Hello.... Er... I'm here... honest!

So....I've not vanished of the face of the interwebs... at least on here! *cough*

I thought I'd show my face as it seems some of you blog viewers have been clicking on my ads recently (adsense). Thank you very much folk!

In craft news I've been crocheting like a fiend. It's hard to keep up on the stock at the Gallery at the mo as it is swamped with holiday makers here in ole Pembrokeshire. Although I am enjoying I'd prefer to do a few of my own projects soon!

Academic news: I finally have my MA! Huzzah! Now it's just a case of finding a way to use it to get a job... CV hell I believe its called...

Speak soon
Ttfn

Nic

Alive, Alert, Awake, A-crocheting?

Helllooo folks!

I've swept the cobwebs off the blog to do a few updates, one from the ole life, one from the ole crafty sphere and finally some techie news for this ole blog.

So first life: Academia is over and done with (well... I say over, I've applied for another MA... shhhhh don't tell folks, its pending funding and placement!) so I'm dedicating the next few months to a few of my 'I wish I had enough time to do it' projects. Aside from playing with art and crafts for a bit with these random whimsies, I'm also hoping (wishful thinking?) to make a bit of profit from them... hopefully.

So what are these fantasmagical arts and crafts that I'm dabbling with? Well currently my outlet is within my newfound skill crochet (I say skill loosely as my 'L' plates are not quite off the bonnet yet!). I learned to knit a few years back but I've struggled to teach myself crochet.
Fortunately just before christmas my aunt was bitten by the crochet bug, she managed to find a friend who could crochet to teach her. As luck would have it she was to visit later in the month and she finally laid rest my pattern reading angst... The door was finally opened and crochet ode to joy swept through the dark recesses of my crochet angst.
So what did I do with this new skill? MADE SHINY THINGS!

Crochet around a pot


Queen Anne Lace Scarf


Micro crochet!


Valentine heart bunting

Rose pins

Welsh/Easter Daffodil


Mary Jane Booties


And a big project work in progress:


So having fun playing with yarn at the moment! Although I've not limited myself to crochet, I'm also working on my webcomic which I'm finally making some progress with (unlike my previous skirting around the idea with vague sketches). Finally my kiln is being installed next week which means only one thing... CERAMICS!!

Finally on the blog front: I'm still not 100% but I think I'm going to be moving the blog to a new space. Probably via wordpress.. so watch this space, I'll keep you updated.

I'll sign off for now...
ttfn!

Nic x

So I maybe a bit afk (Away From Keyboard for the non-geeks)

Just a note to let you know I'm gonna be a bit absent from the blogsphere for awhile as I try to attempt to curb my procrastination tendencies and get going with REAL LIFE work that seems to be building up in my to do pile.

I'm off around the country too at the moment, Cardiff, London and South East England. My trusty Acer Aspire One will be coming with me, who on earth can go without the internet?! Purely social network addiction methinks but I guess work emails are important too...

I should still be on the ole twitter feeds as twitter is a bit more mobile than traditional blogs so if you need my spam you can find me there.

"This, Jen, is the Internet"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAUyaELfwBo

Nuff said....

Back?

I seem to have become completely addicted to Twitter.
I'm obviously getting lax with my writing if I prefer to spew forth hundreds of 140 character posts rather than actually do my proper blog(s)... shame on me! The new generation of lazy net people... exhibit A = Moi.

Whats new? Well after Ffresh and Insight Out, I now have a company! Shocking but true. Its not fully up and running but I do have a scary amount of followers now, proof that I need to move my butt and launch my beta site! Go forth and sign up, the more numbers the more guilt I can accumulate to limit my procrastination tendencies... www.twitter.com/skillbucket

Dad's art is going well, not only is he having a HUGE exhibition soon (Can't tell any details as of yet. but its BIG) but he's publishing a BOOK! A BOOK! It's completely unfair as I've always planned to publish a book and he beat me to it.
Joking aside I'm very proud, I even bought some new arty cards for him to hand out to gallery visitors. (Big thanks to Moo.com for their really snazzy mini cards).
We're talking about doing some ceramic collaboration, I'll teach him how to use my kiln and ceramic materials and he'll wave his magic art skills and we'll create a series of pieces that complement his current work. Obviously I'm just piggybacking on his current artistic wave but if it encourages him to give me some studio space then why not?
Also lets me play for a bit before trying to find my own niche. (Having said that I've got that many projects going at the moment it's probably for the best that I avoid using ceramics as a means for procrastinating!)

My main focus is my dissertation, although I'm reluctant to admit it and I've been procrastinating heavily, it really is quite important! Least its started.... The website is moving forward though so hopefully all will be well.

Well I'm off, I'm a bit boring at the moment, I have a brand spanking new digital camera from christmas that I've been playing with, check out my flikr account in the side bar.

My ongoing mission for this year: To complete my patchwork quilt... although I'm not sure if thats before or after my diss :P

So until next time
ttfn!

Nic x

Ffresh, Nesta, Insight Out.... Oh my!

After ffresh, I was encouraged to apply to the NESTA Insight Out course. After a fairly scary board interview I was amazingly given a place on the course. It was really useful in developing my company ideas and format, and how/if the idea was even viable.

I managed to drum up a bit of media coverage too. Nothing major, the local paper and my university website but as they say, every little helps!

University news post:

Creative Business Wales supports Lampeter Media Production postgraduate’s modern day Skillbucket: where funky crafts meet the Internet

Everyone has heard of Facebook. Now Lampeter Media Production postgraduate student Nicola Light hopes that her Skillbucket business venture will be similarly successful. Having entered the idea into the Pitch to Win contest at Ffresh: the student moving image festival of Wales and won through to the final in February 2008, Nicola is now taking her vision forward with the guidance and support of Creative Business Wales, as she develops her innovation into a successful new creative business. During September and October Nicola will receive individual guidance, mentoring and support as well as help and advice on her business plan, having won a place on the on the Welsh Assembly Government’s Insight Out programme for new Creative Businesses in Wales.

The central theme of Skillbucket is that it connects the creative DIY and crafts movement and modern interactive media, using the Internet to create a community of users that will support and educate its users in the fun and exciting world of contemporary crafts.

Nicola describes her vision of Skillbucket as “a unique project that is dedicated to all things craft, providing information and resources primarily for users in the Wales and the UK that are itching to display their creative talents without breaking the bank.”

“The connection between ‘New Wave Craft’ and the Internet will allow the audience and the craft producers to interact in ways unimaginable 15 years ago”, explained Nicola.

So what were the results of the Insight Out programme?
Well I won a grant of £1000 to develop the business, made a dozen of useful contacts and was given a "Young Entrepreneur of the Year" certificate which fuzzled my ego nicely...

ttfn!

Band of the Week #8

I've been sitting on this for months.... but I can't delay it any longer... The
band of the week are 1980's AWESOME...
They are Men Without Hats... They eschew headgear....

Men Without Hats - Safety Dance




Ttfn

Band of the Week # 7

Bit addicted to this artist atm... A Fine Frenzy, nothing specifically new in terms of genre but for some reason she's really sparked an interest in me...



Another fav of mine:



She's a redhead too! Woot Woot!

Funny things people say #6

A recent short phone conversation with a friend:

Friend: Didn't I know the girl who gave you a lift?

Me: I don't know, I think so... she was short with really long black hair... Damn I wish I could remember her name....

Friend: .... What was her name?

Me: ....*snigger*....

Short but sweet :D

Band of the week #6

Phew I'm here! Honest!

New BAND OF THE WEEK... The Gaslight Anthem with their single The '59 Sound...


The Gaslight anthem are an American punk rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey.
While some of their other tracks are not totally to my tastes upon a few repeats they've started to grow on me...

Some of you might remember that they 'broke into the UK sphere" by making British music history for becoming the first band to ever grace the cover of Kerrang! magazine last month... It's been quoted that they will be "The best new band you'll hear in 2008", I'm not totally sure about that one, doesn't seem to have the punch required for that title but definitely worth popping a track on the favs list....