Amelia’s Magazine | ‘Local Food’: Rob Hopkins returns

Cat Morley

If you had asked me in high school what I wanted to be when I was older, prescription I wouldn’t have been able to give you a straight answer. Today, prescription I’m 24, no rx living in London (my favourite city in the whole wide world) and somehow I’ve ended up with my dream job.

While I was at university in Scotland, I started a blog called Cut Out + keep where I would post tutorials for the crafts I was making. After posting over 250 projects, the site had become really popular, so with the help of my web designer boyfriend Tom, we turned the site in to a community where everyone could make and share step-by-step tutorials.  By the time I graduated, CO+K had become a full-time job and today, the site hosts over 15,000 projects for making every imaginable type of craft – cooking, sewing, paper craft, jewelery, fashion… you name it! Every morning I wake up to discover all the amazing new projects that have been added over night and I’m still amazed by how unique and creative they are.

I have always love being crafty and creative. When I was young, I used to help my Mum sew my Halloween costumes and loved cooking up a storm in the kitchen and feeding my family. When I went to university, I studied computer art and got really in to film making. I also started working as a journalist and photographer for a couple of music magazines. When I started CO+K, I wanted to combine all of my passions, so with the help of a bunch of super creative writers I had found online, we started Snippets, an online entertainment magazine to accompany the site. Snippets has allowed me to meet some amazing people and interview my heros, including bands like Placebo, Chicks On Speed and Ladytron, comedians Adam & Joe, and even my favourite comic book character, Emily Strange.

Our members tend to be young, hip and love to show off their individual style. We get a lot of tutorials for revamping and customising clothes, making personalised gifts and recycling and re purposing junk and unwanted items. The most popular projects have been a recipe for baking rainbow coloured cupcakes , turning a jumper in to a skirt , a tutorial for sewing a guitar shaped bag and melting a vinyl record in to a bowl. The nice thing about the site is there is a project that everyone can make, from really complex sculpting to simply applying homemade designs to t-shirts, shoes and accessories to personalise their wardrobe. We also have a section called Crafty Superstars, where creative celebrities and the big names of craft share some of their expert projects.

I really love living in London, it’s so vibrant and exciting and there’s always something going on. I like to hunt through the event listings in Time Out and head to all the free events. I also love walking and seeing where I end up and what new places I discover. I live in Maida Vale, which is so pretty with the canal running through it and there’s lots of good brunch spots (check out Plan 9 – an American run cafe that does tasty pancakes on a Tuesday). I also love hanging out in Soho, the South Bank and shopping in Camden and Brick Lane.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what 2010 will bring for the site – hopefully thousands of amazing projects, interviews with exciting celebrities and maybe a couple of adventures overseas. I have never been or wanted to be a businesswoman and never thought that I would end up working for myself. I would encourage anyone and everyone to peruse their dream job, because if I can do it anyone can!

What Cat likes:

Art: There’s an amazing Parisian artist called Nathalie Lecroc who is painting women handbags and their contents. She plans to paint 1001 and then publish a book of them all.

Music: Bright Eyes, Ben Kweller, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Martha Wainwright and the Manic Street Preachers.

Blog: 1000 Awesome Things

Website: Stumbleupon.com – it leads to so many wonderful finds (I have mine set to show crafts and recipes).

Shop: Muiji – it always has such awesome stuff and it has made me really organised.

Food: Sushi.

Drink: Absinthe, root beer or alcoholic hazelnut milkshakes.

Papers or printed magazines: Bust, Venus & Amelia’s Magazine of course.

What I would like for Christmas is: A Vivienne Westwood tiara, which is a pair of horns encrusted with crystals.
If you had asked me in high school what I wanted to be when I was older, side effects I wouldn’t have been able to give you a straight answer. Today, medicine I’m 24, more about living in London (my favourite city in the whole wide world) and somehow I’ve ended up with my dream job.

While I was at university in Scotland, I started a blog called Cut Out + keep where I would post tutorials for the crafts I was making. After posting over 250 projects, the site had become really popular, so with the help of my webdesigner boyfriend Tom, we turned the site in to a community where everyone could make and share step-by-step tutorials.  By the time I graduated, CO+K had become a full-time job and today, the site hosts over 15,000 projects for making every imaginable type of craft – cooking, sewing, papercraft, jewellery, fashion… you name it! Every morning I wake up to discover all the amazing new projects that have been added over night and I’m still amazed by how unique and creative they are.

I have always love being crafty and creative. When I was young, I used to help my Mum sew my Halloween costumes and loved cooking up a storm in the kitchen and feeding my family. When I went to university, I studied computer art and got really in to filmmaking. I also started working as a journalist and photographer for a couple of music magazines. When I started CO+K, I wanted to combine all of my passions, so with the help of a bunch of super creative writers I had found online, we started Snippets, an online entertainment magazine to accompany the site. Snippets has allowed me to meet some amazing people and interview my heros, including bands like Placebo, Chicks On Speed and Ladytron, comedians Adam & Joe, and even my favourite comic book character, Emily Strange.

Our members tend to be young, hip and love to show off their individual style. We get a lot of tutorials for revamping and customising clothes, making personalised gifts and recycling and repurposing junk and unwanted items. The most popular projects have been a recipe for baking rainbow coloured cupcakes (http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/rainbow_cupcakes), turning a jumper in to a skirt (http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/jumper_skirt_out_of_a_tshirt), a tutorial for sewing a guitar shaped bag (http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/guitar_shaped_bag_2) and melting a vinyl record in to a bowl (http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/vinyl_record_bowl). The nice thing about the site is there is a project that everyone can make, from really complex sculpting to simply applying homemade designs to t-shirts, shoes and accessories to personalise their wardrobe. We also have a section called Crafty Superstars, where creative celebrities and the big names of craft share some of their expert projects.

I really love living in London, it’s so vibrant and exciting and there’s always something going on. I like to hunt through the event listings in Time Out and head to all the free events. I also love walking and seeing where I end up and what new places I discover. I live in Maida Vale, which is so pretty with the canal running through it and there’s lots of good brunch spots (check out Plan 9 – an American run cafe that does tasty pancakes on a Tuesday). I also love hanging out in Soho, the South Bank and shopping in Camden and Brick Lane.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what 2010 will bring for the site – hopefully thousands of amazing projects, interviews with exciting celebrities and maybe a couple of adventures overseas. I have never been or wanted to be a businesswoman and never thought that I would end up working for myself. I would encourage anyone and everyone to peruse their dream job, because if I can do it anyone can!

Art: There’s an amazing Parisian artist called Nathalie Lecroc who is painting women’s handbags and their contents. She plans to paint 1001 and then publish a book of them all.

Music: Bright Eyes, Ben Kweller, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Martha Wainwright and the Manic Street Preachers.

Blog: 1000 Awesome Things – http://1000awesomethings.com

Website: Stumbleupon.com – it leads to so many wonderful finds (I have mine set to show crafts and recipes).

Shop: Muiji – it always has such awesome stuff and it has made me really organised.

Food: Sushi.

Drink: Absinthe, root beer or alcoholic hazelnut milkshakes.

Papers or printed magazines: Bust, Venus & Amelia’s Magazine of course.

What I would like for Christmas is: A Vivienne Westwood tiara, which is a pair of horns encrusted with crystals.
Rob-Hopkins
Illustration courtesy of Valerie Pezeron

Nothing satiates a foodie quite like the first forkful of their best-loved grub, treat but reading about it comes close. For those gastronomes who believe that food’s role reaches far beyond basically fuelling our existence – that it’s integral to community bonds, economies of every scale and our relationships with our environment, as well as our physical wellbeing – the new book from Tamzin Pinkerton and Rob Hopkins (yes, he of Transition Culture fame) will have you salivating over the nosh-related possibilities that a little ambition, curiosity and organisation can create close to home.‘Local Food: How to Make it Happen in Your Community’ (Transition Books) shadows Hopkins’ inspiring ‘Transition Handbook’, training the spotlight on the integral subject of our food and what we can do to go back to the literal roots of the good life – and stay there. While written against the unnerving but inescapable global backdrop of peak oil, food security and climate change crises, ‘Local Food’ incites excitement about the potential of a carefully considered future, both long and short term, rather than fear of a hopeless one. With the onus on the ‘local’ part of its title, the book encourages a proactive, fun approach to sustainability by profiling a huge and diverse range of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) initiatives based all over the world.

 

LOCAL_FOOD_cover 
Image courtesy of Transition Culture

“The kind of community engagement facilitated by CSAs generates and harnesses passionate enthusiasm among the people who participate in it,” write Pinkerton and Hopkins, “and this is due, in no small part, to the sheer thrill that comes from being able to shape and engage with the food system that feeds us.” From legitimate legume growers to dig-by-night guerrilla gardeners, the teams and organisations featured in ‘Local Food’ not only explain their motivations for picking up tools, but reveal the thrills, difficulties, surprises and benefits that they have faced since they did.

 Hopkinspic
Image courtesy of Stephen Prior

Unsurprisingly, the majority of these people are driven by a passion for good food, and a respect for and desire to greater understand the environment that provides it. However deeply they’re involved in the food production within their community – be it founding community gardens or filling their fridges with farmers’ market fodder – the individuals highlighted in ‘Local Food’ prove how attainable a sustainable lifestyle is, whether you want to get muddy or not. And, if you do want to have direct involvement in and influence over what ends up on your plate, there’s even a contacts section to introduce you to your nearest initiatives. As the authors put so succinctly, “We can have our affordable, local, organic cake, and eat it too”.

Categories ,books, ,community, ,CSA, ,farmers, ,Food, ,Rob Hopkins, ,Tamzin Pinkerton

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Amelia’s Magazine | My Best Friend’s (Eco) Wedding

Hannah Marshall by Naomi Law

This September London Fashion Week enters it’s third season within the courtyard of Somerset house. To enter the spirit of things Amelia’s Magazine will previewing on, sildenafil off schedules and the presentations, abortion naming the designers we think you should be keeping your eyes firmly on.
Here are Amelia’s Magazine’s ‘on schedule’ ones to watch.

Hannah Marshall – dark bold shapes, holding the tickets in our hands to HM’s SS10 collection (September 09) my colleague and I could barely contain our glee. Sitting down in the old post office building in Holborn Hannah’s models stalked through the space the inky blue errevensent in the dim lighting. AW 10 saw …. and …

Mary Katrantzou

Meeralee

Michael Van Der Haam’s Andy Warhol inspired designs influence were easily spotted in some of this year’s MA crop. For SS 11 Van Der Haam is presenting at ….

Louise Gray

I love Louise Gray – I love how her stalls in the New Gen exhibition section start off almost bare and before you know are infected with riotious colour as the exquisite detritus from her presentations take their place. For SS10 Gray presented both women and menswear occupying a small vault in Fashion East’s installation spaces. I am more than excited for her SS11 Catwalk Show.

Holly Fulton sharing a catwalk at … with David Koma, a designer Amelia’s Magazine was privy to his first two seasons presenting off schedule at ones to watch. (see previous coverage here and here)

Fashion East

Felicity Brown and Simone Rocha by Gareth A Hopkins

For the last six years Fashion East has reliably spotted recent graduates who go one to become sought after designers. This year’s crop sees Heikke Salone, Simone Rocha and Felicity Brown.

Heikki by Gemma Randall


Mr and Mrs Collingham, what is ed illustrated by Krister Selin

When my oldest pal Lydia announced her engagement and subsequent wedding, I struggled to imagine her having a generic do with a meringue dress and posed pictures. Her list of likes include folk and rock music, vintage fashion and living a sustainable day-to-day life. So it was no surprise when she declared that her wedding would take place in the woods.

I apologise in advance if this article may seem a little self-indulgent, and the truth is, it probably is. Well, sod it.


Lydia and Nathan


Photograph by Paul Saxby

Lydia and Nathan’s day began at the local town hall, with a low key ceremony. I had been so nervous about my continous blubbing throughout, but as The Beatles’ Love Me Do skipped on an old portable CD player, my tears turned to laughter. Lydia entered in a floor length Grecian-inspired dress with an artificial pose of sunflowers. Blimey, these civil ceremonies don’t last long do they? Before I knew it, they were Mr and Mrs Collingham and we were ushered outside to pose on the lawn. (Is it a civil ceremony when you get married at a registry office? I hope so).


Camping! Illustrated by Natasha Thompson

Anyway, the festivities began. Car-sharing had been arranged prior to the day (unfortunately there isn’t any easier way of getting around our small network of tiny villages) and guests had been discouraged from travelling from overseas. We arrived at the reception, set in our friend Alice’s beautiful garden. Lydia and Nathan are really fortunate to have such lovely friends who already take sustainability and climate change very seriously. The newlyweds had tried to create a festival vibe, whilst keeping carbon emisions to a minimum. We were all camping! A little camping area had been set up at the entrance to the woods, where tents had been pitched, and for a split second I could have been at any of the summer festivals – coloured tapers adorned the trees and homemade signs with directions had been painted.

Next up – food and booze. The food was incredible, and all locally sourced to reduce environmental impact. Organic elderflower champagne was provided as a reception drink, served with delicious vegan canapés. A delicious hog roast, provided by local butchers, was layed on for the meat eaters, but the menu was, by and large, vegan. Lydia’s mum had made a gorgeous mushroom en croute to accompany Ecoworks’ delicious selection of salads and nut roasts, and some of the vegatables had been sourced right here from the gardens!




The food! Illustrated by Kayleigh Bluck


Every method of recycling was taken care of!

Ecoworks is a community organisation based in Nottinghamshire with ‘the interests of people and the environment at its heart’. They work on conservation and restoration projects and run the FRESH project, which champions regeneration, education in sustainability and health.

They also run courses that encourage people to grow the good stuff and eat sustainably. Their Harvest Café van (a gorgeous converted vintage Citroën H van, no less) caters at festivals and events and specialises in vegetarian and vegan food, They provided spuds in the evening, with chilli or dahl, and a veggie breakfast the following day. I didn’t manage any of the latter because I had the world’s worst hangover, but I’m told it was a delight…

Lydia and Nathan’s dog Polly even managed to get in on the action, dressed to the nines in a ruffle of sunflowers…

Illustration of Polly by Naomi Law


I’m always hot for a Stella McCartney shoe – especially sourced on eBay at a bargain price. You can put the girl in the woods, but she’ll still wear hot shoes. AND Stella would have been proud. Sorry, I couldn’t resist… arrrrr!


Illustration by Michelle Urvall Nyrén

And so, very quickly, the afternoon turned to the evening and it was time to party, after taking a visit to one of the garden’s many eco loos. A total shock for many, this was. Wails of ‘Is that really where I go to the bloody lav?’ could be heard in the camping area, but just about everybody got used to it pretty quickly. One guest, who shall remain nameless, was even caught photographing down one…

Hay bales covered in vintage blankets created space for guests to mingle, while the epicentre was The Dome.

This recycled space appeared like a vision of the future from the 1960s, and Alice’s mum kindly informed me that it used to operate as a swimming pool cover. It was in here that local live bands played, including the wonderful 10 O’clock Horses – a suitable blend of folk, rock, roots and punk. Lydia and Nathan had their first dance to this band’s first song (as I stood aghast) and then we all had a good ol’ jig.


10 O’clock Horses, illustrated by Jaymie O’Callaghan

Candles lit the gardens, which was a bit of a struggle to begin with but we all soon got used to it and danced into the small hours. And so after a few too many organic beers and far too much shameful dancing on my behalf, it was time for bed. What a fabulous, fabulous day.

We retired to our tents, and Lydia and Nathan skipped off to their tepee to consumate their marriage…


Lydia and Nathan in front of their teepee, photographed by Paul Saxby

I have no idea if they did or not.

Categories ,Autostitch, ,camping, ,eco, ,Eco-loo, ,Ecoworks, ,environment, ,festival, ,Food, ,Halina, ,Hipstamatic, ,Jaymie O’Callaghan, ,Krister Selin, ,Michelle Urvall Nyrén, ,Naomi Law, ,Natasha Thompson, ,Nottinghamshire, ,Paul Saxby, ,Polaroid, ,Stella McCartney, ,Sunflowers, ,Teepee, ,The Harvest Café, ,vegan, ,vegetarian, ,Wedding

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Amelia’s Magazine | My Best Friend’s (Eco) Wedding

Hannah Marshall by Naomi Law

This September London Fashion Week enters it’s third season within the courtyard of Somerset house. To enter the spirit of things Amelia’s Magazine will previewing on, sildenafil off schedules and the presentations, abortion naming the designers we think you should be keeping your eyes firmly on.
Here are Amelia’s Magazine’s ‘on schedule’ ones to watch.

Hannah Marshall – dark bold shapes, holding the tickets in our hands to HM’s SS10 collection (September 09) my colleague and I could barely contain our glee. Sitting down in the old post office building in Holborn Hannah’s models stalked through the space the inky blue errevensent in the dim lighting. AW 10 saw …. and …

Mary Katrantzou

Meeralee

Michael Van Der Haam’s Andy Warhol inspired designs influence were easily spotted in some of this year’s MA crop. For SS 11 Van Der Haam is presenting at ….

Louise Gray

I love Louise Gray – I love how her stalls in the New Gen exhibition section start off almost bare and before you know are infected with riotious colour as the exquisite detritus from her presentations take their place. For SS10 Gray presented both women and menswear occupying a small vault in Fashion East’s installation spaces. I am more than excited for her SS11 Catwalk Show.

Holly Fulton sharing a catwalk at … with David Koma, a designer Amelia’s Magazine was privy to his first two seasons presenting off schedule at ones to watch. (see previous coverage here and here)

Fashion East

Felicity Brown and Simone Rocha by Gareth A Hopkins

For the last six years Fashion East has reliably spotted recent graduates who go one to become sought after designers. This year’s crop sees Heikke Salone, Simone Rocha and Felicity Brown.

Heikki by Gemma Randall


Mr and Mrs Collingham, what is ed illustrated by Krister Selin

When my oldest pal Lydia announced her engagement and subsequent wedding, I struggled to imagine her having a generic do with a meringue dress and posed pictures. Her list of likes include folk and rock music, vintage fashion and living a sustainable day-to-day life. So it was no surprise when she declared that her wedding would take place in the woods.

I apologise in advance if this article may seem a little self-indulgent, and the truth is, it probably is. Well, sod it.


Lydia and Nathan


Photograph by Paul Saxby

Lydia and Nathan’s day began at the local town hall, with a low key ceremony. I had been so nervous about my continous blubbing throughout, but as The Beatles’ Love Me Do skipped on an old portable CD player, my tears turned to laughter. Lydia entered in a floor length Grecian-inspired dress with an artificial pose of sunflowers. Blimey, these civil ceremonies don’t last long do they? Before I knew it, they were Mr and Mrs Collingham and we were ushered outside to pose on the lawn. (Is it a civil ceremony when you get married at a registry office? I hope so).


Camping! Illustrated by Natasha Thompson

Anyway, the festivities began. Car-sharing had been arranged prior to the day (unfortunately there isn’t any easier way of getting around our small network of tiny villages) and guests had been discouraged from travelling from overseas. We arrived at the reception, set in our friend Alice’s beautiful garden. Lydia and Nathan are really fortunate to have such lovely friends who already take sustainability and climate change very seriously. The newlyweds had tried to create a festival vibe, whilst keeping carbon emisions to a minimum. We were all camping! A little camping area had been set up at the entrance to the woods, where tents had been pitched, and for a split second I could have been at any of the summer festivals – coloured tapers adorned the trees and homemade signs with directions had been painted.

Next up – food and booze. The food was incredible, and all locally sourced to reduce environmental impact. Organic elderflower champagne was provided as a reception drink, served with delicious vegan canapés. A delicious hog roast, provided by local butchers, was layed on for the meat eaters, but the menu was, by and large, vegan. Lydia’s mum had made a gorgeous mushroom en croute to accompany Ecoworks’ delicious selection of salads and nut roasts, and some of the vegatables had been sourced right here from the gardens!




The food! Illustrated by Kayleigh Bluck


Every method of recycling was taken care of!

Ecoworks is a community organisation based in Nottinghamshire with ‘the interests of people and the environment at its heart’. They work on conservation and restoration projects and run the FRESH project, which champions regeneration, education in sustainability and health.

They also run courses that encourage people to grow the good stuff and eat sustainably. Their Harvest Café van (a gorgeous converted vintage Citroën H van, no less) caters at festivals and events and specialises in vegetarian and vegan food, They provided spuds in the evening, with chilli or dahl, and a veggie breakfast the following day. I didn’t manage any of the latter because I had the world’s worst hangover, but I’m told it was a delight…

Lydia and Nathan’s dog Polly even managed to get in on the action, dressed to the nines in a ruffle of sunflowers…

Illustration of Polly by Naomi Law


I’m always hot for a Stella McCartney shoe – especially sourced on eBay at a bargain price. You can put the girl in the woods, but she’ll still wear hot shoes. AND Stella would have been proud. Sorry, I couldn’t resist… arrrrr!


Illustration by Michelle Urvall Nyrén

And so, very quickly, the afternoon turned to the evening and it was time to party, after taking a visit to one of the garden’s many eco loos. A total shock for many, this was. Wails of ‘Is that really where I go to the bloody lav?’ could be heard in the camping area, but just about everybody got used to it pretty quickly. One guest, who shall remain nameless, was even caught photographing down one…

Hay bales covered in vintage blankets created space for guests to mingle, while the epicentre was The Dome.

This recycled space appeared like a vision of the future from the 1960s, and Alice’s mum kindly informed me that it used to operate as a swimming pool cover. It was in here that local live bands played, including the wonderful 10 O’clock Horses – a suitable blend of folk, rock, roots and punk. Lydia and Nathan had their first dance to this band’s first song (as I stood aghast) and then we all had a good ol’ jig.


10 O’clock Horses, illustrated by Jaymie O’Callaghan

Candles lit the gardens, which was a bit of a struggle to begin with but we all soon got used to it and danced into the small hours. And so after a few too many organic beers and far too much shameful dancing on my behalf, it was time for bed. What a fabulous, fabulous day.

We retired to our tents, and Lydia and Nathan skipped off to their tepee to consumate their marriage…


Lydia and Nathan in front of their teepee, photographed by Paul Saxby

I have no idea if they did or not.

Categories ,Autostitch, ,camping, ,eco, ,Eco-loo, ,Ecoworks, ,environment, ,festival, ,Food, ,Halina, ,Hipstamatic, ,Jaymie O’Callaghan, ,Krister Selin, ,Michelle Urvall Nyrén, ,Naomi Law, ,Natasha Thompson, ,Nottinghamshire, ,Paul Saxby, ,Polaroid, ,Stella McCartney, ,Sunflowers, ,Teepee, ,The Harvest Café, ,vegan, ,vegetarian, ,Wedding

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Amelia’s Magazine | My Habbit is Not a Hobbit – How to Calculate Your Carbon Footprint


All photography by Maria Domican

I was nervous upon arriving at Vintage at Goodwood… Nervous because I had called in sick to work, sickness nervous because I had been hearing bad press about the event and mainly nervous because I had no idea what to expect.

I have to admit, cialis 40mg no matter how fashionable, arty and eco driven a festival is, a major emphasis has always been on being drunk and having a great, if somewhat crazy time… I couldn’t imagine myself getting wasted on ‘classic cocktails’ or ‘gin and tonics’, parading around campsites in my beloved vintage treasures and sleeping through bands in a dusty heap at Goodwood. Apparently that was exactly the crowd that organiser Wayne Hemingway was eager to discourage, not wanting those “out on the lash that leave a load of empty tins at their ripped tent”.

Goodwood was billed as ‘the first of what will be an annual music and fashion led celebration of creative British cool’ ‘The new festival of Britain’. But what was it? A vintage Fashion Fair? An exhibition? Or a festival? Featuring music, art, fashion, film and design I was puzzled as to how it would all come together.

None the less I was excited… I had packed a few of my 2nd favourite dresses (the dirt was still a worry!) far too many hats (and yes I carried them in a vintage hat box) and even two matching vintage parasols, for my friend and I to parade around with; in short, more than I would usually take on a week long holiday.

Upon arrival we were greeted by a red carpet and the famous British High Street. Made up like a spaghetti western, all wooden fronted shops, I felt like I had wandered onto a film set. The high street catered for the big brands: John Lewis, The Body Shop and Dr. Martins all had large stores with all the facilities of any other high street shop. It also was the home for the vintage cinema, a traditional British pub and even an Indian take away! The draw of the festival to many though – the vintage stalls – were down the two side streets in tents. These were much more bazaar-like in style; small cramped lines of tents exploding with clothes, accessories, and when it rained (which it did a lot) crammed in people unable to move.


Vintage shopping at Goodwood.

Bands such as The Faces, Buzzcocks, Heaven 17 and the Noisettes entertained the crowds but it was the fashion that was the main draw of the festival. Workshops taught sewing and knitting while Hardy Amies and Pearl and Daisy Lowe were among those with runway shows.


The Noisettes on the main stage.


Pearl and Daisy Lowe at their runway show.

Divided into eras, the festival celebrated five decades of British cool, with each area having a different ‘curator’ (supposed experts in that field).


The 1970s and 1980s zone curated by Greg Wilson featured a warehouse with interactive graffiti wall and a roller disco.

Also in the 1970s era was Eddie Miller’s Soul Casino nightclub – replicating a mid 70s ballroom and reminiscent of many a bad wedding reception, complete with 1970s swirly carpet, sprung dance floor, pool tables and low lighting – it was here that Wayne Hemingway performed his own DJ set on the Sunday.


Wayne Hemingway

The emphasis of the festival was definitely the 1940s and 1950s, however, with the majority of outfits being so themed and with one of the highlights being leading percussionist, producer and 1940s enthusiast Snowboy’s Tanqueray sponsored ‘Torch Club’: a 1940’s style supper club which served 3 course meals over the weekend, with waiter service and a full orchestra playing while you eat. Behind the club forties allotments and land girls held guess-the-weight-of-the-pumpkin competitions and the guys from The Chap held an Olympian event with cucumber sandwich tossing and tug-o-moustache.


Cucumber sandwich tossing at The Chap Olympiad


Moustache tug-o-war

Still in its first year, the festival organisers have room for improvement before next year’s. The website promised ‘an unparalleled attention to design and organisational detail’ which is a little optimistic considering the press pass debacle. Still, this was upheld in areas such as the attention to period detail in all shops and stages and that all events were first come first served and not fully booked up beforehand.
It’s possible the press pass debacle was a result of the PR company giving all 150 staff free weekend and camping tickets… of which apparently only 8 were used!

One stall holder also complained that they felt the festival had been miss-sold as they thought that the vintage stalls were going to be on the main high street not crammed into the side tents.

Whilst a lot of events over the weekend such as dance classes and the cinema were free, the main grumbles were still about the commercial emphasis of the festival, Bonham’s high profile auction, chain stores and a huge emphasis on shopping and spending money left a lot of people disgruntled, but apparently still willing to spend; Oxfam reportedly made £1000 in the first half hour of opening! Lily Allen‘s no-show to launch ‘Lucy in Disguise’ was probably a blessing in disguise as it prevented the focus of the weekend from being celebrity.

The ‘Glamping’ was on all accounts also seen to be a big disappointment. Situated at the bottom of the hill in the woods this area quickly became a muddy bog with the torrential rain and at £1200 for a tent with an airbed was seen as a complete rip off by many who didn’t even have hot showers. The same was true of the pods which had to move some people to tents due to complaints about size and not being able to stand up.


Glamorous campers.

For the regular campers, though, there were no problems. Many vintage tents, bunting strewn camps and campervans were on a chalk based slope which quickly drained and dressing rooms with full length mirrors and power points enabled everyone to dress up.


Dressing up rooms. Photography by Madeleine Lowry

…And dress up they did! Whilst the day trippers favoured fancy dress over true vintage and stuck to the high street, the weekend crowd were the highlight of the festival. A huge ego-boosting weekend, everyone went out of their way to compliment each other on their outfits and a general blitz spirit coupled with the friendly campsite and interactive nature of events ensured that everyone was quick to make new friends.

Overall the weekend offered an overwhelming range of activities to take part in or witness, and hopefully with the kinks ironed out before next year, things can only get better for Goodwood.



Fashion at Goodwood.


Shopping locally, abortion by Kayleigh Bluck

I have to honestly admit that I don’t really THINK about sustainability in my everyday life. I even recycle without thinking because it is such a natural process to me. You don’t consciously think about why you drink tea from a cup and not from a bowl or why you pee into the toilet and not into the basin.  
I think you’re only truly sustainable when it’s a part of your way of life, just like a diet is pointless unless you actually change your lifestyle and habits. In keeping with this, I came across a test with a perfectly relevant name: “My Habbit“. You can check out your own carbon footprint and you might be surprised at how easy it is to change really small habits. 

Whilst taking the test it visualises your carbon footprint in the form of a strange and creepy semi-alien computer-generated human body. Proportionally distorting a human’s body parts in order to visualise your disproportionate use, you work your way through the different stages of sustainability. For instance, if you use a lot of electricity, you head starts to look more and more like a skeleton. The more meat you eat, the fatter your belly gets. Electricity and gas expands your hands, travel expands your feet until it looks like an almost bursting balloon. Mine looked pretty normal at the end, but it still had suggestions for me to better myself. But how did I even come across this test? 

“So, a guy came into the office today to borrow some of our paper, which was recycled and said ‘So are you trying to save the world or summin?’ (sic) to which I wanted to start replying but by the time I said ‘Um..’ he said ‘Then stop driving!’ I obviously replied ‘I don’t drive’ and he said ‘Oh’ and walked off. What’s the dude hassling me for?” 
This is a snippet of a conversation I had during dinner today, where it transpired that me being a vegetarian and not having a car actually makes me “pretty green” according to a test my partner had taken during the workshop he held at the “Sustainable Futures” exhibition at the Design Museum. I was immediately intrigued. This may have been mainly due to the fact that I was fairly certain I was going to come out of the other end of the tunnel with a result to be proud of (aka something to show off about).  


Shopping locally for fabric, illustrated by Naomi Law

I already knew some of the reasons that were going to be to my advantage. I work from home, which means that in average, I use the underground only once a week for meetings or events in town. I have only travelled by plane once in the past year (last November, in fact), which is highly unusual and mainly down to the fact that work has happily consumed all my time. Either way, I knew it was going to make me look good in the test. I walk to the shops, and buy most of my food and fabric (I am a fashion designer) in the local market where things are mainly locally sourced. I’m very lazy when it comes to anything that is essential to life such as sleep, eating and washing. That’s only of advantage because I own a lot of clothes, which means I very rarely have to actually wash any of them. My washing machine is extremely underused.  

Furthermore, since we’re on the subject of big white goods, I don’t own a dishwasher or tumble dryer or any such machinery. I recycle everything from paper snippets to plastic to glass to fabric. I would say “tins” but I don’t really use them. As I mentioned before, most my food moves directly from the bowl of vegetables of the farmer’s table into my Longchamp shopping bag into my vegetable drawer. Another point that I knew was going to help me look good in this test was the fact that I’m a vegetarian. Apparently, that makes a difference although I’m still not quite sure why. Surely any food needs to be transported, worked on? Do feel free to enlighten me if you know. 

Returning to the subject of technical items, I don’t watch TV. I have a TV set for watching a DVD every now and then, but I usually prefer to work, and the TV is of course unplugged when I don’t use it because otherwise it makes a very annoying humming noise when it’s on standby. I unplug my printers, sewing machines, hair straighteners etc when I’m not using them.

People who don’t live with me would never believe it, but I’d rather look like a couch potato wearing three jackets (I’m at home, right?) than turn on the heating unnecessarily. In fact, the heating is completely switched off until the temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius for more than a week, which doesn’t make me very popular with my housemates.  

We were given some free sustainable light bulbs when we last switched gas and electricity companies, which we use throughout the house and half of the fluorescent light bulbs we have in our office have burned out and we are too lazy to replace them.


Shopping for clothes, illustrated by Zarina Liew

This one is a big deal, but not a topic that gave me any extra credit during the test. About 80% of my wardrobe (including my shoes) is either second hand, vintage or passed on in some form or another through eBay, TK Maxx, in the form of presents from family and friends, inherited pieces, charity shops etc. This does not, however, mean that I don’t indulge my fashion sense, as a quick peek into the style section of my website will confirm. 

I don’t listen to the radio, I don’t have a CD player or stereo because I have all my music on my Mac and iPhone – who knew being this non-nostalgic about music, could turn into a blessing? 

We have an agreement with our landlord who sends round a gardener every two months. Officially, any carbon footprint they amass during their work is technically not mine, so I am not counting it. The grass is yellow from the few days of “heat” this lame English summer had, but I don’t really see that as my responsibility and as far as I can tell, I don’t think the gardeners ever water the grass – they simply cut it even shorter and dryer and pick up the leaves. 

Some of the questions in the test were difficult. For instance, I had to look up which type of light bulbs we actually use. They cleverly adjust the optimum “habit” you could have at the end and suggest ways in which you can better yourself, even if your carbon emission is as low as one could realistically imagine. 

However, there were aspects of importance that were not quite taken into consideration. A big issue, which could tip someone’s carbon print (especially among us fashionistas and fashionistos, eh?)  is our shopping and consumption habits beyond mere primary necessity (food). Do you buy online? Are your purchases shipped or flown from overseas or do you make sure buy locally? Do you shop in chain supermarkets or local markets? How much stuff do you own? Do you buy from Primark or second hand? Do you buy per trend and season or do you invest in pieces that you have worn for decades? Do you tend to consume actual objects such as electric equipment, decorative items, clothing or something altogether different? 


Using recycled paper, illustrated by Emma Block, using recycled paper!

There are also questions relating to your profession that are not taken into consideration at all. For instance, the test asks you whether you use a printer at home, but not whether you use a printer at work. How much paper do you use and waste, knowing you’re not paying for it? I’ll forgive them for not asking office-related questions, though, as this could get very detailed and complex. But what about mobile phones? No sign of their impact.

Having an iPhone, which I use for work, means I charge my phone up a lot more often than, say, someone who works in a shop and turns theirs off for most of the day. As anybody who owns an iPhone knows, as much as we love them – the battery of the iPhone is abysmal. It needs charging ALL the time. Surely the test should be asking about the different phones one has, the same way they asked about what type of TV I own? On the other hand, I charge my iPhone via my laptop – this means less electricity is used. You can see, the questions can be quite endless, but an essential acknowledgement of such basics would have improved the test. 
Many of my friends and colleagues are writers or need to write in some form or another. When you do your writing, do you do it online or offline? That sounds like it would make no difference, but it does. Here’s a good illustrating example, which has astounded quite a lot of people when I’ve mentioned it. 


Energy in the kitchen, illustrated by Gemma Randall

One of the questions in the questionnaire is how often you boil the kettle. Did you know that every time you do a search on google it uses as much electricity and power from the mighty google servers as it does to boil a full kettle? A question in the test, if I have had any say, should have been “Do you look up the tiniest question on google rather than trying to think that second longer in case you remember?” Do you maybe have a real life dictionary (oh wonder and glory), which can help you just as much? Yes, one should consider the production cost of making said book, but for the sake of the argument, let’s assume it’s a vintage book, which still holds perfectly updated descriptions of most words we know. If it doesn’t, you can STILL use Google, Wikipedia or an online dictionary. But not doing so would immediately reduce your carbon footprint more than you think… 

I am a great believer in the fact that until something is accepted as normal, it has not really been overcome. Until it is, the obstacle of integration is not complete. I feel this is the way with sustainability. I grew up with it, so it was quite strange for me to see what fuss people made about being sustainable – it was new to me. Once people embrace it as part of their lives, it will be a lot easier. You hear campaigns telling you to “be aware” and “do your part” as if most of these acts weren’t perfectly logical. I disagree. Sure, some people just don’t admit to perfectly basic knowledge being obvious, and need those hints and tips, and none of us are perfect and continue to be educated. However, the obsession of making recycling something to be conscious about is not going to help. Only once it’s truly and easily integrated into our lives in a manner that is natural to participate in will sustainability really be standard practice.

Categories ,Apple, ,campaigns, ,Changing Habbits, ,Clothing, ,Design Museum, ,Dictionary, ,earth, ,ebay, ,Electricity, ,Emma Block, ,Fabrics, ,fashion, ,Food, ,Gas, ,Gemma Randall, ,Google, ,Human Body, ,iPhone, ,Kayeligh Bluck, ,Light bulbs, ,Longchamp, ,Mac, ,Markets, ,My Habbit, ,Naomi Law, ,paper, ,Primark, ,Printing, ,Second-hand, ,sustainability, ,Sustainable Futures, ,TK Maxx, ,vintage, ,White goods, ,Wikipedia, ,Zarina Liew

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Amelia’s Magazine | Food Inc – film review

foodinc
Image courtesy of Food Inc.

It is natural to assume that the people in charge of food standards and the people making the food would have your best interests at heart. Food, no rx Inc. uncovers the unbelievable truth about the American food industry and dispels this myth, abortion or as they say in the film, this ‘lifts the veil’ on the industry and shatters our assumptions. From beef production that is so horribly intense it causes tens of thousands of E.coli cases in humans a year, to why the rate of type 2 diabetes is rising to 1 in 3 for Americans born after 2000. The greed of food companies to claim more and more of the market despite the damage they are causing to consumers, animals and the environment is shocking.

chicks
Chicks on the factory floor. Photo courtesy of Our Daily Bread

Smaller producers and the consumers themselves have barely any power to fight their corner when faced with companies that have the money to win any court case brought against them. While it’s easy to say that the power lies with the consumer, the consumer would probably never imagine (unless they were particularly cynical) that the production behind the food on their plate was so damaging and disgusting. This is why this film, and others like it, are so important – to make consumers aware of where their food comes from so that they can make a choice but also to show food companies that their production methods cannot be kept secret and that the consumer will not stand for it.

Click here for all UK screenings.

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More films on food:

There are two other absolutely superb documentaries I’ve seen on food production.  One is Our Daily Bread (Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Austria, 2005), which traces factory farming throughout Europe.  It has no narration or music (and so requires no subtitles), but its pure minimalist awesomeness makes your jaw drop from the start right through to the end.  No sensationalism here, just images free of commentary, with the eerie, mechanic soundtrack of the machines that have replaced men in farming.  I defy you to peel your eyes away from the screen, and not feel a million times wiser at the end.  Truly recommend it, not only as information and as an eye-opener, but as a piece of unique, striking cinema.  Stark and poetic.


greenhouse
Photo courtesy of Our Daily Bread

The other is We Feed The World (Erwin Wagenhofer, 2005), which makes the link between European food production and hunger in a direct and shocking way, but with a sophisticated humour and sarcasm that will make you laugh when you shouldn’t.

fish
Photo courtesy of Our Daily Bread

Categories ,Dogwoof, ,Dominika Jarosz, ,Eric Schlosser, ,Erwin Wagenhofer, ,Factory Farming, ,Farming, ,Fast Food Nation, ,Food, ,Food Inc, ,Joanna Van Den Driessche, ,Michael Pollan, ,Nikolaus Geyrhalter, ,Our Daily Bread, ,Robert Kenner, ,US, ,We feed The World

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Amelia’s Magazine | Help Fund The Fruit Factory for Brighton Permaculture Trust

Drawing of The Fruit Factory
The Brighton Permaculture Trust recently contacted me to tell me about their crowdfunding campaign on Buzzbnk to fund a permanent site for their ambitious Fruit Factory, a fabulous plan that involves turning waste fruit into yummy juices, at the same time offering educational courses to learn more about sustainable living. How could I resist giving them a plug? I’d love to visit if I am ever in the area.

The Fruit Factory Brighton apples_in_orchard
Where did the idea for The Fruit Factory come from?
We were aware that lots of fruit went unharvested around the city, simply rotting on the ground. We started to pick this fruit and process it into juices, chutneys, etc at pop up locations and found that people wanted the products and wanted to see them made. Now we want to up scale so we can process up to 40 tons of fruit a year; Stanmer was the obvious choice as it is next to a small orchard we manage and lots of people pass by.

The Fruit Factory Brighton a_van_full_of_appples_that_would_have_gone_to_waste
Who collects the fruit and where does it come from?
It is collected by Brighton Permaculture team volunteers and workers. It comes from various places – private gardens, public spaces, and fruit farms (fruit that the retailers don’t want).


What would happen to the fruit if it did not come to the Fruit Factory?
It would often be left to rot; going to waste and causing a nuisance.

The Fruit Factory Brighton pop_up_scrumped_products_stall
How do you physically process 40 tons of fruit every year?
The majority will be used for juice. In a day we can press half a ton of fruit to make 250 litres of juice. We like to sell the juice fresh when we can as it tastes better and is more nutritious, but fresh juice only lasts a couple of days before it goes off and so we pasteurise what’s left to give it a year or two’s shelf life.

The Fruit Factory Brighton straw_bale_wall_building
Who built the straw bale building that houses the factory?
The straw bale construction was built by participants on two of our straw bale courses last year.

The_fruit_factory_to_be
What will the money raised by Buzzbnk go towards?
It will finish the structure itself so we will be able to put on a roof and doors and windows, and render the walls.

The Fruit Factory Brighton juicing_with_school_kids
The Fruit Factory has plans for learning, what will you offer?
We help schools and communities to plant orchards (90 to date with our partners). People involved in these orchards and interested individuals want to learn how to care for fruit trees and process the juice. We have been involved with this work for 10 years but the Fruit Factory will allow us to up scale what we are offering. We are also planning a programme of school visits so that children can learn about where fruit comes from, about orchards and wildlife, and also how to prepare fruit.

The-Fruit-Factory-Brighton-juicing_with_kids
For someone who might not know what permaculture means, how can it be explained in just a few sentences?
Nature created the abundant world we have inherited. Permaculture is a design system that draws on lessons from nature to design for our human needs. Obviously this includes growing food in natural ways as well as building energy efficient buildings from natural materials.

What other projects is the Brighton Permaculture Trust involved with?
We run a number of courses in sustainable living, from teaching people how to prune fruit trees to an accredited Permaculture Design course. We also run annual events Green Architecture Day and Apple Day. A large amount of our work is focussed on school/community orchard planting and teaching people how to care for the orchards when planted.

How does the Brighton trust network with other permaculture organisations across the UK and beyond?
We are a member of the Permaculture Association and have connections with a number of other Permaculture projects in the UK. A number of the tutors on our courses are from other organisations that are working in similar fields, and we have a number of local organisations in Sussex that we work very closely with and often in partnership with on different projects.

Support The Fruit Factory here, and don’t forget there are also still a few days left to back the urban mushroom farm in Exeter from GroCycle. Find out more here.

Categories ,Apple Day, ,Brighton Permaculture Trust, ,Buzzbnk, ,Education, ,Food, ,Fruit Juice, ,Green Architecture Day, ,GroCycle, ,Orchard, ,permaculture, ,Permaculture Association, ,Permaculture Design, ,Scrumping, ,Stanmer, ,Strawbale, ,Sussex, ,sustainable, ,The Fruit Factory, ,Waste Food

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Amelia’s Magazine | Craftastic. What to do with old envelopes?

What to do with them?

Illustrations by Farzeen jabbar

Perhaps its because I’m getting older, adiposity perhaps I’m becoming more eccentric or perhaps its one too many glasses of wine but I am becoming increasingly intolerant of waste. The latest object of my ‘waste rage’ is envelopes. I am ‘online billed’ to my eyeballs, dosage but I still seem to receive an avalanche of junk mail and catalogues for companies I’ve never heard of through the post. Its probably Facebook’s fault; selling my soul to Identity Theft R Us and IWillSpamYouToTears.com.

But before I retreat into an envelope and Facebook induced pit of fury, order I’ll bring this baby back to the point.

What to do with those pesky envelopes?

According to the folk at Green Box Day the average British family throws away 6 trees worth of paper in their household bin a year. Thats 120 trees over 20 years, which is, like, a small forest. Or something. Obviously reducing the amount of paper we bring home is the best thing, but finding ways to reuse the stuff is the next best thing.

Before you recycle (or chuck away, tut tut) your next envelope, look closely at it. Envelopes have a rather nice graphic blue or black pattern lining the inside. Once you start noticing, I warn you its a slippery slope. You may find yourself rating companies according to the graphics they choose for the inside of their envelopes. Tate, for examples get top marks in my book, but HSBC are at the bottom of the cool envelope lining charts.

These small graphic patterns would lend themselves well to something small… like muffin toppers. Or cake bunting. Don’t you see?! (ahem)

You will need

Old envelopes
Scissors
Ruler and pencil
Needle and thread
Cocktail sticks
Pritt stick

Firstly, make a stencil of the flag shape of your choice, trace onto the envelope several times and cut them out.

envelope stencil

Use a bit of glue to wrap the flag around a cocktail stick.

Stick in to some perfectly formed muffins (like these stupidly easy banana muffins I made at the weekend)

They look tres cute, no?

An alternative to muffin toppers is a string of mini paper envelope bunting.

Cut out some tiny triangles, and using a needle and thread, pierce the triangles twice with the needle. Prepare for ‘small pain’ rage.

Then string them together.

Or if all that is all a bit pointless and over the top for you (bah humbug), you could just save them for your shopping lists. Just cut off the gummy bits, make a hole in the corner and tie them together. A free, self replenishing notepad, handy for to do lists and passive aggressive notes to housemates and other halves.

Whilst researching for this article, I realized that I can register my address at the mail preference register to stop junk mail. My level of excitement about this is unequaled. Go forth and experience the joy.

This column attempts to provide lovely ways to recycle junk into useful and beautiful things. If you have had a genius recycling idea or if you are stuck with something you don’t want to chuck away, leave a comment and let me know! I may feature your idea or I will try and come up with a solution to your recycling conundrum.

P.s I am currently trying to think of a decent name for this feature. Any suggestions warmly welcomed.

Categories ,Baking, ,craft, ,diy, ,earth, ,Envelopes, ,Food, ,recycle, ,Reuse

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Amelia’s Magazine | Craftastic. What to do with old envelopes?

What to do with them?

Illustrations by Farzeen jabbar

Perhaps its because I’m getting older, adiposity perhaps I’m becoming more eccentric or perhaps its one too many glasses of wine but I am becoming increasingly intolerant of waste. The latest object of my ‘waste rage’ is envelopes. I am ‘online billed’ to my eyeballs, dosage but I still seem to receive an avalanche of junk mail and catalogues for companies I’ve never heard of through the post. Its probably Facebook’s fault; selling my soul to Identity Theft R Us and IWillSpamYouToTears.com.

But before I retreat into an envelope and Facebook induced pit of fury, order I’ll bring this baby back to the point.

What to do with those pesky envelopes?

According to the folk at Green Box Day the average British family throws away 6 trees worth of paper in their household bin a year. Thats 120 trees over 20 years, which is, like, a small forest. Or something. Obviously reducing the amount of paper we bring home is the best thing, but finding ways to reuse the stuff is the next best thing.

Before you recycle (or chuck away, tut tut) your next envelope, look closely at it. Envelopes have a rather nice graphic blue or black pattern lining the inside. Once you start noticing, I warn you its a slippery slope. You may find yourself rating companies according to the graphics they choose for the inside of their envelopes. Tate, for examples get top marks in my book, but HSBC are at the bottom of the cool envelope lining charts.

These small graphic patterns would lend themselves well to something small… like muffin toppers. Or cake bunting. Don’t you see?! (ahem)

You will need

Old envelopes
Scissors
Ruler and pencil
Needle and thread
Cocktail sticks
Pritt stick

Firstly, make a stencil of the flag shape of your choice, trace onto the envelope several times and cut them out.

envelope stencil

Use a bit of glue to wrap the flag around a cocktail stick.

Stick in to some perfectly formed muffins (like these stupidly easy banana muffins I made at the weekend)

They look tres cute, no?

An alternative to muffin toppers is a string of mini paper envelope bunting.

Cut out some tiny triangles, and using a needle and thread, pierce the triangles twice with the needle. Prepare for ‘small pain’ rage.

Then string them together.

Or if all that is all a bit pointless and over the top for you (bah humbug), you could just save them for your shopping lists. Just cut off the gummy bits, make a hole in the corner and tie them together. A free, self replenishing notepad, handy for to do lists and passive aggressive notes to housemates and other halves.

Whilst researching for this article, I realized that I can register my address at the mail preference register to stop junk mail. My level of excitement about this is unequaled. Go forth and experience the joy.

This column attempts to provide lovely ways to recycle junk into useful and beautiful things. If you have had a genius recycling idea or if you are stuck with something you don’t want to chuck away, leave a comment and let me know! I may feature your idea or I will try and come up with a solution to your recycling conundrum.

P.s I am currently trying to think of a decent name for this feature. Any suggestions warmly welcomed.

Categories ,Baking, ,craft, ,diy, ,earth, ,Envelopes, ,Food, ,recycle, ,Reuse

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Amelia’s Magazine | Port Eliot Festival 2014 Review: Books, Food, Comedy, Craft & Fashion

Port Eliot Festival by Maia Fjord
Port Eliot Festival by Maia Fjord.

I’ve been meaning to take in Port Eliot festival for several years but it has always been just that little bit too far away. This summer we were able to attend, thanks to a holiday in Cornwall with family.

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Port Eliot Festival 2014 Review-0000
Once more we were blessed with a weekend of near perfect sunshine, ideal for wild and muddy swimming in the adjacent river, and the grassy banks were packed when we arrived on Friday afternoon. It’s a relatively small festival, which meant that we could pop up our tent quite close to the action. Beyond the main tented areas we traversed overgrown rhododendron paths, frolicked in a full sized maze and emerged with a spectacular view of the impressive aqueduct beneath which a couple of stand up paddle boarders were dwarfed.

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Port Eliot is not your average festival; here the usual music takes a back seat to other offerings: literary, foodie, comedic, crafty and fashionable. Thanks to some well placed connections it has built a bit of a reputation as the fashionistas’ festival, and despite the distance from London the big names return year after year. It was telling that (in comparison to my adventures at Green Earth Awakening) all the people I ran into on the site were friends I know from working in fashion.

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I liked the mix of activities, but it took awhile to get used to the workings of this festival, where queueing is a prerequisite for popular talks and workshops (I am very bad at queues, and never more so now that I have a toddler in tow). My partner tried to hear Martin Parr speak on several occasions (about his new film, which was also showing) before we finally tracked him down on the Sunday at the Dovegrey Reader tent, where the audience could sit out on the grass (and knitting is de rigeur). Lucky then that Martin Parr was speaking so many times! And obviously taking the opportunity to snap away at this most middle class of festivals. The favourite thing I took from his talk was his admission that he takes huge amount of photos, because most of them are crap. I have always believed it’s all in the edit so it was good to hear that Martin thinks so too.

Port Eliot Festival 2014 Review-0013
Port Eliot Festival 2014 Review-0017
I didn’t have so much luck joining an Anthropologie workshop, having arrived at the allocated time to book a class, only to find they were already full. Instead I learnt how to crochet (at last!) with Ros Badger at The Badger Sett.

Port Eliot Festival 2014 Review-0021
Port Eliot Festival 2014 Review-0010
Plenty of authors were on hand to talk about and then sign books but I only caught small parts of many talks due to toddler demands. Viv Albertine talked very engagingly about her new book Clothes Clothes Clothes Music Music Music Boys Boys Boys which I am desperate to read (Luella Bartley spotted in the audience), and I enjoyed listening to Richard Benson talk about rural life and his new book The Valley, but not so much Gruff Rhys on his US adventures (he didn’t engage). Susie Bubble was front row for a chat with fashion designer Simone Rocha and I bought a signed copy of Babette Cole’s new children’s book, inspired by her lodger, pictured above in dreadlocks and bunny ears.

Port Eliot Festival 2014 Review-0008
Port Eliot Festival 2014 Review-0007
In the beautiful Walled Garden the fashion set held arty sewing workshops and a catwalk show for tweenies. I admired a clever bunting made from colourful hair weaves and the dexterity of The Flower Appreciation Society, ensuring that many ladies at the festival sported beautiful real floral headdresses.

Port Eliot Festival 2014 Review-0022
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Port Eliot Festival 2014 Review-0012
Every time we tried to get to the kids’ Hullabaloo area I got lost in the winding labyrinth of paths. Once there we discovered plentiful crafty workshops, theatre productions, a bouncy castle, puppet shows and comedy. Speaking of which, I managed to contain Snarfle for long enough to hear most of Robin Ince’s genius set.

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The main house was home to displays of crocheted tea cosies, cakes, flower arrangements and scarecrows. We didn’t visit the foodie tent but admired the stage set up from afar. Instead we frequented the Hix pop up in the Orangery, with food supplied by Fortnum & Mason. It was a pricey meal but we enjoyed the incongruous silver service. Elsewhere we dined on Cornish seafood, wood fired pizza and local ice cream. Food was a definite highlight!

Port Eliot Festival 2014 Review-the odd folk
Port Eliot Festival 2014 Review-love nor moneyy
Port Eliot Snarfle and Sheepie
In the early evenings Snarfle and I headed to the smallest music tent, where he jumped around to the ramshackle and rather brilliant The Odd Folk one night and electro powered drum n bass anthems from sister act Love Nor Money on the next. He is now obsessed with ‘rock guitar’ as well as banjo. Thank goodness his Sheepie doubles as a guitar/banjo/ukelele stand in.

Categories ,2014, ,Anthropologie, ,Babette Cole, ,books, ,Clothes Clothes Clothes Music Music Music Boys Boys Boys, ,comedy, ,Cornwall, ,craft, ,crochet, ,Dovegrey Reader, ,fashion, ,festival, ,Food, ,Fortnum & Mason, ,Green Earth Awakening, ,Gruff Rhys, ,Hix, ,Hullabaloo, ,knitting, ,Love Nor Money, ,Luella Bartley, ,Maia Fjord, ,Martin Parr, ,Orangery, ,Port Eliot, ,review, ,Richard Benson, ,Robin Ince, ,Ros Badger, ,Sheepie, ,Simone Rocha, ,Snarfle, ,Susie Bubble, ,The Badger Set, ,The Flower Appreciation Society, ,The Odd Folk, ,The Valley, ,viv albertine, ,Walled Garden

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Amelia’s Magazine | Illustrator interview: Alice Stevenson creates artwork for Amy’s Mobile Kitchen

Amys Mobile Kitchen 1
During February 2016 the vegetarian and organic food experts of Amy’s Kitchen bring you Amy’s Mobile Kitchen – a vintage van that serves delicious Amy’s soups and chillis across London, Manchester and Glasgow, free to those who make a donation to local charitable organisations. The delicious & warming soups & chillis are accompanied by outstandingly good bread from local artisan bakeries.

Joining this project is artist Alice Stevenson, who has previously created illustrations for fashion designer Marc Jacobs. Alice has created a bespoke logo for Amy’s Mobile Kitchen as well as designing the bright illustrations that adorn the van, making it impossible to miss as it travels the UK streets. She is a London based illustrator, artist and writer whose creative output is informed by her observations of the world around her, using striking colour palettes, playful compositions and decorative forms to communicate ideas and narratives. Below, Alice Stevenson kindly tells us more about this lovely project.

Amy kitchen van
How were you commissioned to do the artwork?
Margaret (creative agency) found me through the power of Google and thought I’d be perfect for the project.

Amy's Mobile Kitchen person
What was the brief and how much artistic leeway were you given to do as you wished?
The brief was quite open: to create an intricate and playful pattern covering the van which featured Amy’s ingredients and worked around the Amy’s logo. I came up with some initial approaches and the version featuring “ingredients inside ingredients” were unanimously considered the most successful and visually engaging, so I developed this approach to fit around the structure of the truck. When developing ideas for the illustration for the Amy’s Kitchen Food Truck, I wanted to capture the joy of eating food created from organic vegetables and natural ingredients. As a keen cook and lover of organic food, this is a subject very close to my heart. I’ve always been inspired by the shapes and colours of vegetables and natural produce, So the illustration ended up being a playful celebration of this. I wanted to give the illustration an energy and a sense of movement and also explore the way the shapes of vegetables can combine to create something beautiful and decorative. By putting smaller ingredients inside larger ones, I encourage the viewer to really look into the imagery and engage with it.

Amy kitchen logo
How did you create the artwork?
Initially I create pencil sketches of compositions and ideas. When developing the illustration I scan black & white drawings of the shapes used in the image, I fill them to create block colour elements on photoshop and then arrange them on layers, this gives me the freedom to experiment with composition. Once the illustration had been approved I converted the different elements to vectors so that they could be printed on a large scale.

alice stevenson prawn_illustration
Pineapple and Prawn personal work

What is your favourite vegetable to eat (and why)?
I love vegetables so much, there isn’t a vegetable I won’t eat, so this is a near impossible question! I think one of the best vegetable experiences I’ve ever had was a side dish of purple sprouting broccoli, steamed with garlic and mustard in Jojo’s: a wonderful restaurant in Tankerton, Kent. The broccoli had the most complex and rich flavour. My boyfriend and I still reminisce about it years later. Nothing beats simply prepared, organic or home-grown veg for deliciousness.

Alice Stevenson LePan
Alice Stevenson, Le Pan magazine

What is your favourite vegetable to draw (and why)?
Halved red cabbage is extremely satisfying to draw due to it’s intricate texture and pattern, I’ve done some lovely watercolour and ink studies of those over the years. I think any vegetable cut in half is fun to draw as the interplay between its form and shape and then the seeds inside it are very rewarding to explore.

Alice stevenson i saw three ships
alice stevenson partridge_christmascard
Christmas card designs.

Make sure you track down Amy’s Mobile Kitchen if it passes your way! Keep track of the van’s location by following @amyskitchenuk on Twitter and following the hashtag #amysmobilekitchen. And look out for the elegantly painted sides of the truck, thanks to Alice Stevenson.

Categories ,#amysmobilekitchen, ,@amyskitchenuk, ,Alice Stevenson, ,Amy’s Kitchen, ,Amy’s Mobile Kitchen, ,Food, ,illustration, ,Marc Jacobs, ,Margaret, ,organic, ,vegetarian, ,Veggie

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