New products

I've got two new things available in my Envelop shop - a tote bag and a cushion.

Envelop cushion and napkins

I just thought I'd mention here that the toile pattern I drew last week is now available on a cushion and a set of napkins at Envelop. I've never bought anything from Envelop before, so I can't vouch for the quality of the print reproduction or the fabrics used, but if you are interested, please visit my Envelop shop and take a look around. The pillows cost from €19.99 and a set of four napkins costs €19.99, with a handling fee of €0.99 per order, and free shipping.

one more thing...

Is it wrong to like this sofa? I think sometimes that I need to be hauled out of my grey, austere home-furnishings aesthetic and made to consider brightening up my life with stuff like this. I think it could be kind of fun to have something surprising like this amongst all the wood and greyish stuff I've got. Lord knows I need cheering up a lot of the time...

Etsy

I've been awful with this Etsy lark. Haven't updated in ages, so I've just re-activated a few items. I shall think of something new to make and sell soon, I hope! Click here to go to the shop or use the sidebar on the left.

Some of my favourite stomping grounds

I am going to put up some pencil drawings for sale in my Etsy shop some time soon - drawings that I made on various trips to my favourite places. Firstly, the Hunterian Museum in Holborn, London is probably my favourite - packed full of jars of pickled animals and other medical specimens, it is both macabre and fascinating. I also used to draw at the Natural History Museum in London but the hordes of young children coming by to gawp and ask 'are you an artist?' drives me nuts after a while. It's quite a difficult question for me - am I an artist? - because I struggle with the answer all the time. I like to think I am...



Then there are other cities and other museums. I have a particular fondness for my old place of study, the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, where I spent many happy hours listening to the magnificent and fascinating Adrian Friday's lectures, or studying fossils, and snoring my way through tutorials, or supervisions as we called them. To go back there now simply to draw pictures is bliss. I do miss the old days when I used to KNOW something about the animals I was drawing, but really, my brain didn't have the capacity for it all so I'm better off as I am now.

Giveaway with Pikaland this week!

On Pikaland today and until the 26th November you have the chance to win a free giveaway prize worth about $40. Just go here and comment to be entered into the draw! Do it! The winner gets a pack of my 2009 limited edition cards and an original pencil drawing similar to the one pictured with the cards. These drawings are done completely spontaneously - I just get my pencil and start drawing on a bit of paper so what comes out at the end is pretty unpredictable but usually fun. I will post the prize anywhere in the world for free, so get over there now and write something thrilling in the comments. Thank you SO much to Amy for doing this with me - you're great.

I am also listing some of these original drawings for sale in my Etsy shop today. Here is a peek at one of them:

new stuff in the shop this week

I've just listed this little lamb in the shop. I am so in love with the damned thing that I don't want to let him go, but I promised the husband that I'd not keep any more of my toys. The lamb is what I was photographing half-finished the week before last - I finished it ages ago but the light has been so poor that it has taken me until today to take pictures of it. The weather has been truly appalling recently. And we lost our internet here for a few days too, which didn't help things.

I shall also be listing two much larger lambs later on this week, and soon, this birdhouse clock that I started yesterday:




Sorry for my absence last week - with no internet and quite a bit of work to do, I kind of let things slip...

Things afoot

I have a few things in the pipeline here for the shop. A few new friends will be appearing there next week, I hope. The weather here has been dreary, and in a house that already lacks light, finding an opportunity to photograph products in natural light is difficult to say the least.


Instead of working today, I got distracted with this project (above). Can you guess what it is? I have since finished it, but you'll have to wait until next week before I show you how it turned out. Photographed in very unnatural light on top of my Wacom tablet. deary me. I worked on and off on my sewing today until my agent called and asked me to trace some of Alison Carmichael's beautiful hand-rendered type into Flash (at least I believe it was hers!). Check out her amazing work if you haven't ever heard of her - but for sure you will have seen her work before in the UK for such big names as Cadbury's, Sainsbury's, Aero, Hellman's and today, Douwe Egberts... I felt like I was riding roughshod all over her careful work with my tracing. The image below is one of my favourites (from the Creative Review website).

SHOP OPEN! whoohoo!

Good afternoon! I'm officially announcing to my lovely handful of readers that my shiny new Etsy shop is now open! Come along and buy some rubbish Christmas cards or some pretty hand-decorated ceramics with lots of trees and birds on them. Please see the items displayed in the right-hand column here and you can click through to the shop that way too.

Please check back on the shop from time to time as I add new items - there are some plush toys in the pipeline!

sneaky peek

Here's a sneak peek at one of the designs for my Christmas cards this year (hm, it's a bit less saturated here than in Photoshop). They will be available in a set of four different designs, each limited to an edition of 30, numbered on the reverse. There are squirrels, cats and reindeer, alongside a disgruntled Santa and a pepper pot. I'll keep you posted of my progress, but things are looking less grim today (probably because I'm winding down two of the jobs I've been on and am REALLY looking forward to the weekend).

Still, there's all the packaging to do, and product photography with my pathetic little camera... ho hum.

not much to say for myself today

My badges arrived today! They are very lovely. I think I will send the husband to work wearing a different one each day this week. They will be for sale in sets of four some time in the distant future when I have the time to set up shop :-)

recycled stationery geek

I have placed an order for some pin badges with this site whose prices and quantities seemed reasonable. I have to wait until late next week for them to arrive, though. How exciting! Meanwhile I've been designing packaging and yesterday I spent entirely too much time looking for biodegradable clear display bags. I found a good green stationery shop called Eco-Craft who sell them in lots of sizes, and I also like to use Recycled Paper Supplies, who do some good quality envelopes in not-too-bright colours and other stuff like card blanks and string made from scrap textiles. Wow, I can be really boring sometimes... I mean, I'm writing about blank stationery? Have I nothing better to do with my time?

Speaking of which, I've got another new animation job in the offing - it's just a maybe right now, but it is exactly the kind of thing I'd like to do if only I can get my grubby little hands on it. Fingers crossed today, please!

I should draw more humans. It might get me more work. Here is a pair of biker characters I drew last night:

at a loss

I need to do something useful. I've spent weeks twiddling my thumbs and waiting for an animation job to come through but they still won't give the go-ahead. It's very frustrating... I feel like I'm hanging around in limbo with nowhere to go. I am the world's most proficient procrastinator sometimes.

I'm starting to think about the kind of things I will stock in my shop. Any suggestions are definitely welcome. Today I am thinking about pin badges, although lots of people sell them - are there too many of these things for sale? I don't really tire of badges myself, but I like cute things I can stick on my outfit to make me feel a bit more interesting... Hmm... well, here's a packaging idea for them anyway. I like that kind of aged paper look: