Amelia’s Magazine | Cakes for Japan: tips for fundraising from Miss Cakehead


Lobster woman by Mina Bach

Reading the brochure only served to confuse me further ahead of my visit to Jerwood Space. The descriptively-named ‘Show’ seeks to examine “the integral role that performance plays within an artist’s practice and its subsequent representation in an exhibition context” … Okay, advice so it makes a little more sense now after I’ve seen it, side effects but only a little. It’s performance art, salve people – enter at your peril, but it will be like nothing you’ve seen before.

Watching Edwina Ashton dressed up as a lobster, slowly moving about the studio moving things, was something akin to a surreal experience. It was hard to know what to think as Ashton, whose lobster head was secured with a pair of pink fishnets, positioned egg cartons in a wood frame. What’s she doing? What’s going on? Is it supposed to be funny? Are we being filmed as part of a scientific experiment? In the days since the performance I am still nowhere closer to figuring it out.



Edwina Ashton

Edwina Ashton, whose performance is called ‘Peaceful serious creatures (lobster arranging)’, is interested in how matter becomes things, the leaflet says. It also quotes Gerard de Nerval, who used to talk his pet lobster Thibault for walks on the streets of Paris. Presenting the case for lobsters, he said: ‘I have a liking for lobsters. They are peaceful, serious creatures. They know the secrets of the sea, they don’t bark, and they don’t gnaw upon one’s monadic privacy like dogs do.’


Lobster by Caz Lock

‘Show’ also featured two other artists – one being Jack Strange in ‘Zip and zing’. This was two legs poking through holes in the wall, which I discovered by almost tripping over one of them in the crowded gallery. I’d worn my warm but scruffy cardigan for the cycle to Jerwood Space and was planning to put it in my bag for the gallery, but there was no need for that; it seems frayed knits are big with the performance art crowd. The same seems true for bold spectacles and beards, stationery necklaces and growing-out neon hair.


Crowd at Jerwood / Jack Strange

The final performance, Bedwyr Williams’ ‘Urbane Hick’, was a hit with the crowd, as the artist poked fun at his genre. ‘Performance art isn’t an earner,’ he pointed out, following up with statements such as: ‘Is there anything more self-righteous than a Londoner in a park,’ drawing laughter from the crowd. After all we were inclined to like him after he told us what he did to the last person who disapproved: he dipped a discarded Chupa-Chups into their drink. And no one wants that.

‘Show’ runs at Jerwood Space on the South Bank: 171 Union Street, London SE1 0LN, until 21st April. Free entry but booking is required. For more information see our listing.


Illustration by Natasha Thompson

This write has taken far, help far longer than it actually should have, ed which is no reflection on the beautiful collection I saw relatively on Wednesday morning several weeks ago. It’s completely down to inertia and mental blocks; utterly rubbish, viagra 60mg but there you go. So whilst the womenswear editors and buyers had jetted off to Milan it was left to the rest of us and a Mr Hamish Bowles to enjoy the delights of J.W. Anderson‘s show. It is worth noting that by now the glamour of most fashion shows had dulled a little and I was fast developing the urge to move rows forward to the front. I was no longer just grateful to attend but damn it do they not know who I am? Obviously they did, or rather they knew who I wasn’t and quite rightly plonked me in the fourth row. I quickly moved forward. Shame and modesty is wasted at these shows.  


Illustration by Aniela Murphy

As the lights dimmed the sound of an arctic gale blew through the show space, as if we weren’t chilly enough, before giving way to Nordic house. It was a great soundtrack and set the tone for a multi layered collection that showcased great talent and eye across both formal and casual wear. The palette was primarily navy and charcoal brilliantly punctuated with paisley prints, whites, and olive greens.  


All photography by Matt Bramford

The fact I struggle to define which element of the collection was strongest tells of its strength. In a large collection it is often easy to pick and choose what you like, with only 28 looks each one needs to stand on its own but also within the line up. J.W. Anderson has definitely achieved this with this collection; be it the new and exciting knitwear, the floor length kilts, panelled overcoats or hooded tailoring.  


Illustration by Gabriel Ayala

The knitwear was fresh, jumpers with missing front panels,  Scandinavian-inspired detailing or webbed bands to hold in place. No longer just tied loosely round the waist the bands held the jumper tight in around the knee. Cardigans in a fine gauge knit or latex were layered over each other adding another exciting element.  

A strong trend at fashion week this year has been panelled trenchcoats, both amongst the fashion elite and on the runway, and this was picked up on the Anderson catwalk. Anderson took it a step further creating fantastic midnight blue standalone jackets with printed quilted hoods.  


Illustration by Natasha Thompson

Overall London menswear day is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with. No longer a nominal notion tacked on the end but championing both established and upcoming designers. It’s a shame it still clashes with Milan and as such most of the press have left already. But with British and Irish menswear being championed by the likes of Anderson we have much to look forward to.

See more from Aniela Murphy and Natasha Thompson in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration!

Cakes for Japan - Photography by Amelia Gregory
Cakes for Japan by Suzzle. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

If you think the weather has been bitterly cold and windy then spare a thought for the beleaguered Japanese… currently struggling to rebuild huge swathes of their nation after the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit just over a week ago.

Cakes for Japan - Photography by Amelia Gregory
I particularly loved these edible Japanese Kokeshi Dolls made out of coconut, this site white chocolate, buy information pills cranberries and condensed milk by Guerilla Cake Art.

Rather than complain at the futility of our ability to help, a plethora of inspiring grassroots fundraising initiatives have sprung up in record time. Many artists and illustrators have quickly put together projects to raise funds, and last week Miss Cakehead hosted the first Cakes for Japan at Maiden on Shoreditch High Street. Before the sale had even kicked off a whole host of copycat sales had sprung up around the country and even as far afield as Germany. I popped into the sale just as it opened and came away with a box of wonderful cakes: it was heartwarming to see not only the amazing creativity and generosity of the bakers but also the willingness with which people donated way above what was asked. I decided to catch up with the brains behind the idea, Emma Thomas, aka Miss Cakehead.

Cakes for Japan - Photography by Amelia Gregory
Vegan cupcakes from Ms Cupcake.

First creative cake project.
I work with Lily Vanilli quite a fair bit, and she has introduced me to lots of great cake makers, but we are now at the stage where people contact us too, which is awesome. Our first event was an edible art exhibition called Cake Britain, and then we put on Eat Your Heart Out. I think it helps that I can’t bake as I am not limited by possibilities of what can and cannot be done.

Cakes for Japan - Photography by Amelia Gregory

Cakes for Japan success.
Cakes for Japan was a unique viral idea which brought together a community of both hobby and pro bakers to make great cakes to raise money for the Japanese Red Cross, and we raised over £2000 in under 3 hours. Lots of upcoming events have been inspired by ours, which is amazing to see. The best part was seeing the kindness often missing from London life: everyone worked together and people queued in the rain to buy cakes. People bought one cake for £3 and told us to keep the change from £10, which was very moving.

Cakes for Japan
Beautiful hand painted biscuits on sticks from Nevie-Pie Cakes.

Making cakes special.
As a creative I have to deliver new concepts that will go viral so I am used to working this way on my own projects. I instantly realised that whilst a run-of-the-mill cake sale would work it would not have the viral element needed to capture people’s imagination. To be successful we needed to offer people something unique and different that would work even if we removed the fund-raising context. We hoped that Japanese people would appreciate Japan themed cakes – and they did. Our estimated reach was about 1 million people in just 5 days.

Cakes for Japan - Photography by Amelia Gregory

Time to bake.
I loved the fact that so many beautiful cakes were produced by both hobby & amateur bakers. It made me think that it is about time that I learnt how to bake too.

Cakes for Japan - Photography by Amelia Gregory
Gastrogeek baked & salted caramel cheesecake.

Cakes for Japan inspiration.
It was very inspiring to see people’s kindness and trust in strangers – even though most of us had never met we became a very close knit group, working together with one aim. The hardest bit was my nerves – first I worried that we would not have enough cake, and then I worried that no one would come and eat it. It was a very intensive 5 days run up, working 20 hours a day.

Cakes for Japan - Photography by Amelia Gregory
Green tea cookies.

Next cakey plans.
I want to do something with macaroons this year: I bought some for a friend at Christmas and it totally got me back into them. We are also putting on an Edible Autopsy, which will be a global first and pretty hardcore. We wanted to do an event which children could also enjoy whilst also raising money for charity… it will be a public cake autopsy conducted by a trained pathologist. The autopsy will educate people about the human anatomy whilst, once cut out, the cake will be handed around the audience for them to eat as the process continues. As with any autopsy, there will be blood, guts and gore – but in this instance it will taste delicious. For those who can stomach the experience this event promises to be the most unique eating experience they’ll ever experience.

Cakes for Japan - Photography by Amelia Gregory
Black sesame macaroons by Charmaine Mok.

Advice for those inspired by Cakes for Japan.
If you can find a free location then you can make it happen. The people who helped make Cakes for Japan possible were strangers this time last week. I am making myself available to anyone who wants my help.

Cakes for Japan - Photography by Amelia Gregory

So, what are you waiting for? Go forth and bake… you can learn how to make sushi cupcakes right here.

Categories ,Bloggers for Japan, ,Cake Britain, ,cakes, ,Cakes for Japan, ,Charmaine Mok, ,cupcakes, ,Earthquake, ,Eat Your Heart Out, ,Edible Autopsy, ,Emma Thomas, ,Fundraising, ,Gastrogeek, ,Guerilla Cake Art, ,Illustration Rally, ,japan, ,japanese, ,Japanese Kokeshi Dolls, ,Japanese Red Cross, ,Lily Vanilli, ,Maiden, ,Miss Cakehead, ,Molly Bakes, ,Ms Cupcake, ,Nevie-Pie Cakes, ,Shoreditch High Street, ,Sushi Cupcakes, ,Suzzle, ,Tsunami, ,vegan

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Amelia’s Magazine | Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan – an illustrated report by Emma Block

emma_block_tea_ceremony
Illustration by Emma Block.

In the wake of the tsunami that hit Japan in March, malady the online community rushed to find a way to help. Illustration Rally, run by Natsuki Otani, began the Ganbare Nippon Appeal, which translates as Don’t Give Up Japan.

emma_block_kimono  Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan
Illustration by Emma Block.

As part of this appeal, Illustration Rally held it’s first ever event, Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan, which I was lucky enough to attend. It was held in the super trendy The Book Club in Shoreditch, and was organised by a host of illustrators. As I walked in, I immediately saw a bunch of lovely ACOFI illustrators that I recognised, and sat down for a chat and green tea cup cake (first of many) with Jenny Robbins and June Sees.

Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan making cake
Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan making cake prints
Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan making
All photography by Emma Block.

Armed with paper, paint and pencils, these two talented ladies were offering live portraits of guests at the party. At the same time some painting was happening on a much larger scale as Mr Millerchip, Kristian Jones, Seb Burnett and Stephen Chan worked on a live drawing across one of the walls.

live drawing
june sees Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan
June Sees with her artwork.

erica_and_natsuki   Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan
Erica Sharp and Natsuki Otani who were running the show looked beautiful in their traditional kimonos, and after a cake or four, I decided to try one on myself.

The process of putting a kimono on is more complicated that I could possibly have imagined. Things were expertly wrapped and tucked and tied and twisted around me for quite some time, in order to create the finished look.

Emma Block_in_a_kimono   Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan
If you were feeling creative there was origami-making with Erica Sharp, and zine-making with Lea Wade. There was also a fantastic raffle – with prizes including some lovely ToDryFor goodies – if you were feeling lucky.

origami Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan

One of the most special parts of the day for me was being involved in a traditional tea ceremony. Milk and two sugars it was not. We knelt as green tea was carefully prepared, and the first person to drink bowed as they received it. They placed the bowl on their hand and turned it two and half times before drinking it in three sips, then turned it back two and half times, and placed it down and bowed again.

emma_block_green_tea_cake Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan
Illustration by Emma Block.

All in all it was a wonderful day, and I hope Illustration Rally have another event soon! You can find out more about the Gabare Nippon Appeal here, and visit the fundraising shop on Etsy. The resulting zine can now be bought online here for a £3 donation – go on, it’s for a great cause.

Categories ,ACOFI, ,Biscuits, ,Cake, ,Don’t Give Up Japan, ,Emma Block, ,Erica Sharp, ,Fundraiser, ,Ganbare Nippon, ,Ganbare Nippon Appeal, ,Green Tea, ,illustration, ,Illustration Rally, ,japan, ,Jenny Robbins, ,Junes Sees, ,Kimono, ,Kristian Jones, ,Lea Wade, ,Mister Millerchip, ,Natsuki Otani, ,Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan, ,Sen Burnett, ,shoreditch, ,Stephen Chan, ,tea, ,The Book Club, ,ToDryFor, ,Tsunami

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Amelia’s Magazine | Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan – an illustrated report by Emma Block

emma_block_tea_ceremony
Illustration by Emma Block.

In the wake of the tsunami that hit Japan in March, malady the online community rushed to find a way to help. Illustration Rally, run by Natsuki Otani, began the Ganbare Nippon Appeal, which translates as Don’t Give Up Japan.

emma_block_kimono  Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan
Illustration by Emma Block.

As part of this appeal, Illustration Rally held it’s first ever event, Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan, which I was lucky enough to attend. It was held in the super trendy The Book Club in Shoreditch, and was organised by a host of illustrators. As I walked in, I immediately saw a bunch of lovely ACOFI illustrators that I recognised, and sat down for a chat and green tea cup cake (first of many) with Jenny Robbins and June Sees.

Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan making cake
Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan making cake prints
Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan making
All photography by Emma Block.

Armed with paper, paint and pencils, these two talented ladies were offering live portraits of guests at the party. At the same time some painting was happening on a much larger scale as Mr Millerchip, Kristian Jones, Seb Burnett and Stephen Chan worked on a live drawing across one of the walls.

live drawing
june sees Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan
June Sees with her artwork.

erica_and_natsuki   Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan
Erica Sharp and Natsuki Otani who were running the show looked beautiful in their traditional kimonos, and after a cake or four, I decided to try one on myself.

The process of putting a kimono on is more complicated that I could possibly have imagined. Things were expertly wrapped and tucked and tied and twisted around me for quite some time, in order to create the finished look.

Emma Block_in_a_kimono   Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan
If you were feeling creative there was origami-making with Erica Sharp, and zine-making with Lea Wade. There was also a fantastic raffle – with prizes including some lovely ToDryFor goodies – if you were feeling lucky.

origami Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan

One of the most special parts of the day for me was being involved in a traditional tea ceremony. Milk and two sugars it was not. We knelt as green tea was carefully prepared, and the first person to drink bowed as they received it. They placed the bowl on their hand and turned it two and half times before drinking it in three sips, then turned it back two and half times, and placed it down and bowed again.

emma_block_green_tea_cake Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan
Illustration by Emma Block.

All in all it was a wonderful day, and I hope Illustration Rally have another event soon! You can find out more about the Gabare Nippon Appeal here, and visit the fundraising shop on Etsy. The resulting zine can now be bought online here for a £3 donation – go on, it’s for a great cause.

Categories ,ACOFI, ,Biscuits, ,Cake, ,Don’t Give Up Japan, ,Emma Block, ,Erica Sharp, ,Fundraiser, ,Ganbare Nippon, ,Ganbare Nippon Appeal, ,Green Tea, ,illustration, ,Illustration Rally, ,japan, ,Jenny Robbins, ,Junes Sees, ,Kimono, ,Kristian Jones, ,Lea Wade, ,Mister Millerchip, ,Natsuki Otani, ,Paint it! Make it! Party for Japan, ,Sen Burnett, ,shoreditch, ,Stephen Chan, ,tea, ,The Book Club, ,ToDryFor, ,Tsunami

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Amelia’s Magazine | Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration launch party illustrations: meet more illustrators!

Zarina Liew at work
ZLiew_#2_Rose&Harriet TattyDevine
My wonderful girls, rx Rosie and Harriet of Tatty Devine, sick who created the lovely Cutlass Necklace for my party.

Zarina Liew looked oh so casual during the afternoon launch party – every time I turned around there she was, chatting away, charming the guests in expert fashion. But if I thought she was shirking I could not have been more wrong – she churned out the most amazing bunch of illustrations in record time, all in stunning watercolour fashion plates – every single one of them. Wowser. This lady has so much talent it’s painful… behold her beautiful illustrations. So delightful, every single one.

ZLiew_#5_Katie antoniou LondonPlinth
Presenting the lovely Katie Antoniou of London Plinth – sometime Amelia’s Mag contributor and general all round fabulous fashion gal. Here’s her review of the night.

ZLiew_#6_Holly HollySpringett
Holly Springett wrote an absolutely fabulous blog about the launch, with some of the very prettiest photos to accompany it – go check it out here.

ZLiew_#3_Josephine&Sarah SomersetHouse
Here’s Josephine and Sarah from Somerset House, who I hope very much will be in contact soon to talk about a possible collaboration…

§ZLiew_#1_Alice TattyDevine
Alice of Tatty Devine sports some very fabulous jewellery indeed – by Tatty Devine of course.

ZLiew_#7_Gabby&Stephen GabbyYoung
Gabby Young with her boyfriend Stephen. What a lovely couple!

ZLiew_#4_Sarah ShopStyle FabSugarUK
Sarah of Fab Sugar – anyone catch her last name? I don’t think we met.

ZLiew_#8_Laura&Courtney ForwardPR
Laura and Courtney of Forward PR. Lovely lovely women, who helped me in the run up and on the night most immensely. Say hello if you see them around at LFW.

ZLiew_#10_Tara&Louisa CentMagazine
Tara and Louise of Cent Magazine – I did an interview with the lovely Louise, so fingers crossed that will be available soon.

ZLiew_#9_Matilda Ecologist
Matilda of the Ecologist – likewise they should be running a review of the book – keep an eye out and let me know if you spot it before me.

ZLiew_#11_Katie BLOWOnline
Katie Rose wrote for BLOW online.

ZLiew_#12_Alex Pukka_LondonFashionWk
Lastly but very much not leastly we have Alexandra Haddow of Pukka teas.

You can follow Zarina Liew on twitter on @cobaltcafe and don’t forget you can buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration here, with a special 10% if you use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH up until the 28th February 2011. Find out just how Zarina made the leap from the corporate marketing world into the creative arms of illustration: amazing inspiring stuff in this Skype interview on youtube.

YouTube Preview Image

ZLiew_#2_Rose&Harriet TattyDevine
My wonderful girls, cialis 40mg Rosie and Harriet of Tatty Devine, symptoms who created the lovely Cutlass Necklace for my party.

Zarina Liew looked oh so casual during the afternoon launch party – every time I turned around there she was, check chatting away, charming the guests in expert fashion. But if I thought she was shirking I could not have been more wrong – she churned out the most amazing bunch of illustrations in record time, all in stunning watercolour fashion plates – every single one of them. Wowser. This lady has so much talent it’s painful… behold her beautiful illustrations. So delightful, every single one.

ZLiew_#5_Katie antoniou LondonPlinth
Presenting the lovely Katie Antoniou of London Plinth – sometime Amelia’s Mag contributor and general all round fabulous fashion gal. Here’s her review of the night.

ZLiew_#6_Holly HollySpringett
Holly Springett wrote an absolutely fabulous blog about the launch, with some of the very prettiest photos to accompany it – go check it out here.

ZLiew_#3_Josephine&Sarah SomersetHouse
Here’s Josephine and Sarah from Somerset House, who I hope very much will be in contact soon to talk about a possible collaboration…

§ZLiew_#1_Alice TattyDevine
Alice of Tatty Devine sports some very fabulous jewellery indeed – by Tatty Devine of course.

ZLiew_#7_Gabby&Stephen GabbyYoung
Gabby Young with her boyfriend Stephen. What a lovely couple!

ZLiew_#4_Sarah ShopStyle FabSugarUK
Sarah of Fab Sugar – anyone catch her last name? I don’t think we met.

ZLiew_#8_Laura&Courtney ForwardPR
Laura and Courtney of Forward PR. Lovely lovely women, who helped me in the run up and on the night most immensely. Say hello if you see them around at LFW.

ZLiew_#10_Tara&Louisa CentMagazine
Tara and Louisa Lau of Cent Magazine – I did an interview with the lovely Louisa, so fingers crossed that will be available soon.

ZLiew_#9_Matilda Ecologist
Matilda of the Ecologist – likewise they should be running a review of the book – keep an eye out and let me know if you spot it before me.

ZLiew_#11_Katie BLOWOnline
Katie Rose wrote for BLOW online.

ZLiew_#12_Alex Pukka_LondonFashionWk
Lastly but very much not leastly we have Alexandra Haddow of Pukka teas.

Zarina Liew at work
Zarina Liew at work. Photography by Liz Johnson-Artur.

You can follow Zarina Liew on twitter on @cobaltcafe and don’t forget you can buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration here, with a special 10% if you use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH up until the 28th February 2011. Find out just how Zarina made the leap from the corporate marketing world into the creative arms of illustration: amazing inspiring stuff in this Skype interview on youtube.

YouTube Preview Image

ZLiew_#2_Rose&Harriet TattyDevine
My wonderful girls, pharmacy Rosie and Harriet of Tatty Devine, tadalafil who created the lovely Cutlass Necklace for my party.

Zarina Liew looked oh so casual during the afternoon launch party – every time I turned around there she was, chatting away, charming the guests in expert fashion. But if I thought she was shirking I could not have been more wrong – she churned out the most amazing bunch of illustrations in record time, all in stunning watercolour fashion plates – every single one of them. Wowser. This lady has so much talent it’s painful… behold her beautiful illustrations. So delightful, every single one.

ZLiew_#5_Katie antoniou LondonPlinth
Presenting the lovely Katie Antoniou of London Plinth – sometime Amelia’s Mag contributor and general all round fabulous fashion gal. Here’s her review of the night.

ZLiew_#6_Holly HollySpringett
Holly Springett wrote an absolutely fabulous blog about the launch, with some of the very prettiest photos to accompany it – go check it out here.

ZLiew_#3_Josephine&Sarah SomersetHouse
Here’s Josephine and Sarah from Somerset House, who I hope very much will be in contact soon to talk about a possible collaboration…

§ZLiew_#1_Alice TattyDevine
Alice of Tatty Devine sports some very fabulous jewellery indeed – by Tatty Devine of course.

ZLiew_#7_Gabby&Stephen GabbyYoung
Gabby Young with her boyfriend Stephen. What a lovely couple!

ZLiew_#4_Sarah ShopStyle FabSugarUK
Sarah of Fab Sugar – anyone catch her last name? I don’t think we met.

ZLiew_#8_Laura&Courtney ForwardPR
Laura and Courtney of Forward PR. Lovely lovely women, who helped me in the run up and on the night most immensely. Say hello if you see them around at LFW.

ZLiew_#10_Tara&Louisa CentMagazine
Tara and Louisa Lau of Cent Magazine – I did an interview with the lovely Louisa, so fingers crossed that will be available soon.

ZLiew_#9_Matilda Ecologist
Matilda of the Ecologist – likewise they should be running a review of the book – keep an eye out and let me know if you spot it before me.

ZLiew_#11_Katie BLOWOnline
Katie Rose wrote for BLOW online.

ZLiew_#12_Alex Pukka_LondonFashionWk
Lastly but very much not leastly we have Alexandra Haddow of Pukka teas.

Zarina Liew at work
Zarina Liew at work. Photography by Liz Johnson-Artur.

You can follow Zarina Liew on twitter on @cobaltcafe and don’t forget you can buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration here, with a special 10% if you use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH up until the 28th February 2011. Find out just how Zarina made the leap from the corporate marketing world into the creative arms of illustration: amazing inspiring stuff in this Skype interview on youtube.

YouTube Preview Image

rachel-destecroix-acofi-susie-bubble-portrait
Susie Bubble needs no introduction and I absolutely adore Rachel’s rendition of this infamous fashion blogger. She’s been a great supporter of Amelia’s Magazine so it was an honour to see her at the launch party. You can read her write up here. Thanks Susie!

Rachel de Ste. Croix has developed a unique style that suits both childrens’ book illustration and fashion illustration a treat. Working from life she sketches a likeness of her subject and then transfers into into her computer through a painstaking process involving a light box and lots of black felt markers. From there she messes around in photoshop to achieve a beautiful handmade look that in fact makes the most of digital special effects – something which I talked about when I mentioned her in my Digital Arts interview. Here’s her fabulous ACOFI launch party output:

rachel-desctecroix-acofi-neil-bennnett-digitalartsmag-portrait
I love the fact that Neil Bennett of Digital Arts donated his ACOFI tote bag to his daughter, order who has been using it to carry her school books, pharm much to the envy of her classmates. Check her out in this twitpic: coolest kid in town!

rachel-destecroix-acofi-katie-wright-portrait
Katie Wright writes Style My Wardrobe and she managed to grab a little bit of my time to ask a few questions at the launch – you can read her great write up here.

rachel-destecroix-acofi-sarahBvernon-portrait
Sarah Vernon is best known as SBV of essbeevee, buy information pills a lovely fashion blog. Here’s her write up.

rachel-destecroix-acofi-tigzrice-portrait
Tigz Rice is actually a friend of Rachel’s – I’ve now had the pleasure of working with more than a couple University of Westminster graduates, who are all super talented. Can’t think why. Maybe it’s because one of my bestest mates the wonderful illustrator Simone Lia teaches there. Or else it’s something in the water.

rachel-destecroix-acofi-amelia-gregory-portrait
I cheekily asked Rachel to illustrate me. Well, she did such an amazing job with everyone else I really didn’t want to be left out. Here I am wearing my Joanna Cave earrings (new season darling) and Beautiful Soul cape-let made out of an upcycled kimono. You can buy similar Beautiful Soul pieces (they’re all different obviously) at the V&A shop.

MattBramford_ACOFI_Rachel de ste croix
Rachel hard at work drawing Susie behind a curtain of hair. Photography by Matt Bramford.

You can follow Rachel de Ste. Croix on twitter on @precious_little and don’t forget you can buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration here, with a special 10% if you use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH up until the 28th February 2011. Here’s Rachel talking in detail about how she creates her illustrations on youtube.

YouTube Preview Image
Lily Vanilli ACOFI launch cake by Abby Wright
Lily Vanilli ACOFI launch cake by Abby Wright. This must be the most lovingly photographed and illustrated cake ever!

Ah, sickness Abby Wright. Where to begin? She has grabbed the proverbial illustration bull by the horns and run with it, big time. Never has someone still at university so inspired me. Some people just get it you know? And she’s one of them. If you’re reading this and you’re still at university wondering how you will ever get noticed, then read on and learn. I’m serious. This girl has got it going on.

Firstly – she’s all over twitter chatting to fellow illustrators up and down the country all the time, encouraging them and swapping advice. She’s so switched on she even instigated the Tea and Crayons illustration collective. Secondly – she just keeps on creating. Day after day she volunteers illustrations for Amelia’s Magazine. She’s not afraid of making mistakes in public, she puts it out there and learns, and it is a joy to watch her work developing all the time. Students all over should be inspired… just take a look at how many followers she has on twitter! Abby Wright is going places.

Which is why I asked her along to be at my ACOFI afternoon launch party. And here are the results of her doodlings:

Johann_Chan_Digital_Arts_abby_Wright
Johann Chan, art editor of Digital Arts – no doubt grinning ear to ear because he came down for the fabulous cakes (see above).

Adorngirl_Abby_Wright
Adorngirl, otherwise known as Ashanti Jason, who wrote this lovely blog about the event.

Emma_Davenport_Abby_Wright
Emma Davenport is an old friend of mine who. Inspired by a life long love of the charity shop – snap! – she has been researching the history of ethical dress and fashion at the RCA. She has a blog called Frock Conscious and you can read her party piece here.

ACOFI_launch Charles Ampadu_Abby_Wright
Charles Ampadu – fashion stylist and model scout.

Neil_Bennett_Digital_Arts_Abby_Wright
Neil Bennett – editor of Digital Arts. The one with the very cool stepdaughter, yes, that’s him again!

Nikki_Nakki_Lou_Abby_Wright
Nikki Nakki Lousuper blogger from the Wirral.

Prince_Cassius_Abby_Wright
And finishing up with socialite Prince Cassius. Oh yes, he of the dapper clothing and super fro – a delight for both illustrators and photographers alike. What a gent.

Abby Wright takes tea. Photography by Liz Johnson-Artur
Abby Wright takes tea. Photography by Liz Johnson-Artur.

You can follow Abby Wright on twitter on @abbyillustrator and don’t forget you can buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration here, with a special 10% if you use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH up until the 28th February 2011. Find out just how Abby gets ahead in illustration in my interview with her on youtube here.

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6 day riot by Natsuki Otani
6 Day Riot‘s Tamara Schlesinger by Natsuki Otani.

There were so many amazing guests at my ACOFI launch who didn’t come down to the afternoon tea party that it seemed only natural to ask some of the illustrators who were also not present during the daytime to illustrate some of them. Which is how I wound up with this merry bunch of beautiful pictures.

A couple were unsurprisingly enamoured of 6 Day Riot: Natsuki Otani (above) and Erica Sharp (below) show just how differently illustrators can see things.

6 Day Riot by Erica Sharp
6 Day Riot by Erica Sharp.

ACOFI cake by Lesley Barnes
Lesley Barnes felt moved to illustrate the cake, view but not on a table, oh no. On a head, where I feel it belongs rather nicely.

ACOFI-Launch Tim Adey-by-Yelena-Bryksenkova
Lovely Yelena Bryksenkova (who alas did not make it at the very last minute due to snowy conditions in New York) took up the challenge of illustrating my boyfriend Tim Adey… resplendent in Liberty print shirt and waving aloft a dainty teacup.

Amelia Gregory by Gemma Milly
Gemma Milly – also absent on a prolonged trip to Canada (the poor thing) illustrated the whole of my outfit, from Joanna Cave earrings, through Beautiful Soul cape, via Monsoon dress (ahem) down to Nina Dolcetti shoes. Splendid.

Gemma Milly-Courtney Blackman_ForwardPR
Gemma Milly also did this lovely illustration of Courtney Blackman from Forward PR.

Cleide Carina of Sketchbook at ACOFI launch by Abi Daker
Abigail Daker, stuck over in Cyprus, took on the challenge of capturing Cleide Carina of Sketchbook Mag. Love it!

emma_block_pipettes_ACOFI
You’ve already seen The Pipettes by Emma Block – but hell, it’s so good why not show it again?

Amelia Acofi by Faye West
Faye West as well took up the challenge of rendering me in all my illustratory glory.

Gareth A Hopkins Will From Mystery Jets
Gareth A Hopkins decided to illustrate the heart throb that is Will from the Mystery Jets… I feel he’s caught his tousled nature perfectly. He looks truly Byron-esque!

Jo Cheung Robots in Disguise
Jo Cheung fancied herself a bit of Robots in Disguise action. Love their hair. So changeable. But never ever boring. It’s been a long and beautiful relationship. Theirs, ours. You know. (They appeared in issue 1 of Amelia’s Magazine a long time ago…)

Kellie-Black-A-Goodone-Goodtime
Kellie Black illustrated one half of Goodone. Having a Goodtime.

Kellie-Black-Alan-&-Martin-Of-Principal-Colour
And then came back to render the lovely men who run Principal Colour in Kent. Voila, I introduce to you Alan Flack and Martin Darby, my printers extraordinaire. I’ve been working with them for seven years now and I will never stop telling people just how lovely they are… Amelia’s Magazine owes an awful lot to them. Hell, they even talk me through existential crises (Alan has found me in tears on more than one occasion).

ACOFI-launch-Liz-Johnson-Artur-byLisaStannard
Lisa Stannard did my parents Bruce and Ursula – who I barely even ran into over the entire night. But I hear they had fun which is all good.

ACOFIlaunch-Amelia+Nicola-by LisaStannard
And then she also did me together with Nicola Woods of Beautiful Soul, she who designed my wonderful shrug.

HANNAH BULLIVANT by Natasha-Thompson
Natasha-Thompson-ACOFI-ELLIE-LOUGHRAN
Natasha-Thompson-ACOFI-KORAL-WEBB
Natasha Thompson came up trumps with pictures of earth contributor Hannah Bullivant and bloggers Ellie Loughran and Koral Webb. Read Koral’s blog here: much kudos to her for asking her tutors if I can lecture at her University in March. Which I will be.

disney-roller-girl-katie-harnett2
I got wind that Navaz Batliwalla of Disneyrollergirl had made it along to the launch although I didn’t get to meet her myself. I then found out that she “outed” herself just days later… there seems no better time to get her illustrated on the web. Here she is, by Katie Harnett.

cassius-katie-harnett
Who also could not resist a bit of Prince Cassius action. And why the hell not?

ACOFI cover by Ani Saunders
Ani Saunders of The Pipettes decided to create her own version of Andrea Peterson’s front cover for ACOFI. Just love it.

Amelia & Matt by Karina Yarv
Finally, Karina Yarv couldn’t resist herself a little bit of the action even though she wasn’t there, this wasn’t done from a party snap and she doesn’t appear in the book. Though doubtless she would have done if I’d met her earlier. Karina is just one of many illustrators who have done so much amazing work for Amelia’s Magazine in the past months. Thankyou so much, all of you, for being so so brilliant.

You can buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration here, with a special 10% if you use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH up until the 28th February 2011. Please do buy a copy if you want to ensure this website keeps going strong to support both young creatives and people doing good in the world…

Categories ,6 Day Riot, ,Abigail Daker, ,ACOFI, ,Alan Flack, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Ani Saunders, ,Beautiful Soul, ,Cleide Carina, ,Courtney Blackman, ,Cyprus, ,Disneyrollergirl, ,Ellie Loughran, ,Emma Block, ,Erica Sharp, ,Faye West, ,Forward PR, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Gemma Milly, ,goodone, ,Hannah Bullivant, ,Illustration Rally, ,Jo Cheung, ,Joanna Cave, ,Karina Yarv, ,Katie Harnett, ,Kellie Black, ,Koral Webb, ,Lesley Barnes, ,liberty, ,Lisa Stannard, ,Martin Darby, ,Miss Pearl Grey, ,Monsoon, ,Mystery Jets, ,Natasha Thompson, ,Navaz Batliwalla, ,Nicola Woods, ,Nina Dolcetti, ,Prince Cassius, ,principal colour, ,Robots in Disguise, ,Sketchbook Magazine, ,Tamara Schlesinger, ,The Lovely Wars, ,The Pipettes, ,Will, ,Yelena Bryksenkova

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