Henry VIII

I've also been working on some more historical figures for my portfolio- this is Henry Tudor, I've been creating more textures to add into my work.

Illustration Friday- Icon

So, last week's topic of 'icon' is still running- I thought I'd create a Buddha illustration for the sake of catharsis. I loved seeing Buddhas of all styles and sizes when we visited temples in Japan. Maybe it's because I'm a bit too used to Catholic iconography, but I do prefer Eastern religions- in general, they SEEM more peaceful (note I say 'seem' because just about all religions have a horrible dark side).

More new greeting card designs

 I think that it's time for one more blog update before we head off on our honeymoon (we're going to Japan shortly after the wedding). I designed some more greeting cards for my shop/ portfolio- I hope that they do well! When I get back (hopefully with some new material to inspire me!) I need to work on other aspects of my portfolio.

A new greeting card- No Otter One

Another wee greeting card that I designed around sea otters, holding each other's hand. It's been a rough week and a half, but I think that I am almost seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Illustration Friday- Dragon (Welsh)

So this week's topic is dragon, which I thought was the perfect opportunity to make a design for a Welsh tote bag, as the dragon is the 'animal' of Wales (do mythical creatures count as animals?) Last summer I made a 'Sunny Scotland' tote bag, which seems to sell quite well, so I thought- why not do one for Wales? You can check my Sunny Scotland tote bag out (or purchase it) here.

Oranges!

I also came up with a pattern (it's taken me roughly 2 days to complete (amongst a couple of other things). I actually did the lineart for these as little still life drawing exercises from a basket of clementines that we get in our weekly shop- they're surprisingly well packaged for ASDA. I ate them afterwards, of course. I am considering making little coin purses out of the fabric some time soon.

I am currently making my partner an orange flavoured birthday cake with dark chocolate and orange zest- it's experimental, so I hope it turns out ok!

Some new greetings cards :-)

So I made some more greetings cards- here they are. I always thought that blob fish looked a little like unfortunate grumpy old men.

More Christmas Cards

So I've designed some more Christmas cards- I am HOPING to have these sent off very soon (although my part time job is taking up a lot of my creative time) and get another done. I'm at the Little Bird's Market this Sunday, so fingers CROSSED that I get them finished and received before this weekend!

New badges

I recently ordered some new badges to be printed, and they have arrived! I was selling them on my stall on Sunday (after my lovely boyfriend carried them in for me). I do need to settle on a price, though- I got some good ideas from my fellow stall holders! I really felt like I wanted something on my stall that little kids could take away- relatively cheap, but still cute and colourful! I hope that these buttons do the trick!

Tuxedo cat mug

I've had quite a busy few weeks- still trying to figure out what people will buy- but cats seem a pretty safe bet *fingers crossed* so here's my tuxedo cat mug design that I'm considering getting printed soon (once I've also finished a new tea towel design). You can also like my facebook page here

:-)

So I updated my shop

Just a little. You can see it here. Fortunately the old URL still links back to the same shop, which is very handy (I handed out a fair few coupons in Stirling), although I can't change the name of it again. I also have some digital prints available, such as the one below. I've got another stall this week, on the Sunday at Granny Would Be Proud, Hillhead book club on the West End of Glasgow- here's hoping I do better than Stirling!

You are my aorta

Another greetings card idea that came from a doodle a few years back- it makes me happy turning these into actual 'things' after so many years (maybe some are more tasteful than others *ahem*) but yes- onwards and upwards! My greetings card collection is growing a little bit, and I'm hoping soon to send it off, and HOPE that stores (and the general public) are happy enough with it to give me a shot at a very competitive market.

Two for Joy Greetings Card

So this is one of three magpie cards that I'm designing. I want to complete it with "three for a girl",  and "four for a boy" as 'expecting'/ 'new baby' cards, although I guess this one could be for anything. I had myself a little debate with my boyfriend who, APPARENTLY, hadn't heard of the superstition before he met me, and so, said that 'they wouldn't get it up here' because 'it's an English thing' tufffffft.

Well, he's WRONG because just about every Scottish person that I've asked has told me, not only that they'd heard of it, but that it's very common up here too. So I win another one.

 Although this is just about done, I am still considering making the eyes a tad lighter to show up against those black feathers.

Wee Scottish Thistle

Postcard/ greetings card that I have created for my catalogue. At the moment I'm more tempted to use it as a post card. We'll just see
This postcard is now available at here for £1.50

Two Peas in a Pod greetings card

I'm getting closer! Here's a new greetings card that I've designed, I've got a few more to go, and then hopefully I should have my collection in a more acceptable capacity to send on to publishers/ retail to take my images. 

 I received an ink stamp today, so I've made a start on some 500 bags that I've got to get stamped up for the trade fair next month.

Squirrel fabric

So I'm designing some fabric as a gift to a friend. She wants red squirrels and foxes, the only problem is that I'm having to learn to draw foxes- look at their anatomy etc. I've got all the squirrels and little bits and bobs done... just the foxes... 

Scotland tote

So I've been chipping away these past few weeks. Even though I'm sure that I've been working hard, I never seem to get as much done as I'd like to do, and I'm running a little low on money. Being the stubbon little girl that I am, I know that I want to work for myself, (and I've always preferred cats to people anyway...) so I'm going to start doing craft fairs and try to get some more business for my Etsy.

 A lovely craft fair organiser has offered me a free table, so, come next month (I'm still waiting on funding to order stock) I will be (assuming my stock arrives in time) doing one, either in Buchanan Galleries, or the Thistle shopping centre in Stirling. Watch this space! You can purchase the tote here

'Good Luck' greetings card

Another greetings card that I've designed for my series. I've been pretty busy with planning something lately, but I am still posting! I am thinking about changing this guy's face a little...

Productive Saturday

So I did some tweaking of a card that I made a few months ago that I wasn't sure of- I think it looks much much better now, and that maybe before I was cluttering it a little too much, and it really just needed to me a smidgen simpler.

I also finished this new greetings card, which I am mostly happy with, although I'm not quite sure if I should change the colour of the eyes so that they show up more against the dark-grey heads of my penguins. All in all, mostly mostly happy. I feel like my Saturday mandate has been fulfilled.

:-) I've been meaning to blog about other stuff too... I just need to stop making excuses!

More cards

To add to this family in my catalogue. I'm trying to keep the stylisation pretty tight here. I feel that I'm just about done with these two, but a few more tweaks are necessary before I send my samples off. Fingers crossed!