Etsy love

 Buy handmade! I'd like all of the following please..

Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside.

The blog's been a little rejected this week, lots happening! I had a nice surprise trip to Tenby in Wales over the weekend, ate fish and chips, enjoyed the sun and consumed lots of ice cream... lovely

The weekend's merriment came to a rude awakening when the week and the rain started! Must remember it is still march..just about.. The New Brewery Arts put in a nice healthy order of my Cirencester Tea Towels so I busied myself with the printing and sewing and dropped them off today with two Cirencester art prints- one to go in the Gallery, one for the cafe. I may have to go in for a piece of coffee cake on Sunday (mothers day, must not forget!) and allow myself a few minutes of self indulgent smugness! I love the Brewery Arts...

Come back sunshine?

Fresh bits

Busy week already! (though I spent as long as possible putting some washing out on the line this morning-lovely lovely sun stuff!) Just time for some new bits on Etsy...

Perfect for a boyfriend/music lover/apprechiator...! Now, time to think of some more excuses to get outside! Enjoy everyone x

Lavinia's Tea Party!

The super lovely and talented Lavina of Lavinia's Tea Parties turned a year older yesterday, and I was one of those fortunate enough to attend her own birthday tea! Her China and cupcakes are exquisite, all of which you can hire (and consume!) at your own special event, be it hen party, wedding, tea with the girls, Christening...when is there not a good time for high tea!? She also sells beautiful things at Etsy here and has a facebook page you can follow her various antics on.

What to give a girl on such an occasion?!

I took along my own offering to the shinanigans, but having run out of glace cherries for my upside down pineapple cake, I resorted to the kitchen cupboards and came up with a coconutty, pina colada/malibu inspired concoction (...lets call it Stephanie's Pinalibu Cake!) It also had a bit of mint thrown in..think I was confusing it with a Mojito- interesting to say the least, but it all went with no complaints!

 

 Tied up with brown paper and pink string, lovely!

A super nice evening :) www.laviniasteaparty.com

Listen out for a collaboration coming soon! x

 

This weeks happenings...

Yesterday I found myself pretty uninspired and with total lack of concentration, so I filled an hour with a little sewing project using an odd bit of fabric, resulting in a wonky little pencil case! ...I think it has a certain charm..! (note-my cushions, in fact anything rectangular that I've made is perfect!) Here's a pic anyway! Let me know what you think and I may practice my case making...

I took myself out the studio to get some better lighting for some photographs earlier this week, ending up at an old railway bridge nearby. It's architecturally quite interesting and the colours in the stone are really different to everything else around here, so I took some snaps to share...

And you can see the results from the shoot here.

Also, a massive thank you to my lovely neighbour Claire who brought me these amazing daffs from her allotment, brightening up a grey day! Just perfect :)

Happy weekend all! x

Cirencester art prints!

Something I've been working on for a little while recently, inspired by souvenir handkerchiefs and town maps...

 

Cirencester art print by Stephanie Cole ©

How English! A little piece of the Cotswolds for your home... Cirencester did use to be the Roman capital of England you know, and rightly so! Design features a modern 'bird-eye' view of Cirencester's localities: try spotting the market place, Britain's tallest hedge, the butchers, the barbers...I could go on! Real fun, perfect for those living locally to Cirencester, those who love visiting and those who'd like to visit! 

Printed in the UK with archival ink on archive paper, meaning the image will stand the test of time and is fully light-fast. You can see the lovely 'printed' texture of the print in the close up below; almost like a stamp...very pleased with them!

All images © Stephanie Cole 2011

If you are interested in these original limited addition prints, please drop me a line here. Available both framed and unframed and are 40X50cm, excluding the frame. Will fill a blank, uninspiring wall just perfectly!

There's also tea towels here! 

Hope you're having a splendid day! x

Weekend happenings...

A pretty busy one so far...a few new bits added to my etsy shop here! A little break in between for Grandma Cole's birthday at The Kitchen in Minchinhampton- highly recommended, the best coffee cake in the Cotswolds perhaps!?

Spring is definitely almost here...the loyal among you may recognise this is no Cotswold stone wall, and was in fact taken in Wales, (I'm back and forth between the two as I happened upon a nice fella whilst at uni there!) ...But I'm enjoying the lambs starting to appear! 

Happy weekend everyone! x

Here goes nothing...!

 

(deep breath!) ...After years of  following several beautiful, lovely, inspirational blogs, (which I'll share with you once I figure out how!) I've decided it's high time I jump (stumble) onto the band wagon. So this is a hello and welcome! 

I'd like this blog to become an informal 'behind the scenes' of my creative journey into the unknown..life past finishing Surface Pattern at university last year and finding my feet; what inspires me and other pieces of news which won't (and should never) make it to my new and wobbly website, which, incase you're wondering is www.stephaniecole.co.uk

Things you might like to know:

1. I screen print and make cushions, tea towels and such from my home (formally my mum's dining room-thanks mum!) in the Cotswolds, UK
2. I finished uni in Swansea last June, so after faffing/panicking/moping for several months, this is what I've decided on doing with my life...it's been fairly enjoyable and quite exciting so far (and keeps me off the streets at night!!) 
3. For a couple of days a week, I screen print fabric meterage for the amazing (and British!) Rapture & Wright who design and print linens for interiors from a local farm- very pretty, very cold over winter (Spring? yes please!) 

I'm sure there's plenty more I have to tell you, but we don't want to put you off ever coming back again, so I'll leave it at this for now... Plus, I have a raclette party to head off to!

So yes, welcome and I hope you enjoy this here blog!

'till next time x