Love is in the Air...

Not long until Valentines day now, so I thought I'd better get my act together and design a cheeky little gift for my better half! I thought he'd enjoy my homage to Mr & Mrs Matey, those quaint bubble bath bottles (does anyone else remember them?). Its all very kitsch and '70s retro, but sweet and charming too!

This print will also be available on my website and Folksy shop and comes with or without the little photo aperture for your own pic.

My 1st Blog Award!

I'm so happy! I've just been awarded my first ever blog award - a huge thank you to Jenny Arnott Textiles for passing the award on to me. Please check out Jenny's blog and website, it is filled to the brim with gorgeous embroidered loveliness - and like me, she's also based in Somerset (I do like supporting local designer/makers).

This award is a bit different to most as it is given to crafty blogs which have less than 300 readers, to encourage more people to visit you and see your designs & makes, then you pass the award on to some more crafty blogs.

So sticking to the rules, here are my chosen blogs to pass the award onto:

Muddy Puddy Crafts - for Jo's amazing selection of fun, colourful wooden home accessories, this blog is a joyful place to be, guaranteed to make you smile!

Victoria Rose Crafts - Rose is indeed the 'Queen of Crochet', but she also finds time to keep an inspiring blog filled with updates on her projects, craft fairs and everything that goes with living the crafters life.

Kelly Medina - Kelly is also an Illustrator, Graphic Designer & Illustration Friday participant. I love the way Kelly handles bright colours and simplified shapes, she knows what works well together and her designs are confident & cheerful.

String - Jane is a children's Illustrator & Designer, she often posts photos of found objects for inspiration on her blog. I love getting those posts in my newsfeed as they spark my imagination and keep me inspired.

Thank you for sharing your fantastic blogs, I hope lots more people gain inspiration from your blogs in the future!

Angie x

Family Tree

I saw some lovely green shoots in my garden this morning, the signs of spring are here (hooray!). Thoughts of spring and all things growing has got me thinking about how my own children have grown. I thought about creating something from me to them, something about our family that they can treasure and will always bring smiles to their faces. Then I remembered that my Granny used to have a family tree photo frame on her glass cabinet (the same glass cabinet that stands proudly in our dining room).

The print design above is my first attempt at designing a Family Tree print with apertures to add photographs. I may do a few more of these in the future as I want one of the designs to be the one I give to my girls. This is definitely my spring tree - I could do a tree for each season...Hmmm, best go and note that down in the sketchbook!

Look at these Love Birds!

With February just around the corner, I thought I'd create a love themed print which is perfect for Valentines day - or any other day!

I've been carrying a little idea around for a few weeks of making the prints I create to sell on my website & Folksy, work a bit harder. I thought, wouldn't it be great if the designs included photo apertures so that any photograph could be added to make the print completely personal. The print you see above is my idea in action - I've hand-cut a heart which is perfect to display a photograph behind. What do you think? I may also use this design as a greetings card with text in the middle of the heart shaped tree instead of a hole.

Illustration Friday - Chicken

I've just noticed this week's Illustration Friday topic is 'Chicken'...as it happens, I'm quite fond of chickens & cockerels and they tend to keep cropping up in my work. Here are a couple of examples. The cockerel & chicken image at the top is a recent greetings card design, and the watercolour is a piece I did quite a few years ago on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Recent Framed Portrait Commissions

Here are a couple of portrait commissions I worked on before Christmas, which I've not been able to share on here until now.

The portrait at the top is of a group of four siblings who commissioned the portrait as a Christmas present for their mum. As a family, they all enjoy long walks on the Quantock Hills near their home. I was given a reference photo of them on a winter walk on the hills, hence the crisp winter scene.

The portrait of the police dog handler and her police dogs was commissioned as a special birthday gift, for the fiancee of the dog handler in the picture, by a good friend of the couple. The trio in the portrait had recently completed the three peaks challenge to raise money for charity. As I understand it, it was the first time serving police dogs had ever completed the challenge. This portrait was a great opportunity to celebrate this achievement.

New Designs for 2011

I'd like to share with you some of my new designs for 2011.

After a busy December, I have a sketch book filled with ideas that I've not had a chance to work on until now...and it's great to have time to experiment with techniques and colours.

The news of two Royal weddings for 2011 has got me in a nostalgic and patriotic mood. I'm old enough to just about remember the street parties and celebrations of Charles & Di's wedding. One of the things I do remember (aside from a 'proper knees up!') is getting commemorative china cups from my school - all very British and all very Victorian. This sparked the idea for the new range of prints I'm selling on my website & Folksy - a nice dollop of British nostalgia to celebrate the beloved nectar of this fine nation .....TEA!! (make mine a builder's brew, splash of milk, no sugar please!).

The other print design you see here, you may recognise from a previous blog post. It was my answer to Illustration Friday's topic 'Burning'. As I need a bit of sunshine in my life at this dark , grey time of year, I've decided to turn it into a print - I hope you all approve!

Right, I'm off to work on some more designs.

TTFN x

Happy New Year Bloggers! - here's my first post of 2011!

Happy New Year everyone, I hope 2011 proves to be a happy, healthy, lucky & prosperous year for you all!

I'm delighted to kick the year off by sharing this piece of work with you. Just before Christmas I had a little rush of Christmas gift commissions that I've not been able to share with you until now. The canvas portrait pictured here is a very special piece, commissioned as a 65th birthday present for the proud grandfather of the two girls in the portrait. It was presented at a special celebration between Christmas & New Year (which I hope went very well - if the lady who commissioned the piece is reading this!). The brief was to include lots of reference to Welsh national rugby, as this gentleman is passionate about his nation's sport!

The final image was printed onto a 90cm wide x 60cm high canvas and is based on a lot of ideas my customer had in her mind along with lots of my own ideas. I really do enjoy being challenged to create something for someone that they've visualised in their mind - its great to be able to bring it to life for them.

In short, this was a really satisfying job for me and I am very proud to show it off on here!