Season of love part two

This week my art isn't so depressing you'll all be pleased to know and also no real long winded stories behind it either!
Below is my take on I love things, inside Lauren is all the things and people I love...things included on here range from loving pancakes, sunglasses, flea markets, Empire Records, Blondie, rainy days and chocolate fondue. Bit of a mixed bag, but sums me up I think perfectly.

Next was my take on adding an EE Cumings poem to my work, I think out of all the poems I chose shall we say the most 'lustiest' and I was to think of the emotions from the poem and I basically came up with...I want you. Simple, yet effective.

Bit of a closer shot, if you can make out the words to the poem. While making this prompt I was listening to The 1975...lets be honest I do that a lot though! The song 'Sex' came on and the lyrics I think fit really well with the emotions and passion I think the poem is trying to reach. So hopefully passion and lust for someone has come out in my art. Go check out 'Sex' by The 1975 or even the lyrics!

Until next week,

lots of love,

Tis the season of love...

So last blog entry I spoke about the fun group I have joined called Get messy, we received our first set of prompts last week and obviously it being February and Valentine's Day our first prompts were in line with the season of love.

The first prompt I decided to try and tackle was the dark side of love, thinking about this side of love allowed me to open up a bit more about the dark side of love I had felt. I was in a long very destructive controlling relationship once upon a time, and in our time together I lost myself slightly as well as some of my closest friends (thankfully they are amazing and were there for me when it ended). So when the relationship did come to it's inevitable end. I fell to pieces slightly (ironically I was the one who finished it) not feeling like myself anymore and to start not having many friends, I felt I needed something to control as it seemed everything else in my life was out of control. 
The most easiest thing to control....my weight, I have never been overweight nor did I ever feel fat. At first I just wasn't eating because I was stressed and heart broken, but seeing the pounds fall off all of a sudden it became a target that and my aim would be lost a couple of pounds each week. For people that know me I think it was quite tough to watch as I have the biggest sweet tooth in the world and all of a sudden I would deny myself chocolate, sweets, cake, biscuits and fizzy drinks anything I thought was unhealthy. I was obsessed with going to gym classes and counting calories.

Thankfully I got through it with support from some of the best people and even though this was a couple of years ago I'm still apprehensive about falling in love again because I don't ever want to be that person again. I have never been so honest about the tough and painful time in my life..feels quite nice and liberating to write down and get it off my chest.

On to something more cheery! I also tackled the prompt lessons in love, through having my beautiful Pearl I have learnt about unconditional love. Pearl is most definitely not just a dog to me...that is very obvious when you see the tattoo on my ankle of her name. This little border terrier is everything to me and more. The time I mentioned above when I fell to pieces, I couldn't have got through it without her. Some days she gave me a reason to get out of bed and get outside and down the beach with her.

Now that I live in London and she is still in Jersey, I always feel a little piece of me is missing ( I do go home nearly every month to see her). I know that one day I will make my dream come true where I can have Pearl at work with me.

Lastly, the below wasn't to do with any prompts, I just decided you can't beat a good Dolly Parton quote and it seems I like a diamond theme.

Until next time, thanks for listening :) and if you want to get involved visit:

Get Messy

Lots of love,

Get Messy!!

Off the back of my bid to take on the world of Art Journaling, I have joined a super duper group called 'Get Messy' go visit the website and sign up! Get Messy Journal Each week I will receive an art prompt to have a go at, I like the idea of getting prompts and then having the challenge to be creative within the boundaries. Challenge #1

Journal prompt: Choose a song that represents how you feel right now. Pair the lyrics with a photo of yourself portraying the emotion.

Art Prompt: Script out the lyrics to create your background using a font or special handwriting you created.

From this I created this:

Also in line with joining Get Messy, members got a print out to decorate and here's mine

Bit of a word theme this week, but I do enjoy bit of typography! Lots of love,

Welcome back to me!!!

First off I need to start with a huge apology!!! It's been nearly a year, it's hard to believe since I last posted. I'd been so dedicated when I first begun....my excuse is my big move. So previous entries you might have heard all about my move to the big city...which yes was a little daunting being a lil' islander. It might be no surprise there is lots and lots to in England capital, lots more than Jersey. So most of my time has been taken up with exploring London and getting the chance to do lots of cool things! I have been to more gigs than I can count, lots of exhibitions (which I should have used as an opportunity to post), and had a go at all round quirky events that I wouldn't have had a chance to perhaps do in the past. 2015 all things are due to change, I promise to you my readers (all 2 of you!) I will start with my weekly posts again. In line with one of my new years resolution to be more creative I shall be posting what I create on here. I am currently undertaking a #30dayphotographychallenge for Instagram, so please come on over and check out my piccies. I have also started an art journal in a bid to let my inspiration flow...or something like that! I am currently looking at different groups where you get a theme in a bid to test myself around how creative I can be around one subject. Below is my photography challenge, today is day thirteen come have a look at what I've chosen at LaurenPearl Instagram Also is my first page in my art journal...don't worry they'll get better.

                    

Lots of love,

Living it up in London

Hi all, I know the last couple of months I've been pretty rubbish at posting. As you know I made the big move to London and life has been pretty hectic, between finding digs and then job hunting it's been pretty full on and if I'm honest haven't done any printing what so ever...sad times! Now I'm feeling a bit more settled normal service will resume and I can get back to getting my print domination up and running. Over the past couple of weeks, I have been making the most of being in the big city and breaking out of island life. I'm not usually into new years resolutions but this year I did say with the move to London I wanted to make 2014 epic and have a go at lots of different things that I haven't had a chance to do in Jersey. So below are some snaps of what I've been up to, some awesome print inspiration in there as well! I started off my new London life by seeing the 1975 at Brixton Academy (obviously!), which was amazing. As you can see by my face below I had the best time! The only downside was I left a creme egg in my handbag and it melted everywhere...not what should happen to a creme egg!

I love the V & A, so I have obviously been back for a little mooch. What's great about most of the museums in London is they are free, so if you're strapped for cash like I was before I got a job it's a great way to kill an afternoon!

The V& A always have the best patterns, as you can see below.

This is an amazing advert from China 1930s for cigarettes which I just loved.












Obviously, this is going sound stupid as London is full of amazing restaurants but I love love love Wagamama. I think a bit too much, I just can't beat a bit of Asian cuisine, I promise I will branch out to some of the other culinary delights London has to offer.

There was an obvious trip to another free museum the National Art gallery in Trafalgar Square, I just love the blue cock that sits there at the moment!

After all the rain we've had the past few weeks, it was nice to see the sunshine and sit in a park and just enjoy the greenery and calm within the hustle and bustle of the city....obviously a Krispy Kreme was obligatory!?!

Below is Geoff the squirrel, weird you may think that I specially took a picture of this beauty. Well in Jersey we only get little red squirrels so this was great to see. After I took this picture, he did run after us which was quite worrying....

Another doughnut, not as interesting but I thought I would post as myself and my bestie agreed if I was a doughnut this is what I'd look like.

Another freebie mueseum trip, this time to the British Museum. I have never been here before so it was so much fun exploring all the different wings. I especially loved the Egyptian section that had mummies, which is a bit gross but also strangely cool!

Below is a book from the gift shop that had a very intricate and beautiful cover.

So now you know what I have been doing with myself the past of couple of weeks....I'm looking forward to lots more London adventures, including going to a roller disco. Whilst writing, I must also mention the little one, who obviously couldn't make it out to London and is being spoilt by her Nana. The beautiful Pearl remains in Jersey with her partner in crime Jackson, I already miss her like crazy and can't wait to be reunited with the little critter.

Lots of Love

LaurenPearl fabric...Step 1

So I finally got around to dying my fabric yay!  I bought two different colours, deciding to use the china blue (I also bought pink!) For some reason the dye I bought was to be used for dying in the sink and not the washing machine. I've never dyed fabric like this before but what hell, why not give it a go!

So while nobody was in the kitchen I got right to dying my white cotton blue. First things first dissolving the blue dye in some warm water. I must admit at this stage the dye was looking very blue and I did wonder how it would come out on the fabric. Once this was dissolved it was time to fill up the sink and dissolve the fabric salt...I did wonder if this was normal salt but didn't want to try it and find out, just incase I ended up poisoned or something.

Once in the sink the instructions said to keep stirring the fabric for 15 minutes, to which I did while reading my kindle (if you haven't read the I Heart series by Lindsey Kelk I urge you to do so!) Finally after 15 minutes of solid stirring, it was time to leave the fabric for 45 minutes stirring occasionally. This is when my disaster hit, I left the fabric for about 10 minutes upon returning to my horror the plug has come out and all my lovely dye mix had gone.

Nevermind, like the trooper I am I carried on by washing and drying the fabric hoping that the dye had taken. Below is the finished result, the picture is pretty rubbish and the fabric still looks white. I promise you it has come up a lovely pale blue that I will be able to print over.

I can't promise I will get printing this week but as tis the season to be jolly and I have lots of Christmas parties to go to, but you never know it might be here by the weekend! Lots of love,

Personalised Gifts...

I'm still working on my fabric situation and with the move to London happening very soon, my cash flow is mostly being put in to a nice savings account that sees I don't become homeless! So while I await more funds to buy fabric and also finish the fabric I have, I thought I would share with you something I recently found that I love.

This funky personalised phone cover is from notonthehighstreet.com which is a really cool online shop that have lots of different sellers selling cool and quirky products. I suppose it's a bit more of an upmarket Etsy. The company that make this is Pickle Pie gifts, and they also have lots of other really amazing personalised gifts. This phone cover caught my eye as I'm really into personalised belongings at the moment. Whether it be chains that have your name printed (like Carrie's), cushions with a photo of your choice (I do have a Pearl cushion!). What I really like about this personalised product is you can enter little snippets about yourself or the person your buying the gift for. I will definitely be putting this or the personalised print on my Christmas list, before I do so I did get thinking about what 16 things I love and what I would include on this? At first I struggled as for some reason when someone puts me on the spot about my favourite things my mind seems to go blank and I can't remember a thing! As I am moving to London, I will be looking for a new job and I must admit I did struggle thinking about what my duties are in my job at the moment...not because I don't do anything, quite the opposite I'm always really busy I just seem to be so indecisive I can't quite remember what doing? So anyway I have decided on my 16 loves, I have probably missed out lots of important ones but nevermind this is the list as of today!! **Lauren Loves**
Her scruffy border terrier Pearl New York City Candy Skulls Music with guitars Vintage dresses Colourful filters on photographs Mulberry Handbags Glitter A surreal sense of humour Pastel coloured hair and quirky spectacles The Wizard of OZ Brightly Coloured fabric patterns Dressing like an old lady Haribo Sweets and Earl Grey Tea Doilies and lace  ** if i'm allowed a bonus entry it's got to be Grumpy cat surely??? So now you know a bit more about me, and also if you fancied getting me a personalised gift from notonthehighstreet I would much appreciate it!! Lots of love,