Epic Challenge 2012 – Update…finally

Some time, early January in fact I referred to an Epic Challenge of 2012 in “Holiday Spoils” 

I think it’s definitely time for an update sooo…..

Following a rather intoxicated New Years Eve celebration with a small bunch of some very good friends we all had to make a pledge in front of everyone to take on an “Epic Challenge for 2012″ which included such things as starting a photography blog, learning French and learning Slide Guitar. With the help of my buddies I decided I need to spend more time doing one of the things I love most of all, designing and making lovely clothes. So my challenge is to design and produce a six garment mini collection by the end of 2012.

I have taken inspiration from some of my favourite things the style of the 1950′s / 60′s, Rockabilly, Tattoos and massive love of dresses! I absolutely love the Spring Summer 2012 Prada range with it’s Americana/Rockabilly motif and stylings. This project is still in full swing but I wanted to share some of my research and design development. Next on the plan of action is to go fabric shopping, I’m hoping to find some lovely plain cotton sateen’s, ginghams, large check taffeta and black lace that I will then either embroider or applique tattoo like motifs onto such as flames, cherries, anchors and hearts.

Speedy DIY Bunting!

This is a really quick DIY project that makes an easy decoration or present to brighten up any room! All you need to make this bunting is:

A Sewing Machine

Thread

Scissors

Pieces of woven fabrics in complimentary prints / colours / designs

2mt Length of 1 Inch Cotton Tape or Ribbon

All you need to do is cut the fabrics into triangles and stitch them in a random order (I like to use a zig zag stitch in a contrasting colour) along the cotton tape or ribbon and hang it up on the wall! EASY PEASEY!

 

Simple Little Girls Skirt

It’s my little niece’s 2nd Birthday on Valentines Day and I’ve made her a very sweet and so incredibly easy skirt as a present. I’ve followed the directions in my Cabbages & Roses “Home Made Vintage” book for Child’s Patch Skirt, this projects in this book are so quick and simple and great for someone like me who does have a big wooden blanket box full of lovely fabrics that I’ve been collecting over the years.

The skirt is basically a circle of fabric, with contrasting patch pockets, gathered at the waist with elastic. I also found a length of sweet lacy cotton trim that I added around the hem.

 

 

PRADA Spring / Summer 2012

I just love, love LOVE the Spring Summer 2012 Prada Collection. It’s all lots of lovely retro styling with awesome Americana / Rockabilly motifs…featuring prints of Cadillac’s racing around and flames creeping up from skirt hems, this then continued along with motifs of cherries, dice and lips splashed all over the accessories **SIGH**

I’m attempting to get my butt back into dress making this year and am currently working on a mini collection (it’s my EPIC CHALLENGE 2012) of outfits along the similar lines of this collection. The styling will also have 50′s/60′d vibe but it’s going to be an entirely black range with similar motifs, such as flames and cherries being used but either hand painted or embroidered onto the garments with super bright / neon colours. I’ll post more about this when I’ve got a bit more than a few scribblings in a sketch book to show off.

Anyway back to Prada, just feast your eyes on some of their advertising campaign, get a load of the frankly swoon-worthy flaming heels!

Iceberg Ahoy!

My flatmate Ange loves Penguins and it was recently her ahem-30th Birthday…oh no I mean 25th…err anyway I love baking Birthday cakes for people and trying to incorporate as much as I can into them to make them personalised to them. I had bought some achingly cute Penguin shaped candles and settled on attempting to create some kind of Iceberg cake to place them on.

I’ve not baked many shaped cakes in my time, so this was a bit of a challenge. I started by baking a chocolate and vanilla marble cake, in two sandwich tins. I chose marble cake in the hope it would give the appearance of rocks under the snow when it was cut into.

Next I chopped the cakes into angular…rock-ish type shapes and stacked them up in a icebergy way, cementing them together with piped buttercream icing

I then plastered it all over with more buttercream as a sort’ve glue for the icing. For this cake I used ready to roll Royal icing, which I rolled out and “draped” over the cake, moulding it into the rocky cakey crags as I went. This was the trickiest part of the project and I had to work really quickly and luckily only stuck my finger through it once.

Then I trimmed of the excess icing…

Finally I, with Blue icing, iced waves all around the base of the cake and stuck on the penguin candles!

TA DAAAH! Happy Birthday Miss Pink!

oh and the marble cake idea sort’ve worked, when you cut into it, it does look a bit like rocks…a bit

Holiday Spoils!

After a 1000 mile round trip I have finally returned to my little East London flat, I wouldn’t quite say I had a restful Christmas Break but it certainly was lovely to see many of my family and friends.

Mine and Johnny’s epic journey started with no journeying at all, we stayed in London for Christmas Day along with my flatmate Angela. We had a tremendous “Wanstead Family Christmas Day”, making sure of course we ate and drank until we could no longer move! On Boxing Day we set off for the cute little village of Bassingham in Lincolnshire where my mother lives, then down to Cornwall for a couple of nights to see the rest of my family. Johnny’s family live in Sittingbourne in Kent, this was our next stop and as we were in the area we went to visit a big group of our friends that live in and around Rochester, ending in a very, very late Pre New Years Eve night out!

Hungover but happy we headed to Lower Halstow where our friends Tim & Amy live, for ACTUAL New Years Eve with a few of our close friends, indulging in several bottles of my specially infused for Christmas, Cinnamon Vodka. Awesome in both White Russians and with Apple Juice! We saw in New Years Eve in a messy but positive style and as tradition dictates a EPIC CHALLENGE FOR 2012 is set, this is a task set that you need to achieve within the year (it has to be creative or of an self-improving nature). My task is to produce a 6 outfit collection with a Retro influence, I’ve already bought myself a new sketchbook and am working on a few rough ideas and it’s only 2 days in! Anyway there will be more about this in the coming weeks and months I have no doubt.

For now here’s a little selection of my Christmas and New Year Photos…. I’ve not got a picture of it yet, but I did get a Slanket (which I am currently wearing) it’s not the most glamorous of garments but sure is snuggly!

Belly pork with all the trimmings for Christmas Lunch

A Present from Johnny - Hendricks and a teacup to drink it from!

A present from Angela - Sailor Jerrys-tastic!

Johnny and Young Stan in the jumpers they got for Christmas

ok ok I get the hint...I need to Bake more in 2012!

in the Nags for Pre NYE drinkies!

Oh Yeah and I bought this for myself from the Collectif sale.....

Curioser and Curioser

I took part in my first Curiosity Project this month and received my box on saturday. For those of you who don’t know it’s a brilliant idea thought up by a lovely lady called Tiffany who is a wedding planner and stylist by day and by night the orchestrater of The Curiosity Project . The project is a brain wave she had combining all the social media we use with the old childhood tradition of chain letters and the excitement of getting a parcel in the post (something I absolutely love too)

Each year there are a few different curiosity projects running, I’ve just completed the Christmas one and there will be another one starting in the new year, you sign up and submit a bit of blurb about yourself, then you are matched up with a recipient who is kept anonymous you then have to put together an wonderous box of goodies (the budget is £20 max) to send to this Curious stranger. You can make things, buy things, do whatever you want really, then package it up beautifully and pop it in the post. Meanwhile you have been matched up with another sender and after about a month you receive a box of wonders from them!

You take some lovely photos and email them to the Curiosity Project blog! It’s all very fun and exciting…Tiffany describes it better here

I got my box at the weekend and here’s some pictures of the AMAZING stuff i received from my anonymous sender, you can see the post on the blog about my box here

Doing this was really so much fun! I think I will sign up to the one that’s starting in January too!

AmberBeWrong on Etsy…finally

After a long LONG wait your favourite old gin soak has finally opened her Etsy shop AmberBeWrong full of handcrafted gems. This is by no means it, in terms of whats for sale i’m working on new things all the time!

I’ve added some pictures of some of the things available but please see my shop for the full range!

Large Bow Hair Barette

Small Knitted Heart Brooch

Knitted Skull BroochMini Knitted Bow Brooch

The Grampy – Knitted Moustache Brooch

The Selleck – Knitted Moustache Brooch

Tiny Button Earrings

Small Orange Button Earrings

Pink Flower Earrings

Red Heart Earrings

Award winning costume-ing!

I’ve been at it again, rifling through the costume shed’s of the Woodhouse Players that is. This time around I’ve done the costumes for their Spring Double Bill consisting of “The Ruffian on the Stair” written by Joe Orton, Directed by the awesome Dan Uzstan and “Bobby Gould in Hell” written by David Mamet, Directed by the smashing Cathy Love.

At this years Waltham Forest Festival of theatre the Woodhouse players offerings swept the board in awards, including an award for Stage Craft which I am proud to say my costumes contributed to!! Woop!

Ruffian on the Stair is set in dreary, monochrome 1960′s and is a darkly comedic play that is an unsympathetic peek into the lives of Mike, an ex-boxer, and Joyce, a former prostitute.

Bobby Gould in Hell is a comedy about a Hollywood mogul who suddenly finds him self being interrogated by the devil, who’s been called back to hell from a fishing trip!

Cotton Kandy

Happy New Year!

After spending an excessive amount of time sitting around and eating, punctuated by present giving and receiving I am back to work somewhat relaxed and in need of exercise!

So first up I am going swimming a few times a week to get myself back to match fitness and of course SALE SHOPPING!! But if that strikes fear into your heart, never fear there are some excellent sale bargains to be found online, the added bonus is not having to deal with other people fighting over the sale rails and generally getting in the way.

If like me you are having trouble getting into your jeans after the Christmas binge and find clothes shopping a depressing thought, go for jewellery! 

Where better to start than my Mother’s, Cousins wife’s company (phew!) Cotton Kandy whose sale is now on here!

I love their jewellery and have a few pieces myself, all items are handmade and have retro and vintage inspired themes and are indeed are made of vintage buttons and bits and bobs mixed up with newer but no less lovely beads, buttons and charms.

Here’s a few of my favourite from their current collection (they are non sale items but still at really great prices)