oh my first update to my website in a little while went very smoothly!!

check it out: alisonrichards.net

as promised in my previous post, there are pics of my new illustrations, including the one that's featured in ammo magazine:

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today is the first day of summer.
it wasn't a particularly nice day though, but i thought i would compile my list of my favourite things about summer in readiness for when it does arrive properly - with sunshine, blue skies and the like!



i have also recently completed a few drawings. i don't want to give too much away, as some of them are to be printed, so here's a quick look now. as soon as the magazine has been released, i'll update my website!



read on, read on!

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after many years of dating, my friend jac finally got married to her long-time boy.

jac not-so-subtly hinted that she would like a chair from me, so i decided that i would make her one for her wedding present.

i spent a very long time scouring ebay and gumtree for a chair until i finally found something suitable! it would appear that the demand for nice single vintage chairs has gone up, since they were always too expensive or just plain ugly or too new. so it did surprise me that i ended up finding one i really liked, considering what else was out there. i have a few things i look for when i'm after a chair: 1. it has to be less than $40. i don't see much point in buying a chair for $100 only to have to spend lots of time stripping it back and buying upholstery fabric/stain/other embellishments. plus, if i mess it up, i don't feel quite as bad! also, i like the idea of taking something really cheap and turning it into something beautiful. if it's $100 and already a beautiful chair, then it's not really a challenge. which leads into 2. it has to be somehow different - i like things with a bit of quirk. and 3. it has to have enough wood or upholstery to allow me to change it. this one definitely had all 3, and it satisfied point 2 by having an almost completely circular base, two different style legs (front and back) and an oddly shaped round back.

so with all that in mind, i bought this wooden chair covered in hideous thick green paint. unfortunately, however, i got too excited about the prospect of stripping the paint off that i didn't take a "before" photo. very annoyed! so instead, this is how the chair looked after stripping the seat of the horrible green paint (which covered the whole chair but was flecking off in places to reveal thick white paint).



and this is what it looked like after... well, sort of (yes, i wrapped a chair!)



see more photos, including how the chair actually looked, after the jump...

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this year, inspired by my recent trip and my intense love of france, i decided to have a french-themed birthday!

i sent out invites featuring the eiffel tour, made lots of yummy french food, decorated in red, white and blue, and we listened to french music. and yes, i even donned a beret, though no photos exist of that (you'll just have to take my word for it!).

so first things first - i had to design an invite! i'd seen a cardboard eiffel tower on a website and it gave me an idea. i thought a replica of the tower could be constructed from four pieces of board by slotting them together. because of the thickness of the board i used, it was impossible for me to print directly onto it, so i wrapped it in paper printed with the invite details... anyway, more will make sense below!

this is how the invites were packed into the envelope



invite put together - instructions side



read on for more details and photos of the invite and of the party itself!

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since i have been blogging so much about my holiday, i have neglected to show you photos of my illustrations that have been printed recently.

i have been doing illustrations and a bit of design work for blanket magazine for a few years now. before now, blanket was an online magazine, with some forays into printed work, such as posters and calendars. this all changed recently, when the editor of blanket decided to take the huge step to create a printed version of the magazine. i was so so lucky to have been included in this magazine! i have been a big supporter of blanket since i first found out about it in 2007 i think! and the first printed edition makes me so proud to have been part of this little independent endeavour!







i was also included in a recent edition of ammo magazine





one more after the jump!

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ok, this definitely has to be the last post of this! i will return to normal designy posts soon - i have lots to share! i hope you have enjoyed reading about my travels though - i am hoping that writing it all down will mean i remember it all!

so where i left it last time, i had just had a huge day at versailles. the next day, i went to montmartre.

i was originally going to go to the marche aux puces st-ouen de clignancourt but the whole not-being-able-to-speak-french thing threw that idea off because i figured i would not be able to buy anything or would get ripped off. so i skipped that part - i'll go next time, once i've learned french *wink*

instead, i started my day off at sacre coeur. oh how i love that place - it's so cool and weird-looking. the only one thing that was a bit of a negative are the people hanging around the gardens below the cathedral trying to tie string around your wrist (they then try to make you pay for it). thankfully, i had been warned, and politely told them that i neither spoke french nor english! i figured this would throw them off! despite this, it is still one of my favourite places in paris.



i climbed up another 300 steps to get to the top of the cathedral. it was so worth it - though it was rather treacherous getting up there, and definitely not for anyone especially large (either tall or wide), because it's quite tight. but the view was worth it.







after going inside the cathedral and also down to the lower levels, i then went to explore montmartre. i had an amazing tarte tartin from one of the boulangeries in the town, walked through the art markets (i was hoping to buy something, but nothing jumped out at me), and wandered through other pokey little shops up there. after going and buying some lovely perfume in fragonard, i headed back to the metro... next stop, cite

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when we left off, i had gone for a massive walk around paris to the madeleine and culminating in me at the place de la concorde looking up the champs elysees. by this time, i was well and truly stuffed - i was so thirsty and just needed a seat! but the tourist thing still called, and i had a poke around the grand palais and the petit palais (i don't know what was on, but there were thousands of people around there). i then started off up the massive avenue des champs elysees.

it was a really nice walk, apart from there being people everywhere! i was in desperate need of a drink of some sort, but all the cafes were full and i couldn't find anywhere that looked like a convenience store! so in the end, i headed into maccas. classy eh?! but when you're desperate.... so i ordered a cup of tea, and a bottle of water (which was soooo overpriced!), and i saw little boxes of 6 maccas macarons, so i grabbed one of those too. as much as i don't like going to maccas, the one thing they have is wifi (hooray!), so i was able to skype my friend while i sat there eating my macarons and drinking my tea.

anyway, after the refreshments (and no, i didn't eat all the macarons... 4 of them went back with me to the hotel), i headed to the arc de triomphe.



i'd never been up it before, so with my museum pass in hand, i ducked to the front of the line (hooray!) and started the climb to the top... yes, that's 284 steps up, and 284 down... oh my poor, tired legs!



but the view is sooooo worth it!





after drinking my fill of the view, i headed to the charles de gaulle etoile metro station and caught the train back to the hotel, where i got changed for dinner. my friend had told me about this amazing place in the marais district so i was keen to check that out for dinner. i realised that might not have been such a good idea while i was walking there from the metro station, since i was alone and received way too much attention due to my long blonde hair. i did manage to find my way there though, only to see that it was closed. with no idea where to go for dinner from there, i stumbled into this lovely little restaurant called grizzli cafe, where i had lamb shanks, potato gratin, creme brulee and a nice glass of wine for dinner. after eating my fill, i headed on back to the hotel feeling very content.

the next day, i was off to versailles. ok, i'm going to say again how amazing the public transport is in paris - it is so easy to get around and work out the maps, even for a non-frenchie like me! i love it! so i had to get to the musee d'orsay to change for the RER train out to versailles... no problem!

i arrived in versailles a bit before 9am and got off the train and walked with the many others over to the palace. thankfully, i arrived before all the tour buses turned up, but it wasn't long before the line i was standing in was snaking all the way down from the palace to the gates (it was preeeeeettty long!).



it took me about 30 minutes or so to get in, so it wasn't too bad. glad i got there when i did though! i went in and was immediately struck by the beauty of the palace... click read more to see more photos!

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last time i wrote, i'd just had a really crap day in london... but it was all looking up from there, sort of.

so after the crap day, i also had a crap night... staying in a hostel was interesting, but i sure did miss a good night's sleep. this was particularly evident on my last night. i had bought a eurostar ticket to paris that left london at 7:20am. yes, yaaawwwn, so early!! so with that in mind, i was getting up at 5am, and in for an early night. i was staying in an eight bed dorm and there were only 3 of us there when i went to bed that night (at 9-ish!). however, from 10-1am we got 5 new dorm mates, who made a hell of a noise, especially this old cow who kept bitching about everything! so that stuffed up my early night. i woke up the next morning to more noisy people, checked my phone and realised that i'd slept through my 5am alarm and that it was now 6am! i don't think i've ever gotten changed and packed up as quickly as i did that morning! i was running down the corridor to the elevator within about 5 minutes of waking up. within another 10, i had checked out and was running up bolsover st in london to the great portland st station with my suitcase behind me. of course, when i got to the station, my oyster card was out of money and since i only had a 20 pound note, i had to put it on the damn card! carrying my suitcase down the stairs, i made it to the station and caught the train within about 20 minutes of waking up! i got to st pancras station in time, thankfully, to go through customs and so on...

talk about hectic!

i got on the train with no further problems, and left london for paris. i don't really remember too much about the train trip there, except my desperate desire to go to the food car and get a cuppa and some breakfast. and, embarrassingly, i was also quite upset that i would be arriving in paris with no makeup on!

i realised i was in france when my phone switched roaming areas and vodafone kindly welcomed me to france. it was cool. the landscape was very much like what i had seen of england - green fields and countryside - though it was obvious when we were getting closer to paris. the train pulled up into gare du nord station finally, and i was on my way. i bought a visite pass and a museum pass and headed off to the metro.

it's funny, gare du nord is the entryway to paris from the uk, and yet, they still have stairs and no lifts. so i had to lug my heavy bag up and down a whole heap of stairs. i finally got to the platform for my train and headed to place d'italie where i was staying. after getting to my hotel room around noon (and so glad that i'd decided to book a hotel room rather than a hostel), and cleaning up, i walked down to the jardin de plantes.

it was such a beautiful spring day. i went into a boulangerie and bought a croque monseur, and walked among the beautiful gardens. it was a brilliant way to start my parisian adventure.





that night, i visited the louvre. i had been before and had done all the italian/renaissance artworks, so i decided to start with the flemish side first. i found new artists and new paintings that were inspiring... including steenwyck



and i rediscovered ingres, whose work i've always loved



i also marvelled at the fact that people could paint things at a giant scale



read on for more paris

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where we left off, i had left wales for manchester, then left manchester to go to london. after one seriously long day of walking, it was time for another long day! i started off walking to oxford st from the hostel and going to zara (love!) and urban outfitters (love, but it doesn't love me...). i then headed for more sophistication in the form of liberty. i don't know what i was expecting with liberty, but it well surpassed my expectations. full of lovely stuff that i wish i could have carried home, i left there with only a few little bits and pieces.

I then walked down regent st to piccadilly circus and then on to burlington arcade, a very posh little shopping mall (way too posh for me!). they even had men in funny little outfits standing outside the doors, presumably to stop rif-raf like me entering! hehe



from there, it was time for a cuppa and a bit of afternoon tea! then i headed off back down piccadilly and walked through green park. i only ever remember going to hyde park in london, and it was nice to go to another london park. it was a pretty little park too, full of people picnicing...



the park goes straight up to buckingham palace, so i thought it was about time i visited the queen.



read on for more london!

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so when we left off, i was in wales walking around the countryside. after saying goodbye to my family, i caught the train back to manchester for the "official" visit to manchester to see my friends there! i really enjoyed catching the train around the uk - they are so much more comfortable than our trains, they are on time, and the views from the window are just lovely.

i got to the station at 9:15pm, and did the "official" big hug reunion thing and we zipped through manchester to their place. i had thoughtfully gone to tesco's the night before to buy them some champers (jacobs creek, of course! plus, there were lots of weird own brands in tesco... like coles branded champagne... i thought it best to stick with something i know!). however, they had ALSO thoughtfully bought some champers to celebrate the occasion. so between the three of us, we polished off the two bottles. yum!

i don't have a lot of photos of manchester because i didn't want to lug my SLR about with me. we went to all these cool places in the northern quarter, including the craft market and the richard goodall gallery (where i bought two awesome gig posters). due to the merriment of the previous night, a nice breakfast was called for and i had the best scrambled eggs at this amazing little cafe called 'teacup on thomas st' - i wish i knew what they put in their eggs to make them so amazing. we then wandered around the actual city of manchester, me with one eye on the road, one eye on the lookout for damn trams that kept coming past - scary stuff! we then met up with bec from blanket magazine, who gave us a tour of all the hot spots in the northern quarter for later that night...

we started off the night with what i think is the best dinner i have ever had at brown's (which is inside a very old bank, it's so cool) then went to this bar recommended by bec in the northern quarter, the name i cannot remember!

the next day, they showed me the sights of manchester.... the trafford centre, a huge, opulent shopping centre:



inside the centre - here are my manchester guides!



i want to cover london in this post too, but i might just do half. read on for more story and photos!

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