Primark

I haven't been posting an awful lot of my designs from work lately, that's because there isn't a lot to report as not many of my designs have gone into store this autumn, but here is a catch up of what has gone into store...

To Start, there was a card which co-ordinated with the Bag I designed earlier in the year, you might recognise this one (top card in the twin pack)...

The Bottom design (floral Happy Birthday) in the twin pack was designed by my fellow colleague, Louise Rowley

 

Also in store was a new wrapping paper which I designed for everyday use...

 

 

Please note all designs are copyrighted to Swan Mill Paper Co. and Primark

 

Christmas Items coming soon!

Travel - Bangkok, Thailand

That's right, I'm back...

I had such a fabulous time in Thailand, I really didn't want to come home. To start off with we had to get through the travelling to get there, which I thought was going to be worse than it actually was. It took us 2 8 hour flights with a connection at Abu Dhabi. When we finally arrived at Bangkok, (3 time zones later), it was pouring down but that didn't bother us as we knew that it's their rainy season. We got to the hotel and it was beautiful, the room was lovely, so big, just what we needed after a long 'weekend' of travelling.

I enjoyed exploring Bangkok, I had heard of some bad reviews from friends before we went but that didn't put me off. I had an open mind and actually quite liked it. My boyfriend on the other hand wasn't that keen. We visited some of the temples such as Wat Pho and Wat Arun. We also visited The Grand Palace which I really liked. The buildings and temples were stunning, something out of this world. I noticed that the temples had mirror mosaics in between the gold and coloured ceramic tiles, which made the buildings shine brightly when the sun hit them, it was beautiful.

We decided that the best way to get around for us was to take the river Taxi which stopped off at a few places, it was basically a hop on hop off service, I would recommend this as you get to see a lot in a short space of time!

Here are some of my holiday snaps, I hope they inspire you as they have me...

 

Wat Pho (otherwise known as Wat Phra) and Wat Arun were interesting to see. Wat Pho is one of the largest and oldest 'Wats' in Bangkok and is home to the reclining Buddha which is 15m high and 43m long. The feet of Buddha displays symbols of Buddha in Mother of Pearl.

 

Wat Arun, is one of the oldest temples that still remains in Bangkok. The Central Prang is the main feature and is covered in colourful bits of porcelain. It is known that the Prang is decorated with seashells too which had previously been used as ballast by boats coming to Bangkok from China.

 

View from the top of Wat Arun

We went to China Town too but unfortunately we didn't stay for too long as it started raining really heavy, almost torrential. This was my highlight of Bangkok though, seeing all the Tuk Tuks and the street stalls with fresh fruit and veg, and trinkety bits, it was really good. I had such a laugh that day with the rain and literally being soaked through to my underwear, we tried to dodge under everyones umbrella's and stands in front of the street stalls, but it wasn't good enough, the rain was just too heavy. Note to self for next time...If you go in September (Rainy Season) TAKE AN UMBRELLA!!

We saw these posters advertising Thai Massages on the way back to the River Taxi, We thought it was really funny and a bit misleading, I thought I would put it on here for you to see.

 

That reminds me, If you are going to Bangkok becareful when you walk down the side streets at night as we did go down a few dodgy streets, which (as a young woman) made me feel quite uncomfortable. They were pretty good though, all you have to do is say no and they will leave you alone.

Travel - Phuket, Thailand

I loved Phuket! I really wish I didn't have to leave. This holiday was one of my favourites as Bangkok was busy and very much a city, where as Phuket was the opposite, chilled out and relaxing with its white sandy beaches, activities and spa's. We were lucky enough to be staying in a 5 star resort, The JW Marriott Resort and Spa. This hotel was stunning, by far the best I have ever seen. We were situated just off Mai Khao Beach, with the hotel pools looking over to the sea, It was total bliss, especially with a cocktail in hand.

Here's a few snaps from Phuket...

Phuket Fantasea is a Night time Cultural Theme Park. I thought it was quite interesting to see, basically we went to see a show, a bit like a theatre show, but it included animals such as elephants, goats and chickens. The show also features some acrobats, pyrotechnics and elephant performances and stunts. The show told a story about a young boy, the Prince of Kamala, and his magic elephant, Lyara, taking us through a journey of Thai history along the way. The Palace was reconstructed in memory of the 999 elephants that protected the kingdom.

The Outside of the Palace

 

 We went on two trips to some of the islands around Phuket, including Phi Phi Island (which is where 'The Beach' was filmed) and over to James Bond Island. This is where they filmed The James Bond movie, The Man with the Golden Gun. It was really weird to see it in the flesh, but really cool. We went into the warm clear water around the island in the little bay where the Nail point is. It was quite Surreal. I would recommend doing some of the speed boat tours as you get to go to some little islands and have a look at some places that are not recognised so much, also you can see the magnificent formations of the islands. I really enjoyed the trips!

 

Here are some other photos from some of the other islands we visited...

 

These Photos were taken in the 'Ice Cream Caves'

This photo is of the Floating Village

 

I think If/When I do eventually go back to Thailand, I think I want to visit Chiang Mai, and Koh Samui and maybe go a different time of year, although the temperature did suit me. It was Averaging about 30 degrees Celsius when we were there, which was the end of September, but this is the rainy season and it rained everyday (quite refreshing really).

Holiday Time

So, I haven't really been on here much lately, that's really because there hasn't been much to report back, but I'm hoping that will change soon enough. I decided to choose something that will really inspire me for my next holiday, which is why I booked up Thailand. You can't really get much more exotic, aye? 

I'm really looking forward to it, and feel like its a very well deserved rest that I need right now (as things have been so hectic for me with work and my social life). So I shall be back in about 2 weeks to share my findings.

Bye for now...

London 2012 Olympics

The Olympic Rings outside Cardiff City Hall

The Olympic Stadium at night

Friday 3rd August, I was lucky enough to go to the London 2012 Olympic games! Wow! I couldn't believe that I actually went. It was my boyfriends Birthday that day too, so it was extra special for him. We managed to get tickets to go to the Olympic Park and see the Handball event at the Copper Box. It was amazing. We haven't really heard of Handball before but apparently it's huge in Europe at the moment, so it was very exciting to go and see what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately we didn't get to see Team GB play but we did get to see Spain (who I was supporting), Sweden, Norway and Denmark. All 4 teams were great, I'm not sure why I decided to support Spain, I think it was because I followed them on TV before I went to the actual game (A bit random I know!). This was our view of the games...

The Copper Box, Olympic Park

Inside the Copper Box

1st Match: Spain's penalty, who also won their match

2nd Match: Norway won

Our Handball session was in the evening, so we made sure to get to the Olympic Park with plenty of time beforehand. We wanted to absorb the atmosphere and have a good look around, although we did chose the busiest day to go as the track events had started that day as well as all the other events taking place.

The Olympic Stadium

The Velodrome

The Basketball Stadium

The BBC broadcasting studio (which I didn't expect to be built on top of Cargo Containers)

Chilling out at Park Live, watching the Rowing

The Aquatics centre

The following day, I was taken to the Football at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, to watch Team GB against South Korea. I'm not really into football, but I really did want to see the stadium as an Olympic Host (especially as I go so often for the Rugby!). To my delight it looked brilliant, and I really enjoyed the match, that was until it went to Penalties and we lost!

I think I'm going to find it quite strange when the Olympics finish. It has consumed my life for the last two weeks! I am looking forward to the closing ceremony and Bring on the Para Olympics! Good Luck Team GB!!



Cardiff Blues Cupcake Picks

My mum wanted me to design and make some Cupcake picks for a work friends 50th birthday. Mark, is really into his rugby and supports the Cardiff Blues (which is in fact the team I support too!) so I was really interested in doing this project. I thought that I would make a Rugby shirt with his name on and age as the number, along with a Rugby ball, and some simple Happy Birthday and 50 picks.

Here's how they turned out...

Image Courtesy of Tabitha Martinson

Happy 50th Birthday Mark!

Please note that these are NOT official merchandise and copyrighted to Leanne Carpentier.

Race for Life, Cardiff 15th July 2012

I am doing the Cardiff's Race for life tomorrow morning. It's a 5km run/jog/walk in order to raise money for Cancer Research UK. I'm looking forward to it now, after a couple of weeks of preparation I still can't run it but I'm getting better at jogging it. I'd like to dedicate this post to everyone doing the race tomorrow and of course to everyone who we are raising the money for! It's events like this that bring the community together and for a very good cause! Good luck everyone and enjoy it!



New Designers 2012 Part 1

Yesterday I went to the New Designers show in Islington, London. My honest opinion of the show was that it lacked something that the past shows had. I cannot put my finger on it but I wasn't as awe struck as I usually am. Neither the less I still found some amazing talent. Here are some of a few designers that really caught my eye...
Emily Shepherd

When I saw Emily's work, I just had to look closer. It really stood out from the croud. The concept of her designs had a real sense of interactivity. Her wallpapers I would say are mainly aimed for children, as they can explore the texture and colour of each design. These wallpapers are interactive so you can draw on them, write stories and stick magnets to them to hold things in place.

Images Copyrighted to Emily Shepherd

Images Copyrighted to Emily Shepherd

Images Copyrighted to Emily Shepherd

If you would like to see more of Emily's work then please click here. Please Note that all the images above are copyrighted to Emilyshepherddesigns.com and should not be copied in any way.

Leanne Miles

I had the pleasure to meet Leanne and talk to her about her collection. I really liked it. It had something about it that made me want it! Her collection is so feminine and fresh. Her intended use for the designs are to go onto Gift Wrap, but somehow my mind says that the designs would also look really good on soft furnishing products.

'A little Birdie Told me'

Images copyrighted to Leanne Miles

The Next two images are my favourites from Leanne's Collection...

Images Copyrighted to Leanne Miles

Images Copyrighted to Leanne Miles

If you would like to see more of Leanne's work then please click here. The above three images are copyrighted to Leanne Miles and should not be copied in any way.

Katie Rowley

At the show, I instantly recognised Katies work from Print & Pattern blog. Katie was featured about 2 weeks ago. I was lucky enough to meet Katie and she was lovely. Her work was beautiful up close. Katie offers a range of beautiful designs, with a lot of time and effort gone into the thought process. Here are few of my favourites.

Images Copyrighted to Katie Rowley

Images Copyrighted to Katie Rowley

Images Copyrighted to Katie Rowley

This image was featured in Selvedge magazine, It was wonderful to look at up close. A stunning design based on her experience at Staffordshire University.

If you would like to see more of Katie's work then please click here. The above three images are copyrighted to Katie Rowley and should not be copied in any way.

Lisa Martin

Lisa's designs are aimed at the childrens market, The collection I saw was very quirky and uplifting. I loved it, I thought that I'd seen it somewhere before and I was right, Lisa was also featured on Print & Pattern Blog a few weeks ago. She has a very distinctive style which I admire.

Images Copyrighted to Lisa Martin

Images Copyrighted to Lisa Martin

Images Copyrighted to Lisa Martin

Images Copyrighted to Lisa Martin

If you would like to see more of Lisa's work then please click here. The above four images are copyrighted to Lisa Martin and should not be copied in any way.