The Leopard Anchor

What Christmas looks like in my studio

Merry Christmas! xo

Studio Sunday

I'm not going to lie. I was at a hen do last night, I had a lot to do today, the very thought of the to do list nearly made me cry. So I drove a 16 mile round trip for a soy chai latte and some fruit bread, I needed it badly. And it did the trick, I got all the laundry done (LOTS), cleaned the kitchen and spent 4 hours in my studio, got a big chunk of my dress done and found the energy to socialise 'til midnight. I am naturally lazy, so this is quite a lot for a Sunday for me, even if I wasn't feeling so..delicate.

The wedding bunting is finished, pressed and packaged ready to be handed over to the bride and groom tomorrow, all that's left to do on that front is worry it's not good enough/long enough/bright enough/straight enough/bunting-y enough etc etc etc.

My dress is coming together nicely, just the side zip, sleeves, buttons and hem to do. I really want to draft something special for it but I think I might run out of time/skill. At the moment I'll just be happy to not have to turn up naked to the very first wedding in my friendship group.

I'm finding my August sewing a teeny bit stressful, can you tell? I might get some fabric in to make another Colette Crepe in September, nice and simple and something to wear on my holiday.

I'll post proper bunting and dress photos after the wedding, xo K.

Studio Sunday

And Saturday this week. I've spent most of my weekend at HQ, I wonder if the novelty will wear off?

My Saturday was sponsored by (500) Days of Summer, I adore this film, I love Zooey and I'm pretty fond of Joseph Gordon Levitt. The soundtrack is excellent too, one of my favourites.

My Sunday was sponsored by Empire Records, love this film, it's wonderfully nineties, another favourite soundtrack.

Yesterday was mostly spent doing the paper garland tutorial, but I snapped these cute photos in between covering my studio in paper and thread.

I added my thrifted camera to my inspiration boards, makes my favourite studio spot even sweeter.

Today I have been designing a sweet item for my upcoming Etsy shop, and printing up a storm. I've been putting the skills (& screen) I got from the Gocco workshop to good use.

Printing is pretty messy and you need about 5 hands but it's so fun, it's really therapeutic too once you get into a rhythm.

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend!

xo K.

My first Studio Sunday

This is the first time I'm using my studio for real, no guests (except the dog), and proper creating. I'm doing a bit of embriodery today, amongst other things.

I had to rush out to Hobbycraft earlier because I forgot to check I had everything before I started on a project. Dropped my phone in the process :-(

Today's Studio Sunday is fuelled by Pepsi Max (for the hangover) and Whip It. I love this film, it's got some of my favourite actresses and it makes me want to be a badass roller derby gal.

Fun, fun, fun.

xo Kirsty

New happy place: my studio

I'm so delighted to be able to share my new space, I've been working on it for a few weeks and finally finished it on Tuesday.

The tall cabinet makes my fabric stash look much smaller than it did in my bedroom.

I've got an Instax rogues gallery going on on my shelf edge, these are from my first little craft club party on Wednesday, what a joy that was!

Apart from this desk and these chairs (Ikea) every other piece of furniture was free, wonderfully thrifty.

I painted these clipboards with chalkboard paint and am so pleased with them. I also used chalkboard paint on the window sill and the back of the door, it's great fun for guests!

The shelves were already in the room and are horribly ugly so I edged each shelf differently, they're now one of my favourite bits of the studio.

I've had this print for ages (available here), waiting for the right frame and then for the right place to hang it, it's so pretty. And I couldn't leave the flower lamp behind in Ikea.

My Rob Ryan bunting finally has a home. I got these Japanese paper balloons from Petra Boase, they're so cheery - my nephew visited today and will be getting some for his birthday next month, he loved them.

I really wanted a space that was relaxing, fun, inspiring and very personal, I think I managed it, it's defintely a peek in to my personality. I've had a few visitors and they've been doing exactly what I was hoping for: lots of looking around saying "ooh look at this", "ooh where did you get that?", "wow that's so cool".

There you have it, The Leopard Anchor HQ.

xo Kirst..

PS: There are some before photos here.