Delicate Wings A-Fluttering

http://www.worldoffroud.com/books/goodbad.php

http://www.worldoffroud.com/books/htsf.php

As it's half term, and I know I should be doing coursework - but of course, like many, I'm not - I decided to dance my fingertips over some new material and magical meanings. My auntie Sue (bless her cotton socks!) bought me two books. Not just any books though. Good Faeries....Bad Faeries by Brian Froud, and How To See Faeries by Brian Froud and John Mattews.

 I'm. In. Heaven! The illustrations by Brian are just amazing - there's no word to describe the awesomeness that is presented before your eyes and I'm captivated by the imaginative reality of this realm. Of one that get's over-excited about simple things, this certainly caters for my inner madness.

Alongside this, I had been glancing at a multitude of Fae images when I came across http://fairytalefashion.tumblr.com. Even though it's not a proper blog, and I'm not a huge fan of Tumblr, it did however draw me in to the amount of beauty and faery-like inspiration this individual is drawn to. Page 15 in particular caught my eye with this image:



http://www.etsy.com/listing/50822898/fluttery-breath-of-life-necklace-3

It's just so....so....so elegant and beautiful! I'd be so tempted to try and recreate this masterpiece, but because I'm overhauled with (unfinished) coursework and additional projects, this may have to put to the back of the cupboard for the time being. *sigh*
Still, not to worry. I shall venture forth and admire more pretties to come!!



Happy Birthday to....

ME!!!

Yes, it is my birthday today - the good old age of 18.

I've been a beautiful long walk on the common with my parents and my youngest brother, which was lovely. There were plenty of muddy spots to get stuck in, but unfortunately, I failed to charge my camera battery, so there are no photo's to share with you of that.
However, having visited the Ballgown Exhibition at the London Victoria & Albert Museum last week I thought I'd share with you some images I found on Pinterest. Such elegant findings aren't they?

On another considering note, surprisingly, I haven't been - or don't plan to - get 'rat-arsed' with consumption of stupid amounts of alcohol. A shame to some, but I'm moving on from that phase - I mean, where's the fun now in buying it yourself when it was much more satisfying knowing you could get away with being able to purchase alcohol through older friends? Illegal, yes. But what we've got to ask ourselves is whether or not society is becoming one of those 'health-and-safety-obey-my-orders-or-I'll-fry-you-alive' kind of places. Oh, hang on... it is - or that's my interpretation anyhow.

5 for Silver

"I've stopped and pondered for a very long time - a very long time indeed.

Almost as if I'm meant to wait for an interestingly strangeful deed.

And with that thought I rise and look to skies beyond the stars

Where all the faeries go to play with the magpies and cookie jars."

Time to think through thoughty thoughts. FIVE is a significant number to me. There are FIVE people in my house. There are FIVE very close friends that I have. There are FIVE trends that I adore and would love to clash them all together to create my own. To top it all off, I saw FIVE magpies today on my way home from College. 5 for Silver. I just hope that my superstitious mind brings a lot of luck my way! But you know what? I've had another realisation: all my friends are on the same wavelength as me - I was just too selfish to realise it; and if you're reading this, I'm sorry. Creative minds full of dark magic  and wondrous things are within us all. It's so good to feel like I've been slapped round the face and woken up (metaphorically speaking, of course).


I've finally agreed to choose FIVE universities to visit over the next year or so. My time has come to take a long quest towards Universities and distant cities. Today, I'm heading off to Plymouth, where I hope to enjoy the beauty of it and its 'College of Art' open day tomorrow.


screedon.wordpress.com

Pretty Posessions....

For those that think I'm 'bunking' college today, I'm not - I have the worst fever ever, alongside coughs, a painfully sore throat and a snotty nose. Yes, I'm in a beautiful way - but I'm not ill enough to not want to do a bit of 'internet browsing', shall we say.


Alice Bag, in Royal Harat Carpet,
image courtesy of carpetbags.co.uk

I have had a love of bags of all shapes, sizes, colours and styles for many years. So many in fact that I've lost count of how many I have bought, made or drooled at. Today thanks to Glamour magazine,(that's UK Glamour, people!), I have come across an amazing awe of Carpet Bags. The company following the link has produced these bags made from amazingly patterned carpet fabric since 1974, where they continue to produce high-quality and an amazing array of styles. This is, however, not for the faint hearted, as the bold patterns cry out to those who have a style edge and are looking to be the unique individual. This is in fact the voice of me.

But it doesn't stop there. Not only does it have amazing texture, they have names, of which one in particular stands out to me: Alice. Although going by AliMcfadian on my blog and other areas within my creative life, I do have a secret awe about things that have my original name on them. This is one of them, and I'm sure you can guess the others! At £38, I think this will be an investment of the year, and besides, it'll have MY name on it. *inserting ridiculously smiley face here*

Mushroom?!

Oh yes, I have indeed been having fun - well, last Sunday to be precise, as it took me the whole day to accomplish a project I've been longing to do. I. Have. Found. Time. To. Do. What. I. LOVE.

 Do you remember me rambling on about that Burdastyle Bag that I wanted to have a go at making? Well, I've done it. I stuck to the original pattern as I wasn't too sure how the Burdastyle patterns would turn out, but I must say that I'm rather impressed and pleased with myself!
I came across this fabric at work - it's a silk blend fabric used primarily for soft furnishings, so I thought it


 would be ideal for its purpose. it did fray quite a bit, which annoyed my Dad more than me because it kept sticking to our table.
You might not have realised this yet but I LOVE toadstools. I'm trapped in this faerie escapade which I adorn and hold to my name like a chameleon does to his flies (the bug type, of course. Strange way of thinking, I know!). So, without further or do, my motif is the hand embroidered toadstool. Yes, you read that correctly, hand embroidered. It's such a beautiful way of adding colour and texture to a piece without being overwhelming and overly complicated, because anyone can do it at whatever level. The stitching did become a little loose here and there, but I feel that it adds to the quirky character of the piece. The final amazing element is the Elephant-print lining. My jaw dropped when I saw this come into work. It's a 100% cotton fibre, and it came in the Dark Blue (pictured) and Red, with me choosing the blue to not overpower the concept of colours used in the rest of the bag.

I'm in love with it and really hope that I end up making more Burdastyle products soon!!

Enough of all this shinanigans!

Let's put the previous posts behind us. *shoves them back a long way* There we go! And welcome to a happier me *smile stretches across face*. Hang on - stars? What's all this about? Oh yeah, I'm happier again! And feeling my eccentric self fitting back into place nicely. And you know what? It feels sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo GOOD.

I continue as I mean to go, and find myself finally getting some photo shots of the many beauties I'm making. Knitting has been more successful than my heartwarming love for sewing and dressmaking - my second year at A Levels is once again taking priority. Oh, and I found the artists for the 'Ball- Gown's For All' post: Brian and Wendy Froud. They. Are. Amazing.
Still, I have for you pictures, yes, wondrous pictures of the things I've made! I'm still learning and always looking to improve, but I'm pleased with the originality of the outcomes. Take a look and see what you think:

 This first garment that I made was for our 2011 School Prom. Although having designed a complicated and amazing piece, I ended up keeping it relatively simple due to time and deadlines. I'm actually impressed how the back turned out in the end, as the gathered fabric was incredibly tricky to work with. I also had to take it in which did wonders for my self-esteem on the night. The pattern I used was 3878, of which I adapted the shape of the corset-style top to create this weird shape.
                                     The materials were courtesy of  Abakhan.co.uk.

 This Purple Jumper was my first ever knitting project! Woop! - YES, I am excited because I made something with yarn. Successfully. I used a Patons DK yarn in the muchly obvious purple shade, (sorry, I can't remember dye-lot and shade numbers!), and voilla! The garter-stitched hem, cuffs and neckline was meant to be in a rib stitch, but at the time I was struggling to understand how to do it! it's comfortable, has a hole in the back which I deliberately didn't take a picture of to show you, and I love it to pieces.

 I then fell in love with a Rowan Kidsilk Haze pattern, which you can see opposite. I've got to admit it might be tricky to see against the body form due to the irony of the colour choice, but it turned out better than anticipated. the trim along the top neckline was knitted, not crocheted which was actually quite unusual. It forms a lace- like pattern, and gives it a more 'sophistiated' style against the simplicity of its shape. I'm not to keen on the straps though, as they look like they could cut in (no, I haven't worn it yet) but this could be due to my tight stitching's, which I'm aware that I need to do looser.

 I did this skirt a LONG while ago - 3 years ago, to be more precise! I'm always inspired by the DIY take on fashion as well as the beauty of couture pieces, but before that came about, Generation-T was my love. This was taken from the first book published, project 'you can pleat me'. Using some old and boring t-shirts, I got snipping away and ended up with this. I have now found a better use for jersey fabrics!

 Another Rowan pattern, but using Freedom Spirit Chunky yarn instead. I started this last September, and finished it in March of this year. Yes, I'm slow, but it's so worth the wait. It's quite heavy and a little bit itchy due to the weight and texture of the yarn. The colour was mainly the purpose of which I bought it, as it reminds me of beautiful Autumn leaves when looked at closely. I'm not too keen on the neckline on this one, but it's certainly going to keep me warm this winter!



 My most recent projects are my beloved hat and scarf. I used some amazing Aran yarn that my beloved Grandma left me after she passed away. (I'm still crying about it deep inside :'[ ). The scarf consists of a four-row pattern being repeated over and over to get the desired length, and the leaf-tassel's were an intriguing find of which I found in 'knitting on the edge'. Now, THIS keeps you warm - you don't even need a snood! The hat is also gorgeous and I've finally mastered doing rib, HOORAY!

So, that's what I've been up to so far. But you see, This is my life and what I've always wanted to do. MAKE AMAZING THINGS. I'm currently working on three other projects that I hope to share with you as soon as I've finished them....

Alimcfadian x

Distance and Drifting Sledges

Neglection is never something I like to feel, nor would I want to create that feeling for someone else. It's horrible, let's face it, and I've been distant from my blog to try and calm a parranoia I've been fearing. However, it doesn't seem to have done much, and I'm scared of something that could potentially happen. It's a fear I've never felt before, of which I just want to go away and leave me forever to get on with things. It's like a deamon clouding me in an abyss of darkness and no hope seems to be shining through at the moment. I feel empty and alone. I wish I could talk to somebody but I'm scared of everyone and everything. It's terrifying...


Aside from that, I've been to France for a few weeks. Here are few photo's from my supposedly 'peace-dwelling' holiday, which you can see more of on my facebook page.