The Help

This was such a good movie. I really enjoyed the fact that it was about the story and not just focused on being a special effects display. It was a really nice feel good story and I would recommend to anyone.

Paranormal Activity 3

Real let down. That is all I have to say for this movie!!!

Hangover 2

So, I just watched Hangover 2. I must say I was really looking forward to it because I really enjoyed the first one however, although this one had its funny parts it was mostly weirdly uncomfortable. It is worth a watch I guess but not worth going to the cinema especially as they are so expensive now a days.

Venus Fly Trap

So, I have lots of those little black flies in my room because my bedroom backs onto the river. So I thought I would try out a venus fly trap. Not quite sure how it will fair as it was discounted but hopefully it will revive itself nicely.

Death Clock

Making some progress with my animation but it's not getting anywhere very fast which is getting frustrating!

The French Market in Queens Square

Was rather small and overpriced. I did buy some bread though and Corinne bought turkish delight and we were both pretty happy with our purchases.

Evening at the Makery (Bath)

I attended a Patchwork class at the Makery. It was really fun and we made book sleeves as a way to practice all the techniques. Here's how you do it!

 Take 6 strips of fabric and sew together.

Sandwich wadding between them and another fabric.

Keep an extra two strips to one side.

 Pin all the layers together working from the middle.

Now the fun bit. Sew in any pattern you fancy to fix the three layers together.

Now you wrap the fabric around the book and pin the edges. Sew along as close to the book edge as possible and cut off the excess.

Now fold the extra fabric and sew along the edge.

The finished product !!! If you need a better explanation about how to make this just ask :)

Weekend in Norwich

Lovely morning to start off my journey from Bath Spa station.

View out of the train window.

TV at the Travelodge in Norwich. We had a really nice time there however, the room are a bit uninspired. You are only provided with one pillow each and one spare so you have to fight over the extra. The toilet is way too close to the sink so sitting comfortably is impossible. Apart from this it was the cheapest option and only a hop skip and a jump away from "Mercy" the main club in Norwich.

This is the cafe in the Travelodge. Has the same impersonal air as the room. We had bought our breakfast tickets before arrival. Breakfast is between 7 and 10. On arriving in the cafe it was empty except for one person. The spread is very limited. You can have granola, toast or yoghurt. There was also croissants. The hot food was bacon, sausage, scrambled egg, beans and tomato. There wasn't much out when we entered and no fresh food was brought out while we were there which was disappointing. On the whole I wouldn't buy the breakfast again!

For lunch we went to Frankie and Benny's which is down by the riverside. 

We both ordered large drinks and they were HUGE. Mine was Fanta and it came with ice and a wedge of orange which was really nice.

The food came really quickly and was delicious. There's a very varied menu but we ordered off the Lunch Menu as it was at a discount. I really enjoyed the food. Unfortunately I forgot the pudding photo. The service was friendly and efficient and suprisingly quick considering it was just one server. The prices are good too so I would highly recommend.

Food faces !!!!!

 

After food we went to Hollywood Bowl which is just up the road from the restaurant. We had booked before eating and it was £6 each for 6 games. Amazing value!

The lanes weren't in the dark with the glowing today which was annoying but I think they only do that in the night.

Sondi my partner having a bowl. He beat me in the end !!!

The balls!! The most annoying thing about our bowling experience was the size of the holes that you use to grip the ball. I use the orange ball and they had no medium sized holes in this weight of ball so I either had to use a heavy ball or get my fingers stuck !

I quite liked the signage. The whole place was like a time warp. All old 80s tunes. It had a really nice atmosphere.

We also played pool which is a £1 a time and we have never had to wait too long for a table. There's arcade games too and a bar with food. Overall its a good day out. Good value for money and would be good for couples and families alike.

Waiting for the train home.... sad to be going!

Lovely sunset. The hipstomatic app that I use couldn't cope with the colours hugely well.

So, I got on earlier train than I should have done and the ticket man tried to make me pay about £30. I don't have that money to spare so I ended up getting off at Didcot Parkway and waiting for the train I should have been on. Whilst there a man drinking lager overheard me telling my mum what had happened and stumbled over in my direction. Now bear in mind I was in one of those little indoor bits the train people do and he was between me and the door so there wasn't anywhere I could really go. He produced a piece of paper from his bag and started talking about the Freeman society and the paper had information on it about this. He ranted for a very long time about how we are all treated like cattle on the trains. Luckily at some point a member of railway staff came in and sat down. At which point the drunkard stumbled up to the man pointing an accusing finger and shouting that he was inhumane. Fortunately, the drunk decided to stumble off before the scene got ugly and in the end no harm done.

After that eventful time I got the right train and made it home. I had a lovely time and am going to miss Sondi loads !!

http://www.freevirtualservers.com/
This looks like a good host to try when just starting up.

So I have been looking at my blog and come to the conclusion that I need to make it look nicer. Sooo I think that is going to be my mission after I've handed in my uni work!!

Pictures in Locksbrook Cemetery

Coalition?

This is an animation I did at the start of this year. Hope you like it :)

Making Bread

A Good Bread Recipe
So I tried making bread and I think it turned out pretty good. You do need a few hours buts it's pretty easy and you don't need a lot of time in those few hours most of it is just rising time. Also once you've tasted fresh bread straight out the oven you aren't going to want to eat anything else.

Making Fairy Cakes

So me and my boyfriend had a really boring afternoon so decided to make fairy cakes and decorate them. Very good time waster and was actually really fun. Easy to find recipes too!!

FUN and TASTY too !

Locksbrook Cemetery

So I've been doing a project on Locksbrook Cemetery. I've done lot's of research and have a very basic animation so far. Needs lot's of development though so I welcome any comments as I progress.

The Dog a Poser

So this is my dog he is very photogenic. Love the picture of my mum and dog but he moved at the last moment such a shame!! Going to try a re-shoot next time I'm home.

Patchwork Quilt

Currently making a patchwork quilt. Don't know what I was thinking starting such a big project but I'm hoping I won't go crazy before I finish! I am doing 14cm squares and sewing 12x12. It's going to be BIG! It's my first major textile escapade and I'm hand sewing it all :0.

Ok so not great photo but this is what I have so far. All of the patterned fabrics are from Etsy which is an amazing online creative community who sell a huge range of really gorgeous items. Good place for buying presents.

Ok so all of the previous posts have been all boring university stuff but I think I'm just going to use this blog for things that I like and think are interesting!

Essay Research

http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/pirate-flags.htm

http://www.bonaventure.org.uk/ed/flags.htm

http://pirateshold.buccaneersoft.com/pirate_flags.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company

http://www.theeastindiacompany.com/

http://pirates.wikia.com/wiki/East_India_Trading_Company

http://www.cosmosmith.com/jolly_roger.html

http://www.thepiratesrealm.com/Emmanuel%20Wynne.html

 http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_time_period_did_pirates_exist

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/explore/sea-and-ships/facts/ships-and-seafarers/life-at-sea-in-the-age-of-sail

http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/the-age-of-exploration.htm

Essay Question Ideas

How are games created?
How to design a successful character?
History of photography.
Using a brownie camera
Could graphic design help to communicate important messages in less developed countries?
How did seafarers of the time use symbols to enhance their sea faring activities?

I like all of these topics but my concern is how to find out about them!

SEMESTER TWO - YEAR TWO

Overall Evaluation For Semester One - Year Two

Overall I found this semester a great improvement on the same time last year. I feel that I have been able to do more of what I want to do as a designer and I also feel that I have learnt a lot and discovered a lot about me as designer. I feel that this semester played to my strengths and I found that learning the new programmes a good way to further reveal to myself what is possible. I have found that I do work better within the mac especially when using illustrator as a starting point. I think that maybe I need to try and break away from this style a little bit as I think it has given all of my work a kind of child like look. And although one of my pieces is aimed at children I think I need to work on making my style a little more sophisticated and less obvious in some ways. I have found that although I see a finished result in my head I can't always achieve it. I think that my hand based finished products require more thought on the printing producing side. I feel that I lack confidence in my ideas sometimes and so don't pursue the more out the ideas. I would like to do a project where I just forget limitations and go for something big. I have also discovered that although I notice mistakes after I take a step back and see the final outcome I don't tend to notice them when I am there and working on something. Because of this I need to learn to take five minutes every so often just to check through my work and maybe get someone else to proof read any bodies of text. I think this semester I have improved and have put much more into my work. I think the blogging has helped my a lot with organising and doing my research and I like to have everything together in one place. My aim for next semester is to give myself enough time to achieve everything I feel that I am capable of and not be limited by the time that I have left.

Reading Week Project