When I Grow Up - Page 30

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Oshun

Oshun – the story of my clothing brand, and the yellow dress inspired by Beyonce’s in Lemonade

I still have the notebook in which I brain-stormed possible names for my clothing business sixteen years ago! I was particularly interested in goddesses at that time and wrote several down, but the name Oshun resonated. When I found out more about her, she seemed perfect to name my brand after. She is a water goddess of love; a deity of the Yoruba people of West Africa and is associated with femininity, sensuality and the power of women. She has come into the news lately because there are rumours that Beyonce wore a dress in Lemonade which specifically represented her….

Jane Mucklow – the story of the photographer

This is my interview with Jane Mucklow – a Sevenoaks and West Kent based photographer who takes beautiful landscape and flower photographs which are great for brightening up your wall or giving as gifts. She also does corporate profile headshots and product and marketing commercial photography. So if you’re looking for some beautiful art for home, or need some pictures for your business, do go and check out her website. Here we talk about what it’s like to be a photographer and run a creative business, and she offers great advice for others who would like to do something similar: Please tell me an overview of your business – what do you do? I love to capture the beauty I see around me in our lovely local landscapes (or wherever I go), from big wide-angle views down to close-ups of flowers, and anything in between. If I can get flowers into a landscape I’m extra happy! We have lavender farms, poppy fields and lots of bluebells near here which are always an amazing colour. I sell my photos as prints, canvases, greetings cards and calendars, through my website and at local fairs and markets, as I love it when someone wants one of my images enough to hang a copy on their wall to enjoy everyday….

Birthday dinner at The Kingsdon Inn, nr Somerton, Somerset

It was my birthday! And what better way to celebrate than going out and have someone else cook for you. And clear away. Yeeees! I absolutely love eating out. It’s just such a pity that one meal out for the four of us costs about the same as our weekly shop from Tescos. But you see, (as I sometimes remember to remind myself) if you did it every day, it wouldn’t be special, would it? My lovely daughter, Rain did the research, and hunted out all restaurants within a reasonable distance that served Duck, being that duck is my favourite meal. The Kingsdon Inn came up as one of the top twenty restaurants in Somerset, and when my husband phoned to check food serving hours, it turned out you need to book well in advance if you want a table. We were lucky and got the second-to-last one; which is not what you’d expect for somewhere truly out in the sticks….

A day in out in Bath during Fashion Week

I don’t need much persuading to go to Bath – it’s a beautiful city and considering how close we are, I really should go more often. It’s the annoyingly slow and windy drive that puts me off I think. Anyway, considering clothing is one of my favourite things, I thought I’d go during Bath in Fashion Week. I chose one paid-for event, which was the talk with Livia Firth on sustainable fashion, and was pleased to see on the website that there were plenty of free things going on that day as well….

Monthly Memoir – April

April began with a trip back to my home town of Tonbridge in Kent to visit family. These little weekend trips always feel so rushed as we don’t see as much of them as we’d like to. My Mum kindly made us a delicious Easter cake and the kids exchanged eggs with their cousins. Our nieces and nephews always seem so much older when we see them after just a few months and it’s lovely to catch up on everyone’s news….

Where to go in the South-west for May Day weekend

I love the May day bank holiday. Ever since I read The Secret World of Polly Flint by Helen Cresswell when I was nine or something, I’ve had a magical feeling in my bones when May the first comes around. “A maypole in the month of May, is magical, or so they say!” And it’s a good time to go faerie spotting, though I’ve had no luck yet. I’ve also washed myself in the early morning dew (how very pagan of me) but whether or not it’s made me beautiful, well, I’m not really one to say! Here are a few ideas for events happening this weekend in the south-west of England. Some are quite famous, but hopefully there’s some you haven’t heard of before and would like to visit…

Sustainable Fashion – a talk with Livia Firth

If money weren’t an issue, I would have been up and down to Bath all through its Fashion Week, and despite entering every competition I could find, I did not win any tickets to the fashion shows. I did however buy a ticket to see this event with Livia Firth in conversation with fashion writer, Avril Groom. As you probably know, I make and sell clothes by recycling/repurposing/reclaiming/upcycling (insert favourite buzz-word here) unwanted fabrics with my clothing label Oshun, so sustainable fashion is something I am very interested in….

How to make simple steampunk armwarmers

Steampunk costume A little while ago I made several steampunk outfits, which Rain kindly modelled for me at the village Tithe barn. They have all been sold now, but the armwarmers I made to go with them have remained popular. You only really need basic sewing skills for these if you fancy having a go. I used lovely stretch cotton velvet and antique Victorian lace for mine, but you can use any fabric with a small amount of stretch, and decorate the ends with any trim you have to hand….

Vintage clothing kilo sale in Bristol

Both my daughters and I are interested in vintage fashion, so whenever an event related to it comes up, I take the opportunity for a Mother/Daughter bonding day out! This was an event Rain had heard about, and when we approached the Paintworks building, we knew we must be in the right place due to the hoards of students with their clear bags of clothing. It’s basically a vintage clothing sale where you pay £15 per kilogram…

How to take close-up photos without a macro lens. (Plus pretty spring flowers)

I have three lenses for my Panasonic GM1, and none of them are macro. I don’t really want or need another lens at the moment, but I do want to try a bit of macro photography. The last time I had a macro lens was back in the day of my Minolta Dynax 500si film camera, so it’s fair to say it’s been a while! I bought this pack of two extension tubes as I’d heard it’s a good alternative. One or both fit between your camera body and lens to give a macro effect, and this is how I got on…

How to exercise in public without worrying about your arse.

This is an ongoing struggle for me and I’ve written a lot more about it than I expected to! I suppose I am picky when it comes to choosing clothes anyway, but not being your average size eight gym bunny, I have certain requirements when it comes to covering myself at the gym or exercise class. “Covering myself” being the operative words here – I am not going to be wearing a crop top and hot pants….

Happy 12th Birthday WickedFaerie blog!

I know! I couldn’t believe it either! Twelve years I’ve been writing here. Admittedly, it’s not always been with the most regularity in the world, but if you’ve been following me for a while, you will have noticed a few recent changes. The main one being, I am now updating two to three times a week if I can. I’d really like to make this a place you’ll want to come back to often to see what I’m writing about…