin lace, Mod Podge (I used the Matte Mod Podge), a paintbrush, scissors and glass ramekins or shallow glass jars

Note on Mod Podge- It's great stuff!  A pot lasts a long time and it has so many crafty uses, check out these Mod PodgeYouTube inspirations



2) Cut your lace into roughly inch sized pieces

3) Working from the top down and working on small sections at a time, apply a layer of Mod Podge to your ramekin and then lay a piece of lace over the top


4) Paint another coating of Mod Podge over the top of each piece of lace and allow to dry completely



5) Add your tealights and they're done! I've added a bow in garden twine for a rustic look. 

These would be pretty arranged in small groups for decoration and candle- lit atmosphere at an evening BBQ, garden party, wedding or cosy evening in





You could also use this technique with glass jars to make pretty vases or storage containers



Happy making!


Monday 5 May 2014

New project- It's getting colourful!

An update on how the new project is coming along- it's getting colourful!

From this first experiment...

To this! 

I'm using scraps of Liberty fabrics, embroidered tray cloths and oddments of lace, machine stitched together. I've over-dyed some of the pieces using Permaset eco friendly screen printing inks in Rose and Glow Yellow, which I love!


I've also made some printing stamps using odd blocks of wood and fun foam and I'm starting to experiment with over printing the stitched pieces using the Permaset inks.


Some of the printed pieces



I'll keep you updated as I continue with these experiments- I'm hoping that I can develop these ideas into a summery jewellery collection. Watch this space!


Thursday 1 May 2014

Ulting Wick Garden

This Sunday afternoon just gone, Mr Writer, my lovely In laws to be and myself visited the beautiful Ulting Wick Garden near Hatfield Peveral, Essex. 

The garden is open for charity several times throughout the year and the 11 acres of garden surround a 17th century farmhouse and 3 listed black Essex barns. It was a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon and thousands of Tulips were in full bloom in the main heart of the garden, which was once a working farmyard. I ever knew tulips came in so many colours! I'd be interested to visit throughout the year to see how the gardens develop, but  Ulting Wick will next be open on Friday 9th May from 2pm-5pm and I'd definitely recommend a visit to catch the Tulips in bloom! 



Spring has definitely sprung!

This character was hiding among the branches!




It was a floral themed day so I wore my floral Joules pumps, which I love!
Hope you're all enjoying the spring flowers local to you too!