Monday 30 April 2012

words to inspire...

Hey! I have another quote to share with you today, and that you can share - copy and paste, send to a friend or just print off and put up in your workspace to keep you on track throughout the day. I have things like that ll over the place and they really help. I started using them when I gave up smoking. I had the amount of days/ hours etc on post it notes around the house, that I had been smoke free. I had 'you CAN do it' all over the place. So today I share this with you:


Yep, that's right.
A long time ago I banned the phrase 'I can't' in my classrooom. Like, I know things can be tough, hard, seeeeeem impossible. You may need some help, a shoulder, some cash or to learn something. But the truth is always - where there's a will, there's a way.

Happy Monday everyone :)

Sunday 29 April 2012

Week in Pictures

Oh hi! I took photos like a demon this week, and have lots to share with you. Apologies in advance for the sheer MASS of photos posted but I get excited seeing them all up on the blog and collaged together - a visual slice through time. The first one shows some gorgeous coasters my friends Amy sent me recently, and who also inspired this post as she does one every week. It was a pretty busy one this week with a trip to London that made me feel like a right tourist. I used to live in London as a child, and later as a student and I know full well Londoners think tourists are pretty uncool. But the kids inspired me to take them dashing around to see the sights, they were amazed I had the 'knowledge'. Ready? ok, here goes:


Mashed banana on toast with cinnamon. Week 1 of the WW challenge. The light though my curtains. Starting a quilt. Something I was meant to photograph but ate.  Hail upon hail. Charity shop finds. Pretty flower growing in my classroom. Porridge with grated apple, sultanas and cinnamon. Rain. Beads. Drawing birds. Cheese and cress sandwich. Hackney. Red lights. Under a bridge. Barge on the Lea Valley. Barge on Lea Valley2. Wall art in Hackney. Stripey dress. London from above. Eros. Piccadilly ( I say Gherkin). M&M store. Waiting in the rain. Olympic clock, Trafalgar Square. V&A roof. These boots were made for walking....and they did!

Have you had a good week?
Did you ever go on a school trip? Oh really...where did you go?

...Outfit Post...Louche Love

I is back! Ahhh tis good to be back on home turf. The seagulls they missed me. I know my cat missed me because he has NOT stopped meowing since I stepped in the door. It's good to be loved.

On a school trip to the V&A I wore a dress I bought last week in a Charity Shop, thought I might as well show it off here. The print was the first thing I noticed, then the detailing, then the price: £4.99 - you MINE, dress.
I got it home and checked the label, had not heard of it before (I am so uncool when it comes to labels, I still only get excited when I see an old yellowing label from the 70s). The company is Louche, a high street-designer label. And it seems I got a bargain as new it would have been £50 to 60! Yes! I am now saving up the pennies for this dress...and then practically all the other ones.
I love it - have a look:


Outfit Details:
Dress - Louche (£4.99 to me)
Cardigan - £15.99 Zara
Leggings - £4.99 Primark
Boots - gift from ma Mama
Skinny belt - £2.99 Primark (pack of three)
Bag - from a fwend
Glasses - £25.99 from mens cheap range at Specsavers haha

I do neeeed glasses all the time, but don't like paying lots for them *cough* or anything for that matter. The mens range has some cool frames that I like, so why not? Of course the staff there think I am 'challenged' but hey...


So, yeah. Did I mention this dress is a (hu-hum) size 12. I'm ok with you knowing that because I am well chuffed to be able to say it :)

The V&A was amazing by the way. We went to see this exhibition. The way it was presented, set up, was incredible; I've actually never seen a better exhibition (in terms of layout) in my life probably, except at the British Museum, all their layouts are breathtakingly awesome.

Some things I got to see at the exhibition that took my ruddy breath away:
The Calyx print by Lucienne Day.
This one by Terrance Conran.
This painting by David Hockney.
This stage costume designed for and worn by Sir David of Bowie. I was amazed by the construction - made from one piece of woven wool fabric!
And this one for Mr (sexy-although-not-in-this) Brian Ferry. Ok maybe still sexy in it. It was TINY.

Lots of other things too on this action packed weekend that I will share as soon as I have got over the stress and exhaustion of teenage girls high on sugar and Urban Outfitters!

Have you seen any good exhibitions lately?


Friday 27 April 2012

Hey gang!
I'm back with another inspiration poster, to keep you busy while I am away. This one is a longer quote. I have heard/ read parts of it in different places before and never knew they all linked together. Imagine being able to say all these words, right out of your mouth? Beggars belief. But thank God she did, they are some seriously good ones.


Amen to that!
As I said yesterday, feel free to save and share, print or pass on. I believe in the power of giving and sharing, of passing on our knowledge and wisdom. I try to live and breathe my spiritual beliefs. This one takes time for me to give in to it. Part of my brain resists the message. I have to work harder to achieve this. Something to aim for and to work towards is a good driving force.
Do you have any quotes that inspire you?

Don't forget to vote for me!

Thursday 26 April 2012

words to inspire

Hi friends...
I have been feeling all serene and lovely lately - I blame Yoga entirely for this. I went this evening and it makes me feel so happy, calm in mind and body and uplifted and energised spiritually. I have been looking for ages for a Yoga class that is really great and I finally have. This is a big thing in my life, otherwise I wouldn't mention it here. I used to go to an amazing Yoga Institute in South London when I was a student there. I had this amazingly kind but brutal teacher Glynnis who would shuffle and poke you around like a piece of clay - but when she was done, I felt amazingly aligned an in the best version of each pose. She always made tea and biscuit after, and sometimes used to feed my (obviously starving face) veggie curry that she had made for her dinner. Bless. I feel so blessed to have met her, she was such a lovely woman.
In the spirit of all that is spirit, I have been making some little inspiration posters to put up on my blog from time to time and you can save and print off if you like them too. I'll share them out over a period of time, cos, you know...you know, I'm lazy like that.


We actually ARE stardust. When I found this out I did a proper 'Whoa!'.
This phrase goes around in my head all the time. I love it.
If you like it too you can right click and save it - print it or whatever. It is my image, I designed it. So I can say that with gay abandon.

I am off on a school jolly tomorrow to the Olympic Village in Stratford, London. It will be fun and I'll make sure I snap away ready to share when I return. I'll probably be tweeting like a liddle birdie, so follow me if you want to @nicola_reloved
See you on the flipside x
P.s if you could keep in mind my mission below - I would be slightly in love with you :)

Don't forget to vote for me!

Sunday 22 April 2012

...Kid Art...

Hallo buddies! I love to watch students develop creative skills, and when I say creative I don't mean hours and hours of pencil drawing and shading (which is an important skill but for young people is creatively very limiting, but sadly is still used in schools A LOT and frustrates the crapola out of me as I have to teach it!). I would much rather be helping them to make creative choices about layers, lettering, colour, placement, composition, style, materials etc...which I get to do luckily with my Textiles Design students. I have a Year 11 group just finishing, a Year 10 group about to start their first major coursework piece, and two Year 9 groups (although they do half Textiles Design and half Textiles Technology...very technical but just means creative-textiles or product-design-textiles). The work I am showing you today comes from a Year 9er. She lacks confidence most of the time, gets frustrated ALL the time, but inbetween creates utter masterpieces that are a joy to behold. I love to look though her sketchbook so thought you might like to too.

This is part of a regular feature (yep I just decided this as I type) called Kidart, where I showcase student work that I like and think you will enjoy too :)





This girl is 13. I couldn't have made these kind of brave marks at that age! She doesn't even realise the choices she has made, it is natural to her. In a sense she's just doodling, but some pretty hot doodling if you ask me.
What was your art education like at school?

Wednesday 18 April 2012

...Views Through...

Hello again!
Recently I took some silly photos around my studio area using a photo mount that I had taken out of an old frame. I loved the result and thought I'd share them with you, maybe you want to join in the fun.

I am going to make this a regular feature, so will tag it as that and hopefully one day I will sort out my buttons (excuse me), to have a 'features' tab. Oh how posh! I'll probably have 'In the Frame' and 'Adventures in Art Journalling' in there first off. Ah but I babble. You just wanna see the pictures right?
Oki dokes:






These are some peeks around mt work area. It is always so messy as I only have a small corner and sooo much stuff. But I love it. My eye is always drawn into beautiful little compositions and arrangements, not just at home but everywhere I go...its like my eyes need to make order of things and arrangements out of objects. Taking pictures in this way shows you how I look at things, how my eyes work. I have creative vision! That sounds grand doesn't it, but I do believe Artists have a different way of seeing the world. It's interesting. I don't know if its true, I make a lot of shit up and convince myself its true. Hahaha. I like that about myself though.

It's fun to join in, so why not take some pictures through a frame and email them to me. I can post them here on my blog for my next 'regular feature' post: reloved@mail.com

Tuesday 17 April 2012

♥ A to Z of me too ♥

So today, dear Readers of mine I thought I would talk about me some more, ok? You're welcome.
I got another one of these groovy little A to Z's from Miss Indie and thought I'd share it with the entire world! Sometimes it do frighten me how many people read my little blog. Yesterday it became quite popular in Ecuador and The Philippines! Hello International friends :) Welcome to my piece of free speech and cyberspace (does anyone call it that anymore)?

  • A. Age: 37
  • B. Bed size: Double
  • C. Chore that you hate: Cleaning the cat litter. Not my favorite thing about having a cat in any way.
  • D. Dogs: I like little scruffy looking dogs, but on the whole dogs don't rock my world.
  • E. Essential start to your day: Getting in 10 minute peace before I see ANYONE. To drink a cup of tea in the morning sunshine with the radio on = bliss.
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  • F. Favorite color: Today I have to say black. I just always love it especially when I am feeling like cocooning myself.
  • G. Gold or Silver: Silver. Although I am warming to Gold the more I see things I like on other people. My hippy roots say silver with turquoise stones :)
  • H. Height: 5’6"
  • I. Instruments you play: In the past I have played violin, cello, recorder at school. Now I only let loose on my bongo drum from time to time. My all time fave instrument is my steering wheel, which I can throw out a wicked 'Easy Lover' drum break to.
  • J. Job title: Teacher + Artist. If I could have just one it would always be Artist first.
  • K. Kids: One gorgeous big baby, Olivia (12).
  • L. Live: Poole in Dorset. UK.
  •  
  • M. Mother’s name: Diane
  • N. Nicknames: Nix to my family and some friends. Miss Tingey to about 1000 young people. I don't want to know what they call me behind my back.
  • O. Overnight hospital stays: I was in hospital for 5 days when Olivia was born, then with her again in 2 months time as she was ill for 4 days. That's enough for anyone.
  •  
  • P. Pet peeves: Drivers who don't indicate and drive erratically. Students who don't try. Teachers who can't teach for toffee and shouldn't be in the job.  
  • Q. Quote from a movie: "San Diego - I think it means a whale's vagina", Anchorman.
  • R. Right or left handed: Right. I am jealous of lefties though.
  • S. Siblings: 1 younger sister, Sam.
  • U. Underwear: Yep, usually.
  •  
  • V. Vegetable you hate: I love all vegetables equally. They are my friends.
  • W. What makes you run late: Blogging!
  •  
  • X. X-Rays you’ve had: Arm, ankle, teef and baby tumbly.
  • Y. Yummy food that you make: Tonight I made Spicy bean Enchiladas and they were da bomb!
  • Z. Zoo animal: I love to look at the beautiful patterns of lizards, snakes and fish. If I could BE a zoo animal it would have to be a Chimpanzee, they look like they have a right laugh.

Monday 16 April 2012

♥ ABC of me ♥

Hi Gang! (I always wanted a cool gang, not like Cool AND the Gang tho)
I thought I should probably start working on my 'about me' page above, and thought this would be fun to link in to it. I saw it over on Mandy's blog. I really like her 'about me' section. So here y'are...some info about me:
     
  • A= Available - Yes. Still waiting for my Rom-Com man. (trying not to sound desperate, like YES!!! Oh god, did I eff this activity up already?)
  •  
  • B= Best Friend - All my friends are best in many ways, they all inspire me.
  • C= Cake or pie - Cake, every time and all the time (if I could fix a few rules about calories and stuff).
  • D= Drink of choice - Tea if I'm being good, Rum+Coke when I fell like being bad.
  • E= Essential item you use everyday - Laptop, camera.
  • F= Favorite color - at the mo it's deep red and bottle green, but always has been blue.
  • G= Gummy bears or worms - what?
  • H= Hometown - I was born in Yorkshire but grew up in London. I'm gonna say Edmonton, North London. COYS!
  • I= Indulgences - medium Costa Light with hazelnut sugar free syrup and a pack of wafers >YUM< As many times a week as I can afford.
  • J= January or February - February = love and lots of commissions.
  • K= Kids and Names - (Olivia), name taken from my Mum's middle name (Olive) and my lovely Aunt Olive. Middle name is Eve taken from my Grandma Evelyn -  I love this name.
  • L= Life is incomplete without? - my connection to a Higher Power that I call God. I am deeply spiritual and could bore you to tears with my philospohical musings.
  • M= Marriage date - er, if I were to get married it would be Spring, under some blossom heavy trees.
  • N= Number of siblings - 1 sister, Samantha. Lives in da USA. And still cannot do a decent American accent *tut*
  • O= Oranges or apples - oh apples. I declared my love of apples in my yoof. They are always my fave fruit, even if I do eat my body weight in bananas daily.
  • P= Phobias or Fears - I have worked hard not to have these, if I do feel afraid I try to learn what is going on for me and work through it with love and compassion for myself. I do however have a weird phobia of squashy foam stuff - ew!
  • Q= Favorite Quote - 'Be the change you wish to see in the world' Mahatma Gandhi. I am a big fan of quotes but this one always makes me think about my actions.
  • R= Reason to smile - My daughter makes me laugh a lot, like no-one else can really.
  • S= Season - Spring or Autumn. I like the changing seasons. They make me feel part of the whole living experience.
  • T= Tag 3 or 4 people - I have no idea how to do that. If you know, let me know...
  • U= Unknown fact about me - when I was little my teacher thought I was an actual genius-child and I had to have some IQ tests that showed I had a photographic memory.
  • V= Vegetable you don't like - I LOVE veg so much, they are my favorite food (especially cabbage). But I can't stand tinned french beans, or potatoes. Seriously I cannot think of one veg I don't like.
  • W= Worst habit - picking the skin around my nails. I might be doing it now too.Don't judge.
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  • X= X-rays - Pregnancy ones, a broken arm one, one foot one and teef ones.
  • Y= Your favorite food - If I am being good, see above. If I am being bad, glazed donuts...oh lord! Even better dunked in coffee.
  • Z= Zodiac Sign - Scorpio.

Sunday 15 April 2012

big architecture

Well hello!
Today I want to share my love of architecture. I get very inspired by looking at all sorts of buildings from warehouses in grungy back-streets to pristine sky-scrapers that look fresh-out-of-the-packet perfect. There is something so special about massive buildings. The grand scale of them makes me feel so small. The engineering of them makes me feel simple and inadequate - they take my breath away. There are not many man-made things in this world that I can honestly say I love (apart from camera's, oh and cars and erm maybe chairs?) but I do so love me some big old buildings.
Olivia and I took a trip to Canary Wharf in the Easter break, and we were not disappointed. I have only ever passed through on the DLR, but have never stopped of and had a wander round. It was great fun. Olivia summed it up very succinctly (she's 12 by the way):
I felt so small there, and like time had stopped. It felt like we were in the future, in a bubble and everyone was rushing past us.
She has a way with the words, does my baby.
I took lots of photos and have been having fun getting creative with them, which I haven't felt like doing for ages and I really enjoyed. Here are some that make the shortlist:


 I wonder if you have any giant structures near where you live and if they inspire you ? Have you ever been to the Docklands in London?
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