New Curtains

In my spare time I like to make things for myself or my family and this week my mum was pestering me for some new Voile Curtains for our front room. So we went out to buy some fabric which we found at Calico, City Road, Cardiff. And I started to make the voile's.

This was the print on the fabric

And the final outcome looked like this...

The fabric cost about £12 for 3 1/2 meters and I used some White thread which I already had laying around, so in total we spent £12 to make 2 Voile Curtains, Not bad really (Of course I didn't charge my mum for Labour).

Primark - Bags

So, I've been up for about 10 hours now (since 4.15am), and I would like to congratulate Wales on winning their first match of the Rugby World Cup 2011. What a gripping game. I think I stopped breathing in some parts.

On another note, I have news. Some more of the products that I designed for the Company I work for are now available in Primark Stores Nationwide. This time it's a few bags. There are still more to come in this 'Vintage Boutique' range but I thought I would keep you updated as of when they come out. They are gradually changing over stock so more will be coming in the next couple of weeks. Here's a sneak peek...

Store Snap of the Twin pack bags

It's my mum's birthday today so I wrapped up her prezzies in my wrapping papers and bag.

 These bags were a joint effort of myself and another designer. I took all the photography myself and made some of the images on the bottom bag and my workmate put it into a design.

 

Please Note All designs are Copyrighted to SwanMill Paper Co. Please do not copy!

Scotland - St. Andrews

Last weekend Myself and my Boyfriend were invited up to St. Andrews, Scotland, for a wedding. We stayed in a lovely luxury B&B called Easter Kincaple. We were really fortunate to get a room to be honest as the RAF Leuchers Airshow was on the same weekend. The B&B was stunning, so I thought I'd post a few pictures up of our room and the surroundings.

I loved our room, It was Beautiful, the trim of the cushions and Headboard were made from the same fabric as the Curtains, And along with this lovely print of fruit was a light red check fabric, It just all complimented each other so well.

We had a day bed in our room too, and it was too comfortable! I didn't want to move of it the first day.

This is an image from the Bathroom, as you can see the colour scheme has continued throughout this room too. The mirror was the thing that caught my eye the most. The detail was very pretty indeed. I do have to admit I spent quite a lot of time in this bathroom, (having a bath, shower or just sitting in the chair provided reading a magazine). It was too beautiful to not make the most of it. The windows of the B&B were lovely too, they had wooden shutters on the inside and would fold open to let the light in.

I loved my stay at this Luxury B&B, and would highly recommend this place. If you'd like to take a look at the accommodation with a bit more detail then visit their website here

As I said earlier there was an Airshow taking place that weekend too, and I managed to get a few not so decent photographs, sorry.

It was really quite difficult to get a decent picture as the Planes were so fast, I couldn't catch them in time.

As I'd never been to St. Andrews before, we went for a little tour around the town, It's actually quite a pretty place, and if you didn't know already it's where Prince William and Kate met at university.

This was the entrance of the Medieval Cathedral that used to stand tall over St. Andrews. It was Constructed in the 12th Century and later reformed by the Protestants in 1560.

You can see just how grand this Cathedral was. The scale of land that it sat on is over 100 meters long.

This might sound quite unusual or sadistic but I actually like taking my time and walking around graveyards, I seem to find it very peaceful and thought provoking. I often wonder how these people lived their lives and make up little stories in my mind of the type of person they might have been or what they did for a living.

And of Course I had to take a photo of the well known Scottish Thistle. I found these ones in a hedge as I was walking away from the Cathedral. They were a bit worn down due to the weather but I still thought they were pretty.

Featured Designer - Claire Coles

As I was researching for some new wallpaper ideas, I came across a designer called Claire Coles. At first I was a bit intrigued about the 'Custom Made' designs, but on closer inspection I found myself in awe. Claire creates Couture Embroidered Wallpapers which transform your wall or room into a vivacious piece of art! Each design is unique in its own right as the textures and scales vary. Claire creates a range of patterns by sourcing pieces of vintage wallpapers and intricately layering them with silks and leather to give that luxurious textured feel. I think her style is wonderfully unique and the wallpapers themselves represent the intricately skilled designer she is. If you are interested in commissioning Claire Coles or contacting her, then please click here.

Both Images are From the 'Midnight Garden' Collection

Both Images are from the 'Tropical Garden' Collection

This image is from the Digital Collection

Please note that all images are Copyrighted to Claire Coles and were taken from Claire Coles website which can be found here

Wallpapers

So I've been looking for some ideas on wallpaper and came across some of these, they're a bit random but I wanted to post them up so I could look back on them for some ideas in the future,

Esther Coombs has designed a wallpaper called 'Composed City' Which is being sold at Anthropologie.com for £88 per 8m Roll.

This Wallpaper is designed by Over & Over, exclusively for Anthropologie.com and it's called 'Block Begonia'.

I saw this one when I was on my travels, I really liked this from afar, it looks lovely on a wall, but unfortunately I cannot remember where I got it from.

This wallpaper is by Statement it's called 'Havana Red' and priced at £19.98 at B&Q. I particularly like the use of colour. The stems and detail are all metallic gold and I could imagine this to be stunning on a feature wall.

I picked this one up as inspiration for a new wallpaper I'm designing at the moment.

New Prints

That's right, I've been busy again. I've designed a Scandinavian inspired print in three colourways, these will soon be arriving in my shop, so stay tuned!!

Buttons

I was really pleased to find that this morning my parcel arrived with some buttons that I bought from Bay Beads. I really loved these unique looking buttons when I first saw them. They're really pretty.

I Can't wait to start using them!

Harbour Festival, Cardiff Bay

Well last weekend Cardiff saw the arrival of the Harbour festival, which I attended on the Monday. I actually had a really good time, there was fresh food and craft stalls. The smells mixing together were amazing! I particualarly enjoyed watching the 'Breitling Wing Walkers' which flew around over head.

Photo Courtesy of the BBC

As I explored more I found these...

And of course my Favourite...

NEMO!!

I thought these Balloon sculptures were amazing. I wouldn't have the patience to do this.