Hello Kitty Cafe!!!

Afternoon from Taipei!!!
This week has been by far my FAVOURITE week since I've been in Taiwan! It's been super busy, productive and sooo many fun times!!! Yesterday marked the final chapter of my project here and I was working with a local creative team, on location, shooting all of my new pieces! It was awesome to collaborate with a totally new bunch of talented people and I'll be posting updates and images all about that soon! Aside from that I've been squeezing in a tonne of exciting meetings in the last few days before I leave for the UK as well as drinking as much green tea milk as I can and doing a ridiculous amount of shopping! There's been lots of catching up with friends and seeing as much of the city as I can before I wave farewell to the island!

A few nights ago I finally got to do something I've been waiting to do FOREVER! We went to the Hello Kitty Cafe!!!! This gem is in Xhongxiao Fuxing in Taipei and is called 'Hello Kitty Sweets'!!! It was the best place I have ever been and I totally want to live in there! Everything was Kitty themed with rhinestones and sparkles everywhere and AMAZING cake!!! We went there for dinner so also saw some savoury action... they don't have an English menu in the cafe but, they have staff who could tell me what they could do for a vegetarian option! I ended up with some juicy pizza which I was happy about as my cravings for Western food are at the pinnacle right now!!Yayyy!

Obviously we had to sample some of the special Hello Kitty cakes which was the hardest decision ever because they ALL looked amazing and ludicrously cute!!!

The shop front is impressive....total Kitty Land....clearly I would have preferred to have taken a nice photo without the piles of garbage bags and the annoying car blocking the view...but you get the idea!!!

And now I own a special Hello Kitty toast cutter that I discovered in the SOGO Department store nearby...it goes without saying that from now on I will be making kitty toast for breakfast EVERY DAY!!!!
And that's the run down of the past few days!!! I only have a few days left here in Asia which I plan on being action packed and I'll be posting images from the shoot and my new work ASAP!!!
Love and Hello Kitty Dreamzzzz.
Emma
xxxx

Day Tripping it up to Maokong!

Good Afternoon...
The joys of yesterday warranted a post of their own...Sunday started off with a bit of drama in that for some reason my alarm failed to go off and I totally slept in...eek! Me and my friend Ann waded up into the hills to spend the day in beautiful Maokong...it was such a treat! The downside was it rained like a bitch allll day.....but we took the special 'crystal cabin' gondola into the mountains which had a glass floor and that was pretty awesome!

It was all misty and magical the whole place smells of tea as it's growing up there! We went to Zhengda Teahouse for the most GOURMET lunch EVER! Rice with tea leaves, sweet potatoes, tofu...EVERYTHING!!!They had a bunch of vegetarian stuff which was amazing! Then we went onto the cutest cafe for Afternoon Tea....glorious cake and matcha latte...I was so happy! Anyway...here's some photos from the day trip of dreams!!!



Love and Tea Leaves
Emma xxxx

Burger Situations and other Tales...

Good Evening from Taiwan!
So things have been all over the place this past week or so! I'm frantically preparing for the final leg of my project which will take place later this week and also I've been wrapping up the last of all my workshops etc... I can't believe I've been here in Taiwan almost 3 months now and soon I will be whipping off to yonder UK so with so little time I've been trying to squeeze in all I can of Taipei!
The past week has been particularly eventful... alongside some late night sewing sessions and playing the new Britney album on repeat there have also been scenarios which include; 'The Burger Situation', a venture into Taipei's nightlife, the mysterious case of the loaf of bread, an annoying game of 'Space Invaders', Night Market shopping trips and an excursion to the National Palace Museum to see the Chagall exhibition.
I also spotted a BEAST of a Mukade which gave me flashbacks to the Japan days and today I saw a worm so big I thought it was a snake... I found a few soldiers lurking around Chiang Kai Shek which I loved and also I purchased a hot new ring and some amazing Barbie pink shoes in the market...additionally I'm being eaten alive by mosquitoes.
That's the news....so now I'm prepping for my project with a local creative team that will kick off in a few days time and hoping to fit in as many theme restaurants as possible before I say farewell to Asia once again.... Some photos below 'innit....




Love and Sparkles
Emma xxx

Pai Yun Elementary School...

Hiya!!!
Earlier this week I was teaching part of my current Samba Band workshop group at Pai Yun Elementary School. After the parents worked on cutting out the pattern pieces and started sewing up the outfits, their kids are now working on the details which includes plastic flowers and sparkly petals! So I was hanging out at the school...the hallways reminded me of 'Heartbreak High' only without Drazic and the crew.... Drazic was such a dude... Anyway that's what has been happening....here's some photos...


Love and Sparkles
Emma xxxx

Craft Shopping in Taipei!

Happy 'Tomb Sweeping Day' from Taipei!
This past few days has been a public holiday here in Taiwan so the city was super crowded yesterday and alongside getting heckled by the same annoying teenage boy that targets me EVERY week in life...it was raining soooo much!
Yesterday I went on a craft supply hunting mission.... the Yanping Road area close to Taipei Main Station is like a dream come true in terms of jewels, sequins, necessities and sparkles! (If you are the lookout for this street, come out of exit 21 of the Taipei City Underground Mall and it's right there!)

I totally LOVE this area and it makes me wish I had a bigger luggage allowance for when I'm flying back to the UK!!! There's a whole bunch of shops selling sewing equipment alongside a load of suppliers....it's amazing! There's also one place that sells random keyrings, lucky charms, beads and the likes which I ended up buying a million things from that I plan to take apart and turn into some hot accessories when I get back!
Not too many snaps this time around I'm afraid as no way was I whipping the camera out in these sick weather conditions!!!!
Also while I'm here, below is a feature including my SS11 collection from Dana Rogoz's One Magazine blog in Romania....you can check it out HERE!!!


Anyways...back to sewing and some 90's classics!!!!
Love and Sparkles,
Emma
xxxx

Website Revamp and Latest Press...

Hello from the Tropics...
Oohhh iya...Just a brief one... maybe you already spotted it.... but, my website
www.emma-bell.com has been going through a gradual re-design and now has a bunch of new sections and is all updated with recent projects and press etc! The awesome Will Adams did a GLORIOUS job creating it!!!! He's a London based digital illustrator and designer, you should check out his scrumptious wares: www.willdotadams.co.uk.
In other news, above are a couple of latest press features of my work from Swatch MTV Playground and the Vancouver Sun, Canada. You can read the MTV blog feature HERE!!!!!
Right...back to hand sewing for me!!! Don't forget to have a peep at the sparkling new website!!!
Love and Sparkles,
Emma
xxxx