home sweet home
aah, tis good to be back in bonnie edinburgh (even if things are a bit mental round the centre at the mo). I can't believe how homesick I felt down south at one point. It seems you can take a girl out of edinburgh but you canny take the edinburgh out of the girl! ;)
strangest part of coming home was discovering the outside pane of my bedroom window shattered (apparently some daft bird flew right into it, there were feathers to prove it!). but it's hopefully getting fixed soon, in the meantime I can cope as it's old fashioned double glazing so just need to open the inside window pane and hey presto, instant ventilation! gaaah. :s
New Designers was ok, but it meant that I didn't have time to explore London as much as I'd have liked. Also I was staying with my uncle in Surrey so the commuting every day was pretty tiring. Nice to be able to spend time with my uncle and his girlfriend tho, they are lovely people. It also meant Stephen got to meet more of my family, which was cool.
It was nice that my uncle got to see my work as there was no way he'd have been able to make it to gala for my degree show. the worst thing about our booth at ND was the lack of space, I had a little corner (two tall narrow boards) when my degree show was really spaced out (four wide boards) and therefore much better displayed. Beatie (whom I went to school with when we lived in Belgium) also managed to come and see the display, which was really cool, it was good to see her again and be able introduce Stephen to her! :)
Did get a few things out of ND, more a case of thinking ahead as opposed to the immediate future, but I spoke to knitwear designer Sophie Steller, got a job offer to do freelance design work and info about starting up my own business/getting support, as well as an entry form for the Knitted Student Textile Awards. So I guess it wasn't a complete waste of time! (-although there was a lot of just sitting about, which was pretty boring)
Stephen and I did have a wander round Islington, there were some amazing little antique shops there and lots of lovely little boutiques. Most importantly, we made the pilgrimage to the huuuge forbidden planet in Covent Garden. They had one of those toy dispensers so I put my pound in and got a Hello Kitty fridge magnet :D I got some Emily the Strange trading cards, which also had stickers on them, oooh! Stephen bought me a cute rainbow print top from Apple Tree, one of the funky little boutique shops on Neal Street. Went into the Pout shop too, which I love but realised I couldn't really afford what I wanted (their mint lip balm which is mmm...lovely but unfortunately costs £6 or so).
Got some postcards in paperchase at Waterloo station (wish they had one in edinburgh!) with stars and butterflies to add to the pile I'd already collected at ND, also found a cool pencil with stars on it in there :) And no trip to london would be complete without buying a pair of whimsical tights - I got some black and pink stripey fishnets! *yey*
Worst thing about london? the pollution, by far. my hair always seemed to stink after being in the centre of london and the tube was so hot, it was a bit smelly, urgh.
this week's gonna be a busy one... it's my 22nd birthday tomorrow (already?!) so Stephen's taking me to deep sea world and he said he's gonna cook me dinner too, yey!
then on thurs I'm going to visit the Ballantyne place in Walkerburn (just outside Gala) to find out more about working there. Also having Stephen & Helen over to stay cos it's my graduation on friday! Looking forward to swanning around in a gown for the day, hee hee ;p
strangest part of coming home was discovering the outside pane of my bedroom window shattered (apparently some daft bird flew right into it, there were feathers to prove it!). but it's hopefully getting fixed soon, in the meantime I can cope as it's old fashioned double glazing so just need to open the inside window pane and hey presto, instant ventilation! gaaah. :s
New Designers was ok, but it meant that I didn't have time to explore London as much as I'd have liked. Also I was staying with my uncle in Surrey so the commuting every day was pretty tiring. Nice to be able to spend time with my uncle and his girlfriend tho, they are lovely people. It also meant Stephen got to meet more of my family, which was cool.
It was nice that my uncle got to see my work as there was no way he'd have been able to make it to gala for my degree show. the worst thing about our booth at ND was the lack of space, I had a little corner (two tall narrow boards) when my degree show was really spaced out (four wide boards) and therefore much better displayed. Beatie (whom I went to school with when we lived in Belgium) also managed to come and see the display, which was really cool, it was good to see her again and be able introduce Stephen to her! :)
Did get a few things out of ND, more a case of thinking ahead as opposed to the immediate future, but I spoke to knitwear designer Sophie Steller, got a job offer to do freelance design work and info about starting up my own business/getting support, as well as an entry form for the Knitted Student Textile Awards. So I guess it wasn't a complete waste of time! (-although there was a lot of just sitting about, which was pretty boring)
Stephen and I did have a wander round Islington, there were some amazing little antique shops there and lots of lovely little boutiques. Most importantly, we made the pilgrimage to the huuuge forbidden planet in Covent Garden. They had one of those toy dispensers so I put my pound in and got a Hello Kitty fridge magnet :D I got some Emily the Strange trading cards, which also had stickers on them, oooh! Stephen bought me a cute rainbow print top from Apple Tree, one of the funky little boutique shops on Neal Street. Went into the Pout shop too, which I love but realised I couldn't really afford what I wanted (their mint lip balm which is mmm...lovely but unfortunately costs £6 or so).
Got some postcards in paperchase at Waterloo station (wish they had one in edinburgh!) with stars and butterflies to add to the pile I'd already collected at ND, also found a cool pencil with stars on it in there :) And no trip to london would be complete without buying a pair of whimsical tights - I got some black and pink stripey fishnets! *yey*
Worst thing about london? the pollution, by far. my hair always seemed to stink after being in the centre of london and the tube was so hot, it was a bit smelly, urgh.
this week's gonna be a busy one... it's my 22nd birthday tomorrow (already?!) so Stephen's taking me to deep sea world and he said he's gonna cook me dinner too, yey!
then on thurs I'm going to visit the Ballantyne place in Walkerburn (just outside Gala) to find out more about working there. Also having Stephen & Helen over to stay cos it's my graduation on friday! Looking forward to swanning around in a gown for the day, hee hee ;p