Woodland Wild Things.

It's arrived.  A great big package from the printers containing 10 new gift wrap designs....

 ...despite working on some other commissions this week, I just couldn't wait to get some of them photographed so I was very restrained and spent just over an hour photographing my offering for this Autumn - 'Woodland Wild Things'...

...Followers of my facebook and twitter pages will know that this design came to be because I started playing with the little fox and hedgehog in my Autumn family tree print to make up a new twitter wallpaper to suit the season...

...it was so much fun that I went the whole hog and made it up into a gift wrap design and then sneaked it in on the order I was placing last week for wraps....

I'm so pleased I managed to squeeze this design in because I'm very happy with how the wrap has turned out.  Not content with it as a wrap design I've also been over to my Society 6 to see how the design works as cushion covers, phone cases, laptop skins etc....

These designs are now available as gift wrap from my Folksy and Etsy shops, and all the other items are available from my Society 6 shop too.

I hope you've had fun today too!

Best wishes

Reasons to be Cheerful Part 4 - Seeing the fruits of your labour...

Hello

I'm starting the week with one of my 'reasons to be cheerful' and today's reason is 'finally seeing the fruits of your labour'

Nothing beats effort.  This is something I constantly tell my children.  All I hope for them is that they always try their best because I firmly believe that if you always put your best foot forward only good will come of it.  There is so much to be gained from the sense of pride and achievement felt once a job that has taken blood sweat and tears to complete, finally bears fruit.

That is exactly how I felt when I went shopping at the weekend with my friends and whilst browsing in Waterstones we spotted my cards on a spinner right next to another spinner filled with Banksy cards. This to me was a milestone as not only was it the first time I'd seen my Living the Dream cards in Waterstones with my own eyes - but there they were standing proudly next to the work of an artist I hugely admire.  That really did make my day and was certainly a massive reason to be cheerful :)...

On the subject of seeing the fruits of your labour, I'm looking forward to more of that in the coming couple of weeks because I have a lot of new designs currently either at the printers or almost complete and will be making their way to the printers in the next few days (I'm hearing those sleigh bells jingling again!).

These designs include lots of new gift wraps and Christmas cards.  If you fancy a sneaky peep at some of the new Christmas cards I've literally just finished designing for this year, then here's a link to my 'Life Is Sweet Christmas' range in my portfolio: http://www.artworkbyangie.com/life-is-sweet-christmas.html

Those designs are all available now to pre-order wholesale from Art Eco Designs   

Have a lovely week

Best wishes

Going Local...

Hello,

This week I want to share this lovely new online boutique with you.  It's a project I've been involved with for the past couple of months and now it's all launched and live!

Just after Easter I was approached by the founders of Elsie and Fleur to assist them with the branding for their new website and to also be a stockist.  I jumped at the opportunity as their idea for their online boutique sounded just right to me so I was honoured to be asked.  Their vision was to create a place for makers in the Westcountry to showcase their creations on a website which operates like a traditional shop i.e. Elsie and Fleur buy in the goods at wholesale rates rather than operating as an online market place.  Simply put, Elsie and Fleur hold the stock and handle the fulfillment of all the items listed on the site - with every item having been made with love in the Westcountry.  They're also committed to ensuring that everything on their site is affordable by having a ceiling price of £40 which makes Elsie & Fleur a great place to find lots of lovely little unusual handmade gifts and keepsakes...

Here is a link to their site if you fancy a good browse: http://www.elsieandfleur.co.uk/

If you are a maker based in the Westcountry, Elsie and Fleur are always on the look out for new and exciting products to feature on their site and I am certain they'd love to hear from you.  Here's a link to contact them if this sounds just the thing for you: http://www.elsieandfleur.co.uk/pages/contact-us

On the subject of local stockists, yesterday I was sorting out my trade pack as I have plans lined up to get out and about visiting some potential new local stockists in the next few weeks.

The trade section on my website has also been updated and it now includes a full trade brochure which you can flick through here: issuu.com/artworkbyangie/docs/trade_brochure_2013?e=0/4854698

...it wasn't until I started to update my sample card files and put together my trade brochure that I realized quite how much my range of cards has grown in the past year...

 ...and the ranges are steadily continuing to grow because last week I completed six new card designs with a Christmas flavour which I will reveal soon .  I'm only holding off as I don't want to give you all Christmas fatigue this early on - you're far too important to do that to! ;)

I hope you all have a great week

Best wishes

The Soft Jingle of Bells Are Definitely Getting Louder...

Hello,

Today's post comes with a warning - please look away now if you prefer to see all things festive after Halloween has passed. However for me, there is no option to look away because at the moment my days are consumed by all things of a festive nature - the countdown has truly begun!

A lovely pile of fresh Christmas mini-brochures have just arrived from the printers, which was very exciting - I always get giddy with excitement over printers deliveries - nothing beats seeing your work in it's finished state....

....I'm also immersed in the process of turning a pile of rough scamps of more Christmas card ideas into real artworks, these are top priority so I'm really looking forward to sharing the finished designs with you very soon... 

...in between working on designs of a festive nature I have also been paying attention to my customers - I love it when they make great suggestions which really improve your product offerings.   Recently a lovely lady requested a version of my spring family tree print which included a family name somewhere on it - which I thought was a great idea and promptly set up a version.... 

...Now that version, and a version of the Autumn family tree print (which is also personalise-able) are available from my online shops (click the names to link to the sites): my website, Folksy, Etsy

 One final thing before I get back to colouring in Christmas puddings.  This week I have added my profile to the Moyo Directory, the shiny new home to surface pattern designers across the world.  In order to come up well on filtered searches I need plenty of 'love'.   So please, dear blog followers, can I ask a big favour - please show me some love by clicking the link to my profile below and then giving a little click by the pink heart as shown, many thanks!...

https://www.moyodirectory.com/angiespurgeon 

I hope you all have a fantastic week

Best wishes

New Term - New Stationery

Hello!

So it's back to school for many and time to get organised ahead of the new term.  Very timely then, that last Friday I took a delivery of my new notecards in all their finished printed glory complete with lovely brown kraft envelopes and some pretty thick purple and white twine to tie them up into lovely multi-pack bundles. 

These are all listed now on my Folksy, Etsy and website shops and are the very first finished items from my new 'Bloomin' Lovely' range.  I've finally settled on a name for the forthcoming range with a little help from my friend Jess (thanks!).

Have a great week and if you have little ones starting school this week I hope all goes well.

Best wishes