Interview With Me in De/Code Magazine

I was asked to do an interview for Ireland's newest cultural magazine De/Code by the lovely Elaine Kirwin. I was happy to oblige, and she came up with some really insightful questions. You can read it here in their on-line issue, I'm on page ten. Also you can check out their website and Facebook page too.

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A Brief Adventure

The Grand Canal Theatre

Photo by John Byrnes

I went on a little adventure this week, hence the lack of blogging. I was in Dublin for a bit, which is where my family are originally from, and where I spent years working in my late teens/early twenties. It was nice to hang out in some old haunts, but even nicer to see how much it's changed in the past 10 years. I was up around the canal area and the IFSC, and it looks like a completely diferent city. There is some great arcitecture, especially The Grand Canal Theatre, and the Samual Beckett Bridge I had two firsts this weekend, I was on the Luas and I was also on a ricshaw. It seems crazy that I had never been on the luas before, but out of laziness I always automatically hop on the bus when i get off at hueston, but with the help of my sister i managed to figure out the ticket machine. It was fun, it didn't feel like I was in Dublin at all. The ricshaw was a blast, the Brazilian guy cycling it was rather charming and handsome, and it was a novelty to see the street lit night flying past at speed. It was ceertainly much nicer than getting an over priced cab and listening to a grumpy taxi driver. 



After my couple of days in Dublin I went to visit my ex housemate Cecily in Belfast. Even though it's only really up the road I had never been up North before, but i was delighted that I made the effort. It's a vibrant city with bit of an underdog feeling to it. It has lots of really nice bars and cafes, but it's not as flashy and showy as Dublin, which is a good thing. On Saturday night we went to see Fionn Regan is a quiet church gig. It was a really fantastic performance, but I was a little disappointed that the only beverages on offer we tea and biscuits, it was a little too subdued for a grand night out in the big smoke.

 Belfast City Hall

 I wish I could remember the names of the places I went to, but some highlights were:
A double rum and coke for £5 in a huge bar that played great music
A beastly breakfast that could have fed a starving family
A 3 hour chat in a lovely coffee shop with very cozy sofas
A magical chinese that lets you get a little bit of everything in in tray for a single set price(I didn't pay so I've no idea how much it was) but it was amazingly unhealthy and delicious,perfect 3am food!
Getting to listen to everyones' accent, which is rather tasty too
Getting to hang out with Cecily, I miss her lots.

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Feeling Irish

I was feeling rather patriotic last night after I went to the polling station to vote so I came home and made this Irish themed treasury. I'm not feeling very optimistic about the outcome, or that their will be any great change in the near future...but I voted anyway. It's feeling all very doom and gloom in Ireland at the moment, I'm surprised a lynch mob hasn't started with all the things that have been happening here.

I've also been meaning to make some specialised items for St.Paddy's day, mostly because Irish sellers get featured so often in treasuries over the next two weeks. But also so I can sell them at the market. After looking for a while on google I could only come up with 4 images for Paddy's Day earrings. I think my favourite is the pint of Guinness, and I will definitely make myself a pair to wear to the pub. Click here to see them in my shop.

I need to come up with some more designs but my brain is making a charming tumbleweed sound instead of coming up with fab ideas...grumble.

Sterling Silver Crosses

I added a new range of sterling silver crosses to my supplies shop. I've had a bunch of them in my studio for a while (it's long story!) and it never occurred to me that I could sell them. But after doing a bit of browsing on Etsy I saw that other sellers had them listed as supplies. I'm not really sure how that works,because by just adding a chain makes them a necklace, so it's not really a supply, but other sellers seem to be doing so I thought I would hop on the bandwagon. In any case it looks like it's allowed if it's tagged correctly under supplies, rather than handmade. If they ended up selling well I would be chuffed as I have quite a few of them and it would be great to get some money for them.

Etsy Ireland Treasury

Some great picks form the Etsy Ireland Team....have a peek here, please click and comment on the treasury!

I had a good day at the office

Well my new tactics at the market really worked. I went from a small table of cards with two clothes rails, to four rails and a large table with a wide range of greetings cards. It's hard to get I rish people to cross over that invisible line and step into a stall and how a look around. Today the general public were feeling adventurous, stepped in and liked what they saw. So clap on the back for myself,yey. Hopefully next week goes as well.

I had a photo shoot on Saturday afternoon with my good friend Sharon, here are a couple of things I sold today. I haven't had a chance to process all my pictures yet, so my listing on etsy for my new garments are a little delayed. So if you're reading this Sharon you were great thanks a million!