Hong Kong!

Well I'm currently sat in my flat in Hong Kong having a nice relaxing day. I've been here for 10 weeks now which is just CRAZY! I can't quite believe it's been 10 weeks already, it's gone by so quickly.
So I'm teaching English over here but finding plenty of time to play hard as well as work hard, which is good since there is so much to do in Hong Kong. It's such an easy place to settle into and I'm having an amazing time. I can't wait to carry on exploring but for now, here are a few pictures of my time here so far :-)

Central pier - good times with new friends

Blurry view - Victoria Harbour

Flower Market

Children passing time at Stanley

Couples time!

Cute!

The view from The Peak

First Baby Knits

Just as I fancied a new challenge, a friend asked me to make a hat and mittens set for her little girl. Perfect timing! At first I couldn't decide on the style of hat, but in the end I went with a beret. I'm glad I did as I think it makes a cute little accessory. After a lot of time, (and plenty of knitters cramp!)  the set was complete! With the added flower detail, I am very pleased with my first attempt. Hope you like :-)

New Designs

Wow! I didn't realise how long it had been since I last posted. I've been pretty busy recently holding down two jobs as well as doing a Teaching English as a Foreign Language course, creating new designs and trying to squeeze in a social life! I have decided to continue an idea I touched upon briefly at university which was to create some jewellery. Some of the jewellery has a sheen to it to create a more occasion wear look, and some has a more cosy feel to it. No piece is the same meaning the wearer has a unique and personal item to wear. Colour and design variations are available and I'm currently in the process of designing some bag charms and bracelets so watch this space!
So... here are the first of many new creations... I hope you like! :-)

Thailand

I recently went on the trip of a lifetime to Thailand for a month with my friend Jade. To experience the country in the best way possible we decided to backpack around to visit as many places as we could. On our travels we visited Bangkok, Chaing Mai, Ko Samui, Ko Phangan, Phuket, Ko Phi Phi and Krabi and had such an amazing time. Elephant riding, white water rafting, mountain trekking, hill tribe visits, the Grand Palace, visiting temples, night markets, boat trips, national park visits and having photos taken with tigers kept us very busy for the month and I thoroughly enjoyed it all.
Soaking up the atmosphere over there was amazing and life over there is so much different to life in England. I loved experiencing how the people in Thailand live and work and the scenery and surroundings were very inspiring - so inspiring that I took over 2000 photos! Here are just a couple to give you a taster of my time there.

Beautiful attention to detail on the temples

Decoration at the Grand Palace - amazing

Border around the Grand Palace in Bangkok

Elephant trek! - these guys are huge!

A hill tribe village

Children of the hill tribe

The first day the rain came!

Sunset at Ko Phangan

Sunset at Ko Phi Phi

Temple ruins at Ayutthaya

Ayutthaya's famous Buddha head inside a tree trunk

Birthday Cards

This week I found myself designing some patterns using CAD and thought I should put them to some use - so I decided to have a go at designing some greetings cards. I find manipulating my photographs with CAD relaxing and love how quickly different colourways can be created.
So here are a few of my very first card designs (obviously the watermark isn't part of the design)... I would appreciate your thoughts and opinions on them whether they are positive or constructive critism :-) Thank you!

The End of an Era

Today I handed in my last ever project at college. It was a huge relief to have everything done, but at the same time slightly scary at the thought of what my next move will be! However, the first thing to do was go home, crack open a bottle of sparkling wine, eat chocolates and chill out with my mum and dad. It felt very strange having time to relax and I have to admit that I felt a small sense of guilt for not doing any work. However, that guilt soon went away and I spent the night enjoying some time away from working (although ideas of new designs were still running through my head - apparantly its actually quite hard to switch off!)

End of Year Exhibition

It was lovely to see everyones work last night at the end of year exhibition, it all looked amazing. A big well done to everyone for their hard work, it has all paid off! Seeing my work on display made all the blood, sweat and tears worth it and hearing all the lovely comments from people made it even better. A big thank you to the friends and family that came to the exhibition and the meal afterwards :-) Lots of love to you all!
So here it is, my final work of my time at Hull School of Art and Design.

The full collection

Knitted Balls on the Footstool

A close up of all 3 pieces

Me (looking flushed from the very warm room) with my final work