red

2008, when i didn't have a care in the world.

but i am looking forward, not backwards. the past year has been a whirlwind of shitstorms, and i'm totally ready for less of that.

andre chocron

Adi Goodrich

HEY Adi Goodrich, you're totally amazing! all images via her website

Karl Lagerfeld's library. Yeahhh.....

fruits

i love love love these images - from La Grande Epicerie de Paris

Chloe - Attitudes - The project of dreams

First, Second and Last photos by krisatomic, here - her photos are great

Where have I been? Oh, only doing the best project ever... making, styling, building beautiful things for the Chloe Attitudes exhibition in the Palais De Tokyo in Paris (which incidentally, is also my favourite gallery space in the world).

Working with Judith Clark was wonderful, and a very welcome change to be making stuff that I actually like the look of. It's always so refreshing to work with clients who credit us for all the work we put in, it's quite rare, but makes it all worth it. The endless champagne with Karl Lagerfeld at the opening party helped too...

And look how handsome Jason the Horse is up there, shining away in all his bronze glory! I feel proud. I made that!

the wind

This was two years ago tomorrow. I remember the day as if it were only yesterday.

Time is passing by like the wind, and I can't reach out and grab it.

I miss you, the ones who have slipped through my fingers.

I love you, the ones who are still here.

oh holy molar

Isn't it wonderful when somebody you know does something really really great? Something that you love, not just in a supportive friend way, but that is genuinely inspiring.

Lucinda has talent by the lorry-load. She's a great photographer and her band Felix have just released their new record Oh Holy Molar on the Kranky record label. It's been on my headphones all week, it's brilliant. You should buy it, and I'm not just saying that.

sick as a cat

Last night I was meant to be at a swanky shop opening party in Mayfair, with extravagant cocktails and celebrities. But instead, I was stuck in bed, where I've been since Sunday. Just like these cats, but not quite so content.

GO AWAY GERMS.

via thomas levinson / marniepix / liyin /

april playlist

Some instagram snaps from the past couple of months, for your eyes.

And my April Spotify Playlist, for your ears.

I feel a change coming. Something stirring inside me. I started a new drawing project today, I hope it's the start of something good.

magnolia bakery, new york

Now, I like cake. I really like cake. Anybody who knows me will probably mention this as a prominent characteristic of mine. And I love sweet things; I can pretty much inhale a packet of Haribo Tangfastics in one go (or any other type come to think of it).

So you can imagine my delight when I peeked in through the cute net-curtained windows of the Magnolia Bakery after a long, hot day wandering through Greenwich Village - it was like Lucy discovering Narnia for the first time. I scanned the counters and cabinets carefully, selecting the two best looking cupcakes - one for me, and the other for... well... me. Lets be realistic, in this situation, sharing is definitely overrated.

I went for the classic Red Velvet cupcake, an American favourite which I had still never tried, and a cute little chocolate number with vanilla butter icing. Timeless. After leaving and finding the nearest horizontal surface on which to park myself, I eagerly whipped the plastic fork out of my pocket and got stuck in. Cake went on my face, cake went on my dress, but most importantly, cake went in my mouth.

What I'm about to say might shock you, so I'll say it quickly and get it over with....

...I didn't like the cupcakes from the Magnolia Bakery in New York.

There. It's out.

There is having a sweet tooth, and then there is the Magnolia Bakery. They take sugar to a whole new level. A level that left me sad and sick. Charlie Brooker was right, cupcakes are pretty... shit. Wow, I can't believe I'm saying this.

BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY!

What happened to those lovely little things called "fairy" cakes that weren't just a big case full of sloppy icing? What happened to proper cake to icing ratios? What happened to substance over style? The clue is in the name - cupCAKE. I will not let this silly "cupcake culture" ruin my favourite teatime treat. I will fight for cakes which taste good, rather than look like a child's cartoon drawing of a cake. And I will win!

And the first step to winning, is making 24 carrot cupcakes for no particular reason, on a monday night. To consume, to share, and to not want to curl up and puke 10 minutes after consuming due to their horrendous sickliness. With just enough icing to compliment the spiced, slightly salty sponge.

And I can't believe that the most words I have written in one go for a very long time have been about cupcakes. I'm a bit embarrassed.

p.s. in their defence, the Magnolia Bakery do make a nice key lime cheesecake, also too sweet, but tasty as hell and bearable when shared (yes, I gave in to the sharing))

morning glory

the morning glory pool, and morning glory cloud formations via here

cabins

oh... cabins.

ghana kitchen, part 2

On saturday I cooked dessert for 100 people. Zoe's Ghana Kitchen popped up again for one night only, and was fully booked again which is wonderful.

I have never cooked for that many people before. It was nerve-racking and certainly quite an entertaining challenge in my tiny corridor of a kitchen and naughty temperamental oven. But it turned out better than I had expected, and I had some really great feedback. Head chef Zoe did an amazing job again, with a 4 dish starter and her legendary peanut butter stew. Delicious.

I can't wait for the next one.

playlists, and the big bad facebook departure

I've been a bit absent from the online world lately. I deleted my facebook nearly a month ago and have barely missed it at all. I have probably missed loads of "events" with people who I never even speak to in real life any more. I haven't had any more or any less text messages. I haven't been to any more or any less social events. I am just enjoying not knowing about my old neighbour's cat, or what my old boss had for dinner. And actually, hardly anybody has even noticed I've gone. I guess I became a bit sick of the way it was being used as a passive-aggressive bitching forum, amongst some people. And a replacement for real life communicating.

I'm sure I'll be back, I'm just having an emo teen moment. I'll go and listen to some deftones and get it out of my system.

And on a music note, I haven't forgotten about the monthly Spotify playlists, OH no.

HERE IS MY FEBRUARY

AND HERE IS WHAT I LISTENED TO IN MARCH

and that little feather up there is the sculpt that I made a couple of months ago and got cast in brass a few weeks back. I can't decide whether to polish it up shiny, or leave it matte and mottled. I'm really pleased with how it came out. It's nice to make something through all the stages, from idea to sculpt, then mold to wax cast, to the foundry to become brass, and then to finish. I've learnt a lot in the past 4 years since graduating, it's great to put it into practice for something for me.

p.s. my replacement for Facebook is Instagram - I'm @rosietea if you wanna hang out in a virtual gallery.

new york

me and my great great pal dan have been talking about needing a holiday for ages, so in return for some work i did for him recently, he bought me a plane ticket to new york. best trade ever, i'd like more jobs like that please.

we stayed at the apartment of a friend of his, a recording studio in the lower east side. we walked and walked, and ate and ate and ate, and fell in love with the city. we had breakfast with penny arcade, lunch in coney island, and dinner next to terry richardson. we got sunburnt in central park, went to a mad warehouse party in the middle of brooklyn, and invented exotic alter-egos for ourselves whilst floating along the warm, leafy streets of greenwich village.

and now all i have to do is find a way of being able to live there for a while. and have another holiday to get over this one.

wishful thinking.

the fear of the unknown

I'm going on holiday tomorrow but I don't know where I'm going yet.

It has got me thinking about rom-coms in relation to life. I never thought I'd say that out loud, but there you have it. I wrote a few embarrassing sentences about it just before christmas, in a letter i never sent. It's probably best that way.

The firework orchestral crescendo reunion moments don't happen in real life, do they?

a fog

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.

T.S. Eliot

ruby woo

I've been wearing red red lipstick a lot recently. Because I like it, and I don't care what anybody else says.

Manolo Blahnik Instore at Liberty of London

images from the Liberty blog

I stopped by Liberty this weekend to have a little look at the display hands I made for Manolo Blahnik's new instore boutique. The hands were cast from my own hands, which was fun. It was a shame that they had already been quite scuffed and damaged in the rough merciless hands of the general public, but it's still nice to see some of my work in one of my all time favourite shops.

And while I was there, I basically drooled all over the Acne section and had to exercise serious restraint in the Ally Capellino bag section.

Sigh.

switcheroo

These photos at Sincerly Hana of couples wearing each others clothes are really brilliant.

Love.

Escaping

It's much harder to be sad when you're by the sea...