A section of the final planting plan on CAD nearly complete

I think I'm going to hand draw this for rendering as its just too complicated to do in CAD

Next stage of planting plan

I decided  to use letter codes instead of symbols as I had so many plants and the symbols became too similar and confusing

Planting plan rough stage

What a lot of thought has gone into this, hours & hours and it looks like scribble! I just hope Julia approves ..

What's really brilliant is coming across something good....

In my search for the pot size and price of Echium vulgare which was unavailable at both Johnsons and Orchard Dene nursery I looked up on the RHS website for suppliers and found this one. http://www.habitataid.co.uk/ . They sell Echium vulgare as well as Papaver rhoeus. Result. But what I'm really happy about is the fact that I've found a great supplier of wildlife friendly native plants and wildflowers for future use for all the lovely wildlife gardens I am hoping to create.

Still thinking I might complete. Working all hours and my poor kids are counting ( literally in my ten year old's case) down the days till I finish!

Still working on my 1:50 planting 11pm.

Ive finally cracked my planting plan. Have been pouring through books on salt tolerant, wind tolerant coastal plants for what feels like months now as have had to keep dipping into it and come out again to do something else. It's lovely to be at the point where I can finally concentrate on it and finalise it. Still living a bit of a dream that I might actually be ready by the 28th. But never say never..... Still got 1:200 sections to do tho.... Finish sections for 1:50...... Complete my sketches for 1:50   Oh and all the rendering........ Still believing I can catch up.....

Good luck everyone for tomorrow...

My favourite images & people from early photo's taken on the promenade at Eastbourne. It all seems such a long time ago! And what a lot of hardwork we've all done since then. Good luck for tomorrow guys.

just finished all my printing....

Luckily for me a new staples has opened up around the corner. They print to A1on good quality paper. Only problem is cost, much more than printing at uni. But if you offset the journey cost from Brighton to London, its not so bad. And they've been open all w/e, life saver.
Now onto last finishing touches to model and rendering... so last minute but I have done so much in the last few days. Got all my 1:200 onto CAD. I'm so pleased. Catching up a bit. Obviously not ready to finish but catching up. Despite the fact that my ex husband issued divorce proceedings against me and I received the papers on Friday!! What great timing. Had huge row with him regarding the equity in the house but then I picked myself off the floor. Said Iv'e got to do this work for uni and got on with it. It's amazing what you can do if you really focus. The divorce and him can wait, I've got better things to do.

Still working and its 1.25 am ....

Burning the midnight oil. Just read Lissy's blog  'carrots'. I think there's a balance that can be made. Do some work for free, do some work low cost and do some work for full pay (for the rich and semi rich). It doesnt all have to be for charity and it doesn't all have to be for the rich either. I do a bit of both and that suits me :) x

Finally making progress

Sorry for last 'test' page. Since my email was hacked Iv'e had to swop email addresses and sometimes when I log in I get a different blog page. So the test was to check which one.

I am finally making progress on putting my design  into Vector works now the migraines (touch wood) have abaited. I've got the main hardworks plan done in B/W and now  trying to get the structural planting and lighting pages done. I'm probably not going to be rendered in time for crit on Tuesday. But ....... its progress for me and that's all I can do at this stage. I found I had to do the 1:200 first. it was just too difficult to skip this stage and go straight onto the 1:50. Though that's not to say I havn't been working on the 1:50 in rough. I'm working every hour every day so progress being made, just slowly.

test

Now I just need to get on with the rest of my master plan...

Oh and find somewhere else to live!

My new website

My new website is http://creativespaces.co/

The wildlife garden I designed at Stanford Junior school

This is the wildlife garden I created at Stanford Junior school in Hove. We had a volunteer day last Saturday. I know I should have been doing my degree work but the school called and asked if I would help co-ordinate the team. How could I say no.

 A happy volunteer.

 Even the little ones got stuck in.

 One for the website.

Clearing the pond and we found our first newt. Two years on from putting in the pond, that felt great. This whole area was an unusable space before with a sloping grass bank and three old ornamental cherry's casting too much shade.

My lovely girls

wooden heart

Whilst busy with the master plan we've also been busy with advanced rep. My object to talk about was the wooden heart pictured. This module got us thinking about ourselves and where we want to be in five years time. I found this a really useful exercise and I made the decision that I definately didn't want to be a CAD monkey in a large firm. I want to design gardens (and public spaces if I get the chance) but I want to specialise in wildlife gardens and playgrounds for children. Transforming a dull, drab playground into wonderful green oasis which the children can enjoy and be inspired by. But also creating a space where they can learn about nature and wildlife.

Couple of extra sketches

1:200 Section of design

This is the section chosen to show the design at 1:200. I'm starting to think about lighting here. I like the idea of lights beaming out from the windows of the martello tower casting a soft coloured glow over the cafe area and across the rocks and plants.

Nice in black and white

I like seeing the design in black and white. It helps to see if it works as a design even without colour.

The final version at 1:500

This is the final design without annotation. I'm quite pleased with it. I think it has flow and is quite dynamic. I can picture it in 3D in my head really easily. The challenge is getting that picture on paper!

First version of my design at 1:500

This was the first draft of my design at 1:500. After feedback I decided the lakes should join together and there should be paths around the lake as well as along the main route through.

Sketches for my Sovereign park 'Wave' design

Moving on .... to Rolling waves

In January I took these shots of the waves at Hove seafront. Inspiration for my rolling 'wave' landforms.

sick child

I really, really wish the universe would cut me some slack. I'm just starting to catch up, do my blogging, get my 1:200 and 1:50 in order after loads of really difficult times. Then tonight my ten year old daughter Evie has come down with a bug. She has a temperature and is feeling sick. Asleep now with a double dose of calpol but my carefully laid hour by hour plans for work time and printing is well and truly scuppered if she doesn't feel well enough to go to school tomorrow. Which she probably wont.

These are the pebble formations I am talking about

Pebble form on Hove seafront.

Top view of my 1:500

This is my first model at 1:500

My design is based on the patterns of waves and the formation of sand on a beach after the waves have left. I based the paths on the way a river flows through the land, similar to the one along the coast at Cuckmere haven. I wanted to introduce land form for interest and height and also to give protection from the strong winds on the site.

So onto Sovereign Harbour. How do we transform this barren landscape into something beautiful?

This is the area I chose to transform. The shingle bank surrounding the martello tower.

My olympic rings from above

Well better late than never that's what I say...

This is old news to everyone else now but as I have failed to blog properly since January I'm trying to catch up with some blog space info. and hoping not to fail this bit of the module completely. So if I have no more car crashes causing killer migraines, illness, divorce proceedings and having to sell my house (this month!), I might actually complete this degree. So on catch up here is my woodwharf competition final piece.

Eastbourne project

I have really enjoyed the Eastbourne project. I love the site which has so much potential. I am happy with my design it just now needs to be fully rendered and sections produced for pin up. I will post pictures of my progress throughout this design process shortly.

I havn't been blogging for a long time. I'm always too busy just trying to keep up and get the actual work done to then have time to update the blog. I was also very ill in February and to top it all off I've recently been in a car crash. However I will be updating this blog shortly. No more excuses.