New Work, New Cards, New Stockists....

Hello!

This week looks set to be a lovely week of sunshine here in Somerset.  Such a bright outlook seems very fitting as I have lots of different types of work on the go at the moment which is making me feel very productive and energized.  I really love spring and summer, those are definitely 'my' seasons.  For me it is also always the best time to develop new designs as the colours in my garden spill over into the colours in my work .

Talking of new work, I have lots of new things to share with you today.

Firstly, I've just sent off the last artwork for a new mini range of greetings cards called 'Happily Ever After' which will hopefully be available for both wholesale and retail soon.

The illustrations here are the last two designs I did from that range (facebook and instagram followers will have seen little peeps of these in development)....

If you'd like a first look at this range all together - I've uploaded the designs in my online portfolio here: http://www.artworkbyangie.com/happily-ever-after-collection.html

As usual, trade customers will be able to order these through my publisher, Art Eco Designs as soon as they are ready (which should be within the next few weeks)...

A couple of weeks ago I received a large stock of my new occasions cards - mainly milestone age cards.  These are gradually finding their way as listings on my website, Folksy and Etsy shops.  So in between designing cards, I've been listing lots of them to my sites.  It's all because I am on a mission to try and offer a design for most occasions and have plans to add more designs to this occasions range later in the year...

Meanwhile, I am about to start on another new range of cards - which I am very excited about and look forward to sharing progress on it very soon.

Finally, before I get back to my drawing, I want to share a couple of new stockists I am delighted to introduce to you.

Hatty Boots are a lovely online card boutique based near me in Somerset. They have a very extensive range of high quality greeting cards all sourced from UK designers and publishers.

www.hattyboots.com/

The second stockist to share with you today is one a very good friend of mine stumbled upon recently.  Leckford Estate Farm Shop is a wonderful, Waitrose owned shop on the Leckford Estate  & Longstock  Park Nursery in Stockbridge, Hampshire.  They stock all manner of gorgeous local and regional produce in their shop and it was my 'Bloomin' Lovely' range of cards that were spotted in there.  Needless to say, this morning I've had a very long look on their website and really fancy a day out there soon - it's looks fantastic!:

http://www.longstockpark.co.uk/

http://www.longstocknursery.co.uk/leckford-fruit-and-produce-sales-c76.html

Have a lovely day!

Best wishes

Back to School for an Art Award Workshop...

Hello!

A couple of weeks ago I went back to my old secondary school to help run a workshop for the art award pupils.  It was a full school day of nothing but art - bliss!..

I was lucky to work with a fantastic group of 10 keen, art loving students, who were mostly 12 year olds.  

The day began with me giving a little talk about who I am and what I do, letting them have a good rummage through my portfolio of sample cards, calendars, notebooks and prints.

In return, throughout the day, they showed me their sketchbooks and told me about work they have done so far toward their art award, which is a voluntary, extra curricular award that once gained will go on their overall school record of achievements.  I was very impressed by the depth of study they have put in already and hope every single one passes as they certainly deserve to.

I set them a creative brief to design an image that could be used as a square greeting card based on the theme 'By the canal/ By the riverside' (the theme was to tie in with another project the school art department has been working on recently). 

After giving them all plenty of advice and tips on how to approach the brief, they set to work.  Firstly by drafting the layout and idea for the finished piece.  Then by creating  the finished piece in whatever media they felt worked best for them.  We gave them access to paints, pens, coloured paper for collage...

These are some pics of work in progress.  They really got stuck in and I could see evidence in the way they approached things that they had heard and taken on board some of the advice I had given them earlier in the day....

Given that they only had a few hours to do the finished pieces, I am extremely proud of what they all achieved. When all the work was put together at the end, it's clear to see what a great collection they make together.  Each piece is bold, eye catching and has a strong sense of composition - yet everyone had found their own way of expressing the same theme. To me, a very important part of my brief was to find your own style by experimenting and finding what feels natural.  Looking at the finished work, I can see they fully embraced that idea...

It was wonderful to have the opportunity to go back to my old school and share my experience and knowledge with such a great group of people.  I felt quite at home there, the years melted away. There are plans for me to go back and do another, shorter workshop in a couple weeks time and I am already looking forward to it.  

I really hope the students gained as much inspiration from me as I did from them!

 Have a lovely weekend

Best wishes

A Trip to The Contemporary Craft Festival...

Hello!

I've had a truly wonderful weekend.  The sun shone brightly and I made my way over the border into Devon to visit The Contemporary Craft Festival at Bovey Tracey.  I met up with some very good friends of mine, who are also artists and designers and who I've met and become firm friends with from my adventures selling and promoting my illustration work online.

The picture above is of my favourite stand from the weekend - Elizabeth Loveday.  

Her embroidered and appliqued illustrative work is exquisite. It has a beautiful sense of humour and a love of nonsense that tickles me and is just my cup of tea!..

I also went along to go and have an opportunity to see my dear friend Marna Lunt's work up close.  She's been busy creating some amazing embroidered portraits lately that I've been itching to see.  Seeing every stitch in person was a pure delight!... Marna is definitely above average!... 

Likewise, with my friend Claire from Little Burrow Designs who creates joyous little worlds in tiny tins and boxes from re-purposed vintage and antique objects and textiles. Each piece inspires and raises a smile...

Of course I made purchases! 

I treated myself to some new earrings from my favourite new discovery. Designer maker Kay Morgan creates bright and beautiful purses and accessories from the softest leather.  Best of all, I discovered she's just up the road from me in Bristol and has her work stocked in numerous locations across Bristol (how very handy!)...

I also made a purchase from this year's worthy winner of best stand at the festival, Vinegar and Brown Paper ...

And, that's me and lovely Julia Crossland trying on Lynsey Walters wonderful, bold and colourful wool jewellery  - we were quite at home there!...

Best of all, it was wonderful to have a chance to catch up with so many great, creative people.  

I was especially lucky to spend two fabulous days in the company of these lovelies (as pictured above from left to right - I am the one on the far left) : Andrea Berry, Helen Bottrill, Kate Brazier, Julia Crossland.

I highly recommend The Contemporary Craft Festival and am already looking forward to going again next year.

Meanwhile, it was a busy week last week and I'll have another blog post for you in a couple of days about the workshop I ran for the Art Award students at my local secondary school. 

Until then, best wishes as always!

Introducing Fabrics...

Hello,

Something I've wanted to do for ever such a long time now is to try out sites like Spoonflower, to transfer some of my gift wrap patterns onto fabric and dip my toes in the world of designing for fabrics....

I am so happy to say that that day has come.  A couple of weeks ago I got brave and jumped in at the deep end by uploading some designs and placing my first order for print proofs...

Here are those proofs and I am overjoyed with them.  I was concerned the colours wouldn't translate onto fabric.  I needn't have worried, they've exceeded my expectations and have a new vibrancy printed onto 100% cotton (as these samples are)....

Just looking through these first designs I can immediately see learnings and things I'd like to approach differently in future designs, the things that worked better than I could hope and areas for improvement...

Most of all, it feels very satisfying to see them all laid out on my desk.  It feels like a new beginning - just like starting this blog did when I started this creative journey nearly five years ago...

I'm really looking forward to adding to my fabric collections and factoring fabric in to new products for my Folksy and Etsy offerings too (oh, believe me, I am all ideas now!).  Most of all, I'm looking forward to using these print on demand fabric sites to make a few new additions to our home and help feather the nest!...

To shop for my fabric collections, I've chosen two sites to work with.

The first and most widely known is Spoonflower - it's a US site which ships internationally... 

Knowing that many of my regular customers and followers are based in the UK, I have also added my collection to a British site offering a similar service to Spoonflower called Print Me Pretty - where items are printed to demand in Britain  ...

  As with all the print on demand sites I work with (such as these two and Society 6, Bespo and Swag My Case) -  you can now find links to these sites throughout my website and notice that I try to ensure those links are clearly labelled with icons of the main currency and country of origin so that you can make informed choices when making purchases.

http://www.artworkbyangie.com/fabric.html

I look forward to sharing more from these sites soon as I gradually add new work as carry on developing my new designs.

Have a lovely day

Best wishes