Brooch Making Workshop

I'll be running a brooch making workshop on Saturday 14th June at Arts at The Old Fire Station, Oxford. This is a drop in between 2pm and 4pm, no tools required, just a simple understanding of sewing and a love for making! We'll be using fairtrade organic cotton to make the brooches, which you will also learn the benefits of using instead of conventional cotton. 

A little bit of gardening

I woke this morning with a few aches and  feeling very tired! Yesterday I went to Braziers Park, a beautiful manor house set in the Chiltern Hills, not far from where I grew up. It houses a community of like minded peeps, all wanting to live a more sustainable and alternative way of life. This is the house...

We started with a morning introduction of the group and cup of tea, the sun was starting to break through the blanket of mist so we set to work outside. A day of lifting the path slabs, cutting back and weeding was hard work but very rewarding. A magical place that creates conversations and acquaintances that may never have happened, surrounded by nature and existing to break the norms that we have become so accustomed to in our every day lives. 

I needed new curtains!

The curtains in our bedroom, well I should say curtain, yes only one, was really quite gross. A dirty old grey thing, that had been there years. So with a week off work I decided to make my own! I've recently painted my chest of drawers a lovely French linen so needed a colour fabric that would compliment both the drawers and our beautiful vintage bedspread. I have trunks full so had a rummage. A soft, colour grown organic cotton in olive caught my eye as well as a cream organic cotton for the lining. Now, I'm not the sort to spend hours on this so needed a quick fix, I found these handy curtain clips in a store nearby and set to work!

Here are the results... 

My new hairdressing love...

 Now, if you're like me and a bit lazy when it comes to 'hair' then I know that products, blow drying and maintaining neatly trimmed locks doesn't come easy.  I'm not fussed about what hairdressers I visit, probably because its generally only twice a year! I'm low maintenance (when it comes to grooming) so will normally visit my local home hairdresser for £17. I do however care about what ingredients are in the products I use on my skin, whether it be the washing up liquid, deodorant or shampoo, it's all natural.  So when I discovered an organic hairdressers just 30mins drive away I went for a snoop at Tabitha James Kraan's salon in Stow on the Wold.  They run late nights on a Wednesday which was perfect for me finishing work at six, the girls at the salon were welcoming and we got straight into talking about 'what I wanted', erm sort my mop out?!! Gemma my director stylist was lovely, very knowledgable and easy to chat to.  My first surprise was when I sat in the 'chair' to have my mop washed, legs went up and a rippling motion started on my back.. This was no ordinary chair but a massage chair.. I was in heaven! I admit I almost fell asleep. Gemma used some lovely organic products on my hair to give it a well needed water, and Argan oil. This oil has 80% fatty acids and high levels of vitamin E, it has been used by the Berber women for centuries to protect their hair, skin and nails.  Now gimme some of that! My time being pampered was just under an hour and well worth the £50, so if you want to go natural, organic on your locks then head straight to TJK. Here is me in the car afterwards... 

Chokers fit for a Wedding!

It has been a while since I have made a  choker so when my lovely customer asked me I was over the moon! The best thing about designing them is that they are completely new designs, one off pieces. Inspired by Spain and the beautiful flamenco costumes I used hemp silk, lace and ribbon. The rose detail was tricky at first but I'm very happy with the finished look and will most definitely be making some as winter brooches! These chokers are going all the way to Germany to be worn at a wedding, if you would like one designed for you then please get in touch! 

Window Visual Merchandising... Summer Vibes!

Exclusive Roots have the most fab Summer colours running through their jewellery collection ' Exotic Holiday', hand thrown ceramics and hand woven baskets... Not to mention the beautifully made dresses from Malawi designed by Feng Ho. This window shouts colour, fun, summer and happy days. 

Organic cotton brooches

I've been asked by my lovely friends Arts at The Old Fire Station to make more brooches and coin purses! I'm always so happy when I receive new orders, and still can't quite get my head around people actually wearing my creations! I have always felt a need for an output for my creative bursts, as a child I would fill up with ideas and the need to 'create'. My Mother would often find me rummaging in the garage gathering pieces of wood and nails. So this evening I'm peacefully drawing circles on my selected fabrics... Summer days spent in hazy corn fields inspire my choice of yellows and blues. 

A few hours later... Finished curtain

So after a few hours of cleaning the window panes, whilst sewing in between eating toast I've finally put my new curtain in place. Made from a hemp silk and a remnant if curtain fabric... Now time to enjoy whilst soaking in the tub! 

A bit of Sunday Sewing

Days at home on your own can really give you space to be creative, I always find myself feeling really energetic and inspired. Today this translated into deep cleaning the kitchen, removing the grubby net curtain and washing off the years off dirt. I looked about the house and wondered what needed an injection of newness.., the bathroom. So I took a piece of hemp silk I purchased a while back and an off cut I picked up in a curtain store. So far so good... 

Visual Merchandising

This is my recent Visual Merchandising work at Exclusive Roots, Oxford. The theme is 'Vintage Nude' to highlight their range of nude pastel jewellery.  The driftwood is from South Africa, I have painted each piece with a different design, subtle yet unique.

 One of my good friends Mr Roland Ross is a contributing artist.....

 

New publication The Roundel: 100 Artists Remake a London Icon presents the company’s famous logo rethought and refashioned by one hundred international artists. At once imaginative and playful, bold and irreverent, these new interpretations not only celebrate the symbol of London's transport system, they also reinvent an icon of the city itself. Found the length and breadth of the metropolis, the century-old Roundel is one of the most effective, best known and most fondly regarded corporate logos in the world, spawning a host of similar designs in cities from Shanghai to Salt Lake City.

Now artists as diverse as Jeremy Deller, Sir Peter Blake, Roger Hiorns, Cornelia Parker, Yinka Shonibare, Gavin Turk, Susan Hiller and Richard Wentworth offer their personal take on the familiar motif, in photography or paint, drawing or print, collage or sculpture, revealing in their own words what inspired their creation. They follow in the footsteps of the many influential artists over the years, from Man Ray to Eduardo Paolozzi, who have taken the Roundel as a subject for their art, reflecting London's importance as a capital city of culture.

With illuminating texts that consider the works within the history of transport design and public art, this gem of a book will delight all lovers of London and transport fanatics, as well as those who follow the latest trends in art, design and corporate branding.

With contributing essays from Tamsin Dillon, Head of Art on the Underground; Jonathan Glancey, architectural critic and writer, formerly architecture and design editor at the Guardian from 1997 to 2012; Claire Dobbin former senior curator at London’s Transport Museum; and Sally Shaw is Cultural Strategy Officer for the Greater London Authority and a former curator for Art on the Underground.

Bobbie's Boutique at The Old Fire Station

Shop at the Old Fire Station is an ever changing space in Oxford city centre, full of the work of outstanding, independent Artists, Designers and Makers. The Shop has a focus on the home-grown talent of Oxfordshire and the South East, but also brings in a range of UK based Designers and Makers from Further afield. The Gallery at the Old Fire Station is dedicated to showcasing the best of contemporary art from across the UK. 

 

Bobbie's Boutique has been very lucky to be able to stock selected designs at the OFS Shop, it hosts an array of unusual handmade items from whimsical jewellery to printed cards and much much more! Make sure to make it your first stop for individual and unique presents this Christmas.

Images courtesy of the OFS.
 

Shop and Gallery at the Old Fire Station: Not to be missed! Impulse exhibition starts Wednes...

 

Shop and Gallery at the Old Fire Station: Not to be missed! Impulse exhibition starts Wednes...: Impulse The first solo show from Dar Al Naim Mubarak Carmona Wednesday 29 th August – Saturday 8 th September Gallery at t...

Wool ready for winter!

I've recently ordered a whole batch of the Peruvian alpaca wool ready for the winter.  Although those months bring shorter,darker days they also bring cosiness, open fires, stories, warmth and gathering of friends.  There's also certain music that brings about those feelings of snugness, snow and Christmas.  Fleet Foxes is just one of those artists that evokes so many memories and a melancholy nostalgia.

 

Holly Green Alpaca Scarf

With my largest knitting needles currently at my Ma's house, the wool is still in their brown paper bags waiting to be lovingly made into scarves.  

'Pink Pastel' Silk Brooch - Bobbie's Boutique

'Pink Pastel' Silk Brooch - Bobbie's Boutique

Bamboo Tee - Bobbie's Boutique

Bamboo Tee - Bobbie's Boutique

O3 Gallery Christmas Boutique Event!

 

Bobbie's Boutique will be exhibiting this evening at this wonderful Christmas Shopping Event in Oxford!

A chance to see and buy some beautifully hand crafted gifts for Christmas. 

Look out for our discounts!