Birthday Cake

March always proves to be a pretty eventful month. I have been very busy again. This time I was making my nan a birthday cake. She turned a magnificent age of 92 last week. I decided to go for a lemon layer cake as she loves any lemon deserts. I was very pleased with the way it turned out.

Happy Birthday Nan! Love you xx

St David's Day

So last Thursday (1st March) was St David's Day. A Holiday that is celebrated in Wales. And for this occasion I made some welsh cakes for my Family and friends. I hadn't made Welsh cakes before so I was very pleased with the results, plus they were very yummy too!

Hope everyone had a lovely St David's Day!

Cupcake Picks

Valentine's Day came around pretty quick this year or so I thought. A few weeks ago I emailed my mum's friend, Tabitha, (She is very good at making cakes!) asking her if she ever wanted any Cupcake Picks made for any occasions then to give me a call and I'll design some. Which is exactly what she did 2 weeks ago. So last week I was pretty busy, designing and making. Here are some images of the results...

All Packed and ready to go...

And the lovely Cakes Tabitha made were just gorgeous!

Photography Courtesy of Dave Purcell

Photography Courtesy of Dave Purcell

Designs Copyrighted to Leanne Carpentier

More Birthday Goodies...

I decided to make some fabric bunting for little Maisie's bedroom, which could be hung either on the wall or around the cot.

Maisie's Birthday Bunting

I really enjoyed making this, as you could see it coming together literally piece by piece. I found some lovely fabrics from some local fabric shops and couldn't resist buying them for her.

Making this bunting did take me quite a while as it is double sided and all hand made. I had to draw around my template and cut each piece out by hand. There are 3 triangles in each piece as I have lined the middle of each triangle with some plain calico fabric. I've done this because I wanted it to be very durable and I also didn't want the print to show through on the other side. You don't have to line bunting though if you don't want to.

All in all my bunting measured around 2 meters, which is quite a lot. I made so much because my friend has really big rooms in her house and if she wanted to hang it up, it would be enough to cover the wall properly. Here are a few photos of the finished article...

Birthday Goodies

So lately I've been a bit busy getting some goodies ready for my friends baby's 1st birthday. I am not known for cooking as I'm really not very good at it, but I have made a goal for myself this year and that is to learn how to cook and how to bake.

For My friends child, Maisie, I thought I'd surprise them and make some little Vanilla Cupcakes. I did try them first before I gave them out, just to make sure they were safe to eat. Haha! I actually surprised myself, they tasted really good!! Maybe I am a born natural, I just never knew it. Anyway here's a few pictures of them. Please do excuse the presentation of them, I am a beginner don't forget. :)

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Butter Icing

Mmmm Yummy...

Home Tweet Home

A new print has now arrived in my shop, I decided that I wanted to create something for the home, so this print is called 'Home Tweet Home'. I really like this print, I've used my 2012 colour pallet on this print and so far I think it's my favourite.

If you would like to purchase this print then please click here or follow the link below

http://leannecarpentier.bigcartel.com/product/home-tweet-home

 

Design Copyrighted to Leanne Carpentier

London Art Fair 2012: Part 2

The next few posts are going to be about some more of the artists that I saw at the London Art Fair. There were so many names that I brought back with me, I couldn't fit them all into one post, so I thought I'd take my time and post the bits that I think you should see...

Charles Fazzino

Charles Fazzino is a New York artist and for nearly 30 years he has designed and made 3D works of art. They are so enchanting! I fell in love with them when I saw them, I had to fight back the urge to buy one (slightly out of my price range right now!!). His 3D masterpieces represent the colourful, playful and glittery world that we live in.

'Song and Dance of the Heart' By Charles Fazzino

Initially Fazzino's work aspired from an amused glance on his home City, New York. These works would portray his frantic life, his districts, and everything in it. As his portfolio grew, Fazzino stretched further afield and started working on scenes from across the world, turning to American and European Cities.

La Joie De Vie, by Charles Fazzino. Image courtesy of http://www.jeanstephengalleries.com/fazzino-joiedevie.html

Image Courtesy of http://honkart.co.uk/gallery/fazzino-album/

Image Courtesy of http://honkart.co.uk/gallery/fazzino-album/

There are many things that I love about Fazzino's work, like the quirkiness of imagery, the colour and excitement it brings, but the thing I love most is the technique that is used to make them. After Several sketches, a design/painting will be selected, he then goes on to produce several silk screen prints of this original artwork and hand cuts each piece to be stuck down in layers to form the 3 dimension.

One day I would love to own a piece of his work.

Delphine Leborgeois

Delphine Leborgeois, is a French illustrator who now lives in London. For a number of years she has been designing book covers but her most recent body of work consists of using the books original typography as a starting point, these form the basis of the print. She then adds in her own drawings and digital collages.

'Army' By Delphine Leborgeois

Leborgeois, uses the process of collage, which enables her to play with different elements of the design. This helps her produce a wonderful array of prints using beautiful imagery from her digital drawings. Leborgeois, often spends long periods of time assembling these collages, often being constructed over weeks, even months and this plays a vital part in the process of creating a piece.

Images Courtesy of http://delphinelebourgeois.blogspot.com/

In most cases there is no connection between the book title and the work itself, The main story is put to one side and a new story invented. Leborgeois, creates a far better connection by leaving the viewer to create there own story themselves.

'Hummingbirds' by Delphine Leborgeois

I really like Leborgeois' style.

Opy's Pattern Project Blog

Yesterday, I was having a look on the Print Pattern blog like I do most lunchtimes, and I came across one post about Opy's Pattern Project. So I had a look at their blog and really liked what I saw. The concept of this blog was to design one surface pattern each week for a year! That sounds like a brilliant challenge to me. I was quite inspired by this although I knew I didn't have the time to do this with my full time job in hand.

Opy, Was born and Raised in Argentina but moved to New Zealand in 2003. Opy is a very creative individual, delving into Graphic Design, Photography, Crafting and Decorating.

One Surface Pattern that really caught my eye was her latest design, called 'Paris Je T'aime' and looks something a little like this...

I really Like this design, I think its so cleverly done!

'Aiming Happy' By Opy's Pattern Project

'Geometry Pass' By Opy's Pattern Project

'Flor = Flower' By Opy's Pattern Project

If you would like to have a look at more of Opy's Patten Project, then take a look at their Blog here

Please Note that all Designs in this Blog Post are Copyrighted to Opy's Pattern Project!

Thanks Opy! :)

London Art Fair 2012

Yesterday I was London bound again, So I popped along to the London Art Fair, based at the Business Design Centre. Every year the London Art Fair showcases some of the Great names in British Art. It also features some contemporary and photography work from emerging artists.

This year the fair gave an array of different styles, techniques and Cultures. This Blog post shows a few of the Textile pieces that I was drawn to at the show.

My particular favourite at this years show was Natasha Kerr. She had some gorgeous pieces of work for sale.

'Blackberry Picking' by Natasha Kerr

Natasha Kerr creates one-off textile portraits that explores her hidden past. Kerrs early works was inspired by Italian Renaissance frescoes. Kerr loved the worn away quality and the soft imagery along with the colours. You can still see the resemblance of these inspirations in her work to this day.

Image Courtesy of http://decowithdecorum.wordpress.com

Image courtesy of http://www.caa.org.uk/members/members-search.html?m=181&surname=&keyword=&listmembers=&category=&page=15&s=Search&image=2

I really Love Natasha Kerrs work. Its typically my style. If you would like to see more of Natasha's work then take a look at her website here.

Francisca Prieto

There were a few pieces of Prietos work around the building. This was one of my favourites...

'Between Folds' By Francisca Prieto

Prieto's work consists of folding maps almost like a form of Origami to make up some unusual but interesting pieces of art.

Elisabeth Lecourt

Elisabeth Lecourts work is very intricate and detailed. Her work is of a sensitive nature, establishing the vulnerability of the human body.

“La maison en papier”, map of the world, By Elizabeth Lecourt

“La chasse au papillon”, map of Cambridge, By Elizabeth Lecourt

“Am Stram Gram”, map of North Europe, By Elizabeth Lecourt

Ruth Waller and Lee Hewett

Ruth Waller and Lee Hewett are a creative Designer/Maker duo. They like to cross the boundaries of Art, Design and Craft. Their main aim is to produce artworks that are playful, textural and that have an environmental interaction.

'Chromesphere' by Ruth Waller and Lee Hewett

Their work is influenced by a wide range of natural and scientific forms. They like to play with depth, scale, repetition and colour to create something very unique.

This was the first time I'd been to the London Art fair, and I was quite impressed with the standard of work. The likes of Damien Hirst and Rob Ryan, two well known names in the Art and Design world also Showcased there, next to some unfamiliar names, which makes the show very interesting to see. I'd fully recommend any art lover to attend!