So for my stupidly long summer holiday (seriously, it's about 15 weeks) I have decided that, since I had no luck on the job front, I ought to get my productive hat on in other ways. And because I like making stuff, I'm looking for all sorts of crafty bits to get on with.
Apologies for the terrible quality picture.
Back in January I made this little gem and it looks great in my room back at uni. This year I'm keen to find more projects that I can try and hopefully get the same amount of satisfaction from making! (For those interested, It's a map of West Yorkshire, threaded between metal tacks that gather at a heart that's located around my hometown) It was surprisingly easy (and cheap!) to make and you can find a similar tutorial here. I couldn't find the exact one, my bad!
Last week I had a little go at making my own photo tiles, following guidance from a tutorial here! They turned out pretty nicely but I would like to give them a bit more time to perfect (I'll admit I rushed them a bit, resulting in paper bubbling!) I'll upload some pictures at a later date as I've given the pre-made ones away as gifts already. I can however show you the nice job I did of wrapping them for my friends, twins, Robyn & Ellen.
Can't get enough of brown paper packaging at the moment!
The only other remotely arty sort of thing I've been up to lately is a bit of drawing and painting, with varying levels of success! I have re-adopted my favoured style of painting portraits, in blocks of black and white. Really I think I only do this because it's my most successful way of making a painting look remotely like a face (as I'm terrible at drawing realistic people).. I've done a few different paintings, usually of familiar faces or iconic portraits. Most recently I've painted Jagger, Morrissey & Bowie and I'm pretty pleased with my results.
I thought I might keep you posted on some of the things that have been keeping me occupied/ amused over the past few weeks. I'm 11 weeks into the stupidly long university summer holidays with another 6ish weeks to go (what are we paying £4k for again?!). It is very boring, especially without a job/ money for activities so I've had to find a lot of new music, etc.
Music
Django Django - Life's a Beach (album)
I'm going to be honest. This is the first CD I've bought in a long time. Twas recommended to me by the lovely Chester and I surprisingly really like it. They have a really cool sound and I find myself humming their tunes to myself far more often than I care to mention. Above is my favourite song of theirs so far, Hail Bop.
Kendrick Lamar - Swimming Pools (single)
I know the song isn't new, and it isn't new to me either but for about three weeks it was stuck in my head and so here it is in my "recent findings" post.. Good one, Laura.
I have recently found myself experiencing a bit of a disco phase. I realised this when I audibly uttered the words "oh yeahhh" upon noticing BBC4's scheduling of Disco at the BBC followed by Nile Rogers & Chic's Glastonbury set. Appropriately then the song of the summer has been Daft Punk - Get Lucky, and I'm still nowhere near over it.
Film
A fantastically inconvenient underlying health issue means that going to the cinema has become a bit of a no-go for me. I won't go into it too much, but basically the combination of a big screen and a high ceiling does something very strange to me, and I quickly find myself very dizzy. Therefore I have been at a massive disadvantage in terms of film viewing (which kinda sucks being a student of film & TV design). I'm desperate to see World's End and Monsters University, but alas, I will have to wait. My only ask is that people don't ruin these films before I have chance to see them!
Books
Jon Richardson - It's Not Me, It's You
I actually read this back in June but it definitely warrants a mention as a lovely little read. I'm a big fan of Jon's stand-up and found myself reading the book in his voice (in my head of course). It's a very sweet book and I found myself desperately just wanting to cuddle him throughout.
HITRECORD & Joseph Gordon-Levitt - The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories (vol 1)
I was recently gifted this as a belated birthday present from my lovely friend Helen and it is just delightful! It's exactly what the title describes it as, a tiny book of tiny stories, most about 3 sentences long and each with a pretty illustration. A cute little book to flick through when you find yourself with a spare few moments.
I might be (possibly) a bit premature here, but I am so ready for autumn to rock up. I'm a true Brit, in that, I actually don't mind our unreliable climate and cold/ cloudy days don't really bother me. I'm not saying I don't moan about the weather when it is like that, but like I just said, I'm British.
My early longing for autumn comes this year after receiving the autumn trends catalogue from H&M. Now all I can do is wait for it to be appropriate to buy a parka. Summer brings about the debate of: "Is it acceptable to wear black tights in the day?" to which I always have to reply "sadly, no, but SOON". Here's a little visual plan of the absolute style icon I plan to be in the colder months of this year.
H&M £49.99*
I desperately want a parka. The debate (in my head) rages on; blue or green? I'm leaning towards blue. Also, It's so refreshing to find a medium length coat without that awful furry trim around the hood.
H&M £19.99 / £9.99 / £14.99*
I cannot tell you how "pro-jumper" I am. I love a good jumper. I frequently don a jumper in the winter months so I'm gonna need a few new ones this year I reckon.
H&M £19.99 / £9.99*
I don't know how adventurous I dare to be when it comes to jeans. Dark blue and black jeans suit me just fine. Just remember to check their thickness though, nobody wants chilly legs. And on the subject of chilly legs, I have decided that I'm going to venture to the world of knee high socks this year, not sure why, but there you go. A good woolly hat is a necessity as well so I shall be keeping my eyes firmly fixed on Primark's menswear section for that. I will also be on the annual hunt for some fierce ankle boots.
Autumn also brings around my favourite celebrations; bonfire night and halloween. With any luck, this bonfire night, I'll have someone to keep me warm whilst watching the firework display (!). I'm also already looking for a bitchin' halloween costume idea although it's likely to just be "mad scientist" again because that required little to no effort and I still looked vaguely attractive/ not like a corpse.
Fancy dress is a big deal at uni.
I can't wait to get back to the daily wearing of scarves. Summer, you can stay a bit longer, but not much.
*Online prices shown. I have noticed some inconsistencies in pricing when it comes to H&M online/ instore/ catalogue, just so you're aware!
So, MARCH.
I guess all sorts has occurred since then, really. I'll keep it brief!
Friends Most of my friends are great, of course there are always those few that seem to fizzle out and gradually disappear, but for the most part, I have some good'uns.
Lovelife There's a man on the scene. All I'll say is, it's not Facebook official!
Birthday I am now 20. It's a pretty big deal. Now my niece is 0, my nephew 10, me 20 and my sister 30. OOH! Had a cracking 80's themed birthday party, totally made amazing by the effort people put into fancy dress. Received some excellent handmade gifts/ cards as well!
Holiday Had a lovely trip to Lanzarote at the start of June with my dad and best friend from uni, Abi. It was extremely windy and sometimes a bit windy, but luckily we consumed enough cheap sangria/ cocktails to not care too much. The food was phenomenal, I don't think I've ever eaten so much in the space of 10 days.
Family In February we had a new arrival, baby Holly. She's gorgeous, a proper smiler with a little chubby head (I can relate, I was a real chud of an infant). Otherwise though, current family relations are strained again, with several parties not in contact, which y'know, just makes you feel great.
Summer Currently in my 7th week of the summer holidays and a little bored to say the least. Annoyed at the lack of job prospects and frustrated that many of my friends live either on the the other side of town (which is proving troublesome when you don't really have anywhere to stay) OR they live down South. Or y'know, are out of the country and totally unreachable!
Plans All I've really got are some vague visits planned to friends across the country, that could or couldn't happen. I also really need to pass my driving test this year- I'm working on it, but funds could soon see that stunted again. I have some professional bits and bobs to design/ create before going back to uni, i.e. website and business cards, as well as some deep research into the topics I want to design for AND a dissertation topic. It's all just hitting me that this year actually counts, which is a bit scary.
I'd like to say that it's because I've been ever so busy, but looking back, I'm sure I haven't done that much. I'm now back at home in Yorkshire, after successfully completing my second of three years at university, and it's been the best year. I finished the year with a surprising 2:1 grade and so look forward to maintaining/ improving upon this after the summer. The terrifying thing is that this year actually counts. But hey, it's only my whole life that it's going to impact.
I'm home without any real plans for the summer, after having no luck with countless job applications and a rapidly decreasing overdraft. A few day trips here and there (that I definitely can't afford) and a view to improving my artistic skills in hope of smashing my degree. Lets see how I get on, ey.
