iwishiwasa kids

homeworks sale

2012-03-12T13:59:00.001-07:00

iwishiwasa... will be at the homework's sale on sunday 18th March (mothers day) at the Salusbury farmers market in Queens Park. Lots of fabulous sellers will be there including Christa Davis and Twisted Twee. Please come along!

For a sneak preview have a look at the homework's blog thisishomeworks.blogspot.com

world book day

2012-03-03T18:17:00.000-08:00

My 9 year old, Arch went to school dressed as Gimli from Lord of the Rings for world book day. We converted his Mr Gum beard (still with fly) by binding the bottom corners with some thread, which I got quite excited about.

Arch made the axe himself by cutting out stiff cardboard into the shape of an axe head and nailing them to each side of a stick, one taken from his (huge) collection. The furry waistcoat is an old Clothkits one I found in a charity shop and for a while last year was loved and worn by Arch every day.

I made the undergarment by cutting two armholes in a rectangle of hessian sacking slit up the front and the whole thing is fastened by a hunting type of belt, maybe a military one, I happened to have. The helmet was made from strips of thick card cut to shape at the sides and fastened with some tape, decorated with marker pen and worn with beanie hat underneath! Not bad for the night before, but its the beard that really makes this character.

Off screen

on screen

(channlleling Brian Blessed)

Crafty Fox Market

2012-02-28T14:35:00.000-08:00

iwishiwasa... will be at the Crafty Fox Market on Saturday 24th March.

The market is filled with designer/makers and vintage sellers

If the last market, held at christmas is anything to go by, its well worth coming along

craftyfoxmarket.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/events

Flyer credit: Jimbobart (www.jimbobart.etsy.com)

New website

2012-02-17T14:57:00.000-08:00

The new iwishiwasa... website is now live. Very exciting!

click on the link to take a look

www.iwishiwasa.com

A HUGE thank you to Matt Carr for making it look totally fabulous mattcarrdesign.co.uk

Christmas news roundup...

2012-02-17T14:19:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since I updated my blog, so I thought Id give you a news round up of what Ive been up to....
It was a very busy autumn and winter for iwishiwasa... Some fantastic Christmas sales including The Crafty Fox Christmas market at the Dog Star in Brixton, sponsored by etsy. It was a great day with a lovely christmassy atmosphere

Have a look at some of the pictures from The Crafty Fox Facebook page...

www.facebook.com/craftyfox

Spent a really fun weekend at The Duckie DIY Christmas Market at the Barbican and met some fantastic sellers....

To watch this film go to: duckie.co.uk

(sadly no images of the day itself!)

i wish i was here....

2011-08-11T15:12:00.000-07:00

Top of my destination wish-list for this summer is Southwold Pier which is home to "a mad arcade of home-made slot machines and simulator rides". Under the pier show was created by Tim Hunkin, an english engineer, cartoonist, writer and artist who lives in Suffolk. His work embodies the very best of British: inventive, quirky, full of wit and humour and truly original.

My favourite machines include:

Sit inside and the booth activates mechanisms to provoke a wide range of expressions while taking the photos:

And rent-a-dog: Stand on the treadmill, hold the dog's lead and go for a walk. Includes stops at several interesting sights. Features dogs POV and excellent barky soundtrack.

Tim even shares his knowledge and passion for all things automata by providing a very thorough tutorial on how to create your own slot machine.

Check out the excellent clips below:

www.underthepier.com

timhunkin.com

eco warriors

2011-08-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

Watch how we turned this....

into these.....!

I've just spent a really fun, but full on saturday at the art shop and gallery in abergavenny, south wales where I ran two workshops in one day (phew!) In the morning a group of eco warriors, aged 8-10 years, made body armour from recylcled cardboard boxes and packaging. The session started with creative brainstorming, drawing & design. After a break including cakes provided by the (award winning) angel hotel, the designs were then realised in 3D using the HUGE pile of cardboard, some metallic paint, glue, scissors & some brass split pins from my stationary drawer. The results were awesome...

In the afternoon, a busy group of 5-7 year olds created swords and shields using the same huge pile of cardboard boxes & materials. Again, the session began with some creative drawings & designs which were then translated into this arsenal of rather beautiful weaponry.

Thanks so much to the wonderful Pauline for having me, and to Lucienne for the pictures

feathers

2011-07-20T16:20:00.000-07:00

I found some lovely feather trim pieces when I was rummaging around in a cupboard and was wondering how I could use them. Then I remembered Corinne Days iconic image of Kate Moss on the beach. I love the natural simplicity and joy that the image captures.

Suitably inspired, I got to work and created a couple of headdresses out of what I had, but this soon led to a mini obsession with finding more feather trims (I recommend barnett lawson a treasure trove of trims. Its well worth the detour to visit there if you can, one of my favourite shops)

I'm planning to repeat the most successful headdresses. My favourites include the full headdress with black and red feathers. This would have been my dream come true as a child. I also love the orange feathers with pink embroidered headband. You can see the ones that made the grade in the etsy shop etsy.com/shop/iwishiwasa

The King

2011-07-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

Driving down the edgeware road I spotted this caped crusader at the bus stop. He had more than a touch of Elvis about him....

super capes!

2011-06-20T05:54:00.000-07:00

During half term Arch and some of his friends sat in the sunshine and embellished these calico capes with bits I had in my scrap bag. As we were in the park, it was pretty basic: some scissors, fabric glue, fabric pens and a bit of hand stitching. Goes to show that low tech doesn't mean you have to compromise on creativity!

"lightening boy FD"

"spider Vi"

"furry man"

Dress your upper lip

2011-06-13T04:26:00.000-07:00

In the words of Wing Commander Sammy Hoare

".....a moustache cannot be taken seriously unless it is visable from the rear"

A sample of moustaches for fathers day (on sale now!) For the man who has everything (except his own facial hair). Modelled by the fathers of the future....

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